Chapter 126: Endless

Boundless darkness spread across the field of vision; regarding the aura of fear and his own inner weakness, Zhou Shuo had learned to accept these flaws. This acceptance was not numb pretence but the courage to face his fear and weakness head-on. A person standing between heaven and earth—why should they fear weakness?

Many consider themselves fearless because they wield power, authority, and wealth; but when that power, authority, and wealth are stripped away, the inner self they reveal is even more fragile than an ordinary person's. What Zhou Shuo encountered in the illusion was precisely his own weakness and fear after being stripped of any power.

In the silent fear and the weakness that lulls one to sleep, Zhou Shuo confronted his own heart; his consciousness endured the scouring of the fear aura, gradually seeming to touch a point, and his consciousness released a sheet of clear, moist light. The wordless fear aura that had surrounded him immediately retreated upon encountering this clear, moist light.

This clear, moist light, which dispels all fear and weakness, is none other than Nature Light—achieved without meditation or the techniques of the Past Amitabha Sutra, but by completely seeing through the self, emanating from inner nature, refining one's nature; this is the true meaning of cultivating Nature Cultivation.

"This is the dual perfection of nature and life." Zhou Shuo felt a vague, illusory sensation; his body drifted, leaving him out-of-body, his vision restored as normal, he stood in a clear bright heaven and earth, looking down at himself, having completely shed yin qi and solidified like a living person's soul, he sighed in his heart.

Ordinary cultivators all speak of the dual perfection of nature and life, but nature and life are actually one, like the two sides of a coin. When people confine nature cultivation to merely strengthening the soul, the practice falls into life cultivation—only cultivating life, not nature; this is the first sickness of cultivation. Practitioners of the Yang God World mostly fall into this flaw, so those who undergo the thunder tribulation, facing the heaven-and-earth will test within the tribulation, basically meet nine deaths to one life.

"This illusion seems not yet finished..." Zhou Shuo sighed at the profundity of the path of cultivation, looking up at the clear bright heaven and earth where he stood, he couldn't help but hesitate slightly; he had clearly broken through his inner fear and weakness, yet why had he not returned to his body, instead falling into this new illusion?

Zhou Shuo glanced around and saw himself standing on a lake surface, mist enveloping the surroundings, the lake water beneath his feet clear and pure. As he was at a loss, the thick mist ahead rippled slightly; from the dense fog emerged a figure clad in tight black robes embroidered with gold, white disheveled hair bound by a forehead cloth, left hand gripping a vermilion-sheathed long sword.

"Wei Zhuang?" Zhou Shuo looked at the figure emerging from the thick mist, his eyebrows twitching slightly, but his mind turned in an instant and he realized it was not right—this was a character manifested by the illusion; after the literary drama of overcoming wordless weakness and fear, the martial drama of facing challenge followed, using combat to shatter the barriers in the heart—this is the test of the second and third thunder tribulations, but…

"Do I fear Wei Zhuang this guy?" Zhou Shuo watched as Wei Zhuang approached, reaching out to grip the sheath of his shark-tooth sword, raising his eyebrows; he recalled that Hong Yi's illusion in the thunder tribulation had been his father Hong Xuanji—how could he see Wei Zhuang? He should have no fear of him!

Regardless of whether he felt fear, Wei Zhuang opposite had already fully drawn his shark-tooth sword, leapt onto the water surface, and lunged straight at him. Zhou Shuo stepped back and swayed to dodge, narrowly avoiding the incoming thrust, then retreated swiftly, placing himself within the striking range of a swordsman's long sword—an extremely dangerous situation.

"Damn it." Zhou Shuo watched the relentlessly pursuing Wei Zhuang, his body darting away in retreat, he couldn't help but curse—just as when facing fear one can only accept and let go, in this illusionary game his strength remained limited, his physical quality lacking its former agility and strength, or perhaps the opposing 'Wei Zhuang' had been upgraded to match his physical condition; that wasn't the main point, the main point was that he had no sword in his hand.

When the shark-tooth sword's edge swept across his skin, Zhou Shuo felt layers of gooseflesh rise on his body; the sword's sharpness was beyond doubt, while he himself could not invoke horizontal training, the Golden Light Spell, or other protective martial arts, could not summon a flying sword, could not draw talismans, and even lacked the ability to reload from a save; the only tool he could use was his own body.

"You forced me." Zhou Shuo twisted his waist to dodge a thrust of the shark-tooth sword, then swayed his waist to pull back, avoiding a horizontal sweep; looking at the expressionless 'Wei Zhuang', he jerked his right hand, reaching to grab the wrist, hoping to disarm him barehanded, but Wei Zhuang bent his wrist, the blade snapped back and cut, forcing Zhou Shuo to release his grip.

Taking advantage of the shark-tooth sword's recoil, Zhou Shuo instantly shifted his body and pressed close to 'Wei Zhuang'; as his bones turned, he performed an unimaginable motion—his torso bent ninety degrees, his hands and feet moved in reverse, his bones twisted arbitrarily, employing the long-abandoned martial art Flying Spirit Flexible Bone Body.

Flying Spirit Flexible Bone Body, Pine Crane Longevity Fist—Zhou Shuo, relying on martial arts he had long abandoned, grappled with 'Wei Zhuang' for half a moment; this was genuine combat, the opponent's long sword would, if given the chance, thrust and cut without hesitation, while Zhou Shuo was somewhat hampered, unwilling to touch that real blade, thus appearing somewhat embarrassed.

