A Road Worth Taking

The lake behind Hao Nhien remained completely black.

No waves.

No reflection.

No trace of anything the three of them had just experienced.

Hao Nhien stood before Earth One, still holding the handkerchief Lang Tuyet had given him. He remained silent for a moment, recalling what he had just said about Tieu Lan’s condition.

Then he looked directly at the old man.

“The person I want to save still has life force remaining. Her soul has not completely dispersed, but she has been unconscious for a very long time.”

“With a condition like that…”

“Do you truly know a way?”

Earth One did not answer immediately.

He rested both hands over the head of his staff, his aged gaze settling on Hao Nhien.

“I can give you a road.”

“How far you manage to walk along it is your own matter.”

“What road?”

Earth One turned toward the lake.

“There are many things in this world that spirit stones can buy.”

“Artifacts.”

“Pills.”

“Cultivation dwellings.”

“Information.”

“Even human lives.”

“As long as the price is high enough, there will always be someone willing to trade them.”

The end of his staff tapped lightly against the stone floor.

“But there are also things that no amount of spirit stones can necessarily buy.”

Lang Tuyet, standing nearby, suddenly asked,

“For example?”

“Time already lost.”

“Someone who has truly died…”

Earth One paused.

“Or an opportunity to pull someone back from the boundary between life and death.”

Hao Nhien’s gaze changed immediately.

Lang Tuyet stopped looking at the lake as well.

“Such a thing really exists?”

“It is said to.”

“It is said to?”

She frowned slightly.

“Mm.”

“Senior just spoke of a transaction.”

“I did not speak of a guarantee.”

Lang Tuyet looked at him.

Earth One remained calm.

He neither avoided her gaze nor attempted to make his words sound more convincing.

That attitude caused her to fall silent for a moment.

Hao Nhien asked,

“What is it?”

Earth One raised his head slightly.

His voice became slower.

“Among the highest inheritances of Heavenly Spirit, there is a section called Guiding the Soul Back to the Boat.”

“Later generations often refer to it as the Guiding the Soul Back to the Boat Pill Formula.”

“But that name is not entirely accurate.”

“Why?”

“Because what is recorded within it is not merely a method of alchemy.”

Earth One looked at Hao Nhien.

“Use the pill as the boat.”

“Use remaining life force as the shore.”

“Use the strand of soul that has not yet drifted too far away as the passenger.”

“Then guide that person back from the edge of death.”

Hao Nhien stood motionless.

The words immediately made him think of Tieu Lan lying within the Cosmic Ark.

Her body remained intact.

Her life force was weak, but not extinguished.

He had examined her soul many times and confirmed that it had not completely dispersed.

That was precisely why, despite every failed attempt so far, Hao Nhien had never accepted that she was dead.

He looked at Earth One.

“Can it save someone who has already died?”

“No.”

Earth One answered immediately.

“If a person has truly died, their soul dispersed and all life force extinguished, then there is nothing left to guide back.”

“At least, every record this old man has seen says so.”

“What about someone who has not died?”

“That is exactly why this inheritance exists.”

“If the body still retains life force and the soul has not completely dispersed, then even if the soul is damaged or has drifted so far that it can no longer return on its own, there may still be something that can be guided back.”

Earth One paused.

“Whether it applies to the person you wish to save…”

“That can only be determined after seeing their condition.”

Hao Nhien tightened his grip slightly around the handkerchief.

He understood that this was not a guarantee.

But for the first time in a very long while, he had heard the name of a method directly related to Tieu Lan’s condition.

Guiding the Soul Back to the Boat.

Just hearing those words made it difficult for him to remain completely calm.

By instinct, Hao Nhien looked toward Lang Tuyet.

She showed little obvious reaction.

Only her usually composed gaze remained on Earth One slightly longer than normal.

After a moment, her lips moved faintly.

“Guiding the Soul Back to the Boat…”

Her voice was very soft.

Almost an unconscious repetition.

Hao Nhien looked at her in surprise.

“You have heard of it before?”

Lang Tuyet fell silent briefly.

Then shook her head.

“No.”

“At least, I do not remember ever hearing of it.”

