Unfazed by Yu Ci's interrogation, He Qing's grip only intensified, her hand drawing in more power. To the naked eye, nothing seemed amiss, yet if one could pierce through to the True Divine, they would witness two Aura of the Celestial Dragons, writhing and battling within a confined space. Perhaps Yu Ci's aura was purer, but his foundation was weak, and he quickly found himself unable to resist.
The outcome was hardly surprising, and Yu Ci had no intention of fighting to the death. Uncertain, yet indifferent to whether his questions would be answered, he allowed his consciousness to sink deeper, retracting inward. He cast aside the pain of his Divine Soul's vitality ebbing away, smoothing his state of mind, and astonishingly, in this life-threatening moment, he entered a semi-meditative state.
In an instant, the world before Yu Ci split in two.
Both shrouded in the haze of night, yet the settings were entirely different: one was a dark sea with a solitary island, forests, and a small lake; the other was the vast expanse of the sky, heavy with brooding clouds. One was on earth, the other in heaven. A lesser will might have been overwhelmed by the shift, but Yu Ci remained steady.
This was the scene when the Inner Void of the Heart unfolded.
Perhaps it was due to the significant progress in his Talismanic Cultivation Level, or maybe it was always true that skills are honed under pressure. At this critical juncture, for the first time, Yu Ci attempted to concurrently attend to both the internal and external voids, and he succeeded in one fell swoop! The Inner Void of the Heart and the real world intersected and ran parallel at this moment, both perceived simultaneously by Yu Ci. Thus, he saw, on He Qing's face, just a breath away, the first signs of surprise.
"You..."
The sound waves twisted strangely, passing from the real world into the Inner Void of the Heart, becoming a series of meaningless noises—a sign that the two worlds were not yet in sync.
As with the sound, so it was with the scene. In the world of the forest and lake, a Fish-Dragon was speeding and tumbling, its slender body crashing into the woods, scattering leaves and branches, even snapping trees, with an astonishing force. Upon closer inspection, its dark scales were no longer flat against its body but stood on edge like blades, as if it were battling something. Yet, in Yu Ci's current perception, there was only a distortion in the air.
But Yu Ci knew that this was He Qing's True Essence of the Heavenly Dragon. The reason for this manifestation was that he was not yet adept at visualizing the structure of his opponent's Aura in the Inner Void of the Heart. But this was changing.
Not just the True Essence of the Heavenly Dragon, but He Qing herself, too.
This was Yu Ci's first attempt to bring an "outsider" into the Inner Void of the Heart.
There had been similar situations before: the Fish-Dragon, Xuan Huang, the Thunderbolt Tribulation, and the Shadow Ghost had all "visited" the Inner Void of the Heart. But those were special cases, lacking Yu Ci's initiative; only this time did he truly and necessarily want to pull He Qing in!
To be precise, it wasn't a "pull" but rather an alignment with the dialectical reasoning of physical and mental imagery. By reflecting the events of the real world into the Inner Void of the Heart and channeling the corresponding Aura, it was as if a Separate Consciousness and Thoughts projection were created within the Inner Void of the Heart, intimately connected to the original self. This corresponded to the Primordial Root Qi Method's mental cultivation practice of "drawing qi into the realm." From this point on, Yu Ci faced no more obstacles in his understanding of this level.
Another Aura of the Celestial Dragon was gradually taking shape, and the battle between them intensified. Yu Ci's consciousness had mostly retreated to the Inner Void of the Heart, where he had some advantages.
Here, he could wield items like several Divine Power External Appearances, such as the Tao Scripture Master's Three Treasure Seal, the Immortal Bind Rope, and the Ten Yin Transforming Radiance Veil. In reality, facing a True Immortal like He Qing, unless he possessed the art of Separate Consciousness and Thoughts, there would be no chance to utilize these Magical Instruments.
However, inside the Inner Void of the Heart, the situation was different.
