Chapter 335 - 159: Possession

Liang Cheng bid farewell to Yun Jinghong and the other two, then sped off alone toward the center of the island.

The core area of Cross-Sea Cliff, as marked on the map, was only a little over six miles from the underground cavern.

At his current speed, he would arrive in a matter of moments.

Along the way, ancient trees towered into the sky, and the crumbling ruins grew more and more dense.

Fallen Stone Halls, shattered statues, and vast patches of scorched earth were visible everywhere.

Liang Cheng didn’t stop, but pressed straight ahead.

Finally, a solitary peak appeared before him.

The peak was over a thousand feet high, steep and sharp as a sword piercing the clouds.

It was the same central peak he had seen from off the island’s coast.

At the summit, a stone monument was faintly visible, its surface shimmering with a cold, faint light under the moon.

Cross-Sea Cliff.

The true Cross-Sea Cliff.

Liang Cheng crossed the empty air and landed on the summit.

The summit was a platform three hundred feet in diameter. In its center stood a stone monument.

The monument was about thirty feet tall and ten feet wide. Its entire body was a dark, greenish-black, its surface covered in twisted Runes.

The Runes were identical to those he had seen before, yet they were far more intricate and ancient.

On the front of the monument, three large words were carved.

Cross-Sea Cliff.

As Liang Cheng stood before the monument, the Crossing the Sea True Intent within him began to circulate on its own.

The resonance with the complete Cultivation Technique was much stronger now than before, as if this stone monument had been made just for him.

He took a deep breath and reached out, pressing his hand against the monument.

The instant his fingertips touched its surface...

BOOM!!!

The monument erupted with a blinding golden light!

The light was so dense it almost seemed solid, illuminating the entire peak as if it were broad daylight.

Liang Cheng felt an irresistible suction force pull from the monument. Before he could even react, he was yanked into a sea of golden light.

...

When the golden light faded, Liang Cheng found himself standing in a massive plaza.

The plaza was over two miles wide, paved with White Jade so polished it reflected like a mirror.

Surrounding the plaza stood nine colossal, sky-piercing pillars. Each was about a thousand feet tall, their surfaces carved with abstruse Runes that radiated an ancient and boundless aura.

In the very center of the plaza hovered a golden sphere of light.

The sphere was about ten feet in diameter, shining brilliantly. Faintly visible within were flowing characters.

Liang Cheng stared at the sphere, his eyes burning with intensity.

’An opportunity for Enlightenment!’

He was about to step forward when he suddenly stopped. He extended his Divine Sense to carefully probe his surroundings.

The Spiritual Qi in the plaza was astonishingly dense, more than ten times richer than the outside world.

But hidden within the Spiritual Qi was a faint, almost imperceptible trace of a cold, sinister aura.

If he hadn’t practiced the Ice Soul Scripture and obtained the mysterious Divine Soul Liquid in the Lin Wu City Secret Realm—making his Divine Soul far stronger than his peers—he would never have noticed the anomaly.

Liang Cheng’s eyes narrowed.

He did not continue forward. Instead, he stood his ground and silently circulated the Crossing the Sea True Intent.

His True Pill spun slowly, releasing interwoven streams of ice-blue and fiery-red Pill Qi. He activated his Mixed Element Gang Body with the Pill Qi, shielding his entire body.

In his Sea of Consciousness, the golden ocean churned with violent waves, and the Ling Frost Short Sword was poised to strike at a moment’s notice.

Only after making all these preparations did he step forward, walking toward the sphere of light.

One step.

Ten steps.

A hundred steps.

When he was still three hundred feet from the sphere, a sudden change occurred!

The golden sphere abruptly expanded, transforming into a sky-filling golden mist that enveloped him!

From within the mist, an ancient voice spoke, filled with endless temptation.

"Since you have entered the Enlightenment Realm, why not relax your mind?"

"I, the Crossing Sea Master, have waited here for three hundred years, and at last, the one destined to arrive has come."

"This mist contains the culmination of my life’s Enlightenment. You need only open your Sea of Consciousness to receive it all."

Liang Cheng’s steps faltered.

He made no other move as the golden mist enveloped him. The mist felt warm against his skin and indeed showed no signs of aggression.

At the same time, a gentle power tried to seep into his body through his pores.

Liang Cheng closed his eyes, as if enjoying the warm embrace.

The voice spoke again, even more gently this time.

"Yes, just like that."

"Open your Sea of Consciousness. Do not resist."

"My life’s work... it will all be yours..."

Suddenly, Liang Cheng’s eyes snapped open.

A cold glint flashed within them!

"Open my Sea of Consciousness?"

He sneered.

"So you can possess my body?"

As his words fell, the aura around him exploded outward!

His Blade Intent shot to the heavens, blasting away all the golden mist within a hundred-foot radius of him!

Within the mist, the voice changed abruptly, its gentleness turning sinister and cold.

"You—"

"How did you find out?!"

Liang Cheng said nothing, merely staring straight ahead.

The golden mist churned violently before slowly coalescing into a human figure.

It was an old man with a white beard and hair, a gaunt face, and gray robes.

He looked exactly like the illusion of the Crossing Sea Master he had seen in the underground cavern.

But his eyes were completely different.

The eyes he’d seen before were calm and detached, filled with the clarity of one who has seen through the mortal world.

But the eyes before him now—

—were sinister, greedy, and crazed.

Liang Cheng looked at the figure and said, word by word:

"You are not the Crossing Sea Master."

Hearing this, the old man suddenly laughed.

His laughter was sharp and grating, devoid of any of the grace or dignity of an immortal.

"Of course I am the Crossing Sea Master," he said.

"It’s just that—"

He paused, his smile growing even more sinister.

"I am the Crossing Sea Master’s other half."

"The good thought remained in the underground cavern, waiting for a destined successor to inherit the legacy."

"While the Evil Thought guards the summit of Cross-Sea Cliff, waiting—"

It stared at Liang Cheng, its eyes filled with greed.

"Waiting for a suitable physical body."

A chill went down Liang Cheng’s spine.

’The Crossing Sea Master actually separated his good from his evil?!’

As if reading his mind, the Evil Thought continued:

"Three hundred years ago, I knew my time was running out. I was unwilling to let my life’s work be lost, and even less willing to simply let my soul scatter to the winds."

"So, I used a Secret Technique to split my Divine Soul in two."

"The good thought, carrying the legacy of the Cultivation Technique, was left underground to wait for a fated person."