Or perhaps everything began in chaos, and everything ended returning to chaos.
The soul seemed frozen solid, every thought sluggish, difficult, heavy.
Jiang Wang forgot many things.
Gradually, he could no longer recall where he was, why he had come, or where he intended to go.
His heart felt heavy. He wanted to slow down, to slow further still... to fall asleep.
He was exhausted. He had been like a taut string, never slackening for a moment.
He could no longer hold on.
He wanted to collapse, to abandon everything, just to fall like this.
Yet, for some reason, a faint resistance lingered in his heart.
*What am I resisting?*
He struggled to think.
"Brother, are we still going home?"
"We... have no home left."
"Then what about Brother Ru Cheng, Brother Ling He, Brother A Zhan, Senior Brother Tang Dun, Master... do they still have one?"
"Brother doesn't know. Perhaps they also escaped, just in a different direction from us."
"Oh. Then we can go find them."
"This world is too vast. Once separated, it may be impossible to find them ever again."
"Then when I grow up, I'll go with you to find them."
"...Alright."
"Brother?"
"Brother is here."
*Brother is here.*
*Brother will take you to find them.*
If the divine soul was already a pitch-black void, then in its deepest depths, a single, undying flame whispered softly.
The flame was faint.
"Brother is here."
"Brother will take you."
The flame flickered, struggled, swayed precariously.
It seemed it might extinguish at any moment, yet astonishingly, it continued to burn.
This was the initial spark.
An iron will, a steadfast perseverance.
No one before him, nothing behind him. Supporting himself, burning on despite being on the verge of collapse, yet never falling.
Burning, burning...
"If it weren't for Young Master Jiang, how would we have survived?"
"I will never forget Master Jiang Wang's great kindness."
"I pray to the heavens that Young Master Jiang stays in Green Ram Town forever."
"By the Dao Sovereign's grace, this humble believer prays for Master Jiang, that he may attain eternal life and eternal blessings."
...
Voices came from somewhere, echoing through this world.
Or perhaps they had always existed, only becoming so clear within the mirror world of the Crimson Adornment Mirror.
Their forms of address varied, but all drifted to Jiang Wang's ears.
A child's voice prayed thus—
"Jiang Bodhisattva, I wish you good health." (1)
At first, this world was pitch-black, then came fire, and with fire came light.
Fire was the beginning of life.
Humans used fire to cook food, to drive away cold, to illuminate the night.
Countless blessings were countless lights.
The tiny flame in the depths of Jiang Wang's soul seemed to slowly grow stronger, finally ceasing to be on the verge of extinguishing.
An'an, An'an.
Jiang Wang's thoughts began to turn with difficulty.
Gradually, his five senses revived.
Finally, a voice echoed in his heart—
"The master of the Blessed Land of the Spring Origin has been determined to accept the challenge. Will you accept?"
Jiang Wang's mind suddenly cleared—it was already the fifteenth of July, the day of the Illusory Void Realm's Blessed Land challenge again.
They say a thought moves faster than sound or lightning.
Yet Jiang Wang expended every ounce of effort to finally turn this thought—"Accept!"
The cold, ubiquitous Astral Yin Power instantly enveloped him, his divine soul directly pulled into the Illusory Void Realm, appearing before his opponent in this Blessed Land challenge.
The divine soul relaxed!
All the cold, stiffness, sluggishness, numbness—vanished completely.
Only after losing it did he realize how free and beautiful the soul's natural state truly was!
Jiang Wang didn't even have time to see his opponent clearly, only hurriedly saying: "Thank you!"
He then immediately admitted defeat and left the Illusory Void Realm, leaving his opponent there in stunned bewilderment.
The divine soul, restored to its peak state, reappeared in the snowy plain world of the Crimson Adornment Mirror. Within the soul, the Nine Great Star River Revolutions turned in unison, as if an inexhaustible power began to surge.
Jiang Wang opened his eyes and shot upward from beneath the thick snow!
Only to see, beneath his feet the snow lay white and vast, the sky a clear, washed blue—the snow had stopped!
**[Flying Snow Tribulation Cleared]**
That voice, cold as a frost-bladed knife, seemed to sigh.
