My Simulated Road to Immortality Chapter 2294 - 1719: Hidden Lifeblood of Mountain Sea (Part 2)

"This one lies right before our eyes."

The moment Saint Lianshan uttered those words, a heavy silence fell over every saint gathered in the Xuanji Ring.

Guardian Hill reflected on visions from bygone eras, yet detected no oddities.

The other saints inside the Xuanji Ring shared that very sentiment.

Saint Lianshan appeared to sense the doubts stirring in the saints' minds: "Humans instinctively conceal their flaws, and the same holds true for mountains and seas. These vital junctions resemble crucial acupoints in the body, holding immense significance. Naturally, mountains and seas will shield them from view."

"Even typical saints, surrounded by them, might struggle to sense their presence."

"Merely those capable of overlooking the vast expanse of mountains and seas from a broad vantage can vaguely trace the underlying patterns."

"These touch the lifeblood of mountains and seas, so they aren't shared lightly. Yet with mountains and seas plunged into dire straits, such secrecy no longer matters."

While Saint Lianshan explained, the Sea Return Saint zoomed in on a particular segment of the sweeping vista of mountains and seas, displaying it to the assembled saints.

"What they call the grass snake's gray line—a subtle thread stretching a thousand miles. Certain unremarkable individuals or objects could wield profound influence on the grand flow of mountains and seas. They start off unassuming, only to burst forth after ages."

The projection expanded further, zeroing in on a precise scenario, centering on one particular cultivator.

This cultivator possessed a cultivation base on the verge of transcendence.

He stood ready to break through his present limits at any instant, yet for unknown reasons, he kept staring at the heavens with deep sighs, finally choosing to hold back.

He failed to achieve true transcendence and depart.

In the saints' view, the transcendence realm amounted to little more than a trifle.

Witnessing this sight, they couldn't help but feel a touch of bewilderment.

Li Fan's heart stirred, however: "Guardian Hill, doesn't this cultivator strike you as vaguely familiar?"

"Even if the resemblance is faint, it's clear he's connected to that individual."

"Mountain Sea Last Saint, Qiu Xinhui?" Morality picked up on the clue as well.

The Three Saints wasted no time hiding it further: "This cultivator goes by Qiu Tianhui. Prior to reaching transcendence, he hesitated at the threshold. Not due to lacking talent, but rather because..."

"Let's listen to his innermost thoughts."

Saint Taiyi flicked his fingers, sending a beam of light that fused into the mountain sea projection, aligning with Qiu Tianhui's form.

His private musings rang out across the Xuanji Ring, resounding in the saints' ears.

"Frustration, vexation."

"Jumping past possibilities, yet still bound by mountains and seas. How does that qualify as transcendence?"

"This leap isn't worth the risk!"

"I ponder if a superior path exists anywhere in the world?"

......

With Qiu Tianhui's inner voice still lingering, the saints furrowed their brows, struggling to accept what they heard.

"Before even escaping transcendence, he perceives the essence of mountains and seas? Gaining insight into the vast from the confines of a narrow view?"

"During our own transcendence, we faced no such dilemmas. Is this genuine or merely illusion?"

The saints stirred with unrest, as the depiction of Qiu Tianhui pressed on.

He mulled over matters for years, yielding no breakthroughs.

Eventually, he abandoned his origins and roamed various realms.

Naturally, he stayed confined to that same possibility, merely relocating to a different stretch of starry void.

Time marched onward, spanning endless years.

Qiu Tianhui grew disheveled, his once-composed self devolving into a wild, manic state.

One fateful day, a sudden realization hit him; his face snapped from a vacant grin back to clarity.

He dashed toward an ordinary little pond.

"This spot... it feels off somehow?"

Inside the Xuanji Ring, one figure had already identified the pond's source.

"Mountain Sea Fishery?"

At first, Qiu Tianhui's face bore a grave intensity, but joy soon lit it up as he slapped his palms together and declared: "The way out hides right here!"

With that, he plunged straight into the pool's depths.

Li Fan understood the enigmatic essence of the so-called Mountain Sea Fishery, known as the fishing pool.

Exclusively a genuine fisher could behold the boundless secrets lurking in the fishing pool.

Only through authentic angling could one draw forth diverse treasures from its waters.

Yet what Qiu Tianhui attempted afterward left Li Fan utterly astonished.

Without wielding a rod, he offered himself up as the lure.

