Chapter 1: Dao Friend, Do You Want a Succubus? [New Book, Seeking Collection]

Posing as a villain, only to be exposed face-to-face by someone who knows him.

Is there anything more embarrassing than this?

Surprise, panic, embarrassment, confusion, regret, and shame—all complex emotions—flashed across Jingyao’s face.

"It's you, An Yao, fellow Daoist!" Jingyao’s countless words finally dissolved into a sigh—the sigh of a man with nothing left to live for.

Xuanqing felt the other man was nearly shattered.

“Still need more practice,” Xuanqing murmured—he wasn’t referring to Jingyao’s pit-digging skills, but his sheer thickness of skin.

Fellow time-travelers know that as a primordial deity, one rarely dies permanently; there are always chances to start over.

This pit-digging failed; just be more careful next time.

No matter what, one’s skin must be thick—never as earnest as Jingyao is right now.

So earnest he’s practically falling apart, yet still came in his true form to greet me.

Watching Jingyao solidify from void to form, his outline sharpening visibly, Xuanqing confirmed: this was his true body, directly arriving.

Wearing a star-adorned crown, stepping on cloud-soled shoes, draped in purple aura and auspicious clouds, left hand holding a jade slip, right hand resting on the Seven-Star Precious Sword.

Clearly, Jingyao, the Purple Qi Supreme, had come dressed for the occasion.

“Why are you here?” Jingyao forced calmness as he looked at Xuanqing, striving to avoid recalling what had just happened.

“I came for the meeting,” Xuanqing answered naturally.

Jingyao’s face stiffened, whispering: “But this is the Southern Celestial Star Domain—Taiwei Yuan lies to the north.”

Xuanqing nodded: “I know. I figured everyone hadn’t arrived yet, so I just wandered the stars casually.”

【So… so casual. Definitely An Yao.】 Jingyao couldn’t help mentally grumbling.

The vastness of the Honghuang land equals the vastness of the Zhou Tian starry sky.

Xuanqing’s “casual stroll” was no less than wandering from the Northern Abyss to the Southern Sea.

Not only that—he’d precisely “caught” me within this immense starry expanse, filled with countless traps.

Was this intentional or accidental?

Seeing the other’s pained expression, Xuanqing guessed what he was thinking—and chose not to explain.

Instead, he asked: “You said you were short on materials for alchemy? Have you been researching any new formulas lately?”

“Of course!” Jingyao suddenly lifted his head, eyes gleaming.

Mentioning alchemy instantly transformed him—his previously tense face now beamed with radiant joy.

He straightened his posture, lips curling, head held high, speaking with supreme confidence: “The Nine Heavens, Ten Lands, Thousand Spirits, Ten Thousand Transformations, Supreme Great Soul Pill.”

“What?”

“The name—the new pill’s name!”

Jingyao beamed, explaining: “‘Nine Heavens, Ten Lands’ refers to the ingredients, ‘Thousand Spirits, Ten Thousand Transformations’ to its effects, ‘Supreme’ to its quality—and as for ‘Great Soul Pill’—”

He paused slightly, his gaze flicking toward Xuanqing, almost imperceptibly: “—‘Great Soul Pill’ can serve as a shorthand!”

Great Soul Pill is Great Soul Pill—why are you staring at me like that?

Accustomed to Jingyao’s inexplicable mischief, Xuanqing didn’t even bother correcting him.

Seeing Xuanqing silent, Jingyao pretended calmness and continued: “The ‘Nine Heavens, Ten Lands’ I need aren’t the real heavens and earth—they’re two of the Three Souls!”

“The Heaven Soul and Earth Soul dwell outside the body; only the Life Soul remains within. The Heaven and Earth Souls of deities are often in a state of wandering—my Great Soul Pill requires nine strands of Heaven Soul and ten strands of Earth Soul as ingredients, so I left a mark here using the Falling Soul Bell, planning to catch a few unlucky souls. But I didn’t expect…”

“Didn’t expect to run into me?”

“Yes.” Jingyao gave a sheepish smile, recalling the earlier incident and feeling a pang of guilt, so he offered compensation:

“A few days ago, I refined a batch of Zhou Tian series pills…”

Before Jingyao could finish, Xuanqing’s expression changed—he recoiled in alarm, raising his hand urgently:

“Stop, stop! Your pills are even less reliable than my spiritual treasures—I won’t touch them. If you want test subjects, find another deity!”

In other matters, Jingyao wouldn’t argue—but when it came to his alchemy, he immediately protested.

