Nightfall

In the wilderness, Long Qing was completely disheartened after his cultivation was crippled by Ning Que, to the extent that he even tried to abandon his faith and walk into the darkness. However, he did not die in the end and could not throw himself into Yama’s arms. It was also this desperate experience that led him to realize that a simple statement or conduct was not a true betrayal. For a firm believer like him, erasing veneration and faith for Haotian from the bottom of his heart would be the most difficult thing in the world; just as dispersing light from the sky.

Long Qing knelt in front of the Halfman Taoist and said, "Haotian’s will is too formidable and it has already surpassed my will. I do not know how to get rid of it."

The Halfman Taoist asked, "What is Haotian’s will?"

Long Qing thought about the conversation with the abbey dean on the boat in the southern sea and said, "Haotian is omnipresent and omniscient. All creations in the world are under his control. Therefore, our mental state is also controlled by Haotian’s will."

The Halfman Taoist did not think that he would have such a profound understanding of Haotian’s will and nodded with a touch of appreciation. He said, "The mental state is a subjective appearance of Haotian’s will. However, there must be two sides to everything, and Haotian’s will has its own objective existence. Have you ever felt it?"

Long Qing felt slightly disappointed, thinking about the objective side of Haotian’s will. Didn’t it signify Haotian’s godly stature? How could it be perceived by mere mortals?

"Haotian has an infinite stature. Just like the vast deep blue oceans break gravel into countless tiny pieces, Haotian has countless and shapeless forms. Sometimes it’s a beast, sometimes people, sometimes trees, sometimes a mountain, sometimes a sea, sometimes a sun, sometimes the world."

The Halfman Taoist slightly lowered his gaze. It was as if his dead tree-like face was covered with a sheen of holy Divine Light, with his voice devoid of emotion. It seemed as if the voice describing Haotian’s appearance did not actually come from his own mouth but from a cave predating the world itself.

There were no descriptions of Haotian in the West-Hill classics because, in the doctrines, any attempt to describe Haotian’s behavior was considered an extremely disrespectful and blasphemous act. This was the first time Long Qing had heard anyone openly describing Haotian. Although the descriptions seemed simple, it made his Taoist Heart tremble violently.

His Taoist Heart shivered. Besides hearing about Haotian’s godly image, he finally confirmed that only half of the Taoist priest’s deformed body remained lying on the couch, and the fact that he had already broken through beyond the Five States!

Only those practitioners who could break through the Five States and enter the Tianqi state were fortunate enough to see Haotian’s godly image for themselves, and only those talents were allowed to openly describe Haotian’s image!

A Haotian Taoism predecessor of the Tianqi state was actually felled by a sword, his body split in two. Long Qing could not help but feel that the Headmaster of the Academy and Ke Haoran were extremely terrifying!

The Halfman Taoist seemed to know what Long Qing was thinking at that moment. He slowly opened his eyes and said, "Haotian can appear in any shape in the world; anything grand, solemn, quiet or self-evidently mighty. We can’t be great, we can only be powerful."

"The powerful and humble non-believers in the Academy can completely wipe out Haotian’s will, because from the very beginning they never truly believed in Haotian, and it is difficult for a Haotian Taoism disciple to do this. So, this time I’m going to tell you Haotian’s real description."

Long Qing’s voice trembled and he asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Since you cannot wipe out Haotian’s will, you have to try to forget it. If you never know what Haotian is, how can you forget it?"

The Halfman Taoist looked at him and said, "You have to know it before you forget it."

Long Qing seemed lost in thought, then silently bowed for a long time.

No one knew how long the luminous pearls on the cave’s stone walls had been glowing. He sat on the spotlessly white couch and his hair waved carelessly with the wind. He finally raised his head and looked calm.

The Halfman Taoist looked slightly anxious and asked, "Have you forgotten?"

Long Qing asked, "Forgotten what?"

"Hahahaha..."

The Halfman Taoist laughed and stretched out his hands in excitement. He wanted to pat his thighs to let out all the pain and despair he had suffered after waiting for so many years.

With one hand patting the wolf’s fur, the taoist priest recalled something that had not been forgotten for many years. He had already lost his legs, and he had no buttocks. He was only a pitiful distorted old taoist priest with only half of his body, and he cried in pain.

The shrill sound, akin to the weeping of a ghost lingered in the quiet cave.

Long Qing calmly watched the old taoist priest beat his chest like a madman and even occasionally grip his own throat until his face turned red. After the miserable sounds of crying and laughter had gradually died down, he said, "My Natal Item is a peach blossom."

There was a peach blossom in the lapel of his robes— a black peach blossom.

The Taoist priest blinked, looked at him and asked in a hoarse voice, "Why is it a peach blossom?"

Long Qing calmly said,"When I entered the No Doubts State, I did not settle on my Natal Item. Later when I was studying at the Revelation Institute, I heard the story of the Headmaster chopping peach blossoms in the West-Hill. From then on, I vowed to let the peach blossoms bloom allowing Haotian to illuminate the world. Thereupon, peach blossoms became the basis of my life."

