Volume 10 Interlude 5: Ups and Downs Chapter 12: The Immortal Tree and the Dragon Soul
Yang Xiao hid in the cabin all night.
I didn't dare to breathe the whole night. I don't know when the wind and rain became sticky, as if mixed with the smell of blood.
Then the whole river became turbulent, and he and the small boat were carried into the air by the river, as if turning into a tsunami that was about to submerge the entire city.
He seemed to have turned into a monster, the master of the river. Wherever he saw a living person, he would flow over and sweep that person into the river.
At some point, the entire river had turned blood red, like a... dragon!
"Uh~" Yang Xiao woke up with a heavy gasp.
Outside the cabin, the faint sunlight shone down, like a blessing bestowed by the sun.
I don't know when the drizzle stopped, and everything seemed to have become quiet.
Yang Xiao quickly regained his sanity from his confusion and woke up completely.
But that strange dream seemed to be imprinted in his mind at this moment, making him feel particularly uncomfortable.
He quickly climbed up from the cabin and looked at the shore. The shore was not flooded. It was all just a dream.
As his view moved downward, he saw the small river in the city, which was full of red and emitting a heart-wrenching smell of blood.
And at this time, the whole city exuded a disturbing silence, without even the sound of a bird singing.
Feeling uneasy, Yang Xiao hurried to the shore and left the bloody river that was completely dyed red, but he also found a lot of bloodstains on the shore. There had been a lot of fighting here last night, but he didn't hear any of it.
In a trance, Yang Xiao entered that confused state again. Did he really not sleep most of the night last night?
Did the "zombies" really leave?
With a certain panic, Yang Xiao carefully explored the surroundings. There was no one in the house. It seemed that there was no living person in the entire city except him.
Fear was accumulating, and Yang Xiao had the urge to shout loudly, but his remaining rationality held him back and prevented him from doing such a stupid thing.
Everything seems to have stopped, but in fact it has not, and there are still unknown dangers roaming in the city.
But as Yang Xiao calmed down, another kind of fear rose in his mind. Why did he know that all this was not over?
It seemed as if I suddenly gained some kind of "knowing" ability , and I could instinctively know the information about some things in this city.
Not daring to stay where he was, Yang Xiao walked all the way to the place where the shouting and screaming occurred last night. He wanted to find out what had happened last night.
It was just a matter of stealing martial arts, why would such a horrible thing happen, so weird and desperate, turning the entire city into a deserted one.
Soon, he arrived at the place where he heard the sound last night and found that although there was blood here, there was no corpse.
There are still many ruins and broken walls, it seems that the ones fighting last night were not humans, but some wild monsters.
However, Yang Xiao had anticipated this.
After all, according to the master, when warriors above the innate level fight each other, it is like a natural disaster.
"Could it be that there was a fight between warriors above the innate level last night?" When Yang Xiao thought of this, the fear in his heart was much lessened.
Although they possess great power, their target is ultimately people, who are rational and conform to human behavior patterns.
As long as it is not some unknown ghost or monster, the fear will be reduced by more than half.
However, just as the fear subsided, a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Yang Xiao's ankle, causing his whole body to tremble.
Only then did he realize that the ground beneath his feet had "melted" a lot, and a person was floating out of it.
"Take me away, a great terror has occurred in this city!"
Yang Xiao's heart, which had gradually calmed down, was lifted up again.
Yang Xiao took him to a private house and after finding some water and food, the man finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Afterwards, this person told Yang Xiao some things.
He was a captain of the Cheng'en Department, one of the three military departments of the imperial court, and his surname was Kang.
Yang Xiao had some understanding of the Cheng'en Department. Over the years, the Cheng'en Department had always been headed by meritorious officials, with sons inheriting their fathers' business and passing it on from generation to generation.
Because the title was granted by the emperor and was a result of the emperor's grace, it was called the Cheng'en Department.
Last night, many people did fight over He Qingsong and the Zen Secret Records in his hand.
However, halfway through the battle, something strange happened.
Lu Wuming, the top master of Cheng'en tribe who was killed in a fatal battle with He Qingsong, has been resurrected.
"How is it possible for the dead to be resurrected?" Yang Xiao was shocked and immediately refuted.
"No, it's possible." Kang Qianhu said calmly, but seeing that he was tightly grasping the edge of the table and gradually pulling it into powder, he was not so calm.
"The martial arts we practice mostly come from the 'Secret Record of Immortality'. The Secret Record of Immortality really can make one immortal." When Captain Kang mentioned immortality, his tone was extremely terrifying.
"But, this kind of immortality seems to have big problems." Yang Xiao also immediately discovered the problem and said.
"Indeed." Kang Qianhu nodded: "After all, it is not the complete Immortal Secret Record."
