The surface of the water vibrated and surged, then suddenly returned to absolute silence.
At the very instant they plummeted into the water, Spiritual Master Linyin upon the cliff sealed the surface with a massive grand array, intending to trap and drown them within the sea. However, no matter how powerful an array might be, it possessed boundaries. As long as they swam out of this sealed expanse of water, they would be able to go ashore.
Unfortunately, Yin Huizhi did not know how to swim.
In the past, when he had his cultivation to rely on, the spiritual energy within his body would spontaneously block out the water. Upon entering the water, he could rely on holding his breath to endure for half a quarter of an hour through sheer force of will. At present, the only resource available, Yan, was situated outside his body, meaning it naturally lacked such an effect. The moment he entered the water, his breath was choked off.
The seawater was damp and salty, pouring directly into his nasal cavity and throat. He knew that he could not struggle at this moment, forcefully restraining his limbs from flailing about.
His wrist was pulled hard. Yin Huizhi vaguely realized that Xie Ling was pulling him, likely having discovered his abnormality.
His mouth and nose were covered by a palm that reached over. Yin Huizhi knew Xie Ling meant for him not to swallow water. However, choking on water seemed to carry a momentum of its own, and he simply could not stop. The more he wished to stabilize his breathing, the more water he inhaled instead.
His vision was splintered into broken pieces by the rippling waves. He could indistinctly see Xie Ling looking at him with a furrowed brow. Yin Huizhi felt that he was about to lose his hold, because his thoughts had already begun to scatter and slow down.
For instance, at this very moment, he was actually wondering whether Xie Ling had looked at him in this exact same manner beneath the cold pool during their first encounter.
The hand covering his mouth was removed, and his wrist was pulled once more. The blurry dark shadow before his eyes magnified, and magnified further.
His chin was suddenly clamped.
In the next instant, two soft lips blanketed over his own, pressing down firmly without the slightest hesitation.
This touch was far too foreign. Yin Huizhi dazed for a fleeting moment, a certain string within his mind snapping completely as his eyes snapped wide open. Yet the hand upon his wrist seemed to have anticipated his reaction. At some unknown point, it had already shifted to the back of his neck, pressing against that inch of skin to secure his head firmly within his palm.
Amidst Yin Huizhi’s stunned vacancy, Xie Ling used the tip of his tongue to pry a gap through his tightly closed lips, then retracted it swiftly, passing a massive breath of air over.
The warm air entered his oral cavity and rushed into his lungs, alleviating the fatal sensation of suffocation and violently pulling Yin Huizhi back when he had already stepped half a foot into the halls of the King of Hell. The dizziness and faintness brought about by the lack of oxygen gradually diminished, and the touch upon his lips was severed instantly.
Yin Huizhi floated rigidly within the water as Xie Ling pulled him along, no longer choking on water. Xie Ling used Yan to briefly block out the intrusion of the water against his mouth and nose.
Xie Ling cast a faint, sidelong glance at him.
Yin Huizhi was enveloped within the damp cold, yet his body grew burning hot in waves that could not be suppressed. Before he could even process the meaning behind Xie Ling’s glance, his entire person was pulled along to swim rapidly through the water.
His skin felt painful from the friction of the swiftly moving water, prompting him to knit his brows and tighten his lips. With this forceful tightening of his lips, the memory from just now involuntarily surfaced within his mind once more.
His mind was a complete mess, and Yin Huizhi thought in a disoriented manner, Did Xie Ling just use his tongue to pry open his lips?
Xie Ling was simply, simply, Yin Huizhi clenched his teeth with great force, he was simply an unreasonable brute.
The moment this condemning thought popped up, the arm pulling him suddenly increased its strength, lifting his entire upper body out of the water surface.
The crisp air rushed into his lungs, completely releasing the oppressive sensation brought about by holding his breath and choking on water. Yin Huizhi breathed in massive gulps, coughing violently.
After coughing out the water within his windpipe, Yin Huizhi finally eased his breathing, speaking in a hoarse voice, “You,” but having uttered only a single syllable, he became stuck.
