Wayfarer

Chapter 995: The World of the Heart

Stepping into the peach blossom hidden realm, Xiao Nanfeng, Madam Rouge, and Blue Lantern were immediately greeted with the sight of a towering peach tree that pierced heaven and earth. Its majestic form resisting a colossal Heaven's Hand descending from the sky.

Countless peach blossoms floated down, covering the skies and decorating the world in breathtaking beauty.

Suddenly, Xiao Nanfeng heard several peach blossoms chatting nearby.

"Madam Rouge is here again."

"Call her Her Majesty! Don't be rude. Do you want to die?"

The peach blossoms' chatter left Xiao Nanfeng and Blue Lantern dumbfounded.

Blue Lantern exclaimed in wonder, "Senior, are there souls sealed within these peach blossoms? No, wait—truesouls?"

"Ignore them. Go set up the formation," Madam Rouge replied brusquely.

"Understood." Blue Lantern nodded.

He began establishing a formation around the Heaven's Hand in the sky.

Xiao Nanfeng drew close to Madam Rouge. "The people you consumed over the years—are their truesouls preserved within these peach blossoms?"

"Did you really think I was some kind of ruthless demon? I did devour many souls to regain my strength in the past, but apart from the truly wicked, I always preserved their truesouls and granted them my cursed spiritual power. They'll be able to revive in the next era thanks to me," Madam Rouge replied.

"Looks like I misjudged you back then," Xiao Nanfeng said sheepishly.

Madam Rouge pouted. "You admit that you wronged me, then? Do you remember how you tormented me back then? The first time we met, you disassembled all my bones! And then you burned cheap incense and paper money for me every day. What did you take me for? Every time we met, you'd smash my bones. Who does that?"

"I didn't know any better at the time," Xiao Nanfeng said with an embarrassed smile.

"Hmph! I remember it all. After you absorb the Heaven's Hand here, I'll make sure we settle this properly." Lady Rouge gave him a fierce look.

Xiao Nanfeng: ...

Blue Lantern quickly set up the formation. With Madam Rouge's assistance, he was finished in no time.

"Your Majesty, it's ready," Blue Lantern reported.

"Good. Let's begin," Xiao Nanfeng said, nodding.

He sat cross-legged in meditation as Blue Lantern activated the formation. The projection of a massive bronze compass appeared above the Heaven's Hand. The dark clouds surrounding the Heaven's Hand crackled with lightning, radiating an aura of destruction.

Madam Rouge waved her hand, and the towering peach tree instantly vanished. The enormous Heaven's Hand seemed to sense Madam Rouge's presence and descended rapidly.

Just then, Xiao Nanfeng opened his mouth wide and, with the help of Blue Lantern's formation, swallowed the Heaven's Hand with a loud roar. The dark clouds were sucked into his mouth as well.

A bronze compass floated above Xiao Nanfeng's head as Madam Rouge pressed a hand to his back, helping him suppress the violent energy of the Heaven's Hand.

Xiao Nanfeng's body began to rumble.

Madam Rouge considered him thoughtfully. She didn't understand how it was that Xiao Nanfeng could absorb these Heaven's Hands. Wasn't he worried about the heavens' unique cursed spiritual power?

Since Xiao Nanfeng was unharmed, however, she trusted that he had a solution to that particular problem.

It took Xiao Nanfeng half a day to absorb that Heaven's Hand fully.

With a thunderous explosion, the energy with Xiao Nanfeng's body surged past a bottleneck. His tendons, bones, and muscles tolled as a fiery shockwave spread out from him in all directions.

"The fifth stage of the Boundless Immortal realm—it does work!" Madam Rouge's eyes lit up.

"Senior, might I ask why His Majesty has yet to awaken?" Blue Lantern began curiously.

"He's opening his Heartgate. Don't worry about it. You may leave. I alone will suffice."

"Understood." Blue Lantern nodded.

Madam Rouge waved a hand, opening a portal out of the hidden realm and allowing him to step out with his formation materials in tow.

Once he was gone, Madam Rouge shut the portal and sent the peach blossoms around her flying into the distance, allowing Xiao Nanfeng to meditate on his newfound insights in solitude. She waited patiently by his side.

Xiao Nanfeng could feel his cultivation advance, but also a growing disturbance close to his heart. Something was tearing. It didn't hurt; the sensation was mysterious and unique. He felt as if he had acquired a brand-new ability.

He focused on the sensation in his chest. Gradually, he saw a shimmering, seven-colored crack in his mind.

"This must be my Heartgate," Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

Concentrating all his energy on the seven-colored crack, he silently commanded, "Open!"

A massive force pulled at the crack, but it was shockingly sturdy and difficult to tear apart.

"Keep going! You've already located your Heartgate. As long as you can open it on your own, you'll gain complete mastery over it," Madam Rouge encouraged him.

