Chapter 46#

A Celestial Master Unacquainted with the Ways of the World#

The predecessor of Base W was the largest army base under the W Military Region. The W Military Region was, at that time, the largest military region in all of China, and the army base under its jurisdiction was enormous — capable of housing tens of thousands of troops at its peak. After the apocalypse came, the troops stationed there were mostly infected. However, military discipline was strict, and every infected soldier had put a bullet through their own head at the last moment. Thus, even during the most chaotic period, the army base maintained perfect order, and all facilities were preserved intact.

In the end, of the tens of thousands of soldiers stationed there, only a few hundred survived. And of those few hundred, more than half came from the special forces unit known as the Bayonet. Before his retirement, Qin Yi had served in the Bayonet squad. He was the Soldier King of his generation, the spiritual leader of the entire Bayonet squad. Even after his retirement, no one could replace his position within a short period of time.

After the apocalypse struck, Qin Yi, worried about his comrades who had shared life and death with him, brought a group of retired soldiers and tried every means to return to Base W. From there, building upon the Bayonet squad as the foundation, he slowly developed Base W Survivor Camp.

As the founders of the base, the Bayonet squad naturally occupied the best location in the entire base — the western-style villa district that had once housed senior officers and their families within the original W Army Base. This area consisted of standardized three-story buildings, each with a small courtyard.

The people living in Qin Yi’s building were all those close to the squad. Qin Yi had a strong sense of territory and lived alone on the third floor.

Now Lu Heng had newly moved into the building as well. Jiang Sile, who was responsible for logistics, had originally intended to take Lu Heng to the second floor, but he heard Qin Yi say: “Wait — aren’t all the rooms on the second floor full?”

“Pan Rongxi’s roommate transferred to the third squad to be a squad leader a while ago, so a bed just opened up,” Jiang Sile replied.

Pan Rongxi? Actually, making Lu Heng Pan Rongxi’s roommate would allow him to keep a closer eye on Lu Heng — it would be killing two birds with one stone. But then he thought of Pan Rongxi’s fair, delicate, and refined appearance, his soft and gentle way of speaking, and for some reason Qin Yi felt it was inappropriate.

“No need. He lives next to me,” Qin Yi said. “Leaving the room empty is just a waste.”

Everyone present exchanged glances in astonishment. Boss Qin actually said that leaving a room empty was a waste! Two of them wished they could clutch each other and weep. Back when rooms had been scarce, two men standing 1.8 meters tall had squeezed onto a single bed for months — and Boss Qin hadn’t offered up a single room on the third floor!

Qin Yi didn’t have time to worry about what these people thought. Cheerfully, he led Lu Heng upstairs to the third floor. His own cat — how could he leave it to be raised by someone else?

Qin Yi pushed open the door to the room adjacent to his own: “This room is yours from now on.”

After a moment’s thought, he also introduced the modern facilities in the room to Lu Heng. In this apocalypse, there wasn’t anything like television or internet. The most modern things were probably just the electric lights and the bathroom.

Qin Yi led Lu Heng into the bathroom and demonstrated how to use the shower, toilet, and other fixtures. Seeing Lu Heng staring curiously at the faucet, he patiently explained: “This water flows through pipes from the reservoir inside the base. Water-ability users replenish the reservoir with clean water every day, so don’t worry about running out.”

“Take a shower later, change into some clean clothes, and rest,” Qin Yi said, but as he spoke, his gaze drifted to the martial attire Lu Heng was wearing — a fitted garment embroidered with exquisite cloud patterns. Lu Heng’s outfit had been subjected to countless stares all along the way back. Qin Yi felt an inexplicable, subtle displeasure — like someone was coveting his cat.

Qin Yi had always been a man of action.

Lu Heng stood holding a pile of clothes, slightly dazed. Just moments ago, this person had rushed out of the room in a hurry, only to come back shortly after and shove an armful of clothes into his hands.

“What’s this?”

“I figured we’re about the same height. I’ve barely worn these clothes a few times. If you don’t mind, take them.”

“Oh.” Thinking of how he had left the sect in such a rush that his only clothes were the ones on his back, Lu Heng obediently agreed. Though he had a cleansing spell, wearing the same set of clothes for ten days or half a month was something he psychologically couldn’t accept.

