Chapter 74: Shoulder to Shoulder with Legends
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
“When this Awakening is finally complete, will I remember everything?” Qin Ming mused aloud, his gaze distant. He had long had some guesses about his past, but the memories were still wrapped in a shroud of fog, waiting to be cleared away.
He used to be Cui Chong He, a true heir of the family. Why did he leave the Cui Family? After being badly wounded, why was he thrown into the Black and White Mountain to heal? And what was even more unsettling, why did his own family want to keep him so far away, isolated in some remote place, denying him the daylight and cutting him off from the people he once knew?
Though he was Qin Ming now and no longer Cui Chong He, he still wanted to know the truth.
Qin Ming sat quietly, his heart as calm as still water. After a simple wash, he lay down on his bed, letting sleep come without resistance. Soon, he drifted into a deep slumber.
A silver light emerged, covering his body like a layer of silvery mud. Then, thin golden needles threaded their way across him, weaving in all directions. Once again, he wore the Golden-Threaded Jade Garment. Golden threads even worked their way through his hair, sewing strand by strand, making his whole head shine as if it were covered in gold.
Even in his sleep, Qin Ming frowned slightly as if he could feel something. There was a dull ache, then an intense heat in his skull. He woke briefly, realized what was happening, and finding it not dangerous, he allowed himself to slip back into sleep.
There were three points on his skull where the golden light shone the brightest—those spots had once been shattered by the Feather-Clothed Youth. Golden needles pierced his scalp and went into the bone, digging deeper still. The silvery mud worked like a medicine, soothing the wounds left from the past. The golden needles mended, while the silver light purified, cutting away the old injuries.
Qin Ming wasn’t fully conscious, but somewhere deep in his mind, he sensed the importance of the Golden-Threaded Jade Garment. It wasn’t just about healing; it had something to do with rebirth—perhaps even the meaning of life and death. Maybe this was some profound truth behind the process of Awakening.
With no danger, he slept on peacefully.
In the middle of the night, Qin Ming found himself in a half-dream, half-awake state. He saw the Silk Script once more. He saw his childhood self, waiting for that large, rough hand to turn the pages.
The fourth Awakening was related to perception. Besides heightening his Five Senses, it would make his instincts extraordinarily sharp, capable of saving his life in crucial moments. This Awakening also affected his head, so the three broken spots on his skull glowed all night, the needles stitching, the silver covering them, while spiritual substances from the Thunderfire Refinement Temple flowed endlessly towards him.
Finally, the rough hand moved, turning the Silk Script to the fourth page. It covered the training of the Five Senses and instinct, but it also mentioned the path of the fifth Awakening.
Morning came, and Red Glow City slowly lit up. The city now experienced day and night, and in some of the bigger cities, the brightness of the Fire Spring was gradually adjusted, reaching its peak at noon. In even grander cities, they could even create the sight of a sunset sky at dusk.
But outside, the wild was always in darkness. Even in a nation’s capital or the imperial city of a vast empire, if one stood on the city walls and looked out into the distance, it would still be a sea of night.
Qin Ming pushed open the window and watched as the sky slowly brightened, colored by the rising fire glow. It was so different from the dim, endless night of Black and White Mountain. It wasn’t new to him, unlike Wu Zheng, who had been amazed. Qin Ming had experienced it before, and now those fragmented memories were quickly reassembling, growing clearer by the second.
Taking a deep breath, Qin Ming felt his mind wasn’t as calm as he’d hoped. Gripping the White Jade Alloy Blade, he walked into the courtyard and began slashing at the air, producing sounds like thunder and wind. Blade, spear, and hammer techniques—three combat arts from the Secret Manuals—he blended them together, each weapon feeling like an extension of his arm.
“Qin Bro’s got some heavy killing intent there,” Wu Zheng muttered to himself, watching from the inn.
The broken scenes kept reassembling in Qin Ming’s mind, images from the past flooding back to him. It was hard not to be affected, and his heart was a mess. Without a past, a person couldn’t be complete, and he needed to accept all those memories.
“Qin Bro, I brought you breakfast. You okay?” Wu Zheng called out as he entered the courtyard, seeing Qin Ming practicing with his blade. The blade moved like lightning one moment, then split into dozens of shadows the next, stabbing forward like a spear, then slamming down like a heavy hammer, creating booming sounds.
“I’m fine,” Qin Ming replied, panting slightly. “Just feeling the Awakening, you know? Had to stretch a bit. Honestly, if there were a mutated beast right here, right now, I’d take it on!” He grinned, wiping his forehead. “Like that Old Golden Rooster from Golden Rooster Ridge. If I ran into that thing now, I could take it down in one hit.”
Not long after, Xu Sheng came into the inn, curious to see how Qin Ming was doing after the Celestial Light Infusion.
“I don’t know why, but you seem more alive than ever,” Xu Sheng said, frowning slightly. “What’s going on with you?”
“The body’s almost fully awakened, and my perception’s still sharpening,” Qin Ming explained, shrugging. “I’m in full recovery mode right now, not holding anything back, so yeah, I guess I’m giving off a lot of energy.”