"Again!" Xiao Nanfeng focused even more intently on the crack.

The seven-colored crack slowly began to widen, turning into an opening that grew larger and larger. Beads of sweat dripped down Xiao Nanfeng's forehead.

"How can this be?" Madam Rouge suddenly exclaimed, astonished.

"What's the issue? Isn't this normal?"

"No, no—open your eyes. Have a look!" Madam Rouge exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng slowly opened his eyes to see a golden portal materialize in the void before him.

"This is..." Xiao Nanfeng blinked, stunned.

"This is your Heartgate. But how can this be? Your world of the heart is already an independent realm in its own right," Madam Rouge exclaimed.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know what the world of the heart really is?"

"My mental world," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"Exactly—a world of your mind, a world that does not exist in reality, a world filled with imagination. Those who cultivate the heart slowly learn how to manifest this world in reality. It's impressive enough for novices to be able to create illusions that can mystify others, but your Heartgate was able to exist independent of your body from the very beginning. It's a sign of astonishing proficiency."

"Manifesting into reality?" Xiao Nanfeng murmured.

"Indeed. Under ordinary circumstances, newly opened Heartgates only permit spiritual access, but your Heartgate has materialized in reality. Doesn't that mean that your physical body can enter too?" Madam Rouge's eyes shone brightly.

"Ah, I'm not sure..." Xiao Nanfeng shook his head.

"Bring me in. Let's have a look," Madam Rouge said expectantly.

"Can I enter, too?" Xiao Nanfeng frowned uncertainly.

"Let's try it. I'm very curious myself."

Xiao Nanfeng nodded. He glanced at the golden portal before him with some trepidation before slowly extending his hand within. It passed through.

"It really works!" Madam Rouge exclaimed.

"Let's go!" Xiao Nanfeng said.

Hand in hand, he and Madam Rouge stepped through the golden Heartgate.

They found themselves in a realm filled with white fog. It was a large and expansive realm, seemingly boundless, with golden light filtering through the fog.

Standing in that realm, Xiao Nanfeng felt an inexplicable sense of unreality.

"Don't be nervous. This isn't your first time entering a world of the heart, and this one is even your own," Madam Rouge reassured him.

"It's not my first time?" Xiao Nanfeng frowned thoughtfully. "You mean that the red moon and purple moon illusory realms are all worlds of the heart?"

"Indeed. Worlds of the heart are constructed from heart force. The three Qing Grandmasters' worlds were created with an immense outpouring of heart force. Their accomplishments are so profound that even I can't fully fathom them."

"How do I control this world of mine?" Xiao Nanfeng asked. He frowned. "It seems like all I can do is open or close my Heartgate."

He glanced at the golden portal from which they had entered this world, then closed it with a thought.

"Exactly like that. Use your heart force to manipulate this world."

"My heart force?"

"The strength imbued in your heart. Everyone has access to heart force, though its potency differs. You used heart force to shut the portal into this world. You'll need to cultivate your heart slowly to strengthen your heart force. The more force you can manipulate, the more you can change your world. In the world of your heart, you can manifest your heart's desire," Madam Rouge explained.

"My heart's desire..."

"Exactly. Everything here relies on your imagination. If you want light, there shall be light. If you want mountains, oceans, any physical object, you can create it with your heart force. Of course, everything is limited by how much power you have access to. Since you've just opened your Heartgate, your heart force is limited, so—"

She suddenly stopped speaking, her eyes widening in shock.

Xiao Nanfeng had waved his hand and commanded, "Let the fog rise and form clouds."

The dense fog in his world of the heart surged upward, gathering into clouds high in the sky.

"Let there be light!" Xiao Nanfeng waved his hand again.

Golden light radiated from the clouds, illuminating the entire space.

"Let mountains rise up!" Xiao Nanfeng commanded once more.

The ground trembled as towering mountains erupted from the earth, spreading outward like a tide of soldiers, majestic and awe-inspiring.

"This—this is impossible! How are you doing this? You should barely have any heart force!"

"Is this the heart force you mentioned?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

He held up a golden sphere in his palm. Golden light shimmered within the sphere, which was filled with a mysterious and powerful energy.

"Heart force—but how?" Madam Rouge was still in shock.

Xiao Nanfeng glanced at the golden sphere, then smiled as a sudden thought struck him.

He used the heart force it contained to encapsulate them both. They whizzed toward a faraway spot where a towering golden tree, hundreds of meters tall, reached toward the sky. It was the golden sapling that had taken root in Xiao Nanfeng's heart, now grown and mature.

"This is my golden tree. When I opened my Heartgate, I connected to it. Its power is now mine to command, and the golden heart force you saw earlier was drawn from it," Xiao Nanfeng explained.

"A... golden tree?" Madam Rouge stared at it in astonishment.