Chapter 4. The Magic Cube
(The previous three chapter were edited. The MC is no longer Lin Ming's twin brother, but was adopted. He's one year younger than Lin Ming).
After secretly storing the Magic Cube in his pocket, Lin Yue continued his work.
A Gold Back Pangolin was a quite rare vicious beast and was not often hunted by humans because it was not carnivorous and violent, and could easily escape into the ground if it felt scared. Having no experience with it, cutting up the Gold Back Pangolin wasn't an easy task for Lin Yue.
Before Lin Yue was fully done, Lin Ming had already cut up two first-level vicious beasts and moved to his third.
After Lin Yue finally cut up the Gold Back Pangolin in a satisfying manner, he began to cut up his second vicious beast, this time a first-level vicious beast that he was more familiar with.
Lin Ming eventually finished his vicious beast first and then moved to help Lin Yue to cut up the remaining pieces of his vicious beast.
Counting in the Scaled Draconic Beast that was deboned earlier, once they finished the brothers' daily quota of deboning six vicious beasts was completed.
After cleaning the tools, the younger and older brother headed toward rooms that the Grand Clarity Pavilion had prepared for them.
Upon finally retreating to his own room, Lin Yue quickly closed the doors. He took out the cube from his pocket and looked at it once again.
At this time, a small cube laid on the palm of his left hand. It was only one cubic inch.
As Lin Yue looked at the 'Magic Cube', he felt very complicated emotions in his heart.
He felt excited, but also nervous.
Even though he acquired the item that he thought was the Magic Cube, without the help of the Heavens and tremendous Luck he might not be able to follow the same path as Lin Ming. It was very likely that he would fail and die prematurely, even if he knew some tidbits from the novel and worked hard.
By selfishly taking Lin Ming's opportunity for himself, Lin Yue might have even doomed humanity to destruction!
Lin Yue had only read half-way through the Martial World novel, but he read some of the information from the wiki and had seen some spoilers, so he knew that some kind of a cross-world cross-race massive World War would be happening in the future and Lin Ming was something akin to a fated savior of humanity, performing miracle after miracle that were impossible for anyone to accomplish without ten layers of plot armor.
Following the novel's Lin Ming's footsteps was a very thorny path Lin Yue chose to walk, with a low probability of him making it out alive. It might be possible that once he dies, the Magic Cube would simply go to another more lucky or capable owner as if nothing happened, perhaps even to Lin Ming.
Lin Yue suddenly squeezed his fists hard. At that moment his eyes were very chilly. The Magic Cube had fallen into his hands, not Lin Ming's. Why should it be seen as if he snatched this opportunity from Lin Ming? In this world it was almost as if he was fated to find it!
In addition, out of billions of worlds and countless possibilities, he grew up in the Sky Spill Continent, in the Sky Fortune Kingdom and as Lin Ming's adopted brother. It naturally should not be just a coincidence.
Besides, so what even if he snatched it? On what basis should he simply resign himself to fate? Why should he give the Magic Cube to someone else if he could take it for himself? Why should he accept being an insignificant mortal cultivator for the rest of this life?
Lin Yue's heartbeat sped up and his breathing became heavy as he thought of this.
After a while, he suddenly let out a breath and a focused indifferent expression re-appeared on his face; his heart was suddenly calm.
Over the last fourteen years Lin Yue had nurtured a very firm desire in his heart for an interesting life rich in meaning, and a desire to become a powerful existence. It was impossible for him to pass on the heaven-defying power that the Magic Cube represented, even if it carried a heavy destiny he might not be able to shoulder.
In this world, he could have the power to create and destroy worlds. He could travel between planets and universes just with his own personal strength. He could live for thousands and even millions of years. Potentially, he could even be eternally young, become Immortal and live for all eternity!
In addition, all kinds of magical and beautiful places existed in this immeasurably vast world; all kinds of magical beasts, intelligent races and planets. There were also various wonderful, beautiful and talented Dao Companion materials that could be his lovers and support him on his Path of Martial Arts, as long as he had enough strength and ability.
If the burden of possessing the Magic Cube had any effect, then it only strengthened Lin Yue's resolve to put his life on the line and persevere on his path to chase after the illusory peak of being a truly legendary existence among the myriad beings of this world.
By following this path he had a chance to attain true Immortality!
This is the path he decided to thread on, even if it had a high chance that it would cause his own destruction or the extinction of humanity. He would rather let down the world than be let down by the world.
Having reaffirmed his belief, Lin Yue's heart felt very calm.
He walked toward the window of the room. As he opened it, an outline of a crescent moon was visible.
He looked at the moon in the night sky and sighed. His heart thought, 'Even if the world burns because of my choice, then let it burn. I will still do my best in this life and live out my ideals. My efforts will definitely not lose out to Lin Ming's.'
