Chapter 55: Another Life
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
“All things bear the yin and embrace the yang, merging together for harmony… Cui Chong He.” Qin Ming muttered the words to himself as he dipped his finger into the tea and wrote his name, “Qin Ming,” on the table. The letters shimmered on the wood, and he studied them, frowning.
In those blurry, scattered memories, he knew the name Cui Chong He was his. But how come the name he remembered now was Qin Ming? He stared at the two characters on the table, feeling lost. Which part of his memories was real? Which part was just a lie?
When he’d been at his lowest, clothes tattered and body covered in cuts and bruises, he’d clung to the name Qin Ming. But now, there were flashes of another life, one that felt equally true and yet confusingly distant. He drew a deep breath, and the fragrance of the Three-Colored Flower, vivid and heady, drifted up from the table, filling his senses. There was something painfully familiar about it.
Images began to form in his mind—people dressed in fine silks and jewels, all staring with concern at a young boy whose face still looked a bit babyish. In front of the boy, on a jade table, was a Three-Colored Flower and a vial of some kind of glowing, life-giving liquid.
Qin Ming furrowed his brow, his mind struggling. Who were those people? And who was that boy? Their faces looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place them.
He remembered waking up in this remote place, the name Qin Ming the only thing he was sure of. As he went through Awakening after Awakening, flashes of a different life began to surface—an old manuscript, his grandfather, a different name.
“I was there too,” he whispered, “watching from a distance as that boy ate the flower and drank the potion.” He could see it—the boy surrounded by all those people, young and old, all watching anxiously.
He recalled the women with elaborate hairpins, feathers tinged in purple mist and peach blossoms glowing in crimson. The scene was surreal, but each detail tugged at a distant part of his memory.
“That boy couldn’t have been more than thirteen or fourteen,” Qin Ming murmured. “Not even close to his prime age. He hadn’t chosen the path of the Giant Spirit yet, but he dared to undergo Awakening early. And he made it.”
Was that the strength of a truly powerful family? The kind that could do what ordinary people never could?
Qin Ming looked down at the Three-Colored Flower in his jade box. It stood tall, nourished by the Celestial Light, as pure and perfect as the one from his memory. He plucked one of the petals—its surface glistening like crystal—and brought it to his lips.
The moment it touched his tongue, a wave of heat surged through him, spreading from his mouth to his chest, burning like fire. He clenched his jaw, forcing himself to stay calm. It hurt, but it was bearable. Soon, his stomach felt the heat too, as if a blaze were building up inside. The power of the Celestial Light filled his body, threatening to tear him apart.
He stayed steady, breathing deeply as he plucked petal after petal, chewing and swallowing. The more he ate, the more he felt the clash of two forces inside him. One was the Celestial Light from beyond the Spirit Mountain, something that had pierced through the night. The other was a light from deep within his own body, a force born within him.
“Yeah… definitely painful,” Qin Ming muttered, his voice cracking just slightly. He didn’t stop though, eating every last petal, then chewing on the leaves and even the stem. When he finally swallowed the last bit, it felt as if the two kinds of Celestial Light were about to explode inside him. His body, though, stayed strong. His flesh and blood managed to hold the surging energies, containing the wild force without shattering.
In his abdomen, the two forces spiraled, twisting around each other in a chaotic dance, until finally, they came together, merging into a single, glowing sphere. And then—boom—the force rushed outward, spreading to every part of him, purifying his body from within.
Qin Ming felt his strength grow. The Celestial Light inside him expanded, becoming richer and more intense. It filled every corner of his being, lighting up his spirit. His heart, his lungs, his limbs—they all responded, surging with newfound energy. His entire body was glowing, releasing a bright, pure light.
He walked out to the courtyard, feeling the energy in his veins. With a few swift moves, he unleashed several Celestial Light techniques, each one more powerful than before. The energy seemed to burst out of him, nearly visible in the air.
“Merge!” he commanded, pulling back the energies with a focused breath.
Again, flashes of memories passed before his eyes—that boy, those well-dressed men and women. He could hear them now, clearer than before.
“Incredible!” an elderly man said. He looked regal, with silver hair yet a youthful face. “Cui Chong Xuan has undergone his Third Awakening and merged four types of Celestial Light Force. Astonishing!”
A woman in her thirties, her hair styled in an elegant bun with a golden feather pin that shimmered, nodded. “Even if each type of force seems ordinary on its own, merging four types is the beginning of an extraordinary journey. This is how you start turning the mundane into something miraculous.”
The boy, Cui Chong Xuan, was drenched in sweat, his body trembling, but he had done it—successfully merging the four types of Celestial Light Force.
The elderly man spoke again. “You may not have fully grasped the Way of the Outsider, but your progress after the Third Awakening is remarkable. If word got out, it would cause quite the stir. Very well done!”
A stern-looking middle-aged man added, “Who says this path can’t lead to the highest point? I’ve acquired the priceless secret manual, the ‘Six Imperial Heart Sutra’ for you. Don’t let us down.”
