Chapter One Hundred: A Nest of Vipers and Rats

This sudden rush of memory continued directly from where the previous events had left off.

“I’m willing to bet that what’s happening to me now is absolutely connected to this ancient manuscript!” Ye Dong suppressed the intense restlessness welling up inside him, forcing himself to focus entirely. “I can’t miss a single detail, I can’t let any opportunity slip by!”

The world of ice and snow remained bone-chilling and the wind cut like knives. If Ye Dong had a mirror, he would have been shocked to see his own face as pale as a sheet of paper.

Time was truly running out for him.

Then, pain flared again in his memory, and vivid visions surged forward.

Guangqi handed the ancient manuscript back to Huang Wuchang and asked tentatively, “Master, did you open my spiritual sight just so I could help you read these ancient texts?”

“Exactly,” Huang Wuchang replied with a smile, stroking his beard and gently flipping a few pages. “These are no ordinary texts. Their full name is ‘True Words of the Three Outer Realms.’ They were passed down by my own master, which makes him your grandmaster. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say these have been handed down through generations.”

“If they’re meant to be passed down, why hasn’t the ‘True Words of the Three Outer Realms’ been fully deciphered yet?” Guangqi asked with a wry smile.

“The previous generations of masters weren’t interested in them,” Huang Wuchang shook his head, chuckling. “Besides, it was wartime back then. Just surviving and keeping these safe was already quite an achievement. People barely had enough to eat—who had the time or energy to decipher ancient texts?”

Ye Dong shook his head. “Huang Wuchang, who are you trying to fool? Times of chaos are the golden age for grave robbers and black-market peddlers. Ordinary people might be starving, but you lot would always have meat on your tables!”

After venting his thoughts, a new suspicion arose in Ye Dong’s mind. “The reason the ‘True Words of the Three Outer Realms’ wasn’t fully deciphered must be something more important—either the time hasn’t come, or the technical means weren’t there.”

“What Master says makes sense,” Guangqi glanced nervously at Huang Wuchang, who was sipping tea, and asked in a trembling voice, “This foolish disciple doesn’t understand. With your level of mastery, why not open your own spiritual sight and read the texts yourself?”

“My dear apprentice, you don’t understand,” Huang Wuchang smirked, setting down his teacup. “Because I do not possess the spiritual sight that you have.”

“Huang Wuchang doesn’t have spiritual sight?” Not only Guangqi, but even Ye Dong was stunned.

“Your disciple is slow-witted. Please enlighten me, Master.” Guangqi bowed deeply, awaiting Huang Wuchang’s explanation. Truth be told, now that Guangqi had a skill even his master lacked, he felt no joy, only unease.

“The methods of the eye arts are ranked with the pure Celestial Sight at the top, followed by the Enlightened Eye, the Beast Eye, the Ghost Eye, and the Evil Eye,” Huang Wuchang explained. “But spiritual sight does not fall under the category of true eye arts.”

“What!? Spiritual sight isn’t one of the true eye arts!?” Ye Dong was shocked to his core.

Seeing Guangqi’s confusion, Huang Wuchang continued with a smile, “I opened my Celestial Sight long ago, but let’s not get into that. As for obtaining spiritual sight, one must first be exceptionally gifted and have an innate talent for cultivation. Secondly, one needs immense fortune. Do you know what happens if someone without the necessary fortune drinks the spirit water?”

Huang Wuchang’s smile was chilling, and Guangqi shook his head in terror, cold sweat running down his back.

“Hahaha!” Huang Wuchang laughed heartily. “If someone without fortune drinks the spirit water, the water will immediately turn against them, killing them on the spot in a most miserable fashion.”

“What!?” Guangqi cried out. “So I narrowly escaped death!? Wait! If the spirit water gave me this power, won’t it have side effects on my body?”

At his question, Huang Wuchang nodded slowly. “To tell you the truth, the side effect of spiritual sight is that you will go completely blind three years after acquiring it.”

“Heavens!” Both the real Ye Dong and Guangqi in the memory cried out at the same time.

In the icy landscape, Ye Dong was even more frustrated. “Damn it, these eyes are in my body now—am I going to go blind!?”

