Chapter 3 Devil Soul Awakening
In more than two months, Lyu Liang’s mantra had achieved the Qi Refining Realm, but this was only the initial stage. He had not stabilized it yet. As for swordsmanship, he had only learnt the basics of Unification Move.
Lyu Liang walked out of the house and directly in front of the giant tree. He gave a fist and palm salute before saying, “Senior, I am sorry to disturb your rest, but I’ve met some problems for my cultivation. I am hopeful that you could provide me with some guidance.”
Immediately after he finished his sentence, a lady flew down from the tree. It was Fairy Qingci. Out of the three treasure spirits, Lyu Liang liked this fairy the most. He had a strange feeling every time he chatted with the fairy, as if a child was sharing his thoughts with his mother. He could not help but reveal his love towards his mother no matter how hard he had tried to suppress that feeling in the past. Fairy Qingci seemed to understand how Lyu Liang was feeling, so she often treated him like her own younger brother.
“Elder Sister!” Lyu Liang greeted her aloud every time he saw Fairy Qingci, then smiled at her in a silly manner.
“My brother, you’ve already stabilized the early stage. You’re pretty fast, aren’t you? Since you’re here, did you encounter any problem?” The fairy’s eyes sparkled with astonishment and looked at him with tender care. She added, “Grandpa and Feiling are cultivating now. The Land Spirit had gone to the south again. If you’ve any problem, I can help.”
“Yes. Thank you, Elder Sister. I’ve stabilized the Early-stage of Qi Refining Level, but I kept feeling there was a bottleneck whenever I wish to advance further. I hope you can provide me with some guidance.”
“Hehe, this is a common problem faced by most cultivators. If you wish to bypass the bottleneck, the best way is to consume Bottleneck-breaking Pill or enlighten yourself through battles. If you don’t have that pill, you can go to the Training Tower to fight with puppets,” the fairy explained. She looked at Lyu Liang gently and advised, “In fact, the most effective way to make a breakthrough is through death battles; however, they’re not necessary for you at this stage. Most importantly, you need to adapt and cultivate the feeling of battle.”
“Yes. I did think about going to the east as well. However, can Elder Sister disclose the basic situation of the puppets in the east?” Lyu Liang asked. He felt that it was better for him to learn about his opponents first.
After bidding goodbye to Fairy Qingci, Lyu Liang started his journey to the Training Tower in the east. “It’s the first time! This is my first time challenging as a cultivator! No matter what, I should be able to fight the first puppet I face!” Lyu Liang exclaimed as he stood in front of the eastern side of the Training Tower and clenched his fists tightly. After touching the round plate on the tower door, a white light appeared and surrounded him, teleporting him to the first foor of the Training Tower.
It was a very wide and spacious hall. The only thing that caught his attention was a sleeping wolf laying in the middle of the place. It did not even bother to open its eyes after Lyu Liang had entered the place!
“Senior, I am Lyu Liang, who is here for training. May I know how can I address you? Also, how do I start my training?” Lyu Liang understood that he was still considered weak among the many cultivators in here. Hence, he must be humble.
“Hehe, so you’re the third destined person who’ve entered here! Early-stage of Qi Refining, have yet to master the first level of mantra and I supposed you’ve only learnt the basics of swordsmanship,” the wolf-like puppet was still lounging on the floor. “I am a War Wolf guarding the first floor of the Training Tower, and I am created by Master. By right, you should defeat me before you advance to the next level. But now, you can try to attack me. If you make me move from this place, you will pass the test.”
Lyu Liang was taken aback and had only recovered after a long while. “Did I mishear? That’s considered as a pass?” he thought. Nevertheless, Lyu Liang did not put down his guard. He was left with no choice since he was anxious to get home.
The moment Lyu Liang took his sword out of its sheath, he started chanting his mantra, and concurrently doing his best to display the Unification Move sword style as he slashed his sword towards the War Wolf.
“Not too bad, but you’re too weak.” The War Wolf shook its head and shut its eyes again.
“Bam!” A loud noise sounded. The War Wolf did not even move an inch, yet the sword flew out of Lyu Liang’s hand. He himself had also tumbled and landed on his buttocks as he gave a stunning look on his face.