Xie Ling floated partially on the water surface. His hair ribbon had already been completely snapped by the water pressure, and his jet-black, damp hair was combed back loosely. Upon his sharply defined face, water droplets slid down, rolling across his slender neck. Those thin lips still carried a faint shade of pink.
The back of Yin Huizhi’s hand tightened instantly. He forgot the contents of the words that had reached his mouth. After a brief moment, he turned his gaze away, saying dryly, “Thank you.”
Xie Ling offered a careless grunt of affirmation, asking him, “Are you well?”
Seeing his expression, which was so natural as though nothing had occurred, Yin Huizhi’s fingers curled slightly. He stiffened his neck and replied with composure, “I am well.”
He knew that Xie Ling was waiting for him to adjust, and this location was unsuitable for a lengthy stay, otherwise Jiang Ruxian and the others would catch up sooner or later. Sure enough, right after he replied, Xie Ling drew the Bingpo sword from his waist, placing it suspended in midair.
“Zhihui is waiting nearby. We shall return by riding the sword.”
Bingpo appeared dissatisfied with being commanded by anyone other than its master, vibrating repeatedly in the air. Only after being glared at with a furrowed brow by Yin Huizhi did it behave itself.
Xie Ling also witnessed their small interaction, letting out a soft tsk. It was unknown whether he was displeased that Bingpo had turned its back and forgotten its former master so quickly.
Xie Ling took a step forward and leaped onto the blade first. Yin Huizhi looked at the space in front of Xie Ling, then looked at the space behind him, hesitating for a moment. It was not that he was being indecisive. Only upon forming a Golden Core could one ride a sword. His performance upon a sword would likely not look much better than his performance in the water.
Xie Ling swept another glance over him.
Yin Huizhi’s lips tightened instinctively. He did not wish for Xie Ling to discern his trepidation, hardening his resolve as he prepared to step onto the section of the blade behind Xie Ling. However, before he could even take a step, he saw Xie Ling step back half a pace expressionlessly, leaving the open space in front to him, and he said absolutely nothing.
Yin Huizhi stood up swiftly. A hand extended from behind, steadying his shoulder, as Xie Ling said, “Stand firmly.”
The moment the words fell, Bingpo carried them as it rushed up into the high skies of a hundred feet, even executing a swivel as though rejoicing in its freedom. Had it not been for the hand gripping his shoulder, Yin Huizhi would have nearly been flung off by this movement.
“If you move blindly again, I shall snap you,” Yin Huizhi heard Xie Ling’s cold voice as he barely managed to stand firmly.
Bingpo quieted down instantly.
He was not speaking to me, Yin Huizhi thought to himself secretly. Bingpo complied with him mostly because it recognized him as its master and liked him, but toward Xie Ling, it was pure dread. Being threatened with such a sentence, the entire sword became increasingly well-behaved.
Yin Huizhi curled the corner of his mouth, quite unethically allowing it to be bullied by Xie Ling.
Shen Zhihui grew increasingly anxious as he waited by the seashore, nearly unable to suppress his intention to cross the sea and rescue them, before he finally saw Xie Ling and Yin Huizhi returning together on the sword. Seeing that both of them were completely unharmed, he let out a heavy sigh of relief, rushing forward. “Sect Master!”
Xie Ling sheathed Bingpo, pinning it back onto Yin Huizhi’s waist before raising his eyes to look at him. “Why are you in such a frantic rush?”
Shen Zhihui thought to himself, What do you mean why am I in a rush? He spoke with residual fear, “I was worried that you would engage in a fight with that Jiang person out of anger. Fortunately, you did not. Your body is already wretched enough.”
Xie Ling interrupted him with a slight warning, “Shen Zhihui.”
Shen Zhihui had no choice but to swallow his words back down. However, Yin Huizhi keenly perceived his unfinished words, pursuing the matter, “His body is very wretched?”
Associating this with Xie Ling’s previous remark of “fight today, leave tomorrow,” Yin Huizhi’s brow furrowed even tighter. He had originally assumed Xie Ling meant this body was incapable of enduring the power that erupted during a great battle. However, Shen Zhihui’s unfinished words implied that Xie Ling’s body had already suffered extremely severe and irreversible depletion.
