Chương 44: Way of the Ancient Gods

The moon left the obstruction of dark clouds at last, its light gentle like a mother greeting her long-awaited son. Ren's eyes flickered as he savored the warm feeling all over his body. The moonlight energy wandering beneath his skin pulsated in tandem, signaling to him that it was ready. Without any further hesitation, he let it do whatever it wanted, lifting the restriction he imposed. And Little Sapling answered in earnest. The next moment, a heaven-shaking, earth-toppling energy surged out from within.

It filled the world, leaving the elders and the remaining core disciples who managed to stay conscious completely and utterly shaken. Gasps and whispers rippled through the feast ground.

"T-this… this is…"

"He…"

"But isn't his foundation…" None dared to finish. Ren stood frozen as the majestic energy coursed through his meridians, tempering every inch of his body. His cells cheered, hungrily devouring the feast presented. The nourishment of moonlight was something even his soul brother hadn't seen, his already treasured body breaking its limits into another level. However, in just a few moments, Ren trembled— This…? A shackle, as heavy as a mountain, descended upon him, bringing his ascent to a halt.

His eyes suddenly glimmered. The second limit of Indestructible Body! The mortal body carried nine such shackles, each a barrier comparable to an entire cultivation level. His soul brother had broken the first one thanks to the countless heavenly treasures fed to him. It had been further supported by Old Void's frenzied hunting of void dragons and the subsequent void energy refinement that lasted almost a year, making him virtually invincible at Foundation Establishment, even without cultivation.

And now, Ren stood at the second! If I can break it… Then even if I fail in Foundation, I can progress! Eyes crimson, Ren roared and shot into the sky, palms opening wide. The sky darkened for but a heartbeat as all the moon's love and care focused on him and him alone! Heavenly Serenity Technique, First Level: Heavenly Call. The ambient spiritual energy shuddered, then poured into him in frenzy. It coursed through his meridians like a flood, continuously smashing around, trashing every part of him.

Then Little Sapling chomped on all, spitting back moonlight energy that kept knitting his body together and smashing at the invisible shackle at the same time. Without destruction, there can be no rebirth! BOOM! Blood burst from his lips. Ren faltered, almost crashing to the ground. His half-armor creaked under the endless flow of spiritual energy but held him firmly in the air. Thunderous crashing resounded in his mind. The shackle stood its ground, not even shaken at all.

With every smash, Ren would shake visibly. Still, he endured. However, not long after, he realized something was wrong, very wrong. Directly under the full moon, Little Sapling could absorb the spiritual energy he threw at it, no matter how much, and the moonlight energy it gave back could rebuild his body, creating a virtuous cycle. He had also fed a lot of energy in the day, and now the combined feedback was immense.

Therefore, when he struck the barrier, the moonlight he burned was far less than what Little Sapling kept pouring into him. In no less than a few minutes, the excess swelled beyond what his body could contain. After all, even with its regenerative factor, too much medicine was a kind of poison in itself. His heart skipped a beat. Cracks appeared all over his skin, silver light mingling with crimson as it gushed outside. His veins felt like molten lava, his mind getting sluggish. Such a pain…

he had never experienced it. But if it was just pain, then— I can take it. I've dealt with worse than mere physical pain. Gritting his teeth, Ren gathered all his energy, smashing at the shackle once more. He spewed blood like it cost nothing. Not enough— not fucking enough! More and more moonlight compressed, creating a wild whirlpool inside. Ren waited, waited, and just when he felt he was about to burst— BAAM! Ren faltered again, even falling a few meters despite his armor humming. But he also felt it.

The shackle had trembled at last, a little, teeny-tiny crack showing up. It's… working…? He drew in a sharp breath without hesitation. Another whirlpool born into being, this one more violative.

"T-This is madness! Guiren, do something!"

"If I could, I'd do it, Old Gao… huh."

"Tch, challenging something only Nascent Souls dare… youngsters these days…"

"…the first limit alone is terrifying, but this— this is too exaggerated…"

"What a… monster…"

"A-As expected of our Eldest! A cacophony of voices reached Ren's ears as he slammed at the shackle again and again. However, right at that moment, a sharp voice cut through even the rumbles in him:"He is going to fail." The tone it carried had no place for doubt.

