Martial Peak

Chapter 6112, Secrets of Space

Author: Silavin

“Judging by that dumb expression of yours, you’ve finally realised that you’ve consumed half of the water within the pool. Honestly, it’s both impressive and ridiculous. It would probably take a million years for that to reform. I seriously did not expect you to take in so much. We should actually make a run for it before we are caught.” Wu Lun said nonchalantly, throwing in such facts only after Yang Ji had taken in so much.

“Are you serious!? Why didn’t you tell me about it?” Yang Ji questioned, but he already sort of knew the answer.

“If I warned you beforehand, you’d be more careful in how you use it. Honesty, people normally consume around a hundred to ten thousand years worth of accumulated pool water. But, you did it to forge your physique as well, consuming way more. Defiance City sure made a big loss this time, allowing a monster like you in. Ha ha ha.” Wu Lun laughed at the misfortune of others.

“I don’t get it, what’s so funny? Aren’t I in deep trouble?” Yang Ji could not help but frown. He thought Wu Lun would be helping him in surviving the Upper Realm, but was this not throwing him into a fiery pit?

“Calm down. You are in trouble. Ordinarily, this kind of consumption would land you into deep sh2t. But, whose identity are you wearing right now? You are supposedly the Young Mistress of a prestigious Clan within the Upper Realm, the Hong Clan. Sure, they might not be the strongest Clan, but they sure can throw their weight around in the Outer Heaven.” Wu Lun shrugged and continued, “Besides, you don’t even know the whole process of how they got that entry Token, right? Each Token just represents one entry, and they are won by bids. They do not go by the amount consumed.”

“Well, overall, it is all to line up the pockets of the stakeholders of Defiance City. You consuming way more than they have expected should have gotten you killed if you were the usual mongrel they can find off the street. But, with your current identity, they would not dare do anything to you. They can only suck on their thumb and let their wallets bleed a little.” Wu Lun chuckled and added, “Besides, not like those who really need it, those from the Lower Realm, have the chance to use this.”

That last line struck Yang Ji, and he could not help but ask, “Wait. Those from the Lower Realm need this. Then don’t my Sisters need this? It’s unfortunate that I can’t store any and bring it to them. Seems like once the liquid leaves the pool, it loses its effect.”

Wu Lun scoffed. “Not to worry. There are other alternatives for your Sisters to take. That ancient being knows this well. Besides, you need to worry about your situation first. With that Blood Binding Seal on you, if their Young Mistress dies, you will die with her.”

“Didn’t you say you have a method to deal with this?” Yang Ji looked at his chest, where there was a black mark on it. When Hong Jun planted it on him, he could have sworn it was red before, but it seemed like overtime, it just naturally settled into a small black tattoo at where his heart was. 

“Did I say that? Pretty sure I just said to let matters take their course. You needed that for your disguise to enter this place. You naturally still need it to leave safely. But once you are free, we would need to look for a way to get rid of it.”

“Wait, so you don’t know how?” Yang Ji was taken aback. His jaws dropped, and more pool water rushed in, to only be swallowed in one big gulp.

“It’s not like I know everything, alright. What do you take me for?” Wu Lun said as he rolled his eyes. “No, no need to answer that. Your face just screams ‘walking library’.”

Yang Ji seemed a little awkward, [Was it that obvious?] 

However, then Yang Ji recalled, “But, how does this Blood Binding Seal even work? I understand that I would bear her aura, since her hair was used. But, it was with that man’s blood that his seal was made with. Her hair was only used as a brush. Yet, I’m connected to her, and not to the man called Hong Jun?”

“Well, seeing as how we need to stay here till that woman outside is done, guess we can continue talking about it. In the meantime, just keep wasting the Pool of Revitalisation. Heck, if you drink up all the water, maybe you can find something interesting at the bottom?” Wu Lun chuckled, though it was Yang Ji’s stomach that was being filled and not his. Still not like it hurts that much now, since every part of Yang Ji’s body had already been transformed by the pool water.

So, Yang Ji just humoured him and simply drank as he listened.

“The blood Hong Jun used was his Blood Essence. Technically, he is using his Blood Essence to bind the two of you. From what I see, every bit of power from the Blood Essence is used to keep you two binded, while the hair acts as a beacon of sorts. Basically, directing who this binding is towards. Once this connection is severed, all that power within his Blood Essence would be used to blow up the seal, killing you.” Wu Lun said in a more solemn tone this time.

“Hold on. If the connection is severed? Then, if I entered the Void, or another person’s Small Universe, wouldn’t it blow up?” Yang Ji was shocked by this revelation. 

“Naive. The logic in the Upper Realm is not the same as that of your Lower Realm. Even if you are stuck in another world, it would not matter. Otherwise, in this isolated place, which is akin to a tiny world on its own, you would have already died by now. So, take it literally when the man said that you die when she dies. No need to worry about those other limitations.” Wu Lun said while shaking his head.

“I see… in that case, shouldn’t I be able to connect to her?” Yang Ji wondered.

“Connect to her? You planning on trying to hijack the Blood Binding Seal?” Wu Lun went silent for a moment, then shook his head. “No. Each seal has its own defensive mechanism, else any Tom, Dick or Harry will abuse it or unravel it. If you try, you might cause it to explode.”

