The Prodigies War

By the time Lin Xun woke up, the book and brush on the desk were gone but a mysterious blood-red door had appeared in his mind.

He couldn’t believe what he saw. ‘Could this be the shocking secret that Mister Lu mentioned?’

If it was true, then was the mysterious blood-red door in his mind his hope for defying the heavens, changing his fate, and becoming reborn?

Lin Xun inhaled deeply to forcibly calm himself while he desperately recalled what had happened.

‘The mysterious book, the dark gray brush…’

Lin Xun speculated that the book and brush were treasures left by the mighty figure who broke the sky, shook the universe, and opened the galaxis door with a single strike.

That mighty figure had sighed, ‘Time waits for no one’ before he faded. He left carrying a bronze coffin, in which the book and brush were sealed. Later, for some unknown reason, the book and brush emerged in the world.

Endless years had passed by since then, and many legendary figures had acquired those treasures and attempted to unravel the mystery inside. However, they all ultimately failed, as was evident by the blood-red handprints on the last page of the book.

Mister Lu had also failed to understand the mystery.

Those treasures had now fallen into Lin Xun’s hands…

Lin Xun suddenly scrunched his brows as he became aware of a problem. ‘Could my series of actions last night have accidentally activated the secret concealed within the treasures?’

It was indeed possible. At that time, his life force was slipping away and his body was escaping his control. He seemed to recall the gray brush awakening and using his blood as ink to draw on the strange diagram on the last page of the mysterious book.

Lin Xun was certain that the strange pattern was incomplete, and the mysterious door in his mind was engraved with an equally mysterious and complex pattern similar to the strange diagram.

The only difference between them was that the one on the mysterious door was complete!

Could it be that while he was unconscious that night, the gray brush had restored the strange diagram and triggered a change that made the book and brush transform into the mysterious door in his mind?

Lin Xun felt his speculation was plausible, but he couldn’t be certain.

Lin Xun’s detailed deduction and logic no doubt would shock many people since it was impossible for an ordinary thirteen-year-old to possess such intelligence!

“It seems that to confirm the answer I must first investigate the mysterious blood-red door in my mind…” Lin Xun muttered, his innocent and pale face pensive.

“Little Brother Lin Xun, are you up yet?”

A voice suddenly rang from the courtyard, waking Lin Xun from his deep thoughts. He shook his head, put the matter aside, and opened the door.

Lin Xun recognized the villager waiting in his courtyard. He was called Ying Hao and his family owned two thousand odd square meters of aeth grain plantations.

“Oh, it’s Big Brother Ying. Sorry to keep you waiting.” Lin Xun remembered he had agreed to help Ying Hao exterminate the worms in his family’s plantations.

“Hehe, I just arrived. Little brother, you haven’t eaten yet, right? Let’s drop by my house first to fill your stomach.” Ying Hao enthusiastically urged Lin Xun.

“Let’s work on the fields first. We can eat afterward.” Lin Xun smiled, went back into the house to pick up the required tools, and then left with Ying Hao.

……

The plantations in Feiyun Village totaled 46,000 square meters and were owned by different villagers. Aeth grains were grown all year round and could be harvested twice a year assuming there was favorable weather that year.

Aeth grains contained traces of aeth power and were considered necessities for cultivation.

As everyone knew the cultivation stages were divided into five great stages: True Martial, Spirit Dipper, Spirit Sea, Heaven Ascension, and the Cyclic Derivation Stage.

But before cultivators could attempt to break through to the Spirit Dipper stage, they had to rely on materials such as aeth grains to consolidate their cultivation base.

The consumption of aeth grains all year round would not only provide cultivators with the strength required but also improve their constitution and strengthen their minds.

Understandably, aeth grains were considered ‘food’ to cultivators. They were essential, even if they seemed to be of little value.

There were few cultivators in Feiyun Village—a total of nine people including Lian Rufeng, so not many aeth grains were needed in the village. As a result, the majority of the aeth grains harvested were either sold or exchanged for other living supplies.

The gentle morning breeze blew and the blazing sun rose, shedding light like gold fragments over Feiyun Village and bringing tranquility.

The range upon range of mountains in the distance looked immense with no end in sight.

Undoubtedly, located in the depths of the mountains, Feiyun Village was very remote and thus given the title of the Great Three Thousand Mountains at heaven’s border. It was simply like an area outside the sphere of civilization.

