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Novel: [Night Without Borders]
Chapter 72: [Almost Coming Back from the Dead]
Author: [Chen Dong]
Translator: [Shadow Knight AK]
Editor: [Shadow Knight AK]
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During this season, the Earthly Glow steamed upward, and a radiant rain scattered across the wilderness.
The dark, brooding clouds above were now visible, and the first rumble of Spring Thunder echoed in the distance, accompanied by faint flashes of lightning.
With a whoosh, a large group of people—men and women alike—rushed into the Thunder Fire Alchemy Hall, their faces etched with anxiety.
"What's the rush?" Old Zhao, the seventy-two-year-old who had vowed to risk his life in the Thunder Fire Alchemy Hall this year at the Drunken Cloud Pavilion, hoping for a withered tree to bloom again, had indeed arrived.
"The Spring Thunder has only just begun. There is still some time before the real 'Thunder Tribulation'. How the celestial phenomena unfold depends on the Earthlight."
"You young ones are too inexperienced," he continued. "You rarely visit the Fire Fields, observe the Earthly Glow, or discern the changing seasons. Though the radiant rain from the Fire Springs slumbering beneath the earth has already stirred the heavens, it still lacks the necessary intensity."
A group of elders approached, all wearing their burial shrouds in advance, casting a pall over the Thunder Fire Alchemy Hall and unsettling the younger, able-bodied men present.
"Don't fret," Old Zhao reassured them. "We'll have to wait anyway. You still have time to write your wills, enjoy a final meal and drink, and ponder whether you truly wish to die."
Led by Old Zhao, the dozen or so elders, clad in their burial shrouds and adorned with fine jade, carried their most cherished possessions, preparing to "take them along."
"Are you planning to cremate yourselves in the Thunder Fire Alchemy Hall?" a burly man with a stubbled face asked, his temper flaring at what he perceived as a slight.
"Young man, are you getting impatient?" Old Zhao chuckled. "I, this old man, mean no harm. Based on past experience, if even one of us survives a few years, we'll be lucky. I reckon we're destined to keep each other company on the Road to the Underworld, so let's get acquainted and build some camaraderie beforehand."
The group of young and middle-aged men stared blankly at him. Though his words stung, they knew he spoke the truth.
"If I'd known, I would have worn my finest clothes and jewelry too," a young man sighed. "At least I won't have deprived myself."
Just then, an elderly man with nearly toothless gums called out to someone outside the hall, "Has my coffin of precious nanmu wood arrived yet?"
The young and middle-aged men in the Thunder Fire Alchemy Hall fell silent.
These old-timers had probably already arranged their burial goods and gravesites.
"Don't be strangers, everyone! Come, let's share some wine and food. We're 'death companions' now—all family here," another elder urged, already instructing servants to bring in fine wines and delicacies.
The younger group remained quiet, feeling far less composed than these old men.
These elders seemed to view life as a grand dream, preparing to depart with serenity and embrace the end of their earthly existence with equanimity.
"You've even prepared your burial shrouds and coffins. Knowing there's little hope, why come here to suffer? Wouldn't it be better to avoid being struck by lightning and keep your bodies intact?"
"How would we know if we didn't try? What if we succeed? In this world, nothing is certain. Who doesn't want to be the one?"
The group settled down, and after a careful count, they numbered sixty-nine—roughly the same as previous years.
The dying companions relaxed, men and women, young and old, began eating and drinking, some even reminiscing about their past lives.
Qin Ming kept glancing toward the Golden Hall's entrance. Where was the corpse collector Xu Sheng had arranged?
"Don't let him mess this up," he thought, feeling increasingly uneasy.
"Young man, you look so young. Why risk your life so early?" an elderly man asked.
At that moment, Qin Ming's long black hair hung loose, obscuring most of his face, and his face was smudged with dirt. Yet the old man could still sense his youth.
Qin Ming sighed. "I have no choice. A millennia-old Giant Beast watches me coldly from afar, its intentions unknown. If I don't quickly elevate my life's essence, I'll lose control of my fate."
Since they were all about to be separated by life and death, he figured it didn't matter what he said now.
"Young man, you're only fifteen or sixteen, aren't you? Even younger than the rest of us. What brings you here?" Old Zhao asked a wooden-faced youth beside him.
The boy, named Qian Cheng, replied blankly, "They called me stupid, always bullying, beating, and forcing me to work for them. I didn't want to be kicked around or slapped anymore. Since my grandmother died and I'm all alone now, I came here to take my chances."
