Chapter 2269: Strange Actions

Qin Nan followed Shangguan Hou's instructions and lifted his gaze.

He saw a damaged palace hovering between tall ancient trees with a strong presence of immortal intent.

Below the palace were runes spreading like giant snakes.

"Brother Qin Nan, the details of the Three Sacred Seals of Heart Ape are carved on the stone boulders in the palace. You may comprehend them on your own. You may contact me if you need anything," Shuangguan Hou gave Qin Nan a badge. 

"Thank you for everything. If I manage to help my Senior Brother reclaim his will, I will reward you two greatly!"

Qin Nan brought his fists at them. Shuangguan Hou retained his smile while Shuangguan Zheng's eyes flickered with admiration and satisfaction.

Qin Nan did not waste his time any further. He flew straight into the palace.

The walls in the palace were full of ancient drawings. There were lots of things in the palace too, but in the center of the palace was a faint-golden boulder carved with lines of ancient words. It was emitting a mystical aura.

Qin Nan calmed his thoughts and sat on the ground with his eyes closed.

His will burst out of his body and poured into the ancient boulder.

BANG!

He immediately felt a great explosion inside his ears.

He soon entered an illusion.

It had a vast sky and a boundless land with mountains and forests.

Countless ancient apes with black hair in huge groups were shrieking and roaring. The other species immediately cleared paths for the apes.

Qin Nan observed the ordinary scene, yet somehow his emotions were stirred up by it.

A loud voice echoed in the world as if it had traveled across space and time, "The heart and the will are formless, but they truly exist!"

"If the flesh collapses, the will and mind can be preserved, but the will and mind perish, the flesh dies! The strength of the will and mind is decided innately and derived from later experiences too, but the difference between the two is minimal. Everything that a person encounters and sees will influence their will and mind!" 

"For a kind person, everything is beautiful. For an evil person, all things shall perish! Since the early age, people have trouble determining the right and the wrong, thus people assume things are right if the majority agrees and things are evil if the majority detest them!"

"Everything is in vain if our cultivation doesn't lead us to eternity, including the mundane obsessions and desires. We must pursue our own hearts. It is difficult to pursue our own heart and follow our conscience, even harder to completely understand our mind and will!"

“……”

Qin Nan observed the apes while listening to the mysterious voice.

His mind was clear of thoughts. It was shifting together with the scene before him.

Time gradually passed. Five days were gone fairly quickly.

In the first two days, the boulder was merely explaining the will and mind to Qin Nan. It then explained the Three Sacred Seals of Heart Ape in the remaining three days.

Qin Nan was surprised as he began to comprehend the art.

He had to admit that the one who invented the art was no ordinary person!

The art had treated the mind and will as a heart ape and classified them into ten levels according to their strength.

The three sacred were not referring to three entities, but the flesh, mind, and soul.

They were the basic foundations of the heart!

Similarly, the art involved ways of evolving one's heart like an ape.

Once a person mastered the art, they would be able to utilize the power of the three sacred to materialize their will!

When fighting an enemy, they could use the art to inflict serious damage on the enemy's will and shatter it, placing the enemy in all kinds of illusions and troubling them with different thoughts.

Phew!

Qin Nan took a deep breath as his body took a strange posture while performing a strange seal to practice the art.

Meanwhile, the Undying Cycle Mountain...

A figure descended from the sky swiftly.

"Big Mother, save me!"

"Big Mother, second mother is trying to kill her own child!"

Qin Shaoyu and Qin Shiyan who were soaked in sweat yelled at the top of their lungs as soon as Empress Feiyue arrived in a canyon.

"If you two utter anymore nonsense, you will have to hunt three more beasts for today!"

Princess Miao Miao glared at the two boys before looking at Empress Feiyue with a smile, "Sister, when did you come back? Weren't you busy with the Orb of the Heavenly Emperor?"

Empress Feiyue, "I have some business to attend to here. What's with them two?"

Princess Miao Miao grumbled as she recalled what the two had done, "These two pricks are behaving like typical children of the rich and powerful. They were abusing their background to bully others and get their way around. They even want to be surrounded by girls, just like their father!" 

"If I don't teach them a lesson, their attitude will worsen further. I have no choice but to train them myself. I didn't have time to absorb the Origin Force!" Princess Miao Miao complained.

Empress Feiyue was amused, but she retained an expressionless face.

"I've refined these two talismans with the Origin Force. It's a gift for them."

Empress Feiyue took out her storage bag.

"Huh? Sister, you can't be too nice to them. It will only make them proud..."

Princess Miao Miao was reluctant to accept the gift, yet she was unable to convince Empress Feiyue. She had no choice but to take the talismans.

Empress Feiyue left after a brief chat with Princess Miao Miao. She went to the third stage and transmitted her thoughts.

Seven figures soon appeared in no time.

They were led by Xu Ruochen.

"Empress, why have you called us here?" Xu Ruochen brought his fists together and asked.

He was confused. They did not have any business with Empress Feiyue. Why did Empress Feiyue ask for them?

"I have a favor to ask you all, but you must swear an oath not to tell anyone about it, including Qin Nan," Empress Feiyue said.

"Including...Qin Nan?"

The eyes of Xu Ruochen and the others widened. They had a bad feeling about it.

"Empress, to be honest with you, Qin Nan and us have practiced the Synchronization of the Minds together. He can easily find out what we did," Xu Ruochen said. 

"That's fine, I have a way to prevent him from knowing," Empress Feiyue said coldly.

Xu Ruochen's heart sank. He took a deep breath and said with a wry smile, "Empress, we are sorry, we have already sworn an oath that we will never..."

Empress Feiyue flicked her finger before he could finish the sentence. A tremendous light sprang forward and engulfed the seven cultivators.

She would have to force them if they were unwilling to do as she said.