Twin Dimension Yin-Yang Mirror: Attaining immortality through the martial path
Chapter 237 - 207: A Pillow of Yellow Beams, The Terrifying Truth

Chapter 237: Chapter 207: A Pillow of Yellow Beams, The Terrifying Truth

The night had deepened.

In the village, chickens did not crow, dogs did not bark, and even human voices were absent.

The cold wind blew through, so silent it felt as if one was in a mass grave rather than in the bustling, peaceful small village.

The moon hung high in the sky, casting a thick blood-red light that made one’s heart chill slightly.

"To pity the weak, to not take advantage of the dark, to not covet treasures, how should I make my move on you?"

A cold, abrupt female voice suddenly came from behind Zhou Ping’an.

He turned and saw, to his surprise, that Yin Cai’er was already standing behind him, looking at him with complex eyes.

Her face was streaming with black Qi, the air around her body twisted, as if concealing countless faces wailing in anguish.

"With a selfless heart, the world is vast. Cai’er, I, Cui Guangling, am not that kind of person,"

Zhou Ping’an said gently.

"No, the name Cui Guangling does not suit you,"

the female voice fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said.

Zhou Ping’an still did not feel any danger.

He only felt a sudden, unexplained heartache.

Yin Cai’er gazed blankly at his face, the black Qi gradually dissipating from her body, revealing a faint bright light.

The night of the village was illuminated by this light, transitioning from night back to day.

The grass was as lush as tapestry, flowers were blooming brilliantly, children chased each other, and chickens and dogs were heard...

"If only, the one I had met back then was you, how good that would have been."

Tears formed in the corners of Yin Cai’er’s eyes, and she sighed deeply. Her entire being became ethereal, turning into a hazy bead of light that fell into Zhou Ping’an’s hand.

The entire Yin Family Village, as if it were a scene on a scroll, stretched and twisted before merging into the bead.

A faint voice came through.

"Young master, with the grace of the willow supported by your favor, please take good care of me for the rest of my life."

Zhou Ping’an’s mind cleared, and he saw the light and shadows dramatically change before his eyes.

No longer was there an idyllic Yin Family Village, but instead a desolate landscape of overgrown weeds and ruined dwellings.

Looking around, he saw dilapidated earthen houses crumbling from the ravages of weather, with a continuous layer of bones lying in front of, and behind, the houses.

Just ten yards in front of him lay three small skeletons, arranged in a ring, their bodies curved toward the center where a tattered and rotten shuttlecock lay...

Looking at their size and stature, Zhou Ping’an felt as if he could see those three cheerful little girls kicking a shuttlecock at the head of the village once again.

In his mind, the "Karma Fire Red Lotus" still blazed wildly, his spiritual power laying dormant, with no intent to sweep in all directions.

Zhou Ping’an gripped the cool, chilly bead in his hand.

He only felt a continuous stream of Yin Qi gradually turning into a roaring tidal wave, rushing into his body.

The excess Yang Fire caused by forcibly consuming the Sun Chasing Pill a few days earlier now became gentle and balanced under the neutralization of this tidal wave.

His Blood Essence rapidly transformed, and under the inner reflection of his spirit, threads of silver light began to appear.

His Qi-Blood grew increasingly vigorous, and its circulation hastened.

The interior of his body resonated with the sound of a great river hitting its banks.

He felt that at this moment, his strength was growing, and his body even emitted a bright red glow, while his eyes shone brightly...

"It’s at this moment."

Zhou Ping’an was astonished to discover that in an instant, he had completed his Blood Renewal.

The tidal wave still felt unexhausted, the bounty of energy nearly impossible to dispel.

A thought crossed his mind.

His breath suddenly ceased, his external breath transformed into Internal Breath, and he closed his eyes to activate the "Tidal Breathing Technique," forcibly controlling this Qi-Blood to surge from outside inward, impacting his heart.

