Chapter 187

Translator: Radiant  Editor: Radiant

“Too beautiful.” Ever since his youth, Xue Ying had walked countless roads, all over the world, yet never had he experienced such feelings of intoxication from the ‘Earth.’

Earth, boundless and vast.

Earth, akin to the love of parents and tolerance for their child.

Earth was the foundation of the World. The inexorable growth of plants, the aroma of flowers dispersing through the air, birds flying freely in the sky, and the gurgling water flowing through the creeks… Everything was just a small piece of the Earth. Since the founding of the Myriad Existences, the Earth was filled with vitality, and in return, the Myriad Existences were able to sustain life because of the Earth, never going back to the void of its empty past.

“Earth.”

“The World.”

Xue Ying shut his eyes.

He immersed his soul completely into this feeling. He had sensed this feeling in the past but never fully grasped it until today when Xue Ying finally perceived in full the beauty of the Earth. It could be seen in every particle of mountainous soil, forming the vast and boundless Earth in its entirety.

“Even though a single particle of soil might not seem very beautiful, the aggregate of these countless fragments result in the formation of the Earth!”

…

Sitting cross-legged on the peak of the snow mountain, this black-robed youth was entirely immersed in the endless beauty of Earth.

Specks of yellowish light began to appear and revolve around him.

This endless brilliance…

Was like a mother’s warmth in her womb, encompassing all.

Xue Ying’s Profound Mystery of Earth had entered the first level of comprehension in the Realm of Myriad Existences.

All Profound Mysteries of Myriad Existences were extremely vast and boundless, with various paths to comprehending any single Mystery.

Some understood the Profound Mystery of Space as a form of teleportation, like Pu Yang Bo! While others comprehended the Profound Mystery of Shadow Space like Yu Feng! Some understood the aspect regarding Space Edge like Zhang Peng!

With the same logic…

The first step into the Profound Mystery of Earth had many different directions.

What Xue Ying first understood about the Profound Mystery of Earth was the concept of acceptance—to show tolerance for everything and to accept them as they were.

******

He remained seated on the peak of the snow mountain for a fortnight. As a result, drifts of snow had accumulated on him, making him seem like a snowman. Clearly, this unprecedented immersion into the beauty of the Earth had led to the addition of Earth into Fire, Water, and Wind, with each element mutually aiding one another. This collaborative fusion of the elements led to a faster pace of overall comprehension.

Peng! The accumulated snow suddenly exploded outwards.

Xue Ying stood there in its place.

Who would have thought that I would be able to attain the second level of Myriad Existences in the Profound Mystery of Earth in a single seating, Xue Ying thought, startled at his own pace of comprehension. His own Profound Mystery of Fire took approximately seven years to reach the second level from the first. As for the Profound Mystery of Water, it took him one to two years. The Profound Mystery of Wind took even less than that! But this time, the Profound Mystery of Earth had actually taken only half a month!

The main reason was that these four different Profound Mysteries were able to fuse with each other easily.

By choosing the correct path, his efficiency in comprehension was correspondingly extremely fast.

Originally, he became aware that his spear techniques were too rigid and easily broken due to his comprehension of Fire. After identifying the problem, Xue Ying added the Profound Mystery of Water. He found the fusion between the two elements to be very natural.

When he felt that his arts lacked flexibility and adaptability, he comprehended the Profound Mystery of Wind. Fusing Wind with Water and Fire was relatively easy since flexibility and adaptability were attributes in which he was lacking.

And now, he had just completed the comprehension of the Profound Mystery of Earth from the concept of acceptance. Naturally, Earth would fundamentally accept not only the elements of Water, Fire, and Wind, but also all of the other Myriad Existences! Therefore, as Xue Ying comprehended the Profound Mystery of Earth, the rate of fusion between the four elements would naturally be very fast.

And also… ever since he had become a Saint, his soul had become much stronger, giving rise to a greater rate of comprehension!

I wonder if it will affect the current equilibrium of the Embryonic Form of True Meaning of Extreme Piercing. Xue Ying frowned at the thought. That was his biggest worry.

Even though, in his heart, he felt that there should not be any problem with following this path…

But he was not absolutely certain.

The fusion of Profound Mysteries… was not about how many Mysteries were fused, but it was about balance. Originally, he had a very difficult time fusing Water, Fire, and Wind to form the Extreme Piercing. If he added another Profound Mystery, it might really destroy the equilibrium of the beautiful painting he had originally created with merely a few brushstrokes on the work of art. That would annihilate the Embryonic Form of True Meaning! Regardless, he still reasoned that the Point of Extremity was the origin of all existences, and it was also the end of everything. As long as the elemental fusion was good, there should not be any imbalance…

That was merely a theory!

Hypothesizing and doing were two different things. Everybody knew about Space and Time, but how many could actually comprehend either?

Let’s just try.

Xue Ying continued walking down the snow mountain, striding on the great Earth.

As he traveled to various places, he passed by the villages and observed the lives of the people who lived there.

He walked in their midst, but at the same time, he was alone.

