Chapter 2: Lord of the Cave-Truth Ruins

Dao meridians were the foundation of cultivation.

The “Dao” here did not refer to the Daoist sects, but to the Great Dao itself. Whether one was a cultivator of Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, military strategy, the Mo School, or any other school, manifesting one’s dao meridians was the first path into cultivation.

In ancient times, so-called cultivation seeds were those whose dao meridians naturally manifested from birth. But the human race did not let talent decide a person’s entire life. The Meridian Opening Pill was one of the methods used to solve the problem of cultivation aptitude.

By borrowing the power of the pill, one could manifest the dao meridians of the human body. It could also awaken the vitality of heaven and earth to nourish the flesh. As one’s qi and blood fed back into the body, dao essence would be nurtured, allowing one to step onto the path of cultivation.

Strictly speaking, compared to the artifacts on Zuo Guanglie’s body that had been destroyed in the explosion, a Meridian Opening Pill could hardly be considered precious.

But to this beggar, who had already reached the end of the road, it was the only key that could unlock the treasure within the human body.

Since ancient times, the hardest thing has always been death; when life reaches its final path, one can only beg heaven for grace!

Now, the beggar had grasped the key to his hope.

He was so devout.

With trembling hands, he held the jade bottle, pressed his quivering lips to its opening, tilted his head back, and poured it down!

Beside him was the silent ruined temple. In the distance lay the corpses of the beggars. At his side were shattered bones and flesh.

At this moment, the setting sun cast its dying glow, and the clouds at the horizon dispersed. Corpses lay across the wilds, while a sickly beggar swallowed a pill.

The Meridian Opening Pill rolled onto his tongue, turned into a warm current that flowed down his throat, then scattered into his limbs and bones.

The beggar closed his eyes slightly. In that instant, countless images flowed through his mind.

Training through winter and summer, practicing the sword through spring and autumn.

Hunting down great thieves, fighting vicious bandits.

In the end, he had walked down from West Mountain alone with only his sword, covered entirely in blood, after battling through a den of bandits.

Only then had he obtained a single Meridian Opening Pill.

How many years had he spent trying to approach the extraordinary world?

He had exhausted all his strength. He had struggled and pushed forward every moment. How had he reached this step?

His mother had died early, and later, his father’s illness had nearly drained the last of the family’s wealth.

He was alone, supporting himself with nothing but himself.

He had passed the entrance exam into the Dao Academy through a competition where only one in a thousand was chosen. Then, in the fiercely competitive outer academy, he had risen above everyone else. Only then had he finally grasped the key to the extraordinary for the first time.

But immediately after that…

Poisoning. Encirclement. Murder.

He had fought desperately to carve out a path of survival. To avoid being searched for, he hid among beggars.

He had intended to wait for an opportunity, but his body could no longer hold on.

He grew weaker and weaker until, in the end, he could only lie hopelessly on a pile of straw and quietly await death.

He had dragged his sick body out to search the battlefield only because of a heart that absolutely refused to give up. But he had never expected that he would actually find a Meridian Opening Pill!

Why would someone as powerful as Zuo Guanglie carry a Meridian Opening Pill on him? The reason had already vanished along with the end of his legend, never to be known again.

But because of it, the beggar’s story began a new chapter.

The unpredictability of fate was no greater than this.

The beggar gathered his thoughts and felt the indescribable changes within his body.

He could feel warm power radiating from every corner of his body, “swimming” through him in a way he could not understand, eventually converging toward his spine.

The process was slow yet clear.

After an unknown length of time, a faint power rose from his tailbone and followed the line of his spine upward, upward. It felt like an earthworm swimming upstream through a river channel.

The process was extremely difficult, but the warm power coming from every part of his body continuously supported it…

The “little earthworm” finally swam through that long journey, connecting the line of his spine and rushing straight toward the crown of his head!

A miracle happened.

It was as if he saw light inside his body.

