Chương 4: Heaven and Earth Pearl

No wonder… Cang Lian thought to himself.

No wonder the Cang family was able to cultivate so many experts; it turns out that they also had such strong financial resources and secret techniques to support them.

This is not simply a competition of talent, but a comprehensive "arms race".

Old Huang seemed to have gotten carried away with his talk, his eyes becoming unfocused: "Besides secret medicines, there are many ancient artifacts that have been passed down through the ages, and those are truly extraordinary. Among the more famous ones is the 'Heaven and Earth Pearl' in the possession of the Hong Dynasty's Sun and Moon Society."

He leaned closer mysteriously: "The Heavenly Pearl is a treasure coveted by martial artists and sorcerers. It can absorb the essence of the sun and moon to strengthen the physique and spirit of cultivators."

"Besides this Heaven and Earth Pearl, it is said that the Sun and Moon Society also possesses another great treasure: a 'Martial Immortal Scripture,' which records the ultimate secrets of martial arts. When the Hong Dynasty fell, even the Japanese pirates of the East sent ninja masters to infiltrate the Central Plains and search for it for a long time!"

Sun and Moon Society... Heaven and Earth Pearl... Martial Immortal Scripture...

The memories fused with the Azure Serpent began to surge, as if it had remembered something!

He said to Master Huang, "I'm a bit tired from practicing today. I need to go back and rest properly to recharge my energy. I'll come back to ask for your guidance again tomorrow."

"Alright! Young master, please take care!" Old Master Huang hurriedly bowed and saw him off.

Cang Lian said no more and turned to walk back the way she came.

Because Gu Guolong was following behind him, he didn't show his emotions too obviously.

After washing up, I returned to my room.

He walked to the bedside and took out a small wooden block that looked like a Rubik's Cube.

This wooden block was a toy he had when he was a child. His belongings, as well as all of his mother Han Yu's things, had been secretly searched by the Cang family countless times, and this wooden block was no exception.

"Sun and Moon Gathering... Heaven and Earth Pearl... Martial Immortal Scripture..." At this moment, he looked at the wooden block and murmured to himself, the floodgates of memory suddenly opening.

In his memory, these words were whispered in Cang Lian's ear by his mother, Han Yu, more than once when he was young and ignorant.

At that time, he thought it was just a fairy tale his mother told him to put to bed.

But at this moment, his gaze was fixed intently on the block of wood.

The wooden block was only the size of a fist, made of an unknown dark red wood, with all six sides smooth as a mirror, without any keyholes or clasps.

He remembered that when he was a child, his mother loved to hold him and gently tap the six sides of a wooden block with her fingers, repeatedly chanting, "Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth..."

A bold conjecture, so audacious it made his own heart race, surfaced in his mind.

Could this wooden block be an ancient Five Elements puzzle box?

He took a deep breath and held the wooden block in his palm.

He closed his eyes, trying to recall his mother's movements and the ancient rhythm.

Then extend your fingers and gently press them on the five sides of the wooden block, which has no inscriptions, in the order of "metal, wood, water, fire, earth".

Each time one side is pressed, the wooden block does not react at all.

Only one last look left.

He hesitated for a moment, then pressed his finger on the bottom surface that represented "earth".

"Click".

A faint, almost inaudible mechanical sound rang out, and the top surface of the wooden block, like lotus petals, slowly slid open from the center to both sides.

Cang Lian's breath hitched for a moment!

Under the light, he could clearly see that there was another world inside the wooden block. Inside, there was a layer of bright yellow brocade, and on it lay a bead the size of a longan.

The bead was translucent, with a faint glow on its surface.

Next to the beads, there was a small note with her mother's neat handwriting on it.

Under the light, those words were so clear they were almost blinding.

"The Heaven and Earth Pearl!"

Heaven and Earth Pearl!

Cang Lian felt a buzzing in her head, her body jolted violently, and goosebumps rose all over her body.

