NEBM Chapter 16: Advancing

Even though Yan Jin’s ascension to the next rank was expected, it still caught them both off guard.

In the middle of the night, Shen Zhixian was jolted awake by a fierce, spiritual fluctuation. He hurriedly threw on a robe and took a spirit pill to knock on Yan Jin’s door.

There were 13 cultivation stages in this world. The sixth stage was a small watershed stage, which mainly tested whether the practitioner’s state of mind was stable enough to continue cultivating. Only by rising to the sixth level could it be said that Yan Jin had successfully stepped onto the world of cultivation.

Although Shen Zhixian felt that it should be fairly easy for Yan Jin to advance to the next level, especially with his qualifications and mentality, he still asked the elder for a panacea just in case. It turned out that this decision was a sound one.

After knocking for a while, there was still no response at the door. Shen Zhixian became concerned and pushed directly into the room. As a result, a spiritual energy flung at him like a high-speed flying knife, nearly hitting him.

He quickly avoided it, and when he saw Yan Jin’s situation, he couldn’t help but suck in a breath.

Yan Jin was probably asleep when he suddenly realized that he was about to advance. As a result, he was only wearing his inner robe. Currently, the situation didn’t look too good. He sat cross-legged on his bed, his body trembling slightly.

Shen Zhixian approached and saw that his face was alternating between blue and white, with cold sweat beading on his forehead. Shen Zhixian frowned slightly, afraid to disturb him. He could only sit on the side and protect him.

Every soul has seven emotions and six desires.

If all these emotions and desires became too much, the person would become obsessed, held in thrall by the demons of his mind. This was why the sixth level became the threshold of cultivation that screened people with unstable dispositions.

The surrounding spiritual energy began to fluctuate more and more violently. The thick energy surged toward Yan Jin, who could not resist and had no choice but to accommodate it. As he did so, his face gradually turned red.

Shen Zhixian was anxious, realizing that this was not good. With Yan Jin’s current state, the size of the spiritual sea in his body wouldn’t be able to accommodate so much spiritual energy all at once.

Without thinking about it, he raised his hand and held Yan Jin’s wrist. Disregarding Fourth Elder’s repeated orders not to use his spiritual force, he mobilized his spiritual force to block the surging spiritual energy and any other external distractions.

It seemed as if the spiritual energy in the entire peak had gathered here. Shen Zhixian gasped for breath, his heart gradually filled with agony. But, he dared not stop. If he did, Yan Jin would be swallowed completely and torn to shreds by this violent spiritual energy.

Shen Zhixian’s vision began to darken as his spiritual force collided with the spiritual energy. Meanwhile, Yan Jin’s body was incapable of holding so much energy, and the forced expansion brought him unbearable pain.

“Master!” Yan Jin suddenly said, his voice full of suffering. He seemed to be enduring great pain, and his voice shook as he pleaded, “Please let your disciple…please…”

Shen Zhixian was shocked by the sudden noise. When he looked up, he was surprised to find himself enveloped by overwhelming darkness. All kinds of sounds instantly filled his ears, loud and chaotic.

Yan Jin’s mood fluctuated so much that it affected the surrounding spiritual energy, thus drawing Shen Zhixian’s consciousness into his mental dreamscape.

After the initial darkness came a plain white landscape. The human voice dissipated, replaced by the chilly wind. As soon as Shen Zhixian regained his sight, he saw a thick layer of snowflakes falling down on his face.

He hurriedly tried to avoid it but the snowflakes flew right through him, and yet he felt nothing at all.

It was then that he realized he’d fallen into Yan Jin’s subconsciousness, right into the pivotal moment of calamity, which was likely the source of Yan Jin’s inability to stabilize his promotion.

He wanted to find out what had caused Yan Jin’s instability so he didn’t rush to leave. Looking around, he realized that this place was….the Cliff of Reflection? Yan Jin was dreaming about the Cliff of Reflection?

In Yan Jin’s subsconscious, Shen Zhixian was just a mass of air. When he moved his mind, he “walked” toward the peak.

A thin youth was curled up in the small, shallow cave. His clothing was ragged and shabby, his body nearly buried in a grave of snow and ice. His half-opened fingers trembled for a long time, but he was unable to condense even a trace of spiritual qi. His spirit root was clearly suffering from frostbite.

Shen Zhixian froze, thinking that this was not the same as he remembered. But, it was in line with the original plot…Then, why would Yan Jin have such a dream?

The youth’s face was as pale as porcelain, so white it practically blended in with the snow. Shen Zhixian felt distressed. After all, this was the protagonist that he liked and the disciple that he’d raised for several years.

He wanted to touch the youth’s face, but he was unable to touch anything at all. Even so, the youth seemed to feel something. His eyes opened slightly, gazing in Shen Zhixian’s direction, his expression a little confused.