“I’ll go blind!?” Guangqi seemed unable to believe his own ears and stared blankly at Huang Wuchang.

“Compared to losing your life, going blind after three years is a bargain, isn’t it?” Huang Wuchang said coldly.

Guangqi was stunned. Though he had won his gamble and survived, how was he any different from a slave now?

“Master, is there any way to remedy this blindness?” Guangqi fell to his knees and wept uncontrollably. He had only just marveled at the wonders of his new sight, and now that he knew the price was total blindness in three years, the shock was too much to bear.

“Well, there is a way.” Huang Wuchang’s gaze slid to the ‘True Words of the Three Outer Realms’ on the tea table. “The method is within these books.”

“There’s a way!?” Guangqi was about to reach for the manuscripts, but stopped himself. “These are Huang Wuchang’s treasures—I can’t be reckless!”

He pulled his hand back, looking pleadingly at Huang Wuchang. “Master, may your disciple be permitted to read the ‘True Words of the Three Outer Realms?’”

Seeing Guangqi’s hand freeze in midair, Huang Wuchang smiled slyly and tapped the texts on the table. “What your master gives, you may take. What your master does not give, you must not snatch.”

“Yes! Yes, yes! Your disciple obeys your teachings!” Guangqi kowtowed repeatedly, knowing he’d just narrowly avoided disaster.

He caught a glimpse of Huang Wuchang’s reflection as he finally handed the texts overhead. Guangqi quickly reached out and “received” the ‘True Words of the Three Outer Realms,’ offering effusive thanks. “Thank you, Master!”

Guangqi treated it like a priceless treasure, eagerly flipping through it, but after many pages, he found nothing about curing blindness.

“Master, there doesn’t seem to be any mention of the eyes in this text!” Guangqi grew anxious. “Please explain, Master, please!”

“Hahaha!” Huang Wuchang roared with laughter. “My apprentice, this is not a medical treatise for the eyes—it’s a divine manual that allows you to change bodies!”

“Change bodies? Change bodies!?” Guangqi stared in horror, clutching the book with trembling hands. “Such a technique exists!?”

“Of course,” Ye Dong growled coldly. “Did you switch me over with it? Damn you!”

“Of course! It is none other than one of the ancient secret arts: ‘Stealing the Dragon and Swapping the Phoenix!’” Huang Wuchang laughed. “The side effects of spiritual sight are too great. After three years, once you go blind, the yin energy in your body will shift to your other organs. Eventually, you’ll die of organ failure. Getting you a new body is the only true release!”

“So Master wants me to search for this body-swapping method in the ‘True Words of the Three Outer Realms?’” Guangqi was no fool; he immediately deduced Huang Wuchang’s intentions. “Could it be that Huang Wuchang gave me spiritual sight just so I’d find the ‘Stealing the Dragon and Swapping the Phoenix’ technique for him—he wants to change bodies too!”

Ye Dong was shocked as well. “There’s obviously more to this—Huang Wuchang’s ambitions are far greater than Guangqi’s!”

“What’s wrong? Are you so happy to hear there’s a way out that you’ve gone dumb?” Huang Wuchang teased, seeing Guangqi frozen in place.

“Oh!” Guangqi snapped back to reality, face full of bitterness. “Master, as an inexperienced novice, can I really find the ‘Stealing the Dragon and Swapping the Phoenix’ technique in three years?”

“Hahaha,” Huang Wuchang boasted, “With my help, what do you have to fear!?”

“Master is right!” Guangqi nodded obediently. He knew he was now tied to Huang Wuchang’s chariot.

Huang Wuchang stroked his beard and smiled. “Guangqi, if you prove your loyalty to me, I’ll make you a direct disciple, just like He Wei and the others. You’ll have spells to protect you, the support of the sect, and wealth at your fingertips. If you get a powerful new body, your ambitions will be one step closer to reality.”

Hearing this, Guangqi could only smile bitterly, speechless. He knew Huang Wuchang was a villain, but the promises, though tempting, were not without truth.