"This... Ah, child, you should leave. Come to my home; I'll give you a job feeding the horses," Old Zhao offered.
"No. Pity from others always fades with time," Qian Cheng said, his wooden expression unchanged.
Qin Ming was surprised, realizing the boy wasn't as simple as he seemed.
"The Spring Thunder has already rumbled. Why hasn't it struck yet? This is torture!" a burly man with tattoos on his face, looking like a prisoner, growled.
Noticing the strange looks he was getting, he added, "Don't stare. I'm a condemned prisoners, sent here to take the lightning. If I survive, I'll be spared execution."
"This is a human sacrifice... A lightning-attracting body!" an old man muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?" the burly man asked.
"Nobles have been doing this for years. They send condemned prisoners here, hoping to preserve a sliver of Heavenly Light. Afterward, they feed the corpses to mutated creatures."
"Not all of them are fed to mutant creatures. The ones with strong teeth and enough vigor might even eat the them themselves."
Upon hearing these words, the fierce man's composure crumbled. He collapsed to the ground, realizing that waiting for execution would have been preferable.
Now, he faced a far worse fate: first being struck by lightning, then either being fed to mutant creatures or ending up in the belly of an Old Noble. It was a truly miserable prospect.
"No! I can't do this! I want to leave the Thunder Fire Alchemy Hall!" he shouted, leaping to his feet.
"What are you yelling about? Your family already accepted the money, and your son is enrolled in school. Are you trying to back out now?" a voice called from the distance as someone approached.
The man slumped back down, silent and motionless.
Clearly, he wasn't alone.
A dozen others in the Thunder Fire Alchemy Hall shared his deathly pallor, all having been sent here by nobles or wealthy patrons.
After eating his fill, Qin Ming returned to the black sea of emotions to search for treasures. Even if he found nothing, he realized that these "stormy waves" were excellent for training his mental fortitude.
"Hmm?" Once he stopped caring and began treating this resonance as a form of cultivation, an unexpected event occurred: he encountered an exceptionally powerful surge of energy.
In the pitch-black sea of emotions, a young man roared in fury, his entire body radiating a faint silver glow.
"I refuse to accept this! I survived two Spring Thunders, and I'm even stronger in my third year! How can I die here? Why is the Otherworldly Heavenly Light accompanying this Thunder Fire so intense?!"
In the scene unfolding before him, the young man's hair stood on end as he channeled a peculiar technique to resist the Heavenly Light's corrosive power.
Around him lay a battlefield of corpses, some charred black, others crimson red.
Some bodies had been torn apart by the Heavenly Light, creating a scene that resembled a corner of hell.
"If only I had mastered Thunder Force instead of just Explosive Force... I hate myself! The Sect's Supreme Secret Technique was about to be revealed to me, but I rushed my breakthrough, recklessly advancing and destroying my own brilliant future."
These were his final thoughts, moments before he became completely paralyzed, unable to escape.
The young man regretted his actions and blamed himself, but in his final moments, he cast aside his negative emotions.
Every pore on his body erupted with arc-like Explosive Force, channeling all his remaining strength to resist the Heavenly Light.
"I'll endure this!"
Then he exploded, dying a gruesome death.
Qin Ming felt as if he were experiencing it firsthand, his hair standing on end.
It was far too bloody and tragic.
Afterward, he began practicing the Explosive Force within the Golden Hall. This technique was incredibly powerful, capable of evolving into the renowned Thunder Force.
Qin Ming was astonished to discover that the Explosive Force was actually a composite technique, fusing several types of Heavenly Light Force. Its destructive power was immense; when unleashed within a Giant Beast's body, it would shatter flesh and bone in a massive, bloody explosion.
"Xiao Qin, there's still time to back out," Xu Sheng said, arriving in obvious disguise, his appearance completely different from his usual self.
He had brought along the corpse collector who had nearly overslept.
Qin Ming shook his head, quietly explaining that he had never felt better, having mastered the Sun Family's Hammer Force and Whip Force.
He had already confided in Xu Sheng about his plan, after all, he needed the corpse collector to drag him out of the Golden Hall immediately after withstanding and absorbing the four Thunder Tribulation and four Heavenly Lights, regardless of whether he was alive or dead.
Distant rumbles of Spring Thunder echoed in the distance.
Two more days passed before the first true lightning began to crackle across the sky.
A light rain drizzled down, and the Earthly Glow shimmered across the land, bathing the world in a radiant, almost daylight-like brilliance.
