The Well of Visions

The night sky was dotted with countless stars. Inside the small village, the great hall was brightly lit.

Xiao Chen strode forward quickly, stopping before the smooth mirror. As he watched the mountains and rivers flickering within, his heart was in turmoil—those were actually the lands of the Nine Provinces!

"How can this be? You..."

Xiao Chen stared in shock at the old woman and the dozen or so young people sitting around her.

The old woman's hands seemed to possess a strange power; the images appeared on the mirror's surface as she traced her fingers across it. She turned her head and looked at Xiao Chen with surprise. "Do you find these scenes familiar?"

"Of course I do. I know them very well." Xiao Chen's spiritual fluctuations were intense.

A young man beside him said, "That is the world our ancestors once lived in. It is magnificent—a world we dream of visiting someday."

"Longing to return to that sacred land, but after a thousand lifetimes, we cannot even see it," the other young people added, their voices filled with emotion and regret.

"Did your ancestors record these images?" Xiao Chen asked, his voice uncertain.

"Ha! These are not recorded images," a young man laughed. "This is the holy treasure refined by the Ancestral Goddess Nuwa herself. She sought to break through this world and return to the mortal realm. Though she failed, this treasure still has many wonderful uses. When infused with powerful divine energy, it can reveal scenes from that other world."

"They love to watch it. Every day they beg me to show them that world," the old woman said. She looked at Xiao Chen suspiciously. "I noticed your excitement just now. You seem deeply impressed by this world. Perhaps your previous life also lived on that sacred land."

"Deeply impressed? Of course I am. I truly come from that world."

Everyone in the hall was astonished. The old woman stared at him incredulously. "What… you have awakened memories of a past life?"

The other young people looked at him as if he were a monster.

"How is that possible?"

"It is said that even our ancestors, who reversed death and were reborn in this land of the dead, very few regained the memories of their past lives."

"I remember the past…" Xiao Chen's spiritual fluctuations were calm now, but filled with boundless emotion. Scenes from the past flashed before him. Though a thousand words swirled in his heart, he could not express them.

"Do you really come from that world?" The old woman and the others stood frozen like clay statues.

"Really…" Having endured countless hardships and now reduced to a skeleton, Xiao Chen's heart was filled with complex feelings, but he quickly calmed down.

Villagers filled with longing for the Nine Provinces kept asking Xiao Chen about that mysterious world.

By candlelight, he talked with the old woman and the others late into the night. He spoke of many things and learned a great deal from them.

The night grew deep. Xiao Chen returned to his room. It was the first time he had stayed in a human dwelling since arriving in the world of the dead. Seeing the bed and blankets, he stared blankly for a long time, feeling as if an age had passed.

The candle flame had been extinguished, but the divine fire in Xiao Chen's skull continued to leap and dance.

On the floor lay a crimson diamond skeleton. Within its cracked skull, the fire seed was pure and powerful, bright as the moon.

Xiao Chen sat in quiet meditation, striving to absorb and refine it. This was his path of evolution—advancing through death until one day he would reverse death itself.

Powerful fire seed transformed into rays of light, converging unceasingly into Xiao Chen's skull. A brilliant radiance illuminated the entire room.

His crystalline blue skeleton was slowly changing. The blue light gradually faded, replaced by a surging red hue. The nearly transparent bones became even more translucent, their colors dreamlike and entrancing, as the transformation advanced.

It took a full two hours for Xiao Chen to completely absorb the fire seed, which was a level higher than his own. Now the divine fire in his skull blazed brilliantly, and his bones seemed to have turned into resplendent crimson diamonds.

Crystalline and almost transparent, they sparkled with red radiance, perfectly crafted like an exquisite work of art. There was no flaw. It was a strange feeling—a skeleton—yet it drew the gaze irresistibly, the crimson diamond bones flowing with light.

Xiao Chen's power was now beyond doubt. He had completed a major transformation, greatly elevating his strength. He had become a crimson diamond powerhouse.

There was still half an hour till dawn. For the first time in years, Xiao Chen lay down on a soft bed. The fire seed gradually subsided into silence, and he entered a deep state of rest.

When Xiao Chen woke again, it was already full daylight. Little Tianya was sitting beside the bed, his big eyes blinking, resting his little chin on his hands as he gazed at the young skeleton.

"Skeleton sir, you are awake?" The child's voice was young. Back in the village, he no longer seemed as timid as a few days ago. Happily, he said, "Skeleton sir, come to the city with us today. The older brothers in the village are going into town to trade goods. It is fun there."

This was an innocent, lovely child, trapped in this world of death. Deprived of many of the joys that ordinary people should have, even a trip to the dead city to exchange goods excited him—it showed how monotonous his daily life was.

