Chapter 260 - The North

When Shen Lian took a leap into the clouds, Ye Liuyun was already there waiting for him.

"Brother Shen, you now seem to care more about women, this is different from before. I start to wonder whether you will one day find a Daoist partner," Ye Liuyun spoke as he smiled.

Shen Lian said, "I often just follow the flow. If I one day decide to have a change in lifestyle, don't be surprised."

Ye Liuyun said, "For the both of us to do as we please is not such an easy task anymore, even your Senior Apprentice-Brother, Chen Jianmei, who had been through a lot of challenges, can you really tell he is truly free?"

Shen Lian spoke softly, "I realize Brother Ye seems to be really familiar with Qing Xuan, is it because Underworld Demon Sect has been studying Qing Xuan for a while?"

"I told you I know something you don't, and for the place I need to get to, not only do I need your help, whether I will be able to be released perhaps depend on you." Ye Liuyun knocked on the throne softly and it made a pleasant sound, like the knocking of the jade between gentlemen.

Shen Lian said, "If I can help, I will not say no."

As the cloud and smoke went by with thousands of changes, Ye Liuyun said, "I am leaving now, and I will inform you when I need you to help me get there."

He intended to leave after he finished. Shen Lian said, "Brother Ye, do you indeed not know where Ming Wang Temple's Huike the Venerable is?" Shen Lian respected Huike, and he also saw the terrible condition Ming Wang Temple was in, but he still hoped nothing happened to Huike. Speaking of which, for such an ancient temple to go through such a tragedy was worrying to Shen Lian. It was harder to read the message of the Gods now, and he could not say for sure that it would not happen to Qing Xuan.

Ye Liuyun said, "Huike is unlike the previous generation of Acalas. He will still appear again, and till then there will be more interesting things happening at the Buddhist sect." As he spoke, he was actually rejoicing at other people's misfortune – the Buddhist sect had some issue with the Underworld Demon Sect.

After Ye Liuyun left, Shen Lian was in deep thoughts. The condition at Ming Wang Temple was unexpected, and he could say the same for Ye Liuyun's appearance. He gained nothing from this, but now he owed Ye Liuyun. It seemed like there was an invisible force behind all these.

Ye Liuyun's mysterious aura, Huike's disappearance, the master celestial of sword who took the Chart of Celestial Extermination and another powerful person – they all made the world not as simple anymore. However, if one lacked power, the truth had no use to him.

The mana he possessed now was less than half of what it used to be. While it seemed to be purer and thicker, it was hard to say whether it was a gain or a loss.

If he chose a place and retreated for three to five years, it was possible for him to recover his mana to the peak, but he had no time for it. Thankfully, Shen Lian had other ways to improve quickly, and the only precondition was for the bestowment of the Empress to be successful.

Qingshui River had a wide flow region, and the widest river path was perhaps about five hundred miles. Even for the narrower place, it was about a hundred miles, and it was not even the widest river region in Yuan Continent. At the north of Yuan Continent, there was another river called Tongtian River. Its source was not known, but some said it led to heaven. Rarely did anyone managed to find its source.

Shen Lian landed from the cloud and the Qingshui River Deity Temple was in front of him. The spiritual power of up to a perimeter of a thousand miles all were gathered at the temple, and the power was expanding.

The door of the temple opened even without wind. The Empress walked out from within and looked at Shen Lian, "You're finally back. I've been observing a perimeter of a thousand miles to look for you. I realized you have met a strong enemy, but unfortunately, I still can't leave this river, and hence I wasn't able to lend you a hand."

Shen Lian said, "The person has unpredictable power. Even if you helped me, it probably would not matter. It seems like you are not as powerful as I expect you to be after the bestowment."

"I only took half of his real dragon blood. He managed to escape with a broken tail. Guangqing Celestial Sect is indeed powerful. Five days ago, Huang Longzi's Senior Apprentice-Brother, Huanzhen came, and he was looking for a student of Guangqing. There is no Guangqing's student here, but he thought I was lying. In addition to Huang Longzi's issue, he then fought with me. If not because of the imperial seal and the unlimited spiritual power of the river region, he almost destructed the temple," the Empress spoke with a cheeriness. While she called them to be powerful, it seemed like it was not a big deal to her.

Shen Lian said, "You've become one with the Qingshui River. Other than the ultimate technique that can separate you and the river, there isn't anything that can kill you. The Emperor Sealing Technique is indeed a legitimate path of Shen. However, it will be difficult for you to part from here. You probably can't escape from the tragedy of the world."

With incredible benefit, naturally came harsh consequences. Tragedy of the world meant any tragedies which could affect the world – it could change the landscape of the world entirely. As the Empress was now the River Deity of Qingshui, her life was now tied to the rise and fall of the river. She could no longer escape.

"We will talk about the future when it comes. I realize something is odd after I become the River Deity."

"What is it?"

"Follow me."

The Empress did not lead Shen Lian to the temple but an odd space, or the divine region. Unlike Lvluo's divine region where it looked the same as the temple of the Goddess of Grains, this divine region was placed in the river. It looked like a crystal palace where it was surrounded by fish. Shen Lian knew that the outside world could not see it, and they could not enter either. This was the space of Dao.

