inspire-indiana Chapter 36 An Existence That Touches the River of Time
Chapter 36 An Existence That Touches the River of Time
Before Xiong Zhou was an extremely bright bronze corridor.
At the entrance to this long corridor, there is an inscription depicting a cunning creature standing atop a bronze cauldron, roaring towards the sky.
This large dog had a fierce expression, with wisps of what appeared to be malevolent energy surrounding its body. Its pupils were contorted with malice, and it seemed to manipulate the wind and water, control thunder and fire, displaying a brutality that ravaged the world.
Xiong Zhou's lips twitched, his eyelids twitched, and he spat out a string of complaints.
"Is what's carved on this bronze mural truly cunning?"
"I searched through all the inherited memories in my bloodline, and I found that no ancestor had ever been so domineering."
The cunning in the bloodline's memory is either looking for food, farming, or sitting by the river fishing; the most prominent trait is friendliness and harmlessness.
Memories of fighting and battles do exist, but compared to the overall legacy of these memories, they are few and far between.
At least the bloodline memories of the first and second levels of Qi Refining inherited by Xiong Zhou are like this.
Xiong Zhou crossed his arms and observed the bronze mural from several different angles. Then, he mobilized a wisp of his cunning bloodline power and attached it to the mural.
There was no reaction whatsoever; not even the slightest fluctuation of the law occurred.
This bronze mural appears to be just an ordinary mural; the plot devices in the novel that hide opportunities within the mural seem not to exist.
"Since it doesn't exist, let's look ahead and find out where the opportunity that prompted this sudden inspiration might be."
Xiong Zhou passed the bronze murals and walked deeper into the bronze palace.
A few quarters of an hour later, an extremely spacious room appeared before Xiong Zhou's eyes, filled with all sorts of bronze household items.
Incense burner, bed, desk, bookshelf with several scrolls of bronze bamboo slips, bronze teapot and several bronze teacups, bronze plates for holding fruit...
Overall, it has a strong sense of everyday life and subtly reveals a unique ancient charm. However, the cracks and rust on the bronze have almost completely destroyed this charm.
Xiong Zhou's gaze gradually focused on a bronze engraving pen on a desk. This bronze engraving pen was the only one in the entire room that did not show any cracks or rust.
He slowly reached out, wanting to pick up the bronze engraving pen and examine it carefully.
However, the moment the fingertip touched the bronze engraving pen, it was covered with cracks and rusted.
"Bang..."
It shattered and turned into dust.
Then, as if a domino effect had occurred, everything in the room turned into a handful of bronze dust and fell to the ground.
What remains of value today is a faint trace of the true meaning that was originally hidden within that bronze engraving brush.
Xiong Zhou pinched the wisp of true meaning between his fingers, feeling the slightly surging power of his bloodline within his body, his expression subtle.
"Could this thing really be an opportunity left behind by some ancient sage for future generations?"
The power of 【Innate Divine Ability: █ (Pixel Cube)】 flickered at the fingertips, pixelating this wisp of true meaning, condensing it into strands of data information, and converging it into a panel.
[True Meaning Inherited: Wood Element Killing Intent]
Level: Qi Refining Level 3 (formerly Qi Refining Level 4 - Peak)
Completeness: 11.3%
Legal Affiliation: The Way of Wood, the Way of Slaughter
Bloodline Indication: Cunning
Note: A true essence inheritance that was originally at the fourth level of Qi Refining has become incomplete and its level has dropped due to the power of time. Currently, it is only at the third level of the initial stage of Qi Refining.
Looking at this wisp of true meaning passed down, Xiong Zhou sighed softly.
If he had not been born into the Tai Li Immortal Sect, had not cultivated the "Tai Li Qi Refining Method" at the Immortal level, and had not had many teachers to guide his cultivation, this would indeed be considered a good opportunity and good fortune.
This special inheritance of killing intent is enough to clear the obstacles and break through the potential difficulties for a Qi Refiner with a cunning bloodline or a Qi Refiner who has embarked on the path of wood.
However, now...
This thing is like a chicken rib—too good to throw away, but tasteless to eat.
Xiong Zhou did not know what this true meaning would look like when it was fully inherited.
However, the remaining approximately 11.3% severely damaged state does not contain as much legal information as his current understanding of the laws of heaven and earth.
Secondly, in this true transmission, the Way of Wood and the Way of Slaughter are actually intertwined.
