Night without Borders

Chapter 457 Famous Throughout the World
"Sealing the Heavens." Qin Ming was completely bewildered, not knowing what the old forces of Yujing were up to.

Those "old strongholds" that escaped death for reasons unknown made the new list very emotional, giving people a feeling of desolation, gloom, heaviness, powerlessness, and a faint sadness.

Newrank wants to make a difference, but it can't go against certain established rules. It wants to change the world, but someone suddenly pulls it back, and they all seem to be "old faces".

Within Crimson Cloud City, the fire springs flow gently in the night, casting a hazy glow over the entire city. As wisps of smoke rise from the chimneys, the city exudes the warmth of everyday life.

Qin Ming felt a little dazed; this lively atmosphere instantly pulled him back from his lofty thoughts.

After spending several days in the heavens, he saw the divine city, the Jade Capital Villa, the Great Tree with branches like mountain ranges, various earth immortals, and the Black Tower civilization he passed by. This journey was magnificent, but none of it was as real as what he saw before him.

With his feet firmly on the ground, Qin Ming looked at the bustling crowds and cars on the main street. Compared to the ethereal feeling of standing in the clouds, he felt very grounded walking in the mortal world.

“This is what it means to truly live,” he murmured to himself.

He recalled those rumors: that the smoke and fire of the mortal world could shake down all the gods and immortals in the heavens!

"Little Qin, you're finally back." In the city lord's mansion, Meng Xinghai breathed a sigh of relief.

Several days ago, the other people who had ascended to heaven had returned one after another, which made Meng Xinghai restless. The calming incense burning in the bronze incense burner had lost its effectiveness.

Qin Ming laughed and said, "The people in the heavens are too enthusiastic. They insist that I stay to admire the wonders of the heavens."

His consciousness returned to his body, and instantly his spiritual radiance shone forth. His flesh and blood became clear and pure, and after the unity of form and spirit, he felt an indescribable sense of comfort, like a fish that had been out of water for too long returning to the lake or sea.

Qin Ming gave a brief introduction of his experience, which captivated Meng Xinghai, whose eyes shone with a special light.

"You have no idea how much people outside the mortal realm have been praising that 'one sword pierces through thirty-six heavens' in recent days. It's been hailed as a towering peak of light in the hearts of sword cultivators on the path of immortality!"

"I am unworthy of such praise," Qin Ming said solemnly, but the corners of his mouth gradually turned up, and his smile grew wider and wider. After all, he was still a young man.

Meng Xinghai smiled and said, "The Realm Sect has attracted the attention of many masters in the Secret Sect. Even some old monsters have come forward and praised the methods you have shown in your identity. After all, you once overpowered a Celestial Immortal on the Sword Fighting Stage."

Immediately, Qin Ming thought of the woman in white—a celestial being.

To this day, he still doesn't know that although the two women were both disciples of the Jade Capital Saints, they each took two different paths.

As for "Taiyi", it has sparked heated discussions. Some say he is a person from the path of rebirth, while others say he is a cultivator of immortal bodies. Some people from Pugong even suspect that he may be one of the sources of the Bo Shu calligraphy, a living sage in this world.

Meng Xinghai said in a low voice, "A few people say that Taiyi might be you!"

"Huh?" Qin Ming was genuinely startled. His disguise had been exposed so quickly?
Meng Xinghai shook his head and said, "It's nothing. It's just that a few people are misleading people with malice. Most people don't believe it. The mainstream opinion is that Taiyi must be an unparalleled earth immortal. There is no such immortal body cultivator in Yezhou yet."

Qin Ming knew that this matter would be exposed sooner or later.

For example, the sky is not safe, with many mountains. Who knows if those old guards have left any tricks up their sleeves, or if they know the secrets on the new list?

There's no use in thinking about it now; the only right thing to do is to work hard to improve himself.

At the very least, he can use the Wishing Well to improve the calligraphy on the silk, thus resolving his biggest hidden danger.

"Uncle Meng, I brought you some local specialties from heaven." Qin Ming handed him a jade box.

Meng Xinghai opened it and was immediately attracted by the two leaves bursting with green light. He exclaimed, "Is this the legendary Leaf of Immortality that's been all the rage outside? It's too precious. You should keep it for yourself."

"I still have enough." Qin Ming obtained a total of seventeen precious leaves, which, even if he were to fuse them with the most domineering holy evil, would be enough to restore his vitality.

He even wanted to study the "Deathly Fiend" within the Myriad Gods Banner; if he could truly fuse with it, its attack power would undoubtedly reach a new level.

However, he had doubts. Was this kind of holy aura from the realm of death truly suitable for the physical body? It was fundamentally different from other holy auras and might only be used for forging weapons.

After all, according to his understanding, all the holy evil spirits were actually extraterrestrial substances, belonging to one of the many kinds of heavenly light, but more concentrated and pure, and had transformed and sublimated over a long period of time.

