Chapter 194: The Boy Who Came from the Abyss

Time flowed ceaselessly in Duanjie City, like a white steed passing through a crevice.

Another month passed in the blink of an eye.

The city's temperature continued to drop, with shorter days and longer nights.

After half a month of chaos, Duanjie City finally settled down. Siming, who had previously remained behind the scenes, emerged from the Star Spirit Palace as a goddess descending to stabilize order.

She possessed a face that could bring nations to their knees, an elegant posture, and a noble demeanor. Her beauty was so profound that no one doubted her; everyone treated her words as divine edicts.

With no new monarch yet elected, Canxiang temporarily acted as regent. Siming, after her brief appearance, receded behind the scenes once more to maintain the overall situation.

She originally had no interest in mortal affairs, but Duanjie City held the very foundation of her laws. She needed to keep the city stable so that its inhabitants could extract more spiritual essence for her from the Abyss of Time.

In her eyes, all the royalty in the city were merely miners, destined to become her instruments.

She secluded herself in the Star Spirit Palace, bathing several times daily, hoping to wash away the dust and bloodstains from that fateful night.

During the rest of her time, outside of bathing, she sat constantly on the sundial needle, cultivating her spiritual arts and authority, calculating Ning Changjiu and their actions, and Yechu's plans.

She suspected that Ning Changjiu was also a reincarnated deity with the potential to become an Asura, though Ning Changjiu himself might not be aware of this.

But if he truly mastered the Asura God Scripture, the consequences would be unimaginable.

However, both he and Yechu would need a significant amount of time to cultivate this method. Even as an Asura herself, she believed it would take at least a year.

All her injuries had now fully healed. Ning Changjiu's final sword strike had even given her much insight into her Dao heart. She was confident that if she faced that sword again, she would absolutely prevent it from getting close.

At this moment, she was hesitant: should she continue to pursue them into the icy plains, or should she focus on completing her own plan, engaging them in a race against time to see who would prevail?

She was the god of time; she did not believe she could lose.

On the first morning, Su Yanshu returned to the Snow Gorge.

The gorge was silent, and the snowstorm was not as fierce as usual. At the mouth of the cave, a banner fluttered solitarily.

Su Yanshu entered the cave, carrying eighty secret manuals on her back.

The vast ancient battlefield seemed like a charging herd of horses rushing into her vision.

The colossal instrument symbolizing destiny stood like a heavenly pillar, a sword waiting for ten thousand years. On its spire, a star map shifted, glowing with ethereal light.

Beneath the instrument of destiny, Yechu sat at the center of the Qian and Kun hexagrams.

He wore clean ceremonial robes and still possessed the handsome appearance of a god, but his face seemed to have lost much vitality, resembling a statue whose radiance was gradually fading. In his half-opened eyes, one was like an extinguished sun, while the other was like the lingering glow tinged with the sun's embers.

Su Yanshu's heart skipped a beat.

She slowly walked up to him, knelt down, and gazed at the sword wound on Yechu's chest, which had nearly split him in two. She trembled as she asked, "What... what happened?"

Yechu also looked at his wound. It was simultaneously healing and splitting open, his authority and power slowly draining from the gash.

He smiled faintly and said, "I got a little hurt."

"Who did this? Siming?"

"Yes."

"What should we do then? How can I save you?" Su Yanshu asked anxiously.

Yechu smiled calmly and said, "This place was originally a complete mountain, but then it was split in half, becoming a rift valley that can never close. I am like this snow mountain."

Su Yanshu listened to his words, knowing he wasn't joking.

But she couldn't accept such a thing.

For so many years, she had performed songs and dances in the courtesan house, indulged in sensual pleasures by day, and gazed blankly out the window at night. During all that time, she had secretly counted the days until their agreed-upon reunion—it was the greatest hope in her life.

And now, today, she had finally endured everything and returned to this snow gorge to see him. This was supposed to be the sweetness after the bitterness... How could she accept his death?

