Chapter 450:无忧谷

A vortex seemed to appear on the bustling street as pedestrians instinctively avoided the center, leaving a hollow space.

Meng Qi, dressed in a green robe and carrying a long saber at his waist, walked with his hands behind his back and brushed past Shangguan Heng, who stood frozen in place. His demeanor was extremely graceful, seemingly confident that Shangguan Heng would not become furious and attack him, or perhaps he had absolute faith in his own strength, even if Shangguan Heng attempted a surprise assault.

Shangguan Heng’s face turned bright red, unable to believe he had been defeated so easily, but the truth was undeniable.

His eyes revealed increasing savagery, but more prominently, confusion, as if still immersed in the memories of past lives, unable to extricate himself.

Life after life, man and woman, all merely a grand dream—where is the “self”?

A man with a Lulong accent watched the scene unfold on the street, struggling to swallow, completely speechless.

Is this the power of the second place on the Human List?

Is this the “Furious Saber” Su Meng?

The actual combat was too different from what he had imagined, making Meng Qi’s strength even more shocking, especially his elusive and unfathomable saber technique.

Even the few Jin Dynasty merchants were equally stunned. Although they had confidence in Meng Qi and did not doubt the rankings on the Human List, the gap was still too astonishing.

The green robe disappeared into the crowd, leaving Shangguan Heng still standing there, unable to recover for a long time.

…

Late at night, deep in a forest near a chaotic burial ground.

Following the description given by Sikong Tu’s wife, Meng Qi located the tomb.

Recalling the various deadly traps laid out, Meng Qi extended his senses outward, observing meticulously to find the most suitable position.

If he didn’t care about damaging the contents inside, directly activating his treasure weapon to slash open the tomb would be the simplest and most effective way to disable the traps, but naturally, he couldn’t do that now.

The most vicious aspect of Sikong Tu’s traps was that if the front sections were disabled or destroyed, the final trap would release corrosive poison liquid, destroying the ancient books inside and making the grave robbers’ efforts fruitless. This was currently Meng Qi’s biggest headache—according to Sikong Tu’s wife, unless a master of traps came personally or Sikong Tu himself, with his secret grave-robbing techniques, returned from the dead, there was no way for ordinary people to disable this final layer.

In the forest, several grave robbers lurking nearby were secretly observing Meng Qi.

“Big brother, do you think he’s just standing there for no reason?” A small thief, his face covered with black cloth leaving only his nose and eyes visible, asked curiously.

The leader of the grave robbers replied with a toothache-like expression, “He’s definitely not here to pay respects to the dead in the middle of the night, right?”

He suspected the man was also targeting the tomb.

“Big brother, didn’t you say the tomb has many traps and we should dig a tunnel slowly to excavate it?” The small thief exclaimed, fully trusting his leader’s judgment.

“Exactly, with our experience, there must be at least five traps in that tomb! If I’m wrong, I’ll write my surname backward!” The leader swore solemnly.

The small thief muttered quietly, “But your surname is Tian, boss…”

“Anyway, he’ll definitely give up eventually. Slowly, no, gradually.” The leader spoke with a flourish.

Meng Qi ignored them, briefly considering his options before making a decision. Suddenly, he extended his right hand, fingers forming a claw glowing dark gold, and grabbed the tomb.

The outer layer of gray stone crumbled like rotten wood, collapsing instantly. Inside, arrows and poison needles shot down in a dense shower, nearly impossible to evade, all striking Meng Qi’s hand.

A faint metallic clanging sound continued, all the hidden weapons fell powerless to the ground. Meng Qi’s hand did not slow in the slightest, sweeping away falling rocks and deflecting poison insects in one swift motion.

Puu, bamboo tubes shattered, spewing black toxic liquid onto the scrolls wrapped in fur below.

At that moment, a pale golden hand appeared above the scrolls, grabbing them into its palm.

Zizi, the poison liquid splashed onto the hand and arm, emitting a hair-raising sound, rising in waves of white mist, but the pale gold did not fade even slightly.

