Chapter 61: Third Realm

The sun sets, the moon rises; the Big Dipper turns, the stars shift.

Without the turmoil of the mortal world, life in the mountains returned to tranquility once more.

Since learning that this great mountain might have a Mountain God, many villagers have felt reverence, becoming more devout whenever they enter the mountains; of course, some villagers dismiss it as fiction, but they dare not openly show disrespect.

Spring passes, summer solstice arrives; time drifts by.

The plants on the mountain turned from green to yellow, the midsummer heat had quietly faded, bringing an unintended chill; even the hysterical cicada chirping gradually grew weak.

Occasionally it burst out with one or two sounds, as if desperately trying to hold onto the lingering summer, until finally it could make no sound at all; the entire summer's cicada chorus finally came to an end at this moment.

The lingering summer's cicadas are exhausted; new autumn geese arrive.

Snakes are ectothermic animals, i. e., cold-blooded creatures; Ye Qin's perception of seasonal changes is not obvious, and furthermore he is devoted to cultivation.

Until a withered yellow leaf fell on his body, he lifted his head as if sensing something: 'Turns out autumn has already arrived.'

In autumn, the forests are fully colored; the fiery red maple leaves become a striking scene, fruits abound, countless small animals shuttle through the woods, preparing to store food for winter.

Compared to their busyness, Ye Qin is much more leisurely and natural, still maintaining daytime rest and nighttime cultivation.

Only the small animals around him kept changing, one batch after another.

Some of them have already met natural death; animals' lifespans are short by nature, which also gave Ye Qin a stronger sense of crisis—upon careful reckoning, he too has little time left.

Some fell prey to other beasts; nature is inherently cruel—survival of the fittest, either you eat me or I eat you, with no right or wrong.

Soon Ye Qin cast these thoughts aside, for the urgent task was to consolidate his cultivation.

As the weather turned cool, darkness came earlier, days shortened and nights lengthened, giving Ye Qin more time for cultivation.

Even so, he still felt time insufficient; a snake's life is too brief, and if he cannot find a way to extend his lifespan, Ye Qin can only stop here.

But Ye Qin is unwilling; heaven hardly gave him a second life, and by a twist of fate he embarked on cultivation, becoming the sole practitioner in this world.

The north wind howled, bringing winter's bitter cold; the once lush branches are now bare.

Ice-cold snowflakes fell silently; when Ye Qin walked out of the cave, the ground had already turned somewhat whitish.

Another year has passed; this is Ye Qin's second winter since his transmigration.

He came to the highest point of the entire mountain peak, watching the heavy snow fall like a white brush, outlining the distant mountains and rivers.

The ink color gradually faded into that whiteness, leaving only a blurry outline.

Moonlight shone on Ye Qin's body, as if glittering with rippling light; on the white snow it refracted into a different hue, as if one could see the osmanthus shadow on the Moon Palace.

The small animals behind Ye Qin gradually became few.

Because it is winter, some small animals cannot resist their nature and have entered hibernation; occasionally a few persist, remaining unchanged.

Ye Qin paid little heed to this; all things have their destined course.

However, he was somewhat curious whether those animals that managed to persist would undergo any changes later.

Snowflakes fluttered down; soon a light layer of white accumulated on Ye Qin's body.

Whether it was the light reflected from the snow or his own emanation, he looked full of mystery.

The long, cold winter finally passed; as the ice and snow melted, the first spring blossom quietly opened, signifying that spring was imminent.

Amidst the spreading spring light, after a year of tempering, Ye Qin's Second Realm was completely consolidated.

Now he is over three meters long, having broken the size limit of ordinary small snakes; his weight is about twenty catties.

Judging by appearance alone, one cannot tell what kind of snake he is; it can be said to be a genetic mutation.

Aside from the color of his scales, there is nothing about him that resembles his former self.

Perhaps because he was struck by lightning too severely initially, to this day some scorched-black scales have not yet fully shed.

But those scales now look not ugly at all, like obsidian, flashing with an inexplicable luster.

The newly grown scales, however, are like fine jadeite, as if they were heaven's finest masterpiece, believable as a work of art.

The ink color and emerald color intertwine, forming a unique hue; across the world, no second snake can be found that is identical to Ye Qin.

A singular existence in the world.

The consolidation of his realm did not make Ye Qin happy; instead, it left him somewhat vexed.

The moon hung from the branches; the ever-assiduous Ye Qin, on this day unusually, did not cultivate but instead stared at the bright moon above, lost in thought.

"Free contemplation, tempering the body with cosmic craft—by rights I should now be able to enter the third realm, 'Heaven-Earth Qi Tempering,' so why has there been no movement?"

Ye Qin felt as if he had entered a bottleneck; although he had reached the gate of the third realm, he could not push that door open no matter what.

"What exactly is the problem?"

Due to his irritability and unease, Ye Qin's snake tail kept striking the ground, yet after thinking for a long time he had no ideas.

"If this continues, I fear the situation will not bode well for me."

Although his scales are now smooth and lustrous, Ye Qin can sense that the vital energy within his body is rapidly draining.

For example, if his outward appearance were that of a teenager, his inner self would already be that of a seventy- or eighty-year-old.

Even with the nourishment of moonlight and the spiritual energy from cultivation, it cannot stave off the aging of his viscera.

A snake's five viscera are the gallbladder, heart, lung, liver, and intestine.

Ye Qin could feel that the functions of his bodily organs had greatly deteriorated.

The rise and fall of all things lies in heavenly will.

Aging and life and death are also the rules between heaven and earth, and the laws of operation, which ordinary strength cannot interfere with,

otherwise everything in this world would fall into chaos, and the Heavenly Dao would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen.

In fact, Ye Qin himself is not certain whether he has reached the third realm, or whether his lifespan will be extended; all this is merely his speculation.

After all, upon entering the path of cultivation, everything requires him to blaze and explore.

The two previous realms, he has tempered both body and spirit through continual cosmic refining; it can be said he has already reached their peak.

The third realm is 'Heaven-Earth Qi Tempering'; with the first two as foundations, the next should be a qualitative leap, leading Ye Qin to infer that his lifespan might be extended.

Since he was able to break through the limits of ordinary small snakes, it stands to reason that his lifespan could also possibly break through.

If he cannot extend his lifespan, then Ye Qin has only a dead end; he will eventually grow old and die. Conversely, if he manages to break through, he might still find a glimmer of hope.

This is also why he is anxious, the reason he wants to enter the Third Realm.

However, heaven seems to enjoy playing a joke on him; the closer this time comes, the more it leaves him hanging, and no matter how Ye Qin practices moon contemplation afterward, there is no progress at all.

And his lifespan is gradually nearing its end; his time is running out.

(End of chapter)