Listening to these words, the taoist priest saw the bizarre look in his eyes. Long Qing’s expression was calmer. He smiled and said, "When I began walking on the cultivation path, my dream was to lead the Haotian Taoism to defeat the Academy. The occurrence of so many things during these years, especially the emergence of Ning Que had made my thoughts more direct and firm. I will devote my life to destroy the Academy and the Tang Empire."

The taoist priest looked into his eyes and saw a lot of things. He said, "Very good."

With that, the taoist priest heavily struck Long Qing’s left chest with his palm. A powerful force sprang forth from the palm and instantly penetrated through Long Qing’s muscles and ribs, piercing his heart!

Long Qing’s complexion suddenly turned pale, and his eyebrows tipped up like swords. It was extremely painful, but he did not think about avoiding it. At the moment, he did not try to escape the skinny yet horrible palm, because he clearly knew that the difference in states between him and the taoist priest was as vast as heaven and earth. Any attempt to escape the palm would be in vain, and he firmly believed that the taoist priest did not want to kill him. He just wanted him to forget Haotian just as he had instructed him.

The skinny hand of the Halfman Taoist seemed like a Green Lake that was erected on one side but had shrunk many times. A very quiet and beautiful aura had condensed on the surface of his palm. It was like the viscous lake water that would still give a clear impression. It was something a person couldn’t and didn’t want to tear apart.

"Your eyes are too black and white."

The Halfman Taoist stared at Long Qing’s eyes and said that he could not tell from the haggard look on his face whether he was crying or laughing.

Long Qing’s body trembled slightly. He knew that his gamble had paid off when he heard what the taoist priest said. His hopes were about to turn into reality. He looked at the taoist priest’s eyes with gratitude and shock.

Instantly, his black and white eyes gradually underwent extremely strange changes. The boundary between the black pupil and the white sclera was gradually blurred; the black pupil was getting lighter, and the white sclera was getting darker. They were getting closer to each other until his eyes turned completely gray.

As Long Qing’s eyes turned gray, a powerful attraction penetrated through his Ocean of Qi, pressing the Halfman Taoist’s skinny palm tightly to his left chest.

The Halfman Taoist had been expecting it and the look on his face did not change. In a moment, the flat lake that the palm had accumulated turned into a vast ocean, fiercely pouring into Long Qing’s body.

Long Qing shook violently, and the corner of his mouth started to ooze blood. His viscera had wounds that were invisible to the naked eye. His eyes were filled with traces of blood, but they were gradually washed and monotonously mixed with black and white, turning into a terrifying gray color.

He slowly closed his eyes.

The Halfman Taoist was already a Tianqi powerhouse who had crossed the Five States. Even though he was badly injured, Long Qing could not accept even half of his Psyche Power with ease.

At that very moment, Long Qing felt like his body was filled with wine which would explode the next moment. He felt that his chest had risen like a mountaintop which would crack open shortly after. He felt that his viscera was already destroyed by a powerful aura and had been smashed into mincemeat.

Fortunately, he forcibly preserved a trace of clarity in his Taoist Heart, which awakened the instant before the advent of disillusionment and he came to realize that the Perception State, consciousness, experiences, knowledge and Psyche Power he had endured at that time were intangible and invisible. Everything was an illusion, and no changes had occurred in his body.

He knew he had to endure the pain in order to gain a new life.

A more powerful new life.

...

...

The wrinkles on the taoist priest’s face seemed to have become deeper and lighter at the same time. The remaining half of his body leaned slightly forward to the edge of the couch, and his face was tightly pressed against Long Qing’s face. He looked at Long Qing, who gave the appearance of struggling persistently while keeping his eyes closed. He smiled and said with a trembling voice "Absorb more, absorb even more."

His laughter was unpleasant. His smile was very strange and filled with kindness and greed, which felt perverted. He was like an old demon in the dark mountain village who was breastfeeding his child.

By that time, there were several extremely powerful auras that penetrated the hard stone walls and quietly came inside the cave. Each powerful aura represented a Haotian Taoism practitioner from that cave on the peak. These Haotian Taoism practitioners did not interfere with the bizarre transmission, but silently paid attention to it. The priest became aware that these auras were very calm and were hiding extremely complex emotions.

Long Qing did not notice this.

His pale face was suddenly filled with a strange excitement and turned red. A squeaking sound came out of his throat. He was exerting strength like a newly born cub, with closed eyes and furrowed brows, desperately sucking all the nourishment, until he felt extremely intoxicated.

The taoist priest looked at Long Qing and his face revealed a satisfied smile, perhaps a little too excited or something else. The waist cavity that was cut open by the sword that year, began oozing blood and dampened the snowy white cotton-padded mattress.

"Absorb a little more."

"Do not worry."

Suddenly, the smile on the taoist priest’s face disappeared. He gazed at Long Qing and with a voice as cold as steel, he said,"You can only take what I give. You cannot steal what I won’t give."

Long Qing still kept his eyes closed, as if he could not hear him.

He really looked like a hungry cub.