radicalducati Chapter 129 Introduction to the Threefold Return to Origin Qi
Chapter 129 Introduction to the Threefold Return to Origin Qi
"The Divine Coating Array..." Nie Lingfeng narrowed his eyes, sensing the earth-shaking changes around him, feeling the heavy, viscous, and malicious oppressive feeling, "Using heaven and earth as paper, qi as ink, and divine thought as a pen, drawing a circle on the ground as a prison, changing the world... The Wang family's trump card technique is indeed well-deserved."
He turned his head and looked at Chen Duo.
Chen Duo was still standing under the old locust tree, but at this moment, the tree had changed—dense black ink marks appeared on the trunk, wriggling and spreading like blood vessels, the branches twisted into strange shapes, all the leaves withered, and the whole tree looked like a painting soaked in thick ink, slowly "melting".
Holding the panda plush toy, Chen Duo looked up at the huge ink painting in the sky, watching the ink shadows slowly closing in. For the first time, a trace of... solemnity flashed in her emerald eyes.
It wasn't fear, it wasn't panic, it was the kind of vigilance and solemnity that instinctively arises when facing a powerful enemy.
"Nie Lingfeng," she said softly, her voice calm, but Nie Lingfeng could hear the subtle tension within it, "this formation... is very dangerous. More dangerous than the magical artifacts of Biyou Village, more dangerous than Uncle Liao's Gu, more dangerous than Village Chief Ma's cultivation furnace...
"I know." Nie Lingfeng nodded, walked to her side, and shielded her behind him, using his body to block most of the oppressive force. "But don't be afraid. I'm here."
He looked up at the huge ink painting in the sky, at the slowly moving mountains, rivers, flowers, birds, and figures in the painting, and a cold yet excited smile appeared on his lips.
That arc contained solemnity, vigilance, but even more so... a fighting spirit.
A boiling, burning fighting spirit that seemed to pierce the sky!
"Wang Ai," he spoke, his voice not loud, but clearly penetrating the oppressive array and reaching Wang Ai's ears, "this is your trump card? This is the foundation of your Wang family's hundreds of years of history?"
"Not bad!" Wang Ai stood at the edge of the light barrier, his face as pale as paper, a trace of blood still clinging to the corner of his mouth—forcibly activating the grand formation had clearly consumed a large amount of his essence and lifespan. But at this moment, his eyes were filled with a crazed smugness, like a gambler finally revealing his trump card, "The Divine Painting Grand Formation is the Wang family's most treasured secret technique! It was created by our ancestor Wang Xizhi through his enlightenment of heaven and earth and his attainment of Dao through calligraphy! Within the formation, I am a god! I want you to live, and you live! I want you to die, and you die!"
He raised his dragon-headed cane, its tip aimed at Nie Lingfeng, and with his last ounce of strength, pointed it fiercely:
"Array activated - First level: Ink-stained mountains and rivers!"
"boom--!!!"
In the sky, that enormous ink painting suddenly came to life!
The inky black mountain crashed down! It wasn't a real mountain, but an inky, illusory, yet incredibly powerful "force"! That "force" was like Mount Tai pressing down, like the sky collapsing and the earth sinking, pressing down on Nie Lingfeng!
Ink-black water surged forth! It wasn't real water, but a black, viscous "qi" that could corrode metal and stone and devour life! That "qi" swept towards Nie Lingfeng like the Yellow River bursting its banks and a tsunami raging to the heavens!
The dark-colored flowers, birds, insects, fish, figures, and beasts all roared silently, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, rushing in from all directions!
The entire world seemed to have transformed into a vast, living, and murderous ink painting.
Nie Lingfeng and Chen Duo are the two ink dots in the painting... about to be swallowed by the ink.
"Well done!"
A sharp glint flashed in Nie Lingfeng's eyes!
The Qilin tattoo on his chest suddenly became hot! Like a red-hot branding iron, it burned his skin, but the heat quickly spread throughout his body, bringing him violent power and boiling fighting spirit!
In his mind, the cold and violent killing intent belonging to the demonic blade "Snow Drink" was stirring restlessly, like a ferocious beast that had been imprisoned for too long, frantically ramming against its cage! Each ramming brought a tearing headache, and made his eyes slightly red!
But he forcefully suppressed it.
By operating the "Easy Formula" without seeking anything, one enters a state of "borrowing momentum".
Consciousness spread out like water, merging into the surrounding world altered by the array. It sensed the flow of "momentum" between heaven and earth, the laws governing the array's operation, the movement trajectories of those ink-wash phantoms, and the fluctuations of every strand of ink-colored "qi".
Then, he moved.
It's not about hiding, it's not about running away.
It is facing those rushing, ink-wash-like phantoms, facing the pressing mountains, the surging water, and the rushing flowers, birds, insects, fish, figures, and beasts—
They rushed forward!
Wind God Leg - Strong Grass in the Wind!
His figure became elusive in an instant, like grass swaying in the wind, like fish swimming in water. He weaved through the myriad of illusory shadows, maneuvered under immense pressure, and navigated perilous situations. The mountains that pressed down upon him were always narrowly avoided at the last second; the surging waters that were about to engulf him were always skillfully deflected at the last moment.
