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Novel: [The Primordial Law]
Volume 6: [Battle for the True Inheritance]
Chapter 26 (567): [Return to the Soul Sea]
(26th of Volume 6)
Translator: Shadow Knight AK
Editor: Shadow Knight AK
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The aged figure sat cross-legged, clad in a gray Daoist robe, his white hair and weathered face devoid of emotion.
Li Weiyi had just risen to his feet, intending to approach his master.
But the game of chess (Go) had already ended.
His master, still seated in meditation, exchanged a few words with his opponent before turning and walking to the edge of the stone platform, where he leaped off.
"Master!" Li Weiyi shouted, rushing to the edge and leaping after him.
The sensation of weightlessness jolted Li Weiyi awake, snapping him out of his intense longing.
He found himself plummeting rapidly, the biting cold wind roaring in his ears.
Immediately, he released Spiritual Light, condensing a luminous mist beneath his feet to cushion his fall.
After stabilizing himself, Li Weiyi wiped the tears from his eyes and scanned his surroundings, but his master was nowhere to be seen.
"An illusion, a phantom... If it were truly Master, how could he ignore me? Master is dead. I buried him with my own hands," Li Weiyi muttered, performing the Jade Void Breathing Technique to calm his turbulent emotions.
"Waaah!"
A piercing, high-pitched shriek echoed through the air.
A Ferocious Soul with a shriveled face and disheveled hair surged from the Soul Sea below, lunging at Li Weiyi, who stood suspended in the luminous mist.
"Boom!"
Li Weiyi flicked his finger, a blade of Spiritual Light slicing through the Ferocious Soul, scattering its essence into nothingness.
He opened his eyes again, lifted his gaze, and looked up at the towering stone pillar before him, over two thousand meters tall.
It stood majestic and imposing, its sheer cliffs rising solitary from the boundless Soul Sea.
Who could have transported such a colossal monument to this desolate realm?
The four ancient, massive bird-track characters - "Red County (Chi Zhu) Ancient Road" - were carved as if by a divine sword, their strokes profound and brimming with overwhelming Spiritual Qi.
Li Weiyi never imagined the Spatial Passage from Shaoyang Star would lead here.
Four years ago, when he passed through this place, he never suspected such a breathtaking scenery awaited atop the stone pillar.
"Whoosh!"
He soared upward, landing on the pillar's summit.
His gaze drifted involuntarily to the spot where his Master had been meditating moments before.
"Perhaps it wasn't an illusion. Could Master have truly meditated here, playing Chess (Go) with someone in this place?"
Below the stone pillar, the Soul Sea stretched endlessly, teeming with billions of wandering souls.
Roars, wails, screams, and the sounds of tearing flesh echoed ceaselessly, an eternal symphony of suffering that had persisted unchanged for millennia.
Li Weiyi sat in the spot where his Master had been.
He stared at the ten-zhang-square Go board.
No matter which angle he viewed it from, he could no longer discern the Heavenly Coordinates of heaven and earth.
The moment Li Weiyi looked up, every star in the low-hanging sky above seemed like a gateway, spewing forth countless souls that plunged into the Soul Sea.
It was terrifying yet magnificent, dwarfing any meteor shower in scale.
In the distance, the sea was shrouded in leaden-black, ghostly clouds.
The Bronze Warship had emerged from these very clouds, sailing past the base of the stone peak.
Li Weiyi couldn't help but wonder what his reaction would have been if he had looked up and seen a figure standing atop the stone peak back then.
He dared not venture into those boundless ghostly clouds.
Even if countless years had passed and terrifying creatures had surely evolved within the Soul Sea, the golden claw that had captured the Nine Infants was still beyond his current capabilities.
"There must be a reason why Shaoyang Star is connected to this place. Master and Eldest Senior Sister are likely no ordinary mortals, hiding some great secret."
"Is Master truly dead? If not, why would he deceive me?"
"What purpose did Shaoyang Star have in bringing me here?"
Li Weiyi meticulously searched the entire stone platform and circled the stone peak, but found nothing.
Lying back beside the chessboard, he gazed up at the low-hanging starry sky, and a thought suddenly struck him.
