In a desolate mountain region, a hexagonal azure light gate suddenly appeared in the air. Qianye dashed out of the light gate and found himself soaring high in the sky, a hundred meters above the ground.
At that moment, the light wings on his back dimmed and dissipated, point by point. He halted in mid-air for an instant before plummeting towards the earth. Beneath him lay dense woodland, and as he fell, he crashed through numerous tree branches, finally landing with a heavy thud on the forest grass, sending ripples through the foliage.
Although Qianye’s body was resilient, falling from such a height left him disoriented. After regaining his senses, he used a nearby tree trunk to support himself as he slowly rose. Looking around, he realized he had landed at the edge of the forest and decided to head towards the open area beyond it.
Moments later, Qianye emerged from the forest, and the scene before him widened. He stood halfway up the mountain, gazing at a lush, verdant slope that stretched like a tapestry all the way to a distant valley. In the middle of the valley, a small river meandered into the distance, fed by several winding streams that flowed down from the mountainsides.
A flicker of realization crossed Qianye’s mind, and the river came into sharp focus. Through the water, he could see several small fish, no larger than the palm of his hand, struggling upstream. These fish, each marked by a golden line running along their sides, were clearly visible even from the great distance that separated Qianye from the river—over a thousand meters.
Startled, Qianye’s gaze swept across the entire valley. The picturesque scenery seemed to come alive; he could see leaves fluttering in the wind, birds flitting in and out of their nests, and even a tiny, unknown green insect crawling on a leaf, only to fall off when a gentle breeze blew.
Every detail and secret of the valley seemed to be laid bare before Qianye’s eyes, despite the distance. A clarity dawned within him—was this what extraordinary vision was? What, then, was the true sight?
As these thoughts swirled in his mind, Qianye’s pupils once again filled with a deep blue, and the world before him changed. It appeared to lose all color, leaving only shades of black and white.
The world still held its colors, but in Qianye’s view, a faint black mist enveloped everything, almost completely obscuring the colors. This black mist was everywhere yet intangible, impossible to touch.
Occasionally, a wisp of white mist would emerge from the void. As soon as it appeared, it clashed and dissipated against the pervasive black mist, only to reappear and disappear in a never-ending cycle.
This scene reminded Qianye of something. He pondered for a moment and recalled a time in the desolate city where, during a fierce battle with the blood races, he had seen white mist appear in the void, spraying onto the viscounts of the blood race.
Upon further sensing, Qianye confirmed his guess. The white mist emerging from the void was the power of dawn, while the pervasive black mist was the power of darkness.
Was this the true sight? He could actually see the distribution of the forces.
The ability to identify the forces was immeasurably significant. At least for Qianye now, the natural cloaking and even invisibility abilities of many dark races had become ineffective. While most disguises could fool the eye, they couldn’t fundamentally alter the nature of the force. Even those capable of concealing their aura would, under the true sight, appear as a moving mass of force.
Qianye suspected that, as the true sight grew stronger, it might evolve into a terrifying ability to perceive the true nature of the world. The true sight was likely the initial manifestation of the Eye of Truth.
The scene he had just witnessed also confirmed his vague feeling that the power of darkness was omnipresent on the continent, while the power of dawn was much rarer. No wonder human strongmen needed various methods to assist in their cultivation, from specialized training chambers to a myriad of elixirs. In contrast, dark races often grew stronger naturally.
At least in this land, cultivating the power of dawn for humans was extremely challenging.
After testing the true sight, the final ability to try was the Pupil Technique: Control.
Qianye’s gaze shifted, and he spotted a plump rabbit hidden in the nearby grass. The rabbit suddenly sensed danger and leaped out, fleeing swiftly, but it had already been captured by Qianye’s eyes.
The rabbit, as if frightened, leaped with all its might, but it suddenly fell mid-air, crashing to the ground, twitching a few times before becoming still. Qianye picked up the rabbit and, using a short knife, cut open its belly. The rabbit’s exterior was unscathed, but its internal organs were a mess, with its heart having turned to a pool of bloody mush.
This was the Pupil Technique: Control. Everything within his sight was under his control.
With the help of Anduva’s drop of original blood, the Original Wings had also shed all limitations and were fully activated. They were not, as originally thought, a core array of some kind of force gun. The Original Wings were integrated with the owner’s bloodline, perhaps more aptly described as a gun soul.
They could be attached to any force gun, enhancing its power. The extent of the enhancement depended on the user’s strength. As Qianye’s power increased, so too would the enhancement, without any upper limit. As the Original Wings matured, they might activate new, powerful abilities. For example, Anduva’s special abilities, such as Void Flash and Dark Penetration, were all possibilities for Qianye to acquire.