Cloud-Dispelling Palm - Overwhelming Force!
He unleashed both palms simultaneously, the palm winds like raging waves, forcefully clashing against the pressing "mountain," the surging "water," and the rushing "flowers, birds, insects, and fish"!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The palm strike collided with the inky black phantom, producing a muffled, thunderous roar! The white palm strike and the black phantom clashed fiercely, exploding into bursts of black and white intertwined air currents in the air! Wherever the air currents passed, the ground cracked, trees snapped, and even the air trembled!
Heavenly Frost Fist: Frost and Snow Fluttering!
A chilling aura erupted from his body, instantly transforming a five-zhang radius around him into an ice-bound domain! Thick layers of ice formed on the ground, and snowflakes drifted down from the air—not white snow, but pale blue ice crystals imbued with extreme cold!
The ink-wash shadows swept by the cold air instantly slowed their movements, and even... began to "freeze." The surface of the ink-black mountains was covered with pale blue frost, thin ice condensed on the surface of the ink-black water, and icicles clung to the ink-black flowers, birds, insects, and fish. Their movements became slower and stiffer.
"Not enough... still not enough..." Nie Lingfeng thought frantically as he fought.
The formlessness of the wind allows him to move freely within the formation, like a slippery fish, always able to avoid a fatal blow at the most dangerous moment.
The unpredictability of clouds allows him to neutralize the attacks of formations, like a ball of soft cotton, always able to overcome the hard with the soft and deflect the most violent forces.
The frost's ruthlessness allows him to freeze the changes in the formation, like a sudden blizzard that can always disrupt the enemy's rhythm and create opportunities for a counterattack.
Three realms of artistic conception and three kinds of power collided, merged, and sublimated wildly within his body.
He could feel that the threshold, the invisible threshold separating the "Three Absolutes" from the "Threefold Return to Origin Qi," was getting closer and clearer.
Just one last step...
One opportunity, one pressure, one... life-or-death epiphany!
"puff!"
A dark, shadowy figure broke through the barrier of the cold aura and his palm wind defense, grabbing his left shoulder with a claw!
"Sizzle—"
Clothes torn, skin ripped open!
Five deep, bone-revealing wounds appeared on his shoulder, and blood gushed out instantly, staining half of his clothes red. The dark, phantom claws were highly corrosive, and the flesh around the wounds quickly turned black and rotted, emitting a sizzling sound.
The excruciating pain shot through him, but Nie Lingfeng didn't even flinch.
His left shoulder muscles tensed suddenly, and a layer of pale blue frost immediately appeared on the wound. The frost spread rapidly, freezing the bleeding wound and also freezing the claws of the dark shadow.
Then, without even looking, he threw a punch at the phantom's chest!
Heavenly Frost Fist - Frost Condenses, Revealing Clumsiness!
"Snap!"
The phantom exploded at the chest, turning into a cloud of dark mist that dissipated into the air.
Nie Lingfeng licked his lips—a trace of blood had seeped from the corner of his mouth at some point. He laughed, a wild and excited laugh.
"Again!"
His eyes burned with fighting spirit, like two burning flames!
The Qilin tattoo on his chest was so hot it looked like it was burning through his skin and into his bones!
In his mind, the killing intent of the demonic blade became increasingly difficult to suppress, and those scarlet eyes, filled with destructive desire and belonging to Nie Feng's inherited memories, slowly opened deep within his consciousness!
But he didn't care anymore.
At that moment, he had only one thought in his mind—
war!
Enlightenment through battle!
Breakthrough through through war!
Using this world altered by the array as a furnace, these inky black phantoms as a hammer and anvil, and this life-or-death crisis as the flame—
Forge yourself! Refine the three ultimate techniques! Break through the limits!
"Wang Ai!" He looked up at the pale-faced old man at the edge of the light screen, blood trickling from his mouth, but with a crazed, triumphant look in his eyes. He burst into laughter, a thunderous sound that still resonated despite the pressure of the formation. "Your formation is quite impressive! Perfect, I'll borrow your formation to help me—"
He took a deep breath, his voice suddenly rising like a bolt of lightning tearing through the night sky:
"Breaking through!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he stopped holding back, stopped testing the waters, and stopped playing games.
Wind God Leg, Cloud Dispelling Palm, and Heavenly Frost Fist – three martial arts techniques, all used to their fullest potential simultaneously!
The "Qi" within his body was like three raging rivers, surging wildly along three different meridians! One was as swift as the wind, one as long as the clouds, and one as cold as frost! The three rivers collided fiercely in his dantian, like three torrents vying for their mouths. Each collision brought excruciating pain as if his meridians were being torn apart, but he gritted his teeth and persevered, forcibly guiding and compelling them... to merge!
His figure transformed into a blue tornado, frantically weaving through the countless phantoms. Wherever he passed, the phantoms dissipated, and the dark colors retreated!
The palm strikes transformed into a raging sea of clouds, one palm after another, forcefully slamming against the pressing mountains, the surging waters, and all things rushing towards them! Each palm strike caused the void to tremble and the ink to churn!