He retorted: “How can you slander a deity’s reputation so baselessly? Alchemy isn’t unreliable—it’s got side effects!”

“All medicine carries some poison—that’s the rule. Taking pills inevitably brings unpredictable side effects—isn’t that reasonable?”

“Yin and Yang together form the Dao; fortune and misfortune always follow each other—this is the principle of the Great Dao!”

Xuanqing remained unmoved—he’d seen too many accidents caused by pills to believe him.

Once, Jingyao refined a batch of Zhou Tian Wan Xiang Pills, claiming one pill would gather the power of all Zhou Tian phenomena, granting extraordinary advantage in battle.

A fellow Daoist used it in battle—and summoned ten thousand primordial divine elephants.

The opponent was instantly crushed—but the Daoist nearly got crushed too.

The second example? Still that same Daoist.

After that incident, he received compensation from Jingyao: a Supreme Clone Pill, promised to grant a unique clone technique unmatched in Honghuang.

But the moment he swallowed it, he shattered into four pieces—his body splitting into four hundred eighty million fragments.

Had he not been a primordial deity with immense vitality, and had Jingyao not rushed to rescue him, stuffing all four hundred eighty million divine fragments back into the alchemy furnace to reshape him, the consequences would’ve been catastrophic.

Seeing Jingyao’s righteous indignation, fierce demeanor, and clear intent to force the pills upon him, Xuanqing considered his “track record” and said: “Do you have any Divine Cherry Wood?”

Jingyao blinked: “Divine Cherry Wood? I do have some…”

“Perfect—I need it. If you really want to give something, just give me a piece of Divine Cherry Wood.” Xuanqing sighed in relief.

“Fine.” Jingyao reached into his sleeve, pulled out a branch, and handed it to Xuanqing.

Xuanqing took it, smiling: “Then I’ve gathered most of my alchemy materials.”

“What spiritual treasure are you planning to forge now?” Jingyao asked curiously—within Taiwei Yuan, Xuanqing was famed for his forging.

His creations were known for their novelty.

Useful, yes—but their side effects were bizarre, sometimes no better than his pills.

“I just had a sudden inspiration.”

Xuanqing flicked his fingers, calculated the timing, and casually pulled Jingyao onto the Bridge of Time.

A brilliant silver light streaked across the starry night.

“By the way, take this.”

Xuanqing tossed a wooden box.

“What’s this?” Jingyao caught it.

Xuanqing offhandedly said: “A few unlucky souls’ Earth Souls—picked up right outside my door.” Though reincarnation hadn’t yet emerged in this age, and the You Ming World wasn’t yet the final resting place for all beings, collecting a few fragmented souls from the Wang Chuan River was still simple.

"For Heaven Souls, you might want to talk to Yue Yao, fellow Daoist."

"Yue Yao?" Jingyao paused, nearly blurting out: "Does Yue Yao, fellow Daoist’s doorstep also grow souls?"

Xuanqing laughed heartily: “Of course it does! How could it not?”

He gazed upward at the bright moon in the Nine Heavens—the right eye of Pan Gu, equal in stature to the Sun God Star—countless deities had long sought to explore its depths.

But the Moon Goddess was no one to be trifled with.

Not to mention the Tai Yin Star was still guarded by the residual might of Pan Gu’s Dao.

Xuanqing was certain countless deities lay dead in the spacetime beyond the Tai Yin Star.

Beside him, Jingyao thought for a moment, then joined in the laughter.

Outside Taiwei Yuan, a golden light sliced through the night sky from the west, seventy thousand li wide, radiating supreme martial might.

“You two arrived early!”

A radiant primordial deity, cradling a Geng Metal Longsword, gave a slight nod to Xuanqing and Jingyao as a greeting.

“We’re nearby.”

Xuanqing and Jingyao spoke in unison—lying through their teeth.

“Really?” Jin Yang, the Supreme White Emperor, arched an eyebrow, unconvinced.

Ji Du Star and Zi Qi Star aren’t even in the same direction—what kind of “nearby” is this?

Xuanqing glanced at Jin Yang’s direction—undoubtedly the Tai Bai Star.

He exchanged a look with Jingyao.

【This guy’s faking it well.】

Just as Ji Du Star had no Ji Du Supreme, Zi Qi Star had no Zi Qi Supreme.

On their first meeting, both Xuanqing and Jingyao knew instantly the other was using a low-level avatar.

Likewise, Jin Yang, the White Emperor’s true body was certainly not among the Zhou Tian Star Deities.

Or rather—there were hardly any genuine star deities in Taiwei Yuan; they were all just here for fun!