In 'Wei Zhuang's' hand, the shark-tooth sword's moves were unceasing; the sharp long sword, combined with the essence of horizontal sword technique, left Zhou Shuo no advantage—if his mind were not already strong enough, he would have already lost his life to the sword. After pondering left and right, Zhou Shuo also hardened his heart; seizing the moment of the shark-tooth sword's thrust, he gripped the blade with his left hand, ignoring the pain and blood in his palm, coiled his right arm, stepped forward, and drove an iron elbow hard into 'Wei Zhuang's' chin.

"Bang!" The expressionless 'Wei Zhuang' with a contemptuous gaze lifted his face; Zhou Shuo dealt a heavy blow, gripping the shark-tooth sword with his hand, and without hesitation, seizing the moment 'Wei Zhuang' was beaten, he twisted both hands to slam the sword-gripping right arm downward, then raised his knee to strike.

"Crack!" 'Wei Zhuang's' right arm was snapped by Zhou Shuo's hands combined with his knee; the shark-tooth sword in his hand naturally flew free, Zhou Shuo caught it and, reversing his grip, stabbed it into his chest.

Zhou Shuo watched the 'Wei Zhuang' whose face always bore contempt; his grip on the sword twisted slightly, the eyes of the sword-pierced 'Wei Zhuang' lost their luster, then slowly he collapsed to the ground, his body turning into clear water that merged with the lake beneath his feet. Seeing this, Zhou Shuo's eyebrows twitched; he lifted his head and scanned the surroundings—sure enough, nearby mist roiled and a tall figure emerged.

"..." Zhou Shuo looked at the figure stepping out of the mist, his eyebrows jumping violently twice; the man had white beard and hair, a pair of eyes lacking much luster half-lidded, a long-sleeved robe that fell past his knees draped over his body—the Venerable Heavenly Master Zhang Zhiwei of the Heavenly Master's Mansion.

"Alright." Zhou Shuo looked at the silently approaching 'Zhang Zhiwei', tightening his grip on the shark-tooth sword; this game was about slaying monsters to clear stages, only he didn't know what the final boss would be—Chiyou?

Zhou Shuo clenched his bleeding left hand, tightened his right hand on the shark-tooth sword, then tried to circulate the innate one qi within his body; sure enough, although clearing the stage was difficult, there was always gain—having defeated the first stage's Wei Zhuang, he had looted a shark-tooth sword, and his innate one qi could now be used.

If encountering Wei Zhuang was somewhat unexpected, facing Zhang Zhiwei gave Zhou Shuo fewer sighs, for he had indeed feared this old man; recalling when he had caused a ruckus on Longhu Mountain, he remembered how fierce the old man was—when the Golden Light Spell was activated, it shone brighter than a searchlight.

"Hiss!" The tip of the shark-tooth sword exhaled a breath; before it could pierce the half-lidded pupil, it was blocked by a thin layer that was as substantial as golden light.

"Hey." Zhou Shuo watched the old man's body glow with golden light, exhaled a long breath softly; the muscles of his entire right arm coiled like a spring, force flowing from arm to palm, then into the long sword in his hand—with a swish, the shark-tooth sword tip blocked by the golden light instantly spun like a drill bit, squeaking as it sought to bore into the golden light.

The sword tip was only a few centimeters from the half-lidded pupil; 'Zhang Zhiwei's' expression remained unchanged, his right index finger lightly flicked, the substantial-seeming golden light slightly contracted, then emitted layer upon layer of extremely fine golden threads, which wound along the shark-tooth sword's drill-bit-like tip up onto the sword body.

"Can the Golden Light Spell be used like this?" Zhou Shuo watched the golden threads wrapped around the sword blade, his eyes twitching slightly—could the Yin-Yang Dual Qi have directly brought Zhang Zhiwei before him?

Although somewhat startled, Zhou Shuo raised his right arm; the golden threads wrapped around the sword blade instantly snapped all at once, the shark-tooth sword leapt into the air, and as he swung his right arm, he fiercely chopped down on 'Zhang Zhiwei', cleaving the golden light ripples apart and scattering a spray of blood.

"..." Zhou Shuo watched 'Zhang Zhiwei', blood flowing from a notch in his neck and shoulder, his whole body turning to clear water that merged with the lake surface, he slightly raised his eyes—who next? Chiyou?

The mist slowly rolled; Zhou Shuo felt his strength gradually returning within, having slain 'Zhang Zhiwei' with a sword, he had cleared another stage—his strength had fully returned, just like in a clearance game: each stage passed, besides defeating the boss, one gains some experience and equipment, until the final boss is defeated.

Zhou Shuo felt the abundant power within him, watching the mist retreat to both sides, from it emerged a youth wearing a white robe with black sash, long hair flowing behind his back, his features neither handsome nor ugly, holding an oddly shaped long sword—this third stage's boss was actually himself.

Seeing the opposite self wielding a shark-tooth sword, Zhou Shuo felt no great surprise; it was reasonable, given his limited experience, the impressions left by Wei Zhuang and Zhang Zhiwei were deep, but a person's greatest enemy in life is not another—it is oneself.

Zhou Shuo looked at his opposite self, threw down the shark-tooth sword in his hand, while the approaching 'Zhou Shuo' had not yet launched an attack, he spontaneously turned into flowing water and fell into the lake.

In the secret chamber, Zhou Shuo opened his eyes; the best way to defeat oneself is to forever surpass oneself—one who constantly progresses will be invincible in battle.