Chapter 509: As Expected of Me, a Genius Among Geniuses

A rainy night.

Bai Suzhen would come to check on Tang An every day, and those memories and emotions that did not originally belong to her were gradually eroding her Consciousness Sea.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

She wore a veil because she had caught a cold and did not want to pass the illness to Tang An.

But when she entered with a basin of hot water, she discovered that Tang An was gone from the bed.

"Miss Tang?"

"Miss Tang?"

Bai Suzhen set down the water basin and looked around, but she did not see Tang An's figure.

At this very moment, Tang An was actually on the roof.

She had already woken up and knew what had happened during this time. She even knew that Bai Suzhen's recent physical weakness, as well as the weakness of Tang Zhenzhu's soul, were caused by the repulsion of two different fates.

In order to awaken her, she had nearly harmed two people at once.

"Master, since you have woken up, why do you need to hide from her?" Sun Wukong was puzzled.

The rain around them could not touch them at all, and Tang An's gaze remained fixed on Bai Suzhen.

"I don't know how to face her, and I'm afraid that Mother's soul will attach to her again, once more damaging both of their fates."

She feared that Tang Zhenzhu's death might have been caused by this very repulsion of fates, leading to her passing away in the hospital after giving birth to her.

"Cough, cough..."

Tang An coughed up some black blood; it was the internal injuries that had accumulated in her body.

Now, she did not know what she should do, where she should go, or what she should do.

After all, she had calmed down now, and with Tang Zhenzhu awakening her through maternal love, her self-destructive mindset was clearly not as intense.

It was just that, correspondingly, she felt somewhat lost.

She was very tired, did not know what to do, and did not want to do anything. She was in a state of neither sorrow nor joy, neither resentment nor hatred.

"Big Sister, why don't you take us back to your home, and we can live in seclusion?" Jiuyue was held in Tang An's arms, having not yet transformed into human form.

This was only because Xu Xian had said that small, furry animals could alleviate a person's negative emotions and bring better energy, being gentle and healing to the heart.

"Mm." Nezha felt Jiuyue's suggestion was good. "Don't worry about the affairs of the Three Realms anymore; if the sky falls, the Saints will hold it up. You should get some good rest."

Tang An remained silent; she saw Bai Suzhen open an umbrella and head out.

"Don't follow me; I want to go for a walk alone."

She followed Bai Suzhen, but since she was carrying Jiuyue, it didn't really count as being alone.

Bai Suzhen walked through the heavy rain; the rain was so intense that it easily soaked her clothes.

Tang An cast a spell to keep the raindrops from touching Bai Suzhen.

"Miss Tang!"

"Miss Tang, where are you?"

"Your body has only just recovered; you must not catch a chill."

"Miss Tang!"

Bai Suzhen walked through every street and alley. After Xu Xian learned that Bai Suzhen had gone out to look for someone, he had both children go out to search as well.

The two little brats from back then, who were Wenwu Quxing, had now grown into adults. One was preparing for the imperial examinations to pursue an official career, while the other planned to go to the military camp to gain experience, aiming to achieve great military glory in the future.

Tang An watched their family of four, watched the rain flowers on the umbrella, the rain flowers on the ground, and the dark clouds in the sky, as well as the Mingyue above the dark clouds.

"Cultivation, tempering, becoming an immortal, undergoing Tribulation. Then reincarnating as a human, undergoing Tribulation again, a lifetime of cultivation, and returning to a divine position after death."

"Humans, gods, ghosts, monsters, demons, Saints, Heavenly Dao, Great Dao."

"Establishing rules, controlling rules, being bound by rules."

"Determining the fate of all living beings, using all living beings as chess pieces, is that not also using oneself as the chessboard?"

At this moment, Tang An stood still in place, her eyes reflecting only the falling rain. Yet, it was as if the scene were playing in reverse, with the rain returning to the sky.

"Big Sister, why don't we tell them and ask them to stop looking?"

"Big Sister?"

