21 The Absolute Spirits Intricate Formula (1/2)
The secret passage led to another larger passage with many winding paths.
Yi Ping led the way with a burning torch and Xiao Youxue followed him.
They walked for some time but there were still no end to it.
Yi Ping expressions were solemn as he said, ”We should turn back now. This passage way is too big. We may easily get lost in this passage and never turn to the outside. And the cave is getting colder by the minute.”
Xiao Youxue said, ”Let us go back then…”
Yi Ping nodded at her and said, ”Maybe we shouldn't enter this passageway in the first place.”
It was because they were walking too rapidly in the dim cavern. When he looked back and shone the torch at where he had come from, he realized that there were many other passageways.
He sighed, ”I think we are lost…”
All of a sudden, Xiao Youxue called out for him, ”Yi Ping, take a look at this…”
Startled by her voice, he looked back panicky.
Xiao Youxue was examining a section of the passage wall. There were inscriptions carved onto it. The inscriptions were not too obvious but Xiao Youxue and Yi Ping was able to see every single inscription clearly.
Yi Ping was astonished, ”This seems to be a martial intricate formula? Can you read it?”
Xiao Youxue read it out, ”The most powerful act is thought, the highest function is focus, the most positive mind is the absolute will, the universe is beneath the subconscious, nothing is impossible, enable the motivation, inspire the spirits… ”
All of a sudden, Xiao Youxue said in utter surprise. ”Yi Ping, this is indeed a martial intricate formula. It is the 'Absolute Spirits Intricate Formula', the most powerful mind intricate formula. To think we would have accidentally found it.”
Yi Ping was delighted as he said, ”I have heard of it too. Among the many famous martial skills, the 'Absolute Spirits Intricate Formula' was said to be created by an elderly priest more than two hundred years ago. It is said that his willpower was so absolute that he was able to resist the Heavenly Temptress and even in the most dire of all situations, he was able to remain absolute calm and was able to overcome obstacles that seemingly impossible to overcome.”
Xiao Youxue smiled enthrallingly as she looked at him in his eyes, ”You should really learn it. In this way, you won't be tempted anymore.”
Yi Ping began to fluster when he noticed that Xiao Youxue was looking at him as she teased him.
Xiao Youxue said, ”Yi Ping. Let's spend some time to memorize the 'Absolute Spirits Intricate Formula'. When we use our skills in combination with the 'Absolute Spirits Intricate Formula', we will surely see a marked improvement in our martial progression. I will teach you.”
Yi Ping nodded. He could not agree more with her.
When he had committed the 'Absolute Spirits Intricate Formula' into his memory, he noticed that Xiao Youxue was quicker than him and was looking at the surrounding of this cavern keenly so he asked, ”Youxue, what is wrong?”
Xiao Youxue said coolly, ”Don't you find that it is weird that someone will crave such an epitome intricacy formula in such an isolated place? It is as though it is meant never to be discovered. We can barely read some of the characters too…”
Yi Ping asked, ”What do you mean?”
Xiao Youxue said, ”Over time, the cravings on the wall will fade or erode. If that person really wants the Absolute Spirits Intricate Formula to be known by future generations, wouldn't he at least try to preserve or hide it carefully first?”
Yi Ping saw what she was trying to say as he said, ”So you are saying that this intricacy formula is left by someone hastily?”
Xiao Youxue said, ”Very hastily in fact. It was as though he was in his final moments and only wrote it on the walls here so that this skill won't be forgotten by future generations.”
Yi Ping too, began to look keenly around. ”Alas, I think he was lost in this cavern too and eventually die of starvation.”
Xiao Youxue said, ”If he had died here, then his corpse will surely be around here…”
All of a sudden, she said. ”Yi Ping, there is an opening on top of this cavern and it looks like a dry place. Let's investigate the cave opening.”
Yi Ping nodded.
It took them considerable efforts to find a path up the cavern; they had lost much of their internal strength and were not confident to scale the slippery walls of the cavern with their lightness movement skill.
The interior of the cave was much warmer but was still very cold.
What greeted them was another surprise and startled them!
When they had just entered the small cave, they saw a pale looking maiden in a mediating posture.
Yi Ping asked, ”Is she alive?”
Xiao Youxue flew towards the maiden and examined her, she got a shock. It seemed that this dead maiden here was trained in a type of skill that was similar to the Golden Impervious Body that preserved her body.
After a while, she said. ”She still has a vital breath in her body but is as good as a dead person.”
Yi Ping asked anxiously, ”What do you mean?”
Xiao Youxue sighed, ”It seems that while she was alive, she had suffered grievous internal and external injuries as evidenced by her scarred body. At her most critical moment, she had slowed down her heartbeat and now she was in a suspended death animation.”
Yi Ping nodded and saw her gray skin. Indeed, she had been dead for a very long time.
Besides her was a black sword.
Yi Ping examined the black sword and saw two characters as he read it aloud, ”Perpetual Darkness”.
Xiao Youxue gasped aloud softly, ”This sword is an ancient sword and is famed for its extreme sharpness and craftsmanship. This sword is one of the seven most coveted swords of the martial fraternity…”
Yi Ping said, ”Who is this maiden and how come she is in possession of such a precious sword.”
She added, ”My guess is that she is waiting for someone else to revive her in time but that never happened.”
Yi Ping asked, ”Can we revive her?”
Xiao Youxue shook her head, ”Nothing short of a miracle can revive her now. Even if she could receive a miracle herb now, the odds are so low that it is not even worth trying.”
Yi Ping sighed, ”What a pity. It seems that the Absolute Spirits Intricate Formula was left behind by her and we have no way to thanks her.”
Xiao Youxue looked at him weirdly as she said softly, ”We are now lost in this cavern and yet you are thinking of repaying others?”
Suddenly, Yi Ping exclaimed excitedly, ”The Divine Dragon Pill! What if we give her the Divine Dragon Pill? I have heard that it has the ability to revive even the dead.”
Xiao Youxue was flabbergasted, ”That is just hearsay. No one knows if that is the true and there is only one in the world. Surely you are not thinking of giving her something so rare and precious? Do you know how many lives have been spilled over the Divine Dragon Pill?”
Yi Ping said coolly, ”This Divine Dragon Pill requires the practitioner to have sixty years of internal strength and it is of no use to me now. Moreover we are all trapped in this ice cavern. Even if we have the Divine Dragon Pill, what good would it be for me if I cannot make out alive?”
Xiao Youxue looked at Yi Ping with a wondrous expression…