Chapter 34
He raised his left hand, and at the tips of his fingers, a golden light began to pulse.
Not a bright, blinding light, but a dim, warm glow, like a candle flickering in a dark underground chamber.
"The Heavenly Longitude, Liu Xin, does not lie outside of you. It hides within. Between the Three Outer Star—Lower Star, Common Star, and Singular Star, the three foundations you have already surpassed—and the One Core Star, which is your current realm, the Supernatural Star."
Ling Xu held his breath, his eyes unblinking, because he could feel that every word leaving Huan Zheng's mouth was a map leading to something far greater than anything he had ever imagined—a map he would never find in ancient scriptures or from the whispers of merchants in taverns.
"Imagine, Liu Xin," Huan Zheng continued, and now both his hands were raised, his fingers moving to form patterns in the air—patterns invisible to the naked eye yet perceptible to Ling Xu's Qi, which had reached the peak of Supernatural Star.
An isosceles triangle with a single point at its center, like a constellation never recorded on any celestial map.
"The Three Outer Star—Lower, Common, Singular—have long formed an isosceles triangle within your cultivation longitude. They are the three pillars that support your foundation, the three corners that allow you to stand in this world even when storms strike from every direction. And the One Core Star—your current realm, the Supernatural Star—has long existed at the center of that triangle, becoming the gravitational core that prevents those three pillars from collapsing, the heart that pumps Qi into every corner of your body."
He pressed his chest, precisely where 9,999,999,999,999,999 Humanity Lintang coins pulsed gently, then continued in a voice that suddenly grew softer, more careful, like someone opening a treasure chest covered in dust for thousands of years.
"The Heavenly Longitude, Liu Xin, does not lie outside that triangle. It does not add a fourth corner, nor does it turn the triangle into a square or a circle. It is hidden. In between. In the gaps unseen by ordinary eyes, within the relationships between the Three Outer Star and One Core Star. It is like a shadow you never notice because it is too close to the light, like a breath you never feel because it is too close to your own life."
Ling Xu tightened his grip on his knees, feeling his chest constrict.
Not because of the Cancer plague, but because of the terrifying beauty of Huan Zheng's explanation—a beauty that made him understand why so few cultivators ever crossed this threshold, why most of them died at the Supernatural Star without ever seeing what lay hidden right before their eyes.
"Your task, Liu Xin," Huan Zheng continued, his voice now deeper, heavier, like someone reciting an ancient hymn known only to a handful across the universe, his fingers that once traced the triangle now moving slower, more carefully, as though mapping every corner of a sacred geometry invisible to ordinary sight, "is to find both the root and the foundation of your own Heavenly Longitude, which has been hidden behind the triangle of the Three Outer Star and the One Core Star. Not on the surface, not in the light, but in the darkest gaps, in the narrowest spaces, in the intervals between spaces you never realized existed because you were too focused on looking outward."
He pressed his chest again, at the place where 9,999,999,999,999,999 Humanity Lintang coins pulsed like an endless ocean, then looked at Ling Xu with eyes that suddenly shone.
Not with Qi, but with understanding—the light of a teacher who had walked this path himself and knew exactly where the traps lay and where the exit could be found.
"Because finding both the root and the foundation of the Heavenly Longitude, Liu Xin, is the only path for you to transform from a Supernatural Star cultivator into a Heavenly Longitude cultivator—specifically at the realm of Bright Sky First-Level. Without that root, without that foundation, you will only circle within the same triangle, like a spider trapped in the web it wove itself."
Fhhhh!!
"But it is not enough to simply find it, Liu Xin," Huan Zheng raised one index finger, and at its tip, a small point of light pulsed.
Not golden like the Humanity Lintang, but pale blue, like the color of the sky at the edge between dusk and night—a color Ling Xu had never seen before in his entire cultivation journey.
"After finding the root of the Heavenly Longitude hidden within that sacred triangle, you must gather its traces. Not a hundred, not two hundred, but 9,999 traces. Nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine."
Ling Xu trembled.
Not from shock, but because he could already feel how difficult that task would be—how each trace might be no larger than the tip of a hair, perhaps only a fleeting flicker at the edge of vision, perhaps only a vibration as subtle as dust falling upon the still surface of a lake.
And he would have to gather them all, one by one, without missing a single one, without mistaking which were real and which were illusions conjured by his own mind to mislead him.
"And this," Huan Zheng continued, his voice growing softer, more careful, like someone whispering a mantra meant only for the most trusted disciple, "must be done by you alone, Liu Xin. Not because I refuse to help—but because no one can help you. The traces of the Heavenly Longitude belong to you alone, born from your own journey, your own choices, your own wounds and laughter. I cannot see them. I cannot touch them. I can only wait here, guarding your body as it lies still, and hope that when you open your eyes, you will have become something more than merely human or Goddess—you will have become a Bright Sky First-Level cultivator."
Ling Xu clenched his hands, feeling his nails press deeply into his palms.
Not out of fear, but because he knew that tomorrow night, he would step into a gate he had never imagined before—and there was no guarantee he would return.
"And when you succeed in transforming, Liu Xin," Huan Zheng exhaled—a breath that felt like wind whispering through a silent valley, carrying the weight of decades as one of the three Wheels of Cultivation who had witnessed Heavenly Longitude cultivators move through this world, "your journey will not end at Bright Sky First-Level. The Heavenly Longitude has four realms, each defined by the number of Longitude within the cultivator."
He raised his palm, and upon it, four points of light began to appear.
Not all at once, but one by one, like stars being born in a dark night sky.
"First, Bright Sky, with 1 to 100 Longitude within you. This is the most basic level, the easiest, the most… shallow. Second, Luminous Lantern, with 243 to 524 Longitude. At this stage, you begin to feel how those Longitude whisper to one another, sharing stories of the journey you have walked."
To be continued…