Night without Borders

Chapter 347 Whose Heart Monkey is Cao Qianqiu?
The Cui family, though said to be a thousand-year-old family, has actually existed for nearly two thousand years.

Such an ancient family possesses formidable strength not because of the brilliance of any particular strongest individual, but because of the vast foundation accumulated by the entire family over countless years. Like the roots of a towering ancient tree buried underground, it may not be outwardly apparent, but its depths are unfathomable.

The Cui family, which has existed for nearly two thousand years, sends a large number of its members to the secluded lands, esoteric sects, and the path of rebirth every year. They have their own people in each of these major lineages, including many immortals and grandmasters.

Furthermore, if we trace back several generations, there are ancient sages who became the founders of a certain path of spiritual practice.

It can be said that this family, which has stood in the world for two thousand years, has formed a mature system and has a deep connection with other religions and esoteric Buddhism. It is a behemoth that is difficult to shake.

Hence the saying, "Dynasties come and go, but aristocratic families remain."

Against this backdrop, Lu Zizai did not hesitate and accompanied Qin Ming straight to the Cui family.

"Senior Brother Lu, besides the 'Golden Crow Illuminating the Night Scripture,' I've also discovered new chapters in other incomplete scriptures," Qin Ming transmitted his voice through the wind and snow.

Lu Zizai treated him exceptionally well, protecting and caring for him on numerous occasions.

Now Qin Ming wants to repay the kindness and walk the path of rebirth together; he hopes that Lu Zizai can become stronger.

Initially, this did not attract enough attention from Lu Zizai. After all, a few new chapters were not of much reference value to someone of his level.

However, his expression quickly changed.

Someone as brilliant and ambitious as him was completely stunned.

Putting everything else aside, just the four pages of the jade book alone, known as one of the three most difficult true scriptures on the path to immortality, everyone knows how severely incomplete it is, so how come it now seems to be complete?

Lu Zizai was stunned, watching the densely packed little figures jumping around in front of him, and then seeing the ancient Bagua furnace, surrounded by a large amount of text, with flames burning into the sky.

He was engrossed in it, reading the mental battle on the first page. Was the second page about refining the Mind Monkey into medicine?
Lu Zizai was lost in thought; the sequel to the True Scripture was so captivating that he was almost "captivated" by it. The new chapter was of extremely important reference value to him.

In a daze, he seemed to see creatures like the 'Nian' lurking deep within the layers of mist, as well as others. Was this touching upon some kind of truth?
……

In the serene land beyond the mortal realm, Helian Zhaoyu, his face deathly pale and swaying slightly, stepped out of the blessed land of spring warmth and blooming flowers and entered the icy plain where yesterday's great battle had taken place.

In an instant, the cold wind, carrying snowflakes, lashed down on him, causing him to stagger.

He has taken the precious medicine and reconnected the broken bone, but he is still far from fully recovered. This time, he has suffered a severe blow to both his body and mind, and he can hardly believe that he has failed so miserably.

With a skilled fighter following behind, the Helian family was deeply worried, fearing that he would be ruined.

Helian Zhaoyu came to "recap" the battle. He couldn't understand why Qin Ming was more powerful than those historical figures.

He walked along, reflecting on yesterday's battles.

He kept analyzing and "reconstructing" the scene of the bloody battle, and "strengthening" his own performance yesterday, but after the analysis, he still suffered a great defeat.

This left him feeling somewhat desperate and powerless.

Snowflakes fluttered down, the north wind howled, and Helian Zhaoyu's heart turned cold, chilled to the bone.

Suddenly, he noticed another figure standing on the icy plain where snowflakes were falling heavily, as if sensing something.

Are there other people here like him, "reviewing" their experiences?
Helian Zhaoyu braved the wind and snow, and as he approached, he could see from afar that it was Li Qingxu.

"What are you doing here?" He was somewhat arrogant and didn't think much of Li Qingxu, because he had heard that this person had suffered a series of defeats and was already known as "Li the Defeater".

Li Qingxu was very polite and said, "Brother Helian, you were still honorable in your defeat yesterday. Your four inner realms, which merged and unified into the divine pure land, are truly amazing. You have the potential to become an earth immortal."

He spent the night in quiet contemplation, and feeling inspired, he got up early to come here to study yesterday's great battle.