With each expansion and contraction of his heart, soaked by this Qi-Blood, it suddenly lit up.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

His beating heart, as if injected with endless vitality, became incredibly resilient and powerful. With each beat, his Qi-Blood pulsated as if endless strength was being generated.

"That marks the success of Blood Renewal."

"Moreover, I’ve even stepped into the Organ Refinement Realm, refining my heart in the process. This bead..."

"The benefits I felt before entering the valley must have come from this. The benefits are too substantial, aren’t they?"

Zhou Ping’an felt that the continuous flow of cold Qi from the bead seemed to fit his body perfectly, it stirred his Qi-Blood to strengthen and condense.

Compared to his routine cultivation with medicine, this speed was more than ten times faster.

"If I were to wear this bead for an extended period, how fast would my cultivation speed become?"

Thinking this, Zhou Ping’an’s newly strengthened heart beat three times faster.

Day after day, month after month.

He knew his cultivation speed was already fast.

But in these troubled times, no matter how fast it was, it seemed too slow.

Those masters who had practiced for decades or even centuries would not bother to show any grace to a Jianghu newcomer like him.

Life is not a rehearsal, it’s not always safe and sound without encountering formidable enemies.

Moreover, enemies do not necessarily appear in an orderly fashion, starting with the small ones and working up to the bigger ones.

Suddenly, a monstrous figure might leap out and squash you with a slap.

Then, all your grand ambitions are nothing but a fleeting dream.

The power you truly control is always the force you hold within.

...

With this bead aiding him, Zhou Ping’an filled his last gap.

He believed he was second to none in learning various skills and delving into their mastery.

With the help of the Red Lotus Visualization Method and the Immeasurable Mindful Wish Power Threads, he could cultivate quickly, reaching the essence with a single glance, and training to an uncanny level of perfection.

But the realm of cultivation was about accumulation, no matter how quickly one progressed, there were fundamental principles to respect.

Martial cultivation is not the same as cultivating immortality; it’s not a matter of alchemical transformation or ascending in the daylight.

It still requires step by step practice to improve.

Looking at the glowing pearl in hand with amazement, despite being pitch-black, it managed to be black with distinct, colorful undertones... A faint sense of fondness and familiarity was felt through mental induction from within the bead.

That feeling was somewhat familiar.

If not Yin Cai’er, then who?

"Was it you who helped me?"

Zhou Ping’an asked softly...

There was silence within the bead, uncertain whether Yin Cai’er had exhausted her energy, was tired, or simply couldn’t communicate under these circumstances.

He thought for a moment and brought the bead close to his forehead.

Focusing his mind to probe...

Then, his mind received a set of Heart Mantra, a technique.

A very complex intonation that can be understood but not conveyed with words entered his mind; Zhou Ping’an, for some reason, immediately understood the name of the bead, "Yin Spirit Bead," as well as the marvelous uses of the cultivation technique.

[A Pillow of Yellow Beams]

The name of this Heart Mantra is called [A Pillow of Yellow Beams]. As the name implies, Zhou Ping’an roughly knew that it was the illusion he had experienced after falling for a trick before.

What he had entered was probably an illusory realm created by the bead.

Thinking of the illusory realm, he turned his head and saw, from afar at the valley entrance, Lin Huaiyu and the others looking over with concern, their expressions filled with joy.

Clearly, they had seen him.

However, they all still remembered his earlier instructions not to enter the valley rashly.

"It’s all right now, come in,"

Zhou Ping’an walked to the entrance of the valley and smiled, "The formation has been broken, and the bones in the valley need to be carefully buried by some people so that they can rest in peace."

Zhou Ping’an noticed that when he said this, the bead tucked inside his inner pocket seemed to move slightly.

A strong sense of gratitude flowed into his mind.

"Don’t worry, I will avenge you if I get the chance," he thought to himself.

Thinking of the girl in the illusion, innocent and pure like a lotus flower, Zhou Ping’an sighed silently.

