Chapter 4: North Sea is cut off and the Heaven Gate opens

“Heaven’s Gate Town!”

Qiu Shuijing’s mind swayed, unable to compose himself.

As the mist dispersed, Heaven’s Gate Town seemed to return from a ghostly realm to reality. When the mist cleared, the buildings in the town were black and white, but gradually, other colors appeared.

Qiu Shuijing’s eyes twitched violently. Even with his Heavenly Eye, he couldn’t discern whether this color change was truly real or an illusion imposed on his vision by someone’s magical power.

Heaven’s Gate Town was deserted. Besides the sound of the sea wind and waves, there was only Su Yun’s footsteps.

This town was empty; there was no one else besides them.

After a moment, Qiu Shuijing steadied himself, intending to follow Su Yun.

“Legend has it that the houses in Heaven’s Gate Town were also built to resemble the courtyards in the Heaven’s Gate Ghost Market.”

He thought to himself, “It is said that the original residents of Heaven’s Gate Town were all figures of great importance. There’s a rumor that they were ordered by the Great Emperor to come here to study the Heaven’s Gate Ghost Market, seeking the secret of immortality…”

Just then, the sky suddenly trembled, and sunlight pierced through the sea, illuminating the ghost market in the sky.

In the sky, the Heaven’s Gate Ghost Market shook violently like a curtain in the wind, disappearing in a storm of sunlight!

The mysterious ghost market vanished without a trace, its whereabouts unknown!

Qiu Shuijing opened his Heavenly Eye and saw various magnificent lights falling from the sky into the large tombs on the Tianshiyuan wasteland, disappearing from sight.

Whoosh—

More than a hundred beams of light descended from the sky, landing behind the archway of Heaven’s Gate Town, transforming into vivid figures appearing on the previously desolate streets.

They came and went, greeting each other, creating a lively scene.

Qiu Shuijing’s heart stirred: “Heaven’s Gate Town has long been devoid of living people; these are merely manifested spirits.”

Su Yun walked up to a large mansion, as if he could see the old man sweeping the ground in front of it, and bowed, saying, “Good morning, Uncle Qu.”

The old man stopped his broom and said gently, “Yun’er, you’re back from the market? It’s getting late, get some rest early.” With that, the old man glanced at Qiu Shuijing and ignored him.

Qiu Shuijing’s Heavenly Eye in his brow rotated. From his perspective, the mansion behind the old man was constantly collapsing and reconstructing.

Su Yun continued walking, arriving at another residence, and bowed, saying, “Good morning, Aunt Luo.”

“My good child is back.”

The woman stood at the door, busy winnowing rice, smiling kindly, “Go home early, eat something and rest. Don’t forget tomorrow’s lesson.”

Qiu Shuijing looked at the Luo residence; that mansion was also constantly collapsing and reconstructing, silently breaking apart on one side and silently reassembling on the other.

Su Yun walked through Heaven’s Gate Town as if unaware that there was no one alive there besides him, greeting the townspeople.

“Good morning, Sister Fang’er!”

“Good morning, Uncle Xu!”

“Good morning, Grandma Le!”

…

Qiu Shuijing watched this scene, a sense of absurdity and strangeness rising in his heart.

This scene made him momentarily believe that Heaven’s Gate Town was still there, and that all the townspeople were still alive!

Unfortunately, they were all dead, having died six years ago.

Su Yun arrived at a courtyard, pushed open the door, and after a moment, wisps of cooking smoke rose from inside.

Qiu Shuijing stood in front of this dilapidated courtyard, seeing the blind boy busy making breakfast for himself.

He looked back and saw people coming and going in Heaven’s Gate Town, very lively, no different from an ordinary small town.

“He doesn’t know he’s the only human here.”

Qiu Shuijing thought to himself, “He always thought the townspeople were still alive, and these spirits in the town were hiding it from him.”

He stood outside the courtyard, quietly watching the boy eating breakfast, and silently thought, “Mr. Wild Fox was right, there are still living people in Heaven’s Gate Town, but unfortunately, there’s only one left, and he’s just a child.

That strange incident happened six years ago, so his eyes must have gone blind during that strange incident six years ago, when he was still an innocent child.”

After breakfast, Su Yun tidied up the dishes, returned to his room, diligently recalled the lessons Mr. Wild Fox had taught, and practiced for a while before finally falling asleep.

He had been busy all night, and although he hadn’t earned much money, he was truly exhausted.

Before long, he fell into a deep sleep.

The sun rose, and the bright sunlight arriving at Heaven’s Gate Town seemed to carry a hint of gloom, blocked by the haze above the small town.

Qiu Shuijing stood outside the courtyard and saw that in Su Yun’s humble room, the yellow bell gradually became clearer.

When a person is asleep, their mind is like a clear, untainted mirror, and at this time, their spiritual abilities are reflected more clearly and powerfully than during the day.

Qiu Shuijing gazed intently, seeing the bottom layer of the yellow bell constantly rotating, and beneath the bell was a two-inch-tall figure, sitting upright and still, breathing in and out.

That was Su Yun’s spirit.

The yellow bell was a manifestation of his spiritual thoughts.

Qiu Shuijing watched silently for a long time and found that Su Yun’s spirit was only cultivating the most basic “Scholar’s Qi Nurturing Chapter.”

The Scholar’s Qi Nurturing Chapter was merely about nurturing qi and vital energy, with no content on how to cultivate spiritual abilities.

