Chapter 687: From emotion comes awakening; everyone is like a dragon

"Second brother is right; we'd better not provoke the Wu tribe—that's practically suicide. One of their fingers could pinch us to death!" said the Tongbi Yuanhou.

"So, according to that, we're not going to that secret place? I've heard the secret places now appearing all contain the secrets of the Great Dao, just like the Shituo not far away, which obtained a legacy and is now incredibly powerful!" said the Taigu Fengbao.

"Big brother, you're not really thinking of going, are you?"

The three saw Bai Qi just drinking, silent, occasionally curling his lips, and thought his Shi Shen madness was flaring up again, so they all grew worried.

"Hmph, I said you haven't seen the world, and you still don't believe me. What are the Twelve Ancestor Witches? What are those two Golden Crow suns? My master could suppress them with one hand! Moreover, on my path of cultivation, only battle brings progress; only through nine deaths and one life can I achieve the Feral God Dragon Body!" Bai Qi's body exuded the aura of Shi Shen as he spoke.

……

At a certain place in the heart of Honghuang, a mysterious aura pervaded, and countless powerhouses were coiled there.

The Honghuang earth, boundless and vast!

Numberless immortal mountains and holy lands, rivers as numerous as the sands of the Henghe, myriad races, all kinds of strange beings dazzling to behold.

On that day, north of the Honghuang Tianlong Shanmai by a million li, there lay a winding great river whose source was unknown, yet it flowed toward the Donghai.

In the great river, waves surged, strange beasts churned; some opened huge mouths and dove into the water, waiting for passing creatures to become their belly's food.

At that moment, an immortal vessel broke through the waves, with a pair of Jintong Yunu standing on its prow.

"Carefree Wanderer, do you really say there exists such a strange dragon-fish clan?" Nüwa asked curiously.

"Heh, haven't you already seen it? The Honghuang cosmos is vast and boundless; the Pan Gu Dao differentiates into hundreds of millions of divine abilities, birthing countless races. Even a Patriarch-level powerhouse couldn't possibly know all of Honghuang's secrets. Yet this dragon-fish clan's divine ability is indeed uncanny—it can kill silently and without a trace. Moreover, this dragon-fish in the immortal vessel is also a rare divine body—the Curse‑marked Body!" Ye Qin said.

"This little dragon-fish looks so adorable; if it weren't for its terrifying divine body, I'd want to take it home and raise it. But it's too frightening— that expert merely grabbed it with ill intent, and his whole body rotted away, both form and spirit destroyed!" Nüwa recalled the scene and couldn't help shivering.

Although Nüwa had seen the great world, formed from the condensation of utmost yin qi, even so she dared not recall that horrifying scene.

A primordial white shark tens of thousands of zhang in size was thus bitten to death bit by bit by those insects, enduring immense agony before dying.

"We don't actually need to fear it; the Curse‑marked Body is a very strange divine body. For those with hostile intent it's a calamity that could overturn the heavens, but for those who harbor goodwill it's an endless source of blessing. Perhaps bringing this little dragon‑fish will bring us an opportunity—what do you think, little dragon‑fish?" Ye Qin said, turning his head to look.

One saw a strange creature that was neither dragon nor fish, hopping out of the immortal vessel. It had a chubby fish mouth, white dragon whiskers, a purple dragon horn on its dragon head, a body like a carp, altogether looking perfectly natural and utterly adorable.

Its whole body shimmered with runes as beautiful as lily petals, exuding a strange fragrance.

"Dudu…" the little dragon‑fish flew to Ye Qin's face, seeming to smile, nodding at him, utterly adorable.

"Hehe, Dudu, you only know how to say 'dudu' and never tell where your home is. Well, from now on follow me. Your Curse‑marked Body is hard to transform, but I'll surely find a way to let you transform soon!" Ye Qin said, reaching out to stroke the dragon‑fish's back.

"Dudu!"

"Hehehe, so adorable! Carefree Wanderer, can you let her follow me? I really like her. My disciple went out to travel, I have no one beside me, I'm so lonely!" Nüwa said.

The disciple she spoke of was the nine‑tailed celestial fox she had taken on while lecturing on Transformation Island; Ye Qin still remembered that fox's alluring face.

"Dudu, would you like to follow this elder sister? She cultivates the Way of Transformation, which can just ease the curse power in your body before you grow, so it won't harm your soul…" Ye Qin asked.

"Dudu dudududu!" the little dragon‑fish thought, then nodded.

