Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 603: Time to Return

Zhao Changhe knew full well that the blind woman wanted him to improve for her own reasons, which most likely involved acquiring the rest of the Heavenly Tome, and perhaps some other ulterior motives he had yet to uncover.

But, if he allowed himself to indulge in a little wishful thinking: I smeared her face with that stuff, and she still keeps urging me to study and grow stronger...

With that thought, his mood improved considerably. He settled in with genuine focus, ready to delve deeply into the Heavenly Tome.

The importance of the two pages he had most recently acquired lay in their abstract nature. One focused on light, the other on qi or energy—both concepts that were notoriously difficult to wield effectively.

The more abstract the principle, the harder it is to master. But once understood, these principles become incredibly powerful. The reason is simple: the harder it is for you to grasp, the more difficult it is for others to counter. By that measure, these pages could very well surpass the others in sheer potential.

Was light truly about manipulating vision and deceiving the perception of others? Or was it limited to redirecting and altering trajectories using reflection, refraction, or focused beams of heat?

What about its intrinsic properties? Could light itself possess raw destructive power? The answer was undoubtedly yes. And it was not just about the mundane concepts of sunlight or heat energy—those were entirely different matters.

If Einstein were here, he would remind you of the interaction between light and matter: the amplification of light through stimulated emission of radiation, the fundamental principle of lasers[1]. And lasers? Anyone who’s seen a science fiction film knows their destructive potential—cutting through starships with ease.

Unfortunately, Zhao Changhe was no scientist. He only had a vague understanding of the concept, not the technical knowledge to implement it. Still, even just having the concept was a rare advantage. The page of the Heavenly Tome that acted as a general outline could extrapolate a martial technique for him to apply.

Looking up at the void, Zhao Changhe saw faint characters begin to crawl into view, like a tortoise inching forward: “Unnamed Laser Technique...”

And then... nothing. The words appeared at an agonizingly slow pace, as if the Heavenly Tome itself needed time to compute and refine the technique.

Was this delay because the blind woman was intentionally suppressing the Heavenly Tome’s abilities? Or was it because she lacked the understanding needed to fully manifest this principle? Either way, the Heavenly Tome was clearly in the process of generating a laser-based martial art, but its speed resembled an ancient CPU struggling to load a high-resolution image. You would have to wait forever just to glimpse the hem of a skirt, let alone the full picture.

The technique was evidently too advanced. Even if the Heavenly Tome finished “loading” it, Zhao Changhe suspected it would still be beyond his ability to master. Creating a technique to harness lasers might be more challenging than devising a method for human flight. Even if the page eventually revealed a complete method, there was no guarantee he would be capable of using it.

And let’s be honest,

Unbothered, Zhao Changhe moved on. He set the page aside to let it “load” in its own time and turned his attention to the next one.

The fifth page, with its ethereal focus on energy, felt more immediately accessible.

First, there was the power of faith. In truth, Zhao Changhe already possessed a small measure of it through the Blood God’s faith. It seemed that the devotion of Xue Canghai and his followers had somehow been imprinted on him, and he was treated as the Blood God’s chosen representative.

Unfortunately, the Blood God Cult was pitifully few in number. Those outside the core cultists—such as affiliated mountain bandits—did not really count. At its heart, the cult barely boasted a following of one to two thousand. Faith-based power required a vast population base to be meaningful. At its current scale, the returns were negligible—laughable, even.

By comparison, dual cultivation provided far greater gains.

With that said, while the small amount of faith-based power Zhao Changhe possessed was insignificant, it had still provided him with a foundational understanding. This made it far easier for him to discern and manipulate various types of energy. Without that baseline, he would not have been able to guide Lady Three’s energy so smoothly—or transform it into a golden ingot to trick her. His foundation was what made it all possible.

Still, Zhao Changhe had no intention of pursuing the path of faith. Nor was he particularly drawn to the concept of accruing karmic merit. To him, acts of heroism and justice were their own reward. Doing them with the expectation of merit felt transactional. It was simply something that did not quite sit right with him.

On the other hand, he was intrigued by the idea of luck and qi pathways.

At its lowest tier, it granted the ability to observe the flow of energy, allowing one to divine fortunes and avoid calamities. At its middle tier, it could guide the flow of destiny, influencing the rise and fall of empires. At its highest tier, it allowed one to control the qi of all living things, to command the winds and rain like a god.

Sitting calmly in the void, Zhao Changhe began to immerse himself in the Heavenly Tome’s teachings on qi manipulation, drawing its insights into his consciousness and methodically deconstructing and absorbing them.

Within the world of the Heavenly Tome, winds and clouds swirled, taking on an almost tangible quality.

In his spiritual sea, the heavens sparkled with constellations, their light illuminating the mountains and rivers below. Qi veins snaked across the landscape like mighty dragons, flowing with purpose and vitality.

The blind woman hovered silently in the void, arms crossed as she watched. For a moment, even she felt a faint stirring in her heart.

He’s learning way too quickly.

When Zhao Changhe said “even with the Heavenly Tome’s aid, you must admit I’m not lacking in my own abilities,” he had been underselling himself. Or perhaps he lacked the confidence to properly assess how much of his progress came from his own abilities versus the Heavenly Tome’s guidance.