Deep within the mountains, two Auras of the Celestial Dragon fought a desperate battle. Yu Ci's side was at a disadvantage, but each time a crisis loomed, the Fish-Dragon's forehead would emit a blinding white light, and its foreclaws would flash fiercely. Sometimes it would exhale smoke and fog, which was actually the chilling Sword Energy, sharp enough to compare with Divine Weaponry.
With these abilities, along with the cautiousness of the opponent who had just entered the Inner Void of the Heart, Yu Ci managed to hold on for a few more breaths in this uneven fight, until the projection of He Qing's Separate Consciousness and Thoughts arrived.
The Inner Void of the Heart suddenly trembled, and the vast expanse of the mountain forest nightscape twisted and deformed, losing its original shape. At the epicenter of this distortion, He Qing stepped in with an intrigued expression.
Yu Ci had drawn her in, but was she not curious herself?
"Is this the Inner Void of the Heart?" she asked.
The first thing the female cultivator saw was the Life Death Talisman, floating and revolving in the center of an isolated forested island. She watched with interest, its image somewhat distorted, but her voice was clear and precise, proving that the synchronization between the inner and outer voids had reached a high level. However, the situation turned dire as it was not the "inner void" reflecting the "outer void," but the "outer void" beginning to dissolve the existence of the "inner void."
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The primary reason for this was He Qing herself.
Those "successful" cases, whether it was the Fish-Dragon, Xuan Huang, the lingering image of Thunderbolt Tribulation, or the Shadow Ghost, all had one thing in common: their powers were limited. The Fish-Dragon was naturally weak, Xuan Huang's Yang Spirit was damaged, Thunderbolt Tribulation was just a residual shadow, and the Shadow Ghost had most of its power devoured by the Divine Bronze Mirror, leaving only a Remnant Soul. The Inner Void of the Heart could easily "depict" them, even directly absorb them without issue.
He Qing was entirely different.
Even though she too had split her Yang Spirit's vitality and reduced her Cultivation Level by ninety percent, her realm was evident, and the profound subtleties of a True Immortal were far beyond what Yu Ci could "depict." To manifest her in the Inner Void of the Heart, with her Aura's complexity, was to exceed the void's limits of containment. Under these circumstances, even if He Qing did nothing, she could still cause Yu Ci to burst from the pressure!
He Qing, with a glance, discerned the crux of the matter, her surprise fading as she shook her head. "Elder Jie Liang is indeed a genius unseen since the Thunderbolt Tribulation of the Sect, but you are not far behind. Such ingenious concepts are rare, and it's remarkable that you could recreate them... However, even Elder Jie Liang needed to reach the Vacuum Walking Realm before his method approached perfection. For you to dare to use it now, your courage is truly extraordinary."
As they spoke, Yu Ci's Aura of the Celestial Dragon, even when combined with the Divine Power External Appearance, could not withstand an opponent from the Realm of the True Being. In the Inner Void of the Heart, this became even more evident, as he was struck by a tail swipe that scattered his scales, barely maintaining his form before it dissipated. Affected by this, the Inner Void of the Heart trembled, and Yu Ci's flesh body and Divine Soul suffered even greater injuries.
With victory within her grasp, He Qing remained composed. She looked curiously towards the horizon where sea and sky met, already noticing the iceberg atop the dark sea. Though she could not discern its secrets at a glance as she could with the Thunderbolt Tribulation, she nonetheless recognized its extraordinary nature and gave it a few extra moments of consideration.
It was then that Yu Ci's voice arose: "That is the Great Mysterious Prohibition, likely originating from the mark left by the Great Mysterious Demon Mother. There are things within it that we do not need at present, so they were sealed away."
The mere mention of "Great Mysterious Demon Mother" lent Yu Ci's explanation a considerable shock factor. He Qing turned around in surprise, only to see Yu Ci's flickering figure in the void, seemingly about to vanish at any moment.