However, watching Qin Yi’s slightly evasive expression, Lu Heng silently chuckled inwardly. New clothes and such — this person certainly had plenty. He was just deliberately not bringing them out.

After Lu Heng finished his bath, he sat cross-legged on the bed, staring blankly at a row of brightly colored crystal cores in front of him. These were what he had exchanged using contribution points. The logistics personnel in charge of exchanges had probably never seen anyone exchange one crystal core of every attribute type. Only after confirming three times and receiving the same affirmative answer did they hand them to Lu Heng with a strange expression on their face.

Lu Heng wanted these crystal cores not for cultivation, of course. The first time he had seen these things in Pan Rongxi’s hands, he had felt something was off.

Zombies were caused by demonic energy entering the body. How could the heads of these demonic humans — overflowing with demonic energy — produce crystal cores that contained pure spiritual energy?

Lu Heng picked up a crystal core and carefully sensed it, discovering that it was indeed extraordinarily pure spiritual energy. Though not much, for this realm where spiritual energy had been severed, apart from that spiritual source, it was the only source of spiritual energy.

Could it be that demonic energy could be converted into spiritual energy? Lu Heng held the transparent crystal core up to the light and examined it closely. Through the lamplight, he seemed to see faint patterns etched upon the inner wall. He attempted to split off a thread of his divine sense to trace the pattern’s trajectory. However, dispersing divine sense required extremely precise control. The level of divine sense control this body possessed — if he had to score it, ten points would be generous.

Then he heard a sharp bang. The crystal core in Lu Heng’s hand exploded into a puff of fine powder.

…

Lu Heng fell into silence. What should he do? The patterns on the inner wall of that crystal core were deeply intriguing.

“What happened?!”

Lu Heng turned his head to see Qin Yi push the door open and rush in. His hair was dripping wet, with patches of unrinsed foam still on it. His upper body was bare, revealing a well-developed chest and eight firm abs, with the beautifully defined lines of his V-taper disappearing into his camouflage pants below.

It seemed he had been in the middle of bathing, heard the commotion from next door, and rushed over in a hurry.

Well, the fact that he hadn’t closed the front door didn’t seem too strange under those circumstances.

Qin Yi watched Lu Heng’s burning gaze fixed upon him and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment: “I was just showering — didn’t have time to put on a shirt. But we’re both men, nothing to be bashful about.”

“Blue,” Lu Heng said.

“Hm?” Qin Yi didn’t understand at first, but following Lu Heng’s gaze, he looked down.

At that moment, perhaps it was the most humiliating moment in nearly thirty years of Boss Qin’s life. In truth, leaving the front door unzipped wasn’t a big deal — they were all men. A carefree laugh, a “thanks for the heads up,” then pulling up the zipper, and the matter would be forgotten. In hindsight, Qin Yi felt that the version of himself from that moment must have been so eager to rinse the foam off his head that he’d accidentally gotten water into his brain.

Boss Qin’s reaction was this:

He clapped a hand over his crotch, then spun around and bolted out of the room, leaving Lu Heng staring at a back steeped in mortified fury.

Could it be that in my previous life I had too few desires and emotions, and in the law of extremes, my expressions have doubled in this lifetime? Lu Heng thought to himself.

When Qin Yi returned, he was fully dressed and composed, his expression calm, as if nothing had happened at all.

“What just happened?”

“The crystal core exploded,” Lu Heng said. “I just extended my divine sense into it and it blew up.”

“You were trying to cultivate with the crystal core, weren’t you? That’s not how it works.” Qin Yi sat down beside Lu Heng. “Let me teach you.”

The method of cultivating with crystal cores wasn’t complex. Place the crystal core in your palm, wrap it with your ability, and the energy inside the core would automatically separate out and flow into your body along with your ability.

“Can’t I just probe into the crystal core with my ability?” Lu Heng asked.

“I tried that too, but later discovered that the inside of the crystal core seems to exist in a delicate equilibrium. Once any external force interferes, it immediately explodes,” Qin Yi said.

“Is that so…” Qin Yi’s talent for mental power — that is, divine sense manipulation — far exceeded his own. Even he said there was no way, then this matter probably really was hopeless.

