Jing Qiu looked to her side to see Xue Ying, who had already been sitting cross-legged for half an hour, finally start to open his eyes. His vision seemed much more focused now.
"Xue Ying, what happened to you?" Jing Qiu couldn't help but ask.
Xue Ying stood up, turned to look Emperor Heavencloud's corpse still staring at the array diagram even in death, and said, "The heart is like a mirror, while cultivating the heart is much like polishing that mirror to allow a clearer reflection. That's something I must frequently remind myself of time and time again. Otherwise, if dust is left to cover that mirror, the reflection will also dull before long. Emperor Heavencloud's Dao Heart is strong that it allowed me to understand this point. It let me understand that my Dao Heart is simply not strong enough!
"However, just having this understanding is not sufficient. If I wish to cultivate my heart, I must walk forward on actual ground. Only by doing so can I ever hope to reaffirm my Dao Heart," Xue Ying explained.
Jing Qiu saw a newfound sharpness in Xue Ying's eyes, and could not help but be stunned! Her Dao Heart was quite firm in and of itself, but it was in no way comparable to Xue Ying's or Emperor Heavencloud's. Characters like them would be able to press forward regardless of circumstance, and they had a kind of tyranny and focus that came from their ability to give up anything for the sake of their goals.
"My will might not be comparable to his at the moment, but that might not necessarily be true forever. After all, he's been refining his Dao Heart over ten billion years." Xue Ying smiled. He walked further into the pavilion to take a closer look at the floating ball of silver and red light. These two colors combined with the countless nodes to form a complete array diagram, with those nodes criss-crossing and transforming without end.
Xue Ying carefully inspected it before speaking out, "Jing Qiu, it's quite likely that Emperor Heavencloud is the one who activated this array."
"I think so too." Jing Qiu agreed. "I've spent a bit of time inspecting and I've found that it truly is quite deep."
"Mn."
Xue Ying did the same, moving up to get a more thorough look at the array diagram.
Weng~
His consciousness entered the array, making him feel as if his body had shrunk into nothing more than a small dot in the midst of this enormous array diagram. Surrounding it, he could only see seemingly countless planets revolving all around. In fact, there were than a hundred million planets in uninterrupted motion. While seemingly slow at glance, every last planet gave off an unique sense of beauty. On top of that, each planet was moving along a distinct orbit which gave the whole set a sense of vastness.
It gave off a feeling similar to facing the entire material world. The plants were like the countless mortal realms revolving through the material world.
In spite of their similarities, the array exuded an aura that was more tyrannical than what the material world was known for! It was a direct, oppressive tyranny, as if nobody would be allowed to move the array even an inch!
If the vast law of the material realm gave off the feeling of an ordinary person, then this array could be compared to a full-plated warrior holding onto their weapon!
"Mn?"
As he watched the countless planets moving along their orbits, Xue Ying had a sudden insight. He had vaguely sensed the concept of destruction in that motion, and it had even been at a level comparable to the destructive aura which he felt coming from his teacher, the Bloodshed God Emperor! There was a terrifying killing intent fermenting inside these slowly moving planets.
Once this killing intent was let loose, it seemed like it would tear through the earth and shatter the heavens.
Since one of Xue Ying's three most important secret skills focused precisely on this aspect of destruction, he could not help but immerse himself in that feeling. As soon as he did so, he forgot even time.
...
The days passed, one after another.
Jing Qiu had also immersed herself in studying the array diagram, yet she would wake up every once in a while. As a stage four World Deity, she could understand a larger part of the array. However, that only served to startle her even more. "It's no wonder that Emperor Heavencloud chose to focus on this array diagram prior to his death, and use it as his last gamble! This array formed by the hundred million meteorites of Lake Heart Island only feels more unfathomable the more I study it."
The two of them simply stood there and watched the array for more than a month.
"Xue Ying, Xue Ying," a voice reached him, seemingly coming from far away.
Peng.
Xue Ying suddenly woke up, and immediately sensed the acute pain coursing through his body. Seeing this, Jing Qiu retrieved her palm and hurriedly asked, "What happened to you?"
"Ah." Xue Ying raised his hands to grab his head as the pain passed through it. At the same time, blood started dripping out from his nose.
His avatar was not the only one to receive the backlash either. His white-robed true body back in the Xia Clan world's Crimson Rock Mountain felt some pain pass through his head and had a similar nosebleed. However, the treasure spirit of the Crimson Rock Mountain had also awoken him at about the same time Jing Qiu did.
