Chapter 300: Reunion

The moment the brush fell, the state of mind was suddenly shaken.

In a flash, Li Piaoqing was standing in the side hall of the Cuiyu Sect again, gritting her teeth and gripping the blood-stained sword blade before her chest; in another flash, she was standing back before the painting, coldly staring at the suffocating young girl before her.

This scene had repeated I know not how many times. The two states of mind were locked in a struggle, and finally, Li Piaoqing was the first to thoroughly see through her own mental tempering. Gritting her teeth and hissing, she pulled the sword blade from her chest. The images of Shen Yao and Yi Chengxin before her were still constantly shifting, and Li Piaoqing exerted all her strength to thrust it into her throat.

When she was pinned to the wall, amidst the dripping blood, that face finally fixed into the likeness of Yi Chengxin.

The state of mind dissipated, and the fourth Chuan Xin Zhu burned steadily in her chest.

Li Piaoqing gritted her teeth and pressed down on the dagger in her hand. Yi Chengxin was pinned to the wooden pillar of the courtyard by her, and that hellish scroll remained vividly spread out beside them.

The young girl before her had eyes that were completely pitch-black, and countless beads of sweat slid down her face. Li Piaoqing clearly felt that she was being forced into a desperate situation.

"—Is this what you believe in so firmly? Every person you look forward to and cherish became what they are in the painting because of it."

Yi Chengxin gasped for air, blood squeezing out from her throat. Gradually, she lowered her head and remained motionless.

The wind and snow in the courtyard were silent. After a long time, Li Piaoqing slowly relaxed her grip on the dagger.

Then, she suddenly stiffened. The girl's low voice had sounded once more.

"Yes," she said with a smile, "this is the fate we must bear."

The girl suddenly raised her head. What dispelled the pitch-black in her eyes was not fire, but a pair of bright, crimson-gold vertical pupils!

She grabbed the blade at her throat.

Li Piaoqing's heart and lungs tightened suddenly before these dragon pupils. She immediately released the dagger in her hand and, before that crimson-gold could truly press down, she flew out of this courtyard.

The state of mind collapsed instantly.

The two returned simultaneously to the ancestral grounds overflowing with fluorescent light. The true reality finally descended, as if after a long dream. In the entire space, for a moment, there was only the hoarse panting of the two young girls.

Li Piaoqing supported herself on the ground, sweat dripping from her forehead. This unfamiliar battle of states of mind truly left her feeling as if she had collapsed, and a sense of vertigo tightly enveloped her head.

Li Piaoqing had naturally been held back by her mind and could not reach her own body, while Yi Chengxin, even though she possessed the Chuan Xin Zhu technique, was already somewhat sluggish and exhausted after successive mental battles.

But that was all.

Li Piaoqing's sweat dripped more and more, while in the center of the great array, the other girl's breathing had already calmed down once again.

A faint voice came over: "You actually dare to cultivate the Five Poisons Chuan Xin Zhu?"

Li Piaoqing raised her eyes, staring at her with white eyes.

"Sister is truly as reckless as ever." Mockery appeared in Yi Chengxin's eyes. Li Piaoqing suddenly felt as if she had been pierced through.

She gasped for air with all her might, truly feeling the limits of her body.

Dragon descendants who cultivated the "Five Poisons Chuan Xin Zhu" since ancient times all prepared from childhood. Each Chuan Xin Zhu was meticulously carved and countless preparations were made before they could finally be connected in one go to achieve the Five Hearts.

However, Li Piaoqing had not had time to look at its cultivation method, nor did she have the leisure to care. When she walked into this step, she had only just understood her own Candle Sword, and her understanding of the "Five Poisons" was still a blur.

But even if it was drinking poison to quench thirst, she had to walk in.

"Little sister... were you frightened?" Li Piaoqing managed a smile, struggling to straighten her waist, and leaned back against the wall.

"The 【Chunshou】 Entering Spirit style that Sister prepared truly caught me off guard. I truly did not expect that you could master this technique after entering the realm for only a few moments. Unfortunately... even if I told Sister the Heart Poison, Sister did not find a way to crush it, did you?"

Li Piaoqing gasped, waiting for Yi Chengxin to say a few more words, but the girl seemed to have already seen through her.

"When I carved the Candle Sword Heart Poison in front of you, I never thought that it would be crushed by someone learning it on the spot." Yi Chengxin looked at her indifferently. "Even if you truly cultivated the Five Poisons Chuan Xin Zhu, you would only die a little slower, let alone now that you have placed yourself on the edge of a cliff."

"Although Sister looks like she is about to fall off herself, just in case, I will give Sister another push."

