Chapter 232: My Holy Light

Mountains lean against water; water reflects mountains, in quiet harmony, a faint solitude.

The elderly founder of the Tianyi Sect, who had achieved cultivation, half-closed his eyes, seated on a rush mat in a white robe, sensing the subtle changes upon Water Mirror Peak.

Spring water trickled down from the high peak into the lake; a gentle breeze brushed the surface, soothing the soul.

The chaos of myriad worlds? The Emperor-level powerhouses? Let them be.

A leisurely heart, like life itself, slowly lets time settle, still as water, faint as mountain.

This is the meaning of cultivation.

A cool wind brushed his face, carrying the fragrance of blooming spirit trees; Su Lin slowly opened his eyes, a faint smile curling at his lips, his flywhisk flicking lightly in his hand.

Really good—living in the mountains is awesome.

Today was another peaceful, tranquil day; Su Lin rose and walked down the mountain, plucking a five-hundred-year-old 'Red Source Fruit' along the way to treat himself.

Because that Nascent Soul was too ridiculous, Su Lin had not yet formally cultivated it; after several days of study, he saw nothing strange or miraculous about it—only that his Qi absorption speed had clearly increased significantly.

'It's effectively improved my constitution, and saved me a fortune.'

'Too bad the points in the system don't accrue interest.'

As he thought this, Su Lin walked toward the cultivation ground of the Divine Child Emperor Yufeng.

The fragments of laws within him were complex and chaotic; Su Lin had currently guided him to begin perceiving the Law of Light, which would at least make him somewhat more comfortable.

Although this body was born a Saint, its future growth is limited, for strictly speaking, he remains the spirit of the Immortal Cauldron.

Only these laws are unbound; when he one day sheds the constraints of his original form, these different laws will open broader paths for him.

'Teaching the ultimate technique right at the start—teachers like me are pure streams in this industry.'

Su Lin yawned, touched, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye—wondering how his good disciple was doing in cultivation.

'Praise! Light!'

'Praaaaise… Liiiiight!'

'Praise Light!'

'Hallelujah~ Hallelujah! Ha~~allelujah~!'

'I am the Light of All!'

Su Lin's face darkened instantly, his expression tightly suppressed—he never imagined his old founder persona had collapsed in just three days because of this brat.

The reason? Little Fatty had been screaming weirdly every day while learning to resonate with the Light and perceive the Law, firing off beams—biu~biu~biu.

Light rained from the sky, countless beams of radiance and heat scattering randomly, without order or pattern.

Paji!

The five-hundred-year-old 'Red Source Fruit' Su Lin had just picked was pierced through by a beam—though unimpressive in spectacle, it was enough to obliterate a Dragon Transformation cultivator.

'This spell's power is terrible,' Emperor Yufeng said with disdain. 'It doesn't even do more damage than my basic auto-attack. Give me my phone back—I need to game!'

Emperor Yufeng still remained inside the Immortal Source, but the crystal-like Immortal Source now sprouted a pair of wings he had condensed from light elements.

He used a giant hand made of light to reach through the Immortal Source, demanding his phone, while firing beams like fireworks.

'Hurry up! The #1 player in the nation, Donghuang, needs to conquer the world and carry my little fans up the ranks!' Emperor Yufeng impatiently urged. 'This mere Holy Light? I can summon it with a flick of my finger—I'll illuminate the myriad worlds one day!'

Seeing Su Lin's body still staring blankly at the rotten fruit, he directed the light to gather in the sky, forming a thousand-meter-long sword that slashed downward.

'My final homework today! Accept it, you big bad!'

'Holy Light! That enemy is worth fighting!'

Pili-pala!

Su Lin's eyes turned icy with cruelty; before the sword fully descended, its blade cracked inch by inch, shattering like glass and returning to nature.

An incomplete structure built from light elements—a preliminary grasp of the Light Law that looked grand but was merely an unstable combination forced by raw power.

'You think your ass is itching again?!'

Su Lin raised his hand and suppressed Emperor Yufeng, stripping his control over external Qi, commanding that light elements no longer respond to his calls.

The giant hand reaching for the phone vanished instantly; he lost all limbs he had condensed for movement.

'My Holy Light!' Emperor Yufeng screamed inside the Immortal Source, but neither active nor dormant light elements paid him any heed. 'Waaahhh! Aaaah! Let go of me, you bastard!'

He had merely been introduced to these little elements under Su Lin's guidance, and had perceived Light.