The force of his fist transformed into ice that froze over thousands of miles. Chills burst forth from every pore of his body, and pale blue ice crystals swirled wildly around him, forming a snowstorm ten feet in diameter! Wherever the storm passed, everything was frozen, even the dark phantom was frozen into an ice sculpture, before shattering and dissipating in the storm!
Gradually, a faint, three-colored vortex began to appear around him.
Cyan represents the wind, which is agile and swift.
White represents clouds, which are long and flexible.
Blue represents frost, which is cold and ruthless.
The three-colored vortex slowly rotated, faster and faster, larger and larger, its colors becoming deeper and more solid. From the initial faint halo, it transformed into a clearly visible three-colored ring, and then into a massive vortex, three zhang in diameter, interwoven with the three colors, slowly rotating like a tai chi diagram, enveloping his entire body within it.
At the center of the cyclone, Nie Lingfeng closed his eyes and slowly drew circles with his hands in front of his chest.
The movements were slow and gentle, like practicing Tai Chi, or rehearsing some ancient ritual.
But with each circle, the vortex becomes more solid, the pressure intensifies, and the speed at which the three colors circulate increases.
"This is..." Wang Ai's eyes widened, her pupils contracted sharply, and she stared in disbelief at the three-colored cyclone, at the gray-haired youth at its center who was deducing with his eyes closed. "Impossible... How could he... What is this...?"
Nie Lingfeng's voice was very soft and faint, as if he were talking to himself, but every word clearly resounded throughout the entire formation and entered the ears of everyone: "Return to Origin".
"gas--"
He slammed his hands together!
Bring your palms together in front of your chest, three inches apart.
For a moment, time seemed to stand still.
The inky black shadows that rushed in from all directions stopped in mid-air.
The mountain that pressed down stopped overhead.
The surging water stopped at my feet.
Even the falling snowflakes stopped in mid-air.
Then--
"boom--!!!"
The three-colored cyclone exploded with a roar!
It's not an explosion, it's "unification"! It's "fusion"! It's "sublimation"!
The three colors of cyan, white, and blue merged instantly, transforming into a chaotic, hazy color that seemed capable of devouring all light and darkness, life and death, existence and non-existence!
The color was indescribable, neither black nor white, neither cyan nor blue, like the chaos at the beginning of creation, like the origin of all things returning to one!
Centered on Nie Lingfeng, the chaotic color suddenly spread out!
Like a circular shockwave, like a silent tsunami, like a miniature reproduction of the Big Bang!
Wherever it passed, those ink-wash phantoms, like snow meeting the blazing sun, instantly melted, dissipated, and transformed into the most primordial, attribute-less "Qi," which was devoured, assimilated, and absorbed by that chaotic color!
The dark mountain crumbled.
The inky water evaporated.
The ink-colored flowers, birds, insects, fish, figures, and animals all vanished into thin air.
The enormous ink painting in the sky began to collapse, disintegrate, and dissipate, like a painting soaked in water, the ink spreading, the image blurring, and finally disappearing completely.
The pale white light curtain that enveloped the entire village fluctuated violently, emitting cracking sounds like a piece of glass about to shatter. Countless cracks appeared on the light curtain, spreading rapidly until finally—
"Bang!"
With a soft sound, the light curtain shattered completely, turning into countless points of light that dissipated into the night sky.
The Divine Array... is broken.
Nie Lingfeng, with his newly comprehended, incomplete, and nascent "Three-Part Returning to Origin Qi," forcefully... broke through it.
The formation backfired.
Wang Ai coughed up a mouthful of blood, which was not bright red but a dark red tinged with black, like fragments of internal organs. He felt as if his bones had been removed, and he collapsed to his knees, supporting himself with his hands, coughing up large mouthfuls of blood. With each cough, his face grew paler and his breath weakened, like an old tree rapidly withering away.
He looked up at the gray-haired youth standing in the center of the chaotic colors, slowly opening his eyes. His eyes were filled with despair, resentment, madness, and... a trace of fear that even he himself did not realize.
Nie Lingfeng stood still and slowly opened his eyes.
In his eyes, three colors flowed—cyan, white, and blue—like three halos of light, slowly rotating deep within his pupils, finally settling into calm, into profundity, into… a higher level of indifference.
He looked down at his hands.
A faint three-colored halo flashed across my palm and then disappeared.
He felt the new, powerful force within him, a force that seemed capable of shaking heaven and earth yet also of bringing peace. He felt the chaotic and mysterious "Qi" generated by the perfect fusion of wind, cloud, and frost. He felt the sense of control that allowed him to manipulate the power of heaven and earth with every gesture.
He smiled.
Her smile was faint, but her eyes shone with light.
"So... this is the Qi of Three Parts Returning to Origin."
Although it's not complete yet, although it's just the beginning, although it's only touched the threshold.
But that's enough.
At least, that's enough to deal with the current Wang family.
He looked up at Wang Ai, who was kneeling on the ground, her face ashen and barely breathing, and slowly walked over.
The footsteps were very light, but in the deathly silence of the night, they were eerily clear.
"Old Master Wang," he began, his voice calm, as calm as if he were discussing the weather, "it's time to end this."