Chapter 140 - 139: Heading to Sky Jade City
The imperial carriage of the Zhao Province was a marvel. From the outside, it appeared as a formidable flying fortress, but within, spatial expansion arrays opened the interior into a sprawling, luxurious pavilion.
At the front of the grand cabin, positioned by a massive viewing window that overlooked the rushing sea of clouds, Lin Yuan and Lord Zhao Shenming sat across from one another at a low table. In the spacious rear section of the cabin, separated by a delicate silk screen that offered privacy without muffling sound, Bai Qingyue and Bai Chen rested comfortably on plush cushions.
The four Golden Flame Qilins roared, their fiery hooves striking the invisible currents of the sky as they hauled the carriage steadily toward Sky Jade City.
As a servant construct poured steaming, high-grade spiritual tea into their cups, a profound, weighted silence settled between the two. Lord Zhao took a slow sip, his sharp eyes studying the young man across the table.
Neither of them made mention of the time artifact. Zhao Shenming did not need to ask to confirm it; his deduction upon seeing Lin Yuan’s Early Stage Spirit Severing aura had cemented the truth in his mind. To cultivate a Mortal Heart in three months was all the evidence he need.
Meanwhile, Lin Yuan easily read the unspoken realization in the Lord’s eyes. The truth of the temporal treasure hung in the air between them—a silent testament to Lin Yuan’s unfathomable karmic weight—and they mutually agreed to leave it entirely unspoken.
Then, Zhao Shenming set his teacup down, his expression shifting into one of curiosity.
"To successfully step into the Spirit Severing realm at your age is a feat that defies the very Heavens," Lord Zhao began. "Tell me of your experience, Daoist Lin. The crucible of the Mortal Heart is a uniquely agonizing trial for every cultivator. How did you fair?"
Lin Yuan looked out the window, watching the clouds tear past the carriage. The memory of Qingshui Town, the biting winter frost, and the warmth of that illusory life still rested securely within his soul.
"Just like you did, I lived a full lifetime in a dream domain," Lin Yuan spoke, his voice calm, yet carrying the heavy feeling of the things he had seen. "I experienced the absolute fragility of mortal existence. I felt the desperation of poverty, the joy of raising a son, and the suffocating dread of an empty nest. It was during that final isolation—watching my child leave and feeling I would die alone—that my conviction morphed into a shadow."
Lord Zhao leaned forward, entirely captivated. For a Spirit Severing expert, discussing the nuances of the Dao Heart was a deep exchange.
"My fundamental conviction, the very bedrock upon which my Dao foundation is laid, is that my cultivation journey will not be one of walking alone," Lin Yuan explained, knowing Bai Qingyue was listening on the other side of the silk screen.
"But in the mortal dust, that conviction of companionship was twisted by human frailty. It sprouted a tether of absolute terror. An obsession with not being lonely. When the time came to execute the severing, I found that the final thread possessed a dual origin. One root was anchored in my Mortal Heart, born of human fear. The other was fused inextricably into my Dao Heart, born of my promise to my Dao Companion."
Zhao Shenming’s eyes widened a fraction, a sharp intake of breath hissing through his teeth.
"To sever a thread rooted in the Dao Heart means collapsing the foundation entirely," Zhao murmured, horrified by the trap. "How did you survive such?"
"I refused to destroy the conviction," Lin Yuan stated, his deep purple eyes flashing with a cold light. "I severed the root anchored to the Mortal Heart, completely destroying the fear, but I left the tether to my Dao Heart entirely intact."
"Madness!" Lord Zhao gasped, momentarily losing his composure. "You defied.... The Great Dao demands absolute detachment! To force such a loophole..."
"It triggered a tribulation," Lin Yuan confirmed smoothly. "The un-severed attachment mutated. My mortal heart turned into a black Heart of Obsession. It weaponized my own obsession against me, releasing an enormous aura of pure obsession that threatened to completely collapse my soul."
"How are you sitting here?" Zhao Shenming asked, his voice barely a whisper. "An obsession tribulation born of the Heavens is a death sentence."
"Because I deduced the true nature of the aura," Lin Yuan said, "It was not just obsession. The Heavens used my emotional tether as a bridge to channel Chaos energy. And because I realized it was Chaos energy, I used the Barrier Token I got from the Xu Clan. The token acted as a sponge, absorbing the chaotic aura until the black heart was utterly exhausted."