He was seriously considering a question: if he were to establish himself in the realm of "Embracing Simplicity" and use his superior realm to completely suppress Qin Ming, who was in a "sage-like state"?

Helian Zhaoyu was not appreciative and found the phrase "though defeated, still honorable" very offensive.

"You're also researching this level of combat?" he asked coldly.

As Cao Qianqiu's personal disciple, Li Qingxu was not intimidated by him based on his status alone. Upon hearing this, he immediately frowned and said, "I have not offended you, have I?"

"You're not ready to fight in this area yet, so get out of here!"

Without a doubt, Helian Zhaoyu's attitude was disrespectful to Li Qingxu.

But the latter did not get angry.

Instead, Li Qingxu chuckled and said, "I've fought Qin Ming before, and although I lost more than once, I did injure him, even if my victory at that time was dishonorable..."

With that, he turned and left with a flourish.

As the snowflakes fell, Helian Zhaoyu felt utterly miserable.

……

Qin Ming's battle outside the Pure Land naturally spread, and the details appeared on the desks of various organizations immediately.

There is no doubt that this clash between the top seeds will attract a lot of attention.

However, with the heavy snowfall, the news isn't spreading as quickly, and only those in positions of power are able to know immediately.

In the blessed land of the Heavenly God Palace, an important sect of Esoteric Buddhism, Grandmaster Wang Jingyan smiled, quite satisfied with his arrangements from the previous day.

He readily agreed to let Qin Ming see the incomplete scripture, and even invited a stunningly beautiful goddess to accompany him. The atmosphere was harmonious, and the relationship between the two was extremely amicable.

It can be said that both host and guests had a pleasant time. It was quite offensive of those from the secluded monastery to challenge the guests.

The key point is that the immortal seed ultimately suffered a rather crushing defeat.

Grandmaster Wang Jingyan of the Esoteric School laughed and said, "He didn't even think about it. That's the 'Upright Ape Demon King' who killed more than a dozen Heavenly Demons in the Divine Devastation Plain. He's famous throughout the Western Region. How dare a third-realm Immortal challenge him? He's lost all face and substance."

He felt that the people of Pure Land were truly unwise. However, he soon stopped laughing.

Because he received the latest news on his desk: a top-tier divine seed challenged Qin Ming and suffered a crushing defeat!
After reading the details, he was so angry that he exclaimed: "You scoundrel!"
He thought the people from the secluded Pure Land were shameless for spreading false information.

“That Helian Zhaoyu… seems to be primarily practicing the techniques of my secret sect,” his disciple said.

Wang Jingyan wanted to slam his fist on the table and said, "That's a seed of the Imperial Immortal Sect! Why didn't you say so before? Now that you've lost, you've become a divine seed of our secret sect? Ling Canghai, that old thief, is utterly shameless!"

Outside, those in charge of gathering information from various organizations were also somewhat confused: was Qin Ming fighting against a Celestial Seed or a Divine Seed?
Wang Jingyan said, "Quickly clarify, we won't take the blame for the Pure Land of the Outside World!"

In any case, this battle is about to cause a huge uproar.

……

"Truly worthy of being called a celestial book, one of the three most difficult true scriptures on the path to immortality!" Lu Zizai exclaimed after reading it.

He stood in the wind and snow for a long time, still clueless about the last two pages, needing to spend more time studying them.

However, he had some insights into the first two pages of the jade book. After pondering, he murmured, "Cao Qianqiu really might be a restless mind."

Qin Ming was stunned. If this were true, it would indeed cause a major earthquake.

If a powerful ancestor on the path to immortality were to have his inner ape severed by someone else, that would be truly terrifying.

Qin Ming couldn't help but ask, "Who is his true identity?"

Lu Zizai said, "It's not certain yet, because it's been quite a long time. If there's a real person behind Old Cao, he must be an old monster."

The trajectory of Cao Qianqiu's youth can be traced, and no one had ever thought of him as related to the Mind Monkey before.

The key point is that after a strong person reshapes their physical body by severing the mind from the ape within, if no one tells them, they will believe that they are an independent individual and will not know that they have another origin.

Lu Zizai pondered that over the years, the secluded lands had been filled with experts, and some patriarchs had permanently disappeared, entering the depths of the Night Mist World.