In the end, Qin Ming forced two bright green leaves into Meng Xinghai's hand.

In the past, Old Meng bought fallen fruit for him, searched for five-colored spiritual branches, used his connections to seek extraordinary merits, and even protected his life. Qin Ming would naturally never forget these kindnesses.

He then laughed and said, "Uncle Meng, maybe you can return to your youthful form. I wonder if Aunt Meng will be pleasantly surprised or complain about me then."

Meng Xinghai waved his hand and said, "She and I will each take one leaf!"

It is now widely rumored that the Longevity Leaf originates from an immortal tree deep within the Night Mist World, and each leaf can add 15 to 20 years to a person's lifespan.

Moreover, regardless of one's cultivation level, this method of extending lifespan is quite astonishing. Therefore, even if someone were to offer it for trade, it would be extremely difficult to find, and many old men would be green with envy for it.

Qin Ming had just returned from the heavens and did not immediately go into seclusion, because his spirit and body had been separated for several days and he was afraid that he had not yet reached his optimal state of harmony.

After all, what he was about to do could cause parts of his body to explode, so he couldn't be too careful.

In the evening, he visited friends, including Xu Sheng, a former itinerant merchant, Zhou Lin (Sister Fenfang), and Wu Zheng, who came from Heibaishan, for a small gathering and drinks.

More than two years have passed since Qin Ming first met them. Now, Xu Sheng and Zhou Lin are together, and their child is already learning to speak and can call him "uncle."

Wu Zheng has calmed down and now owns three shops in Chixia City, which has changed the decline of his family. In his spare time, he does not forget his original intention and continues to practice the "Dual Skills of Spear and Arrow" left by his ancestors.

Wu Zheng said with deep emotion, "Brother Ming, we walked out of Black and White Mountain together. I never dreamed that my companion would become a well-known young figure on Xinsheng Road."

Xu Sheng held his wine glass and sighed, "Looking back on my years as a traveling merchant, my greatest achievement was bringing Xiao Qin out of the mountains and making him famous throughout the world."

Since having a child, Zhou Lin's temper has improved a lot. She asked with a smile, "Xiao Qin, you're famous all over the place. Is there a girl you like? Even Wu Zheng is about to get married."

Wu Zheng said, "I'm still in the early stages of my career, it's a long way off. As for Brother Ming, what kind of people does he associate with? They're either the most famous fairies in the area or princesses from all over the country, there's no need to worry about him at all."

Then he added, "By the way, Brother Ming, have you been to the heavens recently? The outside world is going crazy over it. There are all sorts of martial arts competitions and fierce sword battles in the Nine Heavens. People are talking about celestial immortals, saints, and celestial venerables every day, and their names are known throughout the major cities."

Qin Ming nodded and said, "I'll go and see for myself."

He had beaten up almost all the people Wu Zheng mentioned.

"Could it be that you really are Taiyi, Brother Ming?" Wu Zheng was slightly excited, his eyes filled with fervor. Even a low-level cultivator like him had heard the rumors.

Xu Sheng quickly stopped him, saying, "You can't say things like that carelessly. Someone is trying to harm Xiao Qin."

Wu Zheng nodded hurriedly and said, "Yes, I know, I was just asking in private."

Qin Ming took a sip of wine and said, "The heavens are indeed colorful and full of experts. It's not surprising that there are all sorts of rumors about it."

Wu Zheng informed him: "Some people are quite concerned about your ranking, Brother Ming. Some have even come to Chixia City to investigate, wanting to know whether you went to the heavens or not. Some of them have already been warned by City Lord Meng."

"Oh?" Qin Ming was surprised. Even though he was hiding in a remote place like Chixia City, someone was still thinking about him and came here to investigate.

Wu Zheng said, "It is said that the famous Little Tathagata of Pugong, as well as Cui Chonghe, who has been keeping a low profile and lying low on the path of immortality for many years, have both broken into the top sixty of the new list, causing a huge sensation. Because of this, some people speculate that you, Brother Ming, have most likely broken into the top fifty."

Xu Sheng nodded and said, "This is a speculation by some people, which has led to dissatisfaction among the Pugong lineage, who believe that you are no better than their legitimate successor."

Zhou Lin said, "Those who favor Cui Chonghe also have some complaints, saying that Cui Er has mastered the 'Golden Palace Jade Chapter,' one of the three most difficult true scriptures to comprehend on the path to immortality, and has already undergone several transformations, and is now unfathomable."

Even those far away in the Black and White Mountains region heard the controversy, which shows how much turmoil the battle in the sky had caused.

Wu Zheng laughed and said, "However, the general consensus is that Ming-ge, your ranking should be higher than others."

Qin Ming smiled and said, "This is really giving me a headache. How can so many people be so optimistic about me? Are they trying to flatter me to my detriment?"