This sort of loneliness…

Xue Ying felt slightly joyful. Having read through countless books on Demigods, he remembered a quote from one of the volumes: “Only when the soul of a human understands the feeling of loneliness does true wisdom shine! On the contrary, if a man always mixes amidst the company of others, his soul will be enveloped with a layer of dust, causing himself to be mired and hoodwinked into believing he is wise. Loneliness… will purify the soul, scouring it clean into a brilliant state, and naturally, wisdom will follow.”

Xue Ying finally understood the meaning behind this saying.

In his youth, Xue Ying practiced his spear and ignored all other distractions. While he lived in the Snowrock Castle, he disregarded other everyday routines. Like a fanatic, he solely focused on practicing more and more, allowing him to achieve unparalleled advancement. After such improvement, he continued on by living by himself in a bamboo house at the back of the mountain without any servants.

After becoming a Transcendent and entering the Xia Capital, his situation drastically changed. He entered the Scarlet Cloud Mountain World and came under intense scrutiny by Faction Head Si Kong Yang and Senior Master Gong Yu. They excessively berated him! This constant scolding caused him to feel hesitant about his own decisions. Time after time, he questioned his own actions. He read through all of the countless books on his ancestors… before finally, his inner heart became certain of the path he had chosen for himself. Despite the criticisms of Faction Head Si Kong Yang and the others, he had decided he would walk on his own road with his heart fully supporting it.

At that time, Xue Ying had willingly accepted any loneliness and hardships he may experience while traveling along his chosen path. Henceforth, his heart became firm, and the disturbances of others around him no longer had an effect. This change increased the rate of his improvement, leading to his comprehension of the Embryonic Form of the True Meaning of Extreme Piercing at the completion of the Mountain Road Mission.

After returning to his hometown…

He traveled to different locations, observing the lives of mortals before he finally entered a state of true loneliness! Since becoming a Saint, his soul had become even clearer and brighter, but it wasn’t until now that he finally realized what he lacked in himself—the Profound Mystery of Earth!

This Profound Mystery that gave birth to acceptance for all other Myriad Existences had been what he needed!

Creak… In the northern part of Tranquil Sun Province, a group of bandit corpses lay at his side. Several survivors from the caravan stood still in a state of shock.

“Thank you, Great Sir, for saving our lives.”

“Thank you, Great Sir.”

These members of the caravan group included old men, young adults, and even children. After all, with this sort of long journey, there would always be some family joining the caravan for safety in numbers.

“Take the weapons of these bandits. Quickly head out and travel toward the city ahead,” Xue Ying said. His figure flashed before entering a huge mountain nearby. Outwardly, he appeared as a person with the combat level of a Silver Moon Knight. As a Transcendent seeking traces of demons, he had to be alert. After all, demons were searching for Transcendents as well.

At the peak of the mountain.

Standing at the peak, Xue Ying overlooked the remaining members of the caravan who left on their journey. Shaking his head, he thought, Bandits are everywhere. Even though their work is beneficial to the entire Xia Clan, these mortals are leading difficult lives. It brings me heartache to see them live as such.

He understood this from reading many books.

Due to their hard work and suffering from the very beginning, the Xia Clan had been able to survive in this Mortal World. As the mortals experienced many trials and lived a life of hardship with bandits all around… under such threats did the mortals strive to improve and overcome their current plight, leading them to join the army and study the art of Qi or magic. Only through the many life and death situations could they refine themselves into becoming stronger.

With only peace in the world, very few would choose the difficult path of training in life and death situations, leading to a decrease in the number of Transcendents emerging from the Xia Clan. Generation after generation, the strength of the Xia Clan would erode… until finally, they would lose their status as conquerors of this Mortal World or even be exterminated!

I hope in the near future, my Xia Clan will become stronger and stronger, allowing these mortals to not live in such plight, Xue Ying thought to himself. The Dong Bo Lie couple had always treated these commoners very well. The taxes on the people living in their land had been one of the lowest, and they put their best efforts toward protecting them. Therefore, the Dong Bo Lie couple had always been loved by the people. Xue Ying grew up in such an environment, and he naturally wanted the commoners to have a better life.

Xiu.

Xue Ying casually stabbed out his finger.

His finger penetrated through layers of space, before disappearing and appearing at a distance 0.3 meters away.

Extremity Piercing!

Xue Ying revealed a grin. The equilibrium is not broken.

The fusion of Earth to Fire, Water, and Wind was not detrimental to the True Meaning at all. Time after time, he examined and adjusted the fusion before finally reaching a stage of perfection.

The current Extreme Piercing became more stable. Its penetrative power rose by three times. Xue Ying estimated. Even though it rose to three times its original power, it was still only the Embryonic Form of a Second Grade True Meaning.

The increase of penetrative power was a small matter.

More importantly, this fusion of Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind did not destroy the Embryonic Form of True Meaning of Extreme Piercing. A Second Grade True Meaning… that was in the same grade as the perfected True Meaning of Space. Right now, it was merely at its Embryonic Form. In the future, once he perfectly grasped the full and entire True Meaning of Extreme Piercing, it would result in a huge qualitative change. By then, he would be able to shoot up into the sky! Even though Xue Ying’s dream was to reach the perfection of his spear techniques, the annihilation of a Second Grade True Meaning would certainly make his heartache at the loss.