Chapter 1196: Chapter 43: Gains and Losses (Part 3 of 4)

“Can’t wait to start a massacre, can you?”

Although her nape was held by An Jing, You Ruhui didn’t feel uncomfortable. She exerted all her effort to control her enhanced body, suppressing any stress response, and quipped instinctively, “With your strength, isn’t attending the Zhaolin Banquet, which is only at the Divine Repository stage, just like slaughtering? Who can stop you!”

Previously, You Ruhui might have misjudged An Jing’s power, thinking that in the vastness of the world, there might be some who could contend with him. But now, she had none of those thoughts anymore.

“Conventional wisdom dictates we should grow together, but you transcend heavenly principles. The Heavenly Dao forced calamities upon me prematurely just to barely keep up with you, propelling my growth!”

With that, You Ruhui sighed deeply, “I truly fall too short.”

“You’re already very formidable.”

At this moment, the barrier formed by nature’s spiritual energy dissipated. An Jing brought You Ruhui back to the side of the Cloud Vortex: “As for the grand banquet over there, I suggest you don’t underestimate the heroes of the world. If they truly intend, I believe they have ways to bypass the restrictions of the Zhaolin Realm, showcasing Manifesting Holy power within the Cave Heaven.”

“So it’s assumed everyone cheats; that’s not underestimating them!”

You Ruhui laughed speechlessly, while An Jing responded naturally, “What else? Without using tricks, why would they face me? I’m genuinely curious about the skills they’ll employ. There’s certainly a lot to learn then.”

“Let’s not talk about that. Ruhui, how is your Cave Heaven?”

“Feels very stable…” From the beginning, You Ruhui had been sensing her Cave Heaven, but the result was perplexing: “There’s nothing special, everything’s identical to Huai Xu, the spiritual energy might be slightly purer, devoid of demonic qi, but that’s about it.”

“That might be the biggest difference.”

An Jing was subtly solemn, knowing well that while the Huai Xu Realm appeared stable and serene, it had a major instability — the pervasive inert demonic qi.

It completely hindered the Immortal Path, giving birth to the Life Chart Martial Way. Although it created a new path, it was evidently more limiting.

“If I have to say something.”

After diligently seeking for a long time, You Ruhui finally identified a characteristic of her Cave Heaven: “My Cave Heaven was shaped by the Huai Xu Heavenly Dao. After leaving the Great Chen Imperial Court, I can’t control the Heaven, Sea, and Earth Veins, but the Heaven and Earth Core used Heaven and Earth Power to construct a Cave Heaven for me, making it equivalent to carrying Emperor Territory personally, allowing me to manipulate the surrounding Heaven, Sea, and Earth Veins.”

“But as a cost, I can’t like you refine my own Cave Heaven World.”

“So that’s how it is, there’s loss and there’s gain.” An Jing fell into contemplation.

You Ruhui’s gain was naturally that her Cave Heaven was akin to Huai Xu. If the Huai Xu Heavenly Dao truly wants to descend power to fight, You Ruhui is more suitable than his rebellious Seven Fiend Tribulation, and the support of the Heaven, Sea, and Earth Veins for You Ruhui, who was once Emperor Court Emperor Blood, is undoubtedly exceptional. Back in Kanming City, she could enhance her strength using altars, now it’s absolutely stronger.

But the loss is likewise significant.

An Jing’s Cave Heaven was self-crafted, the Heavenly Punishment Bitter Realm, with Divine Wood, Dragon Vein, and the future Four Heavenly Holy Swords. As An Jing grows, the Cave Heaven will certainly hold boundless power, self-sufficient in divine skills, with no need for external help.

Though it might veer off course, making the Cave Heaven inconsistent and necessitating a halt to fix errors, this is precisely the wonder of the Pocket World Technique: any future cultivator of this method, even if practicing the same cultivation technique, will never carve the same Cave Heaven World. For instance, in the Bright Mirror World, some produce Water Mirrors, some Copper Mirrors, some Jade Mirrors… the Heavenly Demon seeks invasion, needing different methods.

But You Ruhui lost this potential, limited to becoming ‘Heaven and Earth’ supported by the Huai Xu Heavenly Dao.

Still, without losing this potential, You Ruhui’s progress in the Pocket World Technique would be difficult anyhow.

“Don’t worry, this was also my choice. Everyone has their path, not to mention, how many among the worlds can sculpt a world to transcend Huai Xu?”

Seeing An Jing in deep thought, evidently considering his future, You Ruhui felt touched, secretly breathing a long sigh of relief: “With the ‘Heaven and Earth’ blessing, controlling the Heaven and Sea Veins as Emperor Blood, I can wield Divine Storage Realm power…although still far from An Jing, at least it’s a method on the same level to assist a bit.”

“Others lag by a step, only I have caught up.”

Moreover, You Ruhui also discovered something: Granny Huai’s soul and spirit, ever since entering the Heaven and Earth Core, had been nurtured. You Ruhui always respected this guiding, caring elder, and her special abilities had helped An Jing defeat He Wuchang’s Martial Meridian avatar.