**[Youth Unfaded]**
Starting from beneath Jiang Wang's feet, the vast snow receded in stages, the frozen earth thawed, spring winds arose, green grass sprouted, swaying with joy.
Jiang Wang's divine soul turned, returning to his physical body in the real world.
Before he could adapt to a body that had been stiff for so long, he fell into a dazed state.
As if something was lost, as if something was gained.
From the end of June when he entered the Crimson Adornment Mirror, to the fifteenth of July, he had endured twenty full days in the Flying Snow Tribulation!
Twenty days and nights.
If not for his astonishing willpower and perseverance, with his current strength, the flame of his soul would likely have long since extinguished in the Flying Snow Tribulation.
If not for the collective wishes of the tens of thousands of people throughout the entire Green Ram Town region—where the will of the populace converged, those sparks that could perhaps be called "blessings" or "merit" nourishing and supporting his divine soul, he could not have persisted for so long.
Only in the end did he wait for the day of the Illusory Void Realm's Blessed Land challenge, waited for the mysterious and unfathomable Illusory Void Realm to issue its invitation to accept the challenge.
Every sip, every bite—all was the harvest of one's actions, the result of one's pursuits.
Jiang Wang felt a moment of melancholic loss before he began to move his body.
Fortunately, the Nine Great Star River Revolutions had been turning continuously, and the Star-Entwining Spirit Serpent had not rested. And that which he truly cared about most—the black candle—had remained honestly in place during this time, without moving.
Jiang Wang instantly regained control of his body. He stepped down from the bed, his bones letting out a crack. By the second step, his body had already adapted.
Bam!
Xiang Qian burst through the door.
Seeing Jiang Wang standing before the bed, he merely blinked his dead-fish eyes and said impassively: "Still alive, I see."
Then he turned and left.
The fierce sword energy that erupted the instant he broke through the door left even Jiang Wang stunned. He had always held high expectations for Xiang Qian, but now he realized he had still underestimated this person.
He twisted his neck, grinned, and said: "My destination is not here."
After learning of Jiang Wang's awakening, Dugu Xiao, Zhu Biqiong, and Zhang Hai came one after another to greet him. Jiang Wang spoke with them, gained a rough understanding of the town's affairs during this period, then locked himself in his room once more.
Since the Flying Snow Tribulation was a trial, then after the trial there should surely be rewards.
But the Crimson Adornment Mirror offered no hints, so Jiang Wang could only explore on his own.
He entered the Crimson Adornment Mirror with his physical body again and discovered that the mirror world had indeed expanded—it was now a circle with a five-pace radius. Beyond the circle remained an indistinct, impassable white expanse, while within the circle he could move freely.
The Crimson Adornment Mirror's detection range had also expanded to its limit of five li. The mirror images created by the Crimson Adornment Mirror could also appear within this range.
It was evident that the Crimson Adornment Mirror's detection range was directly proportional to the physical body's occupied space in the mirror world. Roughly one pace equaled one li.
He imagined that entering the Crimson Adornment Mirror with his divine soul again would yield different circumstances—but he dared not attempt it again, fearing that entering would bring another tribulation.
This was the importance of a master from a prestigious lineage. They could guide one in the correct direction on the path of cultivation, inform disciples of the taboos and dangers of certain artifacts, greatly minimizing the chance of cultivators blindly seeking their own deaths.
Now, saying such things was pointless.
Jiang Wang had not forgotten his original purpose for entering the mirror world of the Crimson Adornment Mirror.
The Crimson Adornment Mirror's effects had strengthened, but the result seemed unchanged—it still appeared to be of no help.
But Jiang Wang felt that the changes brought by the Flying Snow Tribulation were not so simple.
Or perhaps the rewards after the Flying Snow Tribulation were not limited to the Crimson Adornment Mirror alone.
So.
He examined himself.
Having spent twenty days in the real world, and in the mirror's snowy plain world—where time stretched beyond count—what had the Flying Snow Tribulation brought him?
...
...
Note (1): The original line comes from the modern poem "The First Prayer," "Bodhisattva, I wish you good health."