荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

Raaaa! An endless roar echoed in Wang Chong’s ears, and he saw a dark and desolate land. Countless figures brimming with energy were engaged in fierce combat around ‘himself’.

They all possessed a cultivation level far above the Great General level. These martial artists that were extreme rarities in the Great Tang were densely packed in this place. They roared as they battled, the lights of thousands of different kinds of martial arts colliding against each other with thunderous booms.

Wang Chong couldn’t see very clearly, but he could make out that they were wearing high hats and broad belts, attire of an ancient era. Their auras were also extremely old and completely different from the auras of the present.

Dark clouds covered the sky while fierce flames and plumes of smoke rose up across the battlefield. Tattered war banners, divided between black and yellow, waved in the air, and there were words written upon them that Wang Chong didn’t recognize, a script even older than Bird Seal Script.

Clang!

A warrior dressed in a wide-sleeved yellow robe aimed his sword to the heavens and loudly cried out, “For the Yellow Emperor!”

Boom!

Wang Chong’s body trembled as if he had been struck by a lightning bolt. He suddenly understood what was happening.

“This is the Battle of Zhuluo1!”

He had never imagined that he would ever ‘personally witness’ this most glorious, dazzling, and mythical battle from several thousand years ago in this fashion.

It was said that this battle of the ancient era was a battle of ‘God-Devils’.

Although it was known as the most important battle in the history of the civilization of the Central Plains, just like all the other lost civilizations, nothing remained of it except a few characters and some scant descriptions of that era and battle. The rest was lost to the vast torrent of history, buried in the dust of time.

In some dynasties, there were even those who claimed that it was a myth with little basis.

But through this mysterious creature’s eyes, Wang Chong was witnessing this important battle for himself.

Yet just when Wang Chong was hoping to see a little more, his vision went dark and the scene vanished.

Wang Chong was quickly presented with another scene. Countless warriors of the ancient era had seemingly become enchanted and were killing each other. Their eyes were unfocused and devoid of rationality. These formidable ancient warriors, one by one, fell around ‘him’.

But in this entire battle, no one paid ‘him’ any attention. They all treated him as their comrade.

It’s Psychic Energy control. It turned its appearance so that it seems like everyone’s ally! Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

Wang Chong had already experienced that mysterious creature’s ability to transform into anything it pleased and use the abilities of those it transformed into. His Psychic Energy had been far greater than most, but he had still fallen prey to this move, much less others.

As the battle continued, more and more people around ‘him’ died and fell around him. Wang Chong sensed a hint of excitement.

The slaughter continued through countless fragmentary memories appearing in Wang Chong’s mind. And finally, a boundless darkness surged in.

“This Nightmare Beast is too dangerous...”

Wang Chong suddenly heard a voice. The language was clearly different from the Great Tang’s, but Wang Chong could ‘understand’ it.

“So this monster was called a Nightmare Beast!”

Wang Chong instantly understood. He now finally understood what this monster was, and he also understood why it possessed such powerful Psychic Energy. It did not create illusions, but dreams.

“We have to kill it! Or else it will bring a disaster one day!”

“Its Psychic Energy is too powerful. None of us can stop it. Moreover, this beast has no intelligence and has no means of controlling its own strength.”

“Forget it. After all, it grew up together with His Majesty.”

“The Nightmare Beast’s lifespan is far greater than a human’s. Even when His Majesty is still here, it is still able to create such disasters. Thousands of years from now, when His Majesty is no longer here, who will be able to stop it? That will be a calamity. Think of those soldiers that were killed. Your Majesty, please uphold justice for the slain soldiers!”

“Your Majesty, please uphold justice for the slain soldiers!”

“Your Majesty, please uphold justice for the slain soldiers! Kill the Nightmare Beast!”

Agitated cries resounded through the skies.

But these sounds quickly died away, and all fell silent. Wang Chong saw another scene in the Nightmare Beast’s memories. This was a simple and ancient palace, everything shrouded in shadows.

Wang Chong saw an imposing figure in the palace wearing a yellow robe and the high crown of an Emperor. This person clearly possessed some status, but for some reason, he appeared rather sorrowful.

