HDFFIL Chapter 2

Getting a divorce right after getting married — in the modern world, this was called a flash marriage; in the Primordial Era, it was called not giving Heavenly Dao any face.

Neither Fang Cangwu nor Yuanshi wanted to give Heavenly Dao face. So after Yuanshi helped the unconscious Tongtian up, he looked over at Fang Cangwu, who was standing not far away staring blankly at the dragon-bone spear in his hands, and said, “This all happened rather abruptly. I imagine you’re no more willing than we are. Why don’t you wait here on Kunlun Mountain for Tongtian to wake up, and we can settle this matter then.”

Yuanshi’s words toward Fang Cangwu were fairly polite. After all, the Dragon Clan had once been the overlords of the Primordial Era — though they had fallen from that position, a centipede doesn’t go limp when it dies, and even a wrecked ship still has three pounds of nails. So Yuanshi had no desire to make an enemy of Fang Cangwu.

Fang Cangwu put away the dragon-bone spear, looked at Yuanshi, and gave a nod. “Very well.”

With that, he quietly let out a breath of relief. Good — protective as Yuanshi was, he hadn’t come after him for knocking Tongtian out cold.

On the other side, Yuanshi looked down at the unconscious Tongtian, his brow drawing into a deep furrow. That dragon prince had only just been born, and his cultivation was no higher than that of a Golden Immortal. Even accounting for the dragon-bone spear — forged from the Ancestor Dragon’s spine and the merit of the Dragon Clan suppressing the Eastern Sea — it shouldn’t have been enough to knock out Tongtian, who had already reached the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm.

The more Yuanshi thought about it, the more convinced he became that Tongtian was utterly without discipline — two full cultivation stages above his opponent, and he still got knocked unconscious. When Tongtian woke up, Yuanshi was going to force him into closed-door cultivation, no arguments.

While Yuanshi was mulling over exactly how to drag Tongtian off into seclusion, Fang Cangwu followed along into the inner reaches of Kunlun Mountain. Seeing spiritual plants and auspicious beasts at every turn, he couldn’t help but acknowledge that Kunlun Mountain — being the very heart of Pangu — was truly a place of concentrated spiritual grace. The Three Pure Ones, who had been born here, were all the more cherished by both Pangu and the Heavenly Dao.

When Fang Cangwu followed Yuanshi into the formation array that Pangu had left behind to guard the Three Pure Ones, a chill swept through him. He immediately understood: within this array, anyone who meant harm to the Three Pure Ones would be struck down by the Heavenly Dao on the spot.

No wonder the Three Pure Ones are so beloved by Heaven and Earth, he thought.

“Please, make yourself comfortable here for a moment.” With that, Yuanshi hurried off, carrying Tongtian, and stepped into another formation — disappearing from sight.

After Yuanshi left, a crane-turned-attendant brought Fang Cangwu spirit fruits and spring water. Fang Cangwu glanced around once, then settled himself onto a meditation cushion and closed his eyes.

****

On the other side, Yuanshi had barely carried the unconscious Tongtian into the cave dwelling before he spotted Laozi sitting there with perfect composure — as though he hadn’t heard a single word about the whole Dao companion affair.

“Elder Brother,” Yuanshi said, unable to hold back. “Tongtian has formed a Dao companion bond with that dragon prince. Aren’t you even a little worried?”

At last, Laozi emerged from his meditation. He looked at Yuanshi and let out a sigh. “Just let things take their course.”

Laozi cultivated the path of non-action, believing one should not interfere with the natural flow of things. So Heavenly Dao binding Tongtian to a Dao companion didn’t trouble him the way it troubled Yuanshi.

Yuanshi seethed at the reply. He held Tongtian up by his collar and snapped, “Let things take their course — let things take their course! He just got knocked out by a Golden Immortal! And you want to let that take its course? I’m half afraid he’ll forget how to read the Huangting Classic altogether.”

