Chapter 20: Light Shroud
This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation
Under the quiet, starless night sky, Qin Ming sprinted through the dense forest. His long-handled hammer swung over his back, a short sword strapped to his side. He moved so swiftly, it was as if his feet barely touched the ground, like he could just lift off and fly.
There was an urgent need driving him. The nobles from Scarlet Dawn City had arrived, and once they entered the mountains, they’d scour the area for spiritual materials.
“I can’t let them reach the Blood Bamboo Grove before me,” he muttered under his breath. It was vital for his second awakening.
The night fog hung low, the forest remained dim and shadowy. But Qin Ming’s sharp eyes cut through the darkness, letting him see the distant landscape clearly.
“That Blood Bamboo Grove isn’t gonna be easy to get into; there must be traps or something,” he thought.
If it was that simple, guys like Feng Yian and Shao Cheng Feng would’ve already made a move. They wouldn’t have waited around, letting their chance slip away.
“I’m getting way too worked up,” Qin Ming muttered to himself.
Cold snowflakes began to fall, some slipping down the back of his neck, the chill cooling his overheated mind. Just a moment ago, he’d been rushing like Old Liu the night before, wishing he could sprout wings and fly straight into the Blood Bamboo Grove to snatch up those frozen blood snakes.
“Take it easy,” he said, slowing his pace, trying to control his breathing as he navigated the mountain paths.
It’s just a second awakening. Even if he didn’t get the spiritual materials, he could break through on his own.
“When your mind’s all over the place, you’re bound to mess up,” he reminded himself, moving steadily through the thick snow. His steps were neither fast nor slow; his body grew more composed, more grounded.
The Blood Bamboo Grove had to be dangerous. Even someone like Fu En Tao, who had experienced a second awakening, hadn’t dared to act, and the patrol teams had hesitated. That said a lot.
Qin Ming moved silently through the forest, finally reaching a familiar spot. He dug up an old, worn blade manual from its hiding place. The leather-bound pages were curled and worn from use, showing it had been read a lot.
The book wasn’t thick, but it had an ancient feel. He wondered where Fu En Tao had picked it up.
“Maybe reading about what those before me learned will help me relax,” Qin Ming said, settling down under a tree.
Soon, he was lost in the book, his whole focus wrapped around its words.
Without realizing it, he rose from the snow. Holding the leather-bound book in one hand and gripping his hammer in the other like a long blade, he started swinging it around.
Despite the hammer’s weight, in his hands, it felt as light as a twig, moving smoothly through the air. Gradually, his movements grew more natural and fluid.
To achieve an awakening, you needed to practice specific techniques, like the Dark Night Meditation or Will Power Techniques, which improved things like strength, flexibility, and speed.
Combat techniques were skills that used the body’s strength and speed to make powerful attacks.
Qin Ming’s physical abilities were outstanding, far beyond the golden foundation level. But his combat skills hadn’t been systematically trained; most of what he knew were practical, random moves.
Some came from the wild awakening methods he’d practiced over the years, picked up from special movements. Others he’d learned from the old hunters in his village.
His combat skills were strong, honed by years of living in the mountains.
The forest at night was dangerous. Hunting in that environment meant facing attacks from fierce beasts and birds. Hesitate for a moment, and you could end up dead.
What he practiced were mostly improvised moves, often considered wild methods, but they were deadly. Fighting beasts didn’t follow any rules; it was all about strength, speed, and quick thinking.
Because of this, when Fu En Tao had faced him, he’d found Qin Ming extremely tricky. There were no set patterns in his attacks—nothing predictable.
Now, as he read the blade manual, Qin Ming blended his experience fighting fierce beasts and his insights from life-and-death situations. He got completely wrapped up, holding the book in one hand and the hammer in the other, constantly adjusting “blade styles” based on what he learned.
He lost himself in the hard-earned wisdom of those who came before him. When something clicked, he swung harder. Though there was no gleam of a blade, the intent was there, stirring the snow up from the ground to the sky. His long-handled hammer cut through the air like a lightning bolt, breaking the forest’s stillness.
He “slashed” at a large tree, and in an instant, the thick trunk shattered. It was a violent “slash”! Nearby, some strange creatures had been watching him from the shadows, but they quickly fled in fear.
Among them was a mutated black tiger, over four meters long. It turned and ran.
“You still spying on me, huh? Not leaving yet?” Qin Ming spotted a human-faced vulture, much larger than normal, hovering close to the trees, only about twenty meters off the ground, not quite ready to go.
He had just figured out the “Throwing Blade Style” from the book and decided to try it out. The heavy “hammer-blade” in his hand vanished into the night, shooting upward.
“Take that!” he shouted.
Blood splattered in mid-air, feathers fluttering everywhere.
The mutated human-faced vulture, with a wingspan of several meters and quite ferocious, was now as fragile as glass, shattered by Qin Ming’s “Throwing Blade Style”!