The power it displays is considerable, and it is very convenient for killing, but it has lost the most crucial and core element of the Wood element: the natural vitality.
The probability of using this special, destructive essence to go further on the path of Qi cultivation in the future is really not high, let alone attaining immortality.
Refining Qi to the fourth level may truly be the end, which is the original height reached when this true meaning is fully inherited.
Even advancing from the third level of Qi Refining to the fourth level might be fraught with difficulties.
Xiong Zhou looked enlightened and muttered to himself, "No wonder my sudden impulse was so weak, and I barely reacted to this opportunity. It turns out it's something I can't use..."
"As for the so-called gift from fate."
Xiong Zhou continued to complain in his mind, "It really is a gift, no doubt about it."
"The legacy of the four levels of Qi Refining from a cunning individual from an unknown era, whose path may have gone astray, truly moves me, a mere Qi Refining cultivator at the first level."
"My first discovery from exploring ancient ruins is truly memorable."
Xiong Zhou stored the wisp of true meaning in his storage bag, then turned his gaze back to the room, scanning the now empty space.
"Is it over once you get here?"
"What about the passageways leading to the other parts of the bronze palaces?"
Xiong Zhou reached out and began to feel around the four walls, trying to find some hidden mechanisms or formations.
For a full half hour, there was no progress whatsoever.
"Could this be a side hall where one of my ancestors lived?"
"And then, they have absolutely no authority to enter the innermost, deeper parts of the bronze palace?"
It seems that this predecessor was not highly regarded under the command of the fallen Immortal Body.
It is most likely just a "lucky charm" that is worshipped and used to gather good fortune.
Xiong Zhou pondered for a moment, then stretched out his hands, aimed at a corner of the wall, and knocked on it.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"..."
After knocking more than ten times, the power of [Innate Divine Power: █ (Pixel Block)] finally seeped into it, turning the bronze wall in the corner of the room into a pixel block, which fell down and flew into Xiong Zhou's inner world.
"The walls are so hard, they're almost as sturdy as Chen Mingshan's courtyard."
Xiong Zhou looked amazed, but his tapping motion didn't stop; in fact, it quickened.
One bronze cube after another fell down, and about five minutes later, a 2x2 block-sized passage leading to another room appeared before us.
Stepping inside, the room's layout was almost identical to that of the ancestor, except for an additional dried-up pool, suggesting that the room's owner was accustomed to living near water.
Seemingly sensing the tremors from the collapsing walls, and also seemingly affected by the noise of Xiong Zhou entering the room, various household items began to collapse and turn to ashes.
A few breaths later, only a wisp of broken, incomplete blue light floated in the center of the room.
Xiong Zhou reached out and pinched it. The power of [Innate Divine Ability: █ (Pixel Cube)] flickered at his fingertips, pixelating it and unfolding the corresponding information panel.
[True Meaning Inherited: Hidden Killing Intent]
Level: Fourth level of Qi Refining (formerly Fifth level of Qi Refining, Initial Stage)
Completeness: 1.9%
Legal Affiliation: The Way of Water, the Way of Darkness, the Way of Slaughter
Bloodline Indication: Blackwater Fish
Note: A true essence inheritance that was originally at the fifth level of Qi Refining has become incomplete due to the power of time, and is almost about to fall back to the fourth level of Qi Refining.
It's another inheritance from a demon, but it's at a higher level than the previous inheritances from their ancestors.
However, it also has the problem of incomplete true meaning. But it is slightly better than the previous inheritance in that, although the information on the principles is still incomplete, there are still fragments of information on advancing to the fifth level of Qi Refining.
It is a qualified collectible.
Xiong Zhou narrowed his eyes slightly, put it into his storage bag, and then lowered his mind, touching a bit of the power in his bloodline, wanting to enhance his inspiration and provide himself with a direction for moving forward.
The power of the bloodline was alright; it transformed into blood energy that floated on the body's surface, swirling around a few stars and providing extremely hazy guidance.
The spiritual perception belonging to consciousness, that inspiration that can communicate with the spirituality of heaven and earth, met with a slight setback.
Restricted by the palace's inherent restrictions and power, they could not extend beyond their bodies, nor could they use their inspiration to touch upon the laws of heaven and earth, and thus obtain guidance through the spirituality of heaven and earth.
