Chapter 17: Return and Mark

Life is often filled with disappointments, wouldn't it be nice if everything could follow a script? But then, how could life have such a mix of joy and sorrowful drama?

He wouldn't give up until the very last moment.

At this point, he had a hunch that his Golden Finger hadn't made a mistake; it was just a matter of time before the old man selling melons would come back to life, as long as the Yin Manor didn't perish.

Just as Yi Chen hesitated between moving forward or retreating to the atrium, suddenly, at the old man's original stall, a disturbance arose, and a blood-red portal began to materialize from nothing, gradually becoming visible.

At the base of the blood-red portal were inscriptions of a boundless sea of blood with a black lotus floating and sinking within it.

Above the sea of blood, flanking the portal, sat a dragon and a tiger, two fantastical beasts with vivid and extraordinary expressions.

Suddenly, a dragon's roar and a tiger's bellow sounded, and the blood-red portal was violently pulled open halfway, revealing a mess of a small grove outside.

Seeing this, Yi Chen's face lit up with joy, I know this place.

At the same time, as the portal slowly opened, thick fog began to churn violently deep in the street, and a strong ghastly ghostly aura began to condense.

Yi Chen's expression changed dramatically, and his figure flashed rapidly, seizing the moment to rush toward the open blood-red portal, not forgetting to scoop up a handful of the tiger's tail and drag it along in the process.

Just as Yi Chen's figure disappeared into the portal, a powerful surge of ghostly aura, sharp as a knife's edge, grazed past the blood-red portal...

Outside the disheveled grove, Yi Chen, holding onto the tiger's tail, panted heavily. The last burst of ghostly energy was so terrifying it nearly scared his soul out of his body. Fortunately, at the critical moment, he narrowly avoided being "cleaved in two."

However, the tiger's fate was not so fortunate. Yi Chen looked at the half-remains of the tiger in his hand and couldn't help but lament:

"Brother Tiger, your fate is so thin. I did my best, yet I could only save a tail and half a buttock."

Behind him stood a creepily quiet, red mansion – he had finally escaped.

Yi Chen turned to glance back at the mysterious red mansion known as the Yin Manor, licked his lips, and wondered how many Deep Red Points he could get for destroying this rundown manor.

Just then, a change occurred at the distant red mansion. In the front yard, an old man selling melons, with hardly three good teeth in his mouth, emerged smiling at Yi Chen.

"Damn it~"

Yi Chen's hair stood on end instantly. He flung the half-corpse of the vibrant tiger onto a tree and ran off, his body wrapped in a faint purple Pure Yang Inner Qi as he sprinted away.

Thanks to the effects of the Yang Extreme Change, which had not yet worn off, he ran extremely fast, plowing a straight line through the dense forest.

Behind him, the tiger's half-buttock dangled from a tree, with its tail gently swaying in the wind.

Inside the Yin Manor, changes were also occurring; a new colorful memorial tablet suddenly appeared at the very bottom of the main hall's spirit shrine, bearing the face of Yi Chen.

...

...

...

By the time Yi Chen saw the lights from the Hidden Dragon Temple, night had fallen.

Seeing the familiar temple on the distant horizon, Yi Chen finally exhaled a murky breath.

The venture to Yin Manor had been extremely dangerous. Despite the ease with which he had seemed to dispatch the old melon seller like cutting through melons and vegetables, he had exhausted all his tricks, employing both the Yang Extreme Change and the Dragon-Slaying Sword.

Without the assistance from the dragon's roar and the tiger's bellow that had come from the blood-red portal in the end, he probably would have ended up like the vibrant tiger, with only half a body left.

The final intense burst of ghostly energy had been utterly chilling; even with Yi Chen in the state of Yang Extreme Change, he too would have ended up "cleaved in two" in front of that arrow-sharp ghostly aura, no different from the tiger's fate.

At night, Hidden Dragon Temple.

Yi Chen and his three martial brothers sat around a table, with Qing Feng and Ming Yue, the two adorable youngsters, attentively bringing tea. The two little ones rested their cheeks in their hands and stared intently at Yi Chen with their big innocent eyes, inspecting him up and down as if searching for something.

Qing Feng, "Big Senior Brother."

Ming Yue, "You said you'd bring us something delicious when you came back. Where is it?"

Yi Chen chuckled awkwardly, took a sip of tea, and replied,

"Qing Feng, Ming Yue, you might not believe me, but I really did bring you candied haws this time."

Qing Feng and Ming Yue exchanged glances, already feeling a bad premonition. They asked in unison, "And then?"

"Then Big Senior Brother rushed back home, you know. I bought a whole stick of candied haws, but guess what happened on the way?"

"While passing through the woods, I encountered a deer that darted past me, followed closely by a vibrant tiger that also sprang past. With a flick of that tiger's tail, guess what happened?"

"All the candied haws were knocked over! Gone!"

"Could Big Senior Brother stand for that? I immediately gave chase."

Qing Feng, "....."

Ming Yue, "....."

Hearing this, Qing Feng puffed his cheeks irritatedly, like a pufferfish, and interrupted Yi Chen's story to ask, "Big Senior Brother, what about the tiger that knocked over the candied haws?"

Yi Chen: "Dead."

"How did he die?"

"Big Brother died because he was so greedy for money. Didn't you bring him back?" The two little ones continued to question, one after the other.

