Stranger Danger

Chapter 892: To Step Through the Gate of Heaven

His residence wasn’t big. It was ancient, traditional, and built as its name suggested. There was a cassia tree at the center of the courtyard, and the entire residence was filled with a floral scent because it was in full bloom. It was both poetic and picturesque.

There was a praying mat beneath the cassia tree. Clearly, that was where he was meant to meditate and practice.

Ye Qing did not hesitate. As soon as he took a seat, he closed his eyes and meditated until his mind was completely calm and free of distractions. Then, he produced the Animitta Heavenly Demon’s heart from Nine Heavens and began refining its demonic qi.

Thump thump...

As soon as Ye Qing began refining the Animitta Heavenly Demon’s heart, it began beating as if it had suddenly come to life. As the heart started beating, thick, terrifying demonic qi spilled out of the heart and flooded the entire courtyard.

The demonic qi didn’t maintain a stable form. Instead, it manifested all sorts of reflections of the red dust; joy, anger, sorrow and happiness; the Seven Emotions and Six Desires and more. It was like a fantastical dream.

For a time, the courtyard became as rowdy as humanity and as anomalous as the hell of a demonic nation.

Despite the commotion, Ye Qing remained completely unmoved. His eyes shut tight and his expression calm, he inhaled and exhaled demonic qi at a steady rhythm. From time to time, his body would emanate mysterious, rhythmic ripples that made him look like a living celestial.

Crack crack...

Time passed quickly. An indefinite amount of time later, Ye Qing suddenly opened his eyes.

As soon as he opened his eyes, cassia flowers started falling even though there was no wind, and the entire courtyard grew dimmer than before. His eyes were bright and pure, but for whatever reason, the brightness seemed to contain infinite darkness, and the purity infinite desires.

The next moment, Ye Qing’s eyes deepened until it looked deep and boundless. It felt as unreachable as the sky, and as vast as the earth, endless and borderless.

A formless demonic lotus bloomed at the center of this infinite space. Sitting on top of the demonic lotus was a grand, towering silhouette who seemed to be looking down on the living.

A few breaths later, Ye Qing’s eyes returned to normal, and the anomalous phenomena plaguing the courtyard disappeared like they never were. At the same time, the Animitta Heavenly Demon’s heart in his hand had turned into a faded stone that was devoid of all of its previous potency.

Ye Qing clenched his fingers slightly, and the Animitta Heavenly Demon’s heart crumbled into powder and scattered along the wind.

“As expected of the Six Livestocks Market,” Ye Qing remarked with a smile on his face. It had only taken him half a month to fully refine the demonic qi residing within the Animitta Heavenly Demon’s heart, convert it into spiritual power, forge his Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven, and reach the adept level of his Paranirmitava?avartin Heavenly Demon Yin God.

If this was outside, it would have taken him at least three to five months just absorbing and refining the demonic qi into spiritual power, much less forge his Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven and strengthen his yin god.

Inside the Six Livestocks Market though, he had completed everything in just half a month’s time, shaving months or even years from his cultivation. Now, all he needed was an opportunity to transform his yin god into a yang god and become a Trueman.

Of course, it was easier said than done.

To a warrior, the process of transforming one’s yin god into a yang god and becoming a Trueman was the process of transforming from acquired to natural. It was the juncture where the warrior shedded their mortal shell and joined the ranks of human celestials. It was why there was a quote that went something like this: “When you scale the Gate of Heaven pure and true, mortal you will no longer be.”

This was why the Trueman stage and Grandmaster stage were considered the “Gate of Heaven” that separated the mortals from the celestials. It was the threshold all warriors dreamed of crossing. Should they succeed, they would be among the heavens and be able to live as they pleased. If not, then they would never be able to shed their mortal shell; never be more than a piece on the board.

It was the difference between day and night, heaven and earth, sun and firefly. It was no wonder all warriors strove to enter this stage.

However, it was not easy to overcome this threshold. In fact, it had been an exceedingly difficult task since ancient times. There were countless warriors out there who were half a step from becoming a Trueman or a Grandmaster, but could never cross over to the next stage despite devoting half their lives into the pursuit.

“One opportunity stands between enlightenment and ignorance, and yet opportunity may not come until life runs out.” It had never been an empty saying, and it never would be.

This was why some Half-Step Truemen or Half-Step Grandmasters spent years or even decades just exploring the jianghu, witnessing the world, and stirring up snow and storms. It was all in search for that sliver of hope to achieve a breakthrough; that method to attain Dao that might not exist at all.

Ye Qing believed that he possessed outstanding talent to begin with, and after his body was remade by the Profound Yellow Mother Qi, he would even go so far as to call himself a genius. He was sure that he would naturally enter the Trueman stage once his cultivation had caught up, but now that he was at that point, he realized that he was being naive.

Yes, he was sure he would enter the Trueman stage eventually. it wouldn’t even be difficult all things considered. But when was that exactly?

It could be three or five months from now. It could also be three or five years from now. He could not say.

His accumulation of power, knowledge, and insight were what decided his ascension. He had obviously accumulated enough power, but his knowledge? His insight?

He was well aware that he was still lacking in understanding regarding the martial way and experience regarding the world around him. Until he made up for his flaws, it was plainly unrealistic to think that he would become a Trueman in a short time.

That was if he did not enter the Six Livestocks Market, however. Things were different now.

The Six Livestocks Market was the manifestation of the ancient Venerable Six Livestocks’ corpse and spirit. Not only did it possess its own rules, it contained Venerable Six Livestocks’ martial will and experience of the world as well. To practice here was akin to receiving a personal lesson from Venerable Six Livestocks himself. Therefore, practicing here would greatly cut down the time he needed to gain the understanding and knowledge he needed to become a Trueman.

That was what Ye Qing was planning to do. He was going to spend the rest of his time practicing and tearing down the barrier that stood between him and the Trueman stage. He would become a Trueman before his time was up.

Having made up his mind, Ye Qing rested for a moment before resuming his practice once more.

......

“Hahaha! Thank goodness! I’ve finally pushed the Skin Painting Soul Sealing Technique to the adept level!”

Inside a residence named Clear Lotus, Tao Chong was sitting in front of a pond full of lotus flowers and laughing like crazy. It was to the point where he was this close from shedding tears of joy.

It wasn’t sentiment that provoked such a reaction. It was excitement and delight.

The improvement did not just mean a massive boost in strength. It meant that his days as a slave were finally coming to an end.

The Skin Painting Soul Sealing Technique was a secret art taught to members of the Tao Clan only. It was generally known that it could be used to sew human skin to one’s body, steal souls and seal souls to strengthen the practitioner. However, there was one more thing it could do that outsiders knew nothing about.

At the adept level, he would become one with the painted skin and be able to use it as a substitute. Not only could he transfer any and all damage he suffered to the painted skin, he could even use it to block a fatal blow.

However, few members of the Tao Clan were able to reach the adept level of the Skin Painting Soul Sealing Technique. That was also why few outsiders were privy to this secret.

But of course, the ability was not without a huge cost. After all, he had become one with his painted skin. If the painted skin died, then he would suffer huge damage as well. Still, it was a more acceptable outcome than spending his whole life serving another master.

With his talent, it should have taken him decades at the very least to push the Skin Painting Soul Sealing Technique to the adept level.

However, this was the Six Livestocks Market. Anything was possible.