Chapter Seventy-Six: The Mysterious Inheritance

One after another, green vines covered in barbed thorns coiled up from Cold Heaven’s feet. In the blink of an eye, they had wrapped him into a giant green cocoon, and the vines kept tightening, intent on strangling him to death.

A multicolored protective aura flickered around Cold Heaven’s body. He did not intend to shatter the vines; instead, he wanted to see exactly where they meant to drag him.

Luanyu Die had her beautiful eyes gently closed. Her body was wrapped in a cloudlike mist, and her clothing had vanished without a trace. Her skin, smooth as snow-white jade, shimmered with a captivating luster. Two rounded, high, snow-white peaks stood proudly beneath the drifting haze, lending her an air of mystery. Her long, straight legs, like tender bamboo shoots after rain, were enough to draw a person’s fingertips near, while the hidden valley amid the lush forest now appeared only faintly, half-concealed and half-revealed.

This was an elemental realm. Aside from the five-colored radiance flickering overhead from time to time, only Luanyu Die, wrapped in mist, remained within it, while the entire space continuously shifted in color.

The hues of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth alternated with dazzling brilliance, painting this mysterious realm in splendor. As the colors changed without cease, they also illuminated Luanyu Die hidden in the mist, making her seem like a goddess lost in sleep.

The realm was not very large, yet the concentration of the world’s elemental powers had already become so dense that even the ancient monsters of Crimson Peak Continent, those who longed to ascend to the sacred realm, would be willing to abandon everything and pay any price to seize it.

A voice, as though traveling through endless time and space, ancient and distant, slowly echoed through the entire realm. “How many years has it been? A hundred thousand years, or longer? I have waited for someone to inherit my legacy, yet the one who came is a woman. Was it destined to be arranged this way?”

With a heavy sigh, the owner of the voice seemed to reach an understanding, and said with a hint of helplessness, “Since you have opened my inheritance, then I shall grant you some fortune.”

As the words fell, a beam of light flashed in the dim sky, and a seven-tiered multicolored tower appeared. Its radiance filled the entire space, while Luanyu Die floated beside it.

“My child, the one who inherits my sacred arts, I hope that one day you will be able to complete that holy final step for me. Then I may rest in peace and cast myself into the vast wheel of reincarnation.”

The multicolored tower blazed brighter and brighter, all its light converging toward the summit. Soon a round orb, shimmering with divine five-colored brilliance, floated above the tower’s peak. Streams of rainbow light fell from it, gently lifting Luanyu Die from within the mist and drawing her toward the glowing sphere.

Wrapped in five-colored divine light, she truly seemed like a goddess descending to the mortal world. Even in sleep, her beautiful face revealed a faint trace of sacred radiance. Gone was her usual alluring charm; instead, she seemed purer, holier.

Even in her slumber, a smile touched her cheeks, as if she had encountered something joyful in a dream. Her jade-white feet, delicate as snow, moved ever so slightly.

Enveloped in multicolored light, her dreamlike, enchanting body floated quietly beside the orb. The ethereal voice spoke again. “Child, your fortune is beyond the envy of many. I hope you will carry my legacy forward and make it flourish. Then I too may rest easy in reincarnation.”

The voice carried endless antiquity, as though within it lay the glory and the silence of countless ages. After the voice faded, the five-colored orb slowly drifted above Luanyu Die’s head, and a strand of multicolored divine light descended, entering her mind through the center of her brow.

Her alluring body trembled slightly, and pain appeared on her jade-like face.

“Alas... your spirit is still too weak to bear the infusion of such vast knowledge. I had intended, through this inheritance and with the help of my remaining divine power, to push you into a breakthrough in one stroke. But now it seems impossible. Strengthening your spirit must come first.”

The five-colored orb flared brilliantly, then transformed into countless fine threads that entered Luanyu Die’s mind and body, nourishing and strengthening her spirit and soul.

Time seemed to stand still. As the multicolored light continuously poured into her body, the orb itself gradually shrank. In the end it was left only the size of a fist before it ceased releasing divine radiance, its own glow dimmed considerably.

Luanyu Die’s fair and tender body was now covered entirely in five-colored splendor. Specks of divine light hid within her flesh, shining her body nearly translucent, so that a faint silhouette could be seen floating upward from within.

This dim silhouette was the condensation of Luanyu Die’s soul. If the elders of her sect were to witness this scene, they would surely be overjoyed and unable to sleep through the night. The soul taking shape meant the omen of stepping into the Transcendent Rank!

Although people such as Li Tianzheng and the others were peerless geniuses of their respective powers, and after barely more than ten years of cultivation had all reached the pinnacle of the Profound Entry realm, advancing into the Transcendent Rank was not something talent alone could accomplish. It depended on condensing the soul, wandering through heaven and earth to draw in a natural element, then fusing it with one’s own true essence and transforming it into spirit essence. Only then could one truly break through.