“Master, I—”

Seeing Guangqi’s expression soften, Huang Wuchang continued, “Once I obtain that item from the Eternal Life Tomb, my power will increase greatly. Then you’ll help me lead the Spirit Thieves to glory, and you’ll be a hero of our sect!”

Faced with both threats and promises, Guangqi, in his utterly powerless state, glimpsed a sliver of hope. “If I really help him succeed, I’ll become his direct disciple—maybe that’s not so bad after all! At least it’s better than dying a miserable death!”

“A heretical cult dreaming of glory—why don’t you just fly to the heavens?” Ye Dong cursed in outrage. “If you get your way, how many people will die?”

“Disciple obeys Master’s teachings.” Guangqi had no way out; Huang Wuchang had left him only one path to walk, with no chance of choosing otherwise.

Seeing Guangqi’s worried face, Huang Wuchang comforted him gently. “Go bathe and rest. Tomorrow marks your new life. Devote yourself to studying the ‘True Words of the Three Outer Realms.’ I’ll also teach you other spells to help you progress swiftly. Go now.”

Faced with his master’s command, Guangqi dared not disobey, dragging his battered body away.

Witnessing this, Ye Dong couldn’t help but sigh. “Guangqi may be ambitious, but falling into Huang Wuchang’s hands and becoming his slave is a tragic misfortune.”

“In this memory, I’ve obtained three crucial pieces of intelligence: first, Guangqi’s ambitions; second, Huang Wuchang’s plan to change bodies; and third, Huang Wuchang’s entry into the Eternal Life Tomb is to seize something of extraordinary importance.” Ye Dong mulled over these things, growing more anxious. “I can’t send my soul out of my body, nor can I pass this intelligence to my master or Officer Li. I have no choice but to rely on them to save me. Time is of the essence—I should focus on reading Guangqi’s memories to see if there’s any more vital information!”

As he thought this, a stabbing pain suddenly shot from his back shoulder, spreading through his body with the twisting of skin and muscle, without warning!

“Ah!” Ye Dong, usually fearless, screamed in agony. “Ouch! Ouch! It hurts—my bones! My muscles!!”

Normally, he would have reached out to rub the pain away, but now he couldn’t even move a finger, lying helpless on the ground as if in hell. This searing pain, boring into bone, was entirely different from the agony of being burned alive. His face, already deathly pale, now resembled a Qing Dynasty corpse, his features twisted in torment from the unbearable pain.

“Damn it, it must be the Bone Plum Blossom at work!” Ye Dong’s vision whitened with pain, his mind in chaos as he finally guessed the source of his suffering. Before he could think of a way to respond, a second wave of agony crashed over him.

At the same time, Guangqi intercepted another crucial piece of intelligence from Ye Dong’s mind!

“So this body possesses such intense Samadhi True Fire!” Guangqi’s eyes narrowed, Celestial Sight now fully activated. He looked at his hands and couldn’t contain his glee, laughing out loud. “My goodness! This is a truly rare extraordinary physique! In one day, I’ve gained the Samadhi True Fire, pure Celestial Sight, and an extraordinary body—three powerful attributes. All the hardship of these past two years has finally paid off with these treasures!”

Still laughing, Guangqi took off his shirt, glanced down at his abdomen, which looked no different from any other, and sneered, “The Daoist Sun Master’s seal is complex, but it’s nothing I can’t handle!”

Indeed, Chen Yao’s version of the seal had been improved—its brilliance lay in its secrecy, able to evade the scrutiny of other mystical eyes. But ultimately, it followed the same principles, and with Ye Dong’s memories in hand, Guangqi knew it was a sealing technique.

Guangqi racked his brain, trying every ancient sealing diagram flashing through his mind. After more than twenty attempts, he finally broke the seal.

“Damn, that Golden Sun Daoist is truly something—nearly killed me!” Guangqi panted for breath, wiped the sweat from his body, and grinned contentedly. “It was exhausting, but these powers are finally mine to use! Hahaha!”

He dressed, gathered his equipment, and strode out with great vigor—destination: the headquarters of Ten Thousand Horses Galloping, Wan Tianze’s main building!