Chapter 636: Are You Helping Me or the Venerable One

Chapter 636: Are You Helping Me or the Venerable One?

Zhao Changhe ignored the blind woman's complaint.

Lao Xia had advised him not to rely too heavily on the Heavenly Book, and Zhao Changhe agreed wholeheartedly.

That old Xia could cultivate to his current level with just a single page of the Heavenly Book meant it was impossible for him to have relied entirely on it; it was mostly through his own efforts. As early as the first two pages, Zhao Changhe had already been consciously trying to control himself, avoiding the urge to rush into things the moment he acquired a page and breaking free from any sense of dependence. Of course, such words were inappropriate to say to the blind woman, so letting her believe he was neglecting the Heavenly Book because of a woman was perfectly fine.

It was enough to confirm it was Night Quick-sand. This was a rather pleasant surprise.

Night Quick-sand was the last missing component needed to forge the Night Emperor's Sword; he had been short of only this to forge the blade for a long time.

Sanniang had said she hadn't paid much attention to finding it, which was a bit unfair to her. It was simply because there were absolutely no clues. Who would stubbornly throw themselves after such an illusory thing? It wasn't as if they had nothing better to do.

This didn't mean they truly didn't care. In reality, they minded very much. Wherever they went, they had paid special attention to it. Sanniang, Ying Wu, and the Spirit Race across the seas had searched for over half a year, yet they had found nothing.

The Night Quick-sand, which could not be found anywhere and was thought to require venturing into some highly mysterious and unknown secret realm to obtain, actually existed in such abundance right before their eyes—so much that it was extravagantly spread out to form a vault of heaven. It even seemed highly likely that this was not merely a leftover portion that happened to be used up; there was a very high probability that remaining stock still lay beneath the high platform.

Scratching his head and pondering for a long time, he realized he had indeed never questioned Lao Xia about this matter before. At the time, he was fiercely opposed to him, stubbornly risking his neck to offer deathly counsel, making it impossible to ask him for anything.

In truth, Lao Xia must have possessed many fine treasures. In the first half of his life, he had roamed the world, entering far more secret realms than Ying Wu, some of which must have been of extremely high difficulty. Moreover, Lao Xia had slaughtered gods; for instance, he had once eradicated a Buddhist faction, sparked by his killing of a Buddhist deity. This implied Lao Xia might still hold Buddhist spoils of war in his hands, and perhaps others as well.

"Why didn't you mention this before? We've been here..."

"How many times do I have to say it? I am not your walkthrough guide. Why should I teach you where the treasures are? Is there some misunderstanding on your part regarding our relationship?" The blind woman sneered. "In your heart, you're still thinking of dealing with me, yet whenever nothing is happening, you want me to guide you on this and that. On what grounds..."

"Hey, close as we are, speaking recklessly will still get you sued for slander. When did I ever think of dealing with you?"

"..." The blind woman was too lazy to acknowledge him.

You don't want to deal with me?

As if I don't know that both you and your father-in-law harbor hatred for me... As for how you'll deal with me, your methods might be even more malicious than your father-in-law's.

Zhao Changhe pondered for a moment before slipping beneath the high platform to search for a hidden door. There were bound to be collectibles here. Now that it was confirmed to be Night Quick-sand, the matter of forging the Night Emperor's Sword could truly be put on the agenda.

For his current level of Qi-observation, a hidden door was not difficult to find. Places where a distinct aura leaked out could be discerned almost at a glance. Zhao Changhe quickly located the hidden door beneath the platform and used his Crane-Controlling Skill to open it from the inside across the barrier. The scene within took Zhao Changhe somewhat by surprise.

He had originally thought Lao Xia would store many top-tier treasures, but facts proved otherwise. This place held mostly materials—the leftover materials from constructing this subterranean vault of heaven, along with some that might have been used for practice beforehand. Judging by this situation, it was highly likely that even the Dragon-Sparrow Sabre had been a preliminary practice piece.

It felt as though during the latter half of his cultivation journey, Xia Longyuan had possessed little interest in collecting treasures; otherwise, he wouldn't have left the various regional secret realms unbothered. He was quite unique in every aspect.

In the center of the underground space burned a fire, a very peculiar subterranean flame. Above the subterranean fire sat a furnace, a forging furnace of a highly unusual form. Its faintly shimmering precious light possessed a distinct flavor of an immortal cultivation tale. Under Zhao Changhe's Qi-observation, he could almost see that the subterranean fire here connected in all directions, gathering the Qi of mountains and rivers to invoke the Nanming Li Fire—this thing possessed another name: the Vermilion Bird's Fire.

Yes, it was that very Vermilion Bird... However, this was not gathered Vermilion Bird Fire; it was invoked through the earth's veins. The true source of the fire was not here. This was a special array that allowed all directions and coordinates to be utilized for his own purposes.

This vault of heaven had been refined through the methods of artifact crafting, tightly integrated with the earth's veins, which was why Xia Longyuan could point toward the sky and have his body reach any position...

If one were to speak of the most exceptional treasure in this place, it might just be this subterranean fire and furnace.

Zhao Changhe finally delved into Xia Longyuan's page of the Heavenly Book to take a look, and his brow instantly furrowed into a deep frown.

He had originally thought it might be space, as Lao Xia's related abilities carried a heavy sense of manipulating the universe's space, but this probe revealed something even more absurd.

This page was not about space; it was about karma... He wondered if the past fallout with the Buddhist faction had been due to fighting over this page. It probably was.

Was karma one of the martial paths? Of course it was, but its profound mystery far exceeded the previous page of faith, fortune, and merit; it was vastly more ethereal...

Therefore, all of Lao Xia's operations could be summed up as "connecting many fruits with a single cause," transforming himself into the cause of all fruits, thereby holding sway over everything. In his prime, he must have been capable of many absurd feats, though he himself had not witnessed them in their entirety, and the ultimate failure could entirely be attributed to the backlash of karma.