“Let’s go—the others are almost here.” Jingyao noticed several streaks of light approaching Taiwei Yuan from the chaos, and gently urged them on.

“Alright!”

As the three entered Taiwei Yuan together, spacetime twisted.

Dong~~

The silent starry curtain emitted a soft sound, like a single droplet falling into a deep pool—ripples of time rippled outward.

In an instant, heaven and earth inverted, the eight directions reversed, stars and landscapes shifted.

The three deities stood side by side, strolling calmly across the boundary between void and reality.

“It seems three of you arrived first again.”

A light laugh reached the ears of the deities. Xuanqing looked up—the boundless chaos churned, and in an instant, ineffable Dao and principles wove through the void, dazzling the cosmos; a single hair-thin ray of light could fill the entire universe.

Countless rules formed a vast dome overhead, with eleven ancient stars circling above, radiating the infinite might of the Great Dao.

In the blink of an eye, Xuanqing and the others stood within a grand, ancient hall.

“Again, we’re the earliest?” Jingyao looked at the two sides of the long table in the hall—ten seats were empty.

Only the seat at the head glowed like the full moon, where a goddess sat quietly, gazing at them.

Supreme Moonlight Yin.

The presiding officer of this session of the Taiwei Yuan.

“Why is everyone so unenthusiastic about meetings?” Xuanqing sighed, shaking his head. “I deliberately arrived right on time—and yet I’m still the first here?”

“Next time, I’ll just leave my sword at Taiwei Yuan and let it attend the meeting for me.”

His form vanished from where he stood, and the next instant he appeared in the second seat to the left of Supreme Moonlight Yin.

“You’ll be the next Lord of Taiwei Yuan—surely you don’t mean to let Jidu Sword preside over the meeting?” Jin Yao Tai Bai reminded him, then walked to the second seat on the right.

“Do you think Yin Yao will show up this time?”

[Jingyao Ziqi Supreme]’s seat was third from the left; he glanced at the seat on the far left, representing [Yin Yao Luo Hou], “Yin Yao has missed three meetings in a row.”

“He mentioned once—he’s going up the River of Time to witness the grand spectacle of Creation. Won’t be back anytime soon.”

Xuanqing recalled: Luo Hou had once invited him to go along.

Yes, that’s right—this Luo Hou was the Ancestor of the Demon Dao.

Back then, when Xuanqing had nothing better to do and gathered everyone to found Taiwei Yuan, he happened to encounter the Demon Ancestor, who was traveling through the starry heavens.

Since he was already here, the Demon Ancestor casually seized a star, named it Luo Hou Star, and joined Taiwei Yuan.

At the time, Xuanqing had fallen silent for a long while—why would the Demon Ancestor use his real name online?

“Yin Yao wants to see the grand spectacle of Creation? More like the spectacle of getting his head cracked open!” The Sunlight Supreme, seated to the left of Tai Bai, suddenly appeared, having just overheard Xuanqing’s words.

He couldn’t help but scoff: “Yin Yao’s gotten too full of himself—does he think Pangu Grand God can’t be cracked open? What if the Creation Axe just slices down along the timeline? We’re all done for!”

“Creation Axe? Where’s the Creation Axe?” A deity in a deep blue robe appeared in the fourth seat on the right.

Chenxing Supreme grinned: “If you’re looking for the Creation Axe, don’t forget to bring me along!”

The gods: “...”

Seeing no one speak, Chenxing Supreme flashed to the first seat on the left and gave Xuanqing an exaggerated wink.

Xuanqing, seeing this, slightly turned his body.

Chenxing Supreme immediately leaned in, whispering mysteriously: “Dark Yao, want a succubus?”

Xuanqing: “...”

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Several gods’ eyes glowed.

Wow~

They’d just heard something incredible!

Note 1 [Eleven Great Radiances]: The Seven Luminaries and Four Residues. The Seven Luminaries: Sun, Moon, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth. The Four Residues: Luo Hou, Ji Du, Zi Qi, Yue Bie.

Originally, the Four Residues were all classified as [Yin Yao], but in this adaptation: Yin Yao Luo Hou, Dark Yao Ji Du, Jingyao Zi Qi, Xu Yao Yue Bie.

Note 2 [Taiwei Yuan]: The Upper Three Enclosures, the mythical palace where the Heavenly Emperor conducts state affairs—the administrative center of the entire Celestial Realm.

Please note.

The author’s previous novel inherited some of these concepts—it’s 2 million words long, with a rather peculiar tone; friends interested may want to check it out.

(End of Chapter)