abnabooks Chapter 11 Hidden Secrets: Touching the Source
Chapter 11 Hidden Secrets: Touching the Source
The north end of the village.
remote.
The night was cool and still.
Complete silence.
A campfire.
It was burning red-hot.
Lin Shi sat on the stone like an old monk, his mind wandering around Shixi Village, surveying it, looking around and listening to the everyday stories, nothing special, and then he stopped paying attention. His mind wandered and arrived at Bibo Pool, landing on the water like a light swan, and slowly sinking.
Lin Shi was a little surprised.
At the bottom of the emerald pool.
The eternal darkness and silence seemed to be infused with a barely perceptible vitality.
The dragon clone, coiled in the cold cage, had its tentacles, which had previously been passively absorbing spiritual energy and slowly healing its wounds, now became unprecedentedly sharp and active, like a snake awakening from hibernation, with its spiritual senses becoming increasingly acute.
Lin Shi pondered for a while and then understood what was going on.
Wang Hu was like a muffled alarm bell, sinking into the hearts of every villager and solidifying into an almost instinctive sense of awe.
In the past, there might have been some superficial compliance and laxity, but now that has completely disappeared.
The image of the Stone Toad King, through a mixture of kindness and power, becomes incredibly concrete and majestic.
As a result, the power of faith became increasingly pure and stable, flowing continuously into the deep pool through the stone toad statue every day for the dragon to absorb. Its effects were no longer limited to repairing injuries; it was more like a continuous spring rain, beginning to nourish the almost dried-up source of power in the dragon's clone that had been dormant for countless years.
That's why this change happened.
Lin Shi focused his attention on the massive chains that wrapped around the dragon's enormous body. The chains were made of neither gold nor iron, and they exuded a chilling coldness that transcended mortal understanding and penetrated to the bone. They were engraved with countless extremely complex and dim runes, radiating a sense of suppression and confinement that inspired despair.
The other end of the chain was not simply fixed to the giant rock at the bottom of the pool, but rather, like the eerie tentacles of some living creature or the malevolent roots of a tree, it was deeply embedded in the dark and unknown earth at the bottom of the pool.
"This probably locks up not only the body, but also endless years!"
Lin Shi shook his head. Before becoming his clone, the dragon had been imprisoned here for countless years.
I wonder what kind of creature this dragon is?
What happened?
Why did they end up like this?
More importantly, who was behind this?
What's the origin of this chain?
What earth-shattering power does it possess?
One thought after another flowed through Lin Shi's mind: there must be some earth-shattering secret hidden on the dragon.
Huh?
What are they trying to do?
Lin Shi's heart stirred. The dragon in front of him seemed to move slightly. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the dragon was indeed his own clone. With a thought, he focused his mind on it, and a surge of intent came over him. In an instant, he understood.
Since the village ritual began, the dragon has received a continuous stream of spiritual power. From the time Wang Hu's matter began until now, the spiritual power has become more and more abundant and purer. Under this constant nourishment, the dragon keenly sensed that the runes on the chains, which were originally like inanimate objects and only occasionally flashed with a trace of malice when subjected to impact, seemed to have permanently and extremely dimmed their spiritual light.
Lin Shi frowned.
This is something that's stirring up trouble.
Should we stop it?
Lin Shi hesitated for a moment. The dragon was his clone, and stopping it was just a thought. However, he immediately gave up and widened his eyes to see what would happen.
During this period, first the village shrine and then Wang Hu discovered that their understanding of the truth hidden behind the dragon's clone and the stone toad statue was far from sufficient. They felt a sense of unease, as if they possessed a great treasure but did not know its source or the risks involved.
I came here tonight to explore this realm, and I didn't stop the dragon just now for the same reason—to see what the consequences would be.
The dragon carefully gathered the power it had recovered over the past few days and tentatively attacked one of the relatively thinner chains that bound one of its front claws.
"Buzz!"
Lin Shi's expression changed drastically.
A muffled, thunderous roar, suppressed by the water, shook the bottom of the pool. The runes on the chains suddenly lit up, like the eyes of a startled serpent, emitting a dazzling spiritual light that neutralized and absorbed most of the impact. However, the enormous recoil was not completely absorbed, transforming into a violent undercurrent that surged and spread outwards from the dragon's center!
Almost at the same moment, the calm waters of several old wells near Bibo Pool in Shixi Village, which had been reflecting the sky, began to ripple violently without warning!
The water rippled against the well wall, making a gurgling sound, as if a giant object was turning over at the bottom of the well.
Lin Shi felt a chill run down his spine.
These chains not only bind the dragon's physical body and soul, but their power can also influence a wide area through the omnipresent water veins. However, it now appears that the power of faith is eroding this ancient seal.
What's going on?
What secrets is the dragon hiding?
Lin Shi's brow furrowed slightly, and then a sudden change occurred. The recoil from the impact chains reverberated deep within the dragon's senses, and a scene far clearer and more powerful than any previous fragment of memory surged into his consciousness like a flood bursting its banks.
The sky was blood-red! The clouds, like burning rags, pressed low over the scorched earth.