As the New Year approaches with the sound of firecrackers, the old year (Sui) and the New Year's Eve (Chu) are meant to be together.

Su Yanshu knew he had changed many people's fates, so she didn't believe him. She asked, "You can change your own fate, right?"

Yechu looked at the sparse snow falling from the sky; his golden robes seemed like fire extinguished by snow.

He looked at Su Yanshu and smiled, "When I love someone, I love their entire life."

Su Yanshu didn't understand why he said that, but the thought of several "Sui" before her pricked her heart.

They were all very beautiful women.

She nodded and said, "I know."

Yechu said, "I've been waiting for you to come back today."

Su Yanshu placed the large stack of secret manuals before him and said, "I brought them back... There are eighty books in total. Siming was cautious, so one is missing, but fortunately, Shao Xiaoli has that one, and she hasn't returned to the city."

Yechu looked at the stack of books, smiled faintly, and said, "You did very well. I have a gift for you."

"A gift?" Su Yanshu was slightly puzzled.

Yechu opened his hand, and wisps of white vapor emerged from his palm. These vapors twisted and tightened, like a ball of yarn, until all the white vapor condensed into a single pearl-sized sphere.

"Take it," Yechu said.

Su Yanshu still didn't understand. "What is this exactly?"

Yechu smiled, his expression as warm as a spring breeze.

Su Yanshu took the pearl and swallowed it.

Then, something seemed to explode within her. Her Qi Sea was torn apart and overturned, and then the pearl replaced it. Su Yanshu felt as if her body had vanished with the Qi Sea, leaving only a faint, ethereal perception. This perception floated in the void, like a central point of everything. Then, using her perception as the pivot, everything unfolded anew, forming her shape.

She opened her eyes and looked at her arms and body.

Her body was intact, her dress as before, and her moles and birthmarks were still in their original places. Everything seemed as usual.

Yet, she felt that she had undergone an earth-shattering transformation without realizing it.

"This is the time I've collected over the years; most of it is for you. I only kept one year for myself," Yechu said with a smile.

Su Yanshu was startled. "Are you mad? What are you doing?"

As she spoke, she put her finger in her mouth, trying to induce vomiting to spit out the pearl.

Yechu held her hand, smiled, and shook his head, saying, "This is my gift to you. From now on, you can guard this snow gorge for me, but this snow gorge will not bind you. You can go anywhere you wish. It's just a pity that I cannot be by your side anymore."

Su Yanshu gazed at him steadily, and after a long while, she said, "Are you going to die?"

Yechu smiled, "I just told you the principle of the snow gorge rift, but the snow gorge rift is not truly unclosable... Perhaps many years from now, everything will collapse again, the snow mountain will become a great lake, and after several more years, perhaps a complete mountain will rise again from that great lake."

Su Yanshu vaguely understood his words: "Are you going to die and then be reborn?"

Yechu said, "Without destruction, there can be no establishment. The authority I possess now is far inferior to Siming's. She can go beyond the snow gorge, but I dare not approach the royal city. One day, when she has absorbed all the authority of Duanjie City, I will have no chance at all."

He looked at Su Yanshu's tear-streaked face and continued, "Don't think of me as dead; think of me as gone. Perhaps I will return someday, perhaps not."

Su Yanshu shed clear tears, which rolled onto the snow and solidified into glittering ice beads.

"I'll go with you," she said.

Yechu said, "I'm going to a very, very distant place."

"Where?"

"The end of this world, and also its beginning," Yechu said.

"This world... has an end?" Su Yanshu was slightly surprised, then said with determination, "I'm willing to go to the ends of the earth with you."

Yechu looked at the innocent, girlish woman before him, not explaining much. He simply said, "We are both pursuing eternity. If we ultimately cannot achieve eternity, then even a thousand years of companionship holds no meaning."

Su Yanshu stared blankly at his unyielding smile, finding the man who had haunted her dreams so unfamiliar.

Su Yanshu asked, "Then when will you return to see me?"