But the blind woman knew the truth. She knew how absurdly and outrageously talented he was.

Anything related to martial arts, no matter how abstract—be it the elusive principles of light or the ephemeral nature of qi—posed no obstacle to his understanding. He absorbed it all effortlessly, intuitively. Where others might struggle for years just to grasp the basics, Zhao Changhe would master it in moments.

He probably thought, “What? Isn’t it supposed to be like this?” But if someone asked him how he had fared in academic subjects, the answer would be starkly different. His teachers could spoon-feed him the simplest concepts, yet he still might not grasp them. Understanding did not simply come from being taught—it required something innate. And Zhao Changhe’s innate gift for martial arts was extraordinary.

A martial arts genius of his caliber could only be described as one in a million. Even if the watered-down version of the Heavenly Tome were handed to someone else, they would never achieve Zhao Changhe’s level of comprehension.

Among his peers, there was not a single one who could match him. There were, however, a few who came close—most notably Yue Hongling and Xia Chichi.

* * *

Meanwhile, Xia Chichi sped across the seas toward Skyrim Island aboard a ship left behind by the Tang Clan. She sailed like the wind, her mastery of sailing evident. Upon reaching her destination, she dove deftly beneath the waves, retrieved the submerged statue, broke through the barrier, and entered the boundary of the sea and the sky once more.

When Xia Longyuan had sent her here, it had been to help her break through to the third layer of the Profound Mysteries. Yet, to this day, she was still only in the middle of the second layer. She still had quite a ways to go.

But this place truly could help Xia Chichi break into the third layer of the Profound Mysteries. Xia Longyuan had not been exaggerating.

In fact, if she stayed here a little longer, even breaking into the Profound Control Realm would not be out of reach. This was the final, ultimate place for her cultivation following the steps of the Azure Dragon—a land of unparalleled fortune. To think she had left after just one day... looking back, she would laugh at how foolish she had been.

When it came to the essence of the Azure Dragon’s will, the effects of the Extreme East Dao Fruit she had consumed meant she did not strictly need to return here. That could be digested slowly over the course of her life. But the unique principles of the boundary of the sea and sky, the overwhelming concentration of wood-element energy, the endless fields of divine herbs and treasures—all of these were exclusive to this place.

And then there was the process itself—the transformation from wavering over the abyss to flying in the heavens. Could such a profound process merely signify leaving?

Definitely not.

It symbolized far more. When the Azure Dragon rises from the Eastern Sea, it does not merely ascend—it dominates, gazing down upon all life, radiant as the midday sun.

In the previous era, the Azure Dragon had been here. It was not only a divine beast but also a mortal emperor, his tomb enshrined in Beimang. In this era, Xia Longyuan had also been here. After departing, he swept across the land, uniting it under his banner with the ferocity of a tiger.

And now?

Xia Chichi could feel another power stirring within her. It was not entirely aligned with her cultivation, yet it harmonized with it as if waiting to be summoned. She could not yet grasp its nature, but once she did, she felt confident she could break through to the third layer of the Profound Mysteries, and perhaps even exceed it.

She extended her delicate hand and pressed it against the boundary of the sea and sky. Though the barrier was intangible, its energy was palpable.

The rising and setting of the sun and moon played out within it, and the ascension of the Azure Dragon would begin from here.

She waited patiently, anticipating the moment when she would once again rise as the flying dragon in the heavens. This time, she would not simply glimpse its essence—she would completely internalize it, bending it to her will.

This was not about mortal thrones or earthly dominion. It was a power transcendent and unparalleled.

* * *

Splash!

Zhao Changhe emerged from the abyssal depths of the Eastern Sea, rising to the surface and scanning the vast horizon, testing his learnings and newfound understanding.

All across the sea, he could faintly perceive countless fragments of will belonging to dragons and serpents scattered like motes of light. These represented the maritime nations.

To the north, over the island of Penglai, a weak and chaotic dragon qi was beginning to coalesce.

That must be... Hai Changkong?

Turning his gaze westward toward the vast expanse of the Central Plains, Zhao Changhe felt his heart skip a beat.

The dragon qi of the mountains and rivers was fractured and fading. Countless serpents, tigers, and leopards tore at the largest dragon, which was weakened and teetering on the brink of collapse.

Lady Three emerged from the vortex, stepping onto the rocky shore beside him. She, too, now possessed some ability to perceive the flow of qi. Staring into the distance, she frowned and murmured, “The state of the Central Plains might be worse than we thought. Xia Longyuan seemed only lightly injured—could he truly have weakened this much?”

Zhao Changhe shook his head. “This reflects the flow of qi—what is to come, not what is present. It doesn’t mean it’s irreversible. The question is whether Old Xia can restore the realm. And if he can’t... who will?”

Before his words had fully settled, something tugged at his awareness, drawing his gaze eastward.

Far to the extreme east, the Azure Dragon constellation was rising once more at the boundary of the sea and sky, an eternal cycle, repeating endlessly.

But this time, the dragon qi spilling forth was tangible, suffusing the heavens with unparalleled might.

Xia Chichi.

Zhao Changhe gazed at it in silence for a long time, then softly said, “It’s time... We can return now.”

[END OF SIXTH ARC]

1. Fun fact: Laser stands for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation (LASER). ☜