Even the Ziyao Empire was likely unaware of the existence of such a small village in the depths of the mountain on the southwestern border.

Once Lin Xun arrived at the plantations that Ying Hao’s family owned, he deftly took out a short azure blade and a part of a Gold Eating Rat’s essence bone and strode into the depths of the fields.

Ying Hao stood anxiously in front of the plantations as he watched.

Fortunately, Lin Xun quickly and smoothly finished the job. He drew the Light Drawing Rune to attract the sun’s brilliance to exterminate the worms in the plantations.

Seeing this, Ying Hao was so happy that he couldn’t stop smiling. He even repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Lin Xun on their way back to the village.

However, he failed to notice the strange expression on Lin Xun’s face as they left the fields.

“How could that be? Aeth Power Vortex?” Lin Xun mumbled to himself. Wisps of aeth power continued to circulate through his meridians and acupuncture points, which was no different from the past.

But upon a closer inspection, he noticed that his aeth power had transformed into vortexes and circulated differently as it passed the Jade Rotator, Splendid Cover, Violet Palace, and Jade Hall acupuncture points in the center of his chest.

These four acupuncture points were located in the heart area and linked together to form a straight meridian. According to the distribution of meridians in the body, these four acupuncture points were along the Governor Vessel and they protected the heart from top to bottom.

Therefore, in cultivation, the meridian that the four acupuncture points, Jade Rotator, Splendid Cover, Violet Palace, and Jade Hall, connected to form was also called the Heart Meridian.

The Heart Meridian and the four acupuncture points together were called the four heart acupuncture points.

The four heart acupuncture points weren’t considered particularly important to ordinary cultivators when compared to the One Hundred Meetings acupuncture point on the crown of the head, the Spirit Courtyard acupuncture point on the forehead, and the Sea of Qi acupuncture point in the abdomen.

However, these four heart acupuncture points were special to Lin Xun because the Origin Aeth Artery he was born with was originally concealed within the four heart acupuncture points!

Ever since his Origin Aeth Artery was taken, his four heart acupuncture points had become incomparably weak and lifeless. His aeth power became incredibly slow every time it neared that area as though it was sinking into a quagmire.

Most importantly, the four heart acupuncture points not only were just lifeless but also extremely fragile. Lin Xun didn’t dare to let it suffer any impact even during training since his heart could also be damaged and the consequences would be serious if that happened.

This was the greatest scar left in Lin Xun’s body when his Origin Aeth Artery was removed. It was so great that it might remain there forever.

Lin Xun had lived in such a state for thirteen years and had long grown accustomed to it. However, a sudden change appeared!

Lin Xun felt something strange when he was helping Ying Hao exterminate worms in the plantations. When he used his fingertips as a brush and the Gold Eating Rat’s bone powder as ink to guide the aeth power in his body to draw the Light Drawing Rune, he sensed his aeth power undergoing a unique and new change as it entered the four heart acupuncture points.

His aeth power was no longer as sluggish as it was in the past. Instead, it transformed into an Aeth Power Vortex as it reached the Jade Rotator acupuncture point and frantically circulated. It then resumed its original state and moved along the Heart Meridian. But it frantically circulated again at the Splendid Cover acupuncture point…

The same process repeated as it passed the Violet Palace and Jade Hall acupuncture points.

Such circulation of aeth power was so bizarre and Lin Xun had never experienced something similar before.

He felt the four tremendous vortexes created in the four heart acupuncture points, and his aeth power frantically circulated as it entered each one. It only resumed its original state once it left the four heart acupuncture points.

The change initially terrified Lin Xun because he thought something had gone wrong in his cultivation. He only felt a little more relaxed when he was absolutely certain that the change had no harmful effect on him.

He couldn’t divert his attention to any other matter when he was at the critical juncture of drawing the Light Drawing Rune to exterminate the worms. He only had the chance to focus on this issue on his way back to the village.

‘Aeth Power Vortex? How are they formed?’

Lin Xun pondered this for a good while. An idea flashed through his mind. ‘Could it be related to the mysterious door that appeared in my mind?’

It was indeed possible!

That mysterious blood-red door had appeared in his mind that morning and it was shortly after its appearance that the four heart acupuncture points underwent a strange change. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

“Mister Lu said that my fate would change and I would be reborn when I unravel the mystery. Could that be happening already?”

With this thought, Lin Xun couldn’t control his excitement.

He had waited for this day for far too long!