Qing Zhangru stared at Ningzhu with a look that could mean nothing else than that he had seen through the bird’s lies.
"Are you going to let us know what is happening or not?" he asked. "Anyone with half a brain can tell that’s no group of cultivators. It’s just one person."
There was a group gathered outside the Vermilion Bird Palace, beasts that wanted to know what was happening inside.
"One person who just learned five Daos and is on the way to learning their sixth one," Xuan Lingkai said, the snake half of the Black Tortoise, sent by her Matriarch.
"Brother Zhangru, if they do not want to say who it is, then let them," Bai Fulin said. "It’s their right, after all."
"It’s not that simple," Qing Zhangru said. "They’re learning a Spatial Dao right now, one that is difficult even for me to understand. If there is such a being inside the Vermilion Bird Palace who can learn it, then it stands to reason that they might have a strong Azure Dragon bloodline. If that is the case, then I need to know."
Ningzhu didn’t budge. "Multiple of our young cultivators gathered to learn it, Brother Zhangru. I don’t know what else you want me to say."
"To start with, the truth would be nice," Zhangru said. "You’re not fooling anyone with you—"
Zhangru stopped halfway through, his senses keenly focused on what had just happened.
"A sixth Dao," Lingkai said with some surprise. "I shouldn’t be surprised, and yet I still am. This one was weird, though."
"It was," Bai Fulin said. She knew what was happening inside, even though Ningzhu hadn’t answered her. She was thankful that he didn’t say anything.
"That was a breakthrough, right, seniors?" a beast asked.
It was a large butterfly, with multicolored wings folded before its insect body. It belonged to the royal family of the First Insect Island, the continent directly south of the Black and White Continent.
The Radiant Butterflies ruled over that land as its kings and queens and were treated with quite a great deal of respect from even the four great families.
It was said that the Radiant Butterflies had the Roc’s bloodline, just as potent as the Azure Dragons.
"An Immortal breakthrough," another beast said, this time a centipede from the Ten-Thousand Legs Clan. The Ten-Thousand Legged Centipedes were the rulers of the Second Insect Island, their bloodline carrying the essence of the Thousand Miles Horse, the primordial horse that was said to have a thousand legs, each a mile apart.
There were also two snakes from Venomforth Island and a scorpion from Poison Wave Island. But they had less to say in front of such a group, so they generally remained quiet.
"See?" Zhangru said. "Even they can tell you’re lying. That is no group of youngsters learning Dao. That is clearly an Immortal who has broken through."
Ningzhu sighed. "It is a group," he continued saying, even though everyone could tell it was a lie.
Zhangru scowled at him openly. He placed his focus back on the one who had just learned the new Dao.
’A breakthrough with Spatial Daos? Is it really not someone who has the Azure Dragon’s bloodline?’ he wondered.
But if they had the Azure Dragon’s bloodline, the being would’ve e forth already. Zhangru was sure of that.
’Maybe he did,’ Zhangru thought, thinking back to the White Tiger that they said was born of an Azure Dragon. ’His cultivation base was at Immortal Origin ninth realm, wasn’t it?’
Qing Zhangru thought he understood what was happening. Maybe he should go and let the Patriarch know about this.
* * * * *
"That makes it the sixth," Scarlet’s mother said. "Not only that, he also just broke through. He is now at the Immortal Transcendent first realm."
"That’s great!" Scarlet said, half genuine, half self-deprecating. "Our gap will only continue to increase."
Xianhei looked at what her daughter held. "You should eat it now," she said.
Scarlet stared at the Second Chance Pill. This was her second chance. "Well, looks like he’s at the end, so I might as well."
Without any further deliberation, she placed the pill into her mouth and swallowed.
* * * * *
"Incredible!" the Vermilion Bird Matriarch said. "Not only did he learn six Daos, he also broke through. I’ve never seen talent like this."
"It’s slowing down," Kangli said. "Is he done?"
"Maybe," the Matriarch said. "But the Worldly Laws aren’t leaving just yet. Perhaps... he can learn more?"
* * * * *
Alex felt the mysteries within the remaining Worldly Laws. They were much weaker than before, no longer creating the same phenomenon as they had. But there was still something there.
A Space Dao, from what he could tell.
Alex didn’t even know what Dao it was, but he had learned enough Space Daos by now that their bined understanding was opening the gate for another one.
Alex picked through the threads of this Dao, unraveling the shawl it hid behind. The more he picked at it, the more he learned. And the more he learned, the stronger the Worldly Laws became again.
"Space isn’t stationary," Alex thought, slowly realizing something. "It’s like a river, constantly flowing."
He peeked into more of its mysteries.
"They are more solid around locations with mass, gravity. They bee glacial. The distances within that region remain mostly the same. However, outside of them, as time goes on, the locations drift further and further apart."
Alex sought for more.
"But no, this world is not a river," he realized. "It’s a pond, with an island at the center. The water within the pond still flows, but locations can only grow so far apart in the same pond."
It became easier to understand now. It became easier to sense it, too.
"The flowing space. I can sense it," he thought. "I can understand its movement. I know its direction."
Alex found himself smiling. "I can tell how far I’ve drifted away. I can tell how much closer I’ve gotten to something."
The Dao finally settled upon Alex. The seventh and final one.
The Dao of Spatial Awareness.
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