“When the four Qi arrive, the eight fortunes will not be constrained by Heaven. Accumulate Qi from all sources. Be ready to strike with one touch.”

Yun Shimo’s entire body shuddered. He had been quietly comprehending for a year. He now saw these four lines but they were abstruse and profound. He gazed at them, not understanding anything.

The hare by the side was also somewhat astonished. “Hey, stinking lad, what did you see?”

Yun Shimo’s expression revealed a stunned joy, full of a confused surprise. The hare could tell at one glance that he must have seen something!

“I only saw four lines: ‘When the four Qi arrive, the eight fortunes will not be constrained by Heaven. Accumulate Qi from all sources. Be ready to strike with one touch!’” Yun Shimo recited quietly. He suppressed the joy he felt in his heart and calmed down.

The hare silently pondered over these lines and shook its small head. “So abstruse. I don’t get it. You’d better try comprehending yourself.”

Yun Shimo had finally got what he wanted. He rolled up the scroll and shut his eyes, resting and slowly trying to comprehend these lines.

After reaching the great completeness of Great Deity, a Qi Artist must try and comprehend some principles before he could advance further.

And some people could never comprehend even a principle in their entire life. So obviously, they could never advance for the rest of their lives.

Yun Shimo was still quite satisfied with his talent.

After all, most Qi Artists at the great completeness of Great Deity would not advance for the rest of their lives. Yet, within a year, he had managed to comprehend the principle behind the Heavenless Book.

The hare had definitely given him a great gift. If he could comprehend the truth behind this principle, he would be able to defeat Tianpi.

The sun rose and set. Spring flowers blossomed and autumn leaves fell. Another half a year passed in the deep mountains. A mist lingered as the aroma of flowers assailed the nostrils. Under the Bodhi Tree, birds and beasts teased one another joyfully. The place resembled a fairyland.

And that man with inky robe and inky hair was shutting his handsome eyes. He seemed totally composed.

A butterfly stopped on the top of his head, flapping its gossamer wings feebly.

The hare was gnawing a roast chicken by the side. It had returned from the city in the morning and bought a large quantity of food. The aroma of meat wafted in waves to Yun Shimo, and yet he still remained motionless.

The Sun Moon Deity kept gnawing and shaking its head. This Yun Shimo was really a patient guy. He had not moved for a year. With such aromatic food before him, he was still totally unmoved. A true superior!

“Your Divine Holiness, when will His Highness awake? When will he start searching for our young master?” The Man-Hunting Insect had waited for over a year. It was already getting restless.

It had limited abilities and could not leave this place to search for the boy alone.

After all, the Man-Hunting Insect was still quite fearful of that devil.

“When his powers exceed Tianpi’s!” The Sun Moon Deity said quietly. It wiped away the oil at the corner of its mouth. “You can go and look for him yourself.”

The Man-Hunting Insect pouted. It neither had the ability nor the guts to. If it was detected by that devil, no bones of it would remain.

Like an immortal, Yun Shimo neither ate nor drank.

A long time passed. Another year went by.

It had been two-and-a-half years since Hua Qiyue departed.

Yun Shimo suddenly stood up. Although his eyes were shut, he slowly stretched out his hand and scribbled a few strange runes.

The Sun Moon Deity widened its eyes. “Runes? Can that Heavenless Book be really about runes? No wonder those big shots couldn’t understand it. They were not rune artists!”

The wind came, the leaves fell, the dust was swept up. A turmoil.

Suddenly, the wind intensified and turned into a tornado. Those glittering runes instantly gave off blinding lights. The runes began to accumulate, forming a Eight Trigrams Diagram. Anima energy from all four directions started to gush madly in!

The Sun Moon Deity and the other two were stunned. They retreated to a few hundred kilometers away, watching this crucial moment silently!

The Asura Chicken and the Man-Hunting Insect widened their eyes to a bulge. They stared dumbfounded by this scene.

“Boom—” The Eight Trigrams Diagram soared up the sky. A loud explosion resounded. Instantly, the heavens and earth turned dim. Half the sky seemed to have been destroyed by Yun Shimo’s runes!

The Sun Moon Deity, the Man-Hunting Insect and the Asura Chicken all lifted up their heads. They watched the sky, half of which seemed ravaged by the explosion.

The sky was dark and nothing could be seen. But a ray emerged from the crack in the sky. Slowly, the dark clouds dispersed and the fissure in the ravaged sky healed.

Although it was only for a brief moment, the Sun Moon Deity still stuck out its tongue. “Stinking lad, he must have comprehended the Heavenless Book! Oh dear, this lad has got himself a bargain. It only took him two-and-a-half years. I wouldn’t have given him the book had I known!”

The Sun Moon Deity was rueful. From the mist came a cold snort.

“Not everyone can comprehend this Heavenless Book.”

As the sunlight intensified, the mist thinned. Yun Shimo strode out, his florid face brimming with confidence!

The Asura Chicken and the Man-Hunting Insect gave a whoop of joy. This meant that they could leave with Yun Shimo anytime to search for Tianci.

The Sun Moon Deity pouted disdainfully. “Given my powers, I can totally ignore the Heavenless Book. I couldn’t care less about it!”

Yun Shimo was too lazy to argue. He took a few steps and then turned back his head. “Thank you, senior. I will look for Qiyue now. But I need to go back to my mansion and bid my parents goodbye.”

With that said, his figure flashed and his entire body disappeared.

