Once he was inside the cavern, he took out two healing pills. He ate one while giving the other to Tian Lei.
As his body digested the pill, a familiar sense of drowsiness hit his body. The pain that he felt, the only thing that kept him awake, slowly disappeared. His body had started healing.
For a second, he tried to fight the drowsiness, but soon his mind fell asleep. He had dragged himself into a calm place. There were threats around him. There was no reason for him to stay awake.
As his mind entered oblivion, a series of images started flashing before his eyes. Some were scenes, some were memories, while others were just sensations in image form. However, he couldn't define them or focus on them clearly. They were like dreams done in a drunken stupor. His mind was too slow while this sensations were too intense.
However, time slowly passed, and with it the images came and went. Until at some point, his mind emerged from this chaotic cycle. His ability to think returned to him.
He had entered into a lucid dream.
Slowly, his surroundings became clearer.
Yun Qiang looked around. He was in a long, dark corridor. There was nobody besides him, and the only source of light came from a torch in his hand.
He took one step forward.
'I can move. This isn't one of the spectator dreams.'
He scanned his surroundings again. Usually, all of his dreams were in third person and followed a dream version of him with a completely different life. However, this time he was alone.
A shiver ran down his spine as he remembered the last time something like this had happened.
His face briefly darkened before going back to a resigned one. He didn't know what this dream had in store for him, but there was nothing he could do.
He could only go forward.
Hesitantly, he started walking down the long hallway, his torch held up high while his eyes scanned the smooth stone walls.
The walls were made by smooth stone bricks that gave out an ancient feeling. Sometimes they were cracked, other times moss covered them; however, even in this unkempt state, Yun Qiang could feel the craftsmanship that went into the walls' construction. No concrete or cement was used in their construction. Every stone was interlocked and wedged with one another in a precise pattern, making a solid construction that could withstand the test of time.
As Yun Qiang moved onward, the smooth walls started giving way to a long series of wooden libraries. At first, they were sparse, and only one or two libraries every four or five meters could be seen at any given moment. However, with time, they became more and more frequent until they completely occupied both walls of the dark corridor.
Each library was filled with ruined and unkempt books. The words on their spines were barely visible.
Yun Qiang stopped, bringing his torch closer to one of the libraries. A book had caught his attention. Like many others, this book was ruined and yellowed; however, the title on the spine was clearly legible.
He touched it.
"Red rain from the night sky..." His murmur echoed in the corridor.
His free hand took it out of the library. The pale red cover and the ominous name could only refer to one thing.
"Blood."
However, as he opened the book, he found that it was completely unreadable. It wasn't that the words were ruined or had missing letters, but they were completely blurred, as if his eyes couldn't focus on the content of the book.
Letting out a strange sigh, he closed it.
Clearly, reading these books wasn't the focus of this dream. He carefully put the book back in its place before continuing forward. Whatever he had to do or see was probably at the end of the corridor.
However, when he reached the end, he didn't find anything particular, only a long stair that went downward. He made his way down the stairs, letting his hand run along the spiral walls, feeling the changes in the bricks as he went downward.
The walls of the stairs were made of a clearly better material than the corridor. It was a strange metal. Its cover was dark, almost black, and gave off a slight feeling of cold when touched.
When he reached the end of the stairs, a similar scene unfolded before him. The corridor before him was still dark, and libraries completely covered its walls. The only difference was the material that made up the libraries and the books. Both of them were made of a dark, cold metal, making them sturdier and more resilient to time.
Yun Qiang stopped at the first library and looked at the books. Their titles were clearly visible, and by the sound of them, all were related to blood cultivation.
"Blood Arrow."
"Red Phantom."
"Bloodlust Seeker."
These were just a few of the books' titles. Yun Qiang randomly picked one up and tried to read it. However, once again, he was unable to. Even if the letters were clearly etched in metal, they still looked blurry to him.
He hastened his steps forward. He didn't want to waste his time in this dream anymore.
But once again, everything repeated. He found some stairs, he descended them, and found himself in another corridor.
He started running.
Floor after floor, he continued his descent. The corridor became darker while the material that made up the books and the libraries became rarer and more expensive.
Then, after the fifth floor, the corridor started becoming shorter and shorter.
Finally, at the tenth floor, Yun Qiang found the end.
What was before him was a dark corridor. However, it was different from the one before. There were no libraries, and after just a few meters, Yun Qiang could see it opening into a large hall.
When he stepped inside the hall, a series of torches turned on, lighting the large circular room. No decorations were present, and both the floor and walls were made with simple stone blocks, giving it a poor and unrefined appearance.
