Minglong

Chapter 166 Ah Huan's Cultivation

Splash~ Splash...

The sound of the ocean waves rose in my ears, and sunlight shone on my eyelids, the dazzling halo gradually awakening my consciousness.

The young man struggled to open his eyes, and what came into view was a clear blue sky and the jet-black head of a black eagle, which was holding a small piece of dried meat in its mouth and looking down at it, as if to say:
Are you awake?
"I go……"

The young man propped himself up and sat up, squinting as he surveyed the yellow sand, coconut trees, and even the wrecked ship's deck in the distance. His eyes held a mixture of bewilderment and relief at surviving the ordeal. Because he was so hungry, he took the small piece of jerky and tasted it...

Spiced beef jerky?
The young man was stunned. His eyes were filled with excitement at having crossed the ocean and returned to the human world after several months. He swallowed the jerky whole, picked up the black eagle and looked it over, but then his eyes widened in surprise.

Behind the beach lies a primeval forest, which connects to a giant black peak behind it.

The mountain peaks are like a barrier across the earth, with no end in sight to the left or right, and they soar straight up into the clouds, giving people a sense of oppressive pressure, like Mount Tai pressing down on them.

The young man, dressed in an old, yellowed robe, stood before the majestic mountains, looking like a tiny shrimp that had just crawled out of the sea.

"What kind of place is this...?"

After surveying the area, the young man picked up the Heavenly Mace from the sand pile and walked barefoot along the small paw prints on the beach. Not far away, he discovered the rooftops of houses on a hundred-foot-high cliff by the sea.

There's a Bagua (Eight Trigrams) emblem on the roof ridge, so it looks like a Taoist temple...

Below the cliff, there is a cave entrance, and some writing remains on the outer stone wall:

May the Taoist Ancestor bless you...

One day, two days, three or four days, five days, six days, seven or eight days...

Right, right, right...

When will this ever end...?

……

Judging from the marks, it is about a hundred years old.

The young man examined it carefully, then looked up at the hundred-foot-high cliff that seemed to have been carved by a knife:
"Hello? Is anyone there?"

A response quickly came from above the hundred-foot cliff, a voice ethereal and tinged with a touch of gentleness:
"uh-huh."

A look of surprise appeared in the young man's eyes. He knelt before the hundred-foot-high cliff, leaning on his Heavenly Mace, and placed the black eagle beside him.

"Immortal, I wish to become your disciple and learn your skills. I hope you can impart to me your immortal arts!"

Step, step...

Footsteps echoed from the hundred-foot cliff. Standing on the edge, with the blazing sun behind her, she looked down from below like a female bodhisattva with a halo around her, her red skirt fluttering in the wind.

The young man shielded his eyes from the sunlight with his rough left hand, squinting as he tried to see clearly, but he couldn't make out the figure above the cliff. He could only roughly estimate the height to be no less than five meters by comparing the size of the cliff to the figure above.

This is truly divine...

The young man, having traveled 30,000 miles, had transformed from a carefree young master into a wild man who had experienced the dangers of the world and the hardships of life. Upon seeing this figure who did not resemble an ordinary person, his eyes welled up with the excitement of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after enduring countless trials.
"Greetings, Immortal! May I ask your name?"

"Night Red Sorrow".

"Junior Xie Jinhuan pays respects to Fairy Ye!"

"Heh~ You've got a sweet tongue..."

A figure in red, standing on the cliff with the sun high in the sky, exudes an aura like a majestic mountain overlooking a tiny insect below.
"You are a martial arts prodigy. You have passed your sister's test by getting this far. Your sister does not cheat or deceive. Now I will give you a choice."

"Leave now. With your talent and the tempering of your character through all the hardships you've endured, you could establish your own school and become a great hero."

"If you stay, I can show you the path to immortality, help you join the ranks of immortals and escape the cycle of reincarnation. But if you fail, the price may be too high for you to bear. Think it over carefully."

The young man had endured a life-or-death ordeal on his journey, and if he couldn't learn anything from it, he'd rather die. He replied:
"I stayed."

The figure in red nodded, gesturing to the opening below:

"The cave is an illusion, and you will only have one day each time."

"You can exchange the spoils you obtained from the illusion with your sister for food, clothes, magical artifacts, protective gear, and elixirs."

"But if you die inside, or if you hold a grudge overnight, all your accumulated wealth will be confiscated and you'll have to start all over again."

"If you don't meet your sister's requirements, you can never leave this beach in your life."

The figure in red, having said this, then looked at the little, broken bird begging on the beach:
"As for it, it's not allowed to eat until it completes its training!"

"Guji?!"

The black eagle, which was shaking its head and acting cute, was immediately shocked and shook its head like a rattle drum!
The young man was somewhat puzzled:
"It also needs to be trained?"

"It's all here."

"Oh……"

The young man, parched and hungry, saw that the fairy had not given him any food, so he could only prop himself up with his Heavenly Mace and look into the dark cave entrance:

"As long as I complete the mission, I'll have food and water to eat and drink?"