When they took a seat, the Empress said, "I found the Heaven."

"What happened?" Shen Lian felt slightly shocked, as while the Heaven existed since ancient time, it had now disappeared. It was considered to be an organization that was built to rule the deities and the Celestials and Buddha. One could also call it a divine region or a place of enlightenment and some would even call it a Lingbao. It was located next to the Milky Way. During those days, where the Heaven was, was also referred to as Tianjie, another term for Heaven. It was nice as there was more than one Tianjie which welcomed the immortals.

"When I was cultivating, I felt the call from Heaven, but it was very minor and it was hard for me to detect," The Empress spoke with a low voice.

"There are a lot of rumors about the Heaven. How do you know it was the calling from there?" Shen Lian asked.

"I can't say for sure. It could be an illusion perhaps," the Empress laughed.

Shen Lian knew that if it was just a feeling, it could be correct. For someone to reach the level of the Empress, the feelings were more reliable than what one saw or heard.

"It could be real. Can you tell the exact location?"

"No."

Shen Lian spoke with a deep voice, "Regardless of what happened, it is always right to strengthen yourself. If your divine power can reach all corners of Qingshui River, even if you encounter someone who has transcended beyond the mortal world, he will have nothing against you."

"I was thinking about the same thing. Since you lost quite a lot of Qi of vitality, you can borrow some of the spiritual power from my river region," the Empress smiled brightly.

She did not lack spiritual power, but she needed to continuously strengthen her spirit and mind to be a part of the thirty thousand miles region and truly turned Qingshui River into a part of her body. She could then have an almost unlimited supply of mana.

She was not the only one who had used this method. It was rumored that someone once tried to turn the Milky Way into a clone so that he would become one that was beyond everyone else from the ancient times to date. He almost succeeded.

Compared to the Milky Way, Qingshui River was not even the size of a small drain, but in turn, its difficulty level was much lower. It was possible for the Empress to achieve her target.

"I am here for it," Shen Lian smiled.

He then closed his eyes and fell into the state where he forgot about himself and the surroundings.

The reason why the spiritual power of the river could benefit him greatly was because of how powerful it was. It was full of vitality and had been improved further with the Empress' divine region and as such, all the spiritual power could be turned directly into mana. Also, as long as the Empress was in the divine region, there would be no worry about whether the area would run out of mana. It could be replenished anytime, and it was much faster than the like of Yiyuan Elixir.

However, if he were to absorb the river region's pure and thick spiritual power and Qi of vitality, he would need to rely on the Empress. Being the River Deity, the river region was like her breathing. If one were to take the spiritual power, one should also return. If it were for some outsider, without setting a limit could bring harm to herself.

The Empress was willing to lend out these Qi of vitality because it was Shen Lian. She wanted him to regain his cultivation experience.

Under the Empress' generous help, Shen Lian had recovered within a month. It had saved him the effort of three to five years.

Shen Lian opened his eyes and he looked calm. The Empress felt glad to see that he was now done.

She clapped and laughed, "Now you're getting even closer to immortality."

"It is not that easy. I will be glad if I can break the whims, Xuwang, within a hundred year."

"To our lot, hundred years go by quickly. It is indeed not worth mentioning. Are you leaving now?" The previous statement showed her lamentation, but the latter indicated the sadness of separation.

"I have to go. I got off the mountain this time for something, else I don't need to come to the secular mortal world," Shen Lian spoke softly, and his eyes were looking north.

"It is the difference between us. You are able to see through most things, but you are not willing to let go. I have never looked back." The Empress let out a sigh, and the world had changed. Both of them were now on top of the calm river surface.

"It is not because I don't want to let go. I just want to follow the flow. Some things are a part of life, so why should we intentionally make ourselves cold and heartless?" Shen Lian laughed, and then he took the waves. One could see a shadow going rapidly upstream on the river. He disappeared quickly.

In the north of Yuan Continent, there were desserts, snowy landscape and also forests. It was where Taisu Sect was, but it was hard to find it.

As the sun set, the night fell like a humongous Kunpeng that was spreading its wings – the sky and the sun were all covered, and there was no light. All the river and mountain and grass and wood were all covered.

Shen Lian was sitting alone in the field. He relaxed his eyebrows and opened his clear eyes. It seemed like there were an infinite amount of mysteries within them. Occasionally some lights appeared from the depth of his eyes, like those of the stars.

In this quiet night, the north was akin to the sea that he was used to – it was without end, quiet and peaceful. Nobody knew how much secrets it was hiding.

Shen Lian looked up at the big dipper in the sky, and it seemed there a rainbow-like light ribbon flew out. It was like smoke or mist, unsteady, sometimes quiet and sometimes active, like the river. It then formed into a big light halo, surrounding the big dipper. The halo suddenly got brighter, like a moon in the sky. It covered the earth with silvery light and lit up the whole field. Everything was clear now.

It was the aurora of the north. After many days of waiting, it finally happened.