It turns out that the fairy tales his mother told him... were all true!

Moreover, this supreme treasure, capable of stirring up a storm in the world, is now in his hands!

When Da Hong established the country, he said "The sun, moon, mountains and rivers will last forever." At first, it was called the Sun and Moon Pearl, but later it was changed to the Heaven and Earth Pearl!

Now, this Heaven and Earth Pearl is in his hands!

Cang Lian's heart pounded wildly in her chest like a drum.

Excitement, like oil being poured on a raging fire, almost burned his reason to ashes.

But the worry was like a bucket of ice water poured over his head, instantly sobering him up.

This is the Cang Mansion, a den of dragons and tigers, Cang Hong's territory.

Such a treasure, capable of changing the course of history, has fallen into the hands of a neglected young master who is easily bullied by everyone. If it were to be leaked, the consequences would be unimaginable.

That's not just a disaster, it's utter ruin.

He carefully picked up the Heaven and Earth Pearl.

It feels cool to the touch, yet has a strange warmth, as if you are holding a piece of solidified, cold jade.

Under the lights, it looked just like the most distant star in the dead of night.

He knew in his heart that this must be the last and greatest contingency plan that his mother, Han Yu, had left for him.

If what Elder Huang said is true, and this ancient artifact can truly absorb the essence of the sun and moon to strengthen the cultivator's blood and spirit, then it is equivalent to an inexhaustible treasure trove of secret medicines!

For someone like him who had just embarked on the path of martial arts and whose foundation was weak, this was an incredible stroke of luck, his only bargaining chip to turn the tide in a desperate situation!

Cang Lian took a deep breath, forcing herself to quickly calm her turbulent emotions.

He stared at the bead with focused, burning eyes, examining it carefully again and again.

He wanted to know exactly how to use this thing!

How can I achieve the legendary effects?

Just as he was gently stroking the surface of the bead with his fingertips, trying to discover its secrets, a strange change occurred!

The bead in his hand suddenly emitted a soft buzzing sound, and then it transformed into a soft white light, which "whooshed" and went straight into his brow!

This made Cang Lian's hair stand on end, and she was so shocked that she almost cried out.

But he quickly calmed down. After all, he had experienced such a bizarre thing as time travel, and his mental fortitude was already extraordinary.

He rushed to the table, grabbed the mirror, and examined his face closely.

In the mirror, right in the center of his brow, there was a tiny point of light, barely larger than a pinhead, that was now shimmering with an extremely faint glow. If you didn't look closely, you wouldn't notice it at all.

"This... this is truly an ancient artifact... One second I thought it was just an ordinary glass bead, but the next second it burrowed into my body!"

Cang Lian couldn't help but mutter to herself.

Fortunately, he had traveled through time and witnessed the most absurd things, which allowed him to maintain this outward calm.

"But how could this Heaven and Earth Pearl have directly entered my body?"

His mind raced as he went through the merged memories.

Among the fragments of memory, there seems to be a blurry scene.

When he was a child, his mother, Han Yu, once gently touched his forehead with this bead while muttering some syllables that he couldn't understand, as if she had also drained his blood.

"Could it be... could it be that back then, Mother Han Yu had already completed the process of recognizing the treasure as its owner for me?"

A bold guess took shape in his mind.

Just then, he suddenly noticed that the room seemed to have become a little brighter.

He turned to look out the window, and saw wisps of white moonlight, like wisps of smoke or cow's hair, silently drifting in through the glass.

As if they were alive, they precisely gathered at the center of his brow, and then continuously merged into the bead that had become one with him.

The entire room was enveloped in this holy and soft white light, and the air was filled with an indescribable, cool and pure atmosphere.

"This... can the Heaven and Earth Pearl really absorb moonlight?"

Cang Lian was so excited that her body trembled violently.

He gazed at the ethereal moonlight, his eyes blazing with an unprecedented light.

The legend is actually true!