161: Chapter 161 Crossing the Dragon Gate, Two Years

Li Xiuyuan had almost never experienced the taste of near-death.

Even though he had transmigrated, his previous life didn't end with Rebirth after death.

He had simply gone to sleep in bed, and when he closed and opened his eyes, he had become a baby snake curled up in the mud.

During his subsequent days on Yunfeng Mountain, he had been cautious and extremely careful. He had felt danger and experienced the fear and despair of impending death, but he had never actually been on the verge of death.

It turned out to be just as others said: when one was close to death, a revolving lantern of memories would appear before their eyes, and they would involuntarily recall every little detail of this life, and even their past life.

Once this life had been fully reviewed, the memories buried deep in his mind were awakened, followed by the scenes of his past life.

Speaking of which, his past life had been quite miserable. Not long after he was born, his parents died in an accident. With no relatives to adopt him, he could only live in an orphanage, and his parents had left no inheritance behind.

After growing up, just as he entered society, he was diagnosed with bone cancer. It was as if bad luck itself had come knocking—he was plagued with misfortune to the extreme.

Li Xiuyuan was highly reluctant to recall his past life. Just as he was about to filter all of it out, some scenes he had never seen before suddenly appeared before his eyes.

It was a couple who had just had a baby. The woman was humming a lullaby to the infant in the cradle, while the man laughed heartily, saying his wife was singing out of tune. The woman rolled her eyes at him, not taking it seriously. The husband then teased that the child must not take after his mother, or else he would be completely tone-deaf in the future.

The couple lived a very loving life, but their happiness was short-lived. An accident caused both of them to pass away, and the child lying in the cradle was eventually found by the neighborhood committee, having nearly starved to death.

"Is this a memory from shortly after I was born in my past life?"

"I never even got to speak with you..."

Whether they were the Rising Beingss of this world or martial artists and Cultivators, the higher their cultivation Realm, the more vividly they remembered the things they had experienced.

Li Xiuyuan was no exception.

However, he only remembered the faces of those two, having absolutely no impression of the sound of their voices.

...

On the shore,

Lu Xingyun could personally feel that beneath the Yellow River, that familiar aura was gradually disappearing.

"Please let there be no accidents."

He prayed silently in his heart.

Although King Song's assistance had allowed Li Xiuyuan to smoothly sink to the riverbed so those evil ghosts could no longer interfere with him, this matter after all concerned life and death. They had to be extremely cautious; no accidents could be allowed, and they could not afford to be careless.

"Benefactor Li is dying."

"Yet, beneath the river valley, an abundant vitality is springing up like bamboo shoots after rain."

Jingxin's Dharma Eye, combined with his Spiritual Sense, successfully saw the situation in the river valley and also heard Qing'er chanting the Sutra of Rebirth and Reincarnation in reverse.

He couldn't help but feel astonished. The Sutra of Rebirth and Reincarnation was specifically used to ferry the dead. Chanting it in reverse could indeed retain a dying being, but the chanter had to take an immense risk.

After all, it touched upon the boundary of life and death and ran contrary to the rules of the Heavenly Dao. Any slight slip-up could draw the attention of the Heavenly Dao, bringing about eternal destruction.

This time, not only was Li Xiuyuan risking his life, but even Qing'er was putting everything on the line.

Finally,

Li Xiuyuan's aura was completely severed.

Like a lute string stretched to its absolute limit, it fell into complete silence after the final note.

Instantly, the entire Yellow River seemed to tremble.

That flesh and blood were being absorbed by the water vein Foundation, becoming the bedrock that consolidated the Yellow River.

The water level receded at a speed visible to the naked eye. The floodwaters that had spilled over the embankments seemed to be drawn by an invisible hand, slowly retreating back into the riverbed.

The turbid river water became clear, and the churning waves grew gentle.

The thick, lead-gray dark clouds in the sky split open from the center to the sides at the exact moment Li Xiuyuan's aura ceased, and the dazzling sun poured down through the rifts in the clouds.

As the sunlight spilled down, the water's surface sparkled with ripples of light.

The wind stopped, the rain ceased, and this grandest flood in a thousand years was finally pacified.

This was a victory for Xia Country, and everyone was cheering and celebrating. But at this moment, even more people thought of the white Dragon that had stopped the flood.

Back then in the Yangtze River, it was he who had slain the Lord River God. Now in the Yellow River, it was also he who had sacrificed his life to suppress the river.

Even though he was a Rising Beings, almost everything he did was beneficial to humanity.

Given this, was there still any need to distinguish whether he was a demon or not?

Even though the flood had been stopped, a sense of sorrow silently spread.

...

"Leader, it has been confirmed that Li Xiuyuan's aura has ceased."

