Night without Borders

Chapter 486 Qin Ming's Ancestors
"How could this be?" High above the heavens, a group of elders looked up and gazed at the heavens for a long time. Jade Capital had existed since ancient times, how could it suddenly disappear?
Even if the ruler of Yujing dies or changes, that upside-down, mysterious city will not perish. It is majestic and magnificent, and its origins are unknown.

The elderly people present, some draped in feathered robes and others radiating a peaceful aura, were all Earth Immortals, high-ranking core figures in Heaven, yet they stood frozen in place, motionless.

The Jade Capital felt like a heavy mountain weighing on their hearts, but it suddenly vanished without a trace, disappearing from the heavens, leaving them very uneasy.

These powerful immortals, high above the nine heavens, had extremely complicated feelings. They should have felt relieved, but now they felt lost, with all sorts of emotions surging in their hearts.

At first, some people were excited and joyful, exhaling their pent-up emotions, but soon they felt uncertain, and then some even felt their hair stand on end and a chill run down their spine.

The Jade Capital hung high there, and they felt oppressed; even as earth immortals, they had to bow down to it. Now that the Jade Capital was far away, they felt anxious and fearful.

"What should we do? Without it, if a god-level enemy invades, we... will not be able to stop it."

This was their biggest worry; otherwise, these earth immortals would have already burst into laughter. After all, the sudden loss of their "retired emperor" was like being unbridled and truly free to act as they pleased.

Whether they were happy or sad, they were all restraining themselves, because they simply couldn't be sure of the true state of Yujing right now.

"Do you think it might have already descended to the ground and merged with the Great Yu?" a near-death immortal asked.

Logically speaking, Yujing would at most project a portion of its power onto the ground; the actual city would not land, as there have been precedents for this.

Especially now, it is still in the process of rebirth and is far from over.

"Investigate carefully!"

"We need to be quick; we can't afford to waste time."

They personally followed up on this matter without relying on others; some went to the ground, while others flipped through ancient books, reviewed the old events of Taixu, and searched for clues.

On the ground, the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven had a huge impact.

In the capital of the Great Yu Dynasty—Chongxiao City, the light of Daoist energy spread at a visible speed and continued to increase.

Subsequently, it expanded outwards from this center.

"What is this? Is it a stroke of good fortune from heaven?" Even the immortals present were in disbelief at this scene, finding the effect far too obvious.

They were certain that practicing in this imperial capital would be twice as effective, surpassing even the Pure Lands and major ancestral temples of Esoteric Buddhism.

The old barbarian god spoke up: "It has nothing to do with fortune, it's about rules. The Night Fog World is undergoing a change from disorder to order. Look, there are strands of rules intertwining in the void."

The guests at the event were a diverse group, including immortals from the heavens, patriarchs from Yezhou, and top experts from the Northern Wilderness and the Western Sea.

“In this shortcut, the rate at which our injuries are worsening has slowed down,” someone said.

Over the past year or so, all the powerful individuals, whether in the sky or on the ground, have been filled with unease, as their individual problems have become increasingly serious.

No one is exempt. Even those who have accumulated seven days of power are all seriously ill. Whether they are veteran powerhouses or newly emerging experts, they are all facing hardships.

Comparatively speaking, people in the heavens have it easier; they have the Nine-Colored Ice Mountain and a half-sealed pure land, allowing them to endure longer.

"This is not about destroying the Dharma; on the contrary, the cultivation world will flourish in the future. We are currently in a special period." This is a consensus among almost all the powerful individuals.

In the distance, a profound Taoist aura, like crashing waves or scattered rocks, was approaching.

It was too grand and violent, stirring up a storm. Before the terrifying Daoist aura even arrived, air currents rushed in, disrupting the existing order.

The original Daoist energy in this pitch-black world began to fluctuate, and this great upheaval was too much for many living beings to bear. This was the root of the problem.

The stronger one is, the more one needs to get close to and embrace the Dao. As for the lower-level cultivators, they don't even know what the Dao is; they only need spiritual matter.

