Chapter 112 Bound by Oaths, Guided by the Vast Ocean

["Boom!"]

[The moment you circulate your Cultivation Technique, the entire pool begins to boil.]

[That massive amount of sweet dew energy surges frantically through your pores, and the 144 acupoints in your body roar in unison.]

[The 36 yuan seeds greedily devour this torrent, and within the remaining empty acupoints, new yuan seeds begin to condense one by one.]

[Blood Qi is like a Dragon, and Origin Qi is like a tide.]

[Your aura climbs frantically at this moment, touching the barrier of the Soaring Realm in the blink of an eye.]

[Over these past dozen years, it's not that you haven't noticed the hidden danger of the "Mark" on your forehead.]

[As someone accustomed to being in control of everything, you have always maintained the highest level of vigilance toward this external power.]

[In those initial years, you even forced yourself to forget its existence.]

[You would rather spend ten times the time and suffer a hundred times the hardship to brute-force those obscure methods.]

[Than use even a fraction of this "cheat."]

[But the difficulty of the ladder increases non-linearly; the complexity of the Divine Art Models after the 40th stage is simply appalling.]

[To avoid being swallowed by those terrifying illusions, and to survive and continue climbing.]

[In countless life-and-death moments, you had no choice but to compromise again and again, borrowing the power of the Mark to stabilize your Sea of Consciousness.]

["Every time I borrow it, I'm placing an unknown shackle upon myself."]

[You were well aware of this, but you had no choice.]

["Break for me!"]

[You mobilize all your power, launching the most violent assault against the barrier of the Soaring Realm.]

[However...]

["Bang!"]

[A dull thud explodes deep within your Soul.]

[You feel as if you've crashed into a Wall of Sighs.]

[You clearly feel you have power to spare, and that a smooth path lies ahead, yet you simply cannot step across.]

[No matter how you burn your blood Qi, no matter how much sweet dew you devour.]

[That invisible shackle is tightly clamped onto your Divine Soul, unmoving.]

["As expected, there's a problem."]

[You slowly stand up from the boiling pool water.]

[You reach out to touch your forehead, which is slightly burning.]

[As your Divine Thought probes deeper, you finally see the true nature of that invisible barrier.]

[This isn't some suppression from the Grotto-Heaven's rules, nor is it a Bottleneck in your martial cultivation.]

[It is an oath.]

[A mandatory Contract engraved within the Mark on your forehead, originating from 'Han Ming.']

["So that's how it is..."]

[Your eyes narrow slightly as you instantly piece everything together.]

["Restricting the Breakthrough of a martial Realm couldn't possibly be the Grotto-Heaven master's intention."]

["The one truly pulling the strings is the owner of this Mark—Han Ming."]

["He's like a shrewd moneylender; while I was forced to use this 'Mark cheat' to save my life."]

["He also silently implanted this 'oath' into my Divine Soul."]

["Every time I borrowed the Mark's convenience, the binding of this Contract deepened."]

["It has now turned into a chain, tightly locked onto that so-called 'agreement'."]

[Although Han Ming didn't say it explicitly, the function of this Mark is right here to tell you:]

[Want to Breakthrough? Want to attain a higher status? You can.]

[But the prerequisite is that you must first fulfill your obligation.]

[If you don't fulfill the Contract, this chain of Karma belonging to Han Ming will forever lock your upper limit.]

[This is equivalent to being forced to sign an unconscionable clause without your knowledge.]

[Actually, at this moment, you could choose to force a Breakthrough.]

[Because your martial will has been tempered for nearly 20 years, you have truly achieved the integration of spirit and body.]

[With a mind like iron, such a shackle alone cannot completely influence your own decisions.]

[After all, this is just a Contract, not a means of controlling your Divine Thought; you can breach the Contract.]

[However, you can clearly perceive it.]

[Once you forcibly snap this Contract, the price of the backlash will be extremely severe.]

[Damage to the Divine Soul would be the least of it; it might even lead to the collapse of your martial Foundation, causing you to completely lose the possibility of advancing further in the future.]

[You cannot afford the price of breaching the Contract.]

["I've been schemed against..."]

[You clench your fists, nails digging deep into your palms, your eyes filled with displeasure and gloom.]

[Although you had long guessed that the power of a god comes with a price, when the "bill" is actually placed before you and the amount is so staggering.]

[That feeling of having your head held down to drink water still makes you feel extremely stifled and aggrieved.]

[Originally, you wanted to disregard everything and charge through the barrier, even if it meant a desperate struggle.]

[But reason quickly suppressed your anger.]

["Endure!"]

[You take a deep breath. To maximize your benefits, you choose to temporarily compromise.]

[After all, besides the martial Realm, there are still many valuable things in this Grotto-Heaven waiting for you to discover.]

[In this simulation, after entering the Grotto-Heaven, you have upheld one principle: stay for as long as possible.]

[Until there is nothing left to gain.]