Warmth burst forth from every limb, every bone, and every corner of his flesh.

He no longer felt cold. He no longer felt weak. He no longer felt pain.

With the dao meridian manifested, vitality nourished him.

The beggar opened his eyes, and his gaze shone bright and full of spirit.

He felt his body brimming with strength. At last, he had seized control of his fate once more!

His dao meridian had already manifested. Although the true spirit of his dao meridian was only the lowest-grade little earthworm, it still meant that he could officially step onto the extraordinary path.

Flying through the heavens, escaping through the earth, entering and leaving the blue firmament, these were no longer distant, unreachable dreams!

One day, Gongyang Bai, Mo Jingyu, even Zuo Guanglie and Li Yi… those thunderous great figures, the things they could do, he could do as well!

…

The beggar stood up and looked at the pile of mangled flesh at his feet.

Life gazed upon death. The beginning connected to the end.

Outside the ruined temple, he buried Zuo Guanglie and those beggars. Even with his dao meridian newly manifested and his energy abundant, he worked until the moon hung high in the sky before he finished.

This might have been a useless little matter, but it was the principle he practiced.

Although that group of beggars had chosen to abandon him when danger came, during the days when he had been on the verge of death, they had not thrown him out into the wilderness. Though they could not find him a doctor or medicine, at least they had given him a few mouthfuls of water.

For that alone, as long as it was within his ability, they deserved to be buried in peace. They should not suffer in this life and remain helpless in the next.

People believed that only by entering the earth could one rest in peace. Only in the vast, boundless, heavy, and compassionate embrace of the earth could a dead soul find rest.

At last, the beggar stood before Zuo Guanglie’s grave.

“The one who buried you is no nameless person. From Maple Forest City, Qinghe Commandery, Zhuang Country…”

Under the moonlight, the beggar stood before the small grave. His body was filthy, his hands caked with mud, yet his back was straight as he spoke his name with absolute calm.

“Jiang Wang.”

Though a tiger had not yet grown its stripes, it already possessed the spirit to devour an ox.

“You also did not die in a nameless place. This place is called the Return-to-Truth Temple. Though the broken plaque is already difficult to read and its name is unknown to the world, it will surely be known because of you!”

After saying this, Jiang Wang bent down and bowed solemnly.

“May your spirit in heaven find peace.”

This bow was not only because of the Meridian Opening Pill Zuo Guanglie had left behind, but also because of the compassion, openness, and bravery he had shown.

A man like Zuo Guanglie deserved anyone’s respect.

Tonight happened to be a full moon. Pure moonlight shone upon the new grave.

In the unseen world, it seemed as if a faint breeze stirred.

Jiang Wang saw points of silver light drifting out from Zuo Guanglie’s grave. They slowly rose in the moonlight and gathered into a tiny silver crescent moon. It floated above the new grave, within Jiang Wang’s reach, looking mysterious and noble.

“This is…”

A sudden understanding came to Jiang Wang.

He reached out and grasped the silver crescent moon.

His vision went black.

In the almost endless darkness, a gentle voice sounded. This voice seemed to contain the ultimate principles of heaven and earth, the mysteries of the Great Dao. Hearing it made one’s mind clear and spirit bright.

“Welcome, Lord of the Cave-Truth Ruins Blessed Land!”

In the next instant, a point of light appeared. Then countless points of light appeared.

Countless lights filled his vision. When Jiang Wang regained his sight, he saw a dazzling river of stars surging through the boundless darkness before him!

And standing suspended before that river of stars was a young man.

His eyes were clear and bright, his nose tall and straight. His expression was gentle, as if he had no aggressiveness at all. Only his slightly pursed lips revealed a hint of stubbornness. Other than a daoist robe of unknown material, he wore no other adornment.

Jiang Wang froze.

Because that young man was himself. Though the clothing was different, and though this version was far cleaner and fresher than his current state, how could he possibly mistake himself?

