Chapter 267

267. Chapter 267: Ao Xing's Current Situation and Transmission of the Dharma

Everyone gathered in Cloud Dream Marsh to feast and make merry; amidst the joy and delight of the crowd, Qi flicked his fingers, suddenly speaking up to interrupt the music of Taiyi and Nüwa, and all that was heard was Qi saying:

"Taiyi, Nüwa, it seems this feast must temporarily cease; having dwelt long in Cloud Dream Marsh, the time has now come for us to return."

Nüwa and Taiyi heard this, both slightly stunned; Taiyi furrowed his brows slightly and asked:

"Qi, what is the reason?"

Nüwa then spoke from the side:

"Qi, has something happened in the Heavenly Court? I haven't received any word from my elder brother."

Qi merely shook his head, dismissed the attendants, and only after the musicians and dancers on the field had all left did he begin to explain to them.

"We have dwelt in Cloud Dream Marsh for a long time; reckoning the time, Di Jun is about to emerge, after all, the Hongmeng Purple Qi I possess must be returned soon."

"Only a thousand years remain; it is just right that after we return we can rest a bit more, and when we awaken, Di Jun ought to have just finished his seclusion."

"If we continue to indulge here, delaying our return, we would seem overly eager and needlessly arouse suspicion among outsiders."

Qi also felt helpless about this; now that their statuses differ, if they tried to time their return, they would inevitably be seen by outsiders.

Di Jun's emergence from seclusion happened to coincide with the timing of the Immortal Court Assembly; if they were too eager, outsiders would surely gossip.

As for Yinglong's expulsion of Penglai Island, by then there would be no need to hide it or not; it would be plainly known to all beings of the Primordial, right above the Heavenly Court.

The Emperor's status gave them unparalleled authority, so that the beings of the Primordial dared not slight them.

But the Emperor's status also invisibly imposed many restrictions on them; authority also means duty and responsibility, so they must constantly be mindful that some of their actions could affect the Primordial.

Nüwa and Taiyi were also reasonable people; they would not quibble over this matter, although they felt it a pity, they merely said feignedly:

"It's fine; although ending the banquet early is a bit regrettable, we can still gather later, just at a different place."

Taiyi gave a light laugh, and Nüwa chimed in from beside him:

"That's exactly right; moreover, this time returning to the Heavenly Court, even more people will be able to meet, so let's consider it a celebration of Di Jun's emergence from seclusion, and we'll gather again then."

Qi thought for a moment and said: "It's not that urgent either; if you haven't had your fill, you two could keep drinking for a hundred years, but I still have matters to attend to and must go out, so I'll excuse myself for now."

"After waiting a hundred years, when my affairs are settled, it won't be too late for us to return together."

Qi did not mean he didn't want to return with them now; he intended to go check on Ao Xing to see how he was doing.

After all, the mother who bore him was indeed somewhat vicious; but Ao Xing cannot make that choice again, otherwise his innate talent is too poor, and wanting to achieve Grand Luo Golden Immortal, to unravel the mystery of the fetal stage would be too difficult.

Taiyi merely pondered briefly, then understood why Qi was so, and also felt that just the two of them drinking would be dull, so he asked:

"Is it for Ao Xing's sake? If so, we can go together."

"Although he is your disciple, he has also learned quite a few of my techniques, so there is some teacher‑bond between us; going to check on him would be perfectly fine."

Nüwa heard that name and was first startled, then realized who Ao Xing was.

Back when Ao Xing was still in Yunmze Marsh, the Great Dao he cultivated had little connection with Nüwa, and their relationship was the thinnest among everyone.

She emerged from seclusion a little late, and had not thought of this matter; after merely asking Fuxi about Qi's whereabouts, she hurriedly rushed to Yunmze Marsh.

But Nüwa merely thought it over, then said:

"Has Ao Xing already been reincarnated? Having met once, we share some affinity; going to take a look would be fine, otherwise drinking alone would seem overly lonely."

Qi paid no heed to their thoughts; willing to go, he would go, after all it would take no more than a hundred years to make the round trip, which is nothing.

Not to mention that for innate divinities this amount of time is nothing; even for ordinary mortals who have cultivated, it is nothing.

"Since everyone is willing to go, we might as well set off now; after all the wine has dispersed, Yunmze Marsh hasn't changed much, and we can go together."

As soon as Qi finished speaking, he saw rosy clouds flying in the distance, splendid and beautiful, and no longer thought of using an evasion technique; he summoned Bai Ling, plucked a wisp of cloud‑mist, and slowly drifted away.

Taiyi sat cross‑legged on the ox's head, watching the Primordial scenery slowly fade from before his eyes, and he felt rather comfortable.

