The moon had already tilted westward. Li Chi rose and walked toward his room, his long sleeves brushing past the stone table, sweeping away the night’s cold dew.
“High God…” Ding Qin also stood up.
Li Chi stopped and turned to look at her, smiling. “Want to learn?” He was referring to the spell that had just connected the interior of the Poison Mountain to this place.
Ding Qin was startled, then nodded. If she learned this, she could often go see Mutou, or bring him out to look around.
Li Chi’s fingertip touched her forehead as he smiled. “Continue playing.” With that, he returned to his room.
The method of operating the divine technique was left within the divine seal, but Ding Qin opened her mouth—she hadn’t stood up for this reason. She wanted to say something, yet ultimately couldn’t say it.
From the start of this Mid-Autumn gathering, Ding Qin had been watching the High God, yet had never been able to speak. The High God had been sitting there alone, drinking by himself. He seemed to be constantly gazing at the moon in the sky, but that wasn’t the emotion of people looking up at the moon. Ding Qin couldn’t understand what was in the deity’s eyes; she only felt that everyone was celebrating merrily, yet only the High God sat there alone.
She wanted to say something, do something, but could say nothing and do nothing. When the High God sat there alone, it was as if he formed an atmosphere, an atmosphere… that others couldn’t intrude upon, couldn’t disturb.
“Miss Ding Qin,” the old turtle called to her leisurely from behind.
Ding Qin turned around.
“The Crane God and the Great King Yishan can converse pleasantly,” his gaze fell upon Bai Hong and Jin Liushan nearby, then lowered again. “I tell stories to the little demons. Sometimes people can converse with each other, sometimes they can only narrate. When there’s no one to converse with, and no desire to narrate, solitude is also a choice.”
Ding Qin lowered her eyes and softly hummed in acknowledgment.
She suddenly understood something. Wild grass cannot understand why trees need to grow so thick and sturdy, when during storms, it only needs to bend with the wind. Because it grows at the tree’s roots and cannot see the thunder and falling rocks—those winds and rains that occasionally fall through the canopy only require a bit of resilience to withstand.
During the great calamity, the winds and rains were turbulent, but this place was a paradise. Bitter rains, droughts, locust plagues—none of these had invaded this mountain forest, and never would. Because this place had the protection of a deity, so saplings could grow peacefully and fledglings could practice their wings at ease.
The tree that protected this place was so tall and flourishing that she could continue to grow under its protection. But if she always remained under this protection, she would forever be just a protected fledgling, never able to fly beyond the canopy, never able to understand the storms the tree witnessed, and never able to truly do anything for the tree.
She looked up at the full moon tilting westward. Perhaps… perhaps she should try to go out and see.
After the moon wanes, it becomes full again.
……
…They are capturing us…
Li Chi had already finished viewing the Dream-Eating Tapir’s dreams. Even though it had become the last survivor in the gu formation, merging with the innate divine powers of all the dream beasts in the gu formation, what the Dream-Eating Tapir could discover was still very limited.
It knew too little information, so it could deduce almost nothing. It only knew they wanted to find something through dreams, and if they couldn’t find it, they would create such a place in the dream realm, so they needed a dream deity completely under their control.
But it didn’t know that its enemy’s name was the Xuanqing Sect.
Li Chi knew this, however, so he could also deduce that what this Xuanqing Sect now sought was the Underworld.
The Underworld was built by divine power and the will of the Xuanqing Sect, but when the deity still existed, no one had the ability to forcibly seize the Underworld from the deity’s hands. But after the deity perished, the Underworld became an ownerless thing. Yet after the deity’s fall, the Underworld disappeared, and the only thing most closely connected to the Underworld was the Xuanqing Sect.
The person who wanted the Underworld destroyed the Xuanqing Sect, destroyed every sect member who survived the great calamity, but still couldn’t find the Underworld within the Xuanqing Sect. So they took the name of the Xuanqing Sect, borrowing the sect’s old artifacts, and re-established a “Xuanqing Sect” under their control, then intended to use this mysterious connection to find the Underworld again.
If they couldn’t find it, they would have to rebuild an Underworld.