"Whoosh!"
He conjured massive wings of Spiritual Light on his back and soared upward.
An hour later, Li Weiyi returned to the stone platform, exhausted.
The stars seemed close enough to touch, but no matter how hard he flew, he couldn't reach them.
"If the Fusang Divine Tree is the epitome of yang, this place feels like the extreme of yin. How can there be so many wandering souls? Did the Bronze Warship truly bring us to the Ghost Wastelands of hell? Is Yingzhou a living land within hell?"
"I'll see if you're truly stars!"
Li Weiyi retrieved the Myriad Manifestations Staff-Spear, pointed the spear tip upward, and raised it above his head.
"Whoosh!"
A dazzling spectacle unfolded across the Soul Sea.
The starlight from the heavens coalesced into streams of radiant energy, converging at the peak of the stone spire.
Li Weiyi cautiously absorbed the starlight.
He found it far colder and more yin than the starlight he had absorbed in Yingzhou, imbued with a palpable aura of death.
Moreover, the amount of Starlight Radiance he could draw and manipulate here far exceeded what he could access in Yingzhou.
As he continued to absorb the starlight, a wisp of azure mist materialized within the hundred-zhang Spirit Realm between his brows, amidst the tri-colored Spiritual Light Flame.
"A fourth color?"
Li Weiyi felt a surge of excitement.
It's important to understand that a Psychic Master's Spiritual Power doesn't transform by absorbing just any light.
As long as the Spiritual Light's intensity increases after fusion, it can continue absorbing light indefinitely.
The golden, crimson, and white Spiritual Light Li Weiyi cultivated by absorbing the radiance of the Golden Crow, Fusang Divine Tree, and Book of Radiant Stars had already allowed him to match the Young Heavenly Emperors combat prowess within their shared cultivation realm.
If he progressed further, he wouldn't fall behind in the Holy Spiritual Master Realm.
Perhaps he could even catch up to those with True Disciples at the same cultivation level.
Li Weiyi sat cross-legged in meditation, positioning the Myriad Manifestations Staff-Spear before him as he continuously absorbed the frigid starlight radiance of this place.
Unfortunately, he couldn't weave a Cocoon of Time; the starlight he drew down would shatter it.
As time passed, Li Weiyi's body became enveloped in a cyan mist.
His mind grew calm, his Intent clear, allowing him to perceive his surroundings with exceptional clarity.
This perception flowed from the outside inward.
The cyan mist illuminated his inner world.
Previously, Li Weiyi could only sense his Meridian Veins, Ten Springs, and Qi Sea within his body; the rest remained shrouded in darkness and chaos.
Now, like a primordial world bathed in light, the mists receded, revealing what lay hidden within.
A thick, golden chain pierced through his crown, back, and tailbone, gleaming like divine iron.
Li Weiyi opened his eyes and murmured, "This must be my first Immortal Shackle - the Heavenly Shackle (Qiankun Shackle)!"
An Xianjing had previously told him that the Lingxiao Twin Rice Sect's ability to produce generations of powerful cultivators stemmed from their ability to harness Starlight, locate the Immortal Shackles within their bodies, and thus save vast amounts of time.
But he had found it far too quickly.
"Perhaps it's because the Starlight Radiance here is exceptionally dense."
Li Weiyi's Wind Mansion cultivation had reached the peak of the Ninth Heaven.
He needed only to condense the Immortal Golden Pill and break free from the Heavenly Shackle to attain Immortal Realm.
With the Six-Clawed Immortal Dragon Qi, condensing the Immortal Golden Pill wouldn't be too difficult.
However, breaking the Heavenly Shackle required years of channeling Spiritual Qi, constantly battering against it like water dripping through stone or carving through mountains.
This would gradually weaken and thin the lock until it shattered.
Li Weiyi wasn't in a rush to condense the Immortal Golden Pill in his Wind Mansion.
He had a bold idea he wanted to discuss with Master Coffin before making a decision.
"First, break through the Qiankun (Heavenly) Shackle. Without shattering it, even condensing the Immortal Golden Pill won't allow you to transcend to the Immortal Realm."