The author did not authorize this reproduction. Their chapter on NovelPhoenix is the posting that supports them.

Hao Nhien watched her.

“Then why?”

“It is only…”

“That name gives me a strange feeling.”

She frowned slightly.

Then quickly suppressed the thoughtfulness in her expression.

Hao Nhien remembered her previous reactions to things connected with Heavenly Spirit.

But even Lang Tuyet could not explain the feeling.

So he did not ask further.

She had already turned back toward Earth One.

“Senior, even if we gain the right to examine Guiding the Soul Back to the Boat, all we receive is the chance to examine it?”

“Of course.”

Lang Tuyet did not smile.

“We may not understand it.”

“We may not have the ability to carry it out.”

“We do not even know what ingredients are required or where they can be found.”

“Correct.”

“We cannot even confirm whether the person who needs saving satisfies the conditions recorded in the inheritance.”

“That is also correct.”

Earth One answered with complete calm.

Nothing Lang Tuyet said seemed to reduce the value of Guiding the Soul Back to the Boat in his eyes.

She studied him.

Then smiled faintly.

“Then this is hardly an ordinary transaction.”

“Oh?”

“Senior is using a thread of hope to exchange for a price that may be extremely high.”

Lang Tuyet looked directly at him.

“Perhaps even a life.”

A faint trace of approval appeared in Earth One’s eyes.

“You are not wrong.”

“And Senior has no intention of concealing that?”

“Why conceal it?”

The old man rested on his staff.

His expression remained calm.

“Someone who truly needs it will not stop immediately merely because he hears the words ‘it may not work.’”

“And someone who does not truly need it will still weigh the gains and losses even if this old man promises a perfect result.”

Earth One looked toward Hao Nhien.

“Sea City has no shortage of people who wish to purchase opportunities.”

“What is rarer is someone willing to pay a price for a possibility.”

Hao Nhien did not answer.

Lang Tuyet did not immediately argue either.

She looked toward the lake for a moment.

Then asked,

“Has anyone in history actually succeeded?”

“The records say yes.”

“Senior believes them?”

“I believe history recorded it that way.”

Lang Tuyet narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Those are not the same thing.”

“Of course they are not.”

Earth One smiled faintly.

“That is why I said this old man sells a road.”

“Not a result.”

Hao Nhien looked at him for a long time.

The words made him think again of Tieu Lan’s fragile life force.

He did not know whether Guiding the Soul Back to the Boat could truly save her.

But he could not ignore a method directly related to the soul.

Finally, he spoke.

“I want to see it.”

Earth One looked at him.

“Do you know where it is?”

Hao Nhien paused.

“Didn’t you just say—”

“I said it once existed.”

Earth One interrupted.

“I did not say it was sitting inside my storage pouch.”

For a moment, Hao Nhien did not know how to respond.

The corner of Lang Tuyet’s mouth lifted slightly.

Then she quickly returned to seriousness.

“Then Earth Spirit possesses clues regarding where the inheritance is preserved?”

“There are some related records.”

“But they are not things that can be casually traded.”

“What conditions are required?” Hao Nhien asked.

“Merit.”

Hao Nhien frowned slightly.

Earth One explained,

“Within Earth Spirit, not everything can be purchased with spirit stones.”

“Certain information, inheritances, and special opportunities are available only to those who have contributed enough to the merchant association.”

“Those contributions are recorded as merit.”

“You mean that if I want access to the clues regarding Guiding the Soul Back to the Boat, I need to accumulate merit?”

“That is one path.”

Earth One answered.

“If you possess something else valuable enough to exchange, this old man would not object to that either.”

Hao Nhien fell silent in thought.

Lang Tuyet looked at Earth One again.

“If this truly belongs to one of Heavenly Spirit’s highest inheritances, then its price cannot be low.”

“Accumulating enough merit cannot be easy.”

Earth One gave a hoarse laugh.

“Correct.”

Lang Tuyet turned toward Hao Nhien.

Her gaze softened slightly.

But her voice remained clear.

“You need to understand something.”

“Even if you obtain the right to examine those records, we will only have reached another door.”