The idea of rebuilding the Underworld in the dream world was rather clever. In the dream realm, when living beings’ surface thoughts recede, their souls reveal part of their true nature—this is when they most easily express truths they might not even be aware of themselves, and are most easily influenced. When the true Underworld couldn’t be obtained, stabilizing the dream world and establishing an Underworld that transforms from void to reality was also a path.
But rebuilding the Underworld wasn’t so easy.
The Underworld that the deity once established had consumed countless time and divine power, accepted the will of all living beings, and corresponded with the rules of this heaven and earth. Heaven and earth had already acknowledged its position—it only lacked the final step of connecting with heaven and earth. To abandon this missing Underworld and rebuild another, not to mention the countless time and energy that would need to be spent anew, just the effort needed to make heaven and earth acknowledge a replacement Underworld would be no less than rebuilding an Underworld from scratch, and those capable of doing this were exceedingly few.
Therefore, the Xuanqing Sect had always been trying to find the Underworld. But one hundred twenty thousand years had passed, and their plan to establish the Underworld in dreams had likely begun long ago.
Lu Kingdom’s Divine Court forces were strong, and the Xuanqing Sect had never been able to gain a foothold. Only recently did they find an opportunity to secretly enter Lu Kingdom’s territory, but in Taiwu County they were found by the Dream-Eating Tapir. The Dream-Eating Tapir devoured half the county’s people, attracting the Divine Court’s attention, which led to subsequent events.
After that, when the aberration calamity arose, the Xuanqing Sect took advantage of the calamity’s chaos to reach into Lu Kingdom’s territory again.
The mirage demon that had been refined into a gu by the Xuanqing Sect said “beware of Liang” before dying. It wasn’t lying—Liang Kingdom was in chaos, and the Xuanqing Sect was most likely within Liang Kingdom’s territory.
In these few times the Xuanqing Sect reached into Lu Kingdom, the first time the Dream-Eating Tapir escaped, then they took advantage of the aberration calamity to have some low-level cultivators secretly incite Lu Kingdom’s refugees to rebel. It’s clear the Xuanqing Sect had almost no room to operate within Lu Kingdom’s territory, only recently managing to barely reach in.
This was certainly due to the Divine Court’s power within Lu Kingdom, but Li Chi thought of another point. His gaze fell distantly on the Shuigu Well, where Meng Huai was currently at the bottom refining an avatar that could leave the well—a True-Preserving Avatar.
Li Chi withdrew his gaze and took out a stone with a dense texture full of holes from Huai River Lord’s half-treasury collection.
This stone was elegant and exquisite, translucent with many holes. It looked quite like the porous Taihu stone, yet was far more delicate and hard than Taihu stone. It was blue-black in color, with strands of wind’s spiritual essence lingering upon it.
This stone was called Wind Rock. Taihu stone was formed by water erosion and dissolution, but Wind Rock was formed by wind’s long polishing. Every vein condensed traces of wind, every hole was a path the wind had flowed through. After countless years, this heaviest and most dense rock accumulated the lightest and most transparent spiritual essence of wind. Whenever wind blew through the stone’s holes, it would produce the Dao-sound of wind.
This was an excellent material for a True-Preserving Avatar.
……
Night ended and day broke, sun set and moon rose.
Mid-Autumn had already passed, the full moon waxed and waned. Old Turtle remained in Li Manor, sitting daily on the rock at the entrance lecturing the little demons on Dao methods while gradually refining that drop of dragon blood. The Crane God Bai Hong, relying on her speed, frequently traveled between the Jiuqu River banks and Li Manor, still pondering the question Li Chi had given her. Though the Great King Yishan Jin Liushan lived nearby, he was embarrassed to keep lingering at Li Manor, so he came up the mountain daily. When Li Chi lectured the monkey troupe and other spiritual animals in the mountains on the Dao, he would sit in the back and listen quietly. When there were no lectures, he would go organize the earth in Li Manor’s gardens. In a few days, those overgrown gardens had all been cultivated…
The mountains were clear and carefree, while outside the mountains the great calamity churned. On this day, after Li Chi finished his lecture, the monkey troupe and mountain demons bowed again and dispersed.