Su Lin summoned a clump of chaotic energy and shaped it into a clothesline, snarling:

'I told you to perceive the Dao within it—not to go full fantasy RPG!'

'You spend every day gaming, thinking I can't whip you just because you're inside the Immortal Source?'

Pah!

'Holy Light, huh?!'

Pah!

'Hallelujah, huh?!'

Pah!

'#1 player in the nation, Donghuang, huh?!'

Pah!

'You used a condensed Judas' Oath made of light to stab my historical projection last night!'

Pah!

'Stop hitting my butt! Waaahhh! I'm gonna call the cops! You're abusing—' Emperor Yufeng's words were cut short as more blows rained down. 'I'm the future Supreme, the peerless Emperor! You can't treat me like this!'

Pah-pah-pah!

Crisp sounds rang endlessly—the future Emperor's butt was wonderfully elastic, perfect for whipping with the chaotic-energy clothesline.

'Yesterday you used Frostfang to backstab my historical projection! Getting bold, aren't you?'

Pah!

"You let the light element spy on my transaction password, then delete my order after using my Huabei to recharge, right?!"

Slap!

Su Lin guarantees his integrity—there is absolutely no personal grudge stemming from envy over the other's overly comfortable childhood.

The other doesn't need sleep, so that schedule doesn't hinder his ten-plus hours of gaming daily, which means whatever Su Lin plays, he watches; when Su Lin stops, he takes over and plays.

"How did you know?! Wahhh! They betrayed me!" Emperor Yufeng wailed, crying harder than before, "Holy Light betrayed me!!!"

Su Lin had just finished tidying up the brat when Zhongli descended from a nearby slope, carrying some spirit fruits.

"Better to channel than to block," Zhongli said, smiling gently as he watched.

"He slept for a long time, and has only just arrived in this world—experiencing the mortal realm is, after all, a form of cultivation."

"You needn't fear he'll be tainted by the mortal realm—he was born a saint, his Immortal Platform pure and untainted, never stained by the red dust desires of ordinary cultivators."

"What if it's not that I fear he'll be tainted by the mortal realm—but that he'll taint the mortal realm?!" Su Lin's clothesline vanished as he exhaled deeply to Zhongli: "Thank heaven and earth, finally time for a shift change."

He carried Emperor Yufeng to Zhongli and dumped the brat into his arms.

"Thank heaven and earth—finally free of this jerk," Emperor Yufeng sighed deeply; though the chaotic qi caused him no real harm, it still hurt.

"Actually, I've come to take my leave," Zhongli said, offering a slightly apologetic smile. "Rest has lasted long enough—I must return to Liyue."

For a moment, Su Lin and Wang Xiaopang fell silent.

"Oh, God, this is terrible news—no, I mean, how regrettable that separation comes so soon, my Internal Affairs Elder," Su Lin said flatly, in perfectly enunciated translation tone, "Now I'm stuck with this fat kid alone. Fine—I'll wait for your news."

"Good man, don't leave!" Emperor Yufeng cried tearfully, clinging, "What will I do without you?!"

"What will you do? Cultivate fast enough to break through the Source and return to your Own World and run wild!" Su Lin snapped at Emperor Yufeng. "Stop obsessing over my phone and game account!"

Hearing this, Emperor Yufeng felt even more aggrieved, wailing pitifully:

"Zhongli, how will I live without you?!"

"Zhongli, Zhongli, take me with you!"

"If I stay with this evil bastard, I'll die of insufficient gaming energy intake!"

Heaven pity him—this Su Zongzhu clearly belongs to the demonic path, forcing a child barely days old to do homework, making him refine pills to eat, even demanding the sweetness not exceed a certain level.

Isn't it reasonable for me to collect some compensation?! Isn't it reasonable to recharge my game and buy a membership?!

Slap!

"Ahh!" Emperor Yufeng shrieked as another smack landed on his buttocks.

This is what a difference looks like!

Zhongli taught and then dismissed class—no homework, and when tired, you could rest; sometimes he even joked, always gentle and kind.

He even took him into town to stroll, satisfying his curiosity.

"Enough punishment," Zhongli said, lifting Emperor Yufeng high. "I'll take you into town later—but you must promise to cultivate hard during this time."

"Mm-hmm! The Great Lord promises you!" Emperor Yufeng nodded eagerly like a chick pecking rice, his expression utterly adorable.