Xu Sheng blinked, stunned. Was what they usually saw not Qin Ming’s true power?
Wu Zheng’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Stop hiding it then,” Xu Sheng insisted. “Come with me. Let’s test it out, see how strong your body really is after four Awakenings. As for perception, well, that’s tricky. We’re not People Beyond the Boundaries, so there’s no way for us to measure that.”
“I don’t want too many people to know,” Qin Ming said, shaking his head. His situation was still delicate, and the future uncertain. If word got to Clear River City or Thousand Star City before he was ready, it could lead to trouble. He trusted Xu Sheng enough, though—Xu Sheng already knew about the Thunderfire Refinement Temple, so hiding anything more was pointless.
“Don’t worry,” Xu Sheng grinned. “We’ll go to my friend’s place. She’s got all sorts of equipment to test your strength.” He was clearly eager to see just how far Qin Ming had come after his fourth Awakening.
Qin Ming found that Xu Sheng’s friend was Zhou Lin. She was the one who had gone with them into the mountains to gather Snow Lotus—only to be outdone by someone else. Zhou Lin was very down-to-earth and had cursed all the way back to the city.
Zhou Lin ran a training hall that taught people how to start their Awakening journey. Business was booming, and her students were mostly teenagers. In this city, where land was precious, the training hall was quite sizable.
A little while later, Xu Sheng stood there, completely stunned. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Qin Ming, after his fourth Awakening, could lift 4,500 pounds.
Wu Zheng’s jaw dropped. That kind of strength was something out of legend.
“Qin Bro, are you sure this is just your fourth Awakening? Not your sixth or seventh?” Wu Zheng asked, looking completely shaken.
Xu Sheng muttered to himself, “So it’s real. The records in those ancient books weren’t lies. They weren’t exaggerations. I’ve seen it with my own eyes now.”
“What do those records say?” Wu Zheng asked.
“One of the old texts mentioned that, in the past, there was a young Different Being who, during his first Awakening, had almost a thousand pounds of strength in his arms. It’s incredible,” Xu Sheng explained.
Wu Zheng’s eyes lit up. “A legend come to life… I can’t believe I actually know someone who could match what’s written in those texts!” He paused, then corrected himself, “No, wait, Qin Bro, during your first Awakening, your arms had more than eleven hundred pounds of strength, right?”
Xu Sheng was completely overwhelmed. “Qin Bro, during your first Awakening, did you really… have that much strength?” Wu Zheng’s voice trembled.
“I never tested it exactly, but it was probably more than a thousand pounds,” Qin Ming replied casually.
Xu Sheng sighed, “Little Qin, back then, your arms definitely had over eleven hundred pounds of strength. That kind of natural gift is like something out of a legend for other Awakeners.”
He then added, “Spring’s almost here. Those ancient sects, mysterious organizations, and shining academies… They’re all going to start recruiting new disciples. Have you decided where you want to go?”
“It’s too soon to talk about that,” Qin Ming said, shaking his head. “I don’t know much about them yet. There’s still time. I’ll decide before summer comes.” His thoughts were a mess, as all the fragmented memories resurfaced, almost completely pieced back together now.
“What are you three up to, moving my Lapis Stele?” Zhou Lin appeared, a suspicious look on her face.
Xu Sheng laughed but didn’t answer.
On their way back, Qin Ming visited an old bookshop and bought a stack of Night Reports—an anthology of the past three years. The Official Bulletin was too restricted for ordinary people, but the Night Reports, run by the common folk, were more accessible.
“The content here’s pretty vague. It doesn’t cover sensitive news, and big events are only mentioned briefly,” Xu Sheng commented.
“That’s fine,” Qin Ming replied. “I just want to get a general idea of the major events of the last few years.”
Back at the inn, Qin Ming locked himself in his room. He waited for his Awakening to finish while flipping through the Night Reports, focusing on major events and anything related to the Cui Family.
“Flowing dynasties, unshakeable clans,” Qin Ming sighed. Some ancient families had been around for two or three thousand years. The Night Reports mentioned how difficult it was to shake the Millennial Clans. Despite wars and the storms caused by Aberrations, these families had suffered but never fallen.
“Two years ago…” Qin Ming quickly searched for the information he needed, cross-checking it against his increasingly clear memories. Two years ago, the Cui Family had gone through some turmoil, but the Night Reports didn’t go into detail about the cause—only that two powerful entities had clashed briefly before backing off.
From two years ago until now, Qin Ming browsed through all the major events. He put down the thick stack of Night Reports and looked at the blurry images in his mind—a Great City glowing with the colors of sunset, a Spirit Mountain shrouded in mist—all becoming clearer. Figures came and went, familiar faces returning to him—parents, uncles, brothers, sisters, countless family members.
The Feather-Clothed Youth, Li Qing Yue, and all his old friends, they all walked towards him, their shadows filling his mind.
Qin Ming watched it all calmly, like he was watching someone else’s stories of joy and sorrow play out before him.