“‘Hijack’ I don’t plan to do anything to the seal, you know… I was just wondering if I can trace back this connection and see what I can do with it.” Yang Ji stated as he took another sip.

Wu Lun once again went silent. [Trace back the connection? How?]

There were many of such questions hovering in his mind. Thankfully, he need not care about maintaining his expression since he was merely a ring at the moment. Otherwise, the young boy would have seen the ever nonchalant Wu Lun making an expression of pure bewilderment.

“Give it a shot. As long as you don’t touch the seal, you should be safe” Wu Lun eventually decided on this. After all, would it not be interesting if it worked?

Yang Ji gave a nod and sat crossed-legged. Honestly, at this point, he did not wish to waste more of the Pool of Revitalisation. So, he was more than happy to do something else for a change.

He closed his eyes and then focused on the aura that seemed to leak out from the seal on his chest. This aura cloaked his entire body, masking it as if he were the Young Mistress.

Using his Divine Sense, Yang Ji felt the seal, and all its details.

So far, this was the first time he was inspecting it with such rigor. Ever since this was placed on him, it had been event after event. This was the first time he had time to study it in detail.

As expected, these were Runes. The Runes were used to form an Array that functioned as the seal. So, from what Yang Ji knew, there were at least two Daos at play, which were the True Dao of Runes and the True Dao of Spirit Arrays. Each one was already a profound True Dao, which would take one a lifetime to master, yet this seal had included the understanding of both True Daos, and has been applied with such ease. 

Yang Ji could not help but admire that man called Hong Jun. Though he had threatened him before, he was indeed an expert.

As Yang Ji studied the seal, he began to feel traces of a connection.

It was so faint, it was almost non-existent. It would disappear from one second then appear in another. If Yang Ji did not intensely focus on it, he would have hardly noticed. Still, once he did, it could not escape from him. Even if it disappeared, Yang Ji merely needed to wait until it reappeared again to continue following the trail.

Using his Divine Sense, he slowly traced the connection. Each beat, he would make some progress. It was little, but he had time to spare anyway.

Naturally, eventually, Yang Ji encountered an issue, which was the walls of the place. Even within the Pool of Revitalisation, his Divine Sense could spread. However, the whole room was built to house an independent world. Naturally, that meant there was a natural Space Barrier between this room and the outside world.

However, this connection could clearly go past all hindrances. Objects and Space itself was not a hindrance.

When Yang Ji saw this, he got intrigued. [How is it moving past the Space Barrier?]

Yang Ji pondered and pondered. He tried to directly charge his Divine Sense through the Space Barrier, at the exact moment he felt the connection establish itself. However, it simply did not work.

[Now that I think about it, I might not be able to tear through Space using Qi, but could I not do that with my Divine Sense? After all, that part of me has not weakened. It’s just that I haven’t really understood the complexity of the True Dao of Space. Back in the Source World, we sorta had to manipulate Space using our Divine Sense mixed with Space Principles. Maybe it’s the same here?] Yang Ji thought that there was nothing to lose in trying, so he just went ahead and tried.

As usual, he spread out his Divine Sense, sensing every millimetre of the Space around him. Typically, if one wanted to break through Space and enter the Void, the best way was to break open at Space Nodes. Those were the natural weak points of Space. So, Yang Ji tried to search for one.

[Eh?] Typically, for a space this big, there should be numerous Space Nodes around him. However, Yang Ji could only find a single one, and it was at the very bottom of the room. In fact, it was just right beside him, at the bottom of the whole pool.

[This can’t be real. How is there only one Space Node? And, this one is different as well.] Yang Ji did not know why, but he could clearly feel that there was a major difference between this Space Node and other Space Nodes back home, or even the Source World.

Curiosity moved him, and he naturally began to investigate.

This Space Node was located at the very bottom of the pool, and it was inconspicuous. Even when one checks with their Divine Sense, they would not notice it. However, Yang Ji was different, he could sense the minor fluctuations of Space. This very spot gave a different fluctuation that was different from all other spots.

[This is a Space Node?] Still, Yang Ji only referred to this as a Space Node, since he did not know how else to describe it.

It was large. Compared to the typical Space Nodes that Yang Ji had seen back in the Lower Realm, this one was at leave five times his size. Furthermore, the fluctuations it gave off were rather muted. Furthermore, it did not look to be that weak.

Sure, it was located at the very floor, which was a little peculiar, since normally Space Nodes were randomly spread out. However, seeing how there were no other Space Nodes around, this might just be the norm for Space Nodes in the Upper Realm.

 The first thing Yang Ji tried to do was to deliver a punch. 

However, that only resulted in his fist hurting, and Wu Lun mocking him, “Seriously, what the heck are you doing? You were busy focusing on the Blood Binging Seal at one moment, and then you suddenly moved to punch the ground beneath you. Did you go insane or something?”

“There is something here.” Yang Ji simply stated and moved on to focus back on cracking open this Space Node. Although his Physique was strengthened by the Pool of Revitalisation, it was still not enough to break apart this hard ground made of unknown material.