Jin Liushan, sitting in the back, slowly stood up. He took a deep breath, carrying the determination of long hesitation, but found the deity still sitting under the corridor, as if already knowing, waiting for something.
“High God.” Jin Liushan stepped forward and bowed.
The great calamity churned ceaselessly, spiritual essence grew increasingly chaotic. Whether cultivating or casting spells, everything was now far more difficult than before. Moreover, there were more and more calamities targeting cultivators, silently drawing people in.
Just like those cultivators who gathered to compete for the Huai River Lord’s treasury—after the calamity began, such incidents occurred increasingly frequently across heaven and earth. Countless people developed greed and anger over competition, their minds trapped in delusion without knowing it. After a round of fighting, they might not have gained much benefit, but many lost their lives. Those cultivators who withdrew intact from the Huai River Lord’s affair could already be called lucky—though they gained nothing, at least they didn’t lose their lives in the mirage demon’s mouth.
Could those people not see the danger in such conflicts? Naturally some cultivators were completely blinded by greed, but not all cultivators were like this. They were just caught in the urgency and anxiety they had to face during the great calamity.
Their cultivation path wasn’t yet clear, yet the spiritual essence between heaven and earth was already chaotic—how could they continue comprehending the Dao of heaven and earth? Spells couldn’t be used as effectively as before, but during the great calamity, there were more and more things to do and be careful of—how could they adapt to their suddenly weakened power and preserve themselves?
One wrong thought leads to another, thoughts never ceasing, ultimately being pressured into entering the calamity, thinking they were taking risks to resolve their own tribulations, yet already entangled deeper in the calamity without knowing it.
Jin Liushan was the same. At the mountain’s base, his scattered thoughts arose and disturbed him ceaselessly.
He was an ancient great demon with no inherited teachings, relying entirely on himself. To seek the Divine Court’s orthodox methods, he began protecting the nearby villages.
The Great King Yishan also had ambitions. He wanted to walk the divine path but didn’t wish to be a wandering minor deity. His nature loved stability, so he wanted to become a local earth god. The path of an earth god would certainly be more difficult than that of a minor deity. For example, Wangyue—six hundred years ago, she was just a rabbit demon who hadn’t yet taken form, but now she’d obtained the Divine Court’s seal and condensed her divine position. Yet the Great King Yishan had protected the nearby villages for over a thousand years and still hadn’t attained the position of local earth god.
As a successfully cultivated great demon, Jin Liushan still had a long lifespan and sufficient patience. He didn’t mind continuing to temper himself on this path, but now, the great calamity had arrived.
He hadn’t yet attained earth god status, so he couldn’t use earth vein power like the Shuigu Earth God. Incense offerings helped him little, but now, with spiritual essence chaotic and spellcasting increasingly difficult, he still had to split his strength to protect others. With one side declining and the other growing, it was inevitably strenuous.
Jin Liushan had thought of solutions. Since he currently lacked the power to look after those believers who worshipped him, he could entrust them to a deity capable of watching over them. Since he was confused and anxious about his path forward, he could seek a senior to guide him. He was willing to serve under them and didn’t begrudge paying the price. And in the nearby Daqing Mountain range, there was such a deity.
However, the deity had refused him.
Jin Liushan had no better methods. Sometimes his mind went to narrow paths to solve his current predicament, other times he felt such actions were ultimately improper. Yet when one thinks wrongly, there are always ten thousand reasons telling oneself it’s necessary.
When he came up the mountain, the mountain’s tranquil serenity would pull him back somewhat from those narrow thoughts, but when he returned down the mountain, all the problems would once again be laid bare before him.
With spiritual essence chaotic and cultivation difficult, he couldn’t break through. His power was weak and he struggled to accomplish things, but could he abandon those villages that had believed in and worshipped him for over a thousand years? Or should he, like other cultivators, start seeking and competing for external aid?
He was about to lose control.
The mountain wind swept quietly, peeling fresh color from the wooden pillars. The stone steps bore moss marks. The deity had been sitting under the corridor quietly waiting, his gaze calmly falling on Jin Liushan. The sturdy man in blue clothing stepped forward and bowed, like a weary and confused believer.
“I wish to request guidance,” Jin Liushan said.