Now the Heaven and Earth Core transformed into Cave Heaven, Granny Huai’s soul and spirit, though present, were no longer in their original form, being reshaped by Huai Xu’s power. This might be a form of ‘transformation’ and ‘rebirth’, prompting You Ruhui to seek her.

Indeed, she found her: a tiny, unassuming seed of divine wood, nurtured beneath the soil, slumbering and waiting for rebirth.

“This is good, this is good… In this way, I am not merely burdened with sacrifice, only vengeance; I can bring renewal to life.”

Seeing this scene, the comfort in You Ruhui’s heart exceeded others’ imaginations. Since her father’s death, there had been too many who perished for her. She wanted revenge, driven by her own will, yet also carried others’ deaths and sacrifices.

It certainly brought additional strength, but was also too heavy…

Not pure enough.

At this moment, An Jing seemed to have an idea and looked up at You Ruhui, saying: “Indeed, why don’t you come to the grand banquet with me?”

Although You Ruhui did want to go, she was a bit puzzled: “Aren’t you only allowed to bring one?”

“That’s for other dragons.”

An Jing shook his head: “But Jin is the daughter of the Dragon God and has sent such timely information. Don’t worry about this; when it comes to dealing with dragons by traditions and rules, it’s a bit like being possessed by a demon.”

You Ruhui thought for a moment and agreed: “That’s true. It’s just that Jin is so independent and strong, it’s easy to forget she has a Dragon God father.”

“Aren’t you the same?” An Jing laughed: “Now it seems the Huai Xu Heavenly Dao has really become your adoptive father.”

“Hmm?” You Ruhui: “Heavenly Mandate speaks!”

In the midst of their playful banter, An Jing also shared with You Ruhui the construction of the Spirit Vein Furnace, the details of the upcoming tribulation they would face together, the new ideas on the Pocket World Technique, the Earth Vein Dragon Vein, and the essence of the Divine Wood, sending all the information to Gu Yeqi, Cang Linzu, Huo Qing, and Nian Quan.

Incidentally, he also told Gu Yeqi to send a copy to Bai Qinghan — which was a bit troublesome since You Ruhui had the Emperor’s Blood, Gu Yeqi was a Companion Star, but Bai Qinghan had no means of being in constant contact. They would see if there could be a way to solve this problem next time.

“Coming to the Ancestral Dragon Hall was indeed the right choice.”

Before the grand banquet had even started, An Jing had already gained much: not only did he make further progress with the Pocket World Technique, but he had also deciphered the purpose of the Huai Xu Heavenly Dao and the origins of the Ancestor Dragon Born from Nothing.

Although he knew this was a precursor to great turmoil to come, he was unafraid, for this was the life of the Heavenly Mandate.

Yet, while An Jing was in good spirits, You Ruhui faced a dilemma: “The Cloud Vortex is ultimately broken, with a missing piece. It really doesn’t look good and can no longer block external detection.”

“Let’s fix it a bit.”

An Jing also found it unsatisfactory; although Jin Yanhua probably wouldn’t care about such minor issues, they also had to consider Jin’s loans and deposits: “I’ve just analyzed the structure of Cloud Jade; with the raw materials, it can be repaired.”

Just then, as An Jing and You Ruhui descended from the Cloud Vortex, preparing to search the surroundings for some Water Spirit materials.

The sound of tides echoed along the coastline.

Amid the dark tide and shadows of the night, densely packed silhouettes stepped out from the sea, onto the shore, hesitating, reverently, with uncertainty and timidity, they slowly approached the two of them.

“Hmm?”

An Jing looked at these shadows, the numerous sea creatures, and asked calmly: “Esteemed water soldiers, what brings you to me instead of staying at your posts?”

Though not overly approachable, he wasn’t condescending either. An Jing considered his words were not impolite but neither were they degrading or insulting.

In this world, this was already the utmost gentleness.

Upon hearing An Jing’s words, the leader of the sea creatures, a massive crustacean that seemed a hybrid of lobster and crab, trembled, then quickly prostrated and performed a grand gesture of worship towards An Jing.

Like dominos falling, as it knelt, all the sea folk followed suit, in perfect unison, not one hesitating.

“The humble sea folk dare not look upon the Lord’s visage!”

The sea creature mustered all its courage, speaking with a voice buried in the sand, deep and tense: “To delay the Lord’s affairs, even ten thousand deaths couldn’t absolve our guilt. But we have but one wish, we beg the Lord to listen!”

“Hmm.” An Jing’s gaze lowered, he surveyed the many prostrate sea folk, allowing sand and seawater to engulf them, and softly said: “Speak.”

“We beseech…”

Upon receiving An Jing’s permission and seeing he wasn’t angry, the sea creature was momentarily shocked, then its voice trembled even more — a combination of immense joy at the unexpected turn of events, having not met their death, and fear of the unknown.

Yet despite this, it steadfastly continued to speak: “We beseech…”

“We beseech the Nature Master of the Heavenly Mandate, to enlighten us, so that we, the ignorant sea folk and our descendants, may have the fortune to glimpse a glimmer of the Righteous Method!”