"After I discovered the great destruction aspect of this array, I kept on pondering and gaining new insights. However, without me even realizing it, my True Deity Heart was hurt by the terrifying killing intent of the array, and the damage reflected on my body." Xue Ying shook his head. "In fact, this avatar was not the only one to get hurt. Even my true body back in the Xia Clan world received the same injury. That killing intent was simply too terrifying. Merely studying the array was enough to cause me this much damage."
Jing Qiu was astonished. "By damaging your True Deity Heart, it also damaged your body? And it even injured the true body back in the material world? Powerful existences might be able to use karma to kill an enemy that is very far away, but this array could actually damage your true body without using any trace of karma?"
"Indeed, it did not use karma. My avatar and my true body were both comprehending the array, and that's why both were injured. This array is just too strong. It doesn't feel any shred weaker than the operating laws of the entire material realm." Xue Ying shook his head. "I can't continue studying it. My comprehension of the aspect of destruction contained by this array has reached a limit. Trying to go any further would just get me killed."
"I can still keep going," Jing Qiu said. "Likely because I'm not focused on the aspect of destruction. I am prepared to leave behind a World Deity avatar here to continue studying the array."
"Alright, let's quickly set off for Lake Heart Island, then," Xue Ying replied.
Before leaving, Xue Ying turned towards Emperor Heavencloud's corpse which was still sitting there, cross-legged. With a wave of his hand, a large amount of soil and rocks emerged and moved around according to an invisible force. He first moved the corpse to the side, then covered him under the soil and rocks, forming a grave.
"Emperor Heavencloud, return to safety under the ground," Xue Ying lightly muttered.
...
Xue Ying left the meteorite alongside his wife. He used his luminous sun force to scout a path ahead through the endless flow of water before moving out at high speed.
The enormous silvery-white sphere of water had a diameter of more than 9.45 trillion kilometers, an entirely enormous size.
While inside the flowing water, experts could not tear through space, so they had to resort to flying continuously. Back on the road, the two experienced many more dangers. They even encountered a school of violet sword fish and some other unique lifeforms living in the flowing water. These lifeforms had existed ever since the Lake Heart Island ruins first emerged. Xue Ying and Jing Qiu had suffered the pursuit of some of these lifeforms, forcing them to leave behind Deity avatars to confuse the enemies.
They even encountered the undercurrent a few more times.
As they became more experienced, they could determine from afar whether the undercurrent would arrive soon through the current flow of the water. They could even begin to estimate whether terrifying lifeforms were approaching them.
They had traveled for a total of eleven years!
Indeed, it took eleven years of traveling through the enormous silvery-white sphere of water, crossing through the various obstacles found in the flow of water, before the two finally approached the central island.
Hong~
Upon crossing an invisible boundary that was able to block even the flowing water, the black-robed teenager and the white-robed girl with silver hair were both startled by the sight of the huge island ahead of them. Other than its ability to block all water from nearing it, the island stood out because of its pure silver color and endless frost covering its surface. The cold icy aura it exuded left Xue Ying and Jing Qiu both trembling uncontrollably. The size of Lake Heart Island proper was naturally nowhere near that of the silvery-white sphere of water, but it was still reported to cover an area of more than half a trillion kilometers.
"Jing Qiu, this is truly not easy, but we finally arrived at this piece of Lake Heart Island." Xue Ying shook his head, "I thought I would have lost my life on the road here through the water flow level."
Jing Qiu also nodded. The road here was truly arduous.
"Fortunately, we're arrived at a good time. The Lake Heart Island is currently frozen, making it much much safer," Jing Qiu said. "We must make use of this opportunity and hurry over to find my father! Of course, we'll also have to find the true god weapon. By the way, we won't be able to take the same path which my father and the rest previously followed. Old Mother Withered Tree, the Nine Yang Palace Head and the rest are likely keeping watch over that road, and we must try our best to avoid them."
"I'll leave everything for you to decide," Xue Ying replied.
"I hope we'll be able to save my father before Lake Heart Island warms up," Jing Qiu said. The temperature on Lake Heart Island was always changing. It would first get colder and colder down to a limit, before starting to get warmer and warmer up to a different limit!
It could exhibit both extreme cold and extreme heat.
The cultivators who visited the ruins of Lake Heart Island, even if they were powerful existences, would usually refrain from entering during the periods of extreme heat. During such times, the danger level of the island would rapidly surge.
