Chapter 874 - Dragon Beard Root
Chapter 874: Dragon Beard Root
Inside the sixth formation, the shade reduced the dim sunlight into fragments, which landed on the chessboard.
Mists spread inside the formation and made it look dreamy. Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows. After losing tens of turns as soon as the third round started, he had been in a disadvantageous spot. The young fellow dared not fight for the center spot on the board nor did he have the guts to form a dragon on the board. He pondered for a long time about every move.
He knew he could not defeat Xu Junqing anymore in this chess game.
All of a sudden, he recalled what the red-clothed lady said about how this formation would not be about a formation but would examine one’s heart.
“Examine one’s heart… If that’s the case, why are we playing chess?” The voice echoed in his head and eventually became the only sound in his head.
Ou Yangming’s eyes shone brighter than before. The chessboard then turned into a black-and-white wooden fish illustration that kept spinning, and a light spot suddenly appeared in his spiritual world.
Without any hesitation, Ou Yangming placed another black piece on the board with his right hand. The piece carried his Qi, causing the chessboard to come to life.
Xu Junqing smiled. The whole space brightened up as she spoke, “Being a man, you should regard the chessboard as the sky and use stars as your pieces. In that case, you’ll have an enjoyable game. You’re incredibly gifted, but you don’t like to fight. It’s highly commendable, but a big disaster is coming soon. The universe is like a furnace, where everyone goes through challenging experiences. It’s naturally great to use the path of formations as a form of assistance, but it can’t be used as the main path for advancement.”
Before her voice was gone, all of the light spots on the chessboard seemed to have come to life and released the most splendid and striking lights. With that, the sixth formation was broken with the last piece that was placed on the chessboard, and the red-clothed lady’s figure slowly faded away.
Ou Yangming was stunned while strong winds blew inside his spiritual world. He cupped his hands and bowed after some time. In actuality, this formation could only be considered a draw. The red-clothed lady did not emerge victorious, but he lost—he lost to himself and the path.
Big Yellow and Multi-armed King Kong approached him at the same time. The former had smooth fur. It beamed and asked, “You broke all 6 formations?”
Multi-armed King Kong pricked up its ears as well. It was afraid of missing any detail.
Ou Yangming took a deep breath and answered, “Yes, but the sixth formation…” Instead of finishing his sentence, he sighed deeply.
After walking past the formation, Ou Yangming looked around and noticed that the underground palace looked spacious.
Dim lights were lit up, but they gave off a certain lingering charm. At the end of the palace, 9 stone steps could be seen.
A wooden stand was situated below the stone steps. Many cardinal boxes were placed on it.
Ou Yangming walked toward the wooden stand with the 2 beasts. He curled his lips and smiled as he picked up an old wooden box.
The wood was Nanmu, which was of middle-grade quality and was average. The box was covered with dust, and it gave off an ancient feeling. Due to tiny holes that were bitten by insects, it seemed like a slight touch would easily break the wood into bits. As compared to the other cardinal boxes with unknown materials and no marks on them, it simply looked shabby.
Ou Yangming scanned it and remarked teasingly, “At a closer look, there’s a distinctive taste to it.”
He retrieved an ancient scroll from the old wooden box and flipped to the first page. He was immediately shocked after reading the first few words, and he could not help but read in silence, “The Spiritual Realm’s disaster has had a long history and should be traced back to before the middle ancient times, but the most serious one was the big disaster that happened 10,000 years ago. 1,000 to 10,000 living beings were eliminated, and undulating mountains were almost flattened. I was only a Venerable One back then, so I could only protect myself; it’s my forever regret that I couldn’t save the common people. It was when I apprehended the path and broke through this world, I left this underground palace behind on purpose for the right person to comprehend formations, ask about the path, and examine his or her heart. Written by Xu Junqing.”
The words looked domineering and were written in one go as if they were carved onto a fine paper using a carving knife. In turn, they were reflected in one’s mind.
Nonetheless, most of the things that were recorded after that were trivial matters. Even so, instead of skipping them, Ou Yangming read them word by word and sentence by sentence. After wondering for some time, he became puzzled and thought, ‘What exactly is the 10,000-years disaster? It wasn’t brought up in the text at all.’
He felt like his head was messed up and that his thoughts were becoming more disorderly. In the end, he sighed and said, “Forget it—everything will eventually come to light.”
When Ou Yangming paced toward the bottom of the steps, starry lights that seemed like clear spring sprinkled down on the wooden stand, making it look extremely mysterious.
Ou Yangming stepped on the first step as though he was a breeze. A dazzling starry sky was instantly reflected in his eyes. The starry lights emitted stunning lusters that looked like fireflies during a midsummer night. They connected into numerous perfect arcs, which went into the distance and were open. As they interlaced with one another, it seemed like they could transform into a secular world with every wonder in the world. They could make one seem obsessed, so much so that one’s mind would also be immersed inside.
Bluestones were also connected and embedded to the starry sky to form a path that could reach heaven. They were not supported by anything, and they winded up as if there was no end to the path.
Ou Yangming was bewildered, and he mumbled, “There are just 9 stone steps, but why does it seem like there’s no end to this at all…” He gained a deeper understanding of Xu Junqing’s trick at this moment.
It was then when an indifferent voice rang inside Ou Yangming’s head.
“What’s a spear?” The voice transformed into musical notes that directly exploded.
Ou Yangming answered without any hesitation, “Flowers or leaves that are picked can be used as a spear; petals and leaves in my hand can be a spear.” Following that, he stepped on the first bluestone step. Starry lights flickered around him as seemed like they could easily be grabbed. They drew perfect arcs and surrounded him.
“What’s a spear?” The voice did not change at all and echoed again.
