The Stars Beyond

Chapter 35: Angel Or Demon?

Chapter 35: Angel Or Demon?

"What on earth did I just say?" Wang Xuan regretted his words instantly. In such a desolate place, with such unsettling atmosphere, he knew he couldn't afford to speak carelessly.

A pale moon made its sudden appearance high in the sky, casting its ghostly light over the weed-choked ruins, making the scenery even more unsettling. The woman floated in the air, her long hair cascading down to conceal her face. She was less than a few feet away from Wang Xuan, her eye-catching red shoes almost within reach.

His heart raced. Are these remnants of the female practitioner's spiritual energy? And why has a moon appeared?

The moon bore no resemblance to the pristine celestial body but looked more like a bloodless, pale face. He fell silent, recognizing the wisdom of keeping quiet in such a crucial moment. Silence is golden, and adaptability is key. He began channeling the core techniques of the Early Qin practitioners, drawing mysterious elements from the void. These elements, like tiny stars, floated down and settled amidst the eerie, broken ruins.

Suspended in the air, the woman remained still. Her white robes were starkly visible against the night. While her figure was graceful, the fact that her long hair concealed her face gave her the appearance of a faceless female ghost. She remained unsettlingly quiet in front of Wang Xuan.

He waited for a moment, but the woman under the ghastly moonlight remained silent and motionless. The two were locked in a standoff. Feeling that this could not go on, he spoke earnestly, "I did not mean any offense. I accidentally entered this inner landscape. As someone from a later era, my behavior may not align with the customs of the Early Qin period. However, this does not reflect any lack of respect on my part; it's just that times have changed and this is how people communicate now. If you believe any formalities are needed, I can certainly oblige."

Still, there was no response. Silence filled the air as the weeds continued to sway in the desolate ruins. Wang Xuan considered whether he should be more proactive—perhaps stirring up a few gusts of wind beneath his feet might dissipate these remnants of spiritual energy.

He opted to walk around the woman and leave the ruins. As he moved, debris on the ground and partially collapsed walls disintegrated. Yet, the woman remained suspended in the air. Moreover, despites his attempts to walk around her, she would always suddenly appear before him again, her eye-catching red shoes level with his forehead.

Something is off. Wang Xuan thought. A chill ran up his spine; something was definitely wrong within this inner landscape, and it had to do with the woman.

How has she appeared? A bolt of blindingly bright lightning had descended from the heavens, and then she had manifested.

Shouldn’t she be fearful of lightning If she is some form of evil spirit or demon? So what’s with her?

Could she be a concentrated remnant of spiritual energy?

As Wang Xuan walked away from her towards the ruins' exit, the woman followed, hovering ever so closely in front of him. He was exasperated. Why is she following me around? What does she want from me?

After some thought, he found his fears dissipating. The woman had been dead for three thousand years. What can her residual spiritual energy do to me anyways?

Refusing to give in to fear, he walked out of the ruins and focused on practicing his golden body technique, choosing to ignore her presence. His energy flowed, and specks of golden light flickered before his eyes.

His spiritual energy was vibrant, and he remained calm and composed. If there were any truth to the tales of ghosts, then the strong Yang energy radiating from him should be enough to ward such entities off. After all, he was young and brimming with vitality. There was nothing he should fear from them.

Wang Xuan remained incredibly composed, continuing his practice of the golden body technique. Due to the degree of his movements during his practice, he accidentally touched the woman with red shoes and white robes.

And just like that, she vanished. Wang Xuan felt no joy. He continued his practice with unflinching resolve. When dealing with the peculiar, one must not show fear, and it will defeat itself.

His strength continued to grow steadily as he stood within the vivid space of emptiness and clarity. It was a vital source of power for Early Qin practitioners. The same could be said for Wang Xuan at his current stage. As time passed, the surface of his skin shimmered with a faint golden hue as he executed his powerful physical techniques.

Only when he felt completely drained did he finally stop. It’s time to channel the core technique to draw in the mystery factor, he thought.

Suddenly, he sensed an anomaly—a chilling breeze brushed against his neck. It was only then that he realized the hovering woman had shifted her position. So engrossed had he been in his golden body technique that he had ignored his surroundings. Now, turning in shock, he found the woman—her white gown floating and her red shoes glaring—right behind him.

"A breeze..." The realization sent a jolt through Wang Xuan's heart. Something had gone wrong. Can the residual spiritual energy of the female practitioner interfere with the inner landscape?

He turned around, only to find the woman mirroring his movements. She remained suspended behind him, her red shoes almost touching his shoulders. It was growing increasingly unbearable. She was just like a thorn in his side at this point.

He began to analyze the situation. Theoretically speaking, when someone dies, they leave nothing behind. The female practitioner had died three thousand years ago—if she could return to life, she would not have waited until now.

"The residual spiritual energy..." He was certain the issue lay there. Was it originally dispersed throughout the inner landscape, or had it... entered when he did? The idea of the latter unnerved Wang Xuan. Had the "mystery factor" and the female practitioner's residual spiritual energy rushed in when he shattered the Ascension Stone and caused the anomaly?

