883 With Heaven in my Embrace, the World Becomes an Ocean

What was the most famous, most widely feared weapon in the world of cultivation? It was neither Fu Zi's cudgel nor Ke Haoran's sword. It also wasn't the Chief Monk of Scripture's iron staff or the Abbey Dean's psyche. It was a set of bow and arrows.

To later generations, Thirteen Primordial Arrows would undoubtedly be considered a milestone of weaponry. Its sheer power was stupefying. It was a shame that only the Academy and Tang Kingdom were able to create such a weapon, and only a freak like Ning Que who studied talismans and cultivation at the same time was able to use it.

The Thirteen Primordial Arrows disobeyed the laws of physics and seemed to be almost free of the shackles of time. The metal arrows were crafted from the toughest material in the world. How powerful would it be if released at full force?

When Ning Que was in the See-through State, he rendered Long Qing a wastrel with a single arrow. When he was in the Knowing Destiny State, the strong fighters who had been hit fled covering their heads with their hands. On this day at Peach Mountain, he had already entered the Tianqi State. He killed ten strong opponents from the West-Hill Divine Temple with a single shot, and even wounded the Hierarch almost to the state of insanity.

Nobody could escape the Thirteen Primordial Arrows when he entered the Tianqi State. Other than the Xuankong Temple's Chief Monk of Scripture, it seemed that nobody else would be able to withstand its power — not even the people gathered in front of Peach Mountain.

At the sight of the jet-black arrow and the iron bow in Ning Que's hands, the people on the plateau before Peach Mountain felt their blood run cold. Some even felt their knees weaken. They could not begin to imagine what they would do if that arrow were aimed at them, much less if it were hurtling towards them. 

They never would have thought that they would one day be facing the might of this fearsome bow and arrow at such a close range. Really, they were lucky. Much of the Thirteen Primordial Arrows' power came from the stealth. The reason why it was impossible to defend oneself from the arrows was because the arrows' flight was propelled not by the bow's release, but by the will of a talisman. There was no need for it to even consider its distance from a target. In fact, it could be said that the further away the weapon was positioned from its target, the more effective it would be. 

Still, there are two sides to every coin. The world would never have a perfect weapon. The Thirteen Primordial Arrows, too, had weaknesses. More accurately, the weaknesses lay in its user, Ning Que.

The further away it was positioned from the target, the more the Thirteen Primordial Arrows' power grew, but once the distance exceeded the range of human vision, it became impossible for Ning Que to take aim.

Even the hulking, monstrous bulk of someone like Xia Hou would be reduced to nothing but a miniscule speck from tens of thousands of li away. No human would be able to see him with the naked eye, not even Fu Zi.

That year in Tianqi Mountain, Ning Que depended on his intuition to land an arrow on Long Qing from miles away, not with his eyesight. Long Qing's misfortune was in the fact that he had just seen through the Confinement made of firewood and was just about to enter the Knowing Destiny State. In Ning Que's mind, this made him as bright as the sun.

At Ning Que's current state of cultivation, he would only be able to aim accurately at a faraway target if his target was at the peak of the Knowing Destiny State and had completely relinquished control of their own boundaries. The epitome of this would be at the point of entering a different state.

Who would release their boundaries completely right when Ning Que drew his bow? Why should a target meet the conditions of his aim? Who would enter a new state at the very moment Ning Que was taking aim? Someone entering a new state was not an everyday occurrence in the world of cultivation, and it would be even less uncommon to do so just when Ning Que was shooting an arrow. Not everyone was as unlucky as Long Qing.

Although the famed figures present did not have complete knowledge of the Thirteen Primordial Arrows' secrets, they had still deduced a few basic principles from their years of experience and what they knew of Ning Que's experiments in battle. Thus, when they saw him drawing his bow as clear as day, they were overtaken by anxiety and a desire to know whom he wanted to shoot.

Where was his iron arrow pointed towards?

Ning Que raised the iron bow and gazed silently northward. 

He did not look with his eyes, but with his mind. In his pysche, the world's image seemed like a broad ocean.

This ocean was the whole world.

There were a few shining specks in the ocean.

In the far west, there was a speck which gave off a strong, steady light. The speck in the northeast shone even larger and brighter. On closer inspection, the speck was made of three different lights.

There were lights around him as well. Behind him, there seemed to be an sea of light, too bright to even look at.

Ning Que was now in the Tianqi state. Other than any cultivators who may have been entering a new state at that moment, the rest of the lights were all strong individuals. The brighter the light, the deeper their level of cultivation!

The brilliant sea of light behind him was her.

She shone so brightly that she completely blocked any trace of Liu Bai's spirit.

The strong light in the far westward reaches was the Xuankong Temple's Chief Monk of Scripture.

The three clustered lights in the northeast were Eldest Brother, the Drunkard, and the Butcher.

All the strong warriors were visible to him.

In this instance, he seemed to have turned into the first edition of the Arcane Tome of the Sun.

This made no sense for he was not a Tome of the Arcane. He was human.

In the human world, there was no explanation of how he was able to perceive this ocean in his mind.

Many years ago, during his return from Wei City to Chang'an, Ning Que had a conversation with the passerby, Lu Qingchen. In that dialogue, Ning Que said that he had once perceived an ocean in his dream. At that point, Lu Qingchen thought it was a dream and nothing more, since Ning Que did not have the potential for cultivation.

This was because of Initial Awareness, the ability to perceive the surrounding world and it was an initial indication of a cultivator's potential. In all of recorded history, Liu Bai was known to have had the most powerful Initial Awareness.

When Liu Bai experienced Initial Awareness, he saw a broad, coursing, yellow river.

How Could Ning Que see a whole ocean?

Still, standing beneath Peach Mountain, he could really see a whole ocean.

"I think I am the ocean."

Ning Que spoke to himself.

In the years since he gained the abilities of cultivation, he had returned to mull over his conversation with Lu Qingchen many times. Only this year did he realize that it was all because of Sangsang's destiny.

While he dreamt, he had always been hugging Sangsang.

Having Haotian in his arms, was it really such a big deal to perceive all of humanity?

Coming to Peach Mountain, enduring the Tianqi and having the Haotian energy course into his body, he once again drew on the connection between him and Sang Sang, almost like enveloping her in his embrace once again.

Why wouldn't he be able to perceive this ocean of humanity?

Could it be that what he wanted to shoot was a bright spot in this ocean?

Was it the Xuankong Temple's Chief Monk of Scripture, the Drunkard, or the Butcher?

Nobody knew.

...

...

Standing before Peach Mountain, Ning Que could perceive the whole world.

At this moment, the whole world had already perceived him.

It was because of the huge burst of Tianqi.

At the border of Song and Yan, the fragrance of wine wafted delicately through the air in the calligraphy shop. Only a bowl of water sat on the table in front of Eldest Brother, but his spirits were as high as if he were savoring a fine wine.

It was because he now knew that his Little Brother had survived.

The drunkard's voice was uncharacteristically hoarse. "How could Haotian's Divine Power enter a normal person's body?"

Eldest Brother replied, "You can't apply logic to my Little Brother."

The Drunkard's brows furrowed in a flash. Although there was no wind, the flask at his hip seemed to float parallel to the ground. His clothes morphed and became faint, almost as if he could disappear at any moment.

He was not certain that Ning Que was aiming at him from Peach Mountain, but he felt like he was in danger.

Eldest Brother said, "You're not his target. You're too quick."

Thinking back to their previous conversation, the Drunkard's expression grew cold in fear. "You were right before…the Butcher is very slow."