novelraw Chapter 71 – Sixth Divine Gate
Chapter 71 – Sixth Divine Gate
Faced with Lu Yi's question, you felt a jolt of energy. You quickly expressed that you had seen it and had even found similar bronze book fragments on them. You also discovered the Five Gates of Heaven technique on a Golden Bones remnant. Finally, you asked Lu Yi about the origins of those Golden Bones remnants.
Lu Yi sighed and fell silent.
At this moment, the middle-aged man beside him took over the conversation, "The Golden Bones remnants you saw were all cultivators of the Five Gates of Heaven. In life, most of them were Heaven-Human powerhouses."
You were stunned.
Thinking it over, you found it extremely unreasonable. Once someone practices the Five Gates of Heaven, they cannot switch to another technique. If they don't reach Jade Bones, they will be stuck in the lower five realms for life. If those Golden Bones were Heaven-Human powerhouses, it would undoubtedly defy this common sense.
You pointed out this inconsistency...
The middle-aged man explained that those Heaven-Human powerhouses had all abolished their cultivation after reaching the Heaven-Human Realm to retrain in the Five Gates of Heaven. This was because, with the lifespan of a lower five realms martial artist, it was very difficult to succeed in this technique. Even with the aid of Death Qi from the Cursed Land, it was to no avail.
The difficulty of breaking through the fifth Heaven Gate is countless times higher than the fourth Death Gate. It requires venturing into the deepest part of the Cursed Land, where the concentration of Death Qi is unbearable for martial artists of the lower five realms. Even with the protection of a bronze book, success is unlikely.
Therefore, only by first reaching the Heaven-Human Realm, with a lifespan of five hundred years, abolishing one's cultivation, and preparing a vast amount of life-extending spiritual items, is there a slim hope of enduring the Death Qi in the deepest part of the Cursed Land, breaking through the fifth Heaven Gate, and forging the legendary Jade Bones...
Your heart grew even more puzzled.
Heaven-Human powerhouses are already at the pinnacle of the world. To abandon everything for the unattainable Jade Bones and practice a lower five realms technique seemed abnormal to you. You suspected the middle-aged man was deceiving you.
You voiced your doubts...
The middle-aged man did not answer but instead asked if you knew what lay on the other side of the Cursed Land.
You recounted what the traveling merchant had said...
The middle-aged man nodded and revealed an astonishing piece of news: after breaking through the fifth Heaven Gate, there is actually another gate called the Divine Gate. This gate is the true power of the Five Gates of Heaven. It allows cultivators to become immune to Death Qi, live a second life, cross the Cursed Land, and explore a potentially existing grand cultivation world on the other side.
You were utterly shocked upon hearing this.
You hurriedly asked about the miraculous properties of the sixth Divine Gate.
The middle-aged man asked if you knew about Jade Bones.
Recalling Li Ping's words, you replied, "Crystal clear as jade, eternal and unyielding, nurtured by the passage of time, it will be blessed by heaven and earth, gaining intelligence, and transforming into a kind of heavenly treasure..."
The middle-aged man sighed deeply, "It is said that the sixth Divine Gate can house one's soul, remaining eternal after death. When a cultivator's lifespan is exhausted, if the Jade Bones are placed in the Cursed Land, after countless years, nourished by Death Qi, they can transform into a kind of heavenly treasure immune to Death Qi. At that time, one can revive the soul before the Jade Bones gain intelligence, using heavenly materials as a foundation to live a second life."
At this, Chen Shi suddenly recalled the morning at the Martial Practice Field.
Li Ping had told him about the Great Wei Founding Emperor, rumored to be a Jade Bones. Before his death, his body mysteriously disappeared... Could it be that he also practiced the Five Gates of Heaven?
Was his body placed in the Cursed Land?
Thinking it over carefully, Chen Shi found it unlikely.
The Great Wei Founding Emperor was at least a Five Decays Heaven-Human. Under the maximum lifespan of five hundred years for a Heaven-Human, surviving multiple Five Decays Tribulations and living over five hundred years was already a miracle. If he had also abolished his cultivation and forged Jade Bones in the Cursed Land, his lifespan would have been severely diminished, making it impossible to live that long.
Unless he was in his second life, a resurrected one from the Cursed Land.
But this seemed implausible. Those who could master the Five Gates of Heaven were undoubtedly the most radical of radicals. Such people would abandon everything for that unseen, ethereal grand world, even disregarding their own lives. Their pursuit of the Dao was likely on par with a Sword Maniac.
If they truly lived a second life, they would have crossed the Cursed Land long ago. Even if there was nothing on the other side, a dead end, they could utilize their immunity to Death Qi to stay in the Cursed Land, cultivating to reach even higher realms.
It was unlikely they would stay in Great Wei to engage in a struggle for the throne.
The middle-aged man's words left your heart unsettled for a long time.
You didn't fully believe him...
You thought for a moment and asked, "I see that Master Lu and this senior both came from the Cursed Land and seem unafraid of Death Qi. Are you... also those who have lived a second life?"
This time, both fell silent.
They did not answer you.
Immediately, you recalled the woman's cries you heard in the Cursed Land in your previous life...
You asked again...
The two became even more silent, somewhat disinterested.
You felt you needed to seize the opportunity to ask questions they were willing to answer...
You thought of the Five Gates of Heaven.
Your intuition told you that the middle-aged man wouldn't speak without reason. In your previous life, he didn't waste words with you. This time, he revealed so much information, and you guessed it might be because you had opened the fourth Death Gate, or perhaps it was because of Lu Yi...
You asked, "Senior, does this mean I'll never be able to master the Five Gates of Heaven in this life? Will I be stuck in the lower five realms forever?"
The middle-aged man said, "Not necessarily. If you can find more bronze books, you might have a chance to break through the fifth Heaven Gate and reach the upper four realms."
You asked where to find the bronze books.
For the first time, the middle-aged man showed hesitation.
He glanced at Lu Yi, thought for a moment, and said he wasn't sure; it depended on personal fate.
Afterward.
You ended the conversation.
Your vision went dark.
Your memory was being altered...
Altering...
When you opened your eyes, you found that some secrets about the Five Gates of Heaven had inexplicably appeared in your mind... You couldn't remember who told you this, which left you extremely puzzled...
After a while.
A voice echoed in your mind, "In four years, come to the Cursed Land and break through the five gates..."
You were stunned.
You perked up your ears and stood still for a long time.
But that voice never appeared again, making you suspect you had imagined it.
...In the days that followed, you continued to wander near the village. However, to your confusion, you never saw the mysterious middle-aged man again.