And from some angle he could not yet understand, in a sense beyond ordinary sight, he was “looking” at himself.

“Dao essence feedback insufficient. Nineteen levels of the Dao Evolution Platform sealed.”

That gentle voice rang out again within the vast starry sky.

“Eighteen levels of the Dao Evolution Platform sealed.”

…

“Two levels of the Dao Evolution Platform sealed.”

Each time the sentence sounded, the starry river before him dimmed a little.

Jiang Wang tried to understand everything he was observing. Then he heard:

“Third-grade Sword Discussion Platform sealed.”

“Fourth-grade Sword Discussion Platform sealed.”

Just like before, it continued all the way to “Eighth-grade Sword Discussion Platform sealed” before finally stopping.

Jiang Wang did not understand the meaning behind any of this, but he supposed it had something to do with his weak strength. The so-called “Lord of the Cave-Truth Ruins Blessed Land” should have been Zuo Guanglie, not him.

At the same time, he noticed a line of words floating within his field of vision, words he had never seen before.

They were completely different from the writing of Zhuang Country that he had studied and were extremely unfamiliar to him. Yet he clearly sensed their meaning.

“Merit: one thousand eight hundred and fifty points.”

As Jiang Wang was still pondering this, the version of himself that he “saw” suddenly took a step forward and merged with him.

The process was so brief it could almost be ignored. Jiang Wang moved his hands and feet, and everything felt perfectly natural. In this mysterious world, he finally possessed a body in some sense.

Then, in the very next moment, the stars in the vast void suddenly churned. An entire brilliant river of stars surged toward him!

He was submerged within the starry river.

Time seemed to lose all meaning. When Jiang Wang came back to himself, he had already appeared in a space filled with immortal mist, while a great amount of information flowed through his mind.

This was the world of the Grand Void Illusory Realm. The Cave-Truth Ruins Blessed Land where he stood was contained within this world.

The silver crescent moon he had grasped was called a Void Key. It was the key to entering this place. It borrowed the power of the Lunar Star to draw the host’s spiritual consciousness into the Grand Void Illusory Realm.

Everything here was simulated with perfect realism. Other than the fact that it would not harm the host’s real physical body, everything was no different from reality.

The Dao Evolution Platform was a place used to deduce cultivation methods and dao techniques. The cost required for deduction was “merit.”

The Sword Discussion Platform was specifically used to travel through the Grand Void Illusory Realm and spar with other cultivators.

“Merit” was mostly produced through battle. In battles between those of the same level, victory granted merit while defeat deducted merit. Challenging those of a higher level came with corresponding bonuses.

Other than that, there were also other methods. For example, corresponding grotto-heavens and blessed lands regularly produced merit.

Among the seventy-two blessed lands, the lowest-ranked East Sea Mountain Blessed Land produced one hundred merit points each month. For the lower thirty-six blessed lands, each rank higher increased production by ten. For the upper thirty-six blessed lands, each rank higher increased production by one hundred.

The Cave-Truth Ruins Blessed Land that Zuo Guanglie had occupied was ranked twenty-third and could produce one thousand eight hundred and fifty merit points each month.

This was now Jiang Wang’s resource.

Although he still did not know its exact uses, Jiang Wang could already hear his own heart pounding violently.

This place… this place!

This world of a brilliant river of stars seemed to hide an enormous secret.

The Dao Evolution Platform and Sword Discussion Platform it had shown him alone had already unfolded a vast and surging world.

To evolve the Dao within a blessed land, to discuss the sword amid a river of stars, how grand and magnificent!

And before today, Jiang Wang had not even heard its name.

His emotions surged violently and could not settle for a long while, until his gaze fell upon the phantom of a sundial and saw a line of words:

The lord of the blessed land will accept the challenge of the lord of the twenty-fourth blessed land, Azure Jade Altar, in thirty days.

Defeat will result in demotion.

Those five words were as dark as ink, each one seeming to weigh a thousand pounds.

(End of Chapter)