Looking at the moon, Lin Yue softly recited, "In this life I hope to become the real moon, rising above the mountains and heavens, toying with the clouds and seas, following the ancient times and walking in the darkness above the various heavens…"
Lin Yue's eyes were crystal clear, and the night sky was reflected in his pupils as he recited a verse from one of his favorite books.
Resting his hands against the window still, the body of a teenager stood silently on the second floor of a building.
The desolate crescent moon was suspended high in the night sky.
'This boy… The chance is infinitely small that he would make it, but he might finally by my chance after fifty thousand years of deep slumber. He is not as simple as he first seems.' Within the Magic Cube, Mo Eversnow's divine sense thought inwardly as all the secrets on Lin Yue's body and his pendant were already seen by her.
At that time Lin Yue had also briefly thought of Mo Eversnow and the Magic Cube, before he brushed the thought aside. His act of finding the Magic Cube in the Gold Back Pangolin seemed like a true chance encounter, so he at least wasn't worried about it being strange.
Lin Yue closed the window. Following that, he looked at the Cube again because he wanted to try something.
He took out a knife and pricked his thumb with its tip. He then dropped a drop of blood on the Magic Cube, before placing his thumb on the Cube's surface.
Lin Yue's thoughts were - perhaps it wasn't mentioned, but it was possible that by accident or otherwise, Lin Ming's blood dropped upon the cube and caused Mo Eversnow to awaken and pay special attention to him. He simply didn't want to miss a crucial potential event that could have happened, because if the Magic Cube failed to activate throughout the night, then he would feel quite lost.
As the droplets of blood fell upon the Magic Cube, nothing happened.
However, after a few seconds the Magic Cube had sucked in all of the blood.
Lin Yue lightly gulped in surprise. It seemed that he was right to do what he did. While sorting his thoughts, he put his finger in his mouth to close the wound and stop the bleeding.
As he thought about it, the act of the Magic Cube sucking in his blood after a delay was likely caused by Mo Eversnow consciously doing it after she made up her mind. Her intention should be to help direct him into seeking the blood essence of powerhouses, telling him that the Magic Cube needs blood.
This was Lin Yue's guess.
In regards to that, Lin Yue naturally didn't have a problem with helping Mo Eversnow to recover.
Lin Yue then probed the Magic Cube with his soul force for a second time, but there was no change. It seemed like an ordinary object.
Following that, Lin Yue began preparing to go to sleep. He changed his outer layer of clothes, meditated for a while to adjust his breath and calm down his mind, and then slumped on the bed.
While laying on the bed, Lin Yue couldn't help but keep thinking of the small Magic Cube which was resting in his chest pocket. His guess was that the Magi Cube would make contact with him on its initiative during sleep just like it did with Lin Ming, but he still felt anxious.
Although Lin Yue's mind was buzzing with activity, he chanted a heart mantra and eventually fell asleep.
In his sleep, Lin Yue had a strange dream. He dreamt of a resplendent palace made of jade. Each pavilion was made of jade, its level of artisanship staggeringly high.
Lin Yue had never seen such a beautiful palace even in movies back on Earth.
At one moment, the scenery suddenly transformed and the resplendent palace collapsed.
Countless figures had appeared in the skies above. From amongst the countless figures, streams of light shot out. The streams of light were beautiful to behold; however, when it descended upon the lands, it caused the lands and mountains to be decimated.
The lands were split apart while the skies were covered with demonic flames. A huge spell array covering a surface area of hundreds of li appeared out of thin air and a multitudinous number of mysterious symbols covered the entire sky.
A war on this scale was something that Lin Yue could never have imagined. Because he was in a dream state and not fully conscious, he watched all of it unfold half-consciously.
Cultivators! These were cultivators of an unimaginable strength. This level of strength was something that those at the Physical Training Stage and Houtian Stage could not hope to compete against.
Every person within this imagery were beings that Lin Yue would previously consider nothing but fantasy characters.
After that, the scene changed and turned into a world of snow and ice. A frightened looking beautiful woman held onto a one cubic-inch cube, facing off against ten thousand figures standing on the skies.
This woman was actually standing just less than three feet from Lin Yue. Even though he didn't feel that it was reality, Lin Yue was able to feel an extremely powerful yet gentle and holy aura radiating from the woman's body!
Seeing that the beautiful woman held a cube that looked exactly like the Magic Cube found in the stomach of the Goldback Pangolin, Lin Yue snapped out of his trance.
Lin Yue realized that he was dreaming and became conscious of everything. Watching the woman, he thought in shock, 'She must be Mo Eversnow!'
'Mo Eversnow' spoke a series of words, but the words spoken were vague. Lin Yue could only make out two words – Magic Cube!
"Hong!"
An explosion!