Seeing the disappointment on Lu Heng’s face, Qin Yi couldn’t resist ruffling the post-wash tufts of hair sticking up every which way on the young man’s head: “Consider yourself lucky. The one you used for your experiment was a level-one crystal core. If it had been a high-level crystal core, half this building would have been blown off, let alone your little frame. If you ever don’t understand something, come find me first.”

After another reassuring reminder, and receiving Lu Heng’s affirmative response, Qin Yi finally rose to leave.

“Wait.” Lu Heng remembered something and got up to stop Qin Yi.

Qin Yi had just reached the door. He turned his head and froze on the spot. The young man before him wore a black tank top and a pair of jeans — both of which he had just handed over. The outfit wasn’t improper in any way; streets in summer were full of men dressed exactly like this.

It was just that the young man had been sitting cross-legged on the bed, and the tank top was a fitted style. Now that he’d stood up, the hem of the black tank top had ridden up. What was far worse was that the jeans seemed to be a size too large — the entire pair hung precariously on the young man’s hips, exposing a full section of his lean, taut waist.

Those pants teetering on the verge of falling were truly an eyesore. He couldn’t decide whether it would be better to help him pull them up or to strip them off entirely— What am I thinking?! Qin Yi felt all the blood rush straight to the crown of his skull.

“Your face is very red,” Lu Heng stated, his tone perfectly level.

“…” Qin Yi swiped a hand across his face. “It’s really hot today. Anyway, what did you need me for?”

“Are there any more missions in the near future?”

“Things have been pretty bother these past few days, and with that big haul of supplies we got, I’m planning to give the team a few days to rest and recuperate,” Qin Yi replied.

“Then come with me back to the sect in a couple of days. Once you’ve formally entered the sect, I have something important to tell you.” In truth, once Lu Heng had confirmed that this person was Shikong, he had already resolved to disclose everything. Because of this person, Lu Heng could entrust his complete trust — even though the other had lost his memories. But if he wanted to avoid breaking his character, some things still needed to be put on the agenda quickly.

The next day, after Qin Yi had given his instructions, he and Lu Heng set out on the journey to the Celestial Master Sect.

The Celestial Master Sect was located among mountains that were said to be China’s Bermuda Triangle. Before the apocalypse, no one dared to set foot in this mountain range. There had been bold adventurers who attempted to conquer these mountains, only to find themselves back where they started after wandering for days. Modern navigation equipment ceased to function the moment it entered this region.

At that time, these mountains had even been featured on a Chinese show called “Here Comes Science.” In the end, the show’s crew concluded that there must be large metal deposits beneath the mountain range generating a magnetic field, which not only disabled navigation equipment but also confused people’s sense of direction.

Naturally, this had nothing to do with a magnetic field generated by metal deposits; it was the effect of an illusion array laid down by senior powerhouses. But now that the spiritual source had been stolen, the illusion array had completely lost its efficacy. These mountains were no different from any ordinary range.

But Lu Heng was still in a quandary — every tree, every path, looked exactly the same. He rummaged through his memory, searching for the correct direction to enter the sect, only to discover that in Yun Lan’s memories, there was nothing but the back of the fellow disciple leading the way each time they descended the mountain. Changes in the surrounding environment and such had been — oddly enough — blurred out in the memories like a mosaic.

Watching Lu Heng’s despairing expression, remembering what Pan Rongxi had said about this person’s terrible sense of direction, Qin Yi let out a soft laugh: “Do you remember which direction the sect is? East or west? We’ll head in that direction while I use my mental power to scout the area — we should be able to find it.”

“Which side is east, and which is west?” East, south, west, north — Lu Heng was completely at sea. These trees blocked out the sun so thoroughly that who could tell which direction was which!

Seeing the expression on the young man’s face, Qin Yi figured that if he kept talking he might just get clawed, so he quickly soothed him: “It’s alright. Let’s just wander for a bit. Maybe you’ll recognize something when you see it.”

The two of them casually picked a path and set off deeper into the mountain range. With Qin Yi there, Lu Heng didn’t exactly end up going in circles. But after walking for several hours, he still felt the same as before — the scenery around him was both unfamiliar and somehow recognizable.

However, after pressing a bit further into the depths, they stumbled upon several zombies shuffling along. Qin Yi flicked out a few small sparks with a casual wave of his hand, carefully calibrated to reduce the zombies to ash without igniting the surrounding vegetation, and dispatched them with ease.

