"So beautiful." Wu Qiong was gazing down from his position and couldn't believe it looked so drastically different compared to looking upward from below.
There were formations of ice around the mountain, coated in deep blue, hanging like decorations everywhere—sharp and constantly radiating vapor. The air was also gradually thinning due to the altitude and proximity to the atmosphere above.
The crackling of lightning subsequently became more prominent; it was raining down around the mountaintop.
Every time it struck, it was accompanied by snow, radiating a majestic aura.
Wu Qiong followed the only path that led upward. Along the way, he heard what sounded like a confrontation. Nearby was a small recessed basin carved into the mountainside. He slowed his steps, concealed his presence, and carefully peered downward.
He observed that a group of people had already reached this point.
They were a group of contestants with exceptional aptitudes. Often, these people would form a team in order to first defeat someone with an extraordinary aptitude.
It was a methodical strategy to venture higher with less risk involved.
Right now, they were all circling someone. He wore purple attire; there were ornaments hanging from his waist. He carried a prideful demeanor.
"Tian Li, you didn't expect this—did you?"
Tian Li, however, wasn't acknowledging them. He stood upright with his arms crossed; it appeared that he was contemplating or waiting for something.
"You dare ignore us? Do you think we would not kill you just because of your position in the clan?"
"Bastard! Because of you, I had to retake the competition multiple times. The anger I feel can only be quenched by your death!"
"Idiot, don't! You're going to ruin our strategy!" the group shouted in unison.
The latter almost spat out a mouthful of blood because of his anger. He could no longer wait. His hand was jittering from the adrenaline as he held out his weapon.
He swiftly ran toward Tian Li and threw a pair of small hand held blades.
As those blades appeared to reach Tian Li, their momentum was suddenly reversed as they flew back to where they had originally come from.
He was running when he threw them toward Tian Li, so coupled with the reversal, it was simply impossible to avoid them.
One of the blades directly penetrated his brain. The other swiftly cut his Achilles tendon; he instinctively fell backward, his last expression frozen on his face.
Tian Li walked forward and pulled the blade out of his corpse. The others suddenly lost their morale; they were not unified properly to begin with. Most of them were thinking of their own benefit and had joined this alliance so they could rid themselves of a common enemy.
"Where do you think you're going?" Tian Li waved his hand, and the wind condensed into sharp objects as it flew toward them. Before long, the area was tainted with blood; however, it quickly froze due to the temperature.
Wu Qiong was observing. He tried not to make any noise. While walking backward, he appeared to step on a stick. Tian Li instantly tilted his head toward the direction of the sound and instinctively threw the blade. Wu Qiong barely reacted in time as it grazed his cheek.
He started running off.
"This guy—he killed all of those by himself. As for his ability, I saw it that night when I was conversing with Xing'Er—wind. I am unfamiliar with how it works. I didn't realize the difference between extraordinary and exceptional was that large. Although it must make sense considering they are 30% apart from each other. Subsequently, they are generational geniuses. He must have awakened but has yet to choose his path."
Tian Xue briefly explained the topic regarding cultivation that morning when he asked Wu Qiong if he was serious about entering the competition.
"Cultivation, in essence, is inexplicable because it is the understanding of something broader, of which the mind can only create variations. That we refer to as "The ineffable". However it is the case that I myself do not possess the qualifications to formulate its state in language, because it is something no one can even conceive in their minds.
From my view, the journey in the process of cultivation is the path toward the fundamental understanding of existence itself, and existence encompasses the totality of everything. What we refer to as aptitudes are merely intrinsic traits that have the potential to be actualized during awakening—a trace of the essence of cultivation.
When one awakens, they will then see the world in a different way from mortals. Those with insufficient aptitude have a substantially lower percentage chance to achieve awakening. They will also be much easier targets, as they cannot access their own abilities."
"Those with exceptional aptitude and beyond have access to something mortals cannot conceptually visualize in their minds, such as strangely materializing abilities out of nowhere. However, it is because the person simply cannot grasp it. The world is filled with matter; everything is built from that matter. For example, when a flower gradually blooms, you may see its progression but not what is actually enveloping it all around. Subsequently, when the flower dies, the matter revolves around it.
The progression of cultivation is rather special. When one achieves awakening, they must fulfill specific criteria, which differ for everyone. When I awakened, I had to complete specific tasks, which then aided in nurturing my awakening. As for that, you may find out yourself. Cultivation is far more complex; from my accumulated knowledge, this barely covers the introduction."
"Wu Qiong, do you ever question the limits of your own knowledge?"
Wu Qiong responded, "A human cannot possess infinite knowledge, precisely due to the limitations imposed on them."
Tian Xue added, "Then why do beings never cease to pursue this? Is there knowledge that we are simply incapable of grasping—or perhaps not permitted to know—solely because of the difference in our states of existence?"
Wu Qiong was puzzled. He paused briefly before replying.
"It is because we aspire to pursue things greater than ourselves. If no one possessed ambition, we would become no different from fish in a pond—carefree, yet forever constrained by the limits of our existence.
Every night, countless beings gaze upon the same moon. They admire its beauty; they admire its elegance. We share a collective reality but a distinct interpretation, what must be beyond the moon? Perhaps we can reach what others could not.
The body may be bound by its physical nature, but the mind is the foundation of all that we do—of admiration, of self recognition. If we accept that we are insignificant in scale, then our thoughts must be infinitely greater than that insignificance."
Wu Qiong pointed with his finger.