He was trying to recall, trying to find someone to match his identity.

Lu Zizai sighed, "If that person had severed his Heart Monkey—Cao Qianqiu—when he was young, and then kept his true form hidden and remained dormant ever since, that would be extremely terrifying."

Without a doubt, if such a person truly existed, his cultivation would be incredibly astonishing, and his ambition would at least be to step into the realm of Earth Immortals!

Qin Ming spoke up: "Could it be a former Sacred Earth-type expert from the Demon Civilization? After all, they were the first to comprehend the 'Subduing Heart Sutra' from the four pages of jade book."

Lu Zizai's heart skipped a beat, and he said, "If that's what you mean, I've thought of a very extreme scenario."

Qin Ming asked in surprise, "There are even more unbelievable suspects?"

Lu Zizai nodded and said, "Yes, back then, there were also people who came into contact with an even more incomplete Heavenly Book, or perhaps the 'Fu Xin Jing' (Heart Sutra)."

Qin Ming's eyes widened, several figures flashing through his mind. He looked incredulous and said, "That...that's unlikely!"

He already knew who Lu Zizai was talking about: the founder of the Silk Calligraphy School!
"Cao Qianqiu was so wicked, but the old master who researched the calligraphy on silk..." Qin Ming paused slightly at this point. He had only briefly met one of them, and he didn't know much about the others.

Lu Zizai said, "The Mind Monkey is an 'impurity' in the heart of a living being, an unusually active emotion, belonging to intense but useless desires. Therefore, it has been cut out and will be a peerless medicine that will greatly benefit the increase of the true body's cultivation in the future!"

Therefore, regardless of who the mastermind is, the mind that is cut off from the heart may turn to evil, which is a negative and distracting thought.

After careful consideration, Lu Zizai said, "I think the probability that Cao Qianqiu is the founder of the Silk Calligraphy, Xin Yuan, is less than 10%, while the probability that he comes from the demon civilization is 20%, and the probability that he comes from the Immortal Path itself is 70%."

"Senior Brother Lu, do you have suspicions about the target?" Qin Ming asked.

Lu Zizai said, "I wouldn't say that, but I have a vague feeling that someone shouldn't have died young back then."

Qin Ming hadn't expected that the four incomplete pages of the jade book would actually lead to the discovery of Lao Cao's identity.

Lu Zizai said, "There is an unparalleled expert in the Secret Sect who wanted to refine several forbidden lands outside Jade Capital. He is truly a ruthless person and quite powerful. Back then, there was a young man on the Immortal Path who seemed to be able to rival him, but for some reason, he withered away prematurely."

……

Outside, news was spreading. Beyond the Pure Land, a great battle on the snowfield cemented Qin Ming's status and glory as a top seed.

At this moment, the core members of the Cui family had also received the latest intelligence. Everyone present frowned and remained silent, and the atmosphere suddenly became quite somber.

Qin Ming and Lu Zizai braved the wind and snow and were already close to the Cui family, a family with a thousand-year history!
Ahead, rows of buildings stand tall and majestic, like palaces from heaven descended to earth.

In front of the Cui family mansion, the vermilion gate is adorned with neatly arranged golden door studs, resembling twinkling stars in the night.

"Who goes there? Stop right now!" Qin Ming was stopped as soon as he approached.

"Qin Ming!" he introduced himself. Three years had passed, and the gatekeepers from before had all been replaced.

"Qin...Ming?!" Clearly, those people knew who he was, and they immediately showed expressions of shock.

"Qin Ming? It really is you!" At this moment, two young men from the direct line of the Cui family walked out of the mansion. They were first surprised, and then their joy was hard to hide.

One of them secretly transmitted a message: "If the clan elder knew that he had come to our door himself, he would be extremely excited and happy, and all his troubles would be gone!"

He gestured for someone to report, while he smiled, trying to reassure the boy in front of him.

The other young man was more cautious and secretly whispered, "Don't make any rash moves. His status is different now, and it could be a real scare!"

"It's alright, we must keep him calm and wait for the old men to arrive. This should be a great achievement!" a young man from the main branch of the Cui family said in secret.

In fact, some major organizations have been paying close attention to Qin Ming's movements in the past two days. When they received a secret report that Qin Ming might be heading towards the Cui family, it caused a sensation.

(End of this chapter)