The turbid waves of Bibo Pool surged and churned, the dark green water boiling and churning. A black dragon, covered in wounds yet still ferocious and powerful, roared in the waves, each surge causing the earth to tremble and the mountains to shake. Its crimson eyes held only a mad madness that wanted to destroy everything.
A cultivator dressed in a simple blue Taoist robe, whose face was obscured, stood in mid-air, continuously casting profound hand seals, and streaks of spiritual light disappeared into the void.
Eight incredibly thick, pitch-black chains, neither gold nor iron, suddenly emerged from the void, like living venomous pythons, wrapping around the dragon's body, neck, and limbs, tightening their grip!
The chains were covered with intricate runes that emitted a dazzling light.
"You wicked creature! Execute him at any time!"
The cultivator's voice was like thunder from the heavens, carrying an unquestionable majesty.
The dragon roared in resentment and struggled frantically, but it could not break free from the chains binding it.
Seeing this, the cultivator made a hand seal with his right hand and pointed towards the Azure Wave Pool. A more complex array lit up at the bottom of the pool and connected with the chains. Then, he took out a seemingly ordinary piece of bluestone and carved it in the air. In the blink of an eye, a rough stone toad statue took shape.
"I hereby enfeoff you, to draw upon the thoughts of all people, and to transform your wickedness!"
At the cultivator's command, the stone toad statue was tossed forward and landed steadily.
The moment the stone toad landed, an invisible passage was established between the stone toad statue and the dragon. Wisps of extremely faint energy began to be absorbed by the stone toad statue, flowing along the chains and into the body of the frantically struggling dragon.
This power is not nourishing, but rather carries a sense of purification, transformation, and taming, like an invisible carving knife, attempting to grind away the dragon's ferocity and transform its violent power into gentle, nourishing spiritual energy for the earth's veins.
Lin Shi withdrew his thoughts and stood up abruptly. Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, and his heart pounded wildly, as if he had just personally experienced that ancient suppression.
These are memory imprints from the depths of the soul of this dragon's body!
chain!
Stone toad!
This power of faith!
From the very beginning, it was a complete system of repression and transformation!
Lin Shi's breath hitched suddenly.
"In that year, a great demon wreaked havoc, leaving the land barren for hundreds of miles and the waters of the pools boiling. A cultivator came from the east, spreading a mysterious chain in the depths of the blue waves to suppress the evil dragon at its eye. He erected a stone toad statue on the shore, drawing upon the thoughts of the people to transform its evil and instead nourish the earth's veins, thus protecting the land and its people."
Lin Shi blurted out.
The truth behind the long-standing mystery in my mind is just like this!
These chains were laid down by ancient cultivators to suppress the evil dragon.
The stone toad is an indispensable part of this massive suppression system! Its true function is to draw upon the power of faith from all people to neutralize the "evil" energy of the dragon itself, and the transformed power is then used to nourish the earth's veins.
Could it be that the original and fundamental purpose of this seemingly nourishing power of faith was not to help the dragon grow stronger, but to purify it?
Or is it a kind of "domestication" and "transformation" at the energy level?
However, because of his own transmigration, the evil dragon he once was became his clone, and his core consciousness changed from a malevolent demon to "Lin Shi," who possessed modern thinking and a relative view of good and evil.
The power of faith, originally intended to purify evil, lost its purifying target and instead became pure nourishment for his new consciousness and the dragon body under his control.
The chain seal, which relied on the power of faith and the energy of the earth's veins, began to be eroded and weakened by this mutated nourishing power due to the subtle deviation in the nature of the energy.
In Lin Shi's mind, an astonishing deduction suddenly took shape.
The night breeze was slightly cool.
Lin Shi looked down from a high vantage point.
In the distance, the Bibo Pool, under the moonlight, resembled a huge piece of black jade.
Profound. Tranquil.
However, beneath the pool lies countless cold chains, a stone toad drawing upon faith, and a breathtaking scheme spanning vast stretches of time, designed to obliterate a soul.
If it doesn't concern you, then stay out of it.
However, at this moment, the chains tightened around his own clone.
One is the evil dragon, and the evil dragon is oneself.
We cannot remain indifferent.
His position was delicate and dangerous; he was both a prisoner and a potential "loophole" in this ancient sealing system.
The stone toad statue and the power of faith are part of an ancient seal, but also the key to breaking the shackles.
At the bottom of the pool, the dragon temporarily ceased its assault. Its cold, vertical pupils gleamed with an eerie light in the darkness as it stared intently at the chain on its body, where the rune had noticeably dimmed.
Lin Shi took a deep breath, his turbulent heart slowly calming down. He understood the ins and outs, and felt a heavy weight after enlightenment, but even stronger was the determination to break the chains. To do this, faith was the key. Since the Wang Hu incident, his faith had not only increased but also become more refined, but this was far from enough.
Lin Shi didn't rush to do anything, waiting patiently for an opportunity to gain more credibility.
The fog ahead grew thicker, and dangers lurked everywhere, but the veil that concealed the truth was torn open with a crack.