"What in the damned heavens are you saying, Xue Tian?!"

"I meant what I said, Master Gao," Xue Tian answered, voice flat.

"If he continues like this, of course." Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Ren frowned, forcing himself to ignore. Yet a seed of doubt had already been planted in his mind as the moonlight energy turned chaotic. A line of blood trickled from his eyes.

"I want an explanation," Qin Guiren said, a heaviness settling over him at his words.

"Or I'll take this as obvious enmity and sabotage that risked my disciple's life, Master Xue." Up above, even Ren felt his breath caught in his chest. His eyes fluttered open and locked on the man's expressionless face. Master… He opened his mouth out of reflex. To lessen his master's worry. To say he was going to be well. But— Only more blood came out.

"Don't get me wrong, Sect Master, no enmity lies between the Eldest and myself just because our views of the world may differ," answered Xue Tian in his usual magnetic tone, clasping his fists together and bowing lightly.

"Then why did you say he will fail?"

"Because this is the way of Ancient Gods," Xue Tian paused, giving an idle glance at the air, "The second limit isn't the same as the first limit. You can't chirp it away slowly. It's something I learned the hard way. Healing, talent, special energies— none of it matters. Break it at once, or die trying." Ren caught the doubtful looks, but before he could think, Xue Tian's piercing gaze focused on him.

"Boy," Xue Tian's voice slipped into his ears, smooth and terrifyingly calm, "at your limit already… and still you hold back. Funny… Perhaps… I made a mistake. You might've changed…" a faint curve surfaced in the man's lips, "…into someone scared of failure. Otherwise, why not cross into Foundation Establishment instead of this futile effort?" Ba-dump!

"REN!" A shaken scream reached his ears. His half-closed eyes wandered, sweeping around to find that pair of golden eyes. And there she was, watching him, hands clasped together as if praying. Her mouth moved, whispering something he couldn't hear. Ren froze. And with him, for a very brief moment, time seemed almost frozen. The chaos inside his body, the shuddering spiritual energy, even the blood gushing from the cracks in his body… everything stopped. Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump! He looked at his Master.

He could see the hidden sorrow and pain behind his facade. Then to the furious Master Gao… the frowning Master Shu… Yeah… I'm scared. No matter how much I pretend not to be… no matter how many times I said I accepted… the truth is there. I can't just ignore it… fake it till you make it, huh? A wry smile bloomed on Ren's lips, the glimmer in his gaze fading. I'm scared because I'm not a genius like my soul brother. I'm scared because I don't want to disappoint. I'm scared because if I fail, it won't only affect me.

I—I've always been this damned… worthless coward… His gaze returned to the moon. Its radiance… how gently it shone, how tenderly it bathed the night! Unlike me, whose darkness is never-ending… His eyelids closed on their own, his head lowered. Just as his open palms began to fall… [Those fears of yours, my child, the darkness you see…] His mother's warm voice echoed in his ears. [… all it takes is a single spark to drive them away. A spark that comes from your heart.] That day flashed in his mind.

The day of heavy rain. The day he lowered his proud head for the sake of protecting his little sisters and brothers. The day he had swallowed his pride. I… To be honest, he had felt the same fear then. Then, in that alley, when they broke their promise never to touch his sisters… His spark had faded, the light giving way. And with the loss, he found himself devoured by his own darkness. [Please protect and cherish, Ren.] In the depths of the same darkness, something burned. Something fierce, something unyielding.

The words. And a spark jumped out of it, reigniting the ashes. It was small, insignificant, like a candle that had run through the wick, its flame flickering wildly. Yet it stubbornly clung to life, perhaps to let him feel a sliver of warmth, perhaps to remind him he was not alone. Not anymore. A chuckle escaped his lips. You're an insistent bastard, huh? Ren suddenly burst into laughter. I can't escape… not anymore. He could feel everybody's gaze upon himself, but he laughed, and laughed until tears fell.