What was hardest was not drawing in the element of heaven and earth, but the formation of one’s own soul. That was the most difficult step for every Profound Entry martial artist on the path to the next realm. Yet at this moment, with the help of the five-colored orb, Luanyu Die had already condensed her soul into shape and brought it forth from her body.

Her soul-form shadow floated above the small five-colored tower, eyes closed and expression serene. With a clear chiming sound, the tower released layer upon layer of milky white halos from each of its levels.

These halos transformed into tiny white glimmers, all of which poured into the soul-form shadow of Luanyu Die. As the vast number of pale white specks surged in, the originally somewhat illusory soul began to change, gradually taking on the tendency to become substantial.

But once the soul-form shadow ceased to seem so fleeting, the milky white specks no longer emerged. The five-colored tower spun once on the spot, then shrank to the size of an egg and hovered above Luanyu Die’s brow.

A drop of heart-blood essence drifted out from between her brows and was absorbed completely by the tower. After taking in a drop of her heart’s blood, the small tower trembled faintly, as though a child were rejoicing. After being lonely and secluded for so long, it had finally found a chance to display its might, and it could not hide its delight.

“So pleased with yourself, are you? Could it be that I have been burying your talents all this time?” The ancient voice drifted over, carrying a trace of teasing and dissatisfaction.

“Hehe... Master is the worst, leaving little treasure to fend for itself in this empty place and never asking after me! For a full one hundred fifty-seven thousand eight hundred sixty years and seven days!”

The five-colored tower swayed, then strangely extended two tiny hands and hopped about as if putting its hands on its hips. A childish voice came from within it, full of grievance and indignation.

“Heh... You remember that quite clearly, unlike me, who has long since forgotten the existence of time. From this day on, you shall follow this little girl. Help her ascend to the divine realm as soon as possible, so she may retrieve that thing.”

The ancient voice echoed faintly throughout the whole space. “Rest assured, Master! Little Treasure will not disappoint you. I will surely let her display your former glory once more.”

The tower clenched its tiny fists and swung them forcefully, bouncing around Luanyu Die’s body as it made its promise.

“After tens of thousands of years of silence, you still have not matured even a little. This little girl will have her hardships ahead of her, hehe...” the ancient voice said with amused relish.

“Master, Little Treasure has already matured a great deal. Over these past hundred thousand years, I have read every book in your collection!”

The tower waved a little irritably.

“Hmph... You think I do not know you were merely bored? Dare you claim you remembered every word, or fully grasped every meaning?”

Though the ancient voice carried a touch of anger, it was more a parent’s dissatisfaction at a child’s lack of ambition.

The tower was instantly speechless, wilting like an eggplant beaten by frost.

By now Luanyu Die’s soul had become somewhat substantial. Her delicate features were clearly visible as it slowly descended and reentered her body.

The moment her soul fused with her flesh, an incomparably domineering aura burst forth. Her body trembled once, and that tyrannical force immediately withdrew back into her, vanishing as swiftly as a fleeting blossom.

The five-colored orb, now only the size of a fist, transformed into a beam of light that sank into her brow and entered the sea of her consciousness. A vast flood of information surged in like a tide, filling the entire mind-sea to the brim.

Her brows furrowed. Still asleep, Luanyu Die looked pained under the massive infusion of knowledge.

“Master, is she all right?” The tower hovered overhead, its tone full of concern as it asked its ancient master.

“Do not worry. She will be fine. Her soul has already been condensed and shaped by my divine power; absorbing and digesting this information is only a matter of time.”

Everything returned to calm. The tower and its master waited quietly for Luanyu Die’s inheritance to finish.

Time within this elemental realm could not be measured. No one knew how long passed before the information in her sea of consciousness had been fully absorbed, transforming into countless little stars suspended within it. Each star represented a fragment of knowledge, or a sacred art, or a martial technique.

After an even longer while, the sleeping Luanyu Die gave a soft murmur and slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was as lively as autumn waters, sparkling with starlight.

“Where am I? Ah... where did my clothes go?”

Upon waking, Luanyu Die discovered that all her clothing had vanished without a trace. In alarm, she covered her chest with both hands.

“Oh, oh, you’re awake! Why such a huge reaction? Could it be someone took advantage of you in your sleep?”

Seeing Luanyu Die awake, the tower bounced around her snow-white body in circles, its childish voice full of teasing.

“Who... who is speaking?” Luanyu Die’s face flushed crimson. Her enchanting body stood exposed before a stranger; how could she not be utterly embarrassed?

“What eyes you have! I’m bouncing around right in front of you and you still can’t see me. As the saying goes... what was it again? Yes, exactly: big chest, no brains!”

Luanyu Die’s face had turned so red it seemed ready to bleed. With great effort she lowered her head and looked down, only to see a five-colored tower standing in front of her, waving two tiny hands as if greeting her.

“Are you the one speaking to me?” Luanyu Die’s mind was still hazy. Seeing such a spirited little tower, she asked tentatively.

“Of course it’s me! Who else could it be?”

The tower hopped onto her chest, put its hands on its hips, and spoke proudly.