"You coddle him too much," Su Lin tapped Zhongli's Immortal Source, ignoring Emperor Yufeng's grimacing face. "This brat is born just like the Black Emperor—needs at least ninety years of quality moral education to correct."

"Education must balance strictness and leniency," Zhongli smiled. "Emperor Yufeng, absorb your Immortal Source quickly and emerge—or you won't get good food in Teyvat."

"Don't worry, the Great Lord will break free next month—no, the month after!" Emperor Yufeng declared confidently.

The divine child Emperor Yufeng had to admit: though these guys were uneven in strength and utterly vile, their ability to freely traverse countless worlds had undeniable merits.

The teachings were decent enough, but what Emperor Yufeng craved most were Su Lin's other supreme arts.

Though young, his mind was crystal clear.

This Su Lin, the Su Zongzhu, surely hadn't revealed all his supreme arts—just the aura he displayed in this world could crush the Great Sage into collapse.

With such power, if we spoke not of duty but of enjoyment, Emperor Yufeng would gladly become his disciple.

Once he learned all of Su Lin's skills, heh heh heh—he'd assign him a nine-thousand-year curriculum and make the bastard attend class every single day!

And that boy who cut him out of the stone, and that girl—both would serve tea and water daily to the Supreme Emperor Yufeng.

You haven't even grown a single hair yet and think you can take me, Emperor Yufeng, as your disciple?!

I can suppress them with a single gesture! Let them come serve as my disciples—wah-kah-kah!

Slap!

"Evil bastard, what are you doing?!" Emperor Yufeng complained, annoyed at being interrupted from plotting his grand future. "Keep bullying me like this, and I'll suppress you someday!"

"Want your phone? Fine, I'll take it back." Su Lin pretended to retract it.

"Master, I'm sorry!" Emperor Yufeng waved his chubby little hands. "I'll bring you a whole bunch of pretty girls to take care of you in your old age~!"

Su Lin released control, and Emperor Yufeng regained command over external forces.

Two golden little hands coalesced in midair, snatched the phone, and began expertly operating it.

'Someone might think I corrupted him,' Su Lin thought silently, letting out a long sigh inside—he had zero moral compass.

He summoned a teleportation gate, conjured a casual outfit of short sleeves and shorts, and slightly altered his appearance.

Zhongli did the same, and cast a illusion on Emperor Yufeng, making him appear as a mere three- or four-year-old child, playing with a phone in his arms.

The Immortal Source and the golden hands vanished.

"Hey, why can't I log into my account?" Emperor Yufeng asked, confused. "Did you change my password?"

"Why would I change your password?" Su Lin frowned, correcting him. "I sold the account. After deducting your unauthorized recharges, the remaining 2900 yuan counts as civil settlement compensation."

Su Lin spoke as if it were a trivial matter, but in Emperor Yufeng's eyes, it was the collapse of his bridge to his little fan-girls.

"I'll fight you to the death!!!"

——————

In a residential neighborhood in China, inside a home.

A 200-jin rough-looking man turned on his voice modulator and logged in at the scheduled time.

He wasn't actually bad—he just used the voice modulator to slack off, never expecting the friend he'd added recently was absurdly strong, reacting and strategizing as if he were hanging the opponent upside down and beating them.

"Is Xiao Feng there? ~ Yeah, yeah, it's Jiao Mei~"

"Hehe, Brother Feng, I've been waiting for you so long."

On the other side of the internet, a college student who was watching "Animal World" while practicing voice impersonation clearly froze.

When he bought this account, he had prepared for everything, intending to leverage men's vanity to maintain the account's rank.

No one understands men better than men!

But what is this situation? Did the account owner used to escort girls?

"Can we turn on the microphone today? I've always wanted to hear your voice, Brother Feng."

The other person's voice was almost melting into his bones.

"I," he spoke, using his impersonated voice—a slightly cold, elegant female tone.

The rough man was stunned; he couldn't believe the person who had guided him for so long was a girl.

"You"

"You"

Both spoke at once, then fell silent.

"Let me absorb this round!" x2

The word "fate" is wonderfully inexplicable.

It was truly a torment: during the day, he felt as weak as if drained, sluggish; at night, his head began to ache, his throat itched uncontrollably, and he coughed for three straight days, using six packs of tissues. His symptoms were indeed milder than the first time—just slightly milder. At least this time there was no bone pain or chills; perhaps it was due to the variant?

If you haven't had a second infection, still be careful when going out.

(End of Chapter)