Chapter Sixty-Seven: Unbelievable
“This is the power of space! Devouring, shredding…”
“And this too is the power of space! Sealing, imprisoning, transporting…”
“It is said that a true master of spatial force can carve out a subspace with a mere wave of the hand…”
The withered, shadowless elder casually drew a line in the air, tearing open a rift in the void before him. He tossed a mundane blade into the crack, and in the blink of an eye, the weapon was shredded into countless fragments, consumed and whisked away to parts unknown…
“Now, I shall use the power of space to take you into the void itself. Hold on to me!”
Without waiting for Gu Xiaopang’s reply, the shadowless elder seized him, and in an instant, their figures vanished from the chamber.
Squinting his eyes open as much as he could, Gu Xiaopang saw silvery sparks flickering all around. Though there was no wind, countless invisible blades seemed to slice at him, bringing searing pain…
Not far off, torrents of violent energy surged, swallowing everything in their path without distinction…
As the shadowless elder pressed on through the void, Gu Xiaopang soon noticed beneath his feet a web of fleeting, spiderweb-like nodes, each flashing into sight for a heartbeat before vanishing…
Then he saw the elder sweep his sleeve, unleashing several spatial blades that flashed outwards. In the distance, a massive floating meteor was cleaved apart as easily as tofu, splitting into countless pieces with perfect precision…
From the outside, the elder seemed unremarkable, yet here in the void, he was like its sovereign, able to obliterate anything around him at will…
Watching and experiencing these rare and wondrous sights, Gu Xiaopang soon closed his eyes and slipped into a state of utter selflessness, losing himself in the chaotic flow.
…
He felt as though he had become a part of the void itself, gliding through the river of space like a spirit. Yet he was so insignificant that before the great laws of space, a single careless ripple could cast him back to mortal dust…
Noticing this, the shadowless elder’s eyes shone as he looked at Gu Xiaopang as if he were a priceless treasure. Drawing a deep breath, his spatial power surged anew, carrying them ever further through the emptiness.
…
He did not know whether they traveled tens of thousands of miles or hundreds of thousands, nor whether it all passed in an instant. When Gu Xiaopang finally awakened from his trance, he felt within his dantian, atop the irregular Gale Spirit Pearl, a new spirit pearl was forming, struggling to take shape…
A spark can set the prairie ablaze. Within this newly forming pearl, miniature spatial blades flashed in and out, growing from the size of a grain of rice to that of a plump bean, visible to the naked eye.
As he awakened, he unconsciously raised his right hand, clenching his fist and punching out. A small floating meteor a few yards ahead shattered with a bang. His control was still limited, as only a corner of the meteor was blasted away, and the fracture was ragged and uneven…
“Excellent!”
“Wonderful!”
The shadowless elder at his side seemed to have tears in his eyes, which he quickly wiped away. Watching the scene before him, he could not help but exclaim his amazement twice.
…
For a hundred years, the shadowless elder had harbored two wishes.
One: to make further progress himself, hoping to step into the Nascent Soul stage before the end of his life, to see with his own eyes what the power of space was like in that new realm.
The other: if fate decreed he could advance no further, then to find and cultivate a worthy successor with all his strength, ensuring that the lineage he inherited would not die out with him…
…
The void split open once more, and the two figures returned together to the cultivation chamber.
“Young friend Changqing, would you be willing to take me as your master?”
“Or… even if you do not call me Master, you could call me teacher…”
The shadowless elder placed both aged hands on Gu Xiaopang’s shoulders, his body and hands trembling noticeably. His voice shook with excitement as he asked, almost nervously.
“I, Gu Changqing, pay my respects to Master!”
As Gu Xiaopang knelt to perform the formal rites of apprenticeship, the shadowless elder seemed to come alive again, his face overflowing with joy and relief.
“My good disciple! My good disciple!...”
…
Afterwards, when the shadowless elder brought his newly accepted disciple Gu Xiaopang to the tower’s summit, he could not conceal his excitement.
“Shadowless, what’s gotten into you today? You’re overjoyed!”
“Come, Changqing, greet your Martial Uncle.”
“Yes, Master.”
“I, Gu Changqing, pay my respects to Martial Uncle.”
…
When Prefect Song Wuji learned of the events, his face was filled with disbelief as he looked at Gu Xiaopang as though he were a rare treasure, clicking his tongue in admiration.
Beside him, Cang Aotian was just as astounded. His talented little nephew, already so gifted, had now mastered spatial power and become a disciple of the highly revered shadowless elder…
All of them could foresee that in the near future, the entire Wind God Continent would become even more vibrant and dazzling because of this youth. Should he not fall prematurely, then in the years to come, the fate of every sect and clan across the land might rest upon his word…