Chapter Fifty-Eight: Contemplating the Moon Spring, Discerning Sand and Water

We arrived at Crescent Spring at the foot of Singing Sand Mountain.

The massive sand dunes stretched endlessly, their golden slopes glowing gently beneath the sunlight. Enclosed by the sand mountains, a crescent-shaped clear spring lay quietly, its water pristine, like the eye of the desert.

Sand and water—two utterly different elements—have coexisted harmoniously here for a thousand years, forming a scene imbued with Zen-like serenity.

The three of us walked along the spring, while Yi Yi gleefully chased dragonflies near the water’s edge.

But Yuan Hao’s thoughts were elsewhere. He gazed at the extraordinary landscape, his brow tightly furrowed, lost in contemplation.

I approached the spring, crouched down, and scooped up a handful of yellow sand. The grains slipped swiftly through my fingers, no matter how tightly I tried to hold them.

“Look at this sand,” I said to Yuan Hao. “Doesn’t it remind you of your divine sea? Boundless, seemingly inexhaustible in strength, yet scattered, formless, impossible to grasp or retain.”

Then, I scooped up a handful of spring water. The clear water pooled in my palm, holding its shape—a fleeting moment, yet it possessed cohesion.

“Now look at this water,” I continued. “It appears weak, but it can gather into form. A single drop is insignificant. But millions of drops merge into a spring, and it gains life. This is Ling Qingzhu’s sword intent. She gathered all her strength into that ‘single drop of water’—that’s why it pierced through your loose ‘sea of sand.’”

Yuan Hao’s body shuddered violently, his eyes blazing with sudden light.

He stared blankly at the Crescent Spring before him, then at the Singing Sand Mountain embracing it, murmuring, “Sand… water… I understand… I finally understand!”

“I’ve always pursued turning my dantian into a ‘sea,’ chasing after ‘vastness’ and ‘abundance.’ But I was wrong… Vastness without substance, abundance without order, is ultimately an illusion! The true key isn’t the sea, but the ‘spring’s source!’”

He looked at me, overwhelmed with excitement. “The culmination of Foundation Establishment isn’t turning the dantian into a dead sea, but finding your own ‘spring source’ within that dantian desert, allowing true energy to emerge and coalesce into a single ‘drop of true water!’ This single drop is the embryo of the Golden Core!”

“A teachable youth,” I nodded approvingly.

He had finally awakened.

The barrier that had troubled the ancient martial world for a century did not lie in how to break through, but in the fact that from the very beginning, their direction was wrong. They all pursued addition, when the true path requires subtraction—returning to simplicity and seeking the original “One.”

Yuan Hao bowed deeply to me, more sincerely than ever before.

“Thank you, elder, for your guidance! I will never forget your kindness!”

Just then, a discordant voice echoed from nearby.

“Yuan Hao? What are you doing here? And with these two ordinary people?”

We turned to see a young man dressed in fashionable brands, his expression arrogant, accompanied by several others. At his waist hung an exquisite metal mechanism, clearly marking him as a member of the Tang Sect of Sichuan.

It was Tang Feng, the young master of the Tang Sect.

He noticed Yuan Hao’s respectful attitude toward me, a flicker of disdain and confusion in his eyes, before his gaze shifted lasciviously to Yi Yi, who was playing nearby.

“Well, this little girl is quite lovely. Yuan Hao, is she a new friend of yours? Aren’t you going to introduce her?”

Yuan Hao’s face darkened instantly.

Having just attained enlightenment, his mind was clear as never before, and Tang Feng’s frivolous demeanor greatly displeased him.

“Tang Feng, mind your eyes and your mouth,” Yuan Hao’s voice was icy. “This is Elder Jiang, who has granted me a second life. If you show even the slightest disrespect, don’t blame me for turning hostile.”

“‘Elder?’” Tang Feng reacted as if he’d heard the most absurd joke. He sized me up—just an ordinary middle-aged man in a windbreaker, seeming like a father taking his daughter sightseeing.

“Yuan Hao, did Ling Qingzhu knock you senseless? You’re calling an ordinary person ‘elder’?” Tang Feng sneered. “The Tang Sect’s intelligence network isn’t for nothing. These two are just regular tourists staying next door to Ling Qingzhu. You, the Holy Son of Kunlun, lose one match and now you’re reduced to this?”

His fellow Tang Sect disciples laughed along with him.

To them, Yuan Hao must have been traumatized, his mind unsettled.

Yi Yi stopped playing, frowned, and hid behind me. She disliked the way Tang Feng looked at her.

I watched the farce before me calmly, as if none of it concerned me. Such disturbances are commonplace in the mortal world.

Yuan Hao trembled with rage, unable to suppress the aura of his Divine Sea realm, which surged toward Tang Feng.

Tang Feng’s expression changed; he staggered back several steps, while the Tang Sect disciples behind him struggled to breathe under the pressure. Tang Feng, both shocked and furious, shouted, “Yuan Hao! What are you doing? Don’t forget, the Tang Sect and Kunlun are allies!”

“You are unworthy to speak of ‘allies,’” Yuan Hao replied coldly. “From this moment forward, the alliance between Kunlun and the Tang Sect is dissolved.”

He understood clearly that a sect which only craves power and lacks reverence cannot be Kunlun’s ally—especially after they insulted Mr. Jiang.

“You!” Tang Feng was beside himself with rage. “You don’t have the authority! I will report this to the elders of Kunlun!”

Unable to confront Yuan Hao directly, he vented his anger on me.

“It’s all your fault, charlatan! Pretending to be mystical, deceiving Yuan Hao!” A flicker of malice flashed in Tang Feng’s eyes. With a swift twist of his wrist, an almost invisible black point shot silently toward my forehead at a speed nearly impossible to detect.

It was the Tang Sect’s poison-laced hidden weapon—the ‘Soul-Chasing Spike’! Sinister and lethal, it kills instantly upon contact!

“Watch out!” Yuan Hao cried out in horror, trying to intervene, but it was too late.

Yet, the Soul-Chasing Spike, capable of piercing steel, mysteriously halted an inch from my forehead. It hovered there in midair, as if gripped by an invisible hand, unable to move.

The entire scene fell into sudden silence.

Tang Feng’s malicious grin froze. The Tang Sect disciples behind him stared in disbelief, their eyes nearly popping out.

I extended two fingers, gently pinching the Soul-Chasing Spike as if catching a fly.

Then I looked at Tang Feng. There was no anger in my gaze, only a cold indifference, as if regarding a reckless ant.

“You just said I was an ordinary person?”