In the next moment, the scene suddenly changed. The boy in front of Shen Zhixian was suddenly covered in blood. The youth fell to the ground, his entire body trembling as he turned his face with difficulty toward Shen Zhixian.

“Master…” The youth’s face was small and desperate. His voice was thick with blood as he pleaded, “I beg you…”

He had wounds all over his body and was slashed into a bloody mess by a sword. He was in extreme pain, his voice hoarse beyond recognition. “Please…please let your disciple…”

Shen Zhixian was so distressed that his hands were shaking. He wanted so much to hug the youth, but he could do nothing except take a few quick steps toward him.

The indifferent man dressed in white walked casually through Shen Zhixian until he stood in front of the youth. Looking down at the boy, he raised his sword slowly and ruthlessly, converging his qi.

The sharp point of the sword rested on one of the few spots of skin still intact on Yan Jin’s body, and blood beaded out.

Shen Zhixian looked at the other “self” in shock. After emotionlessly cutting of the youth’s spirit root, the man in white seemed to have lost interest in him. He threw away the sword and left indifferently. Shen Zhixian’s whole soul was shaking, and he replayed the scene over again in his mind. No wonder!

That was it!

In that split second, all the mysteries were solved. Why was the youth so repelled by him and even showed such hatred toward him? It was because Yan Jin was reborn.

It explained why Yan Jin’s distrust toward him was so deep and, even after three years, he was still so guarded, and why he alienated himself from Shen Zhixian. Because, in Yan Jin’s eyes, he was the murderer who had severed his spirit root and killed him in his past life.

Shen Zhixian returned to his own consciousness and regained his senses after a moment. Upon seeing that Yan Jin was nearly unable to hold on any longer, he quickly located the spirit pill and tried to feed it to him.

But Yan Jin was very uncooperative, struggling constantly and avoiding him due to the recycling torture in his dream. Shen Zhixian repeatedly tried to force him to eat the spirit pill, and it was only after some difficulty that he was able to succeed.

It was fortunate that he’d asked Fourth Elder for the spirit pill. Even if Yan Jin’s promotion had failed this time, it would not harm him too much.

The pill turned into fluid the moment it entered his body. It acted quickly, gradually soothing the chaotic spiritual energy. Yan Jin’s body was still trembling slightly, but he was clearly slowly calming down.

“Master…”

Shen Zhixian tried to coax Yan Jin like he did three years ago. As he gently patted his back, he heard Yan Jin emit a low groan.

Thinking that Yan Jin was awake, he pulled away to put some distance between them and found that Yan Jin’s eyes were still closed, his long eyelashes covered with beads of sweat.

Shen Zhixian rolled up his sleeves and wiped away his sweat for him. He didn’t say anything and, seeing that Yan Jin was no longer shivering, he felt more at ease. He was about to help Yan Jin lie down when he felt a yank at his sleeve.

“Master…” Yan Jin cracked his eyes opened a sliver. There seemed to be a mist within those black eyes, and he seemed a little confused, as if still immersed in a dream. He said, “Are you going to kill me?”

Shen Zhixian’s heart jerked and he looked down a him, uncertain whether Yan Jin was still dreaming or if he was awake.

There was a trace of fatigue and fragility on his handsome face. He blinked and that mist within the depths of his eyes became thicker, as if he was slipping back into his dreams. “Master.”

Shen Zhixian was stunned.

“….It hurts so much. You still killed disciple with one strike of your sword.” He gasped and muttered, “Just one sword move…Then, it’s over…”

Yan Jin’s voice gradually faded and his hand dropped away from Shen Zhixian’s sleeve. His eyes closed and he extended his neck slightly, his body unguarded, as if awaiting his inevitable execution.

His sword rested next to the bed.

Whether it was him or Shen Zhixian, it would only take a single moment to grab it.

Yan Jin’s spiritual force gradually calmed, the density nearly completely diffused. This was a sign of failure to advance, because Yan Jin could not escape the border of his dream.

Shen Zhixian pressed his lips together, reached for the sword, and tightened his fingers around it. Then, he gently but firmly placed the hilt in Yan Jin’s hand and used a little force to wrap his fingers around it.

“Open your eyes.”

Yan Jan opened his eyes blankly.

“Look down.”

Yan Jin obeyed the single command and, in one action, looked down at the sword.

Shen Zhixian covered Yan Jin’s hand with his own. Together, they held the hilt with one hand and the scabbard with the other. Shen Zhixian exerted a little force and the sword slid halfway out of its sheath, the gleaming blade exuding a small chill.

“Did you see that?” Shen Zhixian calmly said. “Master gave you a sword so that you would not be afraid. Whoever wants to bully you, simply draw your sword.”

As soon as his voice fell, spiritual energy suddenly surged, indicating that Yan Jin had heard and understood him. The barrier that imprisoned his spiritual sea immediately shattered.

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