The True Self Awakens

The very instant the first ripple spread across Jiang Jinyue’s ice-bound psyche—

As if sensing that two individuals of immense importance to him were locked in confrontation, Mo Tingbei’s eyelids twitched incessantly, and his arms unconsciously pushed against the bed, as if struggling to break free from the abyss of slumber.

The lingering aftermath of the clash between the Blood of Nine Nether and the Grand Dao of Golden Core sent ripples of the Grand Dao spreading out like invisible waves. Within his Dantian (TL Note: The Dantian is a cultivation energy center in the body), his dormant spiritual power, like a school of sharks scenting blood, suddenly churned and grew restless.

The Blood of Nine Nether, as if possessing its own sentience, dared to risk complete annihilation to channel its immense power towards Mo Tingbei!

Jiang Jinyue hastily reached out to block it.

However, as if the Blood of Nine Nether had anticipated this, in that trillionth of a second, it boiled over once more!

It engulfed Lin Xiaoxiao’s entire spiritual power, her nascent pseudo-core (TL Note: A ‘pseudo-core’ is an incomplete or unstable version of a Golden Core, a crucial energy formation in cultivation), and even ninety-nine percent of its own essence, burning them all in a desperate blaze—targeting what its enemy was sure to protect, leaving no room for retreat!

“Pffft—!”

Upon the bed, Mo Tingbei, who had been sleeping as if dead, suddenly spewed a mouthful of dark crimson clotted blood, thick as ink and mixed with fragments of internal organs! His body convulsed and twitched violently, like a fish out of water, utterly beyond his control!

Within his shattered Dantian, the balance, fragile as a spider’s silk, that Jiang Jinyue had forcefully maintained with her unparalleled cultivation, was utterly shattered by the collision of several laws, emanating from outside the bamboo building and incredibly close to the world’s primordial essence!

Like a dam collapsing under the weight of the final straw, the delicate equilibrium sustaining his life force instantly crumbled like an avalanche.

This time, fate, ever capricious and cruel, seemed to have entirely turned its back on him.

The nascent spiritual power within him, painstakingly nurtured by Jiang Jinyue at immense cost and depletion of her own essence, and having just begun to take form, flickered like a faint candle in a raging storm. It struggled for only a brief moment, before, amidst the violent turbulence of his completely shattered Dantian, it let out a silent wail, utterly dissipating into oblivion.

The shadow of death, for the first time, descended with such chilling reality and frigid embrace, leaving not the slightest crack for hope to cling to.

Mo Tingbei’s consciousness drifted amidst boundless agony and bone-chilling cold, like a stubborn stone plummeting into an abyss of eternal silence.

Fragments of the past scattered through the darkness: sword light tearing through the rain, scorching blood rain, the hazy smiles of old friends… and that faint yet truly existing warmth named ‘life’…

Now, all transformed into death-invoking incantations, dragging him deeper into the eternal gloom.

****

“Senior Brother—!”

The instant she perceived Mo Tingbei’s life force ebbing away, Jiang Jinyue’s god-like, detached demeanor was utterly replaced by a panic that transcended all else!

She didn’t even spare a thought for Lin Xiaoxiao’s sudden anomaly, her figure vanishing from the spot in an instant, reappearing as if teleported beside the bed in the inner chamber!

“Senior Brother! Senior Brother, what’s wrong with you?! Don’t scare Yue’er!”

Her voice was sharp, laced with unprecedented fear and disarray. No longer caring for her usual dignity, her hands trembled as she reached out to touch Mo Tingbei’s convulsing body, yet she feared exacerbating his pain, leaving her utterly distraught.

After that instantaneous burst, the Blood of Nine Nether utterly withered, no longer possessing the strength to resist Jiang Jinyue’s oppressive aura.

However, it was, after all, the purest essence, almost comparable to the bloodline of the Nine Nether Lord himself in his prime. Even with only a negligible trace remaining, it was not something Lin Xiaoxiao could contend with.

As if sensing its inescapable plight, the defiled Blood of Nine Nether gradually calmed, beginning to slowly erode Lin Xiaoxiao’s last shred of clarity.

Jiang Jinyue, however, could no longer bother with such things.

She exerted all her abilities with desperate fervor, vowing to save Mo Tingbei.

At this moment, for the first time, she regretted never having chosen a Dao (TL Note: ‘Dao’ refers to a path or principle, often a philosophical or spiritual one, in cultivation) related to life in her three lifetimes.

Yet, no matter how Jiang Jinyue exerted herself, in Mo Tingbei’s perception, her efforts were merely a tender sprout, not even a branch, attempting to hold him back from the edge of a cliff.