Li Piaoqing finally regained some connection to her body. She looked at Yi Chengxin and said in a low voice, "The first four candles were all helped by little sister. If little sister pushes me again, perhaps I will have cultivated it."

"Hmm, perhaps." Yi Chengxin looked at her coldly. "However, I have already completed it a step ahead."

She looked straight into Li Piaoqing's eyes, her pupils like the abyss of the starry sky.

Under such a gaze, Li Piaoqing, whose mind had been invaded several times, suddenly felt the shudder of being overlooked and forced to death, almost curling into a ball.

She struggled to move her gaze behind the girl, only to see that the ten small mirrors had all fallen into darkness.

Three hundred years of Chuan Xin Zhu cultivation had all returned to one body.

Like a snail without a shell exposed before a sharp beak, all the darkness in Li Piaoqing's entire state of mind was exposed without exception in the girl's eyes.

Just as she had just said, whether you possess the 【Chunshou】 Immortal Authority or have a firm will and extraordinary talent, wanting to surpass her in the art of the mind was always a fantasy.

The current generation's Edict Child, cultivated with all the strength of the Pupil Lineage Dragon Descendants for thirty years, had long since reached perfection in her "Chuan Xin Zhu Transmission" cultivation. After entering the ancestral grounds of her own clan, she had become a Heart-Mind Sorcerer who was about to face the Divine Edict.

Li Piaoqing had only been able to struggle to support herself, and now, the one counterattack she had built with all her heart had not caused the opponent any visible damage.

Thus, the offensive that was enough to crush everything finally arrived.

Yi Chengxin looked at the young girl under the wall. After receiving three hundred years of cultivation, she clearly saw the young girl's fifth Chuan Xin Zhu.

Or rather, the Candle Embryo.

Unlike the other four bright candle flames, this one was hidden in the deepest part, and it was covered in mist, with the yin and yang above and below not yet distinct.

It was indeed just as she had just said, even without this push, the young girl who recklessly touched the "Five Poisons Chuan Xin Zhu" would fall into the abyss herself.

Yi Chengxin mercilessly pointed at this Candle Embryo.

It was like a sharp beak piercing the softest heart.

Without any power to resist, the young girl's body suddenly stiffened, like a bird struck by a sword in an instant.

With the Five Poisons cultivation obstructed and the 【Chunshou】 Entering Spirit style failing, Li Piaoqing's mind realm truly had no power to resist. With her declining and the other rising, she was now completely meat on the chopping block.

It was no longer a test of sword and poison reversed; a chaotic storm instantly seized her soul. Completely different from before, she could not see clearly what she had to persist in or what she had to resist—the "Five Poisons Chuan Xin Zhu" was waiting for the firmness of this Chuan Xin Zhu, but before the young girl could see it, it had already been detonated a step ahead.

The last of the Five Poisons, love, burned the hottest poisonous flame in the young girl's heart.

Various suffocating memories covered her mind simultaneously.

For a moment, she saw Seeing Pei Ye walking out of the Cuiyu Great Hall bathed in blood, with the mountain-like corpses of the Cuiyu Sect members behind him; the next moment, she was wearing the Cuiyu Sect uniform, holding the Lost Jade Sword, and piercing his heart from behind in the boy's unbelievable look back; in another flash, the boy and his sect were simultaneously rushing toward her with hatred.

Chaos.

This was the most unsolvable state of mind. Before the young girl could even see the spear and shield clearly, they had already been quenched with the coldest and most beautiful poisonous light. She did not know what to hold onto at all, and everything was stabbing at her most vulnerable places.

Every time before, she knew that she had to abandon one thing for another, but this time she did not know where these images came from, nor did she understand why Seeing Pei Ye and Cuiyu had become a fog covering her mind.

It was not imposed on her by Yi Chengxin; the Chuan Xin Zhu could only be produced from the depths of one's own heart. Rather than saying Yi Chengxin pierced her with a quenched sword, it was better to say she lit a piece of damp wood in the deepest, most hazy part of her heart. Thick smoke covered everything. Now, what she was facing was not Yi Chengxin, but the questioning of her by the "Five Poisons Chuan Xin Zhu."

And she could not even see the question clearly.

The Candle Sword with three hundred years of cultivation pressed down. Li Piaoqing trembled all over, cold sweat falling in streams. The pain of the previous four mental temperings combined was not as intense as this one. She did not completely fall into the state of mind, because the state of mind was also constantly breaking and reorganizing. In fact, the young girl could no longer distinguish between reality and mental tempering. In many moments, she thought that those unacceptable things had already truly happened.

This was the precursor to the collapse of the mind.