“You’re way too weak. Go back and train for another ten years or more before challenging me again.” The War Wolf concluded and continued to rest.
Lyu Liang was shocked. All of his confidence had drained from him. “This… this is all I have now? Why…vwhy is it like this! Train for another ten years or more? Is the first floor too tough, or am I too weak? Yes, after all, I… I am just a twelve-year-old kid…” Lyu Liang seemed to have lost his last hope as he felt the sense of despair in his heart.
Tears! Ever since he was beaten up by his father at seven, he vowed never to cry again. Yet now, his tears uncontrollably rolled down his cheeks like waterfalls.
Lyu Liang did not know how he had returned to his house. He laid down on his bed. For the first time, he felt like sleeping. Ever since he had entered the Virtual Land, in order to return and see his father as soon as possible, he had been busily practising cultivation. Other than practising, he was seeking guidance from the seniors. In order to master cultivation and return home, he had not even gotten a wink of sleep. Who knew that the truth could be so cruel!
At this point of time, returning home seemed impossible. Lyu Liang felt that there was an extremely tall mountain standing in front of him right now and it was impossible for him to climb over it. For the first time, Lyu Liang fell asleep in the Virtual Land. Two rows of tears rolled down from the corner of his eyes as he cried, “Father, what should I do…”
Outside of his house, there were four silhouettes standing beside the giant tree. One of them said softly in a gentle yet sorrow female voice, “After all, he’s only a child, and he was only a mortal being before that! The former two entered here with at least Gold Core Level and above.”
Another person sighed as he said in a deep, wavery voice like an old man, “Sigh, poor child. As what I’ve expected. That’s why I’ve purposely avoided seeing this.”
“Can… can I just lend him my actual self? With his lousy sword, how can he ever beat that wolf that is nearly at the Foundation Establishment Level?” The shortest person pouted his mouth and said bitterly.
“Don’t even think about it! I pity him as well, but Master has set the rules. We can not help the cultivators! Though I did not say that the lowest level of the Training Tower is the Late-stage of Qi Refining Level, if he were to give up like this, he’s not qualified to inherit Master’s legacy at all!” the tallest person said helplessly and he looked to the south of the land. “Only that senior is not within Master’s restriction; however, hehe, I guess it’s easier to become immortal than to get help from her!”
…
Lyu Liang was indeed very tired. Even though he was crying, he was in deep sleep.
“That’s it? Don’t you want to return home and see your father? Are you going to give up finding your mother?” Lyu Liang heard an unexpected echo in his head. It felt strange yet familiar.
Lyu Liang was shocked when he heard the voice and struggled to open his eyes, yet his eyelids seemed tightly shut. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to open them.
“Don’t waste your effort trying to open your eyes. Instead, relax and enjoy my presence,” the voice continued. “I can help you settle all these problems.”
Lyu Liang had indeed calmed down. The voice seemed to have a magical power that could instantly give him a sense of warmth. Most importantly, it gave him a sense of hope. That hope was like a seed that was waiting for a drop of water to make it sprout and grow.
Then he remembered. That voice was similar to his voice, or should he say, it was the same as his voice. Even the pauses and tone in his voice were exactly the same as his!
“Seems like you’re finally willing to calm down and listen to me. Let me make it quick then. The strength of the seal is too strong. I’ve accumulated 500 years’ worth of the Devil Qi, and had managed to grasp the opportunity when you break down just now to reveal a soul consciousness. If you wish to know what’s bothering you, then travel to the south in the night. I can sense that someone there will be able to assist you!” Following which, that voice began to laugh once more and sounded more relaxed than before. “This soul consciousness will be gone soon. I’ll lose my consciousness again temporarily. Before I disappear, I will return you what you meant to have. Do your best and don’t give up. You still have not understood yourself!”
Lyu Liang fiercely opened his eyes and said, “Is that a dream? No, this feeling…”
Lyu Liang felt changes in his Sea of Qi. He hurriedly used his Divine Sense to check his Sea of Qi and discovered that his colorful Five-element Bead was coated with a faint black energy. At the same time, he realized that the previous bottleneck he felt before reaching Middle-stage of Qi Refining Level was gone. The previously stable Primordial Qi in his body had also begun to move wildly.