In summary, the Original Wings were a gun soul with infinite potential, and now, it was in its infancy. Qianye’s bloodline was the nurturing ground, and when the Original Wings fully matured, they would separate and become a tangible entity. Only then would a new generation of legendary guns truly emerge.
This process sounded almost magical, no wonder Anduva regarded it as his greatest creation, and why the Evernight Council, upon hearing definitive news, was willing to launch a full-scale war that engulfed the entire Evernight Continent to obtain it.
Qianye let out a long breath and took out the Twin Flowers, which had been restored to perfection. Now both were level five guns, though they were slightly different. The left one, named Blood Mandala, excelled in raw power, while the right, named Illusionary Red Lotus, could stack special force effects.
Because they were perfected by Anduva himself, the force arrays were flawless, and if driven by the Original Wings, their power could be enhanced by an entire level.
Qianye looked up at the sky, gazing over the vast expanse, and felt the world incredibly wide and open.
The serene, uninhabited mountain area was occasionally broken by the scurrying of native animals, with no signs of dark race activity. Slightly relieved, Qianye estimated that the multiple Void Flashes used by the space gate had transported him nearly a thousand kilometers away from his starting point, well beyond the search range of the dark races.
Instead of hurrying to leave, Qianye chose to rest in the forest for several days, recovering before determining his location.
He found himself at the northwestern end of the Falling Star Mountains, in the middle of the Three Peaks and One River terrain of the Nianqing Mountain Range. By following the mountain range southeast, he could reach the imperial territory.
Days passed, and as Qianye climbed another ridge, a gentle plain finally appeared before him. In the distance, a river traversed the plain, with a city rising on its banks.
The city was modest in size but well-fortified with high walls and deep ditches. Its style indicated it was a human border fortress, signifying the edge of the imperial domain. Qianye felt a surge of joy and quickened his pace toward the city.
Despite being a border fortress, the area was not barren. Surrounding the city were cultivated fields, irrigated by crisscrossing canals drawing water from the river.
Scattered around the city were over a dozen villages, each hidden behind stone walls several meters high, resembling small fortresses. In times of war, these villages could support each other, greatly strengthening the city’s defenses.
Each village was connected to the city by roads, simple but level, allowing for the rapid passage of off-road vehicles. On the other side of the city, two highways extended into the distance.
The presence of these villages, roads, and fertile fields hinted at the prosperity of the region. Clearly, the city lord was no ordinary person, able to manage the border area so well. In comparison, human cities on the Evernight Continent were mere shabby villages.
From a distance, Qianye saw two types of flags flying from the city walls—one the imperial flag, and the other a banner depicting iron knights galloping among the clouds. This was the emblem of the Yan Yun Zhao clan, indicating the city was part of the Zhao fiefdom.
Lacking the status of a resident of the Zhao fiefdom, Qianye had to pay an entry tax. To his surprise, after paying a small fee, the guards allowed him to enter without further trouble or special scrutiny.
In a short time, hundreds of people entered and exited the city, including medium and small caravans. Judging by the flow of people and commerce, this border fortress was even more prosperous than some prefectures on the Evernight Continent.
The city, named Libin due to the river called Li Water that ran alongside it, became Qianye’s first stop.
Upon entering the city, Qianye sought out a detailed regional map, confirming he was on the border of the Zhao fiefdom’s Yannan Province, with Libin City adjacent to Mount Pugou. The unique soil of the mountain produced many valuable resources, making Libin a well-known trading hub in the region.
Initially, Qianye planned to take a public airship to the Zhao capital, then travel to the Taihang Mountains border, and finally return to the Evernight Continent via the nameless town in the Silent Fire Plain.
However, this border city did not have daily airships to the Zhao capital. The next available one would depart in several days, so Qianye decided to explore Libin City in the meantime.
When Qianye inquired about local specialties from an innkeeper, he was surprised to learn that the city’s most famous product was the bones of the Cloud Fragrance Deer. Using a secret method, the deer bones were forged and ground into powder, which served as the main ingredient for the elixir Yuan-Building Fragrance. Similar to the Vermillion Blood, it could enhance the force sensitivity of soldiers at level five and above, accelerating their cultivation.
Such medicinal ingredients were not particularly rare in their place of origin, but their price increased several times over on the Evernight Continent. This was not just a matter of transportation costs but also the safety of the journey.
Cross-continental trips were fraught with danger, not just from the constant battles but also from the unpredictable phenomena in the void. Out of ten caravans departing from Libin, only seven would likely reach the Evernight Continent.
However, for Qianye, transportation was not an issue. Anduva’s mysterious world, though small, could accommodate several boxes of deer bone powder. If he transported it back to the Evernight Continent, the price difference alone could net him several thousand gold coins.
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