“There will still be many unknowns beyond it.”

“We may even discover that the method is unsuitable for the person you wish to save.”

“I know.”

“You know and still want to go?”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“Mm.”

Only one quiet sound.

Lang Tuyet watched him for a while.

Then exhaled softly.

“Then we need to calculate carefully.”

Earth One nodded at once.

“Correct.”

“You need to calculate carefully.”

He leaned on his staff, seemingly about to continue.

But Lang Tuyet suddenly spoke.

“Wait.”

Earth One looked toward her.

“What else?”

“I was thinking about the way Senior does things.”

She turned toward Hao Nhien.

“Do you remember the Fire and Thunder clans?”

“At the time, you did not directly force them to choose.”

“You allowed them to experience something they had never experienced before.”

“Then let them decide for themselves.”

Hao Nhien paused.

He remembered.

Lang Tuyet looked toward Earth One.

“Senior did the same thing.”

“You did not immediately ask what we wanted.”

“You did not ask how much we were willing to pay.”

“Instead, you brought us down here and made each of us face the thing we desired most.”

She paused.

“Only after knowing how important that desire was did you begin discussing the price.”

Earth One watched her for a long moment.

Then laughed.

“Not bad.”

Lang Tuyet did not laugh with him.

“What I want to ask is not whether that method works.”

“I simply find it strange.”

“Why would someone like Senior go through the trouble of bringing two Golden Core cultivators and one Foundation Establishment cultivator down to the Sea Lake?”

At the name she used for the pool, Hao Nhien’s gaze shifted slightly.

Earth One noticed.

“Those of Earth Spirit call this place the Sea Lake.”

That was all he explained.

Then he looked back at Lang Tuyet.

“At last, you are asking the right question.”

“Then this junior is listening.”

Earth One tapped his staff against the stone.

“Do you know how long that bow has been in Earth Spirit’s possession?”

Hao Nhien paused.

“No.”

“According to the surviving records, it was carried here by the first people who arrived in this region.”

“Before that, the bow belonged to Heavenly Spirit.”

Hao Nhien looked at him.

“Earth Spirit knows its origin?”

“Only part of it.”

“Too much time has passed.”

“Many records have been lost.”

“But one thing was never erased from the documents handed down.”

“What?”

“If someone capable of truly using the bow appeared, that person had very likely encountered a Heavenly Spirit ruin, possessed something belonging to the same branch of inheritance, or carried some connection that even he himself might not understand.”

Hao Nhien fell silent.

The image of the bow-wielding man in the ancient painting surfaced in his mind.

From the Heavenly Spirit ruins.

To the painting in Earth Spirit’s headquarters.

Earth One continued,

“For more than a hundred years, the merchant association carried that bow through many branches and regions.”

“Many people were given the opportunity to come into contact with it.”

“But throughout that entire period, there was never a record of anyone truly firing an arrow.”

Hao Nhien looked at him.

“So Earth Spirit has been searching for someone who could use it?”

“Correct.”

“But finding someone capable of using it and determining whether that person is worth cooperating with are two different matters.”

Earth One paused.

Then looked toward Lang Tuyet.

“Dong Nguyen.”

“Southern City.”

“The person who took custody of the bow.”

“Earth Spirit recorded all of those matters.”

Lang Tuyet showed no surprise.

“Then how much does Senior know about Hao Nhien?”

“Not much.”

Earth One smiled faintly.

“But enough.”

He looked toward Hao Nhien.

“Golden Core.”

“Seen together with someone from Mystic Spirit.”

“Capable of using the bow for which Earth Spirit has searched for a suitable wielder for many years.”

“Then not long afterward, you crossed the Sea Region and arrived in Sea City with another Golden Core woman.”

Earth One looked between the two of them.

“With what the merchant association has gathered, I doubt either of you should be judged by ordinary Golden Core standards.”

His gaze then shifted toward Lanh Hoa.

“And this man may only be in Foundation Establishment, but he crossed the Sea Region with you and continuously maintains the position of a guard.”

“That alone is enough to make this old man curious.”

Lanh Hoa did not respond.

He remained behind Hao Nhien.

His expression did not change.

