Chapter 8: A Secret Tryst with the Bodhisattva

"That's it? Confirmed already? It went a little too smoothly." At the encampment of the Seventh Princess's expedition from the Aether Celestial Dynasty, Ezra Yoder directed the team as they built a formation dais, preparing for the coming descent into the Eldermyst Realm. From mobilizing out in the wider world and pushing toward Skyspine Ridge, to the later attempt at entering the Blood Moon Gate, the cost in money and manpower was staggering. It was never something a minor clan could afford. The investment hardly seemed proportional to the return. Even so, this mythic world, as the great powers of the outside called it, held a chance to rewrite one's fate. It was said that even someone born with a frail Embryo Stage foundation could, if they seized the right Immortal Fate in the land of Immortal Fate, expand their potential and forge a top-tier Embryo Stage foundation. Such success stories were rarer than phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Yet that very rarity only magnified them, drawing geniuses from every clan like moths to flame. Talent might be ordained by heaven, but this place truly could change destiny. And the Innate Divine Radiance the Seventh Princess had set her sights on? That was a once-in-a-lifetime stroke of Immortal Fate. Ezra Yoder admitted Elara was exceptional. Loyal to the Seventh Princess, trained for special operations, hardened by real assignments, she was a first-rate intelligence asset. Still, the Black Turtle Village had a glorious past. If Elara had died there without a sound, he would not have been surprised. Yet this involved intelligence about the Innate Divine Radiance, and Elara had not only completed the mission, she had even brought the target under control. A miracle, really. Ezra Yoder's first instinct was simple. A trap. The Seventh Princess, of course, would not risk herself. The royal family possessed a secret Bronze Mirror, the Bonded Spirit Mirror, made as a matched pair. So long as the distance was not too great, the mirrors could communicate across space. They could even transmit energy and material. A support-type treasure like that was unimaginably rare. "Even if I lose, it's nothing more than wasting the source of Bodhisattva Divine Radiance. I can afford that." "And besides, who doesn't have a little luck? This great Immortal Fate might have been destined for me from the start!" The Seventh Princess sat in meditation within a bronze war chariot. Her delicate figure, wrapped in black-and-gold armor, bloomed with Bodhisattva Divine Radiance. Her Embryo Stage cultivation had reached perfection, crossing the great threshold of spirit and form. Her Divine Radiance had merged with her flesh, and it could leave her body. As vast amounts of Divine Radiance source spilled outward, a hazy silhouette condensed in the air: the indistinct form of a Bodhisattva. Naturally, such a body could not endure for long, nor travel far. The Seventh Princess guided the Bodhisattva Divine Radiance she had released into the Bonded Spirit Mirror. Then she drew a jade blade and cut her wrist. Blood splashed across the mirror's surface, and the Bodhisattva body flared brighter and brighter, as if it might ride the wind and rise. Ezra Yoder's expression shifted. Worthy of a royal treasure. The Bodhisattva flashed like a beam of light through the void, then vanished from the mirror with eerie suddenness. The Seventh Princess waited in weakness. She had borrowed this set of treasures from the royal upper ranks, and it was one of the main tools in her plan to seize the Innate Divine Radiance. … Duke Jaynes lay in deep sleep, curled on his side. He still was not used to sleeping inside a Tortoise Shell. In that slumber, his thoughts grew strangely vivid, and the scene around him unfolded as if he had opened his eyes. He lay among the clouds. Petals drifted everywhere, and the air was thick with fragrance. He rose and stood amid rolling mist, staring in confusion at a mirage in the distance. It looked like the fabled jade palaces of the immortals. Within, fair maidens even danced. "Am I dreaming? Running into an immortal maiden… so it's another dirty dream." Duke Jaynes stepped forward. Walking on clouds, he reached the cluster of buildings. He stared at a poised, beautiful maiden who looked exactly like the Bodhisattva of legend. She was serene and gentle, yet carried an aura that forbade approach, forbade desecration. Lofty. Untouchable. "Where is this? And who are you?" Duke Jaynes asked. The dream felt too real. The holy Bodhisattva approached with a faint smile. Her features were solemn and dignified. A white gown trailed along the ground, and her black hair fell over her shoulders. "You wandered into the remnants of my spiritual world," she said softly. "It seems you and I are fated." "Spiritual world?" Duke Jaynes's heart jolted. Spiritual power was a strange force born from the sea of consciousness, akin to the power of the soul. But how could someone in the Embryo Stage wield such a thing? Only cultivators of high realms could draw spiritual power from their sea of consciousness. Spiritual power and a spiritual world… the difference sounded like heaven and earth. "A remnant spiritual world… then you're…" Duke Jaynes's voice came out uncertain. The Bodhisattva nodded. Sorrow dimmed her eyes, and her quiet sigh stirred pity in the heart. "I fell in the Eldermyst Realm," she said. "The spiritual world I left behind has waited for one with Immortal Fate to come and receive my inheritance." Duke Jaynes's pupils widened. "May I ask… when did you fall?" The Bodhisattva paused, as if caught off guard. Shouldn't he be demanding the inheritance? "A thousand years ago," she answered. "I obtained the strongest inheritance and was slain by a friend. By great fortune, I preserved the inheritance. And today, amid the boundless sea of people, I met you. Perhaps this is the bond of a thousand lifetimes." "A thousand years ago…" Duke Jaynes pressed on, "Then your cultivation must have been very high. I have a question. If the Blood Moon Gate is closed, how can someone reach the Eldermyst Realm?" The Bodhisattva froze. What was he even asking? "…It seems you can't," she said, frowning. Duke Jaynes