"There will be wine and meat, a bathtub, a change of clothes, and a small thatched hut. We'll also get you two quick and efficient maids to serve you."

"Oh..."

Having wandered for over a year, the young man had long forgotten what it felt like to be a young master. Upon hearing this, his eyes lit up, and he was eager to try it out.

The figure in red turned and disappeared into the cliff face, leaving behind the words:
"Go ahead, your goal today is to defeat seventeen-year-old Xiao Yezi."

The young man wiped his sun-darkened cheeks, somewhat puzzled:

Who is Xiao Yezi?

"Twin Saints Shrine".

"pair……?"

The young man paused in his forward momentum, looked up at the top of the cliff, and couldn't believe his eyes:
"Me? I defeated the Twin Saints of Book and Sword?"

"Hmph, if you can't even defeat a local mortal, how can you possibly be ranked among the immortals?"

"..."

The young man scratched his messy hair, thinking that it would be quite difficult for someone at the seventh level of martial arts to challenge the strongest martial artist after the Martial Ancestor.

But what the goddess said makes sense. They're all seventeen, they're all human, what's there to be afraid of?
The young man, carrying the Heavenly Mace, walked towards the cave and said to the black eagle:
"Go catch a few rabbits, I'll go in first and scout ahead."

"Guji~"

Black Hawk sensed something extremely dangerous lurking inside the cave and turned to run. However, he hadn't flown far when he heard a clear, resonant voice from behind: "Damn! This guy's seventeen?!"

bang——

Thump thump thump thump~……

Turning my head, I saw a series of dents that had been smashed into the beach.

The young man who had just entered landed upside down on the sand and remained motionless.

"Guji?"

Black Hawk hopped back, pressed the boy down with its talons, found he wasn't dead, and then continued on its way to find food...
-
Two years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Lightning flashed across the sky, and large raindrops pelted down into the deep mountains and fields of Zihui Mountain, making a crackling sound.

Ye Hongshang sat sideways on the ground, her right hand supporting Xie Jinhuan's forehead, while a crystal ball floated in her left hand.

Inside the crystal ball are beaches, cliffs, Taoist temples, and Black Mountain; the scenes change rapidly, as if played at hundreds of times the speed of a fast-forward.

On the beach, a disheveled young man was thrown out of the hole again and again, only to get up again. When he was hungry, he would go into the woods to find water and fruit, and he would make fire by rubbing sticks together to roast meat.

On the hundred-foot cliff, she leaned back in a deck chair, sunbathing with her long white legs exposed, unmoved by the young man's repeated defeats.

As the days and months passed, the young man fought hard for a month, going in no less than two thousand times, enduring longer and longer. Finally, he found an opportunity to beat his peers, excitedly rushing out, shouting at the sea, and hugging the black eagle, jumping and hopping around.

As agreed, when the young man returned with food, she built a small hut on the beach. Inside, there was a bed, table and chairs, a bathtub, a stove, smoked meat, vegetables, seasonings, and even two monkey maids to help boil water and cook.

The young man was quite surprised. He took a nice bath and ate and drank to his heart's content with Black Eagle until he and the bird were so full that they could barely move on the beach. He then slept in bed that night. This was the most comfortable time for the young man in more than a year.

The next day, the young man carved the number 'one' on the stone wall and entered the cave again. This time, his mission was to wipe out a hundred bandits within a day!
When the monkey was first thrown out, the hut and bed that Black Eagle had fought for a month to earn were all gone, and even the dried meat that Black Eagle had hidden was gone. Only Black Eagle, who was so angry that he fainted, was left lying alone on the beach.

The young man, having gained and then lost the bird, nearly collapsed. Filled with murderous intent, he rushed into the cave. Black Eagle also mustered his courage and followed him in. Then, the two were thrown out.

This time, it took the young man half a month to complete his goal. When he came out, he was carrying a package full of jewelry and silver.

They exchanged a package of items for pills and armor at the market price of the Great Qian Dynasty, and the man and the bird enjoyed a delicious meal together.

But when they entered the next day, they were bankrupt again, and all their equipment was destroyed!
"what--"

The young man knelt on the beach, pounding his chest and stamping his feet in anger, while Black Hawk banged his head against the wall, both of them collapsing.

But that's just the beginning.

The torment continues in cycles, gradually increasing in difficulty, and death or exceeding the time limit will wipe out all your possessions!
Such harsh punishment drove the young man to become increasingly mad and cautious. Six months later, he began to survive in the illusion, and a year later, he was able to complete his predetermined goals every day.

In tens of thousands of life-and-death battles, the young man also comprehended his own martial arts. Perhaps feeling that endlessly loading saves to practice was too overpowered, he even carved the five characters "Feng Ling Yue Ying Zong" on the stone wall. The red-clothed sister was the sect leader, he was the Double Flower Red Staff, and the black eagle was the sect's guardian beast.