In that conference room,

the Chief Leader's secretary received the news and made a report.

"I see."

The elderly man, who was already somewhat advanced in years, felt a bit downcast. He bore the heavy responsibility of the nation on his shoulders, and in this current era, every decision he made had to be extremely cautious.

Only regarding Li Xiuyuan had he been slightly impulsive.

He had not yet formally spoken with Li Xiuyuan face-to-face, but he greatly admired him.

"Rest in peace."

The old man looked in the direction of the Yellow River and silently bid farewell to Li Xiuyuan.

Having composed his thoughts, he looked at everyone in the conference room again: "Next, we must carry out the reconstruction work for the various prefecture-level cities and towns. First, compile the statistics of the losses. Then, if some rural villages are severely affected, arrange for people to directly help everyone build new houses on their original sites."

Without dwelling too long on his grief, the old man made a series of arrangements.

...

At the foot of Yunfeng Mountain,

Gu Xiao, for once, did not have Jiang Xinhan go out fishing. Instead, he kept a close eye on the real-time situation at the Yellow River.

At this moment, the surface of the Yellow River remained completely placid, making it impossible to see what was inside.

"Why hasn't he come out yet?" Gu Xiao frowned. He tried to trace Li Xiuyuan's Spiritual Sense to establish a connection, but Li Xiuyuan gave no response at all.

Sitting in the courtyard, Jiang Xinhan, who was examining the Compendium of Materia Medica, looked up at Gu Xiao: "Mr. Gu, how is it going?"

"Still no movement."

Gu Xiao shook his head.

Jiang Xinhan said with some worry, "I don't know how long it will take to succeed. If it takes several decades, wouldn't it be a very long time before we see him again?"

Gu Xiao furrowed his brows and did not reply. He was worried that his words might become a self-fulfilling prophecy again, so he tried to remain silent at this moment.

...

In that cave on Phoenix Mountain,

Qing'er had already stopped chanting those obscure Sanskrit sounds. She had done everything she could, and now it all depended on Li Xiuyuan's own fortune.

No one could say for sure whether any accidents would happen in the process.

"If you don't come back, I will search the whole world for you."

Qing'er said.

Sitting on a tree branch, she swung her feet casually and sang an ancient song, the general meaning of which was to pray for someone's well-being.

As she sang, some golden sap suddenly flowed from the roots of this sacred tree, and fresh blood also seeped from the corner of Qing'er's mouth.

After all, she had violated the rules of life and death.

Even if she had hidden it from the Heavenly Dao, she still had to bear the backlash.

Yet, in those lively eyes, not only was there not a single trace of pain, but they curved into crescents, and she smiled beautifully. She raised her voice even louder, continuing to sing the song as if contending with the invisible rules of heaven and earth.

...

Beneath the river valley,

Ever since Li Xiuyuan's Soul left his body, he felt as though he had entered a world of Chaos. There was no direction, no light, and everything was a hazy gray. In that instant, he even forgot what he was supposed to do.

But very quickly, a familiar voice sounded, pulling his consciousness back.

"You've come too early. There's still a watermelon in the well. Zhanpeng bought me a big refrigerator, saying that if I want to eat cold watermelon in the future, I don't need to hang it in the well. What does he know? The water in the well is the coolest."

After his consciousness returned, Li Xiuyuan found that he was back in that courtyard in Lin Family Village. He had turned back into his previous white and smooth form, coiled beside the wicker chair in the yard.

The old woman walked out of the main room holding a cattail leaf fan, smilingly patted her own forehead, and then sat on the wicker chair.

"That day, he brought Yaling back to see me and told me some things I don't usually hear. I am very satisfied."

Listening to the old woman's words, Li Xiuyuan realized something, but he said nothing, only looking at her calmly.

"It's also fortunate that you stopped Yaling. The dead cannot be brought back to life, and besides, I don't have any other wishes. It's enough just to see you again."

"Would you like some watermelon?"

Li Xiuyuan nodded his flat head.

The old woman stood up with a smile, her steps steady, showing none of the physical frailty that came with old age.

Pulling the watermelon up from the well, the old woman sliced it, brought a piece to Li Xiuyuan's mouth, and said, "Eat. Once you're done, you must go back. Don't stay here forever."

Li Xiuyuan opened his mouth, took a bite of the watermelon, and slowly swallowed it.

The familiar taste spread once again.

In that instant, the time spent in this courtyard years ago surged into his heart like a tide.

After feeding Li Xiuyuan, the old woman looked at him kindly and did not offer a second piece.

Li Xiuyuan understood her meaning and looked toward the courtyard gate. The old woman stood up and walked ahead, preparing to open the gate for him.