Tian Xue was inwardly moved. He responded, "There will be countless times when you must face beings more powerful than you. There will be countless times when you will be at a complete disadvantage. Those are limitations; we all feel powerless in the grand scheme of things.
Although I myself cannot provide much to you, Wu Qiong, it is you who must ask yourself what it is you wish to live for."
Wu Qiong sipped his tea and gazed at the courtyard, appearing to hide his resonant eyes.
"Tian Xue, why must we live for something and not for everything?"
"This…"
Tian Li was chasing Wu Qiong. His purple attire moved with the wind as he threw attacks toward him.
"Think, think, think!" Wu Qiong's body was set on alert. His eyes were constantly scanning the surroundings as thoughts rumbled in his head. "He is approximately 100 meters away from me. The wind cuts have less precision from that distance. They appear to move in a fixed direction; if shot straight, then they subsequently move straight. However, he is a prodigy—he cannot be compared to regular people."
Tian Li shouted from behind, "I will certainly kill you this time! It appears that my underlings were useless that night. There is no one else here, Wu Qiong!"
Wu Qiong didn't respond and kept running, changing his direction—sometimes going left, then right—to avoid the strikes. Although he couldn't avoid all of them, a few hit his back as the fabric of his clothing was cut away. His bloody skin was revealed; it appeared as though he had been whipped. There were long streaks of cuts on his body. Still, he did not speak.
Tian Li shouted again, "Wu Qiong! Is this the way you want to die—being hunted like a dog in the snow?" He laughed as he continuously struck him.
Human behavior was often predictable because humans were often emotional or followed logical patterns. But who truly becomes impossible to predict? Is it not during abnormal circumstances?
The bleeding on Wu Qiong's body had become severe. The cold subsequently constricted the blood vessels, therefore slowing recovery. Although the cold made injuries more manageable in the sense that it numbed parts of the body, when it was too cold it felt as if, aside from the cuts, he was constantly running through a blizzard with snow hitting his face.
It was often painful. Pain was an indicator that allowed one to know the state they were in and assess the severity of their injuries. However, the cold subsequently numbed the body. Less oxygen was transported throughout the body; breathing became more difficult.
This was truly the limit of mortality.
"WU QIONG! COME ON, FACE ME!"
Back at the entrance, Tian Xue was suddenly struck by a sense of unease. He instinctively clutched his chest and gazed upward as anxious thoughts surged through his mind.
Wu Qiong… if it's inevitable that you meet Tian Li, there's nothing you can do against him. You don't possess any abilities at all. Will this truly be your end? Why did you enter despite knowing the disadvantages stacked against you?
Tian Xue simply couldn't understand Wu Qiong's way of thinking.
Back at the ridge, the remaining contestants had already started traversing. The cold winds were constantly destabilizing their footing as they tried to push them around.
At this moment, Xuan Ren appeared back, seeming to scan the environment. He had a devilish grin on his face. "How smart, how very smart of you—you deceived me. When I arrived back at the foot of the mountain, I saw that Yin Ren had already killed most of the ones there. I could not identify who was who, although I did try searching the bodies present. The paper was in his hands all along. He stood right in front of me—hahahaha!" Xuan Ren laughed maniacally.
The contestants traversing stopped as they called out, "What are you doing? Get out of our way! Are you trying to kill us all?"
Xuan Ren responded, "I apologize. I'm a bit mad right now, so I'll unfortunately have to kill you all." Xuan Ren blew his fan, and what appeared to be strange phantoms emerged out of nowhere.
As all of this was going on, back in the clan, two people were discussing matters in secrecy.
"Leader, Yin Ren and Xuan Ren have already invaded the competition." His name was Shen Tong; it meant prodigy in Earth's language. He had already awakened at age fifteen. Currently, he was kneeling in front of the Clan Leader.
"Shen Tong, do you know why I chose you to be my subordinate?"
"Forgive me, Master. Wasn't it because of my aptitude?" Shen Tong was also directly nurtured by the Clan Leader along with Tian Li, although one could say he was far more valuable in terms of experience and skills.
"That's secondary. The primary reason I chose you is because you have something others do not possess. It is because you're inherently loyal."
Shen Tong quickly bowed and cupped his fists. "Leader, don't say such things. This is the purpose of my life—to serve you."
"Do you know why Xuan Ren and Yin Ren appeared each consecutive year for five years and we did not do anything? It is because I wanted them to find the paper and solve it. The true story behind the paper is that Bai Sheng's master, Bai Feng, had a nightmare. It was a surreal one. He awoke in what he called "The Knowing Dark" its a dimension beyond our understanding. As for the mountain, it is a mysterious domain that has yet to be conquered, this is the second time we have used it as a means for a competition, Yin Ren and Xuan Ren only appear to shed blood in search of the paper."
Shen Tong replied with curiosity, "But why does it entice them? If it is a place full of horror, any reasonable person would not consider entering the knowing dark."
"Shen Tong, do you acknowledge the limits of our understanding? As humans, there is simply no limit to what one would do when incited by unimaginable strength. Bai Feng died a few months after his experience. According to his disciple, Bai Sheng, he committed suicide. The exact reason is not yet known, but based on the vision he saw, it must have been his mind that deteriorated. Bai Sheng preserved Bai Feng's experience through his written words, and that paper is somehow correlated to accessing the knowing dark. When Yin Ren and Xuan Ren find the paper, only then will we act—a war is coming, Shen Tong."
Shen Tong was quiet for a moment. Then he simply cupped his fists and left the room. He had understood the Leader's intention.