In theory, the dead can never come back to life. But the inner landscape differed from the known world—it was beyond mortal comprehension and was poorly described by ancient texts. It was mysterious and unpredictable, and anything could be possible here.

"I don’t know if you were originally here or I brought you in, but what is it that you want? Following me around without telling me anything will not solve your problem," Wang Xuan spoke, and turned away from her. He wanted to understand what this lingering spiritual energy aimed to accomplish.

He held no romantic notions towards the ancient female practitioner. He knew very well that should he entertain such thoughts and if the residual energy from the female practitioner were indeed malicious, it could lead to his immediate death. Unfortunately, the woman remained silent, hovering quietly behind him.

The scene was unsettling: her flowing hair, white robes, and red shoes were visible, but her face remained concealed. She resembled a hanged ghost under the ghastly moonlight. After several failed attempts to elicit a response, Wang Xuan finally abandoned the idea of communicating with her.

If something is to happen, then so be it! He thought. He refused to concern himself with it anymore.

Back in the inner landscape, mysterious substances began to float down. As Wang Xuan's spirit regained its vitality, he resumed his practice of the golden body technique, indifferent to the woman who continued to hover behind him.

Years passed in the inner landscape. On his seventh, or what seemed to be the eighth yeah, Wang Xuan was able to reach the late stage of the fourth layer of his golden body technique.

By advancing from the late third layer to the late fourth layer, his strength had leapt by a significant margin. Occasionally, golden glows flickered in the depths of his eyes.

"Ordinary daggers would not even be able to pierce my flesh now," thought Wang Xuan, his passion that had almost been snuffed up was rekindled.. Stepping into the inner landscape had significantly enhanced his abilities. For him, this mysterious and unexplored space held both hope and enormous power. The mysterious factors that drifted down could alter the fading state of Old Arts.

In the Early Qin period, the Old Arts bloomed at the pinnacle of its potential. Powerful practitioners could muster energies capable of allowing them to ascend into the realm of immortality. The early years of Taoism also held various myths and legends.

However, as time passed to the present day, very few people still walked the path of the Old Arts. It was exceedingly difficult for even a grandmaster to emerge, let alone someone transcendent.

Soon, the inner landscape began to waver and grow unstable. Wang Xuan knew that his time here was coming to an end. The two Ascension Stones had allowed him to remain in this desolate place for up to eight years, and it was an incredibly valuable experience.

Wang Xuan spoke earnestly, "I'm about to leave. If my strength allows it, I'll try to protect your physical body once I'm out there. I’ll stop them from doing things to it."

He was about to leave with the hope that the woman would not prevent him from exiting smoothly. Of course, he wasn't merely giving lip service; he sincerely felt that if he could make progress in the Old Arts in the future and have influence over the experiments happening beneath the Greater Khingan Mountains, he would offer his assistance. He truly pitied female practitioner.

Boom!

A dazzling bolt of lightning cut through the sky. The pale moon in the sky descended directly behind the woman, transforming into a blood moon that rendered her even more eerie. As the thunder roared and the blood moon shone, the woman lifted her head. Her long hair floated up, revealing her true face. As expected, she was the female practitioner, her skin as white as snow and her beautiful face almost unreal, as if she were a fallen angel. There was not a single flaw to be found.

She hovered in front of the blood moon, dressed in white with red shoes. Her unique aura lay somewhere between that of a celestial being and a demon. It left an indelible impression on Wang Xuan.

A woman who had died three thousand years ago, now looking at him in the inner landscape. Right before the inner landscape dissipated, he wasn't sure if it was his imagination or a trick of the fading light, but he thought he saw her smile. A beauty both celestial and demonic, her extraordinarily unique aura made Wang Xuan shudder even as he found her breathtakingly beautiful. In the next moment, he left the inner landscape completely. His eyes flicked open, and for a split second, it seemed as if two faint golden rays crossed the room.

Wang Xuan rose to his feet, the golden light at the bottom of his eyes disappearing. He felt the incredible strength within his physical body; his cultivation in the "Golden Body Technique" had truly advanced to the late stage of the fourth layer. He picked up a dagger and slid it across his arm. The blade was promptly repelled, leaving behind only a faint trace of blood. His powerful life force surged, and the small amount of blood that had oozed out quickly vanished.

The fourth layer of the Golden Body Technique had not only enhanced the resilience of his flesh and blood but also made his mental strength more vigorous and potent. Additionally, it had improved his body's regenerative capabilities remarkably, invigorating him with abundant vitality. His physical attributes had been elevated across the board.

As for his attack power, he didn't even have to think about it—it was far superior to before!

Wang Xuan smiled, filled with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that was hard to put into words. His body and mind felt invigorated and joyful. What was even more important was that because of the two Ascension Stones, he had found a viable path. This could potentially revitalize the Old Arts, whose efficacy had been slowly waning over time.

"Some ancient temples have stood for thousands of years, always accompanied by legends of great monks transforming into rainbows. Could this be equivalent to Ascension?"

"In some famous Taoist mountains, as well as in their ancestral temples, there has never been a shortage of tales about Ascending and becoming immortals. If nothing unexpected has occurred, there should be some remnants left behind."

Wang Xuan believed that wherever an Ascension explosion had occurred, there would most likely be Ascension Stones left behind.