Wu Zheng shook his head and said, "Brother Ming, your achievements along the way are all solid and obvious to everyone, so it's normal to have this consensus."

However, this did indeed cause some controversy.

The Cui family, as well as those in the secluded Pure Land who favor Cui Chonghe, are very confident that Cui Chonghe has now completed his transformation into a dragon, far surpassing his former self, and it is time for him to come out into the open.

The once-promising son of the Cui family has now become the scorching sun in the sky, even more extraordinary, a transformation akin to a great rebirth on the path of a crucial turning point in his life.

Zhou Lin said, "Some people have even suggested that you and Cui Chonghe have a fight."

Most of those who proposed the duel were related to the Cui family and had close ties with Sun Taichu's lineage. They believed that Cui Chonghe's mastery of the "Golden Palace Jade Chapter" was like a dragon from the abyss transforming into a true dragon, and that it was time for the dragon's roar to resound throughout the heavens, thus requiring a true battle.

Qin Ming scoffed and said, "Cui Er is no longer lying low and enduring. Now that I have been chosen, perhaps I will become a stepping stone for him to step into the limelight?"

Wu Zheng said, "Brother Ming, don't take it to heart. This is just the opinion of a small group of people." In fact, some people also wanted to organize a match between Little Tathagata and Qin Ming to see who was stronger and who was weaker, which could also be regarded as a competition between the orthodox and branch of Chaos Force.

In recent days, even newspapers like the Nightly News and the World Journal have jumped in, hyping up these controversial topics. It's obvious that even outsiders want to see the fierce battle between Little Buddha, Cui Chonghe, Qin Ming, and others.

As a result, many gambling dens are actively responding. As long as Qin Ming and Cui Chonghe fight against the people of the Chaos Force lineage, they will follow suit immediately and set up large gambling dens in various places.

Qin Ming smiled slightly, not caring.

Instead, he asked, "Are the Grandmasters still active in the outside world?"

The three understood his meaning. The world was in turmoil, Jade Capital was destroyed, and Night Ruins descended upon the world. First, it was the Patriarch, and then it was the Grandmaster's turn. All of them were experiencing serious health problems. He wanted to know how the Grandmasters were doing.

Xu Sheng said, "The Grandmaster's health is also gradually deteriorating, and he doesn't show up much anymore."

Qin Ming nodded. This was good. He suddenly felt that the level of danger in the world had decreased a bit.

"Brother Ming is confident, and his eyes are even starting to focus on the Grandmaster!" Wu Zheng exclaimed. Does this mean that Qin Ming is not afraid of the threats posed by Little Tathagata, Cui Chonghe, and others?
Qin Ming shook his head and said, "I was just thinking that when it's our turn, our bodies will probably undergo some bad changes, and we might even become ordinary people."

Xu Sheng had great confidence in him, saying, "I believe that with your foundation, Xiao Qin, even if everyone else's health deteriorates, you will be fine."

Two days later, Qin Ming felt that his body and spirit were in perfect harmony and he was in the best state, so he went into seclusion.

Meng Xinghai specially gave up his cultivation place, which was dozens of meters underground, absolutely quiet and safe, and no one would dare to disturb him.

Qin Ming took out the wishing well and placed it in the underground palace. He had indeed gained a lot from his trip to the Nine Heavens.

All the rewards promised by Newrank were given to him without exception.

He could sense that Xinbang wanted to make a difference, hoping to select exceptional talents to bring fresh blood to Yujing, and probably wanted to rebuild the old landscape.

However, it encountered great resistance.

While in the sky, Qin Ming clearly sensed the gloom and dejection of Xinbang, as well as their predicament of being hampered by others. They seemed to have the will to kill their enemies, but in the end, they were powerless to turn the tide.

The New List is ultimately an object. Qin Ming guessed that it had been refined, and those "old factions" might have had methods and means to control it.

Those old-fashioned people did not prevent it from absorbing geniuses, but they firmly placed their own people in key areas.

In that case, it's hard to say whether the new blood Yujing receives will be carefully cultivated into prominent figures or become henchmen for those people.

Qin Ming knew very well that the New Ranking originally intended to reserve the third Great Dao Flower for him, but it was snatched up by that group of remnants and intercepted by those "old factions".

"Forget it, I can still make great progress even without that flower!" He cleared his mind completely, and his state of mind slowly returned to peace.

Qin Ming played with the palm-sized yellow parasol, then prepared to put it into his tattered cloth space.

A woman's figure appeared on the umbrella, emanating a faint fluctuation that expressed strong dissatisfaction: "Didn't you say that if I bound that woman in white—the goddess—I would leave me outside?"

"I'm giving you a break for now," Qin Ming replied with a smile.

"I don't need to rest!" Clearly, the Banner of Ten Thousand Gods had no desire to stay in the tattered space and was extremely wary of it.

