The wisps of inherited soul essence, like heavy meteorites floating in the cosmos, were arduously lifted by Xu Mu's divine soul.
Once the passage opened, he directly tossed this meteorite into Zuo Mingqiu's sea of consciousness.
But not everyone's sea of consciousness is an ocean.
As the Daozi of Heavenly Master Mountain, Zuo Mingqiu's sea of consciousness was also vast, like a surging Yangtze River, with a seemingly bottomless lake at its end.
However, a lake cannot compare to an ocean.
And it certainly cannot compare to the void.
The meteorite was insignificant in the boundless emptiness of the universe, and a mere slightly larger reef in the vast ocean of Xu Mu's divine soul. But for Zuo Mingqiu, the situation was entirely different.
The meteorite filled the center of the lake.
The soul pool water stirred up waves, rushing out of the sea of consciousness and clashing wildly within his head.
Consequently, Zuo Mingqiu's face instantly turned deathly pale, and he fainted, unable to even let out a groan or a scream.
Xu Mu stood to the side, panting, looking at Zuo Mingqiu with a sense of helplessness.
"What's going on!"
Xu Mu crouched down, gazing at Zuo Mingqiu with a look of bewilderment.
While the innate eight trigrams were indeed difficult to learn, and he had vomited several times while learning it, he shouldn't have fainted right after receiving the inheritance!
Xu Mu clicked his tongue, then suddenly understood. Zuo Mingqiu's sea of consciousness might have been too small to bear the immense inheritance, causing him to faint. He might not have even had a chance to glimpse what was inside!
"Damn it." Xu Mu slapped his thigh, quickly fed Zuo Mingqiu a pill, and mobilized his divine soul power to help stabilize his sea of consciousness.
This stabilization took two days.
...
Two days later.
Xu Mu lowered his hand, and a vast yet gentle stream of divine soul power flowed back into his sea of consciousness.
There was a hint of fatigue in the young man's eyes.
"You should wake up too."
With no water, Xu Mu could only drink. He opened his wine gourd and took a swig, ignoring the fiery, spicy pain in his throat. Coughing and choking, he said.
Zuo Mingqiu heard him and opened his eyes. Looking at the dark walls around him, a trace of pallor and confusion was on his handsome face.
"It hurts so much..." Zuo Mingqiu tried to recall what had happened, but a sharp pain shot through his mind, and he quickly stopped.
Zuo Mingqiu reached up and touched his temples, finding them swollen.
"Don't tell me you have amnesia."
Xu Mu tossed Zuo Mingqiu a bowl of dark medicinal gruel and said tiredly,
"It's nothing serious. It's like someone who's been in seclusion for too long and suddenly sees sunlight; they feel blinded.
"Your sea of consciousness now carries the inheritance of Fuxi. It's like carrying a mountain on your back. You have to bear it for everything you do, so you need some time to adapt."
Hearing Xu Mu's words, Zuo Mingqiu recalled what had happened. He reached out, his hand trembling slightly, took the medicinal gruel, and swallowed it all down without regard for what it was.
Seeing this, Xu Mu smiled silently.
"Drink it. It will help you adapt faster."
Zuo Mingqiu closed his eyes and said nothing more.
Another two hours later.
He opened his eyes again. His complexion had recovered considerably. Enduring the faint throbbing pain in his head, Zuo Mingqiu stood up.
Xu Mu, having also woken up and feeling much better, stretched lazily and looked at Zuo Mingqiu, asking,
"All better?"
"Mostly," Zuo Mingqiu nodded. He stretched his body, his bones making cracking sounds, then concentrated on examining his sea of consciousness.
After a while, he let out a sigh.
"So this is the Lian Shan Yi. The inheritance itself is something I couldn't have borne on my own."
Zuo Mingqiu looked at Xu Mu and said earnestly,
"If you hadn't been by my side, I might have become an idiot."
"It's not that terrifying," Xu Mu waved his hand, looking a bit embarrassed. "Actually, the method I used to transfer it was flawed. If I had been more careful, you wouldn't have fainted."
"But I'm glad you're okay, otherwise, I would have become a sinner of the Daoist sect."
"Yes, I'm fine." Zuo Mingqiu nodded, took a deep breath, and a fiery light appeared in his eyes.
"Now, I just want to go back into seclusion and learn this innate eight trigrams."
Xu Mu teased, "Not working on your physical body anymore?"
Zuo Mingqiu's expression stiffened.
"One cannot have both."
