Chapter 558: The Sorrow of Parting; Disappearing Over the Horizon (part 2)

Chapter 558: The Sorrow of Parting; Disappearing Over the Horizon (part 2)

As the day of departure neared, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior stopped cutting off the story in the middle of the good parts. He also sped up the plot a bit. On the day before Heavenfire Skycrossing ended, he reached the end of the tale.

Ling’er’s mood became a bit more reserved as she realized they would be leaving soon. Deep in her heart, she wished she could stay. In the two months that had passed, she had made friends. She had also given out a lot of medicinal pills as gifts.

Xu Qing wasn’t looking forward to parting ways with the little girl who loved alchemy. She had come to visit many, many times. Three days before it was time to leave, he decided to personally tell her that he was leaving.

“Panyan, take a seat in front of me,” he said softly. The girl’s name was Shi Panyan. [1]

“Yes, Teacher!” Shi Panyan had full confidence in Xu Qing, and thus immediately sat down in front of him.

Xu Qing reached up and put his hand on her forehead. “Don’t resist.”

Hearing that, Shi Panyan closed her eyes.

A moment later, Xu Qing shook his head and sighed inwardly. He had done a quick test in the hopes that he could somehow undo the red moon curse in her. At the very least, he had hoped to find out the basic principles that made the curse work. Unfortunately, given his current level of power, there was no way he could do anything about the curse in her blood. And he would need to do a lot more research, study, and experimentation. Unfortunately, such tests would require large amounts of blood, and meticulous vivisection. Xu Qing couldn’t bring himself to do tests like that on humans.

“Panyan,” Xu Qing whispered.

She quickly opened her eyes.

“I’m leaving in a few days.”

Shi Panyan’s eyes turned red and she bowed her head. She didn’t say anything. She had come to realize a few days ago that this was coming, and had tried to prepare herself mentally. But when she heard the words coming from Xu Qing’s mouth, her heart hurt.

Xu Qing thought back to her earnest hard work over the past month, and how she thirsted for knowledge. It was something Xu Qing was very familiar with. After a lot of thought, he’d made a decision.

Taking a medicinal codex out of his bag of holding, he rubbed the cover and thought about Grandmaster Bai. Then he handed the book to Shi Panyan.

“My Teacher gave this to me, and now I’m giving it to you.”

Shi Panyan’s little hands trembled as she reached out and took the book. She looked at it, then clasped it against her chest and gazed up at Xu Qing. Her eyes seemed sad and reluctant. She obviously wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to form the words. In the end, though, she knew that she and her Teacher were from different worlds. Therefore, all the words she wanted to say transformed into one thing.

Shi Panyan kowtowed nine times to Xu Qing.

He accepted her kowtows, and then said, “If you carefully study this medicinal codex, you won’t need any more help from me. Now go.”

Shi Panyan got to her feet. She walked to the door and stood there, her skinny little frame looking unusually lonely and desolate. She looked over her shoulder. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she said, “Teacher, will I ever see you again?”

He looked up at her. She was only eleven or twelve, and he knew what kind of thoughts were in her heart and mind. Something very similar had happened to him once. [2]

He smiled warmly and nodded. “The world is a tavern for living beings. And the timescape is an old guest. As long as we don’t die, we’ll meet again. I hope that when we do, you’ll have made something of yourself.”

Shi Panyan committed the words to memory. Taking a deep breath, she bowed to Xu Qing, then left. As she walked through the night feeling very down, she clutched the medicinal codex against her chest, as if it was the embodiment of hope to her.

“As long as we don’t die,” she murmured, “we’ll meet again!”

The huge heart was floating through the canopy of heaven, the asteroids orbiting around it. It seemed to be completely oblivious to everything around it as it flew toward some unknown destination.

In the Moonrite Region, they were gods. Any species who encountered them would either bow in obeisance or flee. No one would dare block their path. Eventually, after they were far in the distance, Xu Qing emerged from the lava. After ensuring they were really gone, he continued on his way.

Three days later, he found a suitable location. There, he took out the eyeball Duanmu Zang had given him. The eyeball was still staring at him. Thinking back to what Duanmu Zang had said about subjugating the eyeball, he summoned his shadow. The shadow manifested around him in a canopy of darkness. Its eyes glittered like countless stars, and all of them focused on the eyeball. The eyeball shivered.

Expression cold, Xu Qing tossed the eyeball into the black canopy.

“Have a chat with it.”

The eyes in the dark canopy blinked, and malicious fluctuations of divine will spread out. The canopy wrapped around the eyeball.

Sometime later, the canopy spat the eyeball back out. The eyeball looked listless and terrified. It was trembling.

Xu Qing examined it, then called out Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior and told him to use the eyeball to polish the Spike of Misfortune. The patriarch complied with a vicious grin, and the eyeball trembled even more.

Finally, Xu Qing gripped the eyeball in his hand and dropped into the lava. The brown eyeball obediently sent out a defensive shield.

Although it looked timid and weak when dealing with Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior and the shadow, once in the lava, it really did a fantastic job of helping Xu Qing deal with the heat. This eyeball was a perfect example of the principles of mutual augmentation and suppression that exist in all living things. With the help of the eyeball’s power, Xu Qing sank down further.

The shadow seemed concerned the eyeball might try something, so it stayed out in the open.

In that manner, Xu Qing sank down about 300 meters before settling cross-legged. Then he sucked in some of the flames from outside. It was only a bit, yet it instantly filled him with a sense of deadly crisis. The violet crystal immediately gobbled it up.

A light that was far more intense than before filled Xu Qing’s sea of consciousness, shining right onto the immortal-shredding god-devouring lamp.

The lamp started melting. The process went much more quickly than before. Xu Qing watched excitedly. Meanwhile, the shadow was going all out to supervise the eyeball, and was continuously emanating a sensation of profound hunger.

The terrified eyeball did everything possible to reduce the heat from the lava.

Seven days later, Xu Qing had completely melted the immortal-shredding god-devouring lamp. His sea of consciousness vibrated as a 3,000-meter vortex appeared beneath the surface of the lava. Then, a fourth sundial life lamp appeared!

The gnomon shadow moved to a different time as its effects spread to the outside world. Being 300 meters below the surface of the lava, the effects, though dramatic, weren’t as noticeable. Coupled with his remote location, they didn’t attract any attention.

Seven more days passed, and Xu Qing opened his eyes. Another 3,000-meter vortex appeared as a fifth sundial appeared in his sea of consciousness. Terrifying fluctuations rose up from him the moment that fifth sundial formed. The gnomon shadows spun, all of them fourteen hours apart from each other at different times!

Xu Qing studied them thoughtfully. Several hours later, the first sundial’s gnomon shadow stopped at noon. The ball of light also stopped moving. A sensation of enlightenment filled Xu Qing’s mind.

Next, the other four sundials will stop at noon. When they’re all at the same time, some special ability will manifest....

Xu Qing had no idea what it would be. But based on what he could sense, it was going to be the first time the true power of the sundials were revealed.

1. Shi Panyan: As you can tell, her name is very similar to her brother’s name, which is Shi Pangui. Shi is listed #61 on the list of 100 common surnames. It means “stone.” Pan means “hope for, long for, expect.” Yan means “goose.” Madam Deathblade says that, culturally speaking, the reference to the goose makes her think of family and family reunions. The goose migrates to a distant location, then eventually returns. Similar to the father’s name, this is a somewhat sad and melancholic name, although maybe it’s slightly more hopeful than his. ?

2. Chapter reference: 29. ?