Xiong Zhou frowned slightly and murmured, "Such a powerful blockade; I can't find any loopholes at all."
"All powers that do not belong to the body, or are weakly connected to the body, are restricted to almost nothing."
Following the vague directions, Xiong Zhou walked to the left wall of the room and waved his hands.
A knocking sound rang out, and bronze cubes fell one by one, revealing a square passageway.
This time, before even stepping inside, a sudden thought arose in my mind, issuing a warning.
There is some danger.
If you're not careful, you might bleed.
"No, this is a living area. How can you put something dangerous in a place like this? What kind of logic is that?"
"Doesn't it make you feel uneasy living like this?"
Xiong Zhou looked into the distance, focusing on the center of the newly opened room.
It wasn't empty like the cunning ancestors, nor was it a pool like the room of a blackwater fish.
In the center of this place, there is a pale, fish-like, human-like skeleton, which looks extremely grotesque.
Around the skeleton, there are four bronze banners, now turned to dust, that stand tall.
Previously, they seemed to vaguely confine a space, as if imprisoning the pale skeleton within, or as if providing protection for the pale skeleton within.
Based on the shape of this skeleton, Xiong Zhou began to match it with the barbaric race in his inherited memories.
"Mermaids?"
Xiong Zhou was somewhat uncertain; the pale skeleton was simply too large, more than two meters taller than him.
He roughly estimated in his mind that the length, which resembled a fish's tail and a human-like upper body, would be about five meters.
Moreover, the skeleton was extremely large, completely unlike the merfolk he knew.
Xiong Zhou's gaze shifted slightly downwards, and on the hand of the skeleton that appeared to be a mermaid, there was a long flute that looked like glass and was engraved with various coral patterns.
He was not proficient in weapon crafting, nor had he learned any special knowledge about material identification. Relying solely on the knowledge of Qi Refining Level 1 and Level 2 inherited from his cunning bloodline, he was completely unable to recognize this material that could withstand the erosion of time.
However, even with just his naked eye, Xiong Zhou could tell that this flute was of a very high quality.
To withstand the erosion of more than a million years, one must be at either the fifth or sixth level of Qi Refining.
Xiong Zhou reached out and condensed a wisp of life-giving energy, which he flicked far away and landed on the flute located on the white skeletal hand of what appeared to be a mermaid.
"Splash..."
A series of sounds, like the ebb and flow of ocean tides, rang out. The vital blood energy of Xiong Zhou was absorbed, transformed into azure, and condensed into a nearly transparent afterimage.
Judging from the outline, it does indeed resemble a merman, and a muscular, exceptionally tall male merman at that.
However, its appearance is indeed somewhat rugged.
"A cunning descendant?"
What are you doing here?
Once the merman regained his senses, he immediately recognized Xiong Zhou's bloodline, seemed to frown slightly, and asked a question.
Then, as if he had remembered something, his expression changed, and he became somber.
"Never mind, that big dog comes here often too."
"Tell me first, what time is it now?"
Xiong Zhou blinked.
This remnant soul, which survived from ancient times thanks to the tools he used, seemed unaware that he came from beyond the heavens.
"I am not very clear about the historical process of this world, but it has been about 103.61 million years since its creation."
"Senior merman, what do you remember?"
The male merman, whose azure blood essence had transformed, changed his expression once more. He suddenly looked back, and a pale skeleton came into view.
Immediately afterwards, the flute that possessed the body slowly floated up and landed in the almost completely transparent palm, emitting a faint blue light.
The remnant soul of the merman moved its lips, as if it had discovered something incredible.
His gaze was incredibly complex as he looked at Xiong Zhou and said in a low voice, "Descendant of the cunning bloodline, my time of demise is 306.12 million years after the creation of this world."
"Are you sure the time you're giving us is correct?"
This time, it was Xiong Zhou's turn to change his expression.
He clearly remembered the basic time information that his senior brother, the celestial steward, had listed when he first arrived in this world called "Azure Sky Realm".
This realm is called the "Azure Sky Realm," and it has existed for 103,610,000 years.
Wait, time will pass...
Xiong Zhou looked at the rugged-looking remnant soul of the merman and asked, "In your memories, senior, is there any being in this world who is proficient in the laws of cosmic light, years, and time, and who can touch the river of time in this world?"
The male merman's remnant soul nodded and sighed, "Yes, the master of this palace is him."