Chapter 35 Approaching Immortals and Monsters
What had he just said? Wang Xuan felt frustrated; in such a desolate place, under such a terrifying atmosphere, he absolutely shouldn't have spoken carelessly.
Silence enveloped the ruins, and a pale white moon suddenly appeared high in the sky. The scene grew increasingly strange as weeds sprouted amidst the dim, abandoned structures.
The woman floated in the air, her disheveled hair obscuring her face, just a few feet away from Wang Xuan. The bright red shoes were right in front of him.
His heart raced. Was this the remnant spirit energy of a female practitioner? And why was the moon out? It looked nothing like a moon; instead, it resembled a bloodless, pallid face.
He fell silent, realizing that at such a moment, silence was golden.
He began to channel the ancient techniques of the Pre-Qin practitioners, drawing mysterious particles from the void, which flickered and fell among the eerie, crumbling walls.
The woman in midair remained still, suspended in the night sky. Her white clothing stood out starkly against the darkness; although she had a slender, beautiful figure, her hair covered her face, making her appear ghostly and eerily silent.
Wang Xuan waited for a moment, but the woman remained silent and motionless, confronting him without uttering a word.
He felt that lingering there wasn't a solution, so he spoke earnestly, "I mean no offense; I accidentally entered this inner scene. As a person of a later age, my words and actions may not align with the etiquette of the Pre-Qin period, but that is not my intention to disrespect. Times have changed, and this is how people converse now. If you feel I need to show more courtesy, I can make amends."
Yet, there was still no response from the woman in the overgrown ruins.
Wang Xuan wondered if he should take action. A gentle breeze stirred beneath his feet, hoping that perhaps the remnants of this spirit energy would disperse.
He attempted to bypass the woman and leave the ruins. As he moved, the debris and partially collapsed walls around him vanished, yet the woman remained suspended.
She was silent and, in an instant, appeared right before him again, her red shoes level with his brow.
Wang Xuan sensed something was wrong, cold sweat breaking out on his back. There was definitely something unusual about this inner scene; the woman wasn't quite right.
How had she just appeared? A bolt of lightning had struck down, blindingly bright, and then she had materialized.
If she were a malevolent spirit or ghost, she should fear the lightning; what was her situation?
Was this a dense remnant of spirit energy? Wang Xuan sidestepped her and walked toward the ruins' exit, but she followed, remaining fixed at his brow.
His head began to throb. Was he being targeted? What did she want? Upon further reflection, he felt no fear. After all, she had been dead for three thousand years; what could these remnants of spirit energy do?
He scoffed at the idea of the supernatural as he exited the ruins, focusing on practicing his Golden Body Technique, pretending not to see her. Energy surged around him, golden light flashing in his eyes.
His spiritual power was robust, and he remained calm and composed. If there were really any supernatural entities, then his vitality should be alarmingly strong; after all, he was young and full of life, unafraid of ghosts.
Wang Xuan remained composed, practicing the Golden Body Technique, which required large movements. Once, he inadvertently brushed against the red shoes of the woman.
With a swish, she vanished, no longer visible.
Wang Xuan stayed calm, feeling no joy. He continued at his own pace, not bothered by the oddity; whatever was strange would eventually fail.
His strength was steadily growing, standing in the clear, timeless moment. For the Pre-Qin practitioners, this was critically important, one of their sources of power.
As time passed, his body trembled, and as he practiced his formidable techniques, a faint golden light began to appear on his surface.
Eventually, when he became immensely fatigued and stopped, he decided it was time to channel his techniques to draw in the mysterious particles.
Suddenly, he sensed something was amiss; a chilling wind brushed his neck. It was only then that he noticed the woman who had been suspended in front of him had vanished.
Having been so engrossed in his practice of the Golden Body Technique, he had overlooked everything around him. Now turning around in shock, he found the woman in a flowing white dress and red shoes hovering right behind him.
"There's a breeze…" This made his heart race; the situation was becoming more dire. Could the residual spirit energy of the female practitioner interfere with the inner scene?
He turned, but the woman followed him, always lingering behind. The tips of her red shoes were nearly touching his shoulder.
It felt like a thorn in his back, unbearable.
He began to analyze the situation: what was happening? Theoretically, when a person dies, it's like a light going out; nothing remains.
The woman had died three thousand years ago; if she could truly return, she wouldn't have waited until now.
"Residual spirit energy…" He was sure the problem lay here. Was it originally dispersed in the inner scene, or had it been brought here by him recently?!
When he considered the latter possibility, he felt uneasy. He had shattered the feathering stone, and the mysterious particles alongside the remnants of the female practitioner's spirit energy had rushed in, causing this anomaly?
Theoretically, a person cannot resurrect after death, but the inner scene is unlike the real world; it remains incomprehensible, with ancient people providing no clear descriptions. If there were anomalies here, it wouldn't be impossible.
"No matter if you were here all along or I brought you here, can you express your thoughts and desires clearly? Following me like this isn't a solution."