But his unusual seating position made Bai Ling suffer a bit; he could only crane his neck so that the top of his head was parallel to his back.

After only two years of flight, Bai Ling could no longer endure it; he wasn't tired, but felt his neck stiff and awkward, so he involuntarily reminded: "Great God Taiyi, little ox I need to shift my posture; you might as well sit on the ox's horns, or hold them with your hands—that's also a fine spot for sightseeing."

Qi and Nüwa had long noticed Bai Ling's discomfort, but knowing it caused only a little discomfort and nothing else, they refrained from reminding him.

On the contrary, the two even made a bet, guessing how long Bai Ling could endure before he could not hold back and would remind Taiyi of his own discomfort.

Or how long it would take Taiyi to notice his own improper seating and then voluntarily move to the rear.

Taiyi glanced down at the ox's head, feigned hesitation, and said:

"I'm sitting quite comfortably here, so I don't really want to change seats."

Then he suddenly put on an act of sudden realization, feigning surprise: "Bai Ling, are you a bit tired and finding it hard to keep going? If not, I'll still move to the rear so you can relax, how about that?"

Bai Ling heard Taiyi actually say he couldn't, and immediately retorted:

"You're joking, Great God; how could Bai Ling not endure? I'm fine, please sit comfortably; Bai Ling is quite at ease, so 'enduring' isn't the right word."

Seeing Bai Ling still being stubborn, Qi and Taiyi Nüwa couldn't help but smile, and Nüwa deliberately teased:

"That's right; I think Bai Ling, in Yunmze Marsh and the Heavenly Court, daily gets plenty of divine fruits and spiritual water, having consumed more spiritual‑root fruits than outsiders see, so how could just two years make him tired?"

"Taiyi, what you just said was indeed a bit excessive; how could you look down on Bai Ling like that?"

Upon hearing Nüwa's words, Bai Ling's heart filled with heroic spirit; he raised his ox head high and proudly said: "Nüwa Great God, you jest; Bai Ling is merely a humble mount, fortunate to serve beneath the master's seat, and all favors I have received are thanks to the master."

"The master does not regard me as a servant, but treats me as a scholar, with surpassing kindness; Bai Ling has nothing to repay with but his strength."

"Now it's rare to have occasion to use me; Bai Ling is no ordinary mortal who neglects cultivation, yet only two years have passed—how could he be weary?"

"Please, two Great Gods, rest easy and sit as you wish; Bai Ling feels no fatigue at all, and it has no effect whatsoever."

Qi quietly watched this scene, finally understanding how Nüwa back then had toyed with Bai Ling until he collapsed unable to rise.

With that slightly fawning tone from Nüwa's mouth, given Bai Ling's simplicity, he would surely end up lying again by the pond, spitting white foam and helplessly struggling. But Qi also enjoyed watching them like that; after all, with Bai Ling's cultivation as a Grand Luo Golden Immortal, such a joke basically has no effect.

Qi even felt he could be more intense; he thought Bai Ling seemed to have grown several inches fatter since he first arrived at Yunmze Marsh.

Especially the fat on his back; Qi shifted his body slightly and felt as if he were sitting on a lump of grease.

The group flew upon the rosy clouds until they reached a certain great river, where Qi then had everyone stop.

Bai Ling immediately began constantly twisting his neck, while Qi and Taiyi Nüwa pretended not to notice, merely focusing their attention on the great river.

A white giant python constantly twisted its body on the riverbed, its thick form coiled around a giant deer several thousand zhang tall.

The white python continually contracted its muscles and bones, its fine scales in the sunlight forming a stark contrast with the murky river water.

Fine cracking sounds came from the giant deer's bones, and the lingering deer cries echoed, within which pain, sorrow, and fear were intertwined.

The white python contracted again with force, and the giant deer's beautiful antlers were easily broken in the python's grip.

This gave the white python a momentary surprise, its strength almost slackening, but unfortunately the giant deer had already lost its strength in the earlier struggle.

The previously shattered bones and organs prevented it from seizing this best chance to escape, and the deer's cries gradually grew weak.

Its watery eyes gradually dimmed, while Qi and the others watched silently from high above as the white python opened its ferocious maw and began trying to swallow the deer's head.

Qi and the others had no intention to intervene; even Bai Ling, who had grown up eating grass, felt nothing about it.

In long cultivation, understanding of the Great Dao and nature became ever clearer, and attitudes toward the passing of life grew ever more indifferent.

Over a long lifespan, sometimes even among kin with similar appearances, their minds had already become different.

The white python gradually swallowed the giant deer into its belly, and Qi noticed its scales seemed somewhat duller than when first seen.

In some subtle places, one could faintly detect healed wounds; although concealed by scales, the tiny scars were hard to erase completely.