**
Jing Qiu looked to her side to see Xue Ying, who had already been sitting cross-legged for half an hour, finally start to open his eyes. His vision seemed much more focused now.
"Xue Ying, what happened to you?" Jing Qiu couldn't help but ask.
Xue Ying stood up, turned to look Emperor Heavencloud's corpse still staring at the array diagram even in death, and said, "The heart is like a mirror, while cultivating the heart is much like polishing that mirror to allow a clearer reflection. That's something I must frequently remind myself of time and time again. Otherwise, if dust is left to cover that mirror, the reflection will also dull before long. Emperor Heavencloud's Dao Heart is strong that it allowed me to understand this point. It let me understand that my Dao Heart is simply not strong enough!
"However, just having this understanding is not sufficient. If I wish to cultivate my heart, I must walk forward on actual ground. Only by doing so can I ever hope to reaffirm my Dao Heart," Xue Ying explained.
Jing Qiu saw a newfound sharpness in Xue Ying's eyes, and could not help but be stunned! Her Dao Heart was quite firm in and of itself, but it was in no way comparable to Xue Ying's or Emperor Heavencloud's. Characters like them would be able to press forward regardless of circumstance, and they had a kind of tyranny and focus that came from their ability to give up anything for the sake of their goals.
"My will might not be comparable to his at the moment, but that might not necessarily be true forever. After all, he's been refining his Dao Heart over ten billion years." Xue Ying smiled. He walked further into the pavilion to take a closer look at the floating ball of silver and red light. These two colors combined with the countless nodes to form a complete array diagram, with those nodes criss-crossing and transforming without end.
Xue Ying carefully inspected it before speaking out, "Jing Qiu, it's quite likely that Emperor Heavencloud is the one who activated this array."
"I think so too." Jing Qiu agreed. "I've spent a bit of time inspecting and I've found that it truly is quite deep."
"Mn."
Xue Ying did the same, moving up to get a more thorough look at the array diagram.
Weng~
His consciousness entered the array, making him feel as if his body had shrunk into nothing more than a small dot in the midst of this enormous array diagram. Surrounding it, he could only see seemingly countless planets revolving all around. In fact, there were than a hundred million planets in uninterrupted motion. While seemingly slow at glance, every last planet gave off an unique sense of beauty. On top of that, each planet was moving along a distinct orbit which gave the whole set a sense of vastness.
It gave off a feeling similar to facing the entire material world. The plants were like the countless mortal realms revolving through the material world.
In spite of their similarities, the array exuded an aura that was more tyrannical than what the material world was known for! It was a direct, oppressive tyranny, as if nobody would be allowed to move the array even an inch!
If the vast law of the material realm gave off the feeling of an ordinary person, then this array could be compared to a full-plated warrior holding onto their weapon!
"Mn?"
As he watched the countless planets moving along their orbits, Xue Ying had a sudden insight. He had vaguely sensed the concept of destruction in that motion, and it had even been at a level comparable to the destructive aura which he felt coming from his teacher, the Bloodshed God Emperor! There was a terrifying killing intent fermenting inside these slowly moving planets.
Once this killing intent was let loose, it seemed like it would tear through the earth and shatter the heavens.
Since one of Xue Ying's three most important secret skills focused precisely on this aspect of destruction, he could not help but immerse himself in that feeling. As soon as he did so, he forgot even time.
...
The days passed, one after another.
Jing Qiu had also immersed herself in studying the array diagram, yet she would wake up every once in a while. As a stage four World Deity, she could understand a larger part of the array. However, that only served to startle her even more. "It's no wonder that Emperor Heavencloud chose to focus on this array diagram prior to his death, and use it as his last gamble! This array formed by the hundred million meteorites of Lake Heart Island only feels more unfathomable the more I study it."
The two of them simply stood there and watched the array for more than a month.
"Xue Ying, Xue Ying," a voice reached him, seemingly coming from far away.
Peng.
Xue Ying suddenly woke up, and immediately sensed the acute pain coursing through his body. Seeing this, Jing Qiu retrieved her palm and hurriedly asked, "What happened to you?"
"Ah." Xue Ying raised his hands to grab his head as the pain passed through it. At the same time, blood started dripping out from his nose.
His avatar was not the only one to receive the backlash either. His white-robed true body back in the Xia Clan world's Crimson Rock Mountain felt some pain pass through his head and had a similar nosebleed. However, the treasure spirit of the Crimson Rock Mountain had also awoken him at about the same time Jing Qiu did.