“What?” Laozi stared at the unconscious Tongtian in disbelief, every trace of his earlier serenity evaporating in an instant.

Yuanshi laid Tongtian down on the cloud-bed, his expression dripping with disdain. “Knocked out by his own Dao companion. Hurry up and wake him — then we’re having him dissolve the bond with that dragon prince.”

Laozi immediately went to Tongtian’s side, took his wrist, and began checking his condition. When he finally set Tongtian’s hand down, his expression was deeply complicated.

A Daluo Golden Immortal, knocked senseless by a Golden Immortal. That would be a laughingstock anywhere.

“When he wakes and dissolves the bond with the dragon prince, I’m sending him straight into closed-door cultivation,” Yuanshi said, brow furrowed, in a tone that left no room for argument.

Laozi sighed in resignation. He had never quite approved of how Yuanshi managed Tongtian — and yet, now, he said nothing in Tongtian’s defense.

Without another word, the two of them began channeling spiritual energy into Tongtian, willing him to wake as soon as possible.

The young man in dark blue robes and ink-black hair lay there with tightly knit brows and an ashen complexion, as though enduring immense pain.

****

Tongtian didn’t know where he was. All he knew was that the scenes unfolding before him were breaking his heart — watching one figure after another disappear, that helpless, powerless feeling tearing through him like a blade. It made him understand: even a sage could not alter the decree of fate.

When the ten thousand immortals of the Jie Sect were slaughtered, Tongtian suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. Then a black-robed Daoist reached out and steadied him.

“You—” Tongtian looked up, stunned. The Daoist’s face was a perfect reflection of his own, only with a far darker temperament.

“I am you,” the black-robed Daoist said quietly. Then he pressed his forehead against Tongtian’s, and tens of millions of years of memories came flooding in all at once — far more than the newly-ascended Daluo Golden Immortal could withstand. Tongtian’s consciousness collapsed entirely.

—-

“Wake up, Tongtian.”

Someone was calling him.

Tongtian opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Yuanshi’s worried face. Before he could speak, he felt his cultivation surge upward with sudden, unstoppable force.

Mid Daluo Golden Immortal. Late Daluo Golden Immortal. Peak Daluo Golden Immortal. Just as his cultivation was about to break through the peak and reach the Quasi-Sage Realm, Tongtian immediately moved to restrain it — anchoring himself firmly at the peak of the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm.

Yuanshi, watching from beside him, was struck speechless. He had never seen anyone leap from the early stage of Daluo Golden Immortal to its peak in the span of a few breaths. But for Tongtian, who had once been a sage, it was the most natural thing in the world — he had already fully grasped the Great Dao of sagehood. That he would still be stuck where he was would have been the real surprise.

“You…” Yuanshi was at a loss for words, and finally couldn’t help remarking, “Getting your head bashed in did wonders for your cultivation.”

Yuanshi found it strange that Tongtian’s cultivation had risen so quickly, but he didn’t dwell on it — he simply chalked it up to Tongtian receiving a sudden flash of enlightenment from the dragon prince’s blow to the head.

“Bashed in my head?” Tongtian murmured to himself, genuinely unable to recall who had done it. With tens of millions of years of memories flooding in all at once, he couldn’t sort through them yet.

Yuanshi sighed and fixed him with a reproachful look. “You — a towering Daluo Golden Immortal — knocked out cold by a Golden Immortal. Now that you’re awake, come with me to dissolve the Dao companion bond with that dragon prince.”

Tongtian listened to Yuanshi’s words, brow creasing. Dragon prince? In all the memories he had recovered, the Ancestor Dragon had never left behind a direct heir. And as for a Dao companion — at the mere thought of those words, Tongtian pressed a hand to his own chest. There, sure enough, his fate had already become entwined with another’s.

Yuanshi, not waiting for a response, pulled Tongtian to his feet and led him out to meet the dragon prince who had been waiting outside.