"I was planning to take a look," Xiao Chen said. From his conversation the night before, he had already gained a much deeper understanding of this world. In the towns and cities, fire seed creatures were not allowed to fight. There was an unwritten rule—any creature could go there to trade goods and items.

After leaving the village, they had already traveled over a dozen li in a short time. Xiao Chen was secretly surprised—even little Tianya could keep up. There were more than a dozen people, not counting Tianya. The youngest looked about fifteen or sixteen; the rest seemed around twenty. But this certainly was not their true age.

"I haven't been to the city in so long. I'm bored to death," little Tianya complained.

"I wonder what strange things we can trade for this time?"

"I hope I can get a spirit bone artifact."

"I want a jade dagger full of divine power."

There was also an elderly man over fifty in the group. In this world where the strong prey on the weak, even though there was an unwritten rule forbidding combat in towns, they still sent an elder along for safety whenever they traveled far.

The Spirit Clan had flesh, blood, breath, and could reproduce. But they were quite different from true humans. For instance, their bodies exuded a cold aura.

Every member of the Spirit Clan, right after birth, had to go through a period of deep slumber. This period lasted from several years to several decades, during which they remained in a state of infancy. They did not eat, move, or do anything, only drawing in the essence of heaven and earth automatically. Only upon awakening did they begin to grow. It was hard to comprehend.

Experience dictated that the longer a Spirit Clan member slumbered at birth, the greater their potential. Without a doubt, Tianya, who had slept over a hundred years, had immeasurable potential.

The nearest city was also five hundred li away. After leaving the oasis, they passed two ancient castles and crossed a stretch of desolate Gobi before arriving.

With a group of Spirit Clan members moving together, almost no fire seed creature dared to covet them, for the Spirit Clan was extremely powerful—they were the descendants of powerful beings who had evolved to the pinnacle of fire seed life and been reborn.

Over a dozen figures moved like the wind. Five hundred li was nothing to them. Before long, they had arrived.

Ahead, mist swirled. A city sat on the barren plains. It was not large, nor could it be called magnificent, but it gave off a faint, hidden pressure.

Tianya's childish voice said, "Grandpa Li Mu, when will we go to a bigger city? I have already been to this little city over a dozen times."

"You little rascal, always thinking about fun." The old man in the group tapped Tianya's forehead; though his tone was scolding, his affection was obvious. He added, "The deeper you go into the continent, the larger the cities, but the dangers also grow. There are terrifying sovereigns within. Unless absolutely necessary, it is best not go there for a lifetime."

"But… haven't some seniors gone deep into the continent?" Tianya blinked his big eyes, looking very eager.

The young people around chuckled. One of them said, "Little imp, wait until you grow up. Those seniors had already reached incredibly high realms before they dared to explore."

"That is right. When you can beat Grandpa Li Mu, then we will talk," another young man said, laughing as he rubbed Tianya's head.

"Roar…" Just then, a terrifying roar sounded from deep within the continent.

Old Li Mu nodded. "Hear that? Even I might not be able to defeat the being that made that sound. And that area is not even the deepest part of the continent."

The city was obviously ancient, its walls built from reddish-brown boulders, weathered by centuries of time.

At the city gate, powerful fire seed creatures were stationed, arranged much like the guards in human cities.

The gate guards were all humanoid white skeletons with divine fire flickering in their skulls. They did not block the path at all, clearly acquainted with these Spirit Clan members. They even respectfully greeted Li Mu.

"Lord Li, here to trade treasures again…"

Xiao Chen was somewhat surprised. The fire seed creatures here were quite different from those in the remote areas; they even knew how to greet people and build rapport.

"Bored staying at home, so I came out for a walk," Li Mu replied.

The fire seed creatures within the city were numerous. Generally speaking, they were not weak—they feared sunlight, and their fire seeds were strong.

Beings with colored diamond skeletons like Xiao Chen were not unheard of, but they were rare. Occasionally, one could spot a blue diamond or red diamond skeleton among the white bones. It was said that such colored diamond fire seed creatures could undergo ultimate evolution—their fire seeds were kings among kings, and their future achievements would be limitless.

Xiao Chen could clearly feel the fervent gazes of the surrounding fire seed creatures fixed on him, naked and undisguised, as if they were looking at a delicious meal. If not for the unwritten rule, they would have already tried to seize this body.

The market within the city was spacious. Most traded items were fire seeds—after all, this was a city of the dead; only such goods were most needed.

Of course, there were plenty of other items as well, such as jade, weapons, and spirit herbs.

"Wow! Vermillion fruit!" Tianya stopped before a stall; the little fellow could not help swallowing his saliva.

The seller was a human-torso, tiger-bodied white skeleton with a bright fire seed in its skull, only two levels weaker than Xiao Chen.

"Little brother, want to eat? But you will need to trade with a powerful fire seed."

