Stranger Danger

“Because you are favored by the world, and because you carry the Profound Yellow Mother Qi in you. That is why the Earthly Sovereign Bell acknowledged you,” answered the Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent.

I thought that might be the case, Ye Qing thought to himself. The Earthly Sovereign Bell and the Earthly Sovereign were born with the Profound Yellow Mother Qi in them, and he too bore the Profound Yellow Mother Qi in him. Of course the Earthly Sovereign Bell was going to react to its “kin”.

“It is not completely because of the Profound Yellow Mother Qi though,” the Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent added as if he could read Ye Qing’s mind.

“Huh?” Ye Qing looked up in surprise and puzzlement.

The Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent explained smilingly, “The Earthly Sovereign Bell only reappears during a time of great change, and you, a bearer of the Profound Yellow Mother Qi, just happen to appear before the Earthly Sovereign Bell at this time. It is clear that fate has conspired to bring the two of you together. That is the true reason the Earthly Sovereign Bell acknowledged you and taught you the ‘Earthly Sovereign Scripture’.”

“Rather than the Earthly Sovereign Bell choosing you, it is more accurate to say that you have chosen the Earthly Sovereign Bell.”

“A time of great change?” Ye Qing accurately captured the most important point in the spiritual intent’s answer. “What time of great change, pray tell?”

“Don’t you know that the mysteries of the heavens must not be revealed? You will know when it is time for you to know.”

Unfortunately, the Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent declined to answer. “Right now, your focus should be on practicing the ‘Earthly Sovereign Scripture’ and taking true control of the Earthly Sovereign Bell.”

Ye Qing did not press for an answer. He simply saluted the spiritual intent and declared, “I will not disappoint you, senior.”

“Good. Now, there is one more thing I wish to inform you about,” the Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent said.

“Please, enlighten me,” Ye Qing replied humbly.

The Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent began, “As you already know, before you can take complete control of the Earthly Sovereign Bell and become its master, you must first return it to its former glory. To do that, you must practice the ‘Earthly Sovereign Scripture’ to the adept level and become a Sage through your physical body. Besides that, there are two objectives you need to achieve.”

“What are these two objectives?” Ye Qing asked.

“First, you must reclaim the Earthly Sovereign Bell’s lost origin energy. Back then, it was split into four to suppress the Four Evils. Obviously, it could never regain its former glory without reclaiming its origin energy,” the Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent declared.

“What? Reclaiming the origin power that is currently suppressing the Four Evils?”

Ye Qing lifted a confused eyebrow. “You’re not trying to test me or play a trick on me, are you senior?”

“Of course not. Why do you say that?” The Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent asked.

Ye Qing took a moment to choose his words before starting, “I shan’t mention how dangerous the place where the Four Evils are suppressed must be, or if this humble junior is up to the gargantuan task of retrieving the Earthly Sovereign Bell’s divided origin energy. Assuming if I succeed, what will become of the Four Evils?”

“Didn’t you say that the Four Evils are born from Primal Chaos and thus immortal, and that the only way to deal with them is to seal them for eternity? If I retrieve the origin energy of the Earthly Sovereign Bell, surely the Four Evils will return to the world and wreak untold destruction?”

“There is great justice in your heart, my young friend. The Earthly Sovereign Bell chose well after all.”

The Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent smiled while stroking his beard. “The reason is very simple. The Four Evils were certainly unkillable before, but that was then, and this is now.”

“It is true the Four Evils possess infinite strength because they were creations of Primal Chaos. Even the Earthly Sovereign at his peak was unable to destroy them utterly, only seal them. However, nothing in this world is truly immortal, and after tens of thousands of years of imprisonment, the Four Evils are weaker than they had ever been. If you practice the ‘Earthly Sovereign Scripture’ to the adept level and use the Earthly Sovereign Bell appropriately, I am certain that you will be able to end the Four Evils once and for all.”

“However…”

“That makes sense!”

Ye Qing instinctively nodded after listening to the spiritual intent’s explanation, but he didn’t even have the time to sigh in relief before the Earthly Sovereign strung up his heart with the infamous yet classic, “However.”

There was never a time where someone said, “However,” and gave good news.

The Earthly Sovereign continued, “It is best that you move quickly to annihilate the Four Evils because the origin energy used to form the seals will run out of power soon. If they manage to break free before you get to them, then they will rapidly grow in power. When that happens, you will lose your chance to eliminate them once and for all even if you manage to master the Earthly Sovereign Bell completely and restore it to its former glory.”

