Chapter 168: The Forty-Nine Candles of Heavenly Secrets Mountain

Moyuan went to open the door. When he saw that figure in the blue robe, he suddenly froze in place.

“Sir… sir…”

Moyuan thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. For quite a while, he couldn’t snap out of his daze.

He remembered that sir only returned during the Huai Xu season.

Why this time…

Chen Changsheng was startled hearing the word “sir.”

Chen Changsheng asked, “Do I know you?”

Moyuan, who had just snapped back to reality, paused again.

“I’m Moyuan.”

Moyuan looked at Mr. Chen before him. In his daze, he felt something was a bit different about sir.

He seemed to have lost his special spirit, completely like an ordinary person now.

Chen Changsheng thought for a bit but frowned. “Moyuan?”

He pondered for a long while, yet still couldn’t recall knowing this person.

Moyuan was stunned. “Mr. Chen… what’s wrong with you?”

“You truly know me?” Chen Changsheng asked again.

Moyuan took half a step back, looking at Chen Changsheng while vigorously shaking his head.

Moyuan opened his mouth, “Sir, don’t scare me.”

“I…”

Chen Changsheng’s eyes were filled only with confusion. He looked at the person in front of him but simply couldn’t recall anything.

Not only that, he had even forgotten who he himself was.

As Chen Changsheng kept thinking, he suddenly felt a sharp headache.

“It hurts…”

Chen Changsheng hugged his head and abruptly crouched down.

An expression of suffering covered his face, and cold sweat instantly broke out.

“Sir! Mr. Chen!”

“Mr. Chen, what’s wrong?”

Moyuan quickly stepped forward, wanting to help sir up.

But the next moment, his outstretched hand grabbed only empty air.

Moyuan nearly stumbled and fell.

In his daze, he seemed to hear the sound of something shattering.

“Pop!”

When he looked up again, he saw only flecks of starlight before him, scattering and vanishing.

Moyuan reached out to grab them. Upon touching them, the starlight dimmed and faded completely from view.

He looked all around; his eyes were somewhat lost.

Moyuan didn’t understand. How could sir, who was right before his eyes moments ago, vanish without a trace in the blink of an eye.

“Sir?”

In that dark night, Moyuan called out, but heard no answer.

His lips slightly parted; sweat suddenly beaded on his forehead.

“Just now…”

“Was that truly sir?”

Moyuan’s arm trembled. He gazed into the vast night, unable to regain his composure for a long time.

. . .

In that void.

Chen Changsheng woke once more.

His thoughts were greatly shaken. If his mortal body had been there, he would surely have been gasping for breath, his heart pounding wildly.

‘That was so close!’

Returning in that instant, his memories rushed back.

Thankfully, he had been pulled back at the last moment. Otherwise, the consequences might have been unthinkable.

Chen Changsheng felt heavy, unable to help but sigh in amazement.

‘The Sutra of Rebirth is truly formidable!’

But frustratingly, this Sutra of Rebirth ultimately had a flaw. And that tiny gap affected the final outcome.

If nothing had gone wrong, retaining memories should have also been possible.

As for why there was no Rebirth, it was likely also because of the Mayfly Curse.

During the more than a year in this void, he had ceaselessly pondered the secrets within the Sutra of Rebirth. Only until he felt 80% confident had he dared to try.

Although he ultimately failed and couldn’t retain his memories, this attempt still gave Chen Changsheng hope.

The Sutra of Rebirth could break free from the Mayfly Curse!

Meaning, if he could fill in the millionth fraction missing from this Sutra of Rebirth, he would then be unaffected by the Mayfly Curse.

At this thought, Chen Changsheng couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

However, thinking this, he also found it daunting.

That missing millionth fraction was likely precisely the hardest part.

Yu Xuan had undergone rebirth four times, yet still hadn’t completed the Sutra of Rebirth.

It seemed this missing fraction wasn’t solve-able through insight alone; it lay elsewhere.

Realizing this, Chen Changsheng’s tangled thoughts gradually sorted themselves out.

He recalled the Sutra of Rebirth once more.

He descended into silence again.

Chen Changsheng couldn’t say for certain whether, when he next awakened, it would still be during the Huai Xu season, like last time.

He supposed the answer would come soon enough.

. . .

At the same moment, on Heavenly Secrets Mountain, the ancient bell suddenly rang out.

That bell hadn’t been rung for several thousand years.

“Boom!!”

The ancient tone resonated throughout the entire Heavenly Secrets Mountain.

The gazes of countless disciples turned toward the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.

“That bell… rang?”

Some froze, some looked grim.

All Heavenly Secrets Mountain disciples understood the significance of that bell’s toll.

“All disciples, assemble immediately at the main mountain hall!”

Instantly, everyone became tense.

Inside and outside the mountain, thousands of figures flashed back and forth, gathering towards the main mountain hall.

In scarcely a moment, over a thousand Cultivators, all disciples of the Heavenly Secrets Mountain sect, stood assembled in the main hall.

Beyond that, disciples continued to rush back from outside.

Upon the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.

Seven Elders stared at the swaying candle flames within the pavilion, their expressions uniformly grave.

There stood forty-nine pillars of flame candles.

Only the seven pavilion masters of Heavenly Secrets Mountain knew what these candle flames represented.

But now, one had been extinguished!!

Zhong Zhengyuan stood at the forefront, looking at the extinguished pillar of fire. “One of the forty-nine candles has gone out. Whether man-made or natural…”

Chen Daoqiu’s face was grave. “I fear great chaos approaches.”

Zhong Zhengyuan decided firmly, “In recent years, the Dao Candles have been unstable. Now one actually snuffs out. This matter is of utmost importance. Disciples must be dispatched immediately to investigate.”

“It must be so.”

Chen Daoqiu nodded, then added, “But why did it go out so suddenly? It shouldn’t be like this…”

None of the present could fathom the reason.

That’s where it was strange. When a candle flame went out, logically, a major disturbance should arise between Heaven and Earth.

Yet at the very moment the candle went out, the outside world showed not the slightest commotion. Instead, it was extremely calm.

“The cause is still unknown. If someone is deliberately disturbing the Heavenly Dao order, the consequences could be unimaginable…”

Just as everyone was deliberating measures…

Zhong Zhengyuan suddenly stiffened, his gaze locked onto the extinguished candle among the forty-nine.

The flame that had just died out now stirred anew. In the blink of an eye, a faint wisp of fire flickered back to life.

Within a few more breaths, it burned brightly once more.

The seven pavilion masters, along with Zhong Zhengyuan, were frozen stiff in the hall.

“It reignited?”

Chen Daoqiu looked startled, turning to Zhong Zhengyuan.

Zhong Zhengyuan stared fixedly at the candle flame, unable to grasp the reason.

And when that candle reignited, the forty-nine candle flames that had been wavering randomly instantly calmed down.

As if…

nothing had happened at all.

“How could this be?”

Zhong Zhengyuan’s brow furrowed deeply. He stepped forward to examine the recently revived candle.

It shouldn’t be like this…

Why did this happen?

Zhong Zhengyuan stood lost in thought before these forty-nine Dao Candles for several days and nights.

But in the end, he still couldn’t figure it out.