A Thought Through Eternity - Chapter 127
Enlightenment is a type of realm. To be accurate, it was a state where one merged with the heaven and earth, where one was one with the world and one was able to sense the laws of the heaven and earth as well as understand the laws of all living things.
Even if someone was an ordinary mortal, they could also accidentally gain enlightenment. Merely, the chances were too small. It could not be said that it was impossible, but it was practically non-existent. If Qi Condensation cultivators wanted to gain enlightenment, it would also be incomparably hard. Occasionally, when someone who achieved enlightenment appeared, it would cause countless people to be extremely shocked.
Only those almighty elders which had profound cultivations could occasionally be immersed in their enlightenment, comprehending the changes in the heavens and earth, and perceiving the Great Dao of the Heavens.
In the thousand years of disciples in the Spirit Creek Sect, there were only two people that could step into the realm of enlightenment. One of them was Gui Ya, who’s innate talent was truly peerlessly terrifying, even Shangguan Tianyou would be lacking compared to him.
The other person was the person under the sculpture that everyone was watching. The person who had worked hard for seventy days, Bai Xiaochun!
At this moment, all of the surrounding disciples of the North Bank took a deep breath, a commotion caused by their incredulous cries echoed out.
“Bai Xiaochun… he… achieved enlightenment?! After Senior Brother Gui Ya, he is the second person that has achieved enlightenment!”
“Humph! How can his enlightenment be compared to Senior Brother Gui Ya’s? Senior Brother Gui Ya only used fifteen days, however, Bai Xiaochun used seventy days!”
“Don’t put it that way. Even if you told us that we could achieve enlightenment if we persevered for seventy days, we would still be unable to! This is Bai Xiaochun’s own hard work!”
Within the crowd, there were cries of astonishment, some complicated voices, and even someindignant voices; jealously and disdain were clearly shown in their voices. No matter what, most of the disciples could feel Bai Xiaochun’s hard work and his perseverance, and their admiration towards Bai Xiaochun’s enlightenment increased even more.
Meanwhile, six rainbows appeared in the sky, instantly whistling through the air. The fastest was unexpectedly not the Ancestors of the four mountains, but… Li Qinghou who had come from the South Bank!
Clearly, he was already paying attention to the events happening here, and the exact moment when Bai Xiaochun achieved enlightenment, his figure suddenly appeared, his right hand pointing a finger towards the Testing Stage. Instantly, a light screen descended in an instant, enveloping Bai Xiaochun within it, causing outsiders to be incapable of stepping the slightest into the Testing Stage.
At this exact moment, the Ancestors of the four mountains and the Sect Head Zheng Yuandong had also arrived.
“Seal off the entire Testing Stage, and do not open it until Bai Xiaochun awakens!” The old woman from the Iricdaceae Peak looked at Li Qinghou in the eye, and her gaze swept across the surroundings. She supressed the amazement in her heart from Bai Xiaochun being able to achieve enlightened as she spoke with a solemn voice.
“Anyone who disrupts Bai Xiaochun’s enlightenment will be dealt with as a traitor of the sect! The Law Enforcement Agency will be arriving soon, strictly guard this place!” Zheng Yuandong suddenly interrupted, his voice resounded out in all directions. After the outer sect disciples heard his instruction, they all bowed their heads, paying their respects to the six elders who had arrived from the sky.
It wasn’t long before the disciples of the Law Enforcement Agency, a total of ten people, arrived and went beside the sculpture. They sat in a cross-legged position around Bai Xiaochun, covering him and protecting him from any distractions.
At this moment, the fact that Bai Xiaochun had finally achieved enlightenment had also been spread out by the outer sect disciples. Gradually, the entire North Bank knew about this; Beihan Lie, along with a many other disciples, became even more astounded as they left their caves to rush over.
In the distance, they saw Bai Xiaochun who was currently being protected by the Law Enforcement Agency. Their thoughts could not be expressed.
“He… actually achieved enlightenment…”
“Seventy days! He persevered for a whole seventy days!”
“Don’t tell me that the gap between us is truly this big? I won’t accept this!” Beihan Lie, the Gongsun siblings, Xu Song, and many other inner sect’s Heaven’s Chosen currently had complicated feelings.
In midair, the four Ancestors of the North Bank also observed Bai Xiaochun, whosat in meditation with closed eyes. When he had entered the Realm of Enlightenment, he lost all of the aura around him.
“I didn’t think that he would actually succeed!”
“His insights are too profound. His success isn’t due to chance.”
“Who knows how many days he can stay enlightened? When Gui Ya was enlightened, he was in that state for twenty seven days.” While the four Ancestors were deeply moved, a hint of expectation appeared within Zheng Yuandong’s eyes. He loudly laughed and believed his master would be pleased because he had taken this Bai Xiaochun as a Junior Brother on behalf of his master.
Li Qinghou also had a smile on his face. Praise could be seen in his eyes… and even gratification.
After all, this was the Spirit Creek Sect. The Law Enforcement Agency was there, and there was also the formation array which Li Qinghou had personally arranged. Besides a Golden Core stage cultivator, there was no other way for someone to disturb Bai Xiaochun’s enlightenment by breaking open the protection in a short time.
Even if a Golden Core stage practitioner really dared to appear, then he would undoubtedly die in the Spirit Creek Sect.
The six people naturally felt at ease, gazed at the scene once again and then respectively left.
The surrounding disciples of the North Bank were deeply shocked. Their gazes focused on Bai Xiaochun who was being protected by the Law Enforcement Agency, and they were all wondering. Bai Xiaochun’s enlightenment… how long would it last?