"Half of the Immortal Secret Records are in the hands of the demons, and half are in the hands of the court. In our Cheng'en Department headquarters, there are seven pages of the Immortal Secret Records bestowed by His Majesty."
"The Yellow Springs Dead Soil Sutra passed down in my family was obtained by my ancestor after reading three pages of it." When talking about his family heritage, Kang Qianhu's expression became particularly fanatical.
"It is said that when one reaches the highest level of practice, one can use the soil from the underworld to plant immortal trees, allowing oneself to remain immortal and live forever."
"It's a pity that no one has ever really reached that level!" Kang Qianhu's expression changed from fanaticism to fear: "But now, the immortal tree seed in my body has sprouted!!"
"Do you know? It sprouted!!" Kang Qianhu suddenly grabbed Yang Xiao and said in horror: "It was never me who was immortal, but it!!"
"Ah!" Yang Xiao felt that his shoulder was about to be crushed. The pain made him temporarily lose the ability to think. He struggled to escape from Kang Qianhu's hands.
If he continues like this, he might be crushed to death by Captain Kang.
However, suddenly, Yang Xiao was released by Kang Qianhu.
He opened his eyes and looked at Kang Qianhu, and found that Kang Qianhu suddenly drew his knife and cut his chest, and blood flowed out profusely.
However, there was no fear on Kang Qianhu's face. Instead, he reached his hand into the gap and pulled out his heart.
The huge force crushed the heart, and a sprouting seed was spreading its roots inside the heart.
And Captain Kang was looking at him with a strange expression , as if with pity, and also as if begging.
Yang Xiao realized something was wrong and wanted to escape further away, but his shoulders were crushed and the pain made him lose his balance, so he couldn't escape at all.
He could only watch as Kang Qianhu got closer and closer, and then stuffed the sprouting tree seeds into his mouth.
The tree seed seemed like a living thing, drilling directly into the deeper part of the mouth.
The pain made Yang Xiao feel that the world in front of him became distorted.
Everything is changing, and the world seems to have shed its skin, becoming so strange and yet so real.
Yes, it is obviously different from the world we see on a daily basis, but at this moment, it all seems so real.
At this time, a chapter called "Yellow Springs Dead Soil Sutra" appeared in Yang Xiao's mind.
When he first read this scripture, it seemed to be just an ordinary martial art. Although it was very exquisite, it only surpassed the Black Wind Fist that he practiced in terms of its upper level.
However, these words were reorganized in his mind, and it seemed that they were no different from before, but every word and action explained a certain power called "real life."
However, just as he was gradually becoming immersed in it, a dragon roar suddenly sounded in his mind.
Then a bloody dragon god appeared in his mind.
This blood-colored dragon god's body is made up of words, and when all these words are combined, they can form a mysterious martial art called "Tiger Roar and Dragon Shout".
"Isn't this the name of He Qingsong's sect?" He Qingsong's name instinctively emerged in Yang Xiao's mind.
As the name emerged, a picture vaguely appeared in his mind.
He was a middle-aged man with his hands and feet cut off. A booklet in his severed hands attracted everyone's attention.
Among that crowd, Yang Xiao even saw the figure of his master, the Black Wind Fist, who rowed the boat.
Obviously, this was the scene last night when everyone besieged He Qingsong and tried to snatch the secret records of the Xin Chan Sect.
He Qingsong lost and his hands and feet were cut off.
But he did find a way to survive. He jumped into the river in the city and then became alienated.
Just like the transformation of Kang Qianhu's martial arts, He Qingsong suddenly reached the highest level that was originally impossible to practice.
His whole body dissolved and turned into blood, and then his internal strength merged with the river water, reaching the highest level of Tiger Roar and Dragon Roar - transformation into a dragon.
At night, he suddenly had a dream and saw many strange visions. In fact, the carrier of the highest level of He Qingsong's martial arts - the dragon soul entered his body.
Like Kang Qianhu, although they have cultivated to the highest level, they seem to not want the power of the highest level and give all of it to Yang Xiao.
Now the immortal tree seed and the dragon soul are fighting for the body together, and the contents of the two secret records are all displayed in Yang Xiao's mind.
One side comes from the Secret Records of the Immortal Sect, and the other side comes from the Secret Records of the Dragon Elephant Sect .
There are too many conflicts between the two secret records. This conflict makes Yang Xiao feel like he is about to fall apart.
At this moment, Yang Xiao suddenly thanked himself for his not-so-high comprehension. He actually did not fully understand the two secret records, but only understood some of them. Otherwise, he would not be split now, but would have exploded completely.
It was at this moment that the footsteps of the "zombie" sounded again, and the two forces in Yang Xiao's mind stopped at the same time.