Yechu said, "Three months at the earliest, a year at the latest."

The time he had left for himself was also only a year. If things didn't succeed within a year, it would be indefinite.

Su Yanshu wanted to speak further, but Yechu, supporting his damaged body, rose. He said, "It's the last moment. Let's read some books together."

They read the eighty secret manuals together.

Su Yanshu couldn't understand them to begin with, and now, with her eyes blurred by tears, she couldn't even discern the characters.

Yechu finished reading the eighty secret manuals, committing them to memory.

"So that's how it is," he said with a smile. "To be able to write such divine art secrets, truly a unique genius in the world..."

He trailed off, the last light in his eyes gradually fading, carrying a remembrance that spanned thousands of years.

He stood up and glanced at the Tower of Destiny standing behind him.

Siming had often mocked him, saying he lacked the courage to foresee his own fate.

In these last moments, he wanted to see his destiny.

He manipulated the instrument, inputting his birth details, and then everything began to rumble and rotate. The logic of destiny evolved layer by layer, shifting between complexity and simplicity, finally depicting a star map at the spire.

Yechu looked at the star map, the smile on his face an unreadable mix of emotions.

Su Yanshu couldn't understand the star map, so she looked at him.

He finally averted his gaze and softly murmured, "I should have looked a long time ago."

Su Yanshu didn't ask further, knowing the time for farewell was near.

The astrolabe on the spire suddenly faded, its constellations rapidly moving away, tearing apart the entire star map.

Yechu's body also began to tear apart, turning into fine flowing sand.

Su Yanshu stood behind him, unable to bear it any longer. She finally stretched out her arms and embraced him tightly.

In the end, she knelt in the snow, holding an empty divine robe.

And Yechu's last spark of spiritual light shot high into the air, traveling towards the far north.

Su Yanshu watched as the last speck of light vanished.

She wasn't sure if, even if he did return someday, the person he would be then would still truly be him.

During this past month, Shao Xiaoli truly received treatment befitting a Queen.

Every time the tribe hunted new provisions, they would first offer them to the Divine King, Divine Queen, and the God of Light. The best water sources, carvings, weapons, and clothing in the tribe would also be given to them. Even just walking on the street, the tribesmen's gazes were filled with admiration and reverence.

However, this noble treatment also brought Shao Xiaoli many troubles.

She could no longer go out with uncombed hair and loose dresses as she used to. Now, proud of her status as a Queen, she had to maintain a dignified bearing every time she went out, circling in front of the mirror many times to ensure her dress was proper, her makeup serene, and her entire demeanor gentle and noble before she would leave. In short, she was no longer the boisterous girl she had been in the royal city.

She and Ning Changjiu were both refined and beautiful, clearly not ordinary people at first glance, so few in the tribe questioned their identities.

In the early days, the chieftain first met with Ning Changjiu. As they chatted, they walked together towards the far north.

"That's where we moved from," the chieftain said, pointing to the endless wasteland ahead.

"There? What's there?" Ning Changjiu followed his gaze.

The chieftain sighed, "There is nothing. It's still the same kind of canyon, grassland, desert, and glaciers as here. The only difference is that a malicious curse is hidden there."

"A curse?" Ning Changjiu asked, puzzled.

The chieftain suddenly called over an old man who was busy writing. The old man had white hair and a face full of wrinkles; his gaunt body was as withered as wood. The chieftain said, "This is our historian; he's responsible for recording everything in the tribe, big and small. Guess how old he is."

Ning Changjiu looked at the old man. The hand holding the pen trembled slightly, and his clouded eyes had lost most of their light. He urged, "Quickly say it. I still have to write after you speak... I don't have many years left; I'll write as long as I can."

Ning Changjiu guessed, "The elder must be of advanced age, perhaps in his eighties?"

The chieftain and the old man both laughed.

The chieftain said, "He's not even thirty yet this year."

Ning Changjiu quickly guessed some of the reasons, but still joked, "Being a scribe consumes that much energy?"