Earth One looked back toward Hao Nhien and Lang Tuyet.

“Do you think this old man should consider everything a coincidence?”

Lang Tuyet looked at him.

“That is why Senior brought us to the Sea Lake?”

Earth One did not answer immediately.

“I do not know how many things connected to Heavenly Spirit you have encountered.”

“Nor do I know how much of the bow’s true power Hao Nhien can actually draw out.”

He paused.

“But a merchant does not need to understand everything before deciding whether a transaction is worth continuing.”

Hao Nhien asked,

“So the Sea Lake was to inspect the merchandise?”

Earth One looked at him.

“No.”

“To inspect the person.”

He spoke very slowly.

“Objects can change hands.”

“It is the person who determines whether a transaction can reach its end.”

Hao Nhien watched him for a moment.

Then calmly nodded.

“All right.”

Lang Tuyet turned toward him.

Earth One also raised one eyebrow slightly.

“That is all?”

“You do not want to ask what else Earth Spirit knows about you?”

“No.”

Hao Nhien answered naturally.

“I used the bow in front of other people.”

“Lang Tuyet received it in Southern City.”

“And we crossed the Sea Region to reach this place.”

“If Earth Spirit knew absolutely nothing about any of that, I would find that far stranger.”

Earth One was silent for a beat.

Then laughed.

Hao Nhien continued,

“Anything I have done openly, I know someone will eventually hear about.”

“As for matters that need to remain hidden…”

“Naturally, I would not casually allow outsiders to learn them.”

The corner of Lang Tuyet’s mouth lifted slightly.

Earth One asked,

“Then what do you care about?”

Hao Nhien lowered his eyes.

Tieu Lan’s figure appeared in his mind again.

Not the Tieu Lan standing upon the endless sea within the Sea Lake.

The real Tieu Lan.

Lying motionless inside the Cosmic Ark, where he still went to see her again and again.

He raised his head.

“You brought me here.”

“You told me that Guiding the Soul Back to the Boat once existed.”

“Even if it is only a possibility, that means there is still a road worth trying.”

Hao Nhien looked directly at Earth One.

“Having a road is better than having nothing.”

Earth One did not answer immediately.

Hao Nhien continued,

“So right now, I only want to know what I need to do to earn enough merit.”

The corner of Earth One’s mouth slowly rose.

“Merit?”

“Mm.”

“You will need a great deal of it.”

“How much?”

“That depends on how deeply you wish to go.”

“Ordinary records and the most important clues Earth Spirit possesses do not have the same value.”

Hao Nhien frowned slightly.

“What if I only complete ordinary missions?”

“You might keep doing them until you grow tired of looking at the sea.”

Lang Tuyet immediately asked,

“Then there is another way?”

Earth One looked at her.

Then smiled.

“Of course.”

“What is it?”

He did not answer.

Instead, he turned toward the corridor with his staff.

“Come.”

Hao Nhien looked at his back.

“Where?”

“Did you not want to know how merit can be earned in Sea City?”

Earth One continued walking at an unhurried pace.

“Then see for yourself.”

Hao Nhien looked toward Lang Tuyet.

She nodded faintly.

The sharpness had returned to her eyes.

Lanh Hoa followed immediately as well, still maintaining a position half a step closer than before they entered the Sea Lake.

The three followed Earth One.

After walking some distance, Hao Nhien suddenly looked back.

The lake remained completely black.

Perfectly still.

It reflected no figure and carried no trace of anything that had just happened.

But something inside Hao Nhien had changed.

Since Tieu Lan fell unconscious, he had never stopped searching for a way to save her.

He had traveled through many places.

Tried many methods.

But most had been little more than vague hopes without any clear place to begin.

Now, at least, he had a name.

Guiding the Soul Back to the Boat.

And a direction in which to continue searching.

Hao Nhien withdrew his gaze.

Then turned and stepped into the corridor.

Ahead, the end of Earth One’s staff occasionally touched the stone floor, producing a steady rhythm through the silence.

Hao Nhien did not know where this road would ultimately lead.

Nor how great the price would become.

But this time, continuing forward had a specific purpose.