Therefore, during the "period of great upheaval," the strong were all severely damaged one after another.

Now, the positive changes in the capital of Great Yu have surprised many people.

"By restoring order to the world and stabilizing the turbulent Daoist principles, this place has become the legendary Daoist land."

The experts of the seventh realm were all observing that, centered on the capital of the Great Yu Dynasty, it was as if meridians were emerging, expanding into the distance and spreading throughout the entire Night State.

A divine rainbow pierced through the dark clouds, and several key figures from the heavens arrived to witness the ceremony on the ground, giving the Great Yu Dynasty a great deal of face. In reality, they wanted to find the Jade Capital.

"no!"

They were certain that Yujing had not descended upon Dayu, let alone merged with it.

This stirred the hearts of the core figures of the old mountain stronghold: Where exactly had Yujing gone?
Soon, they calmed down and watched the magnificent spectacle unfold before them.

Dragon horses pulled the sacred chariot to receive Emperor Yu. He wore a crown and a dragon robe, and his aura continued to rise, emanating a special Daoist charm.

If things continue like this, he will surely reach the seventh realm and become a true Earth Emperor.

Many people had complicated expressions. It was incredibly difficult to become a powerful Earth Immortal, but Emperor Yu had already made his mark, and his future looked promising!

However, some people remained indifferent and unmoved. How could such an initiated Earth Emperor compare to those who rose to power through their own killing and conquest?

Above Yudu, a celestial dragon coiled, spewing celestial mist; a roc spread its wings, carrying the Earth Emperor's Seal and a jade book; and a golden crow hung high like the sun, illuminating all things. These were not physical objects, but extraordinary sights, foreshadowing auspicious omens.

The entire city was stunned.

At the site of the sacrificial ceremony, many people were present to observe the ritual, each focusing on different aspects of the event.

The dog sword immortal coughed up blood while carrying the bamboo sword, clearly not in good condition. It was pondering whether its injuries could heal if it killed Emperor Yu with a single sword strike and took his place.
“There’s a strange feeling in my mind that if I do that, I might be heading down a dead end, and my injuries will worsen to their most severe state.” It extinguished the thought.

The Dog Sword Immortal, whose true form is a black and white bear, is a legendary beast god. He was infamous for his ferocity and was never a chubby mascot.

On the other side, the master of the Bo Shufa (silk calligraphy) was known as a sage of his time. He was tall and had dozens or even hundreds of different kinds of energy condensed into one, giving him a terrifying aura. He was practicing his energy, and his eyes were fixed on the "documents" used for the sacrificial ceremony.

It was a jade book sealed with silver clay and bound with gold rope. It truly seemed to be receiving the mandate of heaven, sorting out the rules, clarifying the order, and resonating with heaven and earth.

Suddenly, a sharp glint appeared in the old sage's eyes.

"Master, what's wrong?" A young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties asked from beside him, but his actual age was unknown.

His name was Li Wanfa, a name given to him by a contemporary sage, who also accepted him as a disciple.

This sage had only four true disciples in total. The first three were either dead or crippled, and they were all old disciples he had taken in five hundred years ago.

Centuries later, he accepted Li Wanfa as his disciple in Pugong, which shows that he liked and valued him very much. Otherwise, he could have just handed him over to his old disciples. Why did he have to teach him personally?

Therefore, Li Wanfa's seniority was extremely high, even surpassing that of the Buddha of his time.

He had noticed that his master was circulating Chaos Energy, and faint golden ropes and silver mud were appearing on his body, similar to the appearance of the sacrificial offering.

The old sage sighed and said, "Some things are similar and interconnected. Look at that jade book, covered with silver mud and wrapped with gold rope. In addition, there is the jade burial suit worn by people seeking immortality. There are similarities. If you think about it carefully, there was an old senior who followed the same path, hoping for immortality..."

Li Wanfa knew that his master was referring to another patriarch of silk calligraphy.

This scripture was created by several people working together, and each person's practice method is somewhat different. For example, sages naturally tend to favor the Tathagata's power.