"Great! Dudu, come, hug!" Nüwa said happily, regaining her former cheerful disposition. Looking at the dragon‑fish's frail body, she asked: "Carefree Wanderer, the little dragon‑fish's body is so weak; do you have any cultivation method that could let her train?"

"For now there isn't; the techniques I know she can't cultivate. Only by finding a curse artifact—like the Nail‑Head Seven Arrows, the Curse Compass, and the Book of Life and Death that I know of—can we do anything. We'll talk about it later if the chance arises!"

Speaking of this little dragon‑fish, it was actually a unique creature Ye Qin rescued by chance on the Donghai shore. At that time it was being hunted by countless water tribes, among them the ancient white‑shark clan, ancient dragon‑whale, ancient sea‑python…

At that time Ye Qin saw the little dragon‑fish fleeing amidst the pursuit of countless colossal beasts, feeling utterly astonished.

However, when he saw a mighty primordial dragon‑whale accidentally touch the dragon‑fish's body, it was instantly gnawed to death by countless insects, and he was greatly startled.

He employed the Dharma‑Breaking Divine Eye, analyzing the runes all over the little dragon‑fish's body, and found these runes extremely similar to the sigils of his Heart‑Devouring Curse when he cast it.

In an instant, Ye Qin's mind conjured the image of an extraordinarily terrifying chaos demon god, information he had obtained from the memory of the Jianmu Old Ancestor.

Back then in the chaos, there was a being called the Dragon‑Fish Curse Ancestor, a chaos demon god who was the sovereign of the Curse Grand Dao; though female, no demon god dared lightly offend her, for those who did either vanished silently or suffered endless torment.

Yet, despite her might, she ultimately could not escape the calamity of the Heaven‑Opening Great Catastrophe.

After rescuing the little dragon‑fish, Ye Qin intended to keep her by his side. At least this way she wouldn't become an enemy. After all, having such an enemy, Ye Qin himself might not fear it, but those associated with him would constantly face mortal danger.

More importantly, the Curse Grand Dao is an immensely powerful and strange great dao, involving the affinity of heaven—that is, the so‑called heavenly affinity. For beings lacking such affinity, the curse power of a world is utterly terrifying.

And Ye Qin is precisely a person devoid of any heavenly affinity; he is out of tune with the Honghuang cosmos, as if an outsider. Others may regard him as a pawn, but they can never truly control him.

……

Along the way, Ye Qin did not rush the journey but tried to stay with Nüwa as much as possible, hoping that before she returned to the Hongdao Sacred Land he could help her dispel her inner demons and find the answer in her heart.

He firmly believed that time is the good medicine that heals all wounds…

The immortal vessel went upstream, breaking waves. Along the way they encountered countless beings; some even stepped forward to block them, but Ye Qin easily defeated them all.

That day Ye Qin finally decided to go ashore, for he had reached the edge of the Tianlong Shanmai.

Although he did not fear the Dragon Court, he did not want to invite trouble because of it.

The Dragon Court is shrouded in the fortune of heaven and earth; he could not destroy it, so he decided to detour around the Tianlong Shanmai and head for the center of Mount Buzhou, thus reaching the Hongdao Sacred Land north of Buzhou more quickly.

Not knowing how long they had flown, they saw ahead, at a distance of ten thousand li, a rumbling sound.

Gazing out, they saw beyond ten thousand li two primordial beasts tens of thousands of zhang high locked in fierce battle, destroying heaven and earth.

At the battle's center stood a mountain emitting endless white light; on it grew a flower whose blossoms spanned a hundred zhang, with a thousand white petals all around, the white light emanating precisely from this flower.

"Ah! It's actually a multifold white peony? How utterly unbelievable!" Nüwa exclaimed in astonishment.

"Do you know this flower?" Ye Qin's memory held no information about this spiritual root, so he asked.

"Of course! Back when I was at the foot of Mount Buzhou I had seen this kind of flower, though it was only a hundred‑petaled version. But here there actually is a multifold white peony—you know white peonies normally have just a single bloom!" Nüwa explained.

"Why can there only be one?" Ye Qin asked curiously.

"Because the white peony is the king of flowers, and the multifold white peony is the queen of flowers. She not only bears the reputation of 'one leaf, instant enlightenment,' but can also command all flowers. Obtaining a multifold white peony is tantamount to gaining a floral kingdom!" Nüwa said.

"But this flower at most merely possesses strong medicinal properties; its cultivation level isn't strong. In Honghuang there are countless spiritual medicines—she isn't exactly especially precious, right?" Ye Qin said. He secretly felt this white peony wasn't simple, yet couldn't pinpoint why.