So, where did Su Yun learn his spiritual abilities?

“There’s another possibility.”

Qiu Shuijing’s eyes flickered as he thought, “That is, he himself fantasized about a yellow bell in his mind to keep time. With such constant thought and fantasy, even at night his spirit was fantasizing about this yellow bell. Over time, the fantasy turned into contemplation, thereby cultivating a spirit. If that’s the case, his aptitude is simply too good…”

He was somewhat hesitant. Among spirit masters, very few could cultivate spiritual abilities through self-exploration without the guidance of a renowned master.

Su Yun’s ability to do so indicated his excellent aptitude.

For such a person to be buried in the countryside, associating with wild foxes, was truly a waste of his talent.

But Su Yun was also blind, and teaching him complex cultivation knowledge would likely be extremely difficult. Moreover, even if Su Yun learned and became a spirit master, he wouldn’t be able to see, and thus wouldn’t have a place to display his skills.

“He’s a good seedling, but it’s still a pity after all.”

Qiu Shuijing sighed silently, withdrew his gaze, and walked through Heaven’s Gate Town, carefully examining the residences where ghosts and gods were hidden, observing the owners of these residences.

Heaven’s Gate Town was enveloped in a faint mist. Six years had passed, making the small town far less pristine than it appeared on the surface, and he could see through its true nature.

Qiu Shuijing had also heard about the strange incident six years ago.

It was said that one day six years ago, a strange phenomenon occurred in Tianshiyuan: another world suddenly appeared, engulfing the North Sea.

It was an incredibly magnificent world, picturesque, with a sky like a dome, resembling a cave heaven, as if immortal palaces floated in the sky, inviting imagination.

There were rumors that it was the world of immortals, the world of the long-lived!

The gravity from that world caused the North Sea’s water to flow backward, and a massive water column, over thirty li wide and tens of thousands of li long, appeared on the sea surface, connecting to that world and forming a passage between the two worlds.

Experts from near Tianshiyuan rushed to the North Sea, attempting to enter that cave heaven world.

And their landing place was Heaven’s Gate Town.

One night, lightning and thunder suddenly struck above the North Sea, and the thunder roared all night. By the next day, a great flood descended from the sky, causing the sea level to surge. A tsunami crashed tens of li inland, drowning countless people in Tianshiyuan in the raging floodwaters.

The next day, the survivors discovered that the strange cave heaven world in the sky had also vanished without a trace, and the seawater bridge connecting the two worlds had also disappeared.

People found Heaven’s Gate Town, which was at the center of the flood. Strangely, all the people in Heaven’s Gate Town, including those experts from Yuan Shuo Kingdom, had their physical bodies disappear, leaving only their spirits!

Since then, Heaven’s Gate Town had become an ominous place, rarely visited, and sometimes even when actively sought, it might not be found.

As for what exactly happened that night, no one knew.

Qiu Shuijing had heard this rumor, and he had always believed that everyone in Heaven’s Gate Town had perished in that incident. He never expected anyone to have survived.

“Su Yun was too young then; he probably didn’t know what happened.”

He thought silently, “This mystery remains unsolved, impossible to crack.”

After Su Yun woke up, he tidied his bedding, washed up, and then sat in silent review of his lessons, ensuring he hadn’t forgotten anything, before going to cook.

He finished tidying up, pushed open the wattle gate, walked out of the residence, and turned to close the gate.

Just then, a deep and gentle voice came from behind him: “Little friend Yun, may I look at your eyes?”

Su Yun recognized the voice, turned around, opened his eyes blankly, and tilted his head, saying, “Is it the gentleman from the city?”

Qiu Shuijing walked up to him, lowered his head to examine his eyes closely, and said, “That’s right, it’s me. My name is Qiu Shuijing, you can call me Mr. Shuijing.”

Su Yun asked curiously, “How long have you been here, Mr. Shuijing? I didn’t hear your footsteps.”

“Four hours. You were sleeping, so I waited outside.” Qiu Shuijing’s pupils contracted slightly, noticing something unusual in Su Yun’s eyes.

He saw that Su Yun’s eyes were not entirely without pupils; rather, his pupils seemed to be stimulated by strong light, converging into an incredibly tiny point, and this point was also blocked, causing no light to enter the pupils.

Qiu Shuijing’s eyesight was powerful, but he could only vaguely see two extremely subtle, needle-like cold gleams in the pupils of his eyes.

Qiu Shuijing’s heart skipped a beat. He suddenly raised a finger and gently flicked it in front of Su Yun’s eyes.

Whoosh—

A bright, incomparable light shone from Su Yun’s pupils!

Qiu Shuijing’s vision was momentarily blinded by white, and it took a moment for his sight to recover. He saw a curtain of light shining from Su Yun’s eyes, projected onto the sky above Heaven’s Gate Town.

Qiu Shuijing turned around and looked up.

He saw the shimmering North Sea, with an enormous water column on its surface. On the water column, there were even many ships, setting sail and heading towards the sky.

At the end of the water column was another world.

That so-called cave heaven world where the long-lived resided!

“However, the change must have happened at night. So what made the night sky so bright?”

Qiu Shuijing looked towards the light source: a sword floating in the sky, in flight, a sword that had flown out from another world.

The sword was fifty feet long and nine feet wide, shimmering with incredibly brilliant light, trailing a fiery tail several li long.

And directly beneath this long sword was Heaven’s Gate Town!