He wasn't free, and he wasn't going to be because he carried a promise. An eternal one. Yes, it still terrified him. This darkness. This weight. This burden. This expectation of greatness. Those children who called his name with awe. Those disciples who shouted their loyalty. Those people who waited, who never forgot, who believed. The weight of their trust settled on his shoulders. And yet, it didn't feel suffocating when the warm flame of the words lit up. The darkness encroaching on his being…

driven away all at once, just like his mother said. He opened his eyes. BA-DUMP! BA-DUMP! BA-DUMP! The spark he had lost… returned. Weak or not, it burned— that was enough. And with it, Ren threw caution to the wind! BA-DUMP! Like a war drum, his heartbeat thundered, the air itself shuddering. Heavenly Serenity Technique, Third Level: Total Serenity! The time returned to its usual flow as a wave in the shape of a bubble rippled out of his body. Ren let it all go, every part of him relaxing.

He floated toward his back, as though sleeping on air, his eyes closing eventually.

"You're going to get yourself killed, foolish brat!" His master's shout came too late. It's stupid, but I always make do with stupid. The bubble had already swelled up to tens of meters. It contracted back to him all of a sudden at light speed, devouring all the energy out of the air. A vacuum appeared, and all that energy poured into Ren's already full body.

"NOW!" His eyes opened like lightning, his gaze locked on the purple dragon. [Primordial's Wrath]: … Using it, you can trigger three separate effects: elevate your spiritual senses, spread a pseudo-Primordial-grade pressure, or stir your moonlight energy into a frenzy, doubling all your power for a duration. The dragon let out a thunderous roar, turned into a purple light, and merged into his body.

His moonlight energy instantly stirred into a frenzy, spreading all over the cracks just before the spiritual energy boomed into his being. At the very moment Ren reached into the void, his broken foundation flared with a deep hum. A throne, covered in cracks and in the same shape as his armor, materialized in the air. Everything— thankfully — happened in less than a second.

Those normally naughty slivers of spiritual energy turned into vicious maggots, gnawing and tearing apart his flesh as countless blood vessels and smaller veins erupted into a blood shower— only to be repaired a moment later as the frenzied moonlight managed to hold him together. He didn't burst like a punctured human balloon as he should've until Little Sapling gobbled the energy, digested it, and gave it back as an enormous amount of moonlight energy, which the throne took over. Ren stared at the throne with awe.

This— this was the foundation his soul brother had established. Even with the cracks, its obsidian-like glassy surface was glamorous. The silvery moonlight spread around it, its smooth corners with the jagged, metallic parts of the armor creating a perfect contrast of nobility and tyranny. It was beautiful, truly beautiful. But it's not mine. He let out a deep breath, the glimmer in his eyes rekindled, stronger than ever. It's too perfect for me.

He raised one hand toward it, and feeling his will, Little Sapling answered. The moonlight energy seeped into the cracks. Following that, purple roots covered in barbed thorns grew all over the throne, closing up the cracks and adding a touch of wildness to it. He winced. This feeling… he wasn't sure how to describe it, but it felt like all those thorns were tearing his very soul apart. Another bubble erupted from his body as the change ate up his energy like a hungry ghost.

The bubble spread further and further until it enveloped all the feast ground and its sky. Only then did it shrink back, the same process repeating. Inhale until the very limits— Fill the cracks— Repeat! Ren withstood the pain of destruction and creation with superhuman endurance. He didn't know how, truth to be told, but he still did. His mind and body stubbornly refused to break down, yet lingered on the edge as the cracks closed.

Countless terrifying booms went off inside, and he even felt like hearing a faint groan coming from deeper. Ten times. The bubble grew bigger and bigger. His teeth pressed tight, grinding with a harsh, grating sound. Forty times. His eyes began twitching. Seventy times. Cold sweat poured down from his back, his face— everywhere. Ninety-nine times. His face went pale like a vampire. The bubble that had covered all the sect grounds drew countless screams and gasps, leaving almost no spiritual energy behind.

All of a sudden, the very heavens rumbled, as though an ancient titan stirred from its slumber. Then descended clouds darker than night itself, chasing away the crimson clouds and unfurling across the sky like a shroud of calamity. The stars trembled in fright, the winds whispered omens. Ren's gaze lingered on the last crack and on the clouds crackling with lightning behind it. A restless feeling stirred his insides. The little teasing with Baozhai earlier seemed not-so-funny now.