“He used almost five times the amount of time that Senior Brother Gui Ya used to succeed. I estimate the time that he stays enlightened should be about two tenths of Senior Brother Gui Ya, just about five or six days.
“It won’t exceed seven days!”
Cold snorts echoed out from within the crowd. There were too many people in the North Bank, and he was also the number one enemy of the North Bank. Although they respected him as a strong individual, there were still many disciples with hostility towards him in their hearts. There were even some who had jealousy in their hearts.
Three days quickly passed. During these three days, Bai Xiaochun did not move at all and the Yuan Qi in his body did not continue to drain. It was even slowly recovering!
However, all of the aura on his body had disappeared from the moment he had achieved enlightenment. It was as if his soul was not in his body, and instead merged with the heaven and earth, returning to the void.
Three days ago, in that instant when he closed his eyes, the blank look in his eyes was a manifestation of his state of mind. He was truly blank, with no concept of time. He did not know how much time had passed. He only remembered that, in that instant when he finally managed to sketch out the image of the scale armour in his mind, the sculpture in front of him seemed to be alive, possessing a savage aura and standing up; its right claw was about to tear open a world.
It was as if the sculpture had truly torn open the void causing his consciousness to be absorbed into this void, causing him appear in an illusory world. He had a blank look on his face and his mind was a patch of white. He had forgotten his identity and the reason he had come here, only drifting about in this illusory world.
This continued until he noticed an enormous figure in this illusory world. It had a huge figure which was hard to describe. When compared to it, Bai Xiaochun felt that he wouldn’t even be a small scale on it.
This astonishing figure, was shockingly an enormous beast as big as the crocodile in the sculpture.
Dwelling in this illusionary world, it raised its head, facing the sky, facing the heavens, and facing an invisible figure that seemed to not exist. It raised its right claw and suddenly grabbed outwards.
Like splitting the heavens and earth apart, the booming sounds echoed outwards and overflowed the heavens. Bai Xiaochun blankly looked at the enormous beast, dazedly staring at the claw which tore open the heavens. A buzz occurred in his mind; the claw was the only thing he could think of.
At this moment, if Bai Xiaochun had remembered who he was, he would immediately realise that this claw… actually resembled the Nightwalker Technique that Gui Ya used.
When Bai Xiaochun was in this illusory world, time was quickly passing in the outside world. It had already exceeded the five or six days that the disciples of the North Bank had estimated; it was already ten days since Bai Xiaochun had entered the Realm of Enlightenment.
During these ten days, the disciples of the North Bank, especially the inner sect disciples, would come to the Testing Stage every day to look at Bai Xiaochun. Many of them had a ‘might as well’ attitude and decided to meditate there.
Beihan Lie and the others were part of those who came.
They stared helplessly at Bai Xiaochun during his tenth day of enlightenment and they were silent; their hearts were complicated. Compared to the silent inner sect disciples, the outer sect of the North Bank were in an uproar.
“He actually reached ten days!”
“However, if he wants to exceed Senior Brother Gui Ya’s twenty seven days, that’s impossible!”
As the outer sect disciples were discussed about Bai Xiaochun, time quickly passed. The eleventh day, the twelfth day, the thirteenth day… slowly, it became the twentieth day!
The North Bank was already thoroughly shocked. This time, all of the outer sect
disciples were deeply shocked by Bai Xiaochun, and they intensely paid attention to him.
They wanted to know, whether Bai Xiaochun… could reach Gui Ya’s twenty-seven
days.
“Absolutely impossible!”
“He used five times the amount of time compared to Senior Brother Gui Ya to acheive enlightenment, it can be clearly seen that his aptitude can’t be compared to Senior Brother Gui Ya! Therefore, he absolutely cannot surpass Senior Brother Gui Ya!”
There were many of these sounds in the North Bank. Even if they were inner sect disciples, some people also thought like this. But slowly, when the twenty-second day passed, then the twenty-fifth day passed, all these sounds disappeared, turning into a silence that was formed from shock.
On the evening of the twenty-sixth day, under the surprise of countless people, a black rainbow flew over, appearing in midair above the North Bank’s Testing Stage, as it turned into a youth that was wearing a black gown.
It was Gui Ya!
He was originally in seclusion to make his final preparations for Foundation Establishment. However, when he received sound transmissions from his fellow disciples and found out about Bai Xiaochun, he came out to see what had happened.
Within the disciples of the entire Spirit Creek Sect, only Bai Xiaochun would arouse his interest. At the moment he appeared, he was immediately recognised by the surrounding disciples. No matter whether these disciples were of the inner sect or the outer sect, reverence appeared on their faces. Some even had fearful expressions as they quickly cupped their hands to pay their respects.
“Greetings to Senior Brother Gui Ya.”
Even if it was Beihan Lie and the others, they would also quickly pay their respects. These sounds merged into one and echoed in all directions. However, Gui Ya acted as if he had heard nothing, only looking at one person… Bai Xiaochun.
As he stared at Bai Xiaochun, astonishment gradually appeared in Gui Ya’s eyes.
“I achieved enlightenment after observing that beast’s claw and sketching it into my mind. Finally, I ended up in that illusory world and lost my bearings in that world shaking claw from that ancient beast. It was hard to stray away from it as my enlightenment ended, and I could not see whether that ancient beast had any other changes.”
“Bai Xiaochun, since you have achieved enlightenment, who knows whether you can stray away from that claw…”