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Novel: [The Primordial Law]
Volume 2: [Jiuli Insect Valley]
Chapter 12 (39): [The Choice of Zen Hai Guanwu]
(12th of Volume 2)
Translator: Shadow Knight AK
Editor: Shadow Knight AK
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"Shouldn't we at least test the waters?"
Li Ling, devoid of the coldness and ruthlessness she had displayed when killing the Earthwolf King's Army soldiers in Burial Immortal Town, continued, "To join the Cangli Tribe, one must have a clean background and impeccable character. Don't be angry, okay? I haven't even touched any of your spiritual artifacts, have I? If I had attacked you while pretending to be unconscious earlier, you wouldn't have had much defense, would you?"
"So, when it comes to friends who have shared life and death with me, my character is still pretty decent."
"By the way, why did you save me just now?"
"Why did you drag me ashore?"
"Do you like me?"
Li Weiyi remained silent and quickened his pace.
He sensed something amiss about Li Ling, an indescribable familiarity that he couldn't quite place. Yet her cultivation was too high to probe, so he simply wanted to keep his distance.
"Don't go! You haven't answered me yet! Only those with Li People's bloodline can safely traverse the Death Spirits Mist Domain. It's extremely dangerous for you to venture in alone," Li Ling called after him.
Li Weiyi had heard Zhao Zhizhuo mention this, but he had a compelling reason to return to the Blood Sea, no matter the danger.
If he didn't return, everyone on the Bronze Ship would be doomed.
Li Ling jogged to catch up with him.
"To be honest with you. After getting hit by the Flying Needle, when I charged into the abandoned mansion where you were hiding, I did intend to drag you onto the same sinking ship. But my analysis in Burial Immortal Town was correct, wasn't it? In that situation, the two of us, together we live, divided we die."
"It doesn't matter anymore!"
Li Weiyi deliberately turned his back to her, testing whether she was truly uninterested in the spiritual artifact.
She didn't attack, leaving Li Weiyi deeply puzzled. He couldn't fathom her motive for chasing after him.
Li Ling, barefoot and stepping on sharp stones and thorns, stayed close to Li Weiyi's right side: "In Burial Immortal Town, you should know anyone in my situation would have made the same choice. Besides, at the time, I only saw you as a thief who had deceived my brother and was up to no good."
"Now it's different. You're actually a pretty decent person."
"How about we become friends? I'll look out for you in the Cangli Tribe. If we face a similar situation again, I'll let you go first and stay behind to cover your retreat."
Li Weiyi stopped and stared at her.
Li Ling blinked her bright, lively eyes, her eyelashes fluttering, "You pulled me ashore and saved the Cangli Tribe... your character is definitely beyond reproach. With your current Five Springs cultivation, I can help you secure a respectable position in Jiu Li City and arrange a marriage with a beautiful woman. I have a cousin who will turn sixteen in eight days. Come with me to her coming-of-age ceremony and see if you two hit it off. You could also study at the Cangli Tribe Academy, but getting into the Jiu Li Dao Academy would be quite difficult!"
"Miss Li, please stop following me. I appreciate your kindness, but I still prefer your aloof demeanor. Perhaps you should revert to that?"
Li Weiyi couldn't tell how much of her words were genuine and how much was pretense.
He secretly resolved that once he reunited with his Senior Brother and the others, he would absolutely avoid the Cangli Tribe.
The memory of Li Ling staring at him from the eaves, her casual slaughter of people, made her seem utterly unreal to him now.
As for Gao Huan...
He was a Pure Immortal Physique. The Cangli Tribe wouldn't mistreat him.
Li Ling asked, "Are you heading to the Blood Sea Coffin Dock? Are your companions there? And those spiritual artifacts... did you obtain them all from opening blind coffins?"
"Swish!"
Li Weiyi channeled his spiritual power and shot forward at lightning speed.
"So impatient already?"
Blue Mist Light Traces swirled around Li Ling's feet as she accelerated, pursuing him even faster.
Li Weiyi chased after Li Ling, the two of them racing dozens of miles through the forest.
As Li Weiyi slowed down, he noticed something unsettling. Numerous motionless humanoid figures had appeared in the mist, standing silently and turning their heads to stare at him.
They showed no signs of life. Some stood by the riverbank, others among the bushes.
The scene was utterly terrifying, sending a chill down Li Weiyi's spine.
"Don't wander off again," Li Ling said, reaching out to grab his arm, "If you go any further, I can't guarantee I can bring you back."
Li Weiyi looked puzzled: "Aren't you supposed to follow the Shui River to reach the Blood Sea to retrieve the coffin?"
Li Ling smiled, pleased that Li Weiyi had finally calmed down and was speaking to her rationally after hitting a dead end.
"It's not that simple! The Death Spirits Mist Domain may only be two hundred miles wide, but it's one of the most dangerous forbidden zones in the Lingxiao Habitat. Its internal space is chaotic and constantly shifting."