Lord Zhao sat frozen, staring at the young man across the table. For a long moment, the only sound was the rushing wind outside the carriage. Then, he slowly shook his head, a look of profound awe washing over his youthful features.
"To survive a tribulation at the threshold... you are truly peerless, Lin Yuan," Zhao Shenming breathed. He looked down at his own hands, his voice dropping an octave, heavy with the weight of centuries of regret. "I, too, experienced a dual-origin thread when I stood at the precipice of Spirit Severing."
Lin Yuan remained silent, allowing the Lord to speak.
"Under the guidance of my master, Senior Ru—a true expert at the Soul Transformation realm at the time—I was warned of the exact situation you faced," Zhao Shenming confessed, a bitter smile twisting his lips. "But I was not like you. The fact that you were able to deduce the obsession aura to be Chaos energy is truly remarkable. Even Senior Ru could not deduce such a thing back then. He advised me that to leave the Dao Heart tether intact would invite a tribulation that would guarantee my soul’s collapse. He commanded me to sever both."
Zhao Shenming looked out the window, his eyes seemingly gazing into a distant, painful past.
"As you see me now, Lin Yuan, I am currently cultivating a false Dao Heart," the Lord admitted, a shocking revelation for a man who ruled millions. "My current Dao Heart is built entirely upon the conviction that I wish to attain ultimate longevity and power. But it is a lie. My previous, true Dao Heart was convicted entirely with my obsession to see my junior brother again."
The Lord’s hands clenched tightly into fists upon the table.
"He died five hundred years ago," Zhao whispered. "I cultivated so that I could reach the absolute upper realms, so that I could be able to achieve Nirvana, touch the Cycle of Reincarnation, and pull his soul out of it! That was my truth. But to reach this realm, to survive... I cut him away. I severed the very reason I began walking this path."
Lin Yuan looked at the Lord. He saw a man who possessed immense, world-shaking power, yet whose soul was a hollowed-out cavern of pragmatic compromises.
"Many cultivators are exactly like me, cultivating in falsehood just to survive the Heavens’ laws," Zhao Shenming said, looking back at Lin Yuan.
"I cannot cultivate in falsehood," Lin Yuan replied, his voice ringing with an absolute resonance that made the tea in their cups vibrate. "If the Heavens want someone to not pursue their deepest obsession, to abandon the very soul of their conviction just for a scrap of power, then the Heavens are not worth obsessing over."
Zhao Shenming let out a long, heavy sigh, shaking his head.
"You do not seem to understand the Dao, Daoist Lin," Lord Zhao corrected gently, a sad wisdom in his eyes. "The Heavens are a jealous entity. The Heavens want us to have obsession. They demand it. But they want only the obsession of seeking them! Anything else—a brother, a wife, a legacy—is a distraction they want you to purge."
Lord Zhao paused, gesturing slightly to the space where Lin Yuan kept his spatial ring.
"And do not mistake your survival purely for skill," Zhao added, his tone sobering. "Cultivation has a profound, undeniable relation with luck. Although it is not always great, at certain times, it has desirable effects. If you were not lucky enough to possess the Barrier Token of the Xu Clan at that exact moment... your soul would have undoubtedly collapsed. You defied the Heavens, yes, but you only survived because karma placed the perfect shield in your hand."
Lin Yuan did not argue. He knew the absolute truth of that statement. Had the Barrier realm not required the Barrier Token, his love for Bai Qingyue would have been the death of him. Heaven and Earth was terrifying, and sometimes, a man survived simply because the dice rolled in his favor.
The discussion slowly faded into a contemplative silence as the carriage continued its rapid flight.
A few hours later, the dense sea of clouds outside the window began to part.
Below them, sprawling across a massive basin surrounded by towering mountains, was Sky Jade City. It was a metropolis of staggering proportions, its architecture glittering with inlaid spirit-stones, bustling with millions of mortal and cultivator alike.
At the very center of the metropolis, rising above the lesser districts like a sleeping leviathan, was the majestic, imposing structure of the provincial palace.
"We have arrived," Lord Zhao Shenming announced. Then, the four Golden Flame Qilins let out a thunderous roar that shook the very foundations of the capital, banking sharply downward as the carriage began its descent toward the palace courtyards.