“Have you walked through the lands under your protection?” Li Chi asked.
Jin Liushan nodded. “Yes.”
He hadn’t protected so many places from the start, but gradually expanded as his cultivation increased. Every time he added a protected area, he would go look.
“Then walk through them again,” Li Chi said.
Jin Liushan was puzzled, but Li Chi had already closed his eyes, seeming to have no intention of explaining. He could only bow again and depart.
After descending the mountain, he arrived at Liquan Village at the mountain’s base. Though Jin Liushan felt anxious within, he had no other choice, so he tried to follow Li Chi’s guidance, starting from here to walk step by step through the lands he protected.
A deity like this surely wouldn’t deceive him.
……
The elegant blue-black Wind Rock stood in the room. The Dao essence surrounding it had gradually converged inward over these days, completely restrained and harmonized under the effect of divine power.
Li Chi pointed with his hand, and this Wind Rock changed its form, suddenly transforming into a cultivator in dark blue robes with a carefree bearing. His appearance and temperament were completely different from Li Chi’s, his aura light and ethereal, as if he could ride the wind away.
The avatar was complete, only its eyes remained closed—it lacked the final step.
Li Chi divided his divine consciousness and entered the avatar. The wind’s spiritual essence contained in the Wind Rock instantly moved, this spiritual essence he’d already familiarized himself with during the refinement process washing over his divine consciousness again and again. The True-Preserving Avatar technique differed from other common avatar refinement methods—this was the true meaning of this technique. During refinement, as the spiritual essence gradually converged into the spiritual material, the cultivator gradually familiarized themselves with the spiritual essence. Then in the final step, when the divine consciousness entered the avatar, the spiritual essence converged within the avatar would wash over the divine consciousness, allowing the cultivator who’d already familiarized themselves with this spiritual essence to fully experience and comprehend this Dao’s spiritual essence in the final step.
But this had no effect on Li Chi. He’d already comprehended this Dao and wasn’t refining this body to assist in cultivating and comprehending the wind Dao.
Though Li Chi was awake with nearly clean karma on his body, almost no one could trace his true identity, the divine power he’d cultivated still carried characteristics of its origin. Though this body’s strength wasn’t as weak as he’d initially thought, having recovered half through the Seven Emotion Triggers, it was ultimately still injured. If he faced the mastermind behind the Xuanqing Sect, he couldn’t guarantee his own safety.
He couldn’t keep hiding in Li Manor doing nothing, but if he went out, there was a possibility of being discovered. The Wind Rock avatar only contained wind’s Dao essence. He only entered with his divine consciousness, not carrying his own power. The spiritual essence within Wind Rock was sufficient to conceal his divine consciousness’s own Dao. If he walked outside with this body, others would at most think he was a cultivator of the wind Dao.
But after his divine consciousness entered the avatar, Li Chi suddenly felt a sense of strangeness. This body wasn’t his, this Dao wasn’t his. After the spiritual essence washed over and concealed the fluctuations on his divine consciousness, even the consciousness’s power seemed strange. After all strangeness appeared, then all strangeness was stripped away, only the true spirit within the divine consciousness stood out. True-Preserving Avatar, True-Preserving Avatar—so this was the true meaning of preserving the true.
The avatar in dark blue robes suddenly opened its eyes, spiritual light leaping within.
The avatar suddenly smiled freely at Li Chi. “This is all, this is all. I am here—who can become me?”
Li Chi also smiled. With the true spirit manifested, he could also see clearly—what former deity’s hidden soul? What other deity in black robes like ink wielding a bone-like-brush? From beginning to end, there was only himself.
Even if memories didn’t return, he no longer felt the confusion from when he first awoke.
The avatar stretched its arms, and wind suddenly arose, carrying faint cries, rushing out the window to blow through the courtyard.
The Crane God Bai Hong was playing with the silver fish in the pond. Cranes naturally had long beaks for catching fish and shrimp in the water. Bai Hong had long achieved cultivation success and wouldn’t hunt spiritual water creatures, but during the Mid-Autumn gathering, she’d seen the pond’s silver fish existing between void and reality, its state peculiar, inevitably finding it interesting, so she made pecking gestures to play with it.