Meng Qi withdrew his hand, looking at the stack of scrolls, nodded in satisfaction, and turned to leave.

The position he chose avoided most of the traps.

“Did he actually succeed so easily?” The small thief watching in secret exclaimed in astonishment, seeing only the man break through the tomb’s outer layer, reach inside, and effortlessly retrieve the items!

The leader was stunned for half a moment, struggling to say, “Breaking stone so effortlessly must mean he’s an absolute expert. We can’t compare!”

“But what about the traps inside?” The small thief asked, puzzled.

“This…” The leader didn’t know how to respond.

The small thief regained his composure, eager, “Big brother, maybe there aren’t many traps inside! Let’s go check, maybe we can find some leftover treasures!”

“Perhaps the traps were destroyed!” The leader refused to admit his mistake, but his eyes gleamed with greed.

Meng Qi, holding the scrolls, exited the forest when suddenly he heard screams from inside. He shook his head and smiled.

Without turning back, he casually found a quiet spot and began flipping through the scrolls under the moonlight.

“It’s actually Bomi…” After a while, Meng Qi slightly frowned, murmuring to himself.

One of the ancient scrolls detailed the historical changes of the Wuyou Valley. Initially, it deduced the approximate location, later finding some clues locally, unfortunately failing to locate the entrance before the owner contracted a deadly illness and died suddenly. Before his death, he left relevant records for his descendants to investigate, but somehow this scroll ended up as someone else’s burial item.

According to the scroll, the ancient Wuyou Valley was now located in the Bomi region of the Hanhai Desert. Bomi, the most notorious perilous zone in Hanhai, featured complex terrain and was shrouded in red mist that distorted perception, making it an ideal hiding place. Numerous dangerous criminals who had offended powerful figures were forced to take refuge there, including many at the Exemplar level. In the past, Xuan Bei and the Crying Elder had once battled all the way to the outskirts of Bomi, so Meng Qi was quite familiar with the area.

“The black fur that triggers the Zhenwu Linked Task was obtained by Hanhai bandits from a mysterious mausoleum, so it makes sense that the Wuyou Valley is located in Hanhai…” Meng Qi nodded slightly, temporarily suppressing his urge to search for the entrance to Bomi. It was a perilous place, cloaked in red mist so dense that even someone like Ze Luo would hesitate to enter. Combined with his vendetta against the Crying Elder’s lineage, without reaching the Exemplar level, it would be better not to go there and risk his life.

The other scrolls also mentioned various mausoleums or hidden places, recording many ancient geographical name changes, giving Meng Qi much knowledge. However, most of them were fragmented clues, making it impossible for him to follow them like a map.

“No wonder Sikong Tu chose to excavate the Han family’s ancestral tomb and bury these scrolls here…” Meng Qi flipped to the end, clicking his tongue in amazement. Fortunately, he hadn’t expected too much; finding a clue about Wuyou Valley was already an unexpected bonus.

Putting away the scrolls, Meng Qi looked up at the starry sky, gazing at the deep darkness and brilliant points of light, lost in thought.

The next day, after confirming that Sikong Tu’s wife and children had safely headed south, Meng Qi left Le Li.

Not far from the city gate, he saw someone standing on the road ahead—it was Shangguan Heng, his eyebrows thick and messy.

“What? Have you figured out how to block that saber strike now?” Meng Qi asked, amused.

Shangguan Heng clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and finally managed to squeeze out two words: “Not yet.”

“If you haven’t figured it out, why block me here?” Meng Qi raised his eyebrows again.

Did he want to experience the sensation of past lives again? Was he addicted?

Shangguan Heng’s face turned iron gray. “Not having figured it out now doesn’t mean I won’t in the future. I’m afraid I won’t be able to find you once I do, so I decided to follow you.”

This guy really is stubborn… Meng Qi laughed heartily: “Fine, follow if you want.”

He walked forward unconcerned, while Shangguan Heng, his face stiff, followed at a distance of two or three zhang.

Not long after they started walking, summer rain poured down in torrents, forming thick lines of water.

