Chapter 88: The First Battle of Yajian

Luo Qi turned to grab the Ear Bone Stud from Du Zhengyi's hand, but it was already too late; a powerful surge of Yajian Zhili came rushing in from the void. In that instant, Luo Qi knew he was not seeing with his eyes. He did not know where the torrent originated, but Du Zhengyi, standing beside him, was like the bottom of a mountain valley, and in a flash, the flood came roaring and surging over.

"Luo Qi, don't touch it." Du Zhengyi's voice was as distant as if it were in another world.

Luo Qi did not care about his words; he himself was not even sure if he had touched the thing. He saw the torrent of Yajian strike heavily against the dam upstream of the valley floor. Luo Qi watched the dam tremble; the torrent struck the dam a second time, and the dam was almost slightly shaken.

"Luo Qi, get away." Du Zhengyi's voice was a bit clearer; it seemed he had already realized Luo Qi was in the Consciousness World and was also communicating with him through Yajian.

Luo Qi did not respond. He cautiously extended his tentacles of Yajian to touch Du Zhengyi's barrier. Upon contact, he immediately felt a wave of pain. His Yajian received the pain back, restoring it in his mental world as a violent headache. He winced in pain, his whole body shrinking back.

Luo Qi! Did your mother not tell you not to lick everything you see?

He knew this Yajian was transmitted to him by Du Zhengyi, carrying wisps of anger, but more so impatience—an urgency to drive Luo Qi away so he could stay behind to deal with this trouble.

As always, Luo Qi did not obey.

The torrent of Yajian struck Du Zhengyi's barrier for the third time. This time, the flood crashed almost madly against the dam of Yajian, and the dam trembled again. This time, the torrent of Yajian was provoked; it roared in the mental world, constantly slamming against the dam, even splitting into countless tributaries to search for cracks in the barrier.

The pain behind the barrier escalated even more violently. Luo Qi trembled as he sensed that it was the resonance produced by the Consciousness Attack on the damaged mental world. He did not know what the right thing to do was, but his ability to learn had always been good. He imitated the torrent of Yajian, pouring his own Yajian out as the same liquid within the mental realm, but he let it flow and coat along Du Zhengyi's dam, as if covering the earthen dam with a layer of active cement. The attack could no longer shake the dam.

His Yajian was powerful and strong. He stood before Du Zhengyi's Yajian and, without hesitation, opened his mouth to begin devouring the Yajian in that torrent. He tore and chewed at the fragments of Yajian he pulled off. Many fragments of light and shadow spun in his world like a revolving lantern, mostly without logical continuity. He saw a baby's smiling face and a woman in a qipao holding a pipa. He also heard painful roars, and he was shocked to realize that the torrent was actually capable of condensing a subjective Yajian, as if a person were standing right in front of him.

He stopped his speed of devouring; he did not really want to eat a person.

That Yajian immediately retreated. Luo Qi stayed in the mental world, confused, and suddenly Du Zhengyi's Yajian was transmitted over again.

Luo Qi, enter Guan Xinyue's Yajian; it will track you and discover her existence.

Luo Qi did not hesitate. He knew where Guan Xinyue was. In this empty and desolate Ancient Town, he could perceive the only few Yajian within the town's range. The Yajian of Du Zhengyi and Mahjong were like burning Volcanoes in this world. Guan Xinyue's human Yajian, because it lacked the ability to perceive the outside, was much weaker in his thermal imaging, but in this dark night, it was as obvious as a furnace.

He pushed aside the furnace lid, letting that human flame burn out. He sensed surprise and a trace of worry in Guan Xinyue's Yajian. He restrained his own Yajian and did not dash headlong into the furnace to rummage around.

Just this bit of flame was enough. The following torrent of Yajian stopped in its tracks, becoming tame and even gentle in front of the flame.

It's fine, it understands this is not a hostile act—Du Zhengyi was saying.

Luo Qi retreated and lingered for a while before Du Zhengyi's dam. He did not know if Du Zhengyi's headache was better. After hesitating for a moment, he extended his tentacles and patted Du Zhengyi's dam soothingly, a bit like patting a puppy.

Get lost!

The message Du Zhengyi transmitted to him was without hesitation.

Luo Qi retreated, returning completely to his own mental world, while simultaneously opening all normal perceptions to the outside world.

Luo Qi blinked, adapting to the brain's stimulation from real vision. Everything just now had lasted at least ten minutes to his Yajian. But he saw that the hand Guan Xinyue had extended to pass the Ear Bone Stud was just retracting, and at the same time, Luo Qi's shout had probably startled her; she was turning her head to look at him in surprise.

Everything had actually happened in an instant, he thought in shock, still unable to adapt to this huge time difference. When he was in the complete Consciousness Space, the flow of time was much faster than the outside. He suddenly became distracted, thinking that if he wandered completely in the world of Yajian, learning and living in the Consciousness World, would he have a young body and an aged soul when he returned to reality?

However, he had no time to let his mind wander. He saw that torrent of Yajian rapidly condensing. With the help of the energy stored in the Crystal, it formed a shape. An Old Mage appeared beside them. Luo Qi had once seen him wearing the robes of a Great Mage in the phantom generated by Zhao Zhiyan, but the current Great Mage was more real than any phantom. He wore a casual jacket, black trousers, and his eyes were gentle, calmly sweeping over everyone's faces before landing on his own granddaughter.

Guan Xinyue's lips trembled. She hadn't truly lost control when she saw the phantom that day, but today, for no reason, she also believed this was her grandfather. Her expression changed drastically. Suddenly, she was no longer the girl who faced everything alone and strong; she became a very small child. "Grandpa," she called out, choking with sobs. She stood up and walked toward the Old Mage, aggrieved tears rolling down in torrents.

"Xinyue." The old man's eyes were full of love, but also full of pity. "I am not your grandfather," he said softly.

Guan Xinyue froze, suddenly afraid to step forward again. But Luo Qi knew she was not afraid of traps or ghosts; she was just afraid that if she reached out her hand, her fingers would only pass through nothingness.

"I am just a copied piece of Yajian," he said sympathetically.

Guan Xinyue suddenly relaxed. "Yajian, isn't that just a soul?"

"Child," the old man looked at her with pity, "I am just a subset of Guan Yushan's Consciousness World. If Guan Yushan leaves too hurriedly, I will be responsible for saying goodbye to you on his behalf."