ninety thousand miles

Chapter 717 Brothers
Li Chuan certainly knew why he had failed. Even if he didn't know at the time, after thinking about it for ten years, he understood.

He was too hasty.

Immortal Yingfeng gave him time. He was too hasty and wasted precious time.

After falling from the pillar of light, the "Scripture of Tattoos" shattered and completely merged into his body. For two years, unable to move, he could see nothing but countless golden dots and lines spread across the endless darkness.

He could only keep repairing the pages.

Finally, the "Artifact Classic" resurfaced in his mind, and he stood up again. From then on, he knew every diagram and every structure in the "Artifact Classic" by heart.

He began repairing the creek flute.

Two years later, the Stream Flute reappeared, triggering extraordinary phenomena in the heavens and earth.

He began to study Mingheng's notes from scratch.

Two years later, he preached at the Four Gods Palace. The first session was on the art of repair; the second session was on the Mingheng Notes; and the third session was on the Way of the Tattooing Classic.

After finishing his three lectures, he went to the Temple of the Divine Warriors. After that, Li Chuan never left Yunqiao Township again. He stopped reading books and repairing magical artifacts. Every day, besides playing with his son, he would stroll around the fields with his three-petaled flower, or go fishing by the stream, and occasionally drink and chat with friends.

Now, he stood under the Heavenly Pillar again.

Mu Ling left at some point.

Li Chuan looked up at the Heavenly Pillar for a while, entering a profound state. The Heavenly Pillar decomposed layer by layer in his vision, and he watched and memorized it until his eyesight was exhausted. Only then did he emerge from the state and return to the thatched hut. This time, when he lay down, his mind was completely calm, and he slept soundly in a few breaths.

The next morning, Mu Ling and Chu Bing explained the precautions to Li Chuan, and then left Wochi at Li Chuan's urging.

Before leaving, they left all the supplies they didn't need to Li Chuan. The most abundant items were various spiritual fruits, filling two large baskets.

Li Chuan tidied up the thatched hut, took out a straw quilt from his Azure Water Ring, and made a bed. It was quite comfortable to lie on. Then he went outside and walked along the fertile spring until he was slightly sweaty, at which point he stopped. He took out his golden silk sword, practiced a couple of times, then, holding the sword, thought for a while before awkwardly slashing forward with his sword. He slowly and deliberately performed one move after another, and it took him almost half an hour to complete a whole set of sword moves.

Then he performed the move again from the beginning. As he assumed the second move, the fertile spring water behind him surged as if drawn by the sword strike, along with the celestial pillar light. Orange light flowed within the silver water snake.

Li Chuan suddenly stopped.

The orange light faded, and water fell, splashing all over his head and face.

"It's alright." Li Chuan shook his head, wiped his face, and laughed.

On the way back to the thatched hut, a sudden downpour began. Li Chuan found an umbrella, but was still soaked to the bone. Back at the hut, he changed his clothes, dried his hair, started a fire, and boiled water. He drank hot tea, ate some Danyu fruit, and watched the heavy rain outside.

It's so quiet.

After Li Chuan stayed in Wochi for a while, many more things appeared in his thatched hut. One day, he wove a reclining chair, placed it next to the pillar, lay down, and didn't know how long he had been lying there. In his half-asleep state, the distant sky turned orange-red.

He took out a pot of wine and two cups.

"Little mouse, get up and have a drink."

The little mouse didn't come out.

After drinking three cups, Li Chuan stood up, drew his golden silk sword, and, fueled by the alcohol, executed the entire set of sword moves in one go.

Against the orange-red sky, it seemed as if countless Li Chuans were practicing their swordsmanship, their sword moves layering out one intricate and mysterious pattern after another.

How much time had passed was unknown. Li Chuan had long since lost his sense of time. He ate when he was hungry and slept when he was tired. When he was energetic, he would lie under the Heavenly Pillar, letting the dots and lines fill his vision and change at will. When he was bored, he would go to my spring, tease the fish, and talk to the reflections in the water.

One day, while feeding the fish by the Woquan spring, he somehow fell asleep and rolled over, ending up in the spring. When he awoke, he tried to swim ashore, but several waves crashed over him, engulfing him. In his struggle, he saw an extremely fat and enormous fish swimming slowly at the bottom. He was thoroughly tired of eating raw fish.

Thinking this, he swam towards the bottom of the water. The big fish became alert, flicked its tail, and tried to escape, but found that the water was still.

Li Chuan plunged his sword into the fish's body.

He carried the big fish ashore, removed its scales, and gutted it. He lit a fire and put a pot on the stove. He first cut off a small piece, put it in the pot to test the flavor, and the aroma of the meat wafted out.

After confirming that the fish wouldn't turn into water, Li Chuan divided the fish meat into three portions. One portion was used to make grilled fish, one portion was braised, and the other portion was dried and stored in the Azure Water Ring.

He went into the water several more times after that, but he still couldn't find any big fish.

Dried fish, stewed with some dried bamboo shoots, tastes great too.

After finishing the last spiritual fruit, Li Chuan decided to climb the Heavenly Pillar.

The first time, he climbed about ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) before coming down, returning to his thatched hut, taking out paper and pen, and writing and drawing for a while.

The second time, he climbed to the spot he had previously repaired, and there he rubbed the kettle to make a sound.

After the kettle made ninety-nine sounds, he went downstairs again.

He walked outside and, relying on his memory, found the place where the corpse of the nine-headed ancient demon beast was sealed. He used the sound of the pot to send the demon beast to the afterlife, broke the seal, and then repaired the underground spiritual veins.

He couldn't remember how much time it took.

After the spiritual energy in the spiritual veins began to flow again, it rained once more in the fertile pool. The rain, brimming with spiritual energy, drenched him once more. This time, he didn't try to block it; he was too weak. The rain wasn't cold either; it fell on him as if it had cleansed his body and soul.

They rested for a few more days.

He tidied up the thatched hut and himself, then walked to the spring, took a couple of sips of water, turned around, and gazed at Tianzhu for a while.

He walked towards the Heavenly Pillar.

"Brother Li..."

Who? Li Chuan looked around but saw no one.

He must have misheard. Perhaps he'd been alone for too long and was starting to hallucinate. He continued walking.

"Big brother, we're here..."

"Big brother..."

I heard the sound again.

Li Chuan stopped again and realized that the sound seemed to be coming from the sky. He looked up and saw a deep red light pass through the pillar of light. In an instant, Wen Guying walked down, carrying a chicken in his left hand and a crab in his right, stepping on the sword energy.

“We made it,” Wen Guying walked up to him, put down the chicken and crab, and said, “We’ve been rushing day and night, it seems we still made it.”

"What brings you here?" Li Chuan asked, a smile creeping onto his face. He looked down at Gong Er and the others, then asked, "Where did you come from?"

Wen Gu replied, "Yan Qingshan, halfway there I remembered these two, so I turned back to the Four Gods Palace and dragged them out. As a result, I was urged on and on by my junior brother Gong the whole way, and I almost went the wrong way."

(End of this chapter)