felt as if lightning had struck his skull. His spirit went hollow. "Old Clan Chief Grandpa… lied to me…" "You should come accept the inheritance at once," the Bodhisattva urged. Duke Jaynes's gaze dulled. Back then, the Old Clan Chief had told him his parents were seized by monsters and taken into the Blood Moon. But if he calculated his age against the times the Blood Moon Gate opened, the gap was nearly a thousand years. How could monsters have dragged his parents to the Eldermyst Realm in that span? It made no sense. In his mind, his parents' faces had long since blurred. He still remembered being a child, seeing other kids with mothers and fathers, while he had none. He would sit alone in his room and cry until his eyes burned. Over time, it became an obsession carved into his heart. But if the source of it was false… then what was he even cultivating for? "No," Duke Jaynes said, clenching his fist until his knuckles whitened. He forced his mind steady. "With Old Clan Chief Grandpa's character, he wouldn't lie to me!" "What are you thinking about?" the Bodhisattva pressed. "This spiritual world cannot last. Come accept the inheritance." "I have something important to deal with." Duke Jaynes turned and started back, desperate to verify the truth. Whether his parents still lived or not, he needed an answer. "Did he see through my disguise?" The Seventh Princess's eyes turned icy. Duke Jaynes was sleeping alone. This was a gift from the heavens. If she missed it, variables could arise. The intelligence she had received came from the royal upper ranks. Whether other royal competitors knew it too was hard to say. The Seventh Princess acted without hesitation. The Bodhisattva body erupted with dazzling light and forced an attack on Duke Jaynes. It was risky, with a high chance of failure. After all, this was not her true body. The Divine Radiance projected through the Bonded Spirit Mirror could not last. If Duke Jaynes accepted the "inheritance" willingly, he would offer up the Innate Divine Radiance of his own accord. Boom! The sudden assault hit Duke Jaynes like a thunderbolt. His vision blackened, as if he had been killed on the spot. In the bedroom, his body struggled, yet he could not open his eyes. Worse, at the center of his brow, blazing Bodhisattva Divine Radiance poured into his sea of consciousness. "Am I having a nightmare?" Duke Jaynes panicked. "Why does it feel like someone else is growing inside my head?" In the endless Divine Radiance, he saw the Bodhisattva body pin him down and violently suppress him. "Is she some kind of fox spirit?" he thought wildly. "No. She's trying to drain my yang!" Agony tore through him. The Bodhisattva Divine Radiance felt like red-hot iron tongs stabbing into his brain, twisting his will and thoughts until they warped. "Who are you?" Duke Jaynes roared, fighting back. "Why are you trying to harm me?" "The Innate Divine Radiance belongs to the capable," came the Seventh Princess's cold, distant voice. "Once I extract it and fuse it into my body, I will remember your contribution forever." "Don't struggle. Your will is already under my heel. Soon your brain will die. Then I'll replace you and leave your corpse intact." "Go to hell…" Duke Jaynes screamed in body and soul, but the Bodhisattva brought him nothing but annihilating despair. He felt like a lonely ghost thrown into a boundless ocean. He felt himself on the verge of being scattered to nothing. "I'm asleep… no, this is a nightmare. And this nightmare can kill me." He could not understand such a method, but he knew what he had to do. He struggled like a madman, clawing for the sensation of his own body. "Stop struggling," the Bodhisattva threatened, merciless. "My power is endless. You won't survive." She could not kill Duke Jaynes's flesh. If his body died, the Innate Divine Radiance would extinguish with it. When a person died, it was like a lamp going out. Once the body withered, the Divine Radiance would fall silent forever. Besides, extracting the Innate Divine Radiance was no simple thing. Duke Jaynes had to cooperate completely for it to be grafted into her. That was why she needed to destroy his spiritual will first, then let her own will take its place. It was complicated, but the Bonded Spirit Mirror could assist. "If your power is endless," Duke Jaynes shot back, seizing the only straw he had, "you would've killed me already. You wouldn't need to trick me." He forced his senses outward. In the nightmare, he saw his sleeping body and tried desperately to stir the strength within him. But resisting from the outside was meaningless. The Bodhisattva was like a vicious ghost drilling into his skull. Was he supposed to smash his own head open? Duke Jaynes made a decision. He drove his strength into the Black Turtle Shell. The blue shell gave a faint glow. Deep-blue patterns rose like molten rock, and the vague outline of a colossal turtle manifested, exuding a terror that made the world feel small. "Ah… what is that…" "Heavens, that's Daoheart Bone. Daoheart Bone! Daoheart Bone!" "How is it possible? The Black Turtle Village actually has Daoheart Bone, and they gave it to a little cultivator?" "How can this be… how can this be…" The Seventh Princess screamed in shock, frantic as if she had lost her mind. She spun and fled. It was useless. The mere trace of power leaking from the Black Turtle Shell struck her like the end of the world. "No…!" Her wail turned shrill. The Bodhisattva body shattered into pieces and exploded into a brilliant rain of light. "Wretch. Die!" Duke Jaynes snapped awake from the nightmare, pale and shaken. His heart hammered so hard it made him dizzy. But the moment he faced the room filled with drifting, radiant Divine Radiance, hunger hit him like a wave. He drew on the Purple Mist. Violet ripples spread, sweeping the Divine Radiance from the room. It smelled incredible. So incredible it made his mouth go dry. Thump! Elara dropped to her knees, trembling with excitement. The Bodhisattva Divine Radiance poured into Duke Jaynes in great swaths. That meant the County Lord's scheme had succeeded. Tears spilled down Elara's cheeks. In her mind, endless riches crashed toward her. Power and status unfurled beneath her feet, bright and intoxicating.