Chapter 421: Extra Four: Yunxu Dreams of Lingxiang's Fading (Part Two)

Xiaolongzi was still lost in thought when he saw a group of immortal boys, in twos and threes, scrambling toward the main hall, chattering away as if arguing about something.

In the past, Xiaolongzi certainly would not have joined in the excitement, but perhaps having seen so many interesting things in the mortal world, this time he broke precedent and followed them.

After all, he was still a Doushuai Palace attendant, wasn't he? What if there was some good fortune to be had?

Xiaolongzi made excuses for himself while squeezing into the main hall with the crowd.

In the main hall, Laojun sat cross-legged, eyes closed and silent, with the two attendants Jinling and Yinling serving at his sides.

Seeing that almost everyone had arrived, the two, Jinling and Yinling, exchanged a glance and immediately stated the reason for summoning everyone.

It turned out that Laojun was recently going to refine a furnace of immortal medicine; this medicine was extremely rare and had to be refined using the Three Talents Array. Because of this, the two of them were unable to spare themselves and needed to select another person from among the attendants to carefully watch the furnace fire.

This was a rare, great opportunity; if the immortal medicine were successfully refined, one might be able to become a main hall attendant just like Jinling and Yinling.

If one could become a main hall attendant, one would possess an immortal status, and it would be hard to say what might happen regarding attaining the Dao and the Conferment of the Gods in the future.

It was no wonder the group of attendants was racking their brains; Xiaolongzi curled his lip, his head drooping again, looking utterly dejected.

Xiaolongzi was not keen on becoming a god or an immortal; he felt his current life was quite good and there was really no need to fight for anything, even if he remained a sweeping attendant for his whole life, it wouldn't matter.

Hearing what the two, Jinling and Yinling, said, the group of attendants perked up, looking solemn and righteous, each appearing as if no one but themselves could handle the task.

By comparison, Xiaolongzi stood out quite a bit, sitting there with a sullen look, appearing completely indifferent to the matter.

Jinling and Yinling exchanged a helpless glance: this chore was truly not easy to handle!

But in the end, the chore still fell on Xiaolongzi's head...

In the words of Jinling and Yinling, Xiaolongzi was usually too lazy and it was time for him to settle his mind.

Xiaolongzi did not say a word, but how could he have guessed that this was a pretext Jinling and Yinling had racked their brains to come up with.

Thus, after three days of sitting in meditation to calm his mind, Xiaolongzi still unwillingly entered the Spirit-Refining room.

It was called watching the furnace fire, but that wasn't entirely accurate; most of the time, he just fanned it casually to fool around.

The Eight Trigrams Furnace used the Six Dings Divine Fire, which was mostly controlled by Laojun himself, with the two attendants Jinling and Yinling assisting on the sides.

And what Xiaolongzi needed to do was mostly adding materials; when to put in what was all instructed by Jinling and Yinling.

So the chore was not very difficult.

But it was very boring.

So Xiaolongzi, as a matter of course, was going to space out again.

But every time this happened, it was either Jinling ordering him to add some firewood, or Yinling reminding him what medicine to add; in any case, they would never let Xiaolongzi be idle.

Watching the furnace fire in the past hadn't been this troublesome; why were there things to do everywhere today?

Just as Xiaolongzi was about to zone out again in disbelief, Laojun suddenly spoke.

"The time has come..."

A sentence like a low murmur, yet it made Xiaolongzi unexpectedly clear-headed.

The time? What time?

Laojun flicked his horsetail whisk, and the lid of the Eight Trigrams Furnace flew up; then, he raised his hand and sent it forward, and a green plant drifted toward the furnace.

It was Lingxiang!

Perhaps because it had left the soil, the Lingxiang looked less vibrant than before, yet it remained verdant, its scattered little flowers blooming wantonly, seemingly unaware of the fate about to befall it.

Watching the Lingxiang getting closer and closer to the Eight Trigrams Furnace, Xiaolongzi was stunned, not knowing what he was thinking.

Suddenly, with an inexplicable impulse, Xiaolongzi leaped up, grabbed the Lingxiang, and shielded it in his arms.

These were all things that happened in an instant; Laojun seemed not to have expected it either, and after reacting, his snow-white beard flew up into the air.

"Yunxu! What are you doing!"

Jinling and Yinling also came to their senses and shouted to stop him.

He had never seen Laojun like this before; he was clearly furious.

Xiaolongzi was startled, but he stammered and could not say why; he looked down at the Lingxiang, his expression firming up.

He still remembered Laojun once telling him that all plants and trees have spirits, and their final destination is to return to the dust and mud, and all things are the same.

But since it had spirit, it shouldn't be slaughtered so casually!

Xiaolongzi seemed to have made up his mind; he didn't know where the strength came from, but he broke through the hall door and rushed out.

Before leaving, he could still hear Laojun stamping his feet in the hall, but Xiaolongzi couldn't care about that anymore.

He didn't want Lingxiang to be refined!

Although he didn't know where this emotion came from, Laojun had once said: follow your original heart, then discuss attaining the Dao.

So he had to run, to take Lingxiang away from here.

The chaos in the main hall soon spread throughout the entire Doushuai Palace; the group of attendants heard the news and one after another joined the team to catch Xiaolongzi.

Xiaolongzi really had nowhere to hide, so taking advantage of the other attendants not paying attention, he hurriedly ran out of Doushuai Palace.

But he was still seen by Jinling and Yinling; the two shouted to catch him, and a group of people scrambled to chase after him.

If they caught him, that would be a great merit, and it would definitely be recorded in front of Laojun.

Xiaolongzi had never left Doushuai Palace, so how would he know where to run? In his panic, he didn't know how long he had been running when he actually arrived in front of a palace gate.

