Chapter 773 - 736: Undeterred by Failure on the Path to Wisdom

Chapter 773: Chapter 736: Undeterred by Failure on the Path to Wisdom

“It wasn’t until you mentioned that Guan Changge might be swallowed up by the Immeasurable Barrier that it crossed my mind,” Nangong Shirong reminisced with a sigh.

“Since your lordship has once ventured into the Immeasurable Barrier and broken out, I presume you could easily rescue Guan Changge,” said Yan Yiqiu, one of the accompanying cultivators, flattering hastily.

Nangong Shirong’s expression darkened: “I can’t guarantee success. It will depend on the boy’s luck.”

Taken aback by the frank response, Yan Yiqiu bowed his head in embarrassment.

At this moment, Xu Bai interjected: “My Lord, what makes the Immeasurable Barrier so peculiar?”

Nangong Shirong turned to Xu Bai’s curious face, pondering for a moment before explaining: “I can’t be certain, but based on my experience, the Immeasurable Barrier may be a naturally occurring place for Enlightenment. It has a chance of pulling nearby cultivators into it when certain scenes emerge.”

“Once inside the Immeasurable Barrier…”

He squinted, “It’s as if the [Spirit Awakening State] function of the Tianxuan Mirror has been activated—no, it’s even stronger than that. Ideas come flooding in effortlessly. I still remember that joy.”

“But there’s a downside. This enhanced ability for perception seems to be directed only at the practitioner’s deepest held concepts. At that time, I was pondering on…”

Nangong Shirong paused, skipping his own insights and continued: “I was close to achieving my goal. Under the enhanced effect of Enlightenment, it didn’t take me long to realise it. As a result, I naturally broke out of the barrier.”

Looking at the Immeasurable Barrier, Xu Bai reflected on the clues he had gathered, and shared: “It is said that Guan Changge greatly respects Guan Xingxiu, especially his Sword Art. However, Guan Changge himself lacks the talent to cultivate the Sword Art…

“I’m afraid that even with the Immeasurable Barrier’s Enlightenment, it will take him ten years or half a lifetime to make any progress. Is this the truth behind his disappearance?”

“And the cultivators who were with Guan Changge reported seeing a cultivator performing a Sword Dance on the Immeasurable Barrier, which matches your speculation…”

Xu Bai spoke all his deductions in one breath, attributing them to Nangong Shirong’s guesses.

Nangong Shirong neither confirmed nor denied it.

Instead, he added after a pause: “The flow of time inside and outside the Immeasurable Barrier may not be the same. Moreover, staying too long in the Immeasurable Barrier may make it impossible to leave, even if one successfully gains Enlightenment.”

“So if we want to save Guan Changge, we have to act quickly.”

Yan Yiqiu spoke up again: “So, My Lord, how do you enter the Immeasurable Barrier?”

Nangong Shirong turned his head, his face slightly darkened: “Are you asking me?”

“Of course not!” Yan Yiqiu hurriedly explained.

Nangong Shirong gave a cold hum: “If I knew what to do, why would I bring you guys here?”

Yan Yiqiu inwardly chastised himself, wishing he could slap himself.

But even before Nangong Shirong finished speaking, Xu Bai had already flown back to the base of the Immeasurable Barrier.

He pondered to himself: “Since it’s not categorised as strange, but a natural place of Enlightenment, with the affinity of this body for the Heavenly Dao, there should be some perception.”

After a long observation, still discovering nothing unusual, Xu Bai reached out with both hands and touched the wall.

His eyes were closed and he didn’t move for a long time.

At Nangong Shirong’s glance,Yan Yiqiu and the other two also started exploring the Immeasurable Barrier by touching it with their hands.

Before the Radiant Mirror, there were instantly four stone statues.

Xu Bai perceived that the originally hard wall seemed to gradually soften under his unwavering touch.

His body also began to soften and gradually melted into the wall.

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Bai didn’t resist.

He let the Immeasurable Barrier swallow his body.

In the exclamation of Yan Yiqiu and the others, Xu Bai vanished in an instant.

Nangong Shirong merely watched the place where Xu Bai had disappeared, his eyes flashing a mysterious expression.

Knowing the secrets of the Immeasurable Barrier beforehand from Nangong Shirong,

As he entered, Xu Bai was thinking about “how to move this Immeasurable Barrier”.

He didn’t hold much hope for this, so he was slightly surprised when numerous thoughts spontaneously emerged in his mind.

However, it was quite clear that he had wasted this opportunity for Enlightenment.

Because according to the answer given by the Immeasurable Barrier itself, moving it without affecting its Enlightenment function was impossible.

The birth of the Immeasurable Barrier was a rare event. Even Heaven and Earth itself couldn’t easily duplicate it.

Xu Bai was slightly disappointed, but he quickly regained his normal state.

Xu Bai, who had experienced one round of enlightenment, was not expelled by the Immeasurable Barrier. He then began to search for Guan Changge within the barrier.

This place was somewhat similar to the scene inside the [Root of Heaven and Earth]—cultivators existed in the form of abstract, twisted lines. However, the lines here were dressed in colourful hues, fluttering like seaweed in the water.

Xu Bai keenly noticed that as time passed, some of the lines making up his body were slowly dissolving and blending with the Immeasurable Barrier.

The hazy, lifeless figures he occasionally glimpsed, leaving behind only the faint contours of a body, seemed to be traces left by cultivators who had accidentally entered the Immeasurable Barrier and failed to leave, becoming one with this space.

Quickly traversing through the Immeasurable Barrier, guided by occasional disturbances, Xu Bai soon found Guan Changge.

By this time, his body had been reduced to the size of a seven or eight-year-old child. He was oblivious to this, clumsily waving around the few sparse lines that symbolized the ‘sword’ in his hand.

“Guan Changge!” Xu Bai attempted to call out, hoping to awaken him.

Alas, there was no such thing as “sound” in the Immeasurable Barrier. It seemed that some lines were draining from Xu Bai’s body and disappearing into the surroundings, failing to attract Guan Changge’s attention in the slightest.

So, Xu Bai flew directly to his side and grabbed the ‘sword’ from his hand.

Without hesitation, he concentrated his thoughts on leaving with Guan Changge.

However, at the last moment, the part of Guan Changge that Xu Bai was holding detached itself from Guan Changge’s body.

Slightly taken aback, Xu Bai saw Guan Changge maintain eye contact and slowly shake his head.

His shrunken body transformed into a sword once more. With an obsessed yet unwavering expression, he continued to wield it.

“To learn the Dao in the morning and die in the evening could be considered a fulfilled life.”

A feeling stirred within Xu Bai.

After a moment, he stopped insisting, took part of Guan Changge, and broke out of the wall.