This distance was not actually far, but Li Xiuyuan felt as though he had walked for a very long, extremely long time. After an unknown amount of time, the old woman pushed open the courtyard gate, turned to him, and said, "Alright, go on."

Li Xiuyuan gazed at her for a long time, knowing that after this farewell, they would never be able to meet again.

Under the old woman's kind gaze, he arrived before the courtyard gate. The threshold of the gate was extremely high, so high that it seemed to touch the sky.

With great effort, Li Xiuyuan poked his entire head out. The muscles in his neck creaked as they tensed, and his scales rubbed against the stone surface of the threshold, making a faint rustling sound.

His body slowly moved outward. With every inch he advanced, the Bloodline inside him boiled a bit more.

Something seemed to be drilling out of his forehead. Once his head crawled over the threshold, a pair of dragon horns, even more majestic than before, appeared.

The tips of the horns glowed with a faint golden light, as if tempered by the power of heaven and earth, extending obliquely from both sides of his forehead and sweeping slightly backward.

The scales and flesh on his body were also undergoing astonishing changes.

Li Xiuyuan felt as though his body was being torn apart and reconstructed. Intense pain ensued, surging outward from the depths of his Soul, but he endured this excruciating pain and dragged his mutating body out from that narrow threshold.

This was not just a simple threshold; to Li Xiuyuan, it was a dragon gate to transform into a Qiu Dragon.

The dragon gate was difficult to leap over, but once crossed, the sea would be wide and the sky would be high.

Finally, he dragged his entire body out of that dragon gate.

At that moment, he felt as if he had been given a new life.

[Your Bloodline Rank has been upgraded to Rank 8.]

[You have evolved into a Qiu Dragon.]

[You have obtained the Innate Supernatural Power, Shichen.]

[Shichen: This supernatural power involves the rules of time, enlightened from the Mount Zhong deity, Zhulong, deep within your Bloodline. Zhulong opens his eyes for day and closes them for night. Though you cannot manipulate the sun, moon, and stars to affect other things, you can affect yourself.]

[Note: The Innate Supernatural Power [Shichen] can be combined with the Innate Supernatural Power [True World False Realm] to ultimately obtain the brand-new Innate Supernatural Power [True World False Realm Seeking Causality].]

Hearing this, Li Xiuyuan shifted his thoughts and immediately combined the two supernatural powers.

[You have obtained the brand-new Innate Supernatural Power [True World False Realm Seeking Causality].]

[True World False Realm Seeking Causality: Once this Innate Supernatural Power is used, you can fabricate a real yet illusory world and project any person or thing that has karmic intersection with you. In this real yet illusory world, you can interfere with the Karma between you and the other party according to your thoughts, thereby disrupting the timeline.]

[This interference will take effect in the real world, but the specific degree of effect is related to your strength.]

After hearing the introduction of this new Innate Supernatural Power, Li Xiuyuan was suddenly surprised.

Once this supernatural power was used properly, he could almost manipulate other people's lives.

But as for how the actual effect would be, it remained to be seen.

Coming outside, Li Xiuyuan slowly stood up. The world outside the gate was a patch of dazzling white light. He was surrounded by the blinding light. Turning around, he saw that the threshold had already begun to move away from him, and the old woman was behind the gate, smiling and waving at him.

Li Xiuyuan looked at her and opened his mouth to say two words, but in this chaotic Domain between life and death, he could not make any sound.

The old woman, however, had clearly understood. She nodded, turned around, and walked toward the depths of the courtyard.

That thin and small figure walked further and further away, becoming more and more blurred, like a drop of ink falling into water, gradually dispersing.

...

The white light dispersed.

Li Xiuyuan opened his eyes.

What met his eyes was a clear blue sky, with a few wisps of white clouds hanging lazily on the horizon.

He blinked, looked around, and confirmed that he was not in a dream.

Beneath him was soft grass, the blades of grass slightly damp, probably because it had just rained and hadn't dried completely. He could smell the scent of the soil and the water vapor drifting from the river beside him.

He sat up and closed his eyes to sense.

"Next is the True Dragon, but the path to becoming a True Dragon is far more demanding than that of a Qiu Dragon."

Li Xiuyuan thought to himself.

He channeled his Spiritual Sense and tried to contact Qing'er.

"I'm awake."

Qing'er on the other end responded almost instantly: "I know."

"How much time has passed?"

Li Xiuyuan turned his head and looked at the Yellow River before him. The river water had become clear again, and the scenery on both banks had also changed greatly, completely different from what he remembered.

"Not very long, just two years," Qing'er said.

Two years?

That indeed wasn't long.

According to Li Xiuyuan's initial estimation, if he didn't wake up immediately, it would probably take at least several decades, but only two years had passed.