[Meanwhile, the first generation of elders who followed you are now very old.]

[Zhou Hua passed away from illness; he was the first high-level member of the camp to die of natural causes.]

[At the funeral, you personally helped carry the coffin, and the entire camp observed a moment of silence.]

[Chen Chen looked at his old friend's tombstone, revealing for the first time a fear of death and the inability to return home.]

[He grabbed your hand, his voice trembling: "Brother Xu, can we... can we really still go back?"]

[You remained silent for a long time, only able to nod firmly: "We can."]

[Year 25:]

[You are stuck at the 30th stage.]

[The face of the divine statue at this stage is "kind and gentle," but the aura it emits carries a sickening evil.]

[This is a very Advanced form of mental pollution.]

[You spent five whole years here, engaging in countless battles of will with that always seductive, feminine voice (the Overseer).]

[Through verbal back-and-forth with the Overseer and Han Ming, you confirmed the fact that the Grotto-Heaven's master had long since departed.]

[Therefore, you became even more vigilant, unwilling to trust Han Ming's "kindness."]

[Year 35:]

[Chen Chen passed away.]

[This old man, who was once shrewd and greedy but later became gentle and kind.]

[Passed away peacefully one afternoon while fishing, his fishing rod still held in his hand.]

[On the night before his death, he seemed to sense his end was near and called you to his bedside.]

[He no longer called you "President Xu," but instead called you "Brother."]

["Brother... I don't regret following you in this life."]

["Although I couldn't go back to take a look... I am content."]

[After speaking, he gripped your hand tightly, his eyes full of trust and reluctance.]

[And Chen Liang, that once green youth, was now a middle-aged man with graying hair at his temples.]

[He took over his uncle's duties and became the new head steward.]

[But as he looked at your face, which remained youthful without any trace of time.]

[His eyes held awe and a deep sense of dependence.]

[You were his only reliance now.]

[Year 45:]

[You have progressed to the 48th stage.]

[You have become increasingly silent, rarely giving lessons to newcomers anymore.]

[Many people thought you had become cold and aloof, or were doing it to maintain a divine majesty.]

[But only you knew the root of this sense of detachment.]

[It was because of—Lifespan.]

[Normally, the Lifespan limit for an Origin Opening Realm Martial Artist is around 120 years.]

[And that's the most ideal scenario, assuming no use of potent medicines and no injuries.]

[But your current body, after the frantic modification by dozens of "heavenly river water lotuses" and other dimensional secret treasures.]

[Had long since transcended the mortal coil, becoming a true "Mystic Water Body."]

[Your cellular activity is dozens of times that of an ordinary person, and your aging speed is incredibly slow.]

[You estimated that your current Lifespan is at least 200 years or more.]

[You are a Long-lived species, while they are short-lived.]

[Watching those children who once called you "Big Brother" become middle-aged.]

[Watching familiar faces wither away one by one, the sense of loneliness brought by this temporal displacement made you instinctively choose to avoid emotional investment.]

[Furthermore, there was a more practical reason why you no longer taught in person—you were too busy.]

[As the levels of the ladder rose, the models of those Divine Path Secret Arts became increasingly complex and obscure.]

[The analysis of every single rune required a massive expenditure of your mental energy and time.]

[Except for eating, you spent almost all your time immersed in deductions at the feet of the divine statues.]

[Fortunately, your efforts over these decades were not in vain.]

[You trained a group of young, knowledgeable Awakened ones with high Comprehension Ability.]

[They took over your teaching duties, becoming the camp's new generation of mentors and passing down your system of knowledge.]

[...]

[Until the fifty-sixth year.]

[Just as you had arduously cleared the 50th stage, covered in blood and slumped on the ground with your Divine Thought nearly exhausted.]

[A familiar voice rang out in your mind once again.]

["Kid, how does it feel? Do you feel like you can't move another inch?"]

[Han Ming's voice carried a hint of schadenfreude, but more of it was an urgency like a dagger finally revealed.]

[You didn't want to pay any attention to this Old fellow full of bad intentions.]

[But at this moment, you had indeed encountered an unprecedented Bottleneck.]

[The extremely complex composite Divine Art Models of the 50th stage required Divine Thought far beyond your current level.]

[And your Realm was tightly stuck by that "shackle," preventing you from enhancing your Divine Soul through advancement to Soaring.]

[This was a dead end.]

["Don't waste your energy."]

[Han Ming seemed to see through your predicament.]

["That is an oath of the godhead. Unless you go to the Abyss to finish that task for me, no one can break it."]

[Hearing this, you sneered in your heart.]

[This old guy was still using the Abyss as a pretext; you guessed it was definitely a ruse.]

["However... seeing how hard you've worked, I can point you toward a clear path."]

["One that will allow you to continue climbing even without breaking through your Realm."]

[You remained silent for a moment, but in the end, you had to compromise.]

["What path?"]

["Faith."]