I knew it! If something is too good to be true, it’s because it is! Here’s a super strong martial art, now go kill these Four Evils that even I couldn’t kill back in my prime! What a scam! Ye Qing ranted mentally. On a related note, is that so-called “time of great change” referring to the potential resurrection of the Four Evils? No, it probably isn’t. If it is, he would’ve just said it from the get go.

“Can I… refuse?” Ye Qing tried.

“Of course you can.” The Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent chuckled. “But would you?”

“... I guess not.” Ye Qing shook his head ruefully. There were two reasons he could not turn down the quest. The first one was the threat the Four Evils posed, and the second was the “Earthly Sovereign Scripture” and the Earthly Sovereign Bell.

First, the threat of the Four Evils. Although the human race was now the lord and master of this world and far, far stronger than they were in the past, and chances were not even the Four Evils at their full strength could push humanity to the brink of extinction anymore, their resurrection would certainly result in countless deaths and unimaginable destruction.

It was one thing if he didn’t know or did not possess the power to do anything about it, but that wasn’t the case anymore. He knew they were going to break out of their seals soon, and he was bestowed the power and avenue necessary to resolve this crisis. In that case, he could not possibly sit by and do nothing.

This wasn’t him trying to be a good guy or whatever. He was a human, so he had a duty to his own race, not to mention that the least he could do was to not shirk away from a responsibility that would impact everyone. It was that simple.

Second, the “Earthly Sovereign Scripture” and the Earthly Sovereign Bell were well worth the risks. The “Earthly Sovereign Scripture” was a martial art that could carry him all the way to sagehood. At the adept level, he would be able to transcend mortality and become a Sage via his physical body. How could he possibly say no to such power?

Some people might think that it was fine sticking with the “Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra”. After all, hadn’t he reached the Grandmaster stage through it? That was true, but he had also reached the end of the road of the “Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra”. If he wished to improve further, then he needed to find a better body-tempering martial art.

For a Grandmaster, the climb to the top only grew steeper as they climbed. That was why a good body-tempering martial art was more important to a Grandmaster than anything else.

Unfortunately, there were a lot less body-tempering martial arts than there were mind-tempering martial arts—which was the orthodox, more common method of attaining ascension—and there were even lesser body-tempering martial arts that propelled a Grandmaster to sagehood. Even if there were, they were beyond priceless and held firmly within the hands of aristocratic families, powerful clans, and major sects. There was no chance in hell an outsider would ever get the opportunity to make contact with them, much less practice them.

In fact, Ye Qing was wondering where he could possibly obtain a body-tempering martial art that would carry him to sagehood now that he had reached the adept level of the “Chaos Demon Ape Body Tempering Sutra”. Sure, with his strength and potential, he could easily join a major sect and receive one such body-tempering martial art, but as this world had beaten into his soul time and again, there was no such thing as free lunch in this world. One must pay first before they could receive, and he knew very well that the cost might be more than what he could stomach.

But now that he had the “Earthly Sovereign Scripture”, that wasn’t a concern anymore. The “Earthly Sovereign Scripture” had to be a hundred, no, a thousand times better than most Sage-stage martial arts. More accurately, the number of martial arts that could stand toe-to-toe with the “Earthly Sovereign Scripture” were few and far between.

With all that said, why would he choose the dirt when the moon was right within his grasp, even if it came with a heavy responsibility?

And that was before mentioning the Earthly Sovereign Bell, the sacred artifact that forged the Earthly Sovereign’s Dao. It was one of the Three Sacred Artifacts of humanity together with the Clear Sky Mirror and the Human Sovereign Sword. To say that it possessed unimaginable power would be an understatement. If he could truly obtain it, was there anywhere in the world he could go; anything he couldn’t do with the Earthly Sovereign Bell by his side?

This was why he could not refuse the spiritual intent’s request. Realistically, refusal was never an option to begin with.

The Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent said with a smile, “I knew you wouldn’t refuse, young friend.”

Ye Qing pouted. Was it just him, or did he sense a hint of triumphant guile in the spiritual intent’s smile? “How much time do I have, senior?”

“Thirty years,” the Earthly Sovereign’s spiritual intent said, “Thirty years or so later, the Earthly Sovereign Bell’s power would run out, and the Four Evils would break free.”

“Phew…” Ye Qing let out a small sigh of relief. Thank goodness it wasn’t three to five years. If it was, he was just going to hang up his saber and await the destruction of humanity or something.

He was confident in his speed of growth, but he wasn’t so arrogant as to think that he could practice the “Earthly Sovereign Scripture” to the adept level in just three to five years.

Thirty years though? That was doable. At least, he thought so.