The moment before his consciousness was about to utterly dissolve and merge into eternal nothingness—

In the deepest reaches of his utterly shattered, wildly ravaged Dantian ruins, in the absolute stillness where the very foundation of all ‘existence’ had turned to ash, a ‘thing’ darker than chaos, heavier than void, with immense difficulty, coalesced.

It was neither residual spiritual power nor the embers of life force.

It was, after his ‘Dao Foundation (TL Note: The Dao Foundation is the fundamental base of a cultivator’s spiritual path and power),’ ‘spiritual power,’ ‘life force,’ and even ‘memories’ had been utterly crushed and stripped away by the violent currents of law, in the instant all that could be stripped from the existence known as ‘Mo Tingbei’ had completely vanished—

From an abyss deeper than the soul, from the most primordial and undefilable point that constituted ‘Mo Tingbei,’ a core-like essence, burst forth a silent question, yet one capable of piercing all illusions:

“What is my true self?”

This very question was the coalescence of that profound darkness! It brought no power, ignited no life force, and could not even halt his descent. It merely, in that violent void signifying utter annihilation, with the most resolute stance, stubbornly carved out a boundary older than laws, more tyrannical than fate.

A boundary distinguishing ‘self’ from ‘non-self’! A boundary proclaiming its indelible existence!

Like the final singularity before the universe’s heat death, that coalesced core, dark and silent, yet contained an undeniable gravity. It was not light, but the last and only lament and declaration uttered before its own existence completely dissolved into nothingness:

“Though myriad tribulations befall me, and my form and spirit perish, my true self shall not die!”

In that very instant, as if something in the unseen depths had been stirred, Mo Tingbei’s eyes opened.

****

Buzz!

An ineffable tremor, yet one seemingly stemming from the deepest reaches of the soul, simultaneously seized the three women before the bamboo building without warning.

The pure spiritual energy gathered at Jiang Jinyue’s fingertips trembled violently, and the sorrow in her ice-blue pupils, having not yet dissipated, was instead captivated by this sudden tremor.

The sensation was profound and ethereal. It was not an external pressure or attack, but as if something at the core of her Dao Foundation, an existence long merged with her life’s essence, had been plucked by an invisible string, emitting a deep, distant resonance that only she could ‘hear’.

This resonance carried an ineffable familiarity and pull, and beneath her ice-bound heart-lake, something seemed to awaken for a fleeting, subtle moment.

Within Lin Xiaoxiao, the violently raging Nine Nether foul energy, at the instant this tremor descended, also experienced a moment of eerie stagnation.

The wildly spreading dark purple demonic patterns seemed to be caressed by an invisible force, their expansion momentarily slowing.

In the depths of her abyssal demonic pupils, that faint shred of clarity belonging to her, as if nourished by some incomprehensible power within this tremor, stubbornly flickered, temporarily resisting the engulfment of deeper darkness.

A primordial essence, once not her own but having become an intrinsic part of her through years of cultivation, allowed her, amidst extreme pain and chaos, to inexplicably perceive something, though it remained indistinct.

Even Ye Jinghuang, whose consciousness had long since succumbed and who lay slumped on the ground, had her unfocused pupils tremble ever so slightly.

It was as if, in the boundless dark dream, a distant yet warm thread of light briefly brushed past her divine soul, bringing with it an instinctive tremor and sense of yearning from the depths of her life’s imprint.

This peculiar sensation was not merely confined to the bamboo building.

In the depths of an unnamed palace, tens of thousands of miles from the Three-One Sword Sect, a snow-white, flawless Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox, curled up on a luxurious soft couch, had its lazily drooping tail tip suddenly snap taut!

Its nine fluffy, soft fox tails bristled like those of a startled creature, and a speck of spiritual light uncontrollably escaped from their tips. Its jewel-like crimson eyes snapped open, flashing with an indescribably complex emotion.

Something from an old acquaintance, long integrated into its bloodline, brought forth a tremor, making its entire white fur stand slightly on end, as if an invisible cold wind had swept across its spine.

It abruptly lifted its head, gazing towards some ethereal direction, and a nearly inaudible whimper escaped from deep within its throat.

On the edge of the Nine Nether, foul gales howled. A dashing woman, clad in tattered battle armor and wielding a blood-stained long spear, had just withdrawn her spear tip from the head of a massive foul beast.

Scorching, defiled blood splattered across her heroic face, and before she could wipe it away, her heart abruptly constricted without warning!

This heart, borrowed from another, had always been reliable, yet at this moment, an intense palpitation, so strong it nearly made her lose her grip on the spear, seized her without cause. It was as if a deeply cherished person was facing a great crisis, yet the very next instant, that person seemed to have just gained an unparalleled benefit.

She sharply turned her head, her gaze as piercing as lightning, penetrating layers of foul energy and spatial barriers, fixing intently on the direction of the Three-One Sword Sect.