Qin Ming blinked, the scene fading. He had been there—just a bystander, far from the crowd, watching everything unfold. But why did it feel like another life entirely? Like a dream that had somehow seeped into his reality?
Was he Qin Ming, or was he Cui Chong He? The life of Cui Chong He felt so distant, almost unreal. Maybe that’s why he had forgotten it so completely, why even his earliest memories were clearer than those scenes.
He shook his head, dismissing the doubts. Right now, he had fused all the types of Celestial Light Force within him, and it felt incredible. The energy within him had grown massively. With this, perhaps he wouldn’t even need more external substances to progress. Maybe, just maybe, he could Awaken again, raising himself to a new level of existence.
“Is merging four types of Celestial Light Force supposed to be impressive at the Third Awakening?” Qin Ming scoffed, shaking his head. “I’ve merged five types, and they aren’t just basic forces either.” The Intercepting Force, the Spiked Force—they had both evolved far beyond their original forms.
He clenched his fist, feeling the power surging beneath his skin. There were so many unanswered questions, but he was sure of one thing—he was getting stronger. The blurry memories were becoming clearer, and with his next Awakening, he was confident he would finally understand everything.
He turned to the old stone mill, deciding to test his strength. He didn’t even use his fingers this time, just the back of his hand, channeling the Celestial Light Force through it. The stone cracked and splintered with ease, chunks of rough rock falling away.
“Sorry, old millstone,” he chuckled, running a hand over the battered surface. Despite trying to hold back, he’d left it full of dents and cracks over the past couple of days. “Guess I really am strong now.”
But he quickly tempered his excitement. He remembered the incident just before the Shallow Night. The Outsiders could fly, turn into mist, become invisible. If he hadn’t had the White Jade Alloy Blade, he would have been done for.
“I’m following the old teachings, trying to merge the Celestial Light Forces, but will the techniques from the Silk Book be enough to face the Outsiders?” He wasn’t sure, but there wasn’t much choice. He had to keep growing stronger.
When Shallow Night was nearly over, Old Liu finally returned. He had spent all fifteen Daylight Gold coins, and there was no way he’d leave early after that. He even managed to mooch a meal off Old Wu, staying until the night grew deep.
“Are there any life-giving materials in the mountain that could let someone undergo a Fourth Awakening?” Qin Ming asked casually.
Old Liu quickly shook his head. “You can’t just mess with creatures that have mutated four times. They’re all recorded by the higher Variants of the mountain. Killing one would draw their attention.”
Qin Ming nodded in understanding. It was clear he needed to move on from here.
In the mountains, near the Great Rift Valley, two bandits frowned. The young man still hadn’t returned. Had something happened to him? They were anxious—if the actions of that mist-transforming Outsider were exposed, even they would be implicated.
They had already sent out their birds of prey with a letter, asking the old master for advice. Finally, as the night deepened, the bird returned with a reply.
One of the bandits opened the letter, reading it aloud. “The old master says to wait one more day. If he doesn’t show up by tomorrow, we’re to forget about him, act like nothing happened.”
The other bandit nodded. “We suspect he was trying to imitate the Mountain Beast Crying at the Tomb, offering sacrifices here. Did the old man say anything about that?”
His companion nodded, “The old man said he might be a Beast from the Outside World.”
“Wasn’t he an Outsider? How did he become a Beast?”
The two bandits huddled together, reading the letter again. At first, they were shocked, but then they nodded knowingly. Some people ventured into the deep mountains and valleys, bordering on forbidden grounds, and turned into Variants. Likewise, beasts sometimes entered the Great City, drawn to the bustling human world, and ended up becoming lords of those cities. Some Variants even transcended the mundane, becoming Beasts from the Outside World. It was all part of this strange reality.
According to the old master, in this world, nothing was impossible. He reassured them that whether the young man was a Beast from the Outside World or not, he wouldn’t succeed in his supposed sacrifice. The tomb had long since sunk beneath the Black and White Mountain. Let him bow his head to the earth—it didn’t matter.
The next day, the two bandits from Golden Rooster Ridge gathered their men and left. Before they went, the Golden Rooster Knights visited the nearby villages, informing the residents that each household had to pay one Night Silver, and that they would come to collect it in the middle of the month.
“Knew it. These thieves are making us pay,” an elderly man grumbled under his breath.
Everyone had expected it. When Golden Rooster Ridge had started forcibly recruiting Awakened ones, the villagers knew they’d be the ones to bear the cost. After their heavy losses, the bandits were bound to find a way to recover, and it was the nearby villagers who would have to foot the bill.
But it was a harsh winter, and people outside the mountains were already struggling. The demand sparked anger, and some villagers looked ready to fight back.
Qin Ming heard the commotion outside and knew it was time to make some decisions. He had had enough of this. It was time to deal with Golden Rooster Ridge once and for all.