Yi Chengxin sat in the array, looking indifferently at the young girl who was about to go mad. The Five Poisons Candle connected Li Piaoqing's entire mind into a solid whole, so before it was completed, the collapse of one candle was the collapse of five candles, and the collapse of five candles... was the collapse of the entire mind realm.

The young girl's heartstrings were still stretched tightly, but they had already emitted a trembling sound of being unable to support it. Perhaps in a moment, perhaps in a few breaths, the young girl's consciousness would collapse into chaos.

The light spots in the air became brighter and denser, and that high, indifferent, and secluded aura was already echoing in the entire space. On the flat stone ground, the purple buds that had emerged from the beginning had now grown to the size of a palm at a speed visible to the naked eye, the bamboo tips as sharp as a sharp spear tip.

Li Piaoqing had indeed fallen into a confused and desperate situation, but in such powerlessness to resist, she looked at Yi Chengxin, pale and trembling, and squeezed out a vague murmur: "I never thought of defeating you in a mental battle anyway."

With a "crack," it was the crisp sound of something being gently snapped off.

————

The gate of the ancient mansion.

Seeing Pei Ye lowered his body, his horse darting like a black dragon. It was a famous steed, one in a hundred. Supported by the master's true Qi, it galloped up the mountain in one breath, its hooves and legs not dragging for a moment.

When he approached the gate, he jumped up with his sword, skimming over the courtyard wall like a startled shadow, leaving only the lone horse to stop before the gate.

The boy had come to these dragon descendant ancestral grounds for the first time. All the high-profile actions before were for this mansion hidden in secret. He should have been cautious, peeling them out one by one like a surgeon, but at this moment he could not care about anything. He rushed to the back of the courtyard with his sword, and any sporadic people who blocked him were slashed in the throat by his snow sword style.

All the way to the back hall of the ancestral shrine, a hole that seemed to lead directly to the Nine Netherworld was exposed on the floor. The Chi fire opened the way in front, and the boy rushed down again without slowing his speed at all.

In the long and deep corridor, he did not slow his speed at all. He saw the mutated corpses left in the stone room, and he also saw the broken cage. Then there was another section of the corridor. The purple bamboo mentioned by the black cat became taller and denser, and the cold white fog gradually made everything blurry.

Until the front suddenly opened up, and a huge cave was revealed before him.

It was truly an accidental entry into a secret realm. Purple bamboo, ghostly fire, white fog, hidden in this deep underground that never saw the sun. Seeing Pei Ye raised his eyes to look, and several corpses with green clothes and sharp claws lay stiffly on the ground. Their hearts were still beating, and their breathing was still running, but they had already fallen asleep forever.

This strange scene made the boy's mood tighten again. He gritted his teeth and flew across this bamboo forest. When he arrived before the altar, the black cat and Zhanxin Liuli were already waiting here.

On the stone wall, the Lost Jade Sword that was slanted into it made him freeze in place.

"Where... where is she?" the boy said hoarsely.

The black cat gestured to the side, and a huge gate nearly three zhang high was there.

But that did not seem to be a gateway that could be reached, but rather like a decoration carved on the stone wall—the ten-thousand-jin Dragon-Breaking Stone had completely cast it shut. The stone gate was carved with complex patterns, and no matter who looked at it, they would not think it was a place that could be opened.

"This is a connected array." The black cat pointed to the huge fire talisman on the stone wall. "Chi fire is the source. After lighting this symbol, the mysterious Qi will surge toward the array patterns on the stone gate, and this gate can be opened."

"Li Piaoqing saw through this point. She did not know how to close it, so she directly pierced the array pivot with her sword, destroying this entrance." The black cat continued, "But she could not stop Yi Chengxin from entering before the stone gate closed, so she followed her in."

"..." Seeing Pei Ye pursed his lips. He walked to the altar, grasped the hilt of the Lost Jade, and pulled it out. "How long has she been inside?"

"Estimated about two quarter-hours."

Seeing Pei Ye looked at the tall and great stone gate, cold and silent, with no sound coming from inside.

He resisted the urge to go over and knock or shout, and said in a low voice, "We... can't get in?"

The black cat shook its head: "No method found yet."

"..." Seeing Pei Ye felt his throat tighten a little and said hoarsely, "Who exactly is Yi Chengxin?"

"No martial arts realm." The black cat said, "But she is the Edict Child of this generation of the Edict-Receiving Clan. According to current news, she masters a mental art called 'Chuan Xin Zhu Transmission'."

"... Mental art?"

"The dragon descendant's secret edict-receiving art."

Seeing Pei Ye could not speak for a moment.

Mental means, he had only seen three types so far.

【Chunshou】 Immortal Lord summoning spirits, 【Zhanxin Liuli】 heart-slashing, and Heart Amber magic tools.

