Chapter 0729: Dao follows the way of spontaneity
“Moreover, with your cultivation, you most likely will be transferred out immediately after entering.” Striking Order Heavenly Emperor reminded him once again before taking out two Transfer Jade Talismans and passing them to Ning Cheng. “You can have these two jade talismans. It doesn’t matter if I have them or not.”
Ning Cheng took the jade talismans and thanked Striking Order, “Many thanks, Brother Striking Order. In any case, from now on, Brother Striking Order and I are brothers under the same sky. As for these Time Stones, I only need this one.”
Striking Order Heavenly Emperor put away the rest of the Time Stones with a warm smile over his face. However, he still left behind this sentence, “Brother Ning, let me say this before leaving. As long as Brother Ning needs my help, this Striking Order will never hesitate to come to your aid. Also, Brother Ning, these Transfer Talismans will not take you to the inner regions of the Time Wilderness. But you can enter the Time Wilderness after activating it from anywhere.”
“If Brother Ning doesn’t get transferred out, please do keep in mind not to venture to some of the dangerous places. Once inside, crush the other talisman before a year ends, and it would immediately send you out. Also, let me remind you once again that no one has ever come out after entering the Time Wilderness using these Transfer Talismans. That’s the main reason why I suspect that you might not have a way of coming out after entering Time Wilderness with these Transfer Talismans. Brother Ning, I sincerely urge you to find someone else to enter instead of going by yourself.”
Despite the advice, Striking Order believed that Ning Cheng would not go in by himself. But he still had to warn Ning Cheng to not venture into dangerous areas, and to send someone else inside Time Wilderness instead of going personally. Cultivating to such a level, no one in his or her right mind would take such a risk. Therefore, he did not particularly feel worried about Ning Cheng falling inside that place. Besides, the reason he gave Ning Cheng two Transfer Talismans was so that he could create a better bond with Ning Cheng and let Ning Cheng send in two people.
“I understand.” Ning Cheng thanked him again.
Striking Order felt very satisfied and said his goodbyes to Ning Cheng. He already achieved his purpose in coming here. If Chuan Xinlou wanted to move against him, he would have to face four Eternal-level powerhouses of Striking Order Starry Sky. Moreover, two of them were even Pill Emperors, which needed special considerations.
……
After Striking Order Heavenly Emperor left, Ning Cheng quickly handed over the Mysterious Yellow Sect to Cang Caihe. He also let Gongxiu Zhu take charge of Named River Celestial River, rename Named Descendant Celestial River to Mysterious Yellow Celestial River, and serve as the king of Mysterious Yellow Celestial River.
Cang Caihe focussed on Alchemy and showed no enthusiasm about management. Besides, Ning Cheng did not expect him to manage Jiangzhou Star. Instead, the reason he let him stay at the Mysterious Yellow Sect was due to his younger sister Ruolan and the others who decided to go into seclusion within Mysterious Yellow Sect. With Cang Caihe, an expert in the Eternal Realm and a Pill Emperor, there definitely would not be any problems.
But just in case, Ning Cheng also arranged an emergency transfer array near the area where Ruolan and the others went into seclusion. Ning Cheng believed that they would not have to use this transfer array.
As for Jiangzhou Star, Ning Cheng put it into Bei Junyi’s care and told him if Warren and others came over, he should settle them down. Warren was a kind-hearted person, so Ning Cheng hoped that he would stay in Jiangzhou Star to help him in the future.
After taking care of everything, Ning Cheng left Jiangzhou Star and activated the Transfer Jade Talisman.
Striking Order didn’t know about Ning Cheng’s nature. He thought that Ning Cheng would never enter the Time Wilderness on his own, but Ning Cheng just did.
……
The Transfer Jade Talisman shone with a bright light before instantly sending Ning Cheng away. Ning Cheng had already prepared things beforehand. If the Time Wilderness pushed him out, he arranged for his sister Ruolan to take control of his Mysterious Yellow Bead and take him inside. Besides, as long as the wilderness did not push him out in half a breath’s time, he would have a chance to enter the Mysterious Yellow Bead, and then find a way to enter the Sea of Twilight.
But what surprised Ning Cheng was that when he landed on the ground, he didn’t experience even the slightest rejection. In other words, he now stood in the Time Wilderness, just like the last time he came in. Except for the faint flow of time around him, he found nothing abnormal at all, let alone any indications of rejection.