"Following the Shui River won't lead you to the Blood Sea; it will only take you to the even more perilous Netherrealm of the Dead."
"Among the Jiu Li Clan, only the disciples of the nine Priests - no more than a hundred Netherlight Guides in total - know the path through the Death Spirits Mist Domain."
"You?" Li Weiyi asked.
"Yes!" Li Ling nodded proudly, "Every year, many people get lost in the Death Spirits Mist Domain and the Netherrealm of the Dead. Yesterday, we encountered two female wanderers who lost their way. One of them even possessed a Pure Immortal Physique."
"What do they look like?" Li Weiyi asked urgently.
Li Ling replied, "Pure Immortal Physiques, of course they're as beautiful as Celestial Immortals. But like Gao Huan, they show no trace of cultivation. The other one wears red robes and has a white bone wind chime at her waist."
"Where are they?" Li Weiyi asked.
Li Ling had been closely observing Li Weiyi's expression, and she smiled knowingly: "I suspected those two Demonesses who had completely infatuated my brother were with you. With just one test, and it was confirmed! You must have obtained some extraordinary treasure, right? Otherwise, why would two people in a row undergo the Pure Immortal Physique transformation?"
Li Weiyi realized Li Ling's true motive for catching up to them. He tested the waters, saying, "You're not a Pure Immortal Physique, are you? I can sense that while your skin is flawless and you have an Immortal Spirit shell, there's a fundamental difference between you and the Young Clan Leader and Gao Huan. Though I can't quite inpoint the difference."
Li Ling was stung by Li Weiyi's words. After a long moment of hesitation, she said bitterly, "I'm only a Half-Immortal Physique. I failed to complete the full transformation. The fundamental difference between a Half-Immortal Physique and a Pure Immortal Physique lies in the bones. I have only flesh and skin, but no Immortal bones."
Li Weiyi thought that if she drank Golden Crow Blood, she would likely transform into a Pure Immortal Physique.
But did she truly consider him a friend, bound by a bond of life and death?
Until he could see through her, Li Weiyi couldn't treat her like a friend.
Li Ling said sincerely, "I'll take you to the edge of the Blood Sea. Without my help, you won't make it. See those Death Spirits? They're the weakest, almost harmless. But if you encounter Blood-Colored Vicious Souls or a Malevolent Demon like the Thousand-Headed Dragon Vine, your chances of survival are slim."
"What's the condition?" Li Weiyi asked.
Li Ling replied, "No conditions. I only ask that you let go of your resentment... Consider this my way of repaying the debt I owe you in Burial Immortal Town."
Li Weiyi was skeptical: "Fine! If you get me to the Blood Sea, we'll wipe the slate clean. Xie Jin keeps his word. Which way do we go?"
Li Ling suddenly sat on a moss-covered stone, clutching her abdomen wound, "I'm too badly injured. I don't think I can walk anymore."
.....
Li Weiyi carried Li Ling through the Mist Domain on his back.
Li Ling's figure was slender, yet she felt incredibly heavy. Moreover...
"You weren't even hit by the Flying Needle!" Li Weiyi couldn't feel any stiffness in her body, only softness and elasticity, whether through her hands or her back.
Li Ling held the Nether Lantern in one hand and wrapped the other around Li Weiyi's neck, her voice clear and melodious, yet tinged with a lazy comfort, "I was hit! But I carry a Secret Medicine. After I take it, the Stone Toxin will be neutralized."
"Do you ever tell the truth?" Li Weiyi asked.
Li Ling replied, "Master always said that girls traveling alone must learn to protect themselves. Speak only seven-tenths of the truth to others and give only three-tenths of your heart to someone when you're in love."
The Netherlight Guide was indeed skilled.
The path they took was winding and circuitous, sometimes requiring long detours. Yet throughout the journey, they encountered no danger. Just as Li Weiyi was about to lose his sense of direction, he faintly heard the sound of waves.
Quickening the pace, he soon emerged from the Mist Forest, and his vision instantly widened.
Reaching the shore, a stench of blood and decay attacked his senses.
The blood-red ocean was covered in countless coffins, large and small, piled up like mountains.
The shore was littered with paper money, empty coffins, and shattered bones.
In the distance, a vast, gloomy mist obscured the horizon, making it impossible to see the boundary between sea and sky, let alone the Bronze Ship.
About a hundred feet to the right stood an ancient, dilapidated ferry dock. The stone archway, carved with dragons, still stood tall.
A long, straight stone-paved causeway extended from the dock into the deep sea, disappearing into the mist.
Li Weiyi set Li Ling down, a surge of joy welling up within him. He was about to see his Senior Brother and the others again.
Senior Brother was practically the only family he had left in the world.
But at the same time, an urgent desire to become stronger ignited within him.
How would they survive after picking up the research team members?