The space itself was rent apart, the skies were twisted into a raging whirlpool with seemingly infinite power, sweeping up all of Heaven and Earth.
Everywhere the whirlpool reached, mountains would collapse and skies would crumble. The icy glacier was instantly transformed into nothingness and the ten thousand figures were reduced into dust. Their souls were fragmented and absorbed into the cube!
As for Lin Yue, he found himself standing in the middle of the whirlpool, witnessing with his own eyes as everything was absorbed into the whirlpool. Everything around him was reduced to ashes while he himself remained unaffected.
This feeling was simply indescribable and unforgettable.
Lin Yue felt himself drenched in cold sweat.
At this moment, he suddenly found that he had arrived at an incredibly large and dark space. Here, various specks of light hovered in suspension, resembling pieces of broken mirror.
The various specks were of varying sizes, some big and some small. The bigger ones were as big as a palm, while the smaller ones were only as big as a grain of rice. In the middle of all those specks of light, there was a sphere of light, which emitted a soft glow, a gentle and sacred glow.
Inexplicably, Lin Yue felt that the atmosphere around this sphere of light was very similar to that of the woman he had seen earlier. No, it was exactly the same!
'This sphere of light must be Mo Eversnow's soul,' he thought.
Lin Yue recalled that the woman had turned into a stream of white light and was absorbed into the Magic Cube right after the explosion happened…
Lin Yue knew.
Mo Eversnow turned into a sphere of light, while the various specks of light should be fragments of souls of the various experts absorbed by the Magic Cube after they have been crushed by the spatial storm.
Brushing these thoughts away, Lin Yue focused his eyes and peered into the dark space that was littered with countless specks of light.
After hesitating for a while, he extended his hand and gently touched a speck of light which was both the smallest and closest to him.
He assumed that this speck of light was especially prepared for him by Mo Eversnow, being so close to him.
Upon contact, the speck of light instantly flowed into Lin Yue's fingertip.
Lin Yue had no time to respond at all as his head felt as though a heavy hammer had suddenly struck down on it viciously. He let out a cry and fell to the ground.
"Ahh!"
Lin Yue tightly gripped his head; he felt as though there was something desperately invading his mind. The piercing pain caused Lin Yue to wish he could crack open his skull and remove whatever was causing the pain!
He could not resist! Lin Yue felt as though he was about to be devoured!
Right, the soul fragment was trying to devour his consciousness!
Lin Yue snorted in disdain. Like hell he would let himself be devoured.
The thing threatening him was only a small fragment of a soul. In addition, its master had already perished. How could he lose to a minor consciousness that has no master?
Lin Yue suddenly shouted out, clenching his fists, his nails digging deep into his flesh and blood: I will not yield! I will not lose with an opportunity right before my eyes!
His goal was to become an unbeatable existence, how could he ose at the very first step just because of some pain?
Lin Yue didn't know how to deal with that fragmented consciousness that had no owner, so all he could do was grit his teeth and persevere with everything he had.
Various disorderly images flowed into his sea of consciousness, causing him to undergo an inhuman amount of pain, threatening to render him unconscious.
However, he kept gritting his teeth, maintaining his hold onto the vestiges of his consciousness and holding on to his unwavering will. He knew he could not fall there. Especially not now that he received the Magic Cube when his true journey would begin.
After an unknown amount of time, the severe headache faded.
At last, Lin Yue woke up from his dream. He opened his eyes to see that it was the early morning of the next day.
At that moment Lin Yue's body was drenched in cold sweat and his bed sheets were soaked.
Observing all this, Lin Yue felt excited. It was obvious that during the dream he had made contact with the Magic Cube and Mo Eversnow, and had absorbed his first soul fragment.
He owned the real Magic Cube!
As Lin Yue thought of this, his face suddenly changed: these memories…
He learned a lot of new things!
Arrays, inscriptions, engravings, various bizarre symbols, mysterious characters, plain looking and powerful weapon techniques…
'After absorbing the memories of the ownerless soul, I learned many new powerful techniques from the Upper Realm. Let's see what I know,' Lin Yue thought and concentrated on what he had learned.
What was certain though was that his knowledge was now certainly unimaginably valuable.
Although the soul was devoured by Lin Yue's sea of consciousness, the memories were complex. They were not something that Lin Yue could recall as and how he liked. Those memories needed to be further consolidated and integrated.
While doing so, Lin Yue ignored the memories regarding arrays and inscriptions. These memories were a little fragmented and disorderly.
Lin Yue held little interest toward engraving inscriptions at this moment.
There was something else that he desperately needed first, something he desired for… A powerful cultivation technique!
He kept searching through his sea of consciousness and finally held his breath as he found it: Body Transformation Formula – Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians!
It was a peak Body Transformation cultivation technique from the Divine Realm, the same one that Lin Ming practiced in the novel!