Chapter 600 - 561: There Are No Stars Here, But There Is Light

On the first floor of the Vast Sea Tower Library, the gray-clothed youth’s body, spurred by the Fetal Breathing Saint Method, began a miraculous process of self-healing and recovery.

But the Ganlin Healing Skill’s effects were poor. Without the aid of the skill’s Primordial Qi Rain, the Fetal Breathing Saint Method also lacked the necessary nourishment.

Although the gray-clothed youth’s body was healing on its own, the process was clearly slow and protracted.

Song Ciwan wasn’t in a rush. She simply started testing various forms of Magic nearby.

After extensive testing, Song Ciwan confirmed that in Heaven-Reaching City, most ordinary forms of Magic and Daoist Techniques—those not involving fundamental principles—were suppressed.

Divine Communication Techniques and Celestial Spirit Dao Skills, however, were not suppressed at all.

The Divine Communication Techniques she currently knew were primarily Infinite Power and Heaven and Earth Transformation.

As for Celestial Spirit Daoist Skills, she had Call Wind and Rain, Upright Shadowless, and Scattering Beans into Soldiers.

However, aside from Divine Techniques and Celestial Spirit Daoist Skills, other uniquely profound Magic—such as Samadhi True Fire, Void Illusion Demon Sword, Heaven-Stealing Day-Changing, and Floating Clouds and Morning Dew—were also unsuppressed.

Overall, aside from the suppression of Magic like the Qi Absorption Technique, the Wind Manipulation Technique, Riding the Clouds and Mist, and Shrinking Inches, her overall power hadn’t been significantly impacted.

Martial Techniques were unaffected, and her Horizontal Body Training was even more so.

At most, she had lost a few minor skills; her repertoire of techniques was simply not as vast as it had been in the Nine Provinces Human Realm.

Song Ciwan came to a realization. She was beginning to understand the fundamental differences between the Magic that was suppressed and the Magic that was not.

In the meantime, Song Ciwan also tested the various Character Techniques she knew.

What was interesting was that in Heaven-Reaching City, the power of the various Character Techniques derived from Huaxia characters was not suppressed or weakened at all. In fact, it was amplified!

Besides the "Store" character she had just comprehended, the Character Techniques Song Ciwan currently knew included Wood, Forest, Reveal, Forbidden, Dao, Strong, Doubt, Xiu, Void, Transformation, and several others.

In this place, every single Character Technique possessed an indescribably potent Abnormal Power. When Song Ciwan tested them, she didn’t unleash their full might. Instead, she merely traced the characters in her mind, letting the power build without being released.

Even so, an indescribable and powerful sensation, as if the very heavens and earth were surging in response, still faintly coiled and pulsed in the palm of her hand, startling even her.

Song Ciwan had even deeper speculations about these characters.

She thought back to her first time entering a Spirit Realm Secret Realm—

Back then, Song Ciwan had personally witnessed a fisherman face his Thunder Tribulation and condense a Golden Core. Through a special method of observation, she had discovered that the meridians intertwined throughout the fisherman’s body vaguely formed the character for "Forbidden"!

It was by copying the "Forbidden" character on that occasion that Song Ciwan received her inspiration, setting her on the path to comprehending Character Techniques.

However, before entering Heaven-Reaching City, Song Ciwan had never known—despite having comprehended Character Techniques—that their Abnormal Power was so great it could potentially contend with the Ancient Divine Insect Race!

But thinking about it now, she realized there had always been clues.

The fisherman Refining the Golden Core bore the "Forbidden" character. The Spirit Realm Secret Realm was connected to the Ancient Divine Insect Race, and the character above its gate was the Huaxia character for "Human."

Song Ciwan had comprehended "Forbidden," but she had failed to comprehend "Human."

Similarly, she had failed to comprehend the characters for "Demon" and "Devil."

These three characters seemed to possess a special, obstructive power. Whenever Song Ciwan tried to comprehend them, she felt as if she were separated from them by an illusory barrier, like a flower in a mirror or the moon on the water. Ultimately, she couldn’t grasp the character’s core, unable to make it her own Character Technique.

As for the other characters, like Dao, Strong, Doubt, and Xiu—interestingly enough, they had come from a Celestial Spiritual Light!

Some came from Song Ciwan’s own Celestial Spiritual Light, others from the Celestial Spiritual Lights of other people.

’The characters from the Celestial Spiritual Light were originally Great Zhou characters... but when did these Character Techniques turn into Huaxia characters?’

As she tried to recall the details, Song Ciwan found it surprisingly difficult to pinpoint the exact moment of this change.

With her current level of Cultivation, memory lapses like this should have been impossible.

And yet, it had happened!

It seemed the wonders of Huaxia characters held far more secrets for her to uncover.

She then began to ponder the connection between Huaxia characters and the Ancient Divine Insect Race. ’Why do the bodies of the Ancient Divine Insect Race also contain Huaxia characters?’

’What is the connection between this world and her former one?’

’And the Ancient Divine Insect Race... where exactly did they come from?’

One question after another coiled in Song Ciwan’s mind, each one striking like a heavy hammer against her taut nerves.

Eventually, unable to find any answers through intense contemplation, Song Ciwan had to resort to circulating the Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting, repeatedly using Cultivation to calm her mind.

She prioritized the issues and laid out a plan:

First, she had to comprehend all the complete Huaxia words she had seen in Heaven-Reaching City and turn them into usable Character Techniques as quickly as possible.

’Every character in "Vast Sea Tower Library," "Wenyuan Spaceship," and "Qiangong Machinery" must have a use. I can’t overlook any of them or waste this opportunity.’

Second, she needed to investigate the insect corpses in this place. It was impossible that the only corpse in the entire, vast Heaven-Reaching City was the one inside the Vast Sea Tower Library!

’So, how many insect corpses are there in Heaven-Reaching City?’

’And what are the origins of the Chaotic God Martial Artists, who survive by eating these insects?’

’If they stop eating the insects, can they even survive?’

’After so many years of eating insects, could there now be some subtle connection between the Chaotic God Martial Artists and the Insect Race? Are their bodies... truly still purely of the Human Race?’

Third, she had to verify whether the Character Techniques formed from Huaxia characters truly had a suppressive effect on the Ancient Divine Insect Race.

After all, a single instance wasn’t enough proof. One case couldn’t represent the whole, so the matter required further investigation.

Fourth...

Fifth...

Song Ciwan had many other thoughts, including her concern for Du Xingheng’s safety and the legendary Spiritual Treasure said to be in the Ancient Divine Palace...

’Where is Du Xingheng now?’

’That’s hard to say, and he’ll be hard to find. I can only move at my own pace and do what needs to be done.’

’It’s just as Wei Chi said. Maybe we’ll run into each other while exploring the Ancient Divine Palace?’

As Song Ciwan organized her thoughts, she noticed the light outside the window gradually dimming.

It was strange. Earlier, when Song Ciwan had been walking the streets of this massive city, she had distinctly seen no sun in the sky—

No sun, no clouds. It was a uniform, flawless expanse of azure, with no celestial bodies in sight.

That was another thing. Because she couldn’t sense the presence of any stars in Heaven-Reaching City, her Star Cross Skill was also useless.

This world had no visible stars, yet it had light.

And this light would dim as time passed, as if night were about to fall.

Just then, the gray-clothed youth, who was slowly being healed by the Fetal Breathing Saint Method, suddenly forced open his blood-caked eyes and cried out in anguish, "Oh no, it’s getting dark!"