If they went to the Cangli Tribe, he felt Li Ling would hold him firmly in her grasp, a humiliating dependence.
If he were already at the Seven Springs level, or even beyond, breaking through the Wind Mansion and Ancestral Field, not only would Li Ling be unable to control him, but even the elders of the Cangli Tribe would likely seek to recruit him, treating him like they treated Gao Huan.
"Whoosh!"
Li Weiyi charged toward the ferry dock, stepped onto the causeway, and raced toward the deep sea.
"Xie Jin, are you... trying to die?"
She immediately lowered her voice, daring not to speak loudly. She stopped abruptly at the edge of the dock.
Whenever the tribe came to the Blood Sea Coffin Dock to retrieve coffins, they had to scatter paper money, light incense and candles, and offer sacrifices - not a single ritual could be skipped. Most importantly, they mustn't raise their voices or step onto the causeway or venture into the Blood Sea.
The elders of her clan had warned her: any Otherworld Coffin that drifted into the Blood Sea Coffin Dock was either malevolent or extraordinary, and almost all were abnormal.
The slightest misstep could awaken something they couldn't afford to provoke.
Li Ling had heard countless tales about the Blood Sea Coffin Dock. Watching Li Weiyi vanish into the mist, she dared not pursue him and asked, "Senior, should we chase?"
"Whoosh!"
A searing heat erupted across Li Ling's back, accompanied by a surge of blood mist. A nearly jade-like white bone demon emerged from her body.
Chan Hai Guanwu's long hair danced in the wind, and a hint of flesh had begun to grow on her bones.
Gazing at the gloomy, gray coffin sea, she sighed, "Forget it!"
Li Ling's blood qi was severely depleted, leaving her pale and weak, "This junior doesn't understand," she said, "You had such a perfect opportunity just now, yet you didn't strike."
"Because I hesitated!"
Chan Hai Guanwu couldn't explain further.
Forcibly seizing Li Weiyi's blood and soul to complete the Yang Marriage ritual would have given her the upper hand in their relationship, as if he were marrying into her clan.
This was the outcome she desired most!
But if she did that, and Li Weiyi surpassed her in cultivation later, the backlash would be terrifying.
But how could she lower herself to beg Li Weiyi, to ask him to sacrifice a large portion of his blood and soul to complete the Yang Marriage ritual?
She simply couldn't overcome that mental barrier.
The so-called "Yang Marriage" was a unique bloodline energy of the Ancient Clan. It allowed the deceased to return to the mortal realm through marriage, living a second life and walking the path of cultivation anew.
The price?
Becoming the wife or husband of a descendant of the Ancient Clan.
Before the ritual was complete, the deceased's will took precedence.
Therefore, Chan Hai Guanwu could force the Yang Marriage ritual to completion, but Li Weiyi couldn't. On the Bronze Ship, in the tomb, she had forcibly implanted a wisp of her soul into Li Weiyi's brow, but the ritual was only half-finished when he broke free and escaped.
Similarly, the Guardian Wife and Guardian Husbands sought by the Ancient Clan's descendants in their infancy could only be chosen based on the Guardian Wife's or Guardian Husband's will.
But once the ritual was complete, the descendant of the Ancient Clan gained far greater power.
For instance, if the Ancient Clan descendant died, the Yang Marriage partner would inevitably perish. But if the Yang Marriage partner fell, it would have little impact on the Ancient Clan descendant.
Another example: the Yang Marriage partner must remain within a certain radius of the Ancient Clan descendant. The distance they could travel would only increase as their cultivation levels rose.
Reversing life and death naturally comes at a steep price.
Chan Hai Guanwu harbored the ambition to defy mortality and reach the pinnacle of cultivation.
However, being constrained by Li Weiyi clashed with her inner pride and ambition.
"Perhaps I could try making friends with him first to see if he's truly trustworthy. When the time is right, I'll have a heart-to-heart conversation with him. Being nominal husband and wife while remaining true friends or allies in reality might be a better way to help each other," Chan Hai Guanwu thought of a compromise.
So far, Li Weiyi had left a favorable impression.
In Li Weiyi's eyes, she was already labeled a White Bone Demon. Once that prejudice took root, genuine friendship would be impossible. She needed a new identity, which was one reason she chose Li Ling as her vessel.
As for Qi Shanshan, Chan Hai Guanwu had left a wisp of her soul to unlock her linguistic wisdom, ensuring no flaws would be revealed.
"Thump! Thump! Thump..."
Sudden, rapid footsteps echoed through the forest.
Moments later, three figures emerged at the edge of the Blood Sea. Leading the way was Yan Qingqing, who had used her unparalleled sense of smell to track Li Weiyi and Li Ling's path and find this place.
Shi Jiuzhai had issued a death order, leaving them no choice but to venture into the Death Spirits Mist Domain, no matter how dangerous it might be.
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END OF CHAPTER
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