However, before Ning Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, a powerful suppressive force descended. Ning Cheng immediately felt shocked and wanted to enter the Mysterious Yellow Bead. However, he quickly realised that this suppressive force showed no indications of transferring him out, rather it tried to suppress his cultivation. In just a short while, his cultivation at the Life and Death Realm quickly slipped to the full-circle of Celestial Gatherer Realm.
As expected, this place truly had many restrictions. For Ning Cheng, this suppression of cultivation was a much better option compared to transferring out. Definitely, a lot better. Back then, he was still far from reaching the full-circle of Celestial Gatherer Realm, yet he managed to cross the Sea of Twilight. Now that he had a deeper understanding of the Laws of Time, he definitely would not have any problems while going through the Sea of Twilight.
Ning Cheng did not care about the surroundings and immediately shot towards the Sea of Twilight. Shen Qinyu said she wanted to find him. Therefore, Shen Qinyu would have had to go through the Sea of Twilight to reach him. After so many years inside, Ning Cheng truly felt worried if she encountered any misfortune. Although Shen Qinyu went in by herself and on her own accord, Ning Cheng couldn’t ignore it. He just couldn’t look the other way in this matter. Knowing that she had risked her life to save him, Ning Cheng truly could not pretend not to know anything about it. Nor could he make any excuse of not going in.
Coming to the Sea of Twilight for the second time, Ning Cheng once again saw the Sea of Twilight’s magnificent and splendid view. The light from the twilight formed a beautiful scene of a sunset over a sea, but Ning Cheng knew that this beauty was only superficial. Once one entered the Sea of Twilight, Time Wheels would most likely devour one at any time. Trapped within Time Wheels, one’s lifespan would quickly wither up. Besides, unlike its name, one wouldn’t find even a drop of water in this place. Therefore, if someone died here, only a bark-like corpse would remain before it eventually scattered to ashes.
Ning Cheng did not stop at all and stepped into the Sea of Twilight. The endless vicissitudes of life suddenly pressed down on him, forcing him to stumble a little.
Although this place had suppressed his cultivation to the Celestial Gatherer Realm, Ning Cheng’s spiritual consciousness could still extend much farther compared to his first visit here. He could see everything within a range of hundred miles through his spiritual consciousness.
After walking around for some time, Ning Cheng suddenly flew up. He understood that if he wanted to reach the deepest part of the Sea of Twilight, he had to fly up; it was what Shen Qinyu had told him.
Sure enough, the moment Ning Cheng flew up, a powerful tearing force and time blade-lights immediately stuck him. Then a whirlpool of time rolled over and took away Ning Cheng.
“Crack-Rip.” Ning Cheng’s robes disintegrated after a few rips appeared; however, the attacks couldn’t damage Ning Cheng’s body at all; they couldn’t even leave behind the slightest trace.
This place might have successfully suppressed his cultivation, but it could not shackle the strength of his corporeal body.
When the powerful whirlpool threw Ning Cheng to the ground, the range of his spiritual consciousness almost instantly shrunk from a hundred miles to just a few miles. Sensing this change, Ning Cheng understood that the vortex of time had sent him to the deepest part of the Sea of Twilight.
It was here that he and Shen Qinyu had walked together for several years.
Standing here alone, Ning Cheng felt a little lost. The last time he had appeared here, it was due to an accident; but this time, he had come here intentionally.
At this time, he realised that even Qionghua and Luofei had never walked with him for months in a row. He had also never carried either of them on his back for so long.
It was in this place too that he saw Shen Qinyu’s real face for the first time. Her beauty had almost suffocated him. Even Ning Cheng wholeheartedly admitted that Shen Qinyu was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. However, his heart only held Luofei and Qionghua. Therefore, even if he admired Shen Qinyu’s face when looking at it, he still only thought of Luofei and Qionghua.
As time passed by, Ning Cheng acutely felt his lifespan draining out of him; at the same time, he found himself falling into an epiphany, which seemed to counter that loss. Therefore, even though ’time’ passed by Ning Cheng without stopping, it could not take away a single shred of Ning Cheng’s lifespan.
Back then, he carried Shen Qinyu on his back, while still immersed in an epiphany, causing both their hair to turn white due to the loss of lifespan. Now, when he stood alone, immersed in another epiphany within the Sea of Twilight, the force of life within him actually started growing stronger and stronger.