Many people had gathered on Chi Xia Mountain, all aware that this time of year, after the Spring Thunder erupted, individuals would line up to meet their deaths here.
Many people rushed to witness this "spectacle," mostly out of curiosity, though some nobles were waiting for their "Thunder-attracting Body" to be carried out.
The Mountain God Temple was once again packed, everyone's eyes fixed on the lightning crackling above Chi Xia Mountain.
Finally, the Spring Thunder descended, detonating above the Thunder Fire Alchemy Hall.
Lightning arcs danced across the gleaming metal tiles, blindingly bright, while balls of Thunder fire rolled across the roof, creating a terrifying sight.
The most terrifying was the Otherworldly Heavenly Light that accompanied the lightning. Its blinding radiance pierced through the hall's structure, burrowing deep into the mountain itself.
The Thunder Fire Alchemy Hall, though meticulously constructed to conduct and dissipate lightning, proved ill-equipped to withstand the Heavenly Light.
As the Heavenly Light and Thunder Fire converged, they birthed an incredibly rare spiritual substance, which was swept into the Golden Hall.
Qin Ming witnessed firsthand the aftermath of the first wave of Thunder Fire Heavenly Light.
Half the people had already fallen.
Some lay motionless, their faces blackened, while others were flushed crimson, as if cooked through.
Qin Ming felt a chill.
He could indeed sense the Heavenly Light's ferocity. As it entered his body, it felt like boiling water coursing through his veins, threatening to boil him alive.
With a deafening roar, the second wave of Heavenly Light crashed down.
Few remained standing in the Golden Hall.
Qin Ming saw Old Zhao, the seventy-two-year-old, explode.
When the third wave of Heavenly Light descended, Qin Ming felt excruciating pain throughout his body.
He collapsed to the ground, wanting to appear no different from the others, since everyone else had fallen.
Besides, the ground could still absorb the Heavenly Light and spiritual substance.
Far outside, people were already pulling on ropes, their cries echoing through the air.
They knew their loved ones inside the Golden Hall hadn't survived.
As the fourth wave of Heavenly Light struck, the Golden Hall transformed into a hellish inferno.
Some corpses that hadn't been dragged out in time were torn apart by the light.
Near Qin Ming, Old Zhao's severed leg lay horizontally, along with the arm of another elder.
Their tattered burial shrouds were burned beyond recognition.
The Otherworldly Heavenly Light was indeed terrifying, posing a threat even to Qin Ming.
Yet he also sensed a dense influx of spiritual substance entering his body.
He circulated the technique from the Silk Book, regulating his physical state and channeling the Heavenly Light for his own use.
This Otherworldly Heavenly Light could merge with the Heavenly Light born within him.
Suddenly, Qin Ming felt something was wrong.
The fifth wave of Heavenly Light had already fallen, yet the corpse collector hadn't moved.
He saw Old Zhao's half-body, a fellow Third Awakening Cultivator, being dragged away, while he himself remained lying there.
"What is that corpse collector doing?" Qin Ming wanted to curse aloud.
Then, the sixth wave descended—a Thunderfire Heavenly Light mixed with rare spiritual substance.
Qin Ming's rage boiled over.
"Is that bastard really trying to send me to my death?!"
He had reached his breaking point, ready to leap up and flee.
"A living, breathing person can't be killed by some unreliable corpse collector, he thought. "If I have to abandon my low profile, so be it."
From a distance, someone called out to Qin Ming's corpse collector, "Brother, we've already dragged out all our clients, whether intact or dismembered. We've done our best. Why haven't you even moved yet?"
"He's going to die anyway, sooner or later it's all the same. But I guess I should pull him out to keep him from being completely shattered. If the family makes a fuss, they'll dock my pay," the corpse collector finally moved.
Qin Ming was about to sit up.
He couldn't pretend to be dead any longer.
The moment he got out, he was going to chop that corpse collector to pieces!
Just as he was about to rise, the special rope around his waist tightened, dragging him out.
He gritted his teeth and endured.
Then he wanted to curse again.
Why was the rope being pulled so slowly?
Had the guy not eaten?
He desperately wanted to kill that corpse collector.
When the seventh wave of Thunderfire Heavenly Light descended, Qin Ming caught some of its "tail light" and was finally dragged out of the hall.
He immediately activated the Harmonizing With the World secret technique, feigning death.
Qin Ming breathed a sigh of relief.
With such a concentrated influx of spiritual substance into his body, his fourth awakening should proceed smoothly.
He would finally recover his lost memories.
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END OF CHAPTER
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