The chieftain explained, "He was the only one in the tribe who risked his life to venture thousands of miles into that place... By the time he returned, his hair was already white. The time there is not the same as here; the deeper you go, the faster time flows, and people age more rapidly. Our tribe originally started very far from here. Back then, few of our people lived past thirty years. Only after we gradually moved closer did we finally begin to escape this curse."

Ning Changjiu nodded and said, "This curse is indeed very powerful."

He paused, then asked, "Did your ancestors leave any other instructions?"

"Instructions?" The chieftain pondered for a moment, then said, "Our ancestor said that the path to light lies in the far north... He also left behind some old artifacts from over seven hundred years ago."

After saying this, the chieftain had some regrets. He was still unsure whether the young man, prophesied to be the Divine King, was friend or foe.

Ning Changjiu, however, wasn't very interested in that. He asked, "Who was your ancestor?"

The chieftain replied, "Our ancestor was from the Heavenly Kingdom, which is where you came from."

"You call that place the Heavenly Kingdom?" Ning Changjiu asked.

The chieftain took it for granted, saying, "Legend has it that the most prosperous city is there... Our ancestors set out from there, leading a troop and trekking for an unknown length of time and distance. In the end, we didn't return, but instead camped further away. For hundreds of years, we have never stopped exploring this place, but we have ultimately failed to find the prophesied way out."

As they spoke, several wounded men were carried towards an old house, which was the medical hall. However, due to the primitive conditions here, it was often difficult to cure people.

"What kind of injuries are they?" Ning Changjiu asked.

The chieftain replied, "What else could it be? As you traveled here, you must have witnessed the strength of the creatures on the icy plains. To hunt a lone snow elephant, they usually need fifty or sixty people forming a formation. Even then, there are often casualties."

Ning Changjiu was silent for a moment, then said, "Lend me a sword."

The chieftain didn't understand the divine young man's words but still lent him his most cherished sword.

He went to the snowfield during the day and returned as night fell.

Many corpses were piled at the tribe's entrance. There were no small creatures like snow rabbits among them; all were fierce lions and tigers with tusks and saber teeth. Among them was even a large adult snow elephant.

The chieftain was utterly astonished; he had never seen such a powerful person. So the entire tribe worshipped him even more, even regarding him as a savior.

Shao Xiaoli and Blood Feather Lord, basking in his glory, enjoyed their free food and accommodation in peace.

During this month, he had also ventured into deeper regions. Because he carried the withered branch, the laws of time could not affect him. He had even reached places deeper than where this tribe's ancestors had explored.

But he didn't continue further, because this world seemed to have no end.

Seven days after his arrival, both the Sword Scripture and the Golden Crow awakened. The Golden Crow seemed to love it here; every night, Ning Changjiu would release it, allowing it to devour the darkness. Sometimes, the entire night sky would be consumed, turning into a molten gold color, which the tribesmen一度 believed was a divine miracle.

The spirit of the Sword Scripture felt very ashamed of its unconsciousness. It kept silent about the fact that its full-strength sword strike failed to kill Siming. Even if it did mention it, it would blame Ning Changjiu's "weak" body.

Ning Changjiu and Shao Xiaoli didn't communicate much these days.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Shao Xiaoli rarely left her house. She diligently cultivated in the earthen hut, and because of the constant supply of meat, her face had become a bit rounder, making her resemble the goddesses in the murals even more.

They each did their own things, and the days passed in a mix of peace and anxiety.

Finally, after a month, Ning Changjiu met someone he had never expected.

He met Yechu.

Yechu arrived at dusk.

He came from the northern wasteland.

Even though Yechu was now in the form of a teenager, Ning Changjiu recognized him at a glance.

Ning Changjiu had never considered him a friend.

"Finally, I see you," the young Yechu said with a kind smile.

He wore simple clothes woven from grass and had a braid tied with a grass rope, looking like a savage from a primeval forest, yet his face was still as handsome as a young nobleman's.