"Carefree Wanderer, you must obtain this multifold peony. Don't look down on her weak cultivation; when she transforms into a flower fairy, she'll bring great benefit to your Carefree Realm. She can establish a floral kingdom within your Carefree Realm; as long as you keep planting different flowers there, she can create countless flower fairies. Though their cultivation is weak, each flower fairy's fragrance can enable one to comprehend the Dao. Imagine countless flower fairies in your Carefree Realm—how much they'd aid your Dao comprehension!" Nüwa urged.

"Oh? There actually exists such a strange creature; Nüwa, you are truly erudite and talented." Ye Qin couldn't help but praise.

"This is merely information existing in my inherited memory. I also don't know why this flower fairy seems to have neither relation nor yet a deep source with me. Ah, I myself am full of contradictions, feeling confused. Perhaps I am simply a contradictory person." Nüwa sighed. In her heart she felt uncertain about her feelings—sometimes she liked Ye Qin, sometimes she liked Fuxi.

"Let's go up. See that multifold white peony has already cultivated to a critical juncture; we mustn't let those two strange beasts affect her." Ye Qin said, taking Nüwa's hand and flying forward. Nüwa's cheeks flushed slightly; she wanted to pull her hand back, but Ye Qin held it fast. This made her both annoyed and a little sweet.

Those two strange beasts were one an ox‑headed crocodile, the other a flying evil flood dragon, both belonging to the scaled‑armor clan.

Judging by their aura, they are clearly beings of the Dragon Court, and their strength is considerable—at least on par with a junior commander-level expert.

However, in front of Ye Qin, they were like ants. Before they could react, Ye Qin had already captured them in his palm, crushing them into primitive runes.

Truly utterly brutal!

Ye Qin also felt puzzled: why such a precious innate spiritual root had not attracted any experts from the Dragon Court.

"Perhaps, in this Honghuang, no one knows the true origin of this Chiba White Peony; everyone assumes it is merely an ordinary spiritual medicine, which is why no experts have come." Nüwa said.

"Hmm, I think the same. Look, a very ethereal spiritual entity has appeared at the flower's center, containing the power to comprehend the Dao—truly amazing. Just a whiff of its aura leaves me feeling refreshed and clear-headed." Ye Qin said.

"Brother Carefree Wanderer, don't look yet—wait until she fully materializes. And let me tell you, flower fairies are benevolent beings, but you must never use Divine Ability to control their souls. Treat them sincerely as friends; they can discern good from evil." Nüwa reminded.

"How could I be that evil? But why is that?" Ye Qin asked.

"Flower fairies are favored by the Great Dao; no one can control them. They are kind and spiritually strong; even if their souls are controlled, they can choose self-destruction. They possess a great Divine Ability—Indestructible Spirit. As long as this kind of flower exists, they can be reborn." Nüwa explained.

"I see!" Ye Qin suddenly understood.

Suddenly, the Chiba White Peony released countless pure pollen, which merged into the illusory spiritual entity at its center.

Gradually, that spiritual entity condensed into a flesh-and-blood body, and a beautiful white fairy robe appeared, covering her delicate figure.

She, the flower fairy, possessed a beauty that could sink fish and make geese fall, with a graceful and varied demeanor. Her brows bore an aura of holiness, and she also had the bearing of a queen—she was as noble as the queen of flowers.

The Chiba White Peony's petals gradually closed, forming a jade peony that the flower fairy held in her palm. She floated down to Ye Qin and said, "Little fairy thanks both of you seniors for your protection!"

"Seniors, I dare not accept such praise. I am the Carefree Wanderer Daoist, and this is Nüwa beside me. Fairy, do you have a title?" Ye Qin asked.

"The little fairy has just awakened and has not yet received a title." The flower fairy replied.

"Hmm, since you awakened at the chen hour and are a Chiba White Peony, you shall be called Chen Qianye!"

"Thank you, seniors, for the name! I feel that Senior Nüwa's aura is very familiar; I wonder if Senior has any connection with our Transform Immortal clan?" Flower Fairy Chen Qianye asked softly.

"Although attaining the Dao may come in stages, you need not address me as senior. I feel the same—it's as if we were sisters in a past life. Sigh, my memory holds only fragments of the Transform Immortal clan, with nothing of my own past. From now on, you may call me Sister Nüwa. Although the Flower Fairy clan is presently unknown, should any great power discover their existence, they will surely be exterminated. Your strength is still weak; it's safer to stay by our side." Nüwa said gently. (End of chapter)