In just a short while, Ning Cheng started running, gathering the flow of time around him, which then formed circle after circle of law halos.
Ning Cheng’s understanding of the Laws of Time was now no longer limited to Sunset’s Twilight, which had only touched the surface of the Laws of Time. He vaguely felt that he was about to catch a more elusive corner of the Laws of Time, but this corner always felt a little bit distant from him, despite being right in front of his eyes.
“Boom…..” A bright shimmering light explosion forced Ning Cheng to wake up from the epiphany.
Ning Cheng then looked up at the beautiful sunset in the distance and sighed. In the end, he couldn’t move past that small distance. Just a little more and Ning Cheng could have caught on to a corner of the real Laws of Time. But that short distance felt like a huge chasm, something that he couldn’t currently cross.
Ning Cheng quickly put the feeling of loss aside. He didn’t come here to understand the Laws of Time. He came here to find Shen Qinyu.
Suddenly everything became clear at once; Ning Cheng roared and rushed into the setting sun’s glowing sunset.
The moment Ning Cheng passed through that setting sun’s glowing sunset; he suddenly felt a burst of shock coursing through his heart. He suddenly realised something. He finally had grabbed onto that corner of the Laws of Time.
That epiphany hadn’t let him really grasp that corner of the Laws of Time; it only allowed him to look at it from up close. However, when he put all thoughts of it aside and focus on something else, he actually managed to understand that corner of the Laws of Time.
An icy chill swept up, but Ning Cheng’s didn’t pay any attention to it at all. Only a one-of-a-kind heat remained within his heart, a kind of wildness that even he couldn’t explain. What he had caught was a type of form, that’s right, something tangible. Everything tangible had some sort of a structure. He immediately recalled the time when he gained an understanding of Returning-to-one, “Darkness gave birth to light. Existing order gave birth to form, while consciousness gave birth to Dao. Form comes from essence, while myriad beings shaped one another……”
When he gained enlightenment of ‘time’, he found that ‘time’ also was something tangible. At the same time, he also understood why ‘time flies like an arrow, the sun and moon go by like a shuttle…..’[1]
As long as one could catch the arrow of time, one could then manipulate its speed, slowing it down or even stopping it. When one reached a certain degree of understanding on how to do this, one could then hold this arrow of time in one’s hand and stop its flight. Perhaps one could even make this arrow of time shoot backwards one day.
When one controlled all of this law, one could then even stop and reverse the sun and the moon…
This was a peerless grand spirit technique.
As this feeling grew within his heart, Ning Cheng suddenly raised his hand and grabbed onto something in front of him.
Everything around him immediately stopped, turning entirely still. Sunset’s Twilight only created an illusion of time slowing down to a standstill for the opponent, but this time, everything truly came to a stop. This was the result of a real Law of Time spirit technique.
A feeling of weakness washed over, but Ning Cheng didn’t stop and waved his hand again.
“Poof….” A mouthful of blood spewed out, forcing Ning Cheng to sit down on the ground. He quickly took out a medicinal pill and swallowed it while breathing slowly.
His strength still could not match up to his insights. Even though he caught a corner of the real Laws of Time and understood the surface, he could not stop ‘time’ for long periods. As for trying to reverse time, he couldn’t do it, not even for a moment.
Ning Cheng swallowed a few more medicinal pills and waited for his injuries to stabilise before standing up again. He didn’t feel frustrated about it and understood that he tried to run before learning to walk. A type of impatience. It was the same as when he couldn’t catch the corner of the Laws of Time even after a long time and had put it aside. But during his passage through the setting sun’s glowing sunset, he finally grasped onto the real Laws of Time.
Dao was a spontaneous course of events, ‘Man follows the ways of the earth, the earth follows the ways of heaven, heaven follows the way of Dao, and Dao follows the ways of spontaneity.[2]”
Understanding that deliberate actions would not help in making any significant progress, Ning Cheng realised that he had been acting with too much deliberation.
[1] The phrase is an idiom and a line from a children’s poem, which teaches children about time.
[2] The last part of the phrase ‘人法地，地法天，天法道，道法自然。’ can also be translated as ‘Dao follows the ways of self-existence’. However, due to the context, I feel ‘spontaneity’, one of the other meanings of the word, fits here better.