Ning Changjiu asked, "Where did you come from?"

Yechu pointed to the north: "From that cursed land... Even I couldn't escape the influence of all the curses. When I emerged a month ago, I was an infant, but by the time I reached here, sixteen years had passed."

Ning Changjiu frowned. "Why did you come from there?"

Yechu smiled, "That's not important. I came to see you because I want to make a trade."

"A trade?" Ning Changjiu narrowed his eyes cautiously.

Yechu smiled and said, "In exchange, I am willing to tell you how to leave this world."

Ning Changjiu watched him silently, gesturing for him to speak first.

Yechu said, "The way to leave this world is simple: become a god, carry the complete sundial, and go to the very end. Then you can open the seal of the绝地 (Absolute Land) and ascend back to the Divine Realm above."

Ning Changjiu asked, "Only a god can leave?"

Yechu nodded, "Yes."

"But there can only be one god."

"That is also why Siming and I are locked in a struggle to the death."

"If that's the case, everyone who wants to leave should be your enemy," Ning Changjiu said.

Yechu replied, "Yes, but other ordinary mortals, even if given ten thousand years, cannot leave. You are different from them, and neither of us is a match for Siming right now. So, we should first cooperate to kill her, and then we can contend for the final authority."

Ning Changjiu looked at him and said seriously, "In your current state, I could easily kill you."

Yechu smiled and nodded, "I hope you can protect me."

"Why?"

Yechu said, "You must have seen Shao Xiaoli's Northern Dark Divine Sword, right? Didn't you notice something wrong with that cultivation method?"

This was something Ning Changjiu had discussed with the Sword Scripture on the first day.

Ning Changjiu said, "That sword technique is incomplete."

Yechu smiled, "That cultivation method is called the Asura God Scripture, with eighty-one stances. I possess eighty of them, lacking only the Northern Dark Divine Sword. I am willing to exchange these eighty stances with you for the final one."

Ning Changjiu asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll kill you after the exchange?"

Yechu said, "Our common enemy is Siming. It benefits neither of us if the other dies."

Ning Changjiu gave him a deep look and said, "You are so generous; are you certain I cannot master it?"

Yechu said, "You've been here for about a month now, I presume, and you probably haven't found a way to defeat Siming. Now I bring hope. Whether you can master it or not, you have no reason to refuse me."

Ning Changjiu didn't pretend and readily agreed.

Yechu looked at him calmly and continued, "This cultivation method symbolizes the entire fortune of Duanjie City. If you and I cultivate it, our fortunes will be linked. So, if you still want to kill me, it's best to give up that thought. After Siming dies, we will have plenty of time to contend."

Finally, before nightfall, the trade was concluded.

"These are all the cultivation methods, and this is the cultivation sequence," Yechu handed over the secret manuals with a sincere smile.

He didn't know if Ning Changjiu was truly a reincarnated deity. If he wasn't an Asura, that would be for the best, as he might suffer a cultivation deviation, eliminating an enemy for Yechu.

And even if he truly was a reincarnated deity, he certainly couldn't cultivate this method faster than Yechu.

Because this was true divine art, even the most exceptionally talented cultivators would need at least twelve years. But Yechu was different; he had accompanied the Divine Master and read fragmented parts of this method very early on.

Moreover, the books Yechu gave Ning Changjiu had subtle, almost imperceptible, yet fatal errors in their sequence.

That night, Ning Changjiu went through the eighty volumes of books.

His brows furrowed tighter and tighter.

Because he found that the connected content became more and more familiar the more he read...

In his memory, the dust obscuring his vision cleared further, and he suddenly recalled one of the fundamental cultivation methods that every disciple of the Guanshan School had to practice.

That method was almost identical to this complete divine art!

In his previous life, from the age of four to sixteen, he had cultivated this very art for twelve full years.

And he realized that the sequence of the books Yechu gave him seemed to be incorrect in some places...

He thought for a while and swapped the positions of two books.