“This is…? No, I must make a breakthrough to Middle-stage of Qi Refining now! My body is going to explode!” Lyu Liang exclaimed as he started to have cold sweat. He immediately folded his legs and chanted the mantra.
At the same moment, a stream of Sword Essence appeared on his mind. Lyu Liang had a sudden realization. “Unification, Unification. One sword, sword as one. Heart, sword and mind are united into one! I see! I previously thought that swordsmanship is about practising the sword techniques, yet I never knew that I should use my heart as guidance, my mind as willpower, and my sword shall move as it wishes. This is the essence of swordsmanship! That’s it!”
Lyu Liang had never felt so clear-minded before. He subconsciously raised both his arms and two rows of freezing Sword Qi appeared concurrently. They then combined as one to form a streak of sword light. Lyu Liang went with the flow and slashed forward. “Bam! Bam!” Two loud noises sounded. The house which he was living in exploded abruptly.
“That’s it! Sword Essence! Is it from that child? I thought his Daoist Heart was broken, yet he suddenly has such a surge of power!” The Land Spirit gave an astonished face and its eyes sparkled with excitement as it said, “The former two destined ones had never obtained Sword Essence in the first move! It’s great if a normal cultivator was able to apprehend Sword Qi!”
“Hehe, I knew my younger brother has potential! I was just wondering how I could guide him, but seems like there’s no need to.” Fairy Qingci’s beautiful eyes sparkled with joy.
“It’s fast that he’s mastered Unification Move! Look, he’s still in bursting mode. The Primordial Qi in this land is continuously being absorbed by him! Seriously, is this how a breakthrough from Early-stage to Middle-stage of the Qi Refining Level look like? I doubt one has such dense Primordial Qi even if one makes a breakthrough to Foundation Establishment Level.” Boy Feiling beamed.
“However, didn’t any of you realize that something is off? The way this child absorbs Primordial Qi is somewhat different. Why is there a Devil Qi surrounding it?” Grandpa Tianqiongzi frowned and said.
At this moment, Lyu Liang felt that the Primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth kept entering his body. The bottleneck that was obstructing him from advancing to Middle-stage of Qi Refining had longed been removed, yet Lyu Liang could not stop it. He knew that if he were to stop now, that surge of Primordial Qi would definitely blow him off!
The only thing that Lyu Liang could do was to continuously refine the external Primordial Qi that entered his body into his own. In addition, he discovered that a patch of black crystal forming above his Five-element Bead in his Sea of Qi. There was a hint of black energy surrounding the crystal. This type of black energy gave Lyu Liang an excited yet relaxed feeling. “Thanks to this black energy, I am able to burst through the bottleneck. Is this given to me by that soul consciousness?”
An hour later, the Primordial Qi surrounding Lyu Liang began to fade off gradually and disappeared. The whole place returned to normal again.
“Late-stage of Qi Refining?!” Lyu Liang was taken aback when he did a check. “How did I accidentally advance by two levels at one go?” He checked carefully again and realized there were some significant changes within his body.
First of all, his Sea of Qi became denser. He recalled that in his Early-stage of Qi Refining Level, his Sea of Qi was relatively thinner. His current Qi Hai was so much denser than before.
In addition, the aura dispersed from that small piece of black crystal made Lyu Liang feel a sense of intimacy which he longed for.
Lastly, it was the Divine Soul. Lyu Liang felt that his Divine Sense was much stronger than before. When he walked out of his house last time, all he can see was the giant tree. Now, he could clearly see the four silhouettes standing under the giant tree, as well as the different astonished expressions on their faces. The visions were much clearer than before!
Of course, there was one thing that made Lyu Liang very conscious of. A slow rotating small golden ball had suddenly appeared in his sea of consciousness. The copper surface of the small ball was carved with complicated ancient design and the word “seal” was faintly shown on it.
“When did this ball enter my sea of consciousness? Weird, I only remembered that Senior Dreamless gave me the Five-element Bead and a scroll of “Xuanyuan Skill”. This wasn’t there previously!” Lyu Liang said as he was confused about the origin of this ball. “I am certain that it had only appeared after my breakthrough! Oh yes, that voice…”
Lyu Liang could never forget what that voice had told him! Mother! He had been dreaming, hoping or even crying in his dreams about calling this title numerous times! He couldn’t forget about her, he really couldn’t! Though it was important for him to return home to see his father, but what about his mother? The latter seemed much more important!
