4 The Fate Of The Bright Clan (1/2)
Ming Ren slowly opened his eyes to unfamiliar surroundings. He was in a comfortable white bed and sat on it cross-legged without any difficulty or lethargy. The room had no furniture and was completely white. What was going on? He was in front of the Bright Sculpture, shouldn't he wake up there? Why did they move him?
Before he could get up and leave his body trembled. Inside of him, all of the experiences in the Scripture started to consolidate. Suddenly, it was as if he lived ten thousands of years, and at the same time, he was the same young man that sat curiously in the Bright Clan waiting to learn. His sense could also extend for a radius of ten kilometers around him!
”Is this...Spirit Sense? How is this possible? Only cultivators that opened the first gate of the Spirit Gate Realm are able to use their Spirit Sense… moreover, with this radius…” extending his sense beyond the door, Ming Ren quickly realized there was no one he knew outside and they mostly looked like servants. This seemed like the resting area for the servants of a clan, but it wasn't the Bright Clan.
”...This is the Cloud Clan!” He had no idea how, but he was in the servant area somewhere inside the Cloud Clan. He didn't recognize anyone or the place itself but some of the servants mentioned it by name.
”Strange… Something must've happened…!” A sense of foreboding instantly hit him. If nothing happened at the Bright Clan he wouldn't be here. His head started to hurt and his chest felt like exploding, ”My soul is strengthened… is this the effect of the Scripture? No wonder my Spirit Sense has awoken. Before going out I better take a look at my situation.”
Although his good friend Yun Shufeng was the prodigy of the Cloud Clan, he had no way of knowing why he was brought there. Moreover, if he was a guest he wouldn't be at the servant's quarters. Even at only the 4th layer, he was a cultivator from the Bright Clan and should, by all means, be received as a guest.
Although his surroundings were not properly cleaned and the outside seemed abandoned, no one came inside to check on him and there weren't any locks, so he wasn't a prisoner. It was as if he was tossed there and they just forgot about him. If that was the case, how long did he stay there? Wasn't he supposed to stay at the Scripture for only a day? Could it be… it was longer than a day?
He suddenly remembered he was so engrossed in learning he never slept or ate!
”...You fool, you only realize this now, are you even human…?” Ming Ren wanted to slap himself hard.
He closed his eyes and the used the [One Breath Luminescence] Cultivation Art of his clan to circulate Qi inside his body. His mouth instantly twisted in disgust.
”...This...This...This is the Cultivation Law we've been practicing...? No wonder the clan has been in decline for so long!”
The [One Breath Luminescence] Art was, in fact, a high-grade earth cultivation law from the Upper Realms, enough to be considered top tier in the entirety not only in the Cloud Province or the Soaring Country but the entire lower realms.
As time passed and with the successive wars, knowledge about the complete art was lost. Somehow, the Scripture didn't pass on the complete law, maybe because it sensed that it would only bring further disaster. The current Bright Clan's One Breath Luminescence was only a middle-grade human cultivation law.
Although he cultivated many laws and techniques inside the Bright Sculpture, he didn't carry them over with him. What he obtained was ”knowledge” and ”experience”. If he had a thousand lives it might not have been enough to cover all that he experienced, but the Secret World inside the Bright Sculpture provided him with this opportunity.
Which Senior created that Secret World? What sort of fearful existence would be able to do such a thing? It was a pity that he didn't have any information aside from the fact it was a powerful being from the Bright Clan.
As he circulated the spirit energy inside his body he felt the familiar bottleneck in the initial stage of the 4th layer, the one he hadn't been able to overcome for many years.
”Ha ha ha… no wonder I couldn't break through. This physique of mine… is unique!” It was possible no one in the Lower Realms could identify his physique, as it only appeared once since immemorial times in the Upper Realms. As for the reason he became extremely happy is that he finally found the reason the Bright Sculpture recognized and chose him.
The [Divine Light Dragon Body]. A physique that shouldn't exist in the Upper or Lower Realms. A physique so tyrannical that the Bright Senior in the past used to dominate an entire era.
Normally, he wouldn't even be able to cultivate to the first layer, becoming a cripple as soon as he tried to do so. But fortunately, his physique didn't activate until after the first time he went into the Bright Sculpture. Contrary to the common physiques, the Divine Light Dragon Body was an ephemeral physique.
It could disappear for long periods of time and then reappear as if it was always there. Unlike common physiques that activated through special resources and spirit energy, it could only activate permanently together with two other things:
”Knowledge” and ”Experience”!
The problem was, a common cultivator would long be dead before the physique could come into play. But Ming Ren had the Bright Sculpture. The Bright Senior understood this point and created a place where his successor could be nurtured enough to activate this physique.
As Ming Ren's knowledge and experience in the real world grows, the Divine Light Dragon Body would only grow more tyrannical.
Relief spread through his body. Before, he thought he was unable to break through his shackles. He was doomed to forever be a disappointment to his clan and his parents. Now, his reach was endless.
”Mother...Father… I will make you proud!” Suddenly he thought of his parents and decided to go out and find them. Even though he knew his problem now, it wasn't something he could solve in a short time. His physique might be tyrannical, but it was also extremely troublesome to cultivate. Unlike normal cultivators, he couldn't just sit around. He needed to experience the world.
Before he could get out of the room, an entourage approached outside. There were around ten bodyguards that accompanied a young lady. The two with the most impressive cultivation were at the peak of the Spirit Realm and all of them were at least in that realm. The young lady, however, was only at the fourth layer of the Body Tempering Realm.
The young lady felt unhappy at the state the place was in, but raised her hand and then came inside the white room alone. She walked in cheerfully despite the lack of cleaning and her eyes lit up in surprise as she saw Ming Ren sitting in the room, ”You… awoke?”
She looked as if she saw a ghost. Everyone but her big sister had given up on this young man.
Ming Ren stared, ”Big Sis Shufen?”
No, wait, that isn't right. The young lady in front of him looked very similar to Yun Shufen, but her eyes were clearer and she was more beautiful and vibrant. Shufen always had an imponent and dignified behavior, but his young lady was somehow more open and joyful. Also, she was only at the 4th layer, the same as him.
”Eh? Oh, I'm not!” She quickly waved her hands, ”I'm Shuqing! We've met before, Big Brother.”
Yun Shuqing...? Wait, that's not right. Shuqing was Shufen's younger sister, she should only be around six years old right now, but this lady in front of him looked a bit older than him and Shufen.