After pondering, Zuo Mingqiu said seriously to Xu Mu, "I believe that since I could fight you to a draw using ordinary divination techniques, if I learn the innate eight trigrams, I will definitely be able to surpass you here."
Xu Mu clicked his tongue and nodded.
"Indeed."
"You are the Daozi of Heavenly Master Mountain, you have read the Three Thousand Daoist Canons, and the blood of the orthodox Daoist lineage flows in you. I'm just a fraud."
"My ability to withstand your Daoist techniques before was entirely due to the advantage of Lian Shan Yi. If you learn it, combined with those Three Thousand Daoist Canons, your strength will surely advance by leaps and bounds."
"By then, I will be able to defeat you and won't have to worry about my physical body anymore."
Zuo Mingqiu looked at Xu Mu and said earnestly.
"Not necessarily," Xu Mu chuckled.
"You know, the eight trigrams and the physical body are merely auxiliary. My main profession is a hunter."
As he spoke, Xu Mu patted the scabbard of his sword hanging at his waist, only a corner of which was visible, and smiled mysteriously.
"You haven't seen me at my full strength."
Zuo Mingqiu raised an eyebrow at this. Just as he was about to say something, he remembered the incident after the Ten Thousand Races Alliance ended, when the Golden Tent Royal Court came to provoke them.
He knew that in that battle, Xu Mu had not used his saber but a sword and arrows.
The sword was borrowed, but his fighting style was like a saber. He defeated the genius of the Royal Court named Ai Yan, who possessed the "Long March" ability.
Then, he defeated the young girl named Wulan. The entire battle process was extremely peculiar, but the final blow that decided the outcome was a bow.
That bow, he had not used when fighting Zuo Mingqiu, but he had used it when fighting Chen Changkong, and he used it again when fighting Wulan.
"I... am inferior to Chen Changkong and Wulan?"
After a long silence, Zuo Mingqiu asked.
Xu Mu didn't know how to answer and could only cough twice before saying earnestly,
"That's not entirely true."
"Chen Changkong had a very powerful sword, and that sword belonged to Yan Yu. Therefore, I had to use a more powerful bow to survive."
"As for Wulan... I've always thought that battle should have been my loss. It was also this bow that saved my life."
After Xu Mu finished speaking, the space fell into a brief silence.
Zuo Mingqiu nodded.
"I understand."
"Opportunity is also part of strength. I am inferior to you, and I am also inferior to them."
"But I believe that after learning the innate eight trigrams, regardless of whether it is you or them, regardless of whether you use your saber or not, I can win, because I am the Daozi of Heavenly Master Mountain." Zuo Mingqiu said seriously.
Hearing this, Xu Mu smiled from the bottom of his heart.
"I believe you."
"We'll spar again then."
Zuo Mingqiu nodded.
Xu Mu spoke again.
"I see that your head seems to have recovered."
Zuo Mingqiu blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"Are you planning to take advantage of my poor condition and defeat me again?"
"I don't need to pick a time when I'm in poor condition to defeat you."
Xu Mu waved his hand indifferently and asked calmly,
"I want to know the current situation of your Heavenly Master Mountain."
Zuo Mingqiu ignored Xu Mu's first sentence and asked blankly, "What do you mean?"
Xu Mu said earnestly.
"Your supporters, and your opponents."
"I've heard that the waters of Heavenly Master Mountain are very deep now. The attitude of the elders and true persons of the Five Peaks is unpredictable, and there are even rumors of assassination attempts being secretly organized."
"So that's what you're asking about." Zuo Mingqiu's eyebrows twitched slightly, then he sighed. "It's quite complicated."
"The Old Heavenly Master's time is short, and he remains in seclusion. The Sect Master True Person and the Grand Elders have more important matters to attend to and rarely have time to concern themselves with internal affairs."
" All matters within Heavenly Master Mountain are currently managed by the respective peak lords, so the current situation is very chaotic."
Xu Mu asked curiously, "How chaotic?"
Zuo Mingqiu shook his head.
"I don't know."
"The Five Peaks, a hundred elders, dozens of true persons, and countless teachers and disciples; no one can guess their thoughts."
"Some people publicly support me, but in reality, they secretly support Zhao Qingdong. Some people support Zhao Qingdong, but because I am the Daozi, they have secretly pledged their allegiance."
"And some people, thinking they can play the role of a fisherman, are secretly plotting, assassinating, forming alliances, and framing others, doing all sorts of wicked deeds, all to stir up chaos and profit from it."
"It's too chaotic, I can't see through it."
...