At this moment, he deeply missed and yearned for his mother. “Yes, I do not wish to wait anymore! I want to know the truth. I want my mother!”
Suddenly, Lyu Liang had a strong urge to play his sword. A strong surge of Sword Essence had flooded his heart. It was as if he could slash apart his confusion with his sword to find his dearest mother!
He moved. A frigid Sword Essence covered him silently. A shadow of a giant sword rapidly appeared on top of his head. He could feel a deep sense of sorrow swelling in his heart. The pain from the sorrow was way more mature than what a twelve-year-old boy should feel. A weird question then popped out in his mind, “Who exactly am I?”
…
There was no infrastructure at the most southern part of the Virtual Land. If anyone came here, they could only see a huge Cenotaph and a man in black. That man had messy black hair and a pair of bright, deep eyes that seemed to be able to travel through time. His entire face was in a mess. Beside him was a flying black cat, which was taking its lazy nap.
When Lyu Liang was releasing the powerful Sword Essence, the man and the black cat were shocked. They took a look at each other before they disappeared on the spot. In the next moment, both of them appeared at the giant tree.
“Seniors!” The four silhouettes under the tree bowed and greeted both of them. The man in black waved his hand as an acknowledgement. All his attention was focused on Lyu Liang, who was making a breakthrough then.
“It’s really that mortal lad who came in a few days ago! It’s surprising that he has the aura of the Xuanli Clan! Even though it’s really weak! Eh? This feeling… hahaha! It’s him!” The black cat seemed excited. There was black energy emitting from its body.
“Is he sealed? Poor kid! Is that lad her successor? Seems like she had already sensed our presence. She should be here soon. Upon seeing him, she should be very happy.” The man in black stood in a daze and pondered. There seemed to be a smile revealing on his unchanged face.
Lyu Liang sensed someone was coming from the south! There seemed to be two people, but their auras were weird and different from those treasure spirit seniors. “Are they the ones I am looking for? Can they help me find my mother?”
“Demons! He can even apprehend a heart sword move without any guidance! I… I can feel that my actual body is reacting to him. I guess both of us are fated! Master once told us to go where fate leads us!” Boy Feiling turned into a blink of light and flew towards Lyu Liang.
Lyu Liang saw the Boy flying in his direction. Just as he was about to greet him with a salute, the Boy unexpectedly kneeled in front of him as it said respectfully, “Master once told us that if we meet our destined ones, we can acknowledge them and be refined by them. I’ve reacted to the Sword Essence which you’ve emitted just now. I am willing to acknowledge you as my owner. From now onwards, I am at your disposal and you can use me to clear any obstruction, help the needy and maintain the righteousness!” Upon finishing its sentences, a silver soft sword flew towards Lyu Liang from the west. Boy Feiling’s body swayed and blended in with the sword as one. After which, the soft sword floated in front of Lyu Liang and emitted a bright silver light.
“The…the aura emitting from this magic treasure is really powerful!” Lyu Liang exclaimed. He could sense the strong Sword Essence from the sword. “But how can I be your owner? I… I had never tried before…”
At that moment, Fairy Qingci came as well. Upon hearing the conversation, it laughed and said, “Silly brother. This is simple. You just need to focus your Divine Sense into this sword and it’ll combine with your heart and mind. Once this sword is attached to your Divine Sense, you’ve succeeded! Feiling is a magical treasure of Nascent Soul Level. With your current cultivation level, you won’t be able to use up to its full potential. Based on your advancement, its power will become stronger. If you can coordinate your sword move and Sword Essence well with this sword, you can be the strongest among the other cultivators who are of the same level as you!”
Lyu Liang was overjoyed upon hearing these words. He quickly refined Feiling Magical Sword as his own magical treasure and he could feel the powerful aura emitted by Feiling. He became more confident as he said, “Yes, I’ll not be worse than anyone! Father, please pray for me to find Mother’s whereabouts. As long as Mother is still alive, no matter how hard it is, we’ll have a reunion!”
After which, Lyu Liang dashed towards the south as swift as an arrow, for there kept the key to unravel the mystery of his birth!