To draw forth the Mountain Sea Fishing Elder from beyond!

"Does he plan to harness the Mountain Sea Fishing Elder to break free from his trapped mountains and seas?"

"But that merely shifts him from one prison to another, ensnared in the Fishing Elder's trap, robbed of autonomy, facing an even grimmer end."

"With this man's sharp insight, he wouldn't opt for such a foolish choice."

As the saints debated the matter, Qiu Tianhui vanished in an instant, seized by the Mountain Sea Fishing Elder.

Nothing out of the ordinary there.

The Mountain Sea Fishing Elder ranked as a saint-tier entity within mountains and seas.

The chasm between him and a cultivator shy of transcendence was vast beyond measure.

Qiu Tianhui lacked any chance to fight back, which came as no surprise.

Should he manage to contend with the Fishing Elder...

That would mark him as a figure like Li Fan, blessed with fortune akin to Hai Zhen's.

Regrettably, he possessed no such destiny.

Silence enveloped the Xuanji Ring; the saints turned expectant gazes toward the Three Saints, awaiting clarification.

Saint Lianshan merely motioned calmly for them to observe further.

Indeed, after Qiu Tianhui's vanishing and a stretch of stillness over the fishing pool, fresh developments arose.

The waters churned violently, building to a fever pitch.

As though some entity strained to surface from the depths.

Shortly after, a tremendous blast shattered the entire fishing pool.

This Mountain Sea Fishery erased itself from that possibility, and a silhouette reemerged, materializing once more.

It was none other than Qiu Tianhui!

Though little time seemed to have elapsed since his departure, Qiu Tianhui's clothing, looks, and very mindset had transformed utterly from their prior state.

Toward the former site of the fishing pool, he bowed in deferential junior fashion, then lifted his gaze skyward anew, the prior bewilderment in his soul now vanished.

"Exactly as I suspected earlier: though mountains and seas face blockage by the Dao, their continued existence proves that severed mountains and seas remain subtly linked by hidden channels. Standard approaches fail to reveal them. Solely via unique techniques can one trace these pathways."

"The Mountain Sea Fishery serves as one such avenue."

"Yet it's claimed by the Fishing Elder, leaving no space for interlopers. I need to pursue alternative routes..."

Qiu Tianhui swept his hand, mending the havoc from the fishing pool's destruction back to pristine condition, before pivoting and heading back to his dwelling.

In truth, Qiu Tianhui shared his lifelong bond with a devoted partner in this world.

From youthful days as sweethearts, they supported one another's cultivation journeys, advancing side by side to the present.

Qiu Tianhui's cultivation had crested at the peak of possibilities, while his companion trailed just behind, long affirmed as an unheralded True Immortal, mere moments from transcendence.

She bore the name Shao Zidai. Her cultivation path revolved around love!

For years, Qiu Tianhui had vanished without trace of survival or demise.

Still, Shao Zidai harbored no fears of him abandoning her someday.

She held unshakeable faith that no matter the trials, Qiu Tianhui would return in time.

Now, upon his reappearance, their gazes locked, conveying volumes in a tender clasp.

What followed was a passionate union of spirit and flesh.

Via this intimate cultivation, Shao Zidai grasped the full scope of Qiu Tianhui's ordeals.

"So the Fishing Elder truly embodies a devoted angler, captivated solely by the thrill of the catch itself, indifferent to any prizes reeled in. You're fortunate to have slipped away..." Shao Zidai murmured with a gentle smile, curled safely in Qiu Tianhui's arms.

Qiu Tianhui allowed a hint of pride to color his words: "Fortune? The instant I spotted that Mountain Sea Fishery, I pierced the Fishing Elder's core essence. That's precisely why I braved using myself as bait, diving headlong into the abyss."

"Have you devised a solid strategy yet?" Shao Zidai refrained from arguing, inquiring gently instead.

Qiu Tianhui's demeanor grew earnest in a flash: "I've formed preliminary notions. Namely..."

"The mountains and seas coexist!"

"The mountains and seas coexist? What significance do those four words carry?"

Not just Shao Zidai, but the saints in the Xuanji Ring leaned in attentively as well.

"The channels of mountains and seas weave from antiquity through the distant eons ahead."

"True transcendence, beyond this barrier, demands not delving deeper into mountains and seas themselves. Rather, we must align with the vital flow of mountains and seas." Qiu Tianhui, eyes alight with fervor, gestured upward and proclaimed.