The sage said, "That Senior Qin was somewhat deliberate. He manifested silver mud and golden ropes on his body in an attempt to walk the path to immortality, but he failed. He set off four hundred years earlier than me, entered the depths of the Night Mist World, and never returned."

In the past, the pioneers of silk calligraphy involved the patriarchs of several top Taoist lineages, such as Tathagata, Liuyu, Yuqing, and Qingtian.

The only independent cultivator among them was surnamed Qin. It was rumored that he was actually an outsider who had traveled to Yezhou.

That Patriarch Qin was over four hundred years older than the old sage. After his body and spirit exploded twice, he declared that his path had come to an end and then directly entered the depths of the Night Fog World.

He was the first of the masters of the Silk Calligraphy lineage to pass away, and was believed to have died long ago because he was the oldest. Even if he had become an Earth Immortal, he should have reached the end of his lifespan, since he had been away from Yezhou for more than nine hundred years.

Li Wanfa asked, "Master, are you now practicing the Chaos Energy, also trying to get closer to the path of Silver Mud and Golden Rope?"

The old sage said, "The mother scripture of Chaos Force has incorporated many true meanings, so it naturally possesses this characteristic. However, as each person incorporates different subsequent Heavenly Light Forces, their paths will differ. Whoever can naturally manifest all the characteristics of the mother scripture might truly have mastered it. And if one possesses the qualities of applying silver mud medicine, locking essence, energy, and spirit with golden ropes, and stimulating the vitality of longevity, one is practically invincible. Even if one's form and spirit explode in the end, there might still be a way to resolve it."

He struggled to produce the silver mud and gold rope, but they couldn't spread naturally. Finally, he sighed.

"That Qin Ming shares the same surname as Ancestor Qin, could he be a descendant of him?" the sage muttered to himself, then waved to the little Buddha who was also watching the ceremony not far away.

"Master!" Little Tathagata immediately paid his respects with utmost reverence.

"So what is Qin Ming like?" the sage asked in a deep voice.

The young Buddha was sturdy, and the chaotic energy within him was becoming increasingly powerful. The divine light in his eyes was almost tangible. After careful consideration, he replied earnestly, "If we are discussing the Dao in terms of cultivation level, I am probably inferior to him."

The sage nodded, unconcerned.

Little Tathagata's expression turned serious. He secretly transmitted his voice, saying, "After repeated confirmation and investigation from various sources, it has finally been determined that no one guided Qin Ming on his journey. He cultivated alone and eventually mastered this method." For a moment, the sage was like a black hole, both in his physical body and the spirit connected to his eyes. This caused the chaotic energy within Li Wanfa and Little Tathagata's bodies to almost collapse, making them feel as if their flesh and blood were about to wither away.

Fortunately, their mental confusion was only momentary, and they both recovered quickly. This was mainly because the sage had suppressed all his energy and stopped using his terrifying holy power.

Silk calligraphy is too special. Apart from the founder who came to the field halfway through his life and who had a profound foundation such as Lai Jin and Liu Yu Jin when he created it, other new disciples simply could not develop the first strand of "Hun Yuan Jin" on their own.

"That's where things get interesting," the sage of our time said leisurely.

"Bring him to me!" His eyes were as deep as an abyss.

He had barely finished speaking when he quickly waved his hand and said, "Forget it, let's not contact him for now. Report to me as soon as he becomes a Grandmaster."

……

The sacrificial ceremony to Heaven was a grand and sacred event, with noble families and major religions all receiving a share of the spoils. Some even entered the capital and obtained high positions, such as the Imperial Preceptor or the True Man.

The people in the heavens were very anxious. They searched through the old stories of places like Taixu, but Yujing had never disappeared, let alone actually descended to the ground. Its sudden disappearance was unprecedented.

Half a month later, the higher-ups in the heavens confirmed that Jade Capital had truly vanished, completely departing from beyond the heavens.

This event had a huge impact, even shocking the patriarchs and immortals on earth, causing a great tremor in their hearts.

