NOVEL NEXT Chapter 16: The True Awakening.
Chapter 16.
True Awakening.
Endless Catacombs~
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Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours. In a dimly lit chamber, two individuals sat in silence - a man donning a conical straw hat and a young lady, both peacefully positioned on a futon facing each other. They were engaged in a state of meditation.
"It has finally arrived," the man in the conical hat uttered, shattering the silence in the room.
A subtle tension filled the air, rendering it heavy. Midnight had descended, enveloping everything in total darkness. The sole source of illumination emanated from a luminous blue lamp, casting a chilling ambiance upon the room.
Lu Xi Tong woke from her meditative trance upon hearing the voice of the man in the conical hat. Her heart beat steadily, and her soul remained as serene as a placid lake, the effects of her meditation clearly visible.
The man in the conical hat took actions, tapping his fingers at seemingly empty points in the air at at a pace not too fast nor slow. With each tap, a greenish amber light flickered intermittently before fading away. After tapping over a thousand points in the void, a spectral green array manifested, illuminating the floor and spreading in a complex pattern throughout the room, encompassing even the ceiling, with the duo positioned at its center.
The array was mesmerizing, reflected in the depths of her eyes as she observed the ghostly nether flames flickering atop the intricate design surrounding her.
A loud thud reverberated through the room as a massive black book fell between Lu Xi Tong and the man in the conical hat. Its pages flipped mysteriously, coming to a halt on their own. The page displayed a mantra, its letters exuding a sinister black mist that dissipated into the air. The book exuded an aura of profound malevolence.
"Recite the mantra and do not cease, no matter the circumstances," he directed.
Lu Xi Tong, albeit perplexed, harbored an stronge sense of trust in this enigmatic entity. Thus, she nodded and commenced reciting the mantra.
"To the entity cloaked in dark, whose light is black,
At dawn it wanes, and pure light it's bane,
Save the middle, a broken riddle,
It's light it seeks, never to find the meek,
From one to four, mighty demons it falls,
Beyond and below, s.....
....
..." The mantra persisted, entering into a repetitive cycle as she uttered it repeatedly.
As she chanted the mantra, the man in the conical hat executed various hand gestures, causing ghostly lights to dance gracefully from his hands in a poetic display.
Within the luminous lights, grotesque visages flickered in and out of existence, seemingly struggling to break free.
"Demon-sealing vines," the man in the conical hat murmured softly.
With an anguished screech, murky green vines as thick as fingers sprouted from the array, followed by a chorus of agonizing wails as more vines emerged. In no time, the room resounded with ear-splitting cries akin to a concert of banshees. Each vine bore unsightly warts, atop which rested sharp, stubby thorns oozing a mysterious yellow liquid.
Finding their mark, each vine plunged into the unsuspecting Lu Xi Tong.
Lu Xi Tong cried out in pain as she was impaled, nearly losing consciousness in the process.
"Stand your ground and continue reciting the mantra," the man in the conical hat shouted, successfully preventing her from blacking out.
Lu Xi Tong noticed that the places where she had been impaled did not even bleed a drop, and she quickly realized the reason behind it.
The murky green vines began to transition into a crimson hue from the points of impact, the color spreading unnaturally down their length.
After a duration equivalent to an incense stick burning, the entire array had transformed into a deep red shade. Lu Xi Tong's face had turned as pale as paper, sweat pouring down her brow, yet she persisted in reciting the mantra steadfastly.
Once the entire array had taken on a bloody hue, the man in the conical hat slapped his palm against the pages of the black book.
"Resonate!" he bellowed, as a brilliant white seal materialized from an unknown space within the book, which he extracted with his bare hands and pressed against Lu Xi Tong's solar plexus.
A resonating pulse, similar to the one in the Sky Reaching Pagoda, emanated once more.
Her eyes gleamed with contrasting lights, one pitch black and the other pristine white.
In the presence of these opposing lights, the strange vines trembled in fear, their colors changing from crimson to a shade of white and black.
The transformation occurred more rapidly this time, dividing the array into two parts as each vied for supremacy.
These contrasting lights represented the avatars of her dual soul, which remained in discord with one another.
Observing this, a rare smile of approval crossed the man in the conical hat's face as he intensified his focus, forming a series of seals that spun uncontrollably in space before attaching themselves to the vines and entered Lu Xi Tong's body relentlessly.
This process continued for an hour until a familiar phenomenon reappeared: a bright halo enveloped her, while a dark feather and a pair of tiny horns flickered in and out of existence around her.
Upon witnessing this, the man wasted no time. Placing a thumb on her solar plexus and another on her glabella, he murmured softly,
"Unseal."
For a moment, everything fell silent and dark, as all the light and energy in her immediate vicinity flowed into her.
Boom
A magnificent pillar of white light surged upwards, with both Lu Xi Tong and the man in the conical hat at the epicenter, bursting through the roof of the room.
YinYang dynasty's settlement~
Wenge*
A burst of white light surged upward into the heavens, illuminating the sky in a wondrous display of grandeur from the depths of the forbidden zone within the YinYang dynasty's settlement. It could be seen from afar, leaving its audience in awe. The night sky had suddenly turned into day, lasting for about an hour before receding into the nether.
Endless catacombs~
Lu Xi Tong lay in a deep slumber, unaware of the phenomenon triggered by her. The conical-hatted man gasped for breath. He had been hesitant to unseal her constitution before, fearing it might harm her as it did six years ago. However, he no longer needed to worry. The ordeal she had faced in the contrasting space within the Sky Reaching Pagoda had simplified things for him, albeit presenting some challenges.
He suddenly felt the urge to thank that strange youth Xie Xing in the Sky Reaching Pagoda.
Initially, his plan was for her to obtain the sanguine essence of the grand primordial carps and use it as a catalyst to awaken her bloodline, then harness the power of the fourth night to completely separate her dual soul, preventing a recurrence of the events from six years ago. But as fate would have it, and due to a stroke of good fortune in the contrasting starry space, her dual soul was now in harmony, coexisting peacefully.
This turn of events altered his plans, now focusing on using the power of the fourth night to harmonize her dual soul completely. With her soul now stable, he could unseal her physique and awaken her bloodline. Achieving all this was no easy task, hence Lu Xi Tong's exhaustion and subsequent unconsciousness.
Unsealing her physique and awakening her bloodline would lead to the recovery of her sealed memories. The extent to which she would recall her past was beyond his ability to predict. While this should have been a positive thing for her, the conical-hatted man couldn't help but feel a sense of pity for her.
The moment she awoke and remember her true identity her world would flip over, ending her peaceful years.
As the fourth night drew to a close and dawn approached, he took out a piece of parchment and inscribed vital information on it, placing it next to the sleeping Xi Tong along with a memory stone.
Knowing it was best not to be present when she regained her lost memories, he left these items behind, as he had other pressing matters to attend to.
Before departing, he cast a lingering gaze at the still slumbering Lu Xi Tong, hesitating briefly before removing his conical straw hat and placing it beside her, finally revealing his face.
He was, in fact, a handsome youth with features that would evoke envy in anyone. His scheele's green hair was partially braided in a stylish manner, cascading towards his back, his deep green eyes telling stories, a sharp yet gentle jawline, and smooth, pearly skin. He was the epitome of perfection.
"Until we meet again, littlest one."