“...I must do this. I hope that you can forgive me. This is the only way I can protect you. A day will come when you find someone similar to me. When that time comes, you can follow him like you follow me today. He is me!”

That dignified voice echoed in ‘his’ ears, but ‘he’ appeared to only half-understand, remembering nothing except the final words.

Afterward, countless armored warriors holding high torches appeared in the palace and took him to the side of an ancient swamp.

‘He’ saw a massive pit here.

“This is where you will be eternally sealed! You will slumber under the earth for the rest of time!” the leading soldier sternly said.

A moment later, a massive metal cage brought him into the depths, and what followed was endless darkness and cold. And then... there was no more. It tried many times to climb back up, reaching the top of the pit.

There were many times when it had been capable of leaving. But when it saw that dignified and familiar seal atop the pit, it hesitated.

What had sealed it was not unfathomable strength, but the person represented by that seal.

What sealed it was its heart.

“So it turns out that the Origin Immortal Lord wasn’t the one to dig out this pit, but the Yellow Emperor. And the Yellow Emperor was also the one who sealed it!”

Wang Chong’s mind was in turmoil, an indescribable feeling in his heart.

He could see from this Nightmare Beast’s memories that it apparently shared an extremely close connection to the Yellow Emperor. This was something that he had never imagined.

What followed were countless fragmentary memories of the Nightmare Beast’s millennia-long imprisonment in the pit. No one could endure such a long period alone—not humans, and not Nightmare Beasts. Over the thousands of years, it had been expectant, furious, and in pain, and it had thought many times about leaving.

But each time, it fell back before that familiar seal at the top of the pit.

These memories of darkness lasted until that person made their way down the pit.

“The person you are waiting for will appear after eight hundred years! If you protect this place for me, I promise that you will meet the person you are waiting for. This is our promise...” A deep, warm, and soothing voice came out of the darkness.

The Nightmare Beast calmed down and returned to its endless wait.

“So the Origin Immortal Lord came to find it!”

Wang Chong had a flash of insight.

That swamp of the ancient era had become the place where the Yellow Emperor had sealed the Nightmare Beast, but the Origin Immortal Lord had still managed to find it and make the place his own, the Nightmare Beast becoming his guardian beast. With the passing of time and the shifting of continents, the swamp had long ago become mountains and deserts, but the Nightmare Beast continued to wait.

Perhaps because of its relationship to the Yellow Emperor, Wang Chong felt some sympathy for the Nightmare Beast. But a moment later, this emotion vanished.

The many white bones piled up in this cave probably all belonged to the Nightmare Beast’s victims.

You brought this on yourself, Wang Chong thought coldly.

Buzz!

As he obtained the Nightmare Beast’s energy, his Psychic Energy continued to strengthen, and it soon reached an absurd level. The Nightmare Beast’s Psychic Energy was unbelievably powerful and vast, as it had been accumulated over thousands of years.

As a strange beast that was born with the ability to control Psychic Energy, the Nightmare Beast had reached a level of Psychic Energy that no human could ever even imagine, much less reach.

Wang Chong felt like he was staring alone into a vast and boundless ocean.

Buzz!

A few seconds later, Wang Chong’s Psychic Energy broke free of its former shackles and soared.

“So powerful! I can’t believe it!”

This was the first time Wang Chong had felt this sort of ecstasy after suffering from his cultivation defect.

But the joy brought about by Psychic Energy far exceeded the joy brought about by an increase in Stellar Energy or physical strength. In addition, as Wang Chong absorbed more of the Nightmare Beast’s Psychic Energy, he felt that he had reached a threshold.

This was an invisible barrier, one that Wang Chong had never known to exist before this.

So it seems Psychic Energy, like martial arts, also shares something like the Subtle realm, an even higher level of existence!

Wang Chong soon had an idea of what was going on.

For the vast majority of martial artists, Psychic Energy was just divided up by how much one had and how strong it was. There was no specific division into levels or tiers. This was because Psychic Energy, unlike Stellar Energy, had no shape or form. But now, borrowing the Nightmare Beast’s strength, Wang Chong suddenly understood that he had reached a level that most Psychic Energy practitioners could only dream of.

If he broke through this threshold, his Psychic Energy would evolve into a higher state of existence.