In the following three months, a series of events with significant impact occurred.

In Yezhou, the giant cities and medium-sized cities had a richer spiritual radiance, and the impact of the Daoist aura was not as intense.

Naturally, the capital of Dayu is the best, as it has become a convenient location!
The most astonishing scene unfolded: in the pitch-black world, outside Yezhou, a terrifying golden claw mark approached, enormous and of unknown form, whether it was a bird or a giant beast. The size of its claw was enough to cover an entire mountain range, it was incredibly vast.

Many people who witnessed this scene felt their scalp tingle, thinking that Yezhou was about to suffer another bloody disaster.

However, in the orderly world and the unified Yezhou, there are faint, mysterious rules intertwined. After the golden claw mark approached Yezhou, it circled around it for a short while before passing by and disappearing into the distance.

Several days later, news came from afar that mysterious creatures from the demon camp and the Western Sea were crossing the border, and mysterious claw marks had caused heavy losses along the way.

Subsequently, within the territory once radiated by Yujing, whether it was the Western Sea, the Eastern Land, the Northern Wilderness, or Taixu, all places quickly implemented a strategy of unification. They realized something from the performance of Yezhou.

Furthermore, within these three months, the impact of Daoist influences outside of Yezhou intensified even further.

Many of the older generation coughed up blood and nearly died.

Of the ancestors and immortals who have gone far away, 80% have returned to Yezhou.

Some sighed, some felt helpless, and only a few persevered, wanting to hone themselves through the chaotic Daoist energy.

At the same time, the powerful beings in the sky and on the ground discovered a fact: the order in the Great Yu Void was spreading into the night sky and intertwining with the heavens above.

"The Pure Land, now in a semi-locked-down state, is even safer!" The people in heaven rejoiced.

But at this moment, they sensed trouble. On the ground, not only in Yezhou, but also in Taixu, the West Sea, and even more distant lands, the Earth Immortals all joined forces, wanting to ascend to heaven.

……

In Crimson Cloud City, Qin Ming asked, "So, the founders had no choice either. Even the peerless experts of the Secret Sect who broke through to the seventh realm were seriously injured and had to go to a calm place to heal?"

Meng Xinghai nodded; that's the current situation.

Moreover, there are rumors that Helian Chengyun also became a Seven-Day Stacker a year ago, so the high-end combat power of Yezhou should not be underestimated.

However, these people wandered around the outer realms and then returned. Whether it was the glowing footprints, the distant Qilin toe, or this mysterious claw mark, all of them made the vast and boundless Night Mist World extremely dangerous. In the more distant territories, there was too much bloodshed and chaos, making it unsuitable for pioneering at the moment.

Everyone is waiting for the inexplicable disaster to subside as soon as possible.

In the days that followed, news kept coming that the strongest people on the ground had ascended to the heavens—a choice made out of necessity but also with prudence.

As the situation worsened, when a powerful immortal took action outside the unified Yezhou, his body deteriorated rapidly, and he eventually passed away.

Qin Ming sighed, "I never imagined that the dark abyss before extreme prosperity would be so terrifying. Even Earth Immortals couldn't withstand it and could only seek out a shortcut to lie low."

Meng Xinghai said, "The same goes for the patriarchs and grandmasters."

"Will the patriarchs ultimately become the very people they originally hated?" Qin Ming murmured. It's hard to say what kind of people the powerful figures on the ground will become when they ascend to the heavens.

“A few people didn’t go up because they thought they could withstand the impact of the Daoist aura,” Meng Xinghai added.

……

In the far reaches of the world, a creature growled: "The wind is rising, and a rich Daoist aura will soon pour down like a torrential rain!"

"Not far off, or how far off? Ten years, or a hundred years? Nobody can say for sure. And you are decaying at an accelerated rate. Can you hold on?"

"It's very close, like a storm is about to break, and I can already smell it in advance; the dampness is gradually coming from afar."

The low growl reverberated through the mountains and valleys, echoed across the vast sky, and spread into the distance, demonstrating the profound depth of their cultivation.