“Oh? So you’ve noticed.” Wu Lun was a little surprised when he said this, and he continued to explain, “That should be where the water comes from.”

“Wait, so it’s just some tap?” Yang Ji frowned, “I thought it was a Space Node…”

“Tsk tsk tsk. You won’t be able to find your typical Space Nodes here in the Upper Realm. After all, Space Nodes are technically fragile points in Space that lead to the Void. But here, in the Upper Realm, we do not have a Void. So, there are no Space Nodes to speak of.”

“Huh? There is no Void?” This was the first time Yang Ji was hearing this. However, when he thought about it, then the training he did back home in High Heaven Academy made sense. Still, he found it inconceivable for the Upper Realm to lack a Void.

If there was no Void, could he even tear Space?

Wu Lun gave a nod but did not elaborate much, “Well, you’ll understand why once you reach a certain level. Telling you about it now would only cause more headaches on my part. So, don’t bother me with this. But, I can at least tell you about this thing you are standing on.”

“The Pool of Revitalisation is a singular pool. I mean, sorta obvious right, given the name. What’s more, you already experience how you can’t separate the water from the pool, else it would lose all effect. So, then, how are they splitting this pool up to create each of these rooms?” Wu Lun lightly said as though the answer was obvious.

And, indeed, Yang Ji understood it immediately, “So, this spot is actually how the water remains connected.”

“Exactly, there is an opening in Space here. But, there is a separate barrier that prevents people from crossing through. Why? Most likely because they do not wish to risk you guys entering the core of the pool.”

“If you’re saying that, it means that there must be something precious behind this barrier. Else, they would not have to be so protective about it.” Yang Ji reasoned.

“Of course, we are talking about the source of the Pool of Revitalisation here. Can’t have just anyone touch it, can we?” Wu Lun shrugged, “But if you are thinking of stealing it, then don’t even bother. You wouldn’t be able to make it through this barrier even if you were at your peak. Also, that thing is only functional here. Stealing it wouldn’t really help with anything.”

“Are you crazy? Why would I make my situation worse? I’m not thinking about stealing it. I just wondered if I could actually crack it open.” Yang Ji said as he switched to focusing on using his Divine Sense this time. [If this pool water can flow through, then my Divine Sense should be able to do the same, no?]

Wu Lun made an expression of, ‘how dull’, and just kept silent. Though it would be interesting to see Yang Ji steal or destroy something precious here, the never-ending troubles that would follow was not something Wu Lun could deal with. Besides, Wu Lun did not expect Yang Ji could cause any real waves at this point. With the boy’s current cultivation, even if Divine Sense was as strong as before, this was a barrier made in the Upper Realm. It was not something a child like this could overcome.

Maybe this would teach the boy of his own limitations, or so Wu Lun concluded.

As expected, Yang Ji’s Divine Sense was also blocked by some kind of barrier. However, once he truly focused on this spot, Yang Ji could feel the soft flow of water. It was weak, almost as though droplets were passing by within the ocean. It was so minute that Yang Ji could barely even get a sense as to its location. In fact, even when focused, its location would sometimes elude Yang Ji.

[Even if I can’t fit through it, there is no reason my Divine Sense can’t!] Yang Ji gritted his teeth and narrowed his Divine Sense to one single point, aiming to break through.

Despite the whole surface being so large, it had multiple openings. However, each one was so miniscule, it was impossible to see it with the naked eye. Yang Ji just needed to go through one, just one of them. Yet, like threading a needle with straw, it was easier said than done.

He had truly never thought of thinning his Divine Sense to such a degree. Even a needle to a hair strand would be too thick. He had to concentrate, to the point the whole around him could no longer be felt, to the point there was nothing but that singular opening right in front of him.

…

[Too thick…]

[Too weak…]

[Too thick….]

[Too weak…]

Yang Ji tried again and again. Even if he managed to squeeze his Divine Sense through, it still had to be strong enough to sustain itself afterwards. Many times, in the effort of narrowing his Divine Sense, he could not sustain it after passing through the most basic opening.

Still, there was progress.

Centimetre by centimetre, he corrected each mistake and worked on it to further the progress by a little. 

Initially, Wu Lun was just watching, waiting for Yang Ji to realise that he was still too weak to do this. However, once the minutes turned into hours, Wu Lun’s expression changed.

[Impossible…]

What Wu Lun thought was impossible was eventually accomplished. Despite his years of experience, this had truly gone outside of his expectations. [What insane levels of concentration. He seriously did it.]

[Man, he realised that if his Divine Sense remained a wave that scanned would not work, so he formed them into threads. He then had to compress it down to one thousandth times the usual width, and maintain it evenly throughout the thread without showing any weak point.] 

[That would be impressive on his own, but this kid… he realised one thread was not strong enough to extend further, so he made more threads, and used the other openings to strengthen what has passed through…] 

Once Yang Ji managed to pull through, he gave a stiff smile. It was still difficult to maintain, but he actually did it! He could finally see the other end!

Silavin: I wanted to progress more in this chapter, so it is basically two chapters in one. The next chapter might also be like this.