The plaque on the door read the three characters "Tianfu Palace"; it was the palace of Siming Star Lord. It was said that this was not a person to be trifled with!

Xiaolongzi hurriedly wanted to leave, but as soon as he turned his head, he saw Jinling and Yinling; with no other choice, he could only dash into Tianfu Palace.

Tianfu Palace was not like Doushuai Palace; it only had a main hall, a water pool, and three trees: one hung with Golden Leaf, one hung with jade leaves, and one hung with glazed leaves.

Those glazed leaves were like cicada wings, clinking and clanging with a few sparse pieces, their veins clearly visible.

If it were normal times, Xiaolongzi would definitely stop to watch, but now with people chasing behind him, how could he have the heart to care about these?

But there was nowhere to hide right now!

He couldn't just sneak into the main hall; if he met Siming Star Lord, wouldn't he just hand him over to Laojun?

Xiaolongzi was anxious to death here, but the people behind had already caught up, and Yinling even grabbed his robe.

Xiaolongzi steeled his heart, tore off his Outer Robe, leaped, and jumped into the pool water.

This frightened Yinling, who hurriedly called out to Xiaolongzi and made a show of wanting to fish him out, but Jinling stopped him.

"He has already jumped down, why bother with the act?"

Please... you.... collect 6... 9... the book....!

Yinling rubbed his nose in chagrin—it had been so hard to get such an opportunity, why wouldn't they let him perform?

The water of Tianfu Palace is called Zhuoguang Pool; this is no ordinary pool water, but is used by the gods of heaven to undergo tribulations and comprehend the Dao, and it is said that it connects to Zhuoguang Mountain in the lower realm.

Seeing Xiaolongzi sink, two divine lights flashed; it was Laojun and the Ziwei Emperor.

"Oh my, we finally tricked this child into going down." Before the Ziwei Emperor had even stood still, he spoke impatiently.

Laojun's expression was indifferent, completely devoid of the angry appearance he had just displayed in Doushuai Palace, and he merely picked up a leaf that had fallen to the ground.

It was a leaf of Lingxiang Grass.

It was likely rubbed off in his haste when Xiaolongzi struggled free just now.

Laojun sighed, his face showing compassion.

That Lingxiang Grass is truly pitiful!

"When you first brought Yunxu here, I was worried that his yang soul was incomplete and that he would end up foolish and unruly in the future; I did not expect you to find his taiguang soul and even bury it in my palace."

Laojun spoke with a sigh, but the Ziwei Emperor did not answer him, only looking into Zhuoguang Pool.

Xiaolongzi was precisely a wisp of a remnant soul that the Ziwei Emperor had brought to the upper realm from the Netherworld, and this wisp of a remnant soul was the soul of a descendant of the Human King Di Xin.

The concubine who was beheaded in Shang Palace was actually carrying twins, and one of them was Xiaolongzi.

After the Battle of Muye, the Ziwei Emperor foresaw the chaos of later generations and quietly sought out the Underworld, attempting to find the souls of the two children.

But alas, he had already relinquished control of the Underworld at that time and it was truly inconvenient to interfere too much, so later he only found one of them, which was Xiaolongzi.

This was likely the balance of the Heavenly Dao.

Just like the black and white of Taiji, where there is one there is two; the way of balance, among all things, all follow this law.

The wrath of the Human King must ultimately be resolved by the descendants of the Human King; how could others interfere recklessly? Otherwise, the chaos of the Shang-Zhou would repeat itself.

As for that stalk of Lingxiang Grass, it was the wisp of a yang soul that the Ziwei Emperor had spent great pains to find.

That is why Xiaolongzi always liked to sit under the Divine Tree in Doushuai Palace and stare blankly.

Fortunately, with the accumulation of time, the souls had long since merged into one.

It was just unexpected that the remaining remnant soul could transform into a fairy herb and even gain spiritual wisdom, which led to the current plan.

And the Ziwei Emperor truly did not misjudge him; Xiaolongzi was indeed kind-hearted, which naturally could not be separated from the subtle influence of Laojun's teaching.

"The path is obstructed and long!" The Ziwei Emperor also sighed helplessly.

Laojun held the leaf, pondered for a moment, then took out an object, dissolved the leaf into it, and threw it into Zhuoguang Pool.

That object was none other than the incense burner used as a medicine pot for Lingxiang.

Once the burner entered the water, it turned into a golden light and, following the place where Xiaolongzi had disappeared, flew rapidly toward the lower realm.

As soon as Xiaolongzi entered the water, he felt stifled beyond measure, yet even so, he still clutched the Lingxiang Grass tightly.

Just like this, he kept sinking... and sinking...

Until a golden light flashed, catching Xiaolongzi off guard and startling him, and the Lingxiang Grass slipped from his hand.

Xiaolongzi hurriedly tried to grab the Lingxiang Grass again, but the more panicked he became, the less he could grasp it.

Gradually, Xiaolongzi lost his strength.

Darkness descended, but a voice vaguely reached his ears:

"Yunxu, Yunxu, when you reach the lower realm, you must find me..."

Xiaolongzi did not know whose voice that was, only feeling that it was extremely pleasant, but he could no longer open his eyes; the sense of Chaos, like the water around his body, grew heavier... and heavier...

Several years later, in the Nanhua Long Family, a baby boy was born with a cry, and two years later, in the Xianyun Abode of Qingwei Peak, a cry of a child also rang out.

Two more leaves appeared on the tree in Tianfu Palace, one a jade leaf, the other a glazed leaf.

It was just strange that these two leaves actually overlapped, connecting the jade branch and the glazed branch together...

(End of this chapter)