Nevertheless, Yu Ci spoke with a calm tone: "I've had quite the harvest recently. From the Rakshasa Sect, the Sword Competing Pavilion, the Primordial Demon Sect—I've obtained some fine treasures, almost spoiling me for choice. Speaking of which, I must thank Immortal He. It was by observing your Way of the Fish-Dragon and understanding the principle of selection that I knew when to advance or retreat, to discern fortune from disaster. By timely sealing them, I resolved a crisis. A moment's 'letting go' sets up future 'gains', hence the saying 'let go to get'. Immortal He, your actions must also follow this principle, I presume."
The scriptures spoke vaguely, evoking boundless imaginings, and talks of "stealing teachings" were nothing but nonsensical babble. Yu Ci was deliberately stirring up this topic.
He Qing said nothing, observing the iceberg closely before turning back to gaze at him quietly.
"As for the principle of 'selection', I would like to seek further insight from Immortal He. I feel that there is an inherent conflict between 'taking' and 'letting go'. What to take, what to let go—the 'measure' of it is hard to grasp. I remember Taoist Yu once said to me: 'Among the myriad cultivation methods, the myriad miraculous elixirs, the myriad human connections, which will you take, which will you let go? If you take it, can you truly achieve immortality? If you let it go, will you truly have no regrets?'... I find his words profoundly true."
While speaking, Yu Ci attentively employed the sensitivity of the Inner Void of the Heart to discern the shifts in He Qing's state of mind. Alas, he gleaned nothing.
Yu Ci wasn't discouraged. If there was an opportunity to exploit He Qing's emotions, it would most likely arise from these choices of gains and losses. What Yu Ci needed to do was to probe, to touch upon, and even... to challenge!
"Why forsake it?"
As Yu Ci uttered this enigmatic referent, the half-collapsed Inner Void of the Heart suddenly manifested a shadow, emerging right beneath He Qing's feet, enveloping her in an instant.
"How dare you!"
For the first time since their meeting that night, He Qing's voice was sharp with both sound and color. With a shout, a radiant golden light burst forth from her, like the blazing sun, fiercely burning. The shadow couldn't withstand it, riddled with holes by the piercing light, and quickly receded, entering a standoff with He Qing. Even though its form was greatly altered, one could still see the shadow's striking resemblance to He Qing's figure.
Indeed, this was the Demonized Yang Spirit that He Qing had severed from herself, which had once been of the caliber of an Outer Sky Calamity Demon. However, after traversing the Divine Bronze Mirror, its power had waned significantly, its experience somewhat akin to that of the Shadow Ghost.
The reason for involving He Qing was precisely this.
Even without directly facing the onslaught of He Qing's golden light, the sheer killing intent was intense enough. Yu Ci's image within the Inner Void of the Heart grew increasingly blurred, but he held on, his voice still clear:
"Empathy dictates, Immortal He, that your 'forsaking' seems rather precipitous. Are you concerned about the limitations that the mundane may bring to you? You've only just stepped into the Realm of the True Being, with no failed attempts at the Thunderbolt Tribulation. In terms of Cultivation Level, you are centuries, even millennia away from those 'limitations.' Why the haste? Can't you endure even for a moment?"
His words were articulate, his tone steady, though he spoke slowly. This was because he was simultaneously organizing his thoughts. What was once a vague idea was now becoming increasingly lucid.
Upon hearing this, He Qing's anger subsided, and the weakened Demonized Yang Spirit posed no threat to her. However, as she stared at the fading silhouette of Yu Ci, she finally confirmed that although they were extremely similar, the young man before her was sharper, more resilient, and indeed... more crazed! She slowly raised her hand, knowing that with a mere thought, she could collapse this piece of the Inner Void of the Heart along with the young man.
On the other side of the isolated island, the conflict within the Aura of the celestial dragon was reaching its end. She had triumphed completely on her side and was now unleashing her full power to snatch away the Primordial Qi, strangling the dying "kin."
"Then perish!" Her killing intent was now unequivocal.
At that moment, in the dimly lit hand of Yu Ci, a sword appeared. Following that, he intoned a cryptic phrase in a long, drawn-out chant:
"To witness my ultimate skill, you too shall meet a fitting end!"