"I'm going to cultivate shirtless. You have the nerve to spy on me with your alluring woman's face?" Qin Ming said, then firmly stuffed it into the dark space.

"What kind of amazing talents haven't I seen? Why would I spy on you? You're not even fully grown yet..." Despite his thousand unwillingnesses, the yellow silk umbrella was shut out inside the tattered cloth.

Currently, it is usable for Qin Ming, but not reliable.

"Its deathly aura seems really difficult to refine." Qin Ming frowned, having just sensed it even more clearly.

He then raised his eyebrows and said, "The path taken by that sword master from the Black Tower Civilization is worth learning from."

He had studied it carefully and found that his own flesh and blood were even better than those of the Sword Sect, and could give birth to sacred sword-path matter that was perfectly suited to him.

For a sword cultivator, this would undoubtedly be an extremely glorious achievement.

The fusion of ten sword auras, once spread, would be enough to shock the outside world.

For Qin Ming himself, the fusion of the Ten Sacred Fiends will inevitably make his attack power even more terrifying, and his future path will be extremely bright.

He sat cross-legged in the pool, determined to start from the root, eliminating all hidden dangers and ensuring that his system was perfect and without any flaws.

Half a day later, Qin Ming's abdomen was covered in bloodstains, and then it split open with a "poof".

His eyes gleamed, and he said, "The problem that even the founder of the Bo Shu calligraphy master couldn't solve is truly terrifying. I haven't even reached the sixth realm yet, and I'm already showing bad signs."

He has two sets of silk calligraphy, one of which is a family heirloom and the other comes from a temple. It was left by an ancient master and has been improved.

Even so, after Qin Ming pushed himself to the limit hundreds of times, parts of his body were still torn.

In fact, if the normal practice of circulating the scriptures beyond a hundred times will cause problems for the practitioner's body, and no one dares to do it so recklessly.

Qin Ming had to be "nitpicky," because any tiny, imperceptible "regret" could become the ant hole that causes the dam to collapse in the future.

"How did that sage in Pugong resolve it?" he wondered.

That old senior is truly remarkable. He has even reached the seventh realm by practicing the domineering Silk Calligraphy. Although he had disintegrated before, he did not explode again after establishing himself in the Earth Immortal realm.

"Perhaps he didn't integrate that many scriptures?" Qin Ming pondered.

In fact, according to the improved silk calligraphy recorded in the temple, Qin Ming would not have any problems in the first few realms. However, the secret scriptures and true texts he has been refining now are too numerous and far beyond the scope of the teachings.

Therefore, he has now noticed the subtle problem.

"boom!"

That evening, after hundreds of high-speed rotations of the Silk Scripture, Qin Ming's chest was torn open, and blood stained the Wishing Pool. But he was smiling, using the Fate-Changing Scripture to explore the path and dismantle the fatal calamities of the future one by one.

Late at night, blood seeped from Qin Ming's head, and his skull cracked.

He found it outrageous that even the most minor potential problems hadn't been completely investigated.

"The amount of scriptures needs to be increased, not only the new life path system, but also the true scriptures of the immortal path and the fundamental methods of esoteric Buddhism, which also need to be integrated, so that the silk calligraphy can transcend the limits and govern all methods."

Qin Ming studied the Jade Book and comprehended the fundamental law on the golden scales left by the blue centipede. He then studied the "Ultimate Golden Body" and other techniques. He relentlessly pushed himself to the limit and was not afraid of suddenly exploding.

If outsiders saw this, they would be very puzzled, because even a flawless technique, when operated to such an extreme, would eventually lead to trouble.

"Found another one, we have to come back!"

The wishing well turned blood red, and Qin Ming's repeated reckless actions had almost shattered him from head to toe, albeit in a scattered manner.

A full day and night passed, and he still hadn't emerged from seclusion. Instead, he remained immersed in it, his body and spirit radiating spiritual brilliance, with Daoist rhythms flowing naturally.

In the end, he was no longer like a dazzling, shining sun; his appearance and spirit gradually became peaceful, with a sense of returning to simplicity.

Two days have passed, and Qin Ming is still in meditation.

The peace in the outside world has been shattered.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared in the night sky, tearing apart the entire pitch-black canopy.

This phenomenon was not limited to one place, but was observed throughout the entire state of Ye.

"What happened?" the ordinary people exclaimed in shock.

Even the cultivators were astonished. In the sky, crisscrossing divine chains were intertwined, and they were certain that it was not lightning.

Soon, a celestial being descended from the heavens and landed on earth to inform the higher-ups of all the paths that the heavens were about to be sealed!
"what for?"

"What? It will also affect the creatures on the ground? That's extremely important!"

The leaders of all the roads were alarmed; no one could remain uninvolved, and a storm was brewing.

(End of this chapter)