"He was cloven in twain by a ghostly qi arrow, leaving only half a buttock. How could I bring that back? I just tossed it onto a tree."

Qing Feng: "....."

Ming Yue: "....."

Qing Feng and Ming Yue exchanged glances for the second time. The two little pufferfish hopped down from their chairs, pulled a face at Yi Chen in unison, and then went back to their room to rest.

Yi Chen: "..." Nobody believes the truth these days.

He turned to look at Qing Yunzi, "Do you believe me, little brother?"

"Of course I believe you, Big Brother. This time you've encountered something formidable," Qing Yunzi spoke with a slant in his eye, which had become increasingly severe.

"Little brother, you understand me. How did you figure it out?"

Qing Yunzi didn't say anything but pointed at a patch of exposed skin on Yi Chen's chest.

Yi Chen followed Qing Yunzi's gaze and looked down to find a chilly sensation shooting up to his forehead. A teardrop-shaped blood mark had appeared on his chest without his noticing.

"Holy shit, what the hell is this? And it's still coming?" Yi Chen exclaimed in horror, with a premonition that this ghostly mark was inextricably linked to the eerie Yin Manor.

"Big Brother, could you please tell me in detail what happened? With more heads, there's more wisdom. Let's think of a solution together."

Upon hearing this, Yi Chen succinctly recounted his encounters in the Yin Manor. After listening, Qing Yunzi, who was learned in many texts, furrowed his brows.

"Big Brother, I'm afraid this is a big deal."

"I don't know what Yin Manor is, but the jade token you got with 'Zhang Ji Shi' written on it—if I'm not mistaken—belongs to the missing thirty-sixth generation Sect Leader of Dragon Tiger Mountain and the most famous Heavenly Master of the righteous path," Qing Yunzi's worried voice came through.

Yi Chen: "..." He couldn't help thinking of the dragon and tiger phantoms on the bloody portal and the colorful Daoist figure at the top of the spirit hall when he left. Could it be that it was this old Heavenly Master who had secretly aided his escape?

If that was the case, then the favor he owed was indeed quite large.

But even a powerful individual like the old Heavenly Master had been trapped for over a hundred years in that damned Yin Manor...

Yi Chen looked down at the teardrop-shaped blood mark on his chest, his expression fluctuating. Finally, with a forced chuckle, he comforted Qing Yunzi:

"Little brother, there's no need to worry too much. Maybe it's just a mosquito bite."

"I passed through a forest on the way back. Wild mosquitoes—with quite a punch!"

Qing Yunzi was stubborn, and he earnestly said, "Big Brother, my accumulation is almost sufficient now, and I have become quite sensitive. Your body is brimming with robust vitality, exceptionally tough. Even if someone tried to chop you with a kitchen knife, they likely wouldn't make a dent. What kind of mosquito could leave such a mark?"

"Big Brother, stop lying to me."

"But don't worry, Big Brother. In no more than two months, I will have fully awakened. Then, even if it costs me my life, I'll definitely find a way to ensure your safety."

A faint red Pure Yang energy flickered at the tip of Qing Yunzi's left finger, a look of excitement crossing his face.

"Little brother, impressive! Quick, tell Big Brother about it. What does it feel like, how did you make this breakthrough?" Yi Chen happily ruffled Qing Yunzi's hair, quickly making it a disheveled mess.

This little junior brother was more fun when he was a child; as he grew up, he became a little too serious.

"Big Brother~, stop pulling, you've been doing it for so many years..." Qing Yunzi dodged Yi Chen's 'claws' while pouting, "I can't articulate how I awakened the Pure Yang spirit, but I can tell you what it feels like after."

"There is qi in heaven and earth. Once the spirit is awakened, one can sense the presence of qi, see into one's nature, absorb qi for one's own use, and even leverage one's qi to mobilize the forces of nature, displaying all sorts of incredible powers. That is the method."

"There are many types of qi between heaven and earth: multifarious, yin and yang, the five elements, wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, abundant and varied. Besides the red Pure Yang qi, which is the most compatible with me, there is also starlight qi."

Having said this, Qing Yunzi gestured with his hand, and to Yi Chen's astonishment, the starlight and moonbeam from outside the window slowly gathered into a small orb of light in Qing Yunzi's hand. Then, he opened his mouth and directly swallowed the orb of light.

"Is this the Power of Taiyin? Little brother, how did someone practicing Pure Yang Daoist methods awaken two such distinct powers?"

"Is it difficult? I've also been puzzled about what Pure Yang power is and what the ultimate realm of Pure Yang Dao is. At last, while reading the 'Supreme Spiritual Flying Pure Yang Root Source Daoist Scripture' last night, my efforts culminated, and naturally, I broke through a layer of mystery."

"The extreme of yang is yin, and the extreme of yin is yang. This is the ultimate principle of heaven and earth."

"For example, the Heavenly Master once spoke of the treasure of heaven and earth—the water of Yang Spring—which can only be nurtured in an extreme yin environment."

"That is the birth of yang from the extreme of yin."

"After understanding all this, I was able to absorb the starlight and moonlight qi from the heavens and earth, as well as the Pure Yang qi."

"Cultivation is about aligning oneself with the Celestial Heart and absorbing the qi that suits one best—to befriend the qi."

Qing Yunzi spoke with a proud expression, pouring out all his insights like spilling beans.