The young man's cultivation level didn't advance very quickly, but his practical experience and martial arts skills improved rapidly.

As his possessions accumulated, the young man even used what he gained from the illusion to buy a large house filled with all sorts of items. In his spare time after completing his daily goals, he would play music for the fairies on the cliff, tell stories, recount tales he had never heard before, and even write poems, paint pictures, and perform magic tricks...

Ye Hongshang, who was on the cliff, was initially unmoved by the martial arts training process, but she did not expect that this young man had so many skills. More than a year after they met, she called the young man up to the cliff for the first time to perform in front of him.

The young man lived up to his past efforts, entertaining Ye Hongshang day after day for 360 days without repeating a single moment. As time went by, his appearance improved, and he gradually grew taller, fairer, and more handsome.

This training was originally supposed to last a long time, until the young man reached the threshold of the Super Grade before he could leave the mountain.

But as they became more familiar with each other, Ye Hongshang suddenly changed her mind. She didn't want to use the lovable little bug to go against the world and dig up the black mountain behind them.

The black dragon crashing into the pillar of heaven is a calamity that will cause the heavens to collapse, and the dragon will die.

At that time, a group of tomb raiders were digging up the cave of another of her apprentices.

Therefore, Ye Hongshang asked the young man to go back and handle the matter, and took the Zhenglun Sword as an opportunity.

When the young man woke up again, he was lying deep in Ziwei Mountain with Black Hawk, while four tomb raiders were breaking ground in the distance.

The young man killed three henchmen and, as instructed, drew the Demon-Suppressing Sword, triggering the Soul-Locking Curse in the process.

Before leaving, Ye Hongshang left a trigger on his soul. The young man sensed something was wrong and ran out of the tomb. At the same time, the Soul-Locking Curse was triggered, and he forgot about the 'adventure' three years ago.

He also forgot about the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sect, the Black Mountain in the South China Sea, the small Taoist temple, and the red-clad older sister he had spent two years with and whom he considered his 'must-marry' in this lifetime!
Ye Hongshang did this in the hope that the young man would live a good life for the rest of his life, whether he sought immortality or had multiple wives and concubines, he could live according to his own wishes and achieve a good outcome.

If we don't do this, given the young man's wild and reckless nature, he's capable of anything.

Ye Hongshang actually taught more than one disciple. Before him was Qixia Zhenren, who also had an iron will and was extremely eager to grow. However, between the common people and the debt of gratitude for teaching him, he had no choice but to choose the former.

She didn't care about it; after all, raising little bugs to fight was a kind of fun in her long life.

But the young man is different. This kid has a wicked streak. Between the world and her, he would choose—I want them all; I will become the Heavenly Ruler; I will turn the one who sets the questions into dumpling filling; it doesn't matter if I live or die, what matters is that I'm miserable to death; why should there be a way to have it all? I'll take down Buddha first and then you...

Anyway, it won't be a choice between two options.

If you choose that, you don't deserve to be called 'Enjoy Yourself'.

Ye Hongshang might want to overturn the towering mountain above her, but she doesn't want the young man to fall into a desperate situation because of her, nor does she want to see him struggle and feel guilty after giving up; her heart would ache too.

To prevent the young man from following in the footsteps of Master Qixia, she buried all the secrets south of the South China Sea, and even sealed away her own memories.

But she was still there.

Before leaving, Master Qixia took a wisp of her divine consciousness with her and attached it to the red umbrella.

She could travel through the mortal world with that wisp of divine thought, just like she had taught the Qixia Immortal how to be a leader of humanity a hundred years ago. The only drawback was that she was wandering the mortal world in a ghostly state, having lost all her supernatural powers and no longer able to protect this young man.

The young man has grown up to this point, and it's time for him to walk his own path from now on; otherwise, how can it be called his own life?

She wanted to be an ordinary and kind ghost, just like in the stories the young man told her, and spend her whole life traveling the world with him.

She sealed away all her memories in order to fully immerse herself in the world. From now on, she would only be Ye Hongshang, experiencing only the joy of their reunion, free from the anxieties of being imprisoned for ten thousand years...

……

The images inside the crystal ball kept flashing, gradually showing the scene of a triumphant pig rushing towards the demon-suppressing tomb.

Ye Hongshang closed his palms and looked at Xie Jinhuan lying beside him.

The young man was still the same young man, and his behavior was exactly as she had expected.

Even though she couldn't remember the events overseas, she only recalled a figure from behind. Between the Demon-Suppressing Tomb and her, she chose to overturn the Demon-Suppressing Tomb without hesitation.

After much deliberation, Ye Hongshang lowered her head and gave the young man a quick kiss on the lips:
"Silly boy, it's not enough for your sister to stay with you for one lifetime; she's thinking about eternity. Just be a good Martial Ancestor and Human Emperor. Don't be so crazy as to overturn the table..."

"Sigh, I've made my sister so sad. She's been locked up, locked up, and we finally had a month or so of peace and quiet..."

……

(End of this chapter)