Jiuyue only then realized that Tang An had entered a state of self-less enlightenment, so she did not disturb her, instead nestling obediently in Tang An's arms, waiting for her to reach enlightenment.

As for Bai Suzhen's family, Sun Wukong and the others stepped forward to inform them that Tang An was safe, so they would not look for her anymore.

But Tang An did not return, and Bai Suzhen waited at home, sleepless for the entire night.

At the same time, Tang An's figure had already vanished, leaving Jiuyue in place, looking bewildered.

Of course, Tang An did not know where she had appeared either; she could only see that the space around her was chaotic, and she stepped with one foot on the white path of life and the other on the black path of death.

That path seemed to have no end, yet it also seemed as if the end were right before her eyes, only a few steps away.

And with every step Tang An took, as her foot rose and fell, ripples of the Yin and Yang phenomena emerged.

"The moon rising is the moon setting; the sun rising is dusk."

"Rain falling is life; landing is death. Death becomes life, nourishing all things in heaven and earth, cycling endlessly."

"Life is death, death is life; life flows on, inheriting the past and opening the future."

The path beneath Tang An's feet, from clearly defined Yin and Yang, gradually formed a Great Dao where they merged into one.

"Yin and Yang in opposition, Yin and Yang in transformation, Yin and Yang in harmony."

"One gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, three gives birth to all things. All things carry Yin and embrace Yang, and through the blending of Qi, they achieve harmony."

At this moment, she no longer clung to the bitterness in her heart, but instead understood the Great Dao, and her heart became perfectly clear.

When she opened her eyes again, all the hidden injuries in her body had healed, and her cultivation realm had risen from the Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal Early Stage to the Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal Late Stage.

Overnight, she had seen through life and death, understood the Yin and Yang Great Dao, and her cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds.

"As expected of me, I truly am a genius among geniuses."

The slyness in her eyes had not retreated, yet there was now a subtle sense of transcendence capable of encompassing all things.

Originally, she had thought she had walked into a dead end, but when she had a sudden enlightenment regarding life and death and was no longer fixated on a single thought, she discovered that the Great Dao before her was a smooth, forward-moving path.

Many problems that were previously unsolvable were now, before her eyes, easily resolved.

Baohe Hall.

By the time Tang An returned, it was already the evening of the following day.

Bai Suzhen looked toward the entrance of Baohe Hall from time to time, hoping that Tang An would return safely.

As for Sun Wukong and the others, they also could not find where Tang An had gone, but after hearing the sequence of events described by Jiuyue, they felt reassured, so they had been waiting here for Tang An to return.

"I'm back!"

Tang An appeared at the entrance of Baohe Hall, with something resembling a thick rope dragged over her shoulder.

When Bai Suzhen saw clearly that what Tang An was holding was the tail of a white snake, she let out a startled cry and nearly fell over.

Fortunately, Xu Xian was quick-witted and fast-handed, catching her.

"Tsk, I was just thinking I was hungry, and someone serves up dog food."

"Miss Tang, this is..."

"I was craving it, wanted to eat snake soup. It just so happened that on the way back, I ran into a snake demon stirring up trouble and nearly causing a flood, so I dealt with it while I was at it."

"If you ask me, that monk is truly incompetent; he doesn't even know the Great Might Heavenly Dragon, so what kind of demon could he catch with a broken spittoon..."

A broken spittoon? Can that thing be called a spittoon?

Fine, that's not important.

Tang An muttered to herself about her battle achievements until Nezha walked over quickly, threw the snake away, and pulled Tang An into his embrace.

Tang An smiled faintly and patted Nezha's back, "Don't worry, I'm fine."

"However..."

"However what?" Nezha nervously let go of Tang An, thinking she was injured and wanting to check the extent of her wounds.

Of course, he was simply worried and therefore flustered; for a snake demon to be able to injure her, that would be a joke.

Tang An looked Nezha up and down, clearly calculating some little scheme.

"What... are you doing?" Nezha felt guilty under her gaze and took two small steps back.