As Shangguan Heng was about to look for shelter or use his protective qi to block the rain, he saw the Furious Saber slightly lifting his face, calmly accepting the rain as if savoring it.

His clothes quickly became soaked, but it didn’t hinder his progress in the least.

“Did he actively retract his protective qi? What is he trying to do?” Shangguan Heng looked at the green-robed figure ahead, slightly puzzled, instinctively quickening his pace to avoid losing sight of him.

When the rain stopped and the road entered the mountains, white mist steamed from Meng Qi’s body, and his clothes dried quickly.

The road was muddy after the rain, but he didn’t rest or use his lightness kung fu techniques, simply walking step by step, making Shangguan Heng feel even more puzzled.

After following for several days, Shangguan Heng noticed that the Furious Saber truly acted freely, never caring about sleeping outdoors, as if immersed in some strange feeling.

“Is he comprehending the world, attempting to achieve harmony with nature?” Shangguan Heng pondered thoughtfully, yet felt it wasn’t quite the same. For example, now.

It was a deep night, cold and desolate in the wild, with no one around. “Furious Saber” Su Meng leaned against a green stone, a blade of grass in his mouth, gazing at the stars absentmindedly, showing no sign of comprehending nature.

Shangguan Heng, a straightforward person, could no longer contain his curiosity. He quickly walked over, frowning and asking, “What exactly are you doing?”

Meng Qi, a blade of grass in his mouth, leaned casually against the stone. Hearing the question, he returned to his senses but instead of answering, countered:

“If you were to attempt to harmonize with nature and achieve unity, what would you do?”

There was a standard answer to this… Shangguan Heng replied indifferently: “Naturally, by comprehending nature. Everyone’s cultivation method, temperament, and mental cultivation differ, so the insights gained will also vary. Then, using these insights to adjust one’s inner world to gradually approach.”

“If one can preliminarily conceive the most suitable path for oneself, the external manifestation of one’s inner world, then one can be said to have perfectly achieved harmony between heaven and humanity.”

Meng Qi didn’t look at him, instead fixing his gaze upon the stars once more, his voice tinged with emotion: “But is the heaven and earth we perceive through our personal understanding truly the real heaven and earth? At our current level, with our limited vision, how could we possibly recognize the true essence of heaven and earth?”

“Just preliminarily find a path, and gradually explore later. If one could truly understand heaven and earth, one would have to reach the level of the Five Emperors of antiquity.” Shangguan Heng scoffed.

Meng Qi smiled, still looking at the deep, enchanting stars: “I know, but thinking ahead a bit shouldn’t be a bad thing.”

His previous understanding of achieving harmony between heaven and humanity and finding one’s path was originally the same as Shangguan Heng’s. However, in the previous cycle mission, to scare Zuo Hanfeng and Yin Lenghui, he had inverted the “Changing Heaven and Earth Great Art,” performing parts of his past life’s knowledge and his understanding of Yuanshi. Now, recalling it, he suddenly felt inexplicably startled.

Is this world really flat with a round sky above?

Are the stars and the sun truly different?

One’s own path obviously includes the content of one’s worldview, one’s understanding of heaven and earth. Without this realization, Meng Qi would have simply found a preliminary direction and waited until reaching the Exemplar level to explore and make small corrections within a limited scope. But now, wouldn’t it be better to establish a preliminary understanding of heaven and earth?

“Is the ‘Yuanshi’ I understand really the same ‘Yuanshi’?”

“Without sufficient cultivation, forcefully pondering the mysteries of heaven and earth will only lead to madness, leaving mental barriers that prevent future breakthroughs.” Shangguan Heng said coldly.

Meng Qi did not answer but pointed directly at the stars, his voice ethereal: “What is the difference between stars and the sun?”

“Does the sun not possess stellar power?”

…

“In the earliest beginning, who transmitted the Dao?”

“When heaven and earth were not yet formed, how could it be examined?”

One question after another entered Shangguan Heng’s ears. He stared at the young man ahead, suddenly feeling that he was unfathomably profound, as if they were in different worlds.