“Why would there be zombies here?” Qin Yi was somewhat surprised.

This mountain range was deserted — there shouldn’t be any other human gathering place apart from the Celestial Master Sect. And those zombies they had just encountered were wearing modern clothing, clearly having come from outside.

This gave Lu Heng an idea for finding the Celestial Master Sect.

“The sect’s grand array was broken some time ago due to certain circumstances, which drew the zombies and led to the sect’s destruction. I am the sole survivor of the Celestial Master Sect.” Lu Heng said it lightly, as though discussing the weather.

Seeing Lu Heng’s calm expression, Qin Yi assumed he was putting on a brave front. He stepped forward, threw an arm around the young man’s shoulder, and gave it a reassuring pat: “It’s alright. It’s all in the past. Don’t be too sad. From now on, I’ve got your back.”

“Sad?” Lu Heng tilted his head. “I’m not sad. In the eyes of us Dao cultivators, all things are born of heaven and earth and return to heaven and earth — that is a perfectly natural thing. I too will die one day. Master and the others simply returned to heaven and earth a step ahead of me.”

Seeing that there truly was no sadness on Lu Heng’s face, Qin Yi marveled inwardly — the Celestial Master Sect viewed life and death with such equanimity. Truly befitting of cultivators who transcended the mortal world.

“When the sect was besieged, there were many demonic humans. We killed nearly all the high-level ones who led the attack. Without the high-level demonic humans to command them, those low-level ones should still be clustered nearby, not yet fully dispersed.” Lu Heng laid out his plan. “Use your mental power to scout the area, and we’ll follow the direction where the demonic humans are most densely gathered.”

Following Lu Heng’s instructions, Qin Yi spread out his mental power to detect zombie traces in the vicinity. The further his mental power traveled, the more alarmed he became — just how many zombies had gathered in this mountain range? And how powerful must the Celestial Master Sect have been to have killed nearly all those high-level zombies?

Following the direction of Qin Yi’s scouting as they fought their way through, Lu Heng finally caught sight of it — hidden among the towering peaks and ridges, the familiar mountain gate. Ascending along the long, winding bluestone staircase, the main hall of the Celestial Master Sect appeared before their eyes.

Inside the main hall, there was no statue. Instead, two characters hung upon the wall: “Heaven and Earth.” The moment Qin Yi laid eyes on those two characters — written with the vigorous, serpentine strokes of a master — he froze on the spot, seemingly struck by sudden enlightenment.

This person’s comprehension was truly extraordinary. Those two characters, “Heaven and Earth,” were left behind by senior powerhouses and contained within them the force of heavenly law. The daily morning practice of the Celestial Master Sect’s disciples was to sit cross-legged in the main hall and contemplate the Dao before these two characters. That Qin Yi could fall into enlightenment upon first seeing them made him the second person in the history of the Celestial Master Sect.

The first, naturally, was Lu Heng. Lu Heng stood to the side, quietly waiting for him to emerge from his enlightened state.

The moment Qin Yi regained awareness, his gaze immediately went to Lu Heng beside him, and his eyes seemed to carry vast, churning waves. But after a brief moment, they stilled once more.

He still hadn’t remembered. But it didn’t matter — being able to meet this person again was more than enough to fill him with contentment, Lu Heng thought.

He led Qin Yi before the characters “Heaven and Earth,” and they performed the full prostration ceremony. Then Lu Heng took him around to the rear hall. Inside the rear hall, rows upon rows of everlasting lamps filled the space in dense formation. But of all those everlasting lamps, only one was lit — its feeble flame, in the dimness of the great hall, looked especially lonely.

Lu Heng retrieved an everlasting lamp from the side, took a jade token from within the lamp’s base, and said to Qin Yi: “Drip a drop of blood from your fingertip onto this.”

Without a word, Qin Yi did as Lu Heng instructed.

Lu Heng placed the jade token — now stained with blood — back into the lamp’s base, and the everlasting lamp lit up: “As long as you’re alive, this lamp will keep burning. The moment you die, it will go out.”

With that, Lu Heng placed Qin Yi’s everlasting lamp right beside his own — the single lit lamp on the altar of the great hall.

“You have bowed before the characters of Heaven and Earth, and lit your everlasting lamp. Qin Yi, from this moment forward, you are formally a disciple of my Celestial Master Sect.”