They fell silent only after the appearance of the Qilin's hoof.

Deep within the foggy world, some creatures remain relatively still, their whispers echoing only in the ruined temples, shaking the dust from their bodies.

"True strongmen never complain about the evolution of the world's environment, nor do they have such a strong thirst for the Dao. It's like some aquatic creatures that have learned to go ashore and survive without water, and they even become stronger. Of course, a world with a rich Dao is better, after all, the world would be many times more lively because of it. Having seen the splendor of numerous species and the competition of all races, who would morbidly prefer a monotonous and barren desert?"

"Really? But you can't live forever!"

After a heavy sigh, the creatures in the temple responded: "Everything has its lifespan."

……

After Yujing disappeared, undercurrents surged among the powerful beings in the heavens and on the ground. In the end, they accepted, tolerated, and compromised with each other, and no bloody battle occurred.

After the unification of the Great Yu Dynasty, Yezhou gradually became peaceful, but undercurrents were surging in the shadows, and various parties continued to share the benefits.

Qin Ming was cultivating diligently in Chixia City and occasionally returned to Shuangshu Village. Everything was going smoothly, except for one thing that made him frown and feel uneasy: Wen Rui was gone, having been taken away as a disciple by a so-called master.

Knowing his own situation, he knew that he was bound to encounter enemies when traveling outside, so he tried to minimize his contact with Shuangshu Village and always returned quietly.

In the past few years, he had only watched Lu Ze and Liang Wanqing from afar, and watched Wen Rui and Wen Hui grow up, without getting close to them. He never expected that something like this would still happen.

Qin Ming was certain that Wen Rui's being taken as an apprentice was not as simple as it seemed.

Because he had personally and secretly checked Wenrui's aptitude, and found it to be only above average, not a genius, and certainly not enough to attract a reclusive master.

“It’s our fault for not watching over the house,” said Thunder King Bird.

“Mountain Lord…” Yuque and Red Squirrel also lowered their heads.

Qin Ming shook his head and said, "It's not your fault. You cultivate in the nearby mountains, so it's impossible for you to keep an eye on Shuangshu Village all the time."

He sighed, realizing that more than four years had passed since he left Shuangshu Village to wander outside.

Once, in that snowy winter, he was still worried about food and tormented by illness; he didn't even have the strength to protect himself.

He is now in his early twenties and is no longer the boy he once was.

"I hope I'm just overthinking it, and that someone didn't deliberately take Wenrui away and forcibly take him as their disciple," Qin Ming muttered to himself.

Over the past four years, he had brought back some secret medicines and secretly delivered them to Lu Ze through the red squirrel. The latter has now been reborn five times.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this is Lu Ze's limit. He is ultimately just an ordinary person who has reached this point entirely through the use of rare spiritual substances.

Qin Ming secluded himself in Black and White Mountain, cultivating diligently. Two months later, he suddenly opened his eyes, sensing something. A bird flew over and said, "Mountain Lord, someone is spying on Twin Tree Village. It might be related to the force that took Wen Rui away. I didn't dare to alert them."

With a whoosh, Qin Ming rode the wind. He could now fly briefly, and he traversed the misty night sky, quickly appearing near Shuangshu Village.

"Sigh, is Wenrui doing well out there?" Lu Ze and his wife murmured at home, missing their eldest son dearly. They felt a bittersweet sadness, but also a sense of satisfaction, after all, the wise man had praised Wenrui for his exceptional comprehension and limitless potential.

Qin Ming stared intently as the person in the shadows circled around his old residence and the courtyard of Lu Ze and his wife, their actions highly suspicious.

"I hope you didn't come here for me!"

If anyone is implicated because of him, especially if it involves Lu Ze and Wen Rui, it would be as if they were touching his sore spot.

Qin Ming hadn't shown his face in Yezhou for the past two years, and even his old residence had been visited by suspicious people. This was not a good sign. He rode the wind and silently swooped down.

(End of this chapter)