Was it because of that forced breaking of the Gate of Life?
Shen Zhihui did not reply, choosing instead to speak of the incidents that had occurred within the Qianyin Ghost Realm during their absence, appearing as though he wished to bypass this topic. Yin Huizhi clearly had no intention of cooperating, lowering his tone, “Speak the truth.”
Shen Zhihui stopped his voice abruptly. He instinctively opened his lips, yet snapped them shut in the next instant, falling into an even deeper silence.
Ah, that was a close call. He had nearly lost his bearing and let the words “calm your anger, Sect Master” slip out.
Shen Zhihui rubbed the space between his brows, hearing Xie Ling’s voice say, “Yin Huizhi, you are not permitted to rely on influence to bully others.”
Yin Huizhi looked sideways. “The magistrates are allowed to set fires, while the commoners are forbidden to light lamps?”
Xie Ling stated, “Shen Zhihui is my subordinate.” He deliberately emphasized the word “my,” telling Yin Huizhi not to borrow false authority and casually command or order Shen Zhihui around.
Yin Huizhi, however, acted as though he did not catch the meaning, asking back very calmly, “Then am I not as well?”
Shen Zhihui, who was listening to their bickering with great interest, froze. He looked at Yin Huizhi, then looked at Xie Ling, discovering that Xie Ling’s expression was also somewhat subtle.
Xie Ling took a step forward, looking down at him with hooded eyes. “What did you just say?”
Yin Huizhi would not alter the words he had already spoken. He raised his head to lock sights with Xie Ling, speaking forthrightly, “Realm Lord, I recall that before our departure, you promised me several matters. Since we are both your subordinates, why is it that your affairs are told only to him and not to me, showing such partiality?”
Xie Ling repeated slowly, “My subordinate? You?”
The corners of Yin Huizhi’s lips dipped slightly. “You are going back on your word?”
Xie Ling neither claimed he was nor claimed he was not, sweeping a glance over him. “Subordinate Excellency, your lord now commands you to be quiet.”
Yin Huizhi was left speechless.
Shen Zhihui could not restrain himself, letting out a chuckle. Before the icy glares of the two intimidating figures could sweep over simultaneously, he suppressed his laughter, asking Xie Ling with a serious expression, “Sect Master, are we returning to the Qianyin Palace now?”
Xie Ling replied, “There is no rush, there are still some matters to attend to.”
The ease upon Yin Huizhi’s face faded away piece by piece. What those “some matters” referred to, he knew clearer than anyone else.
“Xie Ling,” Yin Huizhi asked the question he had not had the opportunity to utter previously, “what exactly is the relationship between Ji Huixue and the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion? Why did the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion want to harm my mother?”
Xie Ling did not reply immediately, casting a sidelong glance at Shen Zhihui instead. Shen Zhihui put distance between them instantly and established a soundproofing boundary.
Xie Ling asked Yin Huizhi in return, “Are you not afraid that I am deceiving you, intentionally framing Ji Huixue to drive a wedge between you two?”
Yin Huizhi quieted down for a moment before saying, “It is not that I am without fear, but rather that you have not. The ghost-masked individual who injured you within the altar that day was Ji Huixue, was it not?”
Xie Ling’s gaze was heavy, and he offered no reply.
Yin Huizhi continued, “At that time, I was thinking that the painted skin monster had been locked underground for nearly a thousand years without seeing the light of day, so how could it manifest Ji Huixue’s appearance, down to the mole beneath his jaw without a hair’s breadth of error? I even suspected that it possessed the ability to peer into the memories of others,” Yin Huizhi pulled a smile that carried gloom and mockery, “however, its imitation was not accurate. If it had viewed my memories, its imitation ought to have been highly accurate.”
Since it had not stolen memories, it could only mean it had seen Ji Huixue himself. All the clues and eccentricities pointed directly toward Ji Huixue, leaving him entirely unable to deceive himself any longer.