For Zhao Changhe's current level, the gap was simply too vast; he had come into contact with it too early. However, some of the concepts within could still be applied...

For instance, to forge the Night Emperor's Sword, what was missing was not merely the material, Night Quick-sand; he also required a sufficient intent of the heavenly stars within himself to align with the sword intent of this blade blank for a successful forge. If he did not fuse the sword intent, then it would merely be forged into the shape of a sword—a failed, soulless blade.

So here lay the question: back then, the Night Emperor had wished to break through the limitations of his Four Symbols perception, needing to perceive and comprehend the heavenly stars beyond the Four Symbols through the process of forging this sword. The day of comprehension would also be the day the sword was completed. So who was the cause, and who was the effect?

Was it to comprehend the stars first to forge the sword, or to comprehend the stars during the forging of the sword? Which was the purpose, and which was the result?

Inside this blade blank, the very foundation of the heavenly stars was already contained. Why split them apart and abandon them? To insist on comprehending the star intent first before forging the sword—was that not like climbing a tree to catch fish, shooting arrows at nothing?

Would the correct path not be, under the premise of possessing a certain foundational knowledge of the stars, to forge the sword while simultaneously combining it with the intent within the blade, ultimately fusing into the end of the grand path?

Furthermore, why did he absolutely have to forge this sword? Had he fallen into the Night Emperor's karma?

If he wished both to inherit this karma and to avoid suffering backlash in the future, what kind of operation was required?

It required his own intent to diverge from the Night Emperor's. He could not greedily assume the Night Emperor's name to trick the Vermilion Bird into bowing its head; he had to make it perfectly plain to tell you, "I have no relation to the Night Emperor, yet you must still acknowledge me." If he could achieve this, he could avoid the backlash of karma to the greatest extent. One could not be too cautious.

When it came to comprehending the stars, he possessed one advantage and one disadvantage, which were also his greatest points of divergence from the people of this world.

The advantage lay in his ability to surpass the perception of the people of this world, knowing what the true starry sky was like. Naturally, he was more correct and broader in scope than their minds filled with the perception of the Four Symbols and the Big Dipper.

The disadvantage lay precisely there as well. His perception of the universe was overly predisposed. Yet many of the martial paths in this world were realized through resonance with the vault of heaven of this plane. This could be verified in many arrays and the techniques of the Four Symbols Cult; they indeed existed and were effective. If you refused to recognize that as real, insisting that those were all matters of cosmic stars millions of light-years away and deeming the people of this world fools, then you would be entirely incompatible with the martial paths of this world and unable to utilize them.

This was also the reason why Zhao Changhe had always felt a slight sense of detachment regarding the matter of forging the sword, as well as why his performance in arrays had never matched his title of "martial arts genius," learning them with extreme superficiality.

Meanwhile, Xia Longyuan was subtly different from him. Although he knew what the cosmic stars were about, his understanding was relatively shallower, and his mental shackles were not as deep and heavy as his own. Thus, it was more convenient for him to unite and combine the perceptions of the two worlds, and he had already been able to attempt constructing a characteristic vault of heaven belonging to himself.

To him, Zhao Changhe, this was a more fitting reference than anything else—the path trodden by a senior transmigrator was worth ten thousand pieces of gold.

Zhao Changhe looked at the subterranean fire and forging furnace, hesitating for a moment. In the end, he left the secret chamber, choosing first to study this piece of the vault of heaven itself.

Reaching out to touch the vault of heaven, which was soft as satin and flowing like sand, a look of marvel gradually surfaced in Zhao Changhe's eyes.

In fact, the combination was very simple; it merely required a point of realization—to make this canopy like a sandbox possessing high and low dimensions. Some stars were a bit further away, while some were closer, and they flowed like sand. This could similarly construct the concept of distance and motion of the stars in his heart, rather than the flat screen of this world's perception. Yet it was not as exaggeratedly vast as his original perception, becoming a scope that could be utilized.

Merely a simple direction of thought, yet that was the mindset of a genius, offering boundless inspiration.

If he used such star intent to construct his own Night Emperor's Sword, would it work?

"Empress Dowager!" From above came the respectful greetings of the guards. Zhao Changhe snapped out of his deep thoughts, turning his head to see Huangfu Qing floating down.

"They said you went to my bedchambers to look for me earlier?" Huangfu Qing ascended the high platform, a hint of slight resentment in her eyes. "I thought you were busy being close with Tang Wanzhuang, and busy satisfying your pleasure of playing with the Emperor, unable to spare time for me for two whole days..."

"Not at all," Zhao Changhe smiled. "Haven't you also been too busy to pay attention to me? Everyone is very busy, and it is not the time for romance; our days ahead are long. Are you finished with your work now?"

Huangfu Qing said, "The matters of various aspects are simply too tedious; they won't be finished for the time being."

"Then how did you find the time to come here looking for me?"

"Because... the treasures here, including the ground platform and the vault of heaven, the Venerable One had no time to manage before, only ordering people to guard them. Once hands are freed up, we'll see if they need to be moved back to the main headquarters. I heard you came, so naturally, I came over to take a look."

Zhao Changhe smiled faintly. "The Venerable One's meaning is that this is the spoils of war of the Four Symbols Cult, and I am not allowed to take it?"

Huangfu Qing hesitated. "The Venerable One shouldn't go so far as to forbid you from taking anything... but you probably can't cart everything away either, right?"

Zhao Changhe gently put his arm around her waist, blowing air into her ear. "Qing'er..."

Huangfu Qing's whole body went a bit numb. "What are you doing..."

"If I want everything, are you helping me, or are you helping the Venerable One?"