Li Mu walked over and was immediately recognized by the tiger-bodied fire seed creature. "So it is Lord Li Mu. Is this your descendant? I will give this vermillion fruit to the child."

The villagers seemed to all adore little Tianya. Li Mu smiled. "We brought some colored diamond bones this time. Next time, I will give you a fire seed that can help you advance."

"Thank you, thank you!" the fire seed creature said repeatedly.

If not gifted by nature, advancing required killing at least thirty fire seed creatures of the same level. Who, unless they had a colored diamond body and the like, could win thirty consecutive battles?

Tianya happily took the vermillion fruit. Meanwhile, the young people were examining weapons, most of which were bone artifacts, some polished from jade, some forged from meteorite iron.

Xiao Chen also looked around and noticed that some bone artifacts were incredibly hard, as if they had been refined, gleaming with luster. He crouched to inspect them and found blue diamond short swords, red diamond bone knives, and similar items.

Li Mu, leading Tianya who was happily eating, came over. He picked up a snow-white jade-like bone knife and said, "This seems to be a bone knife used by a powerful being in life. Though it is white bone, after refinement, it contains considerable strength."

He wanted to buy the knife for Xiao Chen, but Xiao Chen shook his head and politely declined.

Just then, several young people called out to Li Mu from not far away. "Grandpa Li, we have taken a liking to this dagger."

Xiao Chen followed Li Mu over and was surprised to find that it was a purple diamond bone dagger. It was the color of purple, brilliant and luminous like amethyst. Though only about a handspan long, it was beautiful and exceptionally hard.

"It is indeed a fine item." Li Mu nodded, then turned to ask Xiao Chen, "What do you think?" He clearly wanted to use this to repay Xiao Chen.

But Xiao Chen truly did not need such a weapon and shook his head again.

Li Mu traced his hand, opening his personal dimensional space, and took out half a blue diamond skeleton, glowing with blue light.

"Lord Li, this is a rare purple diamond bone dagger. Trading for half a blue diamond skeleton—I would be losing out," the seller said.

"Not at all. This is not just a weapon material. You could use that half blue diamond skeleton to replace your upper body. Your combat strength would multiply. Who knows—you might even evolve into a complete blue diamond skeleton."

"Alright, deal," the seller agreed.

The young people were all fond of weapons, but their standards were also high as they searched through each weapon stall.

Xiao Chen excused himself from Li Mu and said he wanted to look around the city on his own. Li Mu hesitated slightly, then nodded and told him to gather back here before dark.

The market was vast. Xiao Chen wandered around and found that there were indeed many fine things here. For example, there were even fire seeds at his own level. Of course, such powerful seeds needed to be absorbed in a specific place.

He also noticed the life source fluid that the Spirit Clan so hated was being traded, though such rare goods were exchanged in secret.

"Skeleton sir…" The childish Tianya had somehow run over to Xiao Chen and said, looking mysterious, "I will take you to a wonderful place."

Looking at this lively little fellow, Xiao Chen had no reason to refuse. He followed the boy out of the market and toward the western district of the city.

The western district was desolate, with almost no fire seed creatures around.

"Grandmother said that ages ago, a world-shaking powerful fire seed creature appeared in this area. They say it reached the sovereign level and could command the entire world. Even the masters of the great cities deep within the continent did not dare to provoke it. But later, no one knows why, that sovereign was destroyed. Its entire kingdom collapsed with it. This small city was built atop the ruins of that sovereign's capital…"

Listening to Tianya's story, Xiao Chen was greatly astonished.

There were many strange things in these ruins. In particular, the western district of this small city had experienced many eerie events. Originally, this was the site of the city lord's mansion, but several consecutive city lords had died mysteriously.

Ever since then, the city lord's mansion built in the western district became forbidden ground.

Tianya was very curious, but every time he visited this city, he was strictly supervised and never got a chance to see the forbidden area. Today, he had found an opportunity to sneak away and brought Xiao Chen here.

By the time the little fellow finished speaking, Xiao Chen had already entered the so-called city lord's mansion. He wanted to turn back but felt that maybe it was not that eerie.

This was an ancient complex of magnificent buildings, utterly silent. The two of them moved like ghosts through the grounds.

Just then, Xiao Chen felt a mysterious power calling to him. Involuntarily, he began to walk forward.

It turned out to be an ancient well. The well water was cyan-green, which looked frightening and made little Tianya afraid.

But Xiao Chen felt a sense of familiarity. Vaguely, he sensed an aura that did not belong to this world—it was the Nine Provinces!

Unable to help himself, he leaned over the edge and looked down.

Suddenly, a strange and terrifying power erupted, leaving Xiao Chen unable to resist. With a splash, he fell into the ancient well.

"Skeleton sir!" little Tianya screamed.

In the well water, Xiao Chen kept sinking. But in that instant, he suddenly saw the scenery of the Nine Provinces!