He stabilized his slightly disordered breathing, asking, “You knew he had issues from the very beginning, did you not?”
From that joke-like phrase by the shore of the cold pool, “I want you to help me kill a person,” to the antagonism released subtly later within the Fucheng Inn.
“Yes,” Xie Ling locked sights with him, yet his gaze did not settle fully, as though he were looking at another person through him. “Do you assume everyone is as foolish as you are, Yin Huizhi?”
Yin Huizhi closed his eyes, suppressing his hatred. “I was indeed too foolish.”
The vengeance of a deceased mother, the pain of the gu consumption, every single matter was inextricably linked to the person he had assumed to be closest to him. Furthermore, his being brought back to the Guanlan Sect might very well have been Ji Huixue’s calculation all along. It was entirely disgusting.
“Ji Huixue’s objective was not your mother, it was you,” Xie Ling’s voice sounded highly tranquil at first, yet it seemed to suppress something. “Yin Huizhi, before the age of seven, did your natural talent surpass excellence to a degree that was thoroughly shocking?”
Yin Huizhi’s eyelashes trembled slightly. “Yes.”
Thoroughly shocking. His mother never permitted him to practice, and no one had ever instructed him. He had merely caught a stealthy glimpse of the disciples’ practice occasionally, yet he had achieved a sudden enlightenment in Qi Refining, reaching Foundation Establishment directly. It was precisely from that point onward that the gazes Ouyang Xu, Ouyang Yi, and many individuals of the Ouyang family directed toward him became complicated and wary.
Xie Ling’s hand pressed onto the back of his neck, sliding down along his spine, finally coming to a halt three inches above the tailbone. “Right here, there once existed an Immortal Bone.”
Yin Huizhi’s pupils dilated in shock.
Xie Ling applied force with his fingertips, pressing that inch of land until it felt slightly painful. “The second year after your mother’s passing, it was extracted by Ouyang Xu in collusion with Ji Huixue.”
Legend had it that those who possessed an Immortal Bone would manifest characteristics entirely distinct from everyone else from the moment of birth, bearing a pure mind and encountering no obstructions whatsoever upon the path of cultivation. A dull individual might spend decades in Qi Refining, and a century might not guarantee Foundation Establishment, wasting a lifetime on cultivation before turning into a mound of yellow soil just like an ordinary person.
An individual with an extraordinary natural talent like Jiang Ruxian formed a core at fifty, formed a nascent soul at a hundred, and reached Soul Transformation at two hundred years old. If one failed to cross the tribulation to Great Achievement at a thousand years old, one could only perish. However, an individual possessing an Immortal Bone could ascend to the supreme realm within a century.
Regarding the origin of the Immortal Bone, there were two explanations. First, the power of ancient celestial spirits strayed into a mortal body, transforming into a white bone, and upon the mortal body’s ascension, it could return to the supreme realm. Second, a worldly tribulation was approaching, and the Immortal Bone descended into the world to contend against it, acting as a sacrificial offering granted to the human realm by the Heavenly Dao.
Yet, no matter which explanation it was, it was practically nonsense, because aside from those unofficial histories and biographies of unknown origin, there were absolutely no regular historical records documenting the existence of such an object.
Yin Huizhi stared at Xie Ling in bewilderment. “An Immortal Bone? How could such a thing truly exist? I was merely born with a spiritual root that was relatively…”
“If you merely possessed a natural mutated single ice spiritual root, you could not have reached that level whatsoever,” Xie Ling interrupted him indifferently.
Yin Huizhi’s lips turned deathly pale. He knew Xie Ling was correct. Although a single spiritual root was precious, and an ice spiritual root was rare, when placed within the massive cultivation world, such rarity became ordinary. The world lacked genius least of all. Furthermore, those “geniuses” had never been like him in his youth.
Yin Huizhi murmured, “If an Immortal Bone truly existed within my body, even I myself did not know of it, so how could Ji Huixue…”
He froze abruptly mid-sentence. Those within the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion could peer into the secrets of heaven and foresee the future.