He wondered, in what form does she exist?

Now that he could not see or communicate with her, perhaps it was because his mental strength had not reached a certain level.

However, as his cultivation realm grows higher,

With sufficient spirit (qi), the soul’s power will grow stronger, and it is estimated that it won’t take long to make use of this bead freely.

Perhaps, he might even be able to call out Yin Cai’er.

"It really is all right now."

Lin Huaiyu was the first to enter the valley. After a stunned glance at the completely changed scenery, her expression turned somewhat unsightly.

"This was actually a village; who knows what disaster they encountered?"

Her tone carried a faint sense of pity but did not dwell on it too much.

In these times, with brigands and bandits lurking, the official government represented a tiger-like oppression, and dangers from wild beasts and fierce oddities were everywhere.

Especially when residing in the mountains, no one knows when an insurmountable disaster might strike.

"The name Cui Guangling sounds familiar, do you know who he is?"

Zhou Ping’an thought of the identity he had assumed in the illusion before.

Now, he had mostly figured it out.

The bead, or rather Yin Cai’er, showed a reenactment from a certain period of the past through the illusion.

At that time, Cui Guangling must have been saved by Yin Cai’er and taken to the village. Then, after being crippled in martial arts, he was tempted by the voice inside the Blood Bead and had cultivated the Blood Shadow Divine Skill...

What happened next doesn’t need to be guessed; the bones scattered all around this desolate village have already witnessed what he did.

It’s just unclear how Yin Cai’er managed to preserve her soul?

The body dressed in the Lin Residence Protector uniform nearby must be "Little Wolf," the Protector who went up the mountain to gather herbs with Lin Ziqi.

Thinking of the trials he went through in the illusion before,

Zhou Ping’an estimated that "Little Wolf" probably did not withstand the temptation of the Blood Shadow Divine Skill, and thus met his end.

"The Prefectural Governor? What about him?"

Lin Huaiyu replied surprisingly.

The name of Guangyun County’s Prefectural Governor naturally wouldn’t come up in casual conversation.

Ordinary people, when referring to him, would call him "Lord Cui" and would not call him by his name directly.

"Oh, I’ve heard Green Lady mention it once. I’ve been so busy lately that I completely forgot,"

It seems that your family’s Second Brother has an engagement with Miss Cui Yuenniang from the Cui Family."

A shadow crossed Zhou Ping’an’s mind.

He suddenly thought of a terrifying possibility...

If "Cui Guangling" from the illusion was indeed the County Magistrate of Guangyun, then there was a strong likelihood that he had cultivated the "Blood Shadow Divine Skill."

This cultivation technique was described very clearly by the voice in the Blood Bead he had crushed as tempting him, and that to rapidly increase one’s cultivation, one should practice in a certain way.

The voice in the Blood Bead described the cultivation technique as exceedingly sinister and powerful.

The best method of practice was, shockingly, to absorb the Innate Primary Blood of children.

If it were an ordinary cultivator from the Evil Sect, it would be one thing; their exposure would eventually result in the Righteous Faction’s calling for their elimination.

But what if someone who cultivated the "Blood Shadow Divine Skill" was well-hidden?

And with the use of other methods to cover up their deeds of practicing with children, how many could see through it?

Lin Huaiyu, however, had no suspicions and merely thought that Zhou Ping’an was worried that Guangyun Mansion would send troops again for retribution. After thinking for a moment she said, "With the threat of the Red Lotus Army looming, compared to those bandit armies that attack and seize territories, our place can only be considered a minor annoyance. It’s very likely that we’re not even on County Magistrate Cui’s radar and thus not a key target for attack."

"Indeed,"

Zhou Ping’an did not share his thoughts.

At this time, revealing Cui Guangling’s secret would only add to the Third Miss’s worries and would be of no help.

It would be better to have someone investigate secretly to see if this "Cui Guangling" is the same as that "Cui Guangling."