"After I discovered the great destruction aspect of this array, I kept on pondering and gaining new insights. However, without me even realizing it, my True Deity Heart was hurt by the terrifying killing intent of the array, and the damage reflected on my body." Xue Ying shook his head. "In fact, this avatar was not the only one to get hurt. Even my true body back in the Xia Clan world received the same injury. That killing intent was simply too terrifying. Merely studying the array was enough to cause me this much damage."
Jing Qiu was astonished. "By damaging your True Deity Heart, it also damaged your body? And it even injured the true body back in the material world? Powerful existences might be able to use karma to kill an enemy that is very far away, but this array could actually damage your true body without using any trace of karma?"
"Indeed, it did not use karma. My avatar and my true body were both comprehending the array, and that's why both were injured. This array is just too strong. It doesn't feel any shred weaker than the operating laws of the entire material realm." Xue Ying shook his head. "I can't continue studying it. My comprehension of the aspect of destruction contained by this array has reached a limit. Trying to go any further would just get me killed."
"I can still keep going," Jing Qiu said. "Likely because I'm not focused on the aspect of destruction. I am prepared to leave behind a World Deity avatar here to continue studying the array."
"Alright, let's quickly set off for Lake Heart Island, then," Xue Ying replied.
Before leaving, Xue Ying turned towards Emperor Heavencloud's corpse which was still sitting there, cross-legged. With a wave of his hand, a large amount of soil and rocks emerged and moved around according to an invisible force. He first moved the corpse to the side, then covered him under the soil and rocks, forming a grave.
"Emperor Heavencloud, return to safety under the ground," Xue Ying lightly muttered.
...
Xue Ying left the meteorite alongside his wife. He used his luminous sun force to scout a path ahead through the endless flow of water before moving out at high speed.
The enormous silvery-white sphere of water had a diameter of more than 9.45 trillion kilometers, an entirely enormous size.
While inside the flowing water, experts could not tear through space, so they had to resort to flying continuously. Back on the road, the two experienced many more dangers. They even encountered a school of violet sword fish and some other unique lifeforms living in the flowing water. These lifeforms had existed ever since the Lake Heart Island ruins first emerged. Xue Ying and Jing Qiu had suffered the pursuit of some of these lifeforms, forcing them to leave behind Deity avatars to confuse the enemies.
They even encountered the undercurrent a few more times.
As they became more experienced, they could determine from afar whether the undercurrent would arrive soon through the current flow of the water. They could even begin to estimate whether terrifying lifeforms were approaching them.
They had traveled for a total of eleven years!
Indeed, it took eleven years of traveling through the enormous silvery-white sphere of water, crossing through the various obstacles found in the flow of water, before the two finally approached the central island.
Hong~
Upon crossing an invisible boundary that was able to block even the flowing water, the black-robed teenager and the white-robed girl with silver hair were both startled by the sight of the huge island ahead of them. Other than its ability to block all water from nearing it, the island stood out because of its pure silver color and endless frost covering its surface. The cold icy aura it exuded left Xue Ying and Jing Qiu both trembling uncontrollably. The size of Lake Heart Island proper was naturally nowhere near that of the silvery-white sphere of water, but it was still reported to cover an area of more than half a trillion kilometers.
"Jing Qiu, this is truly not easy, but we finally arrived at this piece of Lake Heart Island." Xue Ying shook his head, "I thought I would have lost my life on the road here through the water flow level."
Jing Qiu also nodded. The road here was truly arduous.
"Fortunately, we're arrived at a good time. The Lake Heart Island is currently frozen, making it much much safer," Jing Qiu said. "We must make use of this opportunity and hurry over to find my father! Of course, we'll also have to find the true god weapon. By the way, we won't be able to take the same path which my father and the rest previously followed. Old Mother Withered Tree, the Nine Yang Palace Head and the rest are likely keeping watch over that road, and we must try our best to avoid them."
"I'll leave everything for you to decide," Xue Ying replied.
"I hope we'll be able to save my father before Lake Heart Island warms up," Jing Qiu said. The temperature on Lake Heart Island was always changing. It would first get colder and colder down to a limit, before starting to get warmer and warmer up to a different limit!
It could exhibit both extreme cold and extreme heat.
The cultivators who visited the ruins of Lake Heart Island, even if they were powerful existences, would usually refrain from entering during the periods of extreme heat. During such times, the danger level of the island would rapidly surge.
**