With a thousand pounds of strength behind his arms, the outcome was inevitable. The long-handled hammer obliterated the huge bird into unrecognizable pieces, chunks of flesh and feathers falling to the ground.
Creatures watching from afar saw this and bolted, thinking this two-legged human was terrifyingly dangerous. They knew to stay away—this area wasn’t safe anymore.
“Awesome blade technique!” Qin Ming grinned, lifting the long-handled hammer to practice again.
This blade manual was like a beacon in the night fog, lighting his way forward, integrating his various combat experiences and wild methods, rapidly boosting his skills.
He was totally engrossed, eventually losing himself in the practice.
He went through all the blade styles from start to finish. Maybe he hadn’t reached total enlightenment, but his combat skills definitely improved, and his strength had grown stronger.
This blade manual was worth its weight in gold; it provided deep insights and was incredibly valuable!
“If Fu En Tao had fully mastered this blade manual, he’d have been a real pain,” Qin Ming thought. But if he had truly understood the book, Fu En Tao wouldn’t have stopped at just a second awakening.
It wasn’t just a blade manual; it also contained studies on awakening methods, which sparked a lot of thoughts in Qin Ming.
For example, the book mentioned something called “Celestial Light.” The effects would only appear during the third awakening but remained important throughout the entire process. Even after achieving perfect awakening, one couldn’t ignore in-depth research on the Celestial Light effect.
In this age where the sun had disappeared, Celestial Light held people’s hopes and dreams.
Of course, the Celestial Light in the book wasn’t the sunlight people longed for but a kind of inner light, given a beautiful name.
When someone underwent a third awakening, they would begin to manifest this “Light,” representing a higher level of existence.
At that point, an awakened person’s strength would surge, letting them fight dangerous creatures barehanded—all thanks to this “Light.”
Because once the body held this Light, “Aura” would appear—a special force with strong penetrating and tearing power. Otherwise, compared to giant beasts, awakened people were too small and fragile. How could they fight such massive creatures?
The appearance of light aura allowed awakened individuals to tear through the scales of mutated giants. If properly used, that force could pierce their tough flesh.
However, in the awakened state, the light aura could only spread over the body’s surface, extending just a bit beyond fists and feet, and couldn’t be used with weapons.
Actually, Light Aura was a broad term. If you broke it down, there were many kinds. The book seemed to have had many owners, each leaving behind different insights, notes, and comments.
One person had written in the comments, “Wish I could master the Tathagata Aura!”
For someone like Qin Ming, who had learned from wild methods, the book’s content left him deeply intrigued.
“Too bad the blade manual only mentioned some strange and powerful light auras but didn’t explain how to practice them.” Qin Ming pondered over it for a long time, a bit lost in thought.
As he read on, he realized some of it wasn’t suited for him yet; he hadn’t reached that level.
But among the insights left by others, he found a really useful secret method called “Light Shroud,” which could keep him safe.
After studying it carefully, he broke into a cold sweat, feeling lucky to have found it.
According to the predecessors, the gaze of advanced beings was terrifying; they could see the life energy inside other creatures at a glance. Even in the dead of night, they could “see” energy fields of different auras.
That was scary; lower creatures had no secrets from advanced beings.
Especially when awakened people or strange creatures had light auras within them—to advanced beings, they were like torches in the dark.
“I gotta learn this fast!” He wiped the sweat from his forehead, suddenly feeling like the mountains were full of dangers.
Luckily, “Light Shroud” was a practical method, not some deep, hard-to-understand technique.
“Visualize emptiness and stillness, body like dead wood, heart like cold ashes; hide your life energy, make it weaker, dim your spirit.” He slowly started to grasp it, already stepping through the doorway.
Qin Ming sat quietly for a long time, silently thinking it over, gradually uncovering more methods.
“Light Shroud” could conceal some of his life energy, allowing him to blend in with ordinary people. Plus, he could control how much he hid. After practicing enough, even if he possessed light aura after a third awakening, he could hide it if he needed to.
At this realization, Qin Ming let out a long breath of relief.
But after thinking more about it, he chuckled to himself. Maybe he was just being paranoid. Even if advanced beings passed by and noticed his life energy, they probably wouldn’t care. After all, he’d only undergone one awakening; to them, he was just another creature wandering in the mountains.
Then he thought about the big shots in Scarlet Dawn City. Since they could negotiate and stand up to the mysterious beings in the mountains, they probably had similar skills.
“Don’t bite off more than you can chew. What I learned today is enough; I need to practice it, master it, and really get it!” Qin Ming stood up, found a hidden spot, and reburied the blade manual.
He’d definitely gained a lot today. After diving deep into those blade styles and integrating his insights, his strength had grown much stronger.
He murmured, “If I ran into Fu En Tao or Feng Yian now and had to fight again, it’d be way easier.”
Most importantly, this book opened his eyes, revealing things he’d never known before.
“Maybe Fu En Tao’s not such a bad guy after all, giving me such a great book,” Qin Ming said with a small grin.
He walked out of the dense forest and headed toward the Blood Bamboo Grove after making that comment.