Moreover, the python's tail seemed to have lost a segment, its tip slightly thick and round, unlike its former slender form.

It seems that during the years Qi returned to Yunmeng Ze, this white python that had devoured its elder brother (husband), having achieved unity of origin, had also not lived an easy life.

Even before the white python swallowed the giant deer, Qi noticed its abdomen slightly bulging, rounder and smoother than other parts.

Qi's eyes gathered divine light, piercing through the python's scales and flesh to directly see the snake eggs still gestating within.

Ao Xing's aura faintly revealed within; a dragon-like serpent creature had already formed in its belly, nearly ready to hatch from the snake eggs.

Nüwa's understanding of the Way of Creation allowed her to see at a glance the approximate time for Ao Xing's physical form to be completed; she said, "We have come early this time; according to this python's bloodline, Ao Xing's situation likely still requires ten thousand years before birth."

"As for hatching after birth, that is even more distant and uncertain, but snakes can also incubate within the body."

"Although this would somewhat hinder its own hunting and increase the burden, it is safer."

Qi nodded, indicating his agreement with Nüwa's judgment; he had come this time merely to confirm the other's condition before returning to the Heavenly Court.

Moreover, this white python's cultivation strength was indeed somewhat lacking; Qi worried it could not protect Ao Xing through the initial difficult period, hence this trip.

Last time Qi came, he forgot this matter; but now that he has thought of it, he will naturally make up for it.

Immersing his mind and spirit into the primordial twelfth-grade pure world white lotus, he gazed at the still-evolving Scripture of the White Lotus Pure World Universal Illumination of the Dao Beginning True, took a single character from it, and implanted it into the white python's body.

This character had not yet been definitively included in the scripture; it belonged to a discarded draft of the scripture written during the process by which the primordial twelfth-grade pure world white lotus derived the Great Dao.

However, it was not un cultivable; it was simply unsuitable for inclusion in the White Lotus Pure World Universal Illumination of the Dao Beginning True Scripture.

Qi had also contemplated this character, recalling that the scripture derived from it spoke of the creation and evolution of a vacuum world.

If one cultivates diligently and contemplates earnestly, with sufficient talent, one might even gain a slight chance to glimpse the Great Luo Dao Fruit through this scripture.

Placed in the primordial wilderness, it could still be considered a top-tier method, after all not all spiritual treasures go on to derive the Great Law of Heaven and Earth.

The vast majority are middle-low grade primordial spiritual treasures, whose interiors contain mostly sacrificial refining or battle combat cultivation divine abilities.

Moreover, most of them are not intuitive, requiring sincere contemplation; like the Tranquil Heart Bell, whose interior contains the sound of colliding pure and murky qi, which also counts as a divine ability technique.

However, it demands sincere contemplation, placing high demands on the talent and opportunity of its possessor; after all, even Qi had taken many detours early on.

The divine abilities contained in the Tranquil Heart Bell and the other few spiritual treasures, Qi had not discovered them initially either.

Having swallowed the giant deer whole, the white python's body became extremely bloated, then transformed into a Dao body, after which its movements became much more relaxed.

Wusheng gently stroked her enormously swollen abdomen with her hand, feeling that a life was gestating within her body.

Amidst her formerly merciless and cruel gaze, a rare tenderness and maternal feeling emerged, though the continual swelling sensation in her stomach made her quite uncomfortable.

"Child, when the time comes, please be born early; do not like your mother and father back then, who craved blood and essence, committed a grave error, and bore sin without knowing it."

"Your father regarded you as the most important goal of his life, unwilling to wager against your mother over it, only to be outmatched by a notch and finally devoured by your mother."

"If someday someone asks who your father is, I only hope you will not blame your mother; between me and your father, one of us will ultimately meet such a fate."

"What the mother did was merely self-preservation."

Wusheng murmured to the children of the affiliated middle school, her body gradually sinking into the water; as she had just returned to her cave dwelling, a streak of flowing light came at her, and she fell into a dazed state.

Far above, Qi saw that the Dharma had already been transmitted down, and his heart grew much more at ease.

Moreover, he saw a white lotus swaying at the entrance of his cave dwelling, a clear and lucent spiritual light covering the whole space, separating the water at the riverbed.

This both allowed Wusheng's cave dwelling to be hidden, beyond ordinary calculation, and added a layer of protection amidst the turbulent river.

Having confirmed Ao Xing's condition, Qi no longer lingered, taking Nüwa and Taiyi as he flew toward the Heavenly Court.

Meanwhile, Wusheng in her sleep seemed to behold the Great Dao, feeling joy descend from heaven as a lofty master transmitted the Dao to her.

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