****

The moment they stepped beyond the formation, the brilliance of the sun made Tongtian squint. Then he saw him — a young man in white robes, dragon horns crowning his head, using a sprig of spirit grass to tease the rabbit that Tongtian had kept as a pet.

The young man’s complexion was fair, almost translucent in the sunlight. And Tongtian could not mistake his origins.

He truly is of the Ancestor Dragon’s direct bloodline. A flicker of surprise stirred in Tongtian’s chest — followed swiftly by curiosity. A figure who hadn’t existed before. Could he be the one that Heavenly Dao had cast aside? Especially feeling the deep, undeniable connection between himself and this boy — Tongtian made his decision: he was not dissolving this bond.

Fang Cangwu looked up and saw Yuanshi bringing Tongtian out. He quickly tucked the spirit grass behind his back and quietly edged away from the rabbit.

“Greetings to both fellow Daoists. I gave offense earlier — I hope you’ll forgive it.” He glanced at Tongtian, quietly hoping he wasn’t the type to hold grudges.

The corner of Tongtian’s mouth curved slightly. The young man before him was considerably more well-behaved than before.

Yuanshi gave Fang Cangwu a nod. “Think nothing of it, young friend. Now, please — dissolve the bond with Tongtian.”

Fang Cangwu nodded eagerly, desperate to be done with it.

Tongtian, however, looked between Yuanshi and Fang Cangwu and said, in a perfectly unhurried tone. “I don’t want to dissolve it.”

He then turned and winked at Fang Cangwu. Fang Cangwu froze on the spot.

“Tongtian!” Yuanshi snapped.

“Fellow Daoist Tongtian,” Fang Cangwu said, head bowed, working hard to keep his temper in check, “a forced melon is never sweet.”

Tongtian glanced at him lightly, then pressed one jade-pale finger to his own lips. “No — a forced melon is explosively sweet.”

Then he watched the young man’s round eyes go wide and blank — the very image of a startled fawn — and felt such a swell of amusement that a low laugh escaped him.

“Tongtian — the dragon prince is willing to dissolve the bond. Stop delaying.” Yuanshi’s voice turned stern.

Tongtian understood perfectly well what Yuanshi wasn’t saying aloud: that the Three Pure Ones’ fortune should not be dragged down by entanglement with the Dragon Clan.

“Elder Brother,” Tongtian said, his tone unhurried and even, carrying a quiet authority that Yuanshi found impossible to argue against, “there are some things I need to say to my Dao companion. If he can answer my questions, I’ll dissolve the bond. Please, Elder Brother — give us a moment alone.”

Yuanshi let out a cold scoff, but said nothing. He simply turned and left.

Once Yuanshi was gone, Tongtian raised a barrier — one that cut off all heavenly sight.

When Fang Cangwu felt the world go utterly sealed around him, his astonishment deepened. The Tongtian standing before him felt like an entirely different person from the one before.

“Speak,” Tongtian said, watching him with an air of leisurely ease. “Who exactly are you? As I recall, the Ancestor Dragon left behind no direct heirs.”

Yet Fang Cangwu felt Tongtian’s gaze like a blade, his secrets laid completely bare.

“Who are you?” Fang Cangwu’s grip tightened on the dragon-bone spear. His instincts told him this was Tongtian — but not the Tongtian of now.

“Jie Sect Master. Shangqing Tongtian,” Tongtian said, with a smile.

The shock in Fang Cangwu’s eyes was nearly spilling over. The next moment, a hand came to rest gently on his head.

“You do know something, don’t you — my little Dao companion,” Tongtian murmured, gazing down at the young dragon.

“How about this: I keep your secret. I protect you from being erased by the Heavenly Dao. And you, as my Dao companion — as the one cast aside — help me turn the tide of the Jie Sect’s fate.”

Tongtian finished speaking and watched the young man’s expression carefully. It was thunderous.

“Do I seem like I’m asking too much of you?” Tongtian couldn’t help asking.

Fang Cangwu drew a slow breath and fixed him with a steady look. “Drop the ‘seem like’ — you are.”