Small and Very Cute

"Exactly. Living forever without a bit of entertainment is actually a kind of torture."

As he spoke, Xiang Dong pursed his lips and added another sentence.

"Forget it. You probably can't kill me right now anyway, so I'll go make trouble for Hongjun instead."

Xiang Dong was simply stating a fact. His circumstances were rather unusual; probably only someone who had proven the Dao and become a Sage could utterly destroy him.

Yang Mei was indeed formidable. Legend had it that he could stand on equal footing with Hongjun, and even after Hongjun later merged with the Heavenly Dao, Yang Mei was still the foremost person beneath the Heavenly Dao.

However, he did not become a Sage of the Heavenly Dao and was not tolerated by it, so he left the Primordial World to wage war across the sea of stars.

Though he was no longer in the Primordial World, legends about him still circulated there.

No matter how formidable the legends made him out to be, the fact was that, at this stage, neither Yang Mei nor Hongjun had become a Sage. In theory, neither yet had the ability to utterly destroy him.

Hearing the first half of that, Yang Mei wanted to object. What do you mean I can't kill you?

Ever heard of Dimensional Slash or Spatial Exile? They might not kill you, but they can definitely make you wish you were dead.

Don't doubt my strength! Who are you looking down on?

But after hearing the second half, well, that changed things. Making trouble for Hongjun was good.

Hongjun, like him, was one of the Chaos Demon Gods.

But he, Yang Mei, was the Space Demon God. With time absent, space was king; however one looked at it, he ranked among the top ten.

Then Pangu had come charging out of nowhere, but even so, someone like Hongjun, who ranked outside the top hundred, had no business comparing himself to Yang Mei.

Yet after they entered the Primordial World and began cultivating anew, Hongjun's strength had already caught up to his. It was Hongjun and Luohou who had taken the lead in joining forces to kill Shen Ni.

Yang Mei was certain that Hongjun must have encountered some fortuitous opportunity to reach his current cultivation realm. As for what opportunity it was, Hongjun certainly wouldn't tell him.

At this stage, Yang Mei couldn't tear off all pretense of cordiality and fight him with real blades and spears, either.

After all, he had no absolute certainty of victory. Once he exposed his trump cards, he would be the one at a disadvantage.

Now that Xiang Dong said he was going to make trouble for Hongjun, Yang Mei felt he could lend a hand, whether or not Xiang Dong ultimately succeeded.

It was like giving a Pinduoduo bargain a slash. Why not?

And so Yang Mei asked with concern, "But your condition is rather strange. You've clearly gained intelligence, so why haven't you taken form?"

"Yes, I can't figure it out either."

"How about this? I cultivate the Space Great Dao as my main path. Today, I'll teach you a thing or two about it, young friend. As for how much you can comprehend, that will depend entirely on your own fortune."

"Would that really be all right?"

That was what Xiang Dong said, but the starry eyes flashing on his flower face had already given his thoughts away completely.

The Dao of space! Instant movement, teleportation jumps, storage space—these were the perfect combination for home life and travel, for burning, killing, and looting.

Yang Mei waved a hand and said with great generosity, "You and I both came from Innate Spirit Roots, young friend. We hit it off at first sight and have had a delightful conversation. We're merely exchanging insights into the Great Dao."

With that, Yang Mei held out a finger, and the Dao resonance of space gathered at its tip.

As the fingertip tapped lightly, Xiang Dong felt a great mass of things being stuffed into his sea of consciousness.

Xiang Dong felt the Dao resonance of space that Yang Mei had passed on. How could he describe it? It was like a high school student looking at calculus.

His eyes turned into mosquito coils, and his whole person was dizzy.

No matter how stupid someone is, can they really fail to learn calculus?

Xiang Dong: Sorry, I really can't learn it. I'm past the age for studying!

"How is it? Have you gained any insight?"

"No. I can't understand it at all. My head's spinning. I need a rest."

Yang Mei opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end he said nothing.

The Space Great Dao may be obscure and hard to understand, but you're an innate being, at least. You really don't understand even a tiny bit?

Yang Mei was at a loss too. He waved a hand and decided to give up on treatment.

"Wait here!"

Yang Mei first returned to his own abode, fetched some Enlightenment Tea, and brewed Xiang Dong a cup.

A cup of tea in exchange for a handful of sunflower seeds—it counted as returning a courtesy with a courtesy.

"Wow, what's this? Tea?"

Xiang Dong couldn't smell the tea, but looking at the clear, delicately colored brew, he felt that his dizzy brain was already much better.

Just looking at it, he felt a burst of clarity in his mind, and even his mental state grew a little steadier.

"Drink this, then concentrate on gaining insight."

Yang Mei did not tell Xiang Dong that this was Enlightenment Tea, an utterly unique treasure.

It had existed since the very beginning of chaos. Its roots absorbed Primordial purple qi, and its leaves bore natural patterns of the Great Dao.

Unfortunately, Xiang Dong's aptitude was too dull. He looked at it and comprehended nothing at all; he merely felt that his mental state had improved a little.

One of Enlightenment Tea's most important effects was helping cultivators achieve sudden enlightenment of the Great Dao. It was said that a single leaf could grant sudden enlightenment, letting one ascend to immortality on the spot and become a Sage then and there.

Ascending to immortality was indeed possible, but becoming a Sage was out of the question. If it were possible, Yang Mei would have become one long ago.

But after drinking it, greatly enhancing one's comprehension, efficiently gaining insight into Principles, and even directly breaking through cultivation bottlenecks were no problem at all.

To make things difficult for Hongjun, Yang Mei had spared no expense, even bringing something like this out for Xiang Dong to use.

Fortunately, Xiang Dong did not disappoint him. As soon as the cup of Enlightenment Tea went down, Xiang Dong felt his whole brain come alive.

The Space Great Dao had just been obscure and difficult to understand, like calculus, utterly incomprehensible and impossible to make heads or tails of.

Now it had become the simplest, most straightforward one-plus-one equation, with no twists or turns.

Xiang Dong understood in an instant. He knew how to take form.

"Ahahaha! I, Lord Dao, have done it!"

With a strange cry from Xiang Dong, the entire sea of flowers erupted into turmoil. All the sunflowers burst forth with dazzling golden light at once, forming an enormous silver-gold vortex, with Xiang Dong at its center.

Innate Spiritual Qi surged in from every direction, flowing into the vortex and being devoured by Xiang Dong.

Yang Mei stepped back some distance, folded his arms across his chest, and watched with eager anticipation.

The commotion of this transformation was even greater than his own had been. He wondered what surprise it would bring him.

At the center of the vortex, Xiang Dong felt his consciousness, body, and even his soul undergoing a reshaping.

Amid this violent reorganization, his mental state grew more and more excited.

His body lengthened and grew arms and legs, followed by meridians, the eight extraordinary meridians, and three hundred and sixty-five acupoints, corresponding to the number of the heavenly cycle.

This was the Innate Dao Body, the form best suited to cultivation, and the standard template for taking form.

Appearances could differ, but the internal structure was the same.

"Transform for your grandpa!"

With a roar from Xiang Dong, the sunflower's flower face, his main body, squeezed out a little sun.

The little sun landed and became a little person of light, complete with arms and legs, a nose and eyes.

Mm, small and very cute, only the size of a palm.