Chapter 284 - 279: You Watch the World from a Window

PFFT!

A mouthful of blood sprayed from Song Ciwan’s lips, but she had finally stepped from the ninety-first step to the ninety-second.

The fresh blood splattered across her chest, mingling with the gore that seeped from her very muscles and bones until she was completely drenched, a figure painted in red.

The ninety-second step was different from the last. A new kind of pressure arose, not pressing in from the outside, but pushing out from within. It was subtle and constant, seemingly gentle and slow. In truth, however, it was like water dripping through stone—a relentless force, a trembling precursor to an avalanche, a crisis waiting to erupt at any moment!

The pressure was beyond description.

It was as if a voice was constantly screaming in her ear. ’Kneel! Just kneel! What’s so wrong with kneeling for the sake of immortality?’

The strange, shrill cry rang out again. Turmoil rocked the Divine Soul in Song Ciwan’s Sea of Consciousness, and her mind was filled with a constant BUZZING. Her entire being felt as if it were about to collapse from the inside out—how could her will possibly endure?

At this point, the trial of the tower was no longer a purely physical pressure. It sought to destroy a person’s very spirit!

Song Ciwan paused on the ninety-second step. Behind her, Old Jin, who was prostrated on the steps below, lifted his head and stared, dumbfounded, at the blood-soaked figure ahead.

He opened his mouth several times, as if wanting to speak, but though a thousand thoughts churned within him, not a single word would come out.

The Heaven and Earth Scale materialized beside Song Ciwan once more: [Human desires: The shock, confusion, and pity of a mortal. Weighed at three pounds and nine ounces. Available for trade.]

Shock, confusion, pity...

In that moment, something peculiar seemed to stir within Song Ciwan.

She saw the Heaven and Earth Scale beside her and gazed at the wisp of energy floating above it, the corners of her lips curling into a faint smile.

’Pity! Old Jin pities me...’

Song Ciwan didn’t look back, but a host of subtle emotions churned within her heart.

’The one who kneels pities the one who stands, just as the one with closed eyes pities the one with open eyes.’

’You watch the world from a window, but don’t you know the world is also watching you from its own?’

’Who is right, and who is wrong?’

’What is dream, and what is reality?’

In a daze, it was as if Song Ciwan had grasped something profound.

Abundant Vitality still surged endlessly through her body. Thanks to the Blizzard Pill, Song Ciwan was not lacking in Vitality.

Until now, however, Song Ciwan had focused on converting this Vitality into Thunder and Fire Power. She would then use that power to temper her physique and absorb the resulting Energy to advance her Cultivation of the Thunder Fire Body Devouring Technique.

The Power of Nine Mountains, then the Power of Ten Mountains... Now, the weight of twelve great, ethereal mountains pressed down on Song Ciwan. Her natural response had been to frantically pursue Body Refining, to build an exceptionally Strong physique to resist the pressure.

This approach wasn’t wrong, of course. The physical body is, after all, the foundation of everything.

However, at this moment, the rate at which her physical body could strengthen had its limits; it couldn’t necessarily keep pace with the escalating pressure from the steps.

The power of the Divine Soul, however, was far more profound and subtle, its reach boundless.

She shouldn’t have neglected it before, but it wasn’t too late to realize her mistake now.

Within her Dantian, the ceaseless stream of Vitality changed its course. In Song Ciwan’s Sea of Consciousness, her turbulent Divine Soul suddenly found a measure of tranquility.

Beneath her Divine Soul lay two extraordinary things. Song Ciwan had rarely used them of late, but their existence was something that could not be ignored!

The first was the Heart Demon Seed.

The second, of course, was the Heart Sutra Fire.

The Heart Sutra Fire, one of the three Samadhi True Fires.

This wisp of flame had always grown with painstaking slowness, but in this instant, it was as if it had found an infinite supply of fuel and suddenly blazed to life.

The Heart Sutra Fire flickered and burned, its slender flame erupting into a roaring blaze.

Song Ciwan’s Divine Soul sat enthroned upon it, like a crystal effigy being tempered in a blazing furnace. The more intense the fire, the more translucent the crystal became.

From this Divine Soul, an invisible power radiated downward, gradually enveloping Song Ciwan’s entire body.

Infused with this new power, Song Ciwan’s presence seemed to change. She was no longer a colossal pillar standing firm against a tidal wave, but a small boat skillfully navigating against the current.

The Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting continued to circulate within her, unhurried as ever, but now it possessed a peculiar, new rhythm.

Though she was still moving against the tide, it felt as if she had Mastered the rhythm and weaknesses of every single wave.

It was just as the old adage said: ’Let him be strong; the gentle wind simply brushes the peak. Let him be relentless; the bright moon simply illuminates the river.’

That which is too rigid is easily broken, while that which is skillfully yielding is never defeated. A balance of hard and soft, a union of the self with the heavens!

Sitting and Forgetting the Dao did not mean abandoning the Dao. Rather, it was to completely internalize the Dao, to fuse its essence with one’s own heart, until every action and every thought neared perfection. When that state is reached, what path in this world could possibly stand in one’s way?

Song Ciwan entered a wondrous state of Enlightenment. Down below, on the long street, the crowd could only gape, their heads tilted back, staring in stunned silence—

The woman on the steps, though clearly covered in blood, looking wretched, pitiful, and on the verge of collapse, suddenly began to move with startling speed, striding forward with purpose.

She was walking. She was actually walking!

One step, two steps, three... With a few more strides, she passed the ninety-second step, then the ninety-third, the ninety-fourth... until she was standing on the ninety-eighth step.

Only one final step remained. If she could just take this last step, she would have truly conquered them all.

Yes, by walking—while standing tall—to the top of the Seeking Immortal Tower!

On the long street far below, an absolute silence fell. You could have heard a pin drop.

Down on the steps, Old Jin remained kneeling on the ninety-first, his head tilted up, utterly speechless.

He had been kneeling on this ninety-first step for a very long time, yet he couldn’t muster the strength to rise, step onto the ninety-second, and then kneel once more to proceed.

How strange. Kneeling down and getting back up shouldn’t be so difficult. And yet, the truth was simple: kneeling was easy, but standing up again was hard!

But ahead of him, Song Ciwan took that final step—the ninety-ninth.

DONG!

It felt as if some strange barrier had shattered. The entire Seeking Immortal Tower seemed to tremble for a moment.

"AHH!"

Suddenly, Old Jin let out a bloodcurdling scream.

He came tumbling down the steps, rolling all the way from the ninety-first step down to the forty-fifth. He clung on and screamed, "Great Immortal! Great Immortal, have mercy! My heart for Seeking Immortality is resolute and has never wavered! I beg you, Great Immortal, have mercy!"

Old Jin’s hands latched firmly onto one of the steps, halting his fall.

Tears and snot streamed down his face, but he didn’t bother to wipe them away. He scrambled and crawled, prostrating himself on the steps, completely unable to get back to his feet.

But as he kneeled, crawled, and scrabbled, a powerful force seemed to push him from behind. WHOOSH! He was suddenly propelled from the forty-fifth step all the way back up to the ninety-first.

And then higher still, continuing his rapid ascent.

Song Ciwan stood at the very top of the steps, now on the covered walkway at the base of the Seeking Immortal Tower. She turned, her gaze sweeping down past Old Jin and out toward the far end of the long street.

No one else knew that in the very instant she had successfully crossed the final step, she had once again heard that faint, shrill cry in her ear.

And with it, another voice—distant, ancient, and vast, yet broken and intermittent.