Wang Xuan turned his back to her, not wanting to look back. He really wanted to understand what this remnant spirit energy desired.
He had no romantic notions; concepts like "older women are like golden bricks" or "older women are ahead of the game" were utterly irrelevant. If he entertained such thoughts and the remnants of the female practitioner's spirit energy truly had serious issues, he would likely meet a tragic end!
Unfortunately, the woman remained silently hovering behind him, the scene indeed felt eerie: disheveled hair, white clothes, red shoes, and a face hidden in the pale moonlight, resembling a ghostly figure.
After several attempts to speak without response, Wang Xuan completely abandoned the idea of communicating. If there was something to be done, let it come; he wouldn't concern himself with it.
In the inner scene, mysterious particles fell. When Wang Xuan's spirit became vibrant again, he resumed practicing the Golden Body Technique, allowing the woman to drift behind him.
Years passed, and Wang Xuan felt he had been inside for seven or eight years. He had pushed the fourth layer of the Golden Body Technique into the later stages!
From the later stage of the third layer to the later stage of the fourth layer, his strength had genuinely increased significantly, and every so often, golden clouds would flicker in his eyes.
"Ordinary daggers wouldn't even penetrate my flesh," Wang Xuan thought, his heart ignited with excitement. Each time he entered the inner scene, his strength would drastically improve. To him, this place was mysterious, unknown, brimming with hope and powerful forces; the mysterious particles falling might breathe new life into the declining old techniques.
The ancient techniques of the Pre-Qin period were exceptionally brilliant; powerful practitioners might contend with forces at the feathering level, and during the dawn of Daoism, there were various myths and legends.
As time flowed on, in the present era, there were hardly any who continued down the path of old techniques. It had become incredibly difficult to find a master since modern times, let alone something extraordinary.
Soon, the inner scene began to tremble, becoming unstable. Wang Xuan knew the time had come; he needed to leave this empty space.
The two feathering stones had allowed him to stay here for seven or eight years, yielding remarkably astonishing value.
Wang Xuan spoke solemnly, "I'm about to leave. If possible, I'll find a way to protect your physical body after I go out, to ensure they won't cause trouble!"
He was about to leave and hoped that the woman wouldn't stir up trouble, allowing him to exit smoothly.
Of course, he wasn't just saying this; he genuinely felt that if he succeeded in the old techniques in the future and could intervene in the underground experiments of the Greater Khingan Range, he would certainly help. He felt deeply for the female practitioner's plight.
Boom!
In the world, a dazzling bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, and the pale moon fell, directly appearing behind the woman, transforming into a blood moon that made her appear even more eerie.
Lightning crackled as the woman before the blood moon lifted her head, her hair flowing up, revealing her true face. It was indeed a female practitioner, with skin as white as jade and a beautiful face that seemed almost unreal, like an immortal descending to the mortal realm without a flaw.
Dressed in white with red shoes, she hovered before the blood moon, exuding a unique aura that straddled the line between an immortal and a monster, leaving a profound impression on Wang Xuan.
A woman who had died three thousand years ago watched Wang Xuan in the inner scene. In the end, whether it was his illusion or the distortion and blurring of light before the scene dissipated, he seemed to see her smile. She was both near to being a celestial and a demon, her extraordinary poise and unique aura left Wang Xuan feeling captivated yet shivering with a sense of eeriness.
In the next moment, he completely left the inner scene and suddenly opened his eyes, as if two faint golden rays had swept through the room. Wang Xuan stood up, the golden light in his eyes faded, and he felt his immense strength in reality; his body technique had indeed reached the late stage of the fourth level of the Golden Body Technique.
He took a dagger and drew it across his arm, only for it to bounce off swiftly, leaving just a faint blood mark, while a powerful vitality surged, and the blood quickly vanished. The fourth level of the Golden Body Technique not only significantly enhanced the resilience of his flesh but also made his spiritual energy even more vigorous and powerful. Moreover, it greatly improved his body's recovery ability, making him full of life; his physical prowess had comprehensively risen.
As for his attack power, it was obviously far superior to before! Wang Xuan smiled; there was no reason not to feel joyful about such achievements, a sense of indescribable reward and satisfaction filling him, body and mind clear and joyful.
More importantly, because of the two feathering stones, he had explored a feasible path, allowing the slow-acting ancient techniques to perhaps shine brightly within him once again. "Some ancient temples have stood for thousands of years, always carrying legends of virtuous monks transforming into rainbows; could this be equivalent to feathering?"
"There are many tales of transcending into immortality on certain Daoist sacred mountains and their ancestral grounds; if nothing unexpected occurs, there should be wondrous artifacts left behind." Wang Xuan believed that in places where a feathering explosion had occurred, there would likely be feathering stones remaining.
That night, he fell asleep with a satisfied smile, and even upon waking at dawn, he was still smiling. However, he quickly had to get dressed and wash up because Little Wang had to go to work; he had only taken one day off, and if he didn't leave soon, he would be late.