Seeing Pei Ye did not know what "Chuan Xin Zhu Transmission" was, but he knew how a battle situation was won or lost.

It was nothing more than "knowing the enemy" and "what one is good at."

The young girl had never come into contact with any mental art, and everything mysterious and ghostly about the Candle World Sect was completely strange to her. What she was good at was nothing more than true Qi and sword arts.

However, the Lost Jade Sword was now stuck here, not even stained with the opponent's blood.

He was glad that the young girl had finally discovered the true enemy and had not been pierced in the throat by a dagger attacking from behind, but the young girl's means were clearly reflected in the opponent's eyes, while the young girl was completely ignorant of everything about the opponent.

In a dangerous fight, this was a situation that could be fatal in one move.

Seeing Pei Ye tried to put himself in Yi Chengxin's position, only to feel that there were a hundred ways to take the life of this reckless young girl.

He could not control his restless mind, pressed his sword, and stood before the altar motionless, his brain spinning wildly, his limbs stiff as iron.

This stone gate could not be blasted open, even if he borrowed the true Qi of the woman far away in Kongdong, it would be the same, but there was clearly only this one gate here. These green-clothed people had set up such an impregnable blockade to block something.

"Can only wait for the Chi fire to recover before trying to repair it." The black cat said softly, "But the time will be relatively long."

Seeing Pei Ye kept his face stiff and said nothing, his palms a little damp. He touched his lapel, but suddenly touched a round, hard object.

Not the Bronze Sparrow Talisman, but that round pendant of Zhang He's.

The black cat's gaze immediately focused: "Take it out."

Seeing Pei Ye was stunned for a moment and took out this pendant. Although he did not sense its beating, on the dense and complex patterns, faint white fluorescent light was indeed leaking out.

"... Why is it glowing?"

"There is an array connected to it nearby." The black cat stretched out its claws and pressed lightly on it. "What kind of pendant is this?"

"It's the magic tool I captured from the Huan Si Lou that I asked you about before." Seeing Pei Ye said, "It took out a letter from a copper wall that was completely sealed—"

When he said this, before the black cat could speak, Seeing Pei Ye's voice paused.

He stared fiercely at this pendant: "It can..."

The black cat said nothing, its green eyes staring tightly at this small round moon pendant. A fire line as thin as a hair snaked out from under its claws and drilled in.

Seeing Pei Ye immediately felt the Chi fire source in his abdomen, which had just recovered a little, flow toward it, and at the same time, the magic tool in front of him was being slowly peeled open by a delicate technique—those complex array patterns were connected one by one by the Chi fire, and then, like orange pulp being peeled from orange segments, the array patterns were precisely spread out in the air.

Seeing Pei Ye held his breath. It was the first time he had seen the black cat appear so strenuous and solemn when manipulating Chi fire. Slowly, the entire set of array patterns was peeled off by it.

It was actually more than a zhang long.

"What is this?"

"Jade Ke Array."

"..."

"This pendant did not use Water Central Jade Ke, but used array patterns to outline mysterious Qi, simulating its characteristics."

"Isn't this..."

"Perfection." The black cat said, "If this thing could be distributed to the Eighth Life in the Huan Si Lou, then combined with the Soul-Taking Bead, there should be a person with divine attainments in the art of tools in the Shao Long Huan Si Lou."

Seeing Pei Ye frowned.

"Fortunately, because of this, we don't need Water Central Jade Ke to drive this array." The black cat slowly spread this set of array patterns on the ground. The two stood in the array, and with Zhanxin Liuli's mysterious Qi passing through the array pivot, in an instant, fluorescent white light shot into the sky.

The firefly-like light spots flowed into a river reaching the sky, and like a silver belt hanging upside down from the sky.

Seeing Pei Ye suddenly realized that he had experienced a similar feeling. The real world was distorted and erased, and a connection was tied in the void. This was the world of mysterious Qi, where there was only this place and the other shore.

He could feel an unspeakable position and raised his hand to connect there.

The fluorescent white scattered into light spots, and the Chi fire on the ground dissipated.

They were already inside the stone gate.

No fighting, no voices, complete silence filled the entire space.

A wisp of bloody smell entered his nostrils, but before that,

Without preparation, and without needing to pass through the corridor again, they appeared directly in the array. In the huge space without cover, everything was reflected in his eyes directly.

The young girl's corpse lay on the ground.

A piece of purple bamboo shoot was cut into her throat, and several strands of blood flowed along her fine white neck, disappearing into her collar.

Li Piaoqing sat cross-legged with her eyes closed, sitting very close to it. Her face was pale, her body trembling, and ancient, obscure scriptures carved all over the walls surrounded her.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 301 =====