Ou Yangming pondered for a brief moment then answered softly, “Having a spear in my heart means that I have a spear in my hand. By visualizing a snow mountain or a big river, they can all be my techniques.” He took another step forward and got closer to the sky. Once, twice, every time, the same question was asked. As such, the young fellow could not stop asking himself as well, ‘What exactly is a spear? Is it merely a 2-meters-long steel weapon?’
After an unknown period, Ou Yangming stepped on a bluestone and stood in the air. It seemed like he could reach out for the stars and was stepping on the moon.
Nevertheless, he looked more confused than before. Blood veins were appearing in his eyes, and he began to sweat as if he was being soaked in saltwater. He mumbled, “What’s the real spear path?” As the young fellow looked at the starry sky beneath him, he suddenly felt lost and thought, ‘What’s real? What’s fake?’
Without warning, Ou Yangming felt a sharp pain. He acted like he had turned into a mad devil and was suddenly awakened.
“The path of spear techniques is unreal, to begin with. The more one worries about short-term gains and losses, the more one wants to get close to it, the further one will be from it instead. It’s like a straight line extending to 2 different ends and will never meet.”
Ou Yangming breathed out some murky air and slowly closed his eyes as he guarded his soul with his heart, making him feel free and easy. Boundless fragrant grasses swayed like tides while spear shadows and techniques appeared in the young fellow’s mind bit by bit. They were top-notch spear techniques and could cause a reign of terror if one were to use all of them in the Spiritual Realm.
Despite that, instead of taking a look at them, Ou Yangming simply became immersed in his own world.
Inside a small worn-out courtyard, Ou Yangming held a wooden spear and only practiced moves such as slashing, chopping, stabbing, brushing, and raising. Without using his spiritual Qi or Qi momentum, he prodded the wooden spear calmly. The whole process was unperturbed and nothing close to being unconstrained.
While the scorching summer sun shone brightly above him, he wiped his sweat when he was tired and drank sweet water from the well. When winter came, he welcomed snow and wielded his spear along with the whistling northern winds without carrying the Qi momentum of an expert at all.
Day after day, and year after year, whether it was winter or summer, he slashed, chopped, stabbed, and brushed 5,000 times every time.
The path intent that Ou Yangming possessed became duller than before. It seemed like time did not exist inside this cottage, and he also seemed to have forgotten about time. He curbed his Qi and blood like a normal person, where he would age and fall sick. During this time, his Qi momentum was very faint.
Just as he was on his deathbed, he opened his eyes abruptly and uttered calmly, “This is enough…”
The cottage became hidden inside his soul little by little. He straightened his body and looked up at the sky as he said in a low voice, “An unbending spear is plain, but its soul won’t be destroyed. With a spear in my hand, I can roam the world with an unyielding mind.”
As soon as he finished, the universe’s curtain seemed to have been torn apart while the endless bluestone steps condensed as one. He took a step and sighed. “Spear techniques aren’t complicated at all; it’s a human’s heart that is complicated. There aren’t so many bluestone steps as well as there’s only a single path. I only need one step—one step if I understand this, but a lifetime if I’m clueless.”
Ou Yangming then looked at his palm. A normal spear shadow burst out as he shook his head and stated, “I only completely fathomed the true intent of the path of spear techniques today. This is how it really is if I understand spear techniques to the smallest details and perfect them.” Subsequently, the young fellow lifted his hand and used it as his spear. He made a stroke in front of him, then countless spear shadows burst out like real dragons entering the sea. As a result, the starry sky was split into two.
Once the starry sky shattered, a brocade box appeared at the end of the stone steps as if eternity was towering there.
Big Yellow and Multi-armed King Kong approached Ou Yangming at the same time and asked, “What’s inside the box?” They reached out as they wanted to grab it.
“Be careful!” Ou Yangming exclaimed. He used a technique to lift the restriction, where he moved and turned his wrist in the air. Black vapor drifted away at once.
The young fellow sighed a breath of relief. ‘Xu Junqing has perceived that step, so who knows how clever her tricks are? If a Venerable One’s body is invaded by this miasma, I’m afraid that he or she would be severely injured too, right?’
When the brocade box was opened, a 6-inches-long, pitch-black rhizome could be seen inside. It was covered with unpredictable circles of patterns.
Big Yellow muttered, “That’s all? It’s not that amazing after all…”
On the contrary, Multi-armed King Kong had a grave look on its face and felt vaguely oppressed.
Ou Yangming used his Appraisal Light, allowing a piece of information to be displayed in his spiritual world.
His face changes as he noted in a sharp voice, “A Dragon Beard Root. It’s an evil dragon’s beard, which was tempered with the universe’s essences and is the finest smithing material. A dragon’s known for being arrogant, so a dragon’s beard can’t be easily melted by ordinary fire.” The young fellow looked elated. Ever since his Blood Condensation Spear exploded and was destroyed, he did not have a fitting weapon. He did not expect to find a Dragon Beard Root in this underground palace, so how could he not be overjoyed?
Multi-armed King Kong cupped its hands and expressed, “Congratulations, Master. If you refine a spear with this material, you’ll be able to go anywhere in this world!”
Ou Yangming laughed and cursed at it, “You’re not doing a good job at flattering me.”
The king kong smiled embarrassedly and touched its head like an honest man. On the other hand, Big Yellow looked like a miser and was almost going to drool.
Ou Yangming carefully kept the Dragon Beard Root inside his interspatial bag. He looked around the underground palace and sighed before he commented, “It’s true that the Forest of Death has endless good opportunities.”
This time, Ou Yangming had truly reaped great benefits from the underground palace. Firstly, Big Yellow awakened the Dragons’ bloodline. Next, he comprehended the path of real illusion. The 6 big formations even helped him to build an exceptionally solid foundation, and he even gained a Dragon Beard Root after that… Any one of these gains would already be enviable.