The only thing that was present was a dried corpse sitting on a small, elevated throne. He had a crown on his head, and his hands greedily held a small black book.
Yun Qiang took a step backwards. The change from darkness to light was too sudden, temporarily blinding him.
Then he hastened his steps, disrespectfully taking the book from the corpse. After having walked for so many floors, he had come to understand what kind of dream this was. This dream was one of the hundreds of dreams that he started having after joining the Skyward Sect.
Each one of these dreams was different but held the same underlying meaning, which could be boiled down to "Blood cultivation is bad." Yun Qiang was sick of them. This is why he was so disrespectful to him. All of this was just a waste of time. He already knew that blood cultivation made you mad and uncontrollable. Even if he used "Blood Spear" to ambush his enemies, that was just for survival, and he would never dare to consume a living being for his cultivation.
He opened the book.
As he expected, this book wasn't blurred, and he easily read it.
"Blood's Poison."
"Ugh, let's see it. It's probably just another blood is bad, slow cultivation is good kind of book."
He started reading it.
'Before becoming known as the "Red Emperor", I, Ren Lu, was a good man. I followed the way of the heavens.
When I was dealt a bad hand, I worked hard.
When things went my way, I cherished those moments.
When my friends died of sickness, I cried and buried them.
When my empire fell to another nation, I retired with my family to live a peaceful life.
When my daughter was born a mortal with no spiritual root, I stood with her and accompanied her during her life.
When my daughter died, I wept.
When my wife went mad cultivating blood, I broke.
Why must heaven do this?
If heaven is fair, why can some cultivate while others can't?
If heaven is fair, why do spiritual roots have grades?
If all daos lead to heaven, why is the blood dao hated by all?
If heaven is unfair, why must I bow down and accept my fate?
This is my last book. The first book that I sign with my real name and the last that I sign with my title "Red Emperor".
This is the fruit of my lifetime research on blood madness and cultivation without a spiritual root.'
Yun Qiang's uninterested eyes suddenly lit up.
"Intriguing..."
He continued reading.
'To cultivate, one needs to balance three elements: Soul, Qi, and Body. This is the basis of cultivation and our world. However, what happens when we push one element to the extreme? Will we reach a new realm? No. We will be stuck at the same realm and will have to wait for the other elements to catch up before going forward. However, is this completely true? If one loses their cultivation, they will maintain both Soul and Body. They will lose their realm; however, once they gain enough Qi, they will automatically regain all their levels in Soul and Body.'
'But why? If all these elements need to be balanced, why can a mortal maintain the body and the Soul of a Golden Core when he doesn't have his Qi?'
Yun Qiang nodded. These were all good questions. If this man managed to answer them, then he would be the best scholar in the entire cultivation world.
He turned to the third page.
"What?!"
Yun Qiang's pupils shrank, his lips started trembling while surprise etched his face.
"This book has only three pages!!!"
Rage was clear in his voice. His eyes started to furiously read the last page.
'By the same logic, why do blood cultivators go mad?
Blood is the foundation of Body and plays a part in making the Soul live. Why is it so damaging to cultivate it? The answer is the same for all of these questions.'
'It is all heaven's fault.'
'Cultivation doesn't require balance of the three elements, but heaven wants it. So it forces all of us to cultivate Qi.'
'Blood can and does sustain cultivation; however, heaven poisons our blood with Qi. Mortals can cultivate blood, and they won't go mad if they do. However, they cannot because heaven imposed Qi on us!'
'You want proof for it? Then read all of my research and techniques. Take it! This entire library is my research! I can't tell you all with just one book. So I will only end with my thesis.'
'Heaven is blood's poison. Spiritual roots are heaven's deception. Only someone without a spiritual root can cultivate blood. Only —'
Yun Qiang looked at the last phrase. The remaining part had become blurry, making him unable to read it.
He bit his lips.
Really?! After giving me a lesson on blood cultivation, you want to hide the rest!
Dissatisfaction flashed in his eyes as the rage he had suppressed the last dreams resurfaced. These dreams had taught him these kinds of lessons countless times. He had lost sleep, lost time, and even suffered severe beatings as punishment for his sleepiness.
He couldn't take it anymore. Rage boiled in Yun Qiang's heart.
Dream on!
"This is my dream! Let me read!"
Rage was evident in his voice, and the dream seemed to react to it, distorting according to his will. For a brief second, the blur became thinner.
However, just as he was about to see the entire phrase, the dream shattered like a mirror, letting his consciousness fall back to sleep. A sleep without dreams.
In the end, he had only managed to read three words.
"Only by killing."