Li Weiyi remained atop the stone peak for five days, cultivating in seclusion, until Big Phoenix arrived to report an external situation, temporarily interrupting his practice.
Big Phoenix stayed in the Blood Mud Space, while the other six remained in the Clear Sound (Qingyin) Pavilion to accompany Yu'er.
Upon returning to the Clear Sound Pavilion, Li Weiyi was astonished.
"I was inside for five days?"
"What else did you expect?" Yu'er retorted with a shrug.
Li Weiyi had originally planned to take her to the Fire Abyss immediately after returning to Cave Void (Dongxu) Camp, but the delay had been longer than anticipated.
Big Phoenix reported, "Old Li, the blue-robed woman outside says the Deputy Sentinel Lord wants to see you."
Li Weiyi stepped out of the Clear Sound Pavilion.
There stood Qing Zijin, her slender figure radiant amidst the Spiritual Light mist. Her expression remained as icy as ever, forming a picturesque scene with the flowing stream, swirling mist, and towering Spirit Mountain behind her - a scroll depicting a worldly fairy.
"Whoosh!"
After observing her for a moment, Li Weiyi stepped out of the Formation and called out with a hearty laugh, "Captain, you've been waiting long enough! My apologies - I was severely injured and had to retreat into seclusion for recovery. This won't affect my Merit Points, will it?"
"My position as Captain is merely nominal. I have no authority to deduct your Merit Points."
Qing Zijin turned toward Spirit Mountain, where the Barracks Hall stood, her steps measured and graceful, her long hair flowing smoothly down her back.
"Let's go. I'm just here to deliver a message."
Li Weiyi hurried to catch up.
After walking for a while, Qing Zijin hesitated, struggling with her thoughts before finally speaking softly, "I can offer you at most a five-thousand-year-old Essence Herb. That's my absolute limit. I won't need it for long - three months, perhaps?"
"You want to borrow the spear-staff?" Li Weiyi asked.
"Yes!"
Li Weiyi replied, "Unfortunately, I can't lend it to you right now. It's currently essential for my own use. Perhaps another time? There's plenty of time ahead; no need to rush."
A five-thousand-year-old Essence Herb was worth around twenty million Yongquan Coins.
Qing Zijin had mustered immense courage, almost gambling her entire fortune, to ask Li Weiyi this favor.
She had never begged anyone for anything before.
Hearing Li Weiyi's response, Qing Zijin felt he was teasing her again.
Without a word, she quickened her pace, darting away.
She didn't resent Li Weiyi, only herself for daring to hope.
"Captain, don't misunderstand," Li Weiyi called after her.
Li Weiyi watched her retreating figure, sensing her anger - the kind that would brook no explanation.
He still thought the price for renting a five-thousand-year-old Essence Herb for three months was quite reasonable.
But the timing couldn't have been worse.
Inside the Barracks Hall atop Spirit Mountain, three medicine boxes lay on the table before Liu Tianchen, Spiritual Qi enveloping him and Li Weiyi.
"According to our intelligence, the Tai Yin Sect isn't certain Xie Wumian is dead. The Cave Void Camp must now undertake two critical tasks."
"First, someone must impersonate Xie Wumian and move around the camp."
"Second, Hai Envoy, one of the Twelve Tai Yin Envoys, has infiltrated the Cave Void Camp. We must use him to transmit false information."
Li Weiyi asked, "You want me to impersonate Xie Wumian?"
"You lack the experience. Mo Qin will handle that. I'm telling you this because... you've earned another merit!" Even Liu Tianchen couldn't help but admire the young man's keen insight, whether it was the Spirit Whistle or Xie Wumian's dying words.
As far as he knew, Li Weiyi had only glimpsed the Spirit Whistle once, at Liu Ye's place, before coming to the Cave Void Camp.
Liu Tianchen continued, "For killing Qin Zhengyang, Tang Wanzhou requested a 6,000-year-old Essence Herb as your reward, which he asked me to deliver to you."
"What do you want as a reward for killing Xie Wumian?"
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END OF CHAPTER
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