The Asura Chicken and Man-Hunting Insect also hurried back to Prince Nan’s mansion. If they arrived late, they would not be able to catch up with Yun Shimo.

The Sun Moon Deity stood there, snorting unhappily. “Stinking lad, he’s such a genius. It must be those damned genes of the Yun Family!”

In Prince Nan’s mansion, Yun Xuan and his wife were having breakfast when they saw Yun Shimo, who had not returned for over two years, stride in. They stood up, surprised and elated.

“Mo-er!”

“Mo-er, how are you? Have you succeeded?” Madame Yun joyfully came up to him. The rims of her eyes were red.

Yun Shimo nodded and gazed at his mother’s gray hair. He felt a pang in his heart. “Mother, father, I’m setting off. Once I locate Qiyue and Tianci, I will surely bring them home.”

Yun Xuan nodded and stood up. “Why don’t we have breakfast together first?”

“No need. I must hurry. Please take good care of yourselves!” Yun Shimo did not wish to say more. He was almost afraid something unexpected would happen had he delayed.

When she saw her son’s figure disappear again, Madame Yun gently shook her head. “I’ve heard that grown sons won’t stay. That seems to be true. But he will be back after all. It’s all… my fault…”

Yun Xuan came over and his arm lightly girded Madame Yun’s waist. His voice was warm as a hot spring in winter. “Don’t blame yourself, my lady. We can only say that it’s fate.”

Madame Yun started, gazing blankly at the blue sky. It’s true, it’s all fate. If it weren’t for fate, how would Yun Shimo get to know Hua Qiyue? Why would they be entangled in a relationship?

If Hua Qiyue did not exist, Yun Shimo would live an ordinary, uneventful life. Even if he had a turbulent life, he would not have fancied a girl.

Let this grown son do what he likes. They could only wait quietly for his return.

—

“Hey, hey… stinking lad, why don’t you fight me? If you can defeat me, it will mean that you can definitely defeat Tianpi. What’s a few days more to you?”

The Sun Moon Deity had caught up with Yun Shimo. On its shoulder was the Man-Hunting Insect. By its side, the Asura Chicken, as large as a six or seven-year-old child, was grabbing onto its robe.

Yun Shimo stopped. The Asura Chicken fell down with a thud. It was panting and heaving sighs.

“I don’t have the time. Senior, I’m sure you can tell how powerful I am with your astute eyes. You must know whether I can fight Tianpi!” Yun Shimo raised his brows with displeasure. He immediately quickened his pace.

The Asura Chicken gave a mournful shriek. It had to grab onto the Sun Moon Deity’s robe again. They whizzed away like the wind, disappearing from where they were.

The Sun Moon Deity was very upset. It had to admit that Yun Shimo’s powers had improved by many times since he unraveled the mystery of the Heavenless Book. So he was naturally Tianpi’s match.

But it could not take this lying down! Why should it, a 10,000-year-old creature, be only on a par with this young man under 30?

So it must try for a fight. The Sun Moon Deity would not give up.

Yun Shimo did not give in to its “unreasonable” demand. He raced on madly, probing with his spiritual sense every direction, trying to detect Hua Qiyue’s aura.

His powerful spiritual sense astonished all the Qi Artists in the cities he had passed. They thought such powerful spiritual sense and oppressive aura were truly amazing.

“She’s somewhere near Ice City.” Yun Shimo’s spiritual sense had swiftly detected Hua Qiyue’s location.

The Sun Moon Deity, who was sprinting beside him toward Ice City, stopped and murmured, “So that’s where she is… the place they were at two lifetimes ago.”

Yun Shimo did not wish to ask more. Neither did he wish to know more. Hua Qiyue was not the same person she was in her former life. He did not care who Hua Qiyue was in love with, two lifetimes ago.

Just like Rong Qiyue falling for Zhou Zhicheng, Tao Xian’er falling for Tianpi.

Yun Shimo’s powers were now truly extraordinary. After three days, the Sun Moon Deity felt his own powers could not quite match up with his. So it secretly took a medicine pellet to increase the anima energy in its body, to prevent itself from being ridiculed.

They were getting closer to Ice City. They would probably need just three days to reach the place.

—

“Gush—”

A spring was gushing. Hua Qiyue walked to the hot spring under the Ice Palace. The place was naturally endowed with abundant anima energy which sustained the large Ice Palace. It could also sustain this satisfying hot spring.

A natural hot spring was of course a thousand times better than an artificial one.

Hua Qiyue took off her large robe, leaving only a white undergarment with long sleeves. Her black hair was let down, complementing her jade-like countenance. Her undergarment was whiter than snow, making her seem like a beautiful fairy.

White vapors rose, enveloping the place in a haze.

Hua Qiyue shut her lovely eyes, intending to enjoy this wonderful moment.

For two-and-a-half years, the four of them— she, Tianci, Tianpi and Hua Zun— had lived a quiet, ordinary life. There were no tumultuous events, nor had anyone come for revenge.

After all, the auras emanating from Tianpi and Hua Zun that day were too powerful. Everyone was fearful of them.

And although Hua Zun was still gazing at her with those madly adoring eyes, he had not misbehaved.

In the steaming haze, Hua Qiyue suddenly opened her lovely eyes. She could sense someone staring at her.

Beyond those spiraling white vapors, she could see, outside the window at the hot spring, a pair of eyes gazing in.

Hua Qiyue flicked her finger. Using her spiritual energy, a water droplet had turned into the most powerful hidden weapon!