Yellow Millet

Six Desires Heaven was filled with countless palaces, temples, and monasteries fading into the clouds, each one breathtakingly beautiful.

Beneath the clouds, lightning flashed and thunder boomed, illuminating the four Heavenly Kings whose figures towered between heaven and earth. Cracks spread across their bodies like spiderwebs. Suddenly, a huge, hideous Buddha head broke off and plunged into the black lake.

Boom!

Layer upon layer of enormous waves surged across the lake, battering the Lotus Platform like an isolated island.

"Is it over?"

Chen Xuan asked, turning his head to stare at the upheaval in the sky. The woman's voice gradually fell silent, languid and weary.

"...Mm."

Even the wildest storm eventually subsided.

Chen Xuan released his grip and stood up, then turned to gaze across the black lake. The enormous Buddha head was slowly sinking into its depths.

Yan Yushu straightened her clothes and gently rubbed her wrist, which had been squeezed purple-blue. She frowned slightly and complained, "You have no idea how to cherish a delicate woman. That was too much..."

The malice she had accumulated over the past few days had been relieved, with no aftereffects. She was in an excellent mood and even had the leisure to make a few harmless jokes.

Chen Xuan's gaze remained calm. Time was pressing, and he had no interest in flirting with her. As he circulated the Yellow Millet True Scripture, he went straight to the point and asked:

"Does City Lord Lu Zhuan already know about what happened between us?"

Yan Yushu cultivated Water Virtue Black Qi, and Lu Zhuan was also of the Rain Master Dao.

If Lu Zhuan drew upon Yan Yushu's black qi to investigate, his greatest secret might be exposed, and the mystery of Heartfast might be discovered.

The risk was too great. The ghosts and monsters of the Southern Wilderness had targeted him because of his Root Bone aptitude.

But if Heartfast were exposed, the supreme powers would regard him as one of Heaven's Chosen. It was impossible to imagine what consequences that might bring... This was also one of the reasons he had immediately pursued Yan Yushu the moment he discovered her trail.

"Seven Emotions and Six Desires, the affairs between men and women—even the ancient immortals, sages, and worthies could not avoid them... Our consciences are clear. Besides, even if something really did happen, Lu Zhuan would know, so what? He can't control what I choose to do."

After dispelling the fire within her, Yan Yushu appeared incomparably dignified, like an immortal untouched by the mortal world. Her voice was cool and clear.

She knew Chen Xuan was an upright man. She had originally intended to endure it alone, but after unexpectedly encountering Chen Xuan today, she could not let such a rare opportunity slip away.

She only needed to treat him as an object, a tool. In any case, he was no different from a stone. Holding on to that thought allowed her to face what she had done with some difficulty.

"Sigh..."

Chen Xuan's head began to ache from listening. He helplessly turned around and looked at Yan Yushu's fair, delicate profile. "Yan Yushu, please answer the question directly."

Yan Yushu burst out laughing, then narrowed her foxlike eyes and said:

"Don't worry. Lu Zhuan has no way of finding out your secret... It would be harder for him to obtain information from me than to ascend to heaven."

Her voice was calm, as though she were recounting something utterly ordinary, yet it carried an air of confidence and composure.

"Why?"

Chen Xuan asked her directly, seeking her guidance. After everything he had experienced over the past few days, he felt that the road ahead was treacherous and danger lurked everywhere.

"First, my Root Bone aptitude is too excellent. My Immortal Qi is as heavy as Mount Tai, so he can't draw it out. Second, he is an intelligent man. He has no reason to do such a thing. Or rather, he wouldn't dare. He is afraid of slighting me..."

Yan Yushu answered solemnly, telling Chen Xuan not to worry. "Your glory is my glory, and your loss is my loss. I won't betray you."

She believed Chen Xuan was one of Heaven's Chosen like herself, which already made her feel close to him. Moreover, they could cooperate in cultivation—it was practically a match made in heaven. She felt her luck had reached its peak, even managing to stumble upon an opportunity like meeting Chen Xuan.

"Lu Zhuan is a supreme power of the Third Realm, perhaps even higher. There are things even he doesn't dare do?"

Chen Xuan was astonished. Had Yan Yushu's Root Bone aptitude really reached the point where even a supreme power could not draw out her Immortal Qi? In other words, some extraordinarily gifted people could resist the suppression of higher-level cultivators.

But Lu Zhuan was the number-one expert within Red Crow City's domain. Why did he not even dare to draw upon Yan Yushu's qi?

Yan Yushu looked at Chen Xuan and shook her head with a smile.

"They say the great cultivators of the world are like wolves and tigers, and everyone is afraid to avoid them."

"But I say that when they see me, they should be the ones to take the initiative and step aside!"

Her eyes shone like jewels, and her voice rang like large and small pearls falling onto a jade plate. It held a resolute strength as she continued:

"Chen Xuan, Heaven's mandate lies with us, not those old thieves..."

"They are the ones who should truly be afraid."

"Hanging Temple wants to capture me and refine me into a Living Bodhisattva. Qing Yazi has reached the end of the Qi Refining Path and wants to use Heaven's Chosen as the catalyst for an immortal pill."

"This time, I was lucky enough to escape disaster."

"From now on, they won't even sleep soundly. They have thoroughly offended one of Heaven's Chosen, and sooner or later, that Heaven's Chosen will return to settle accounts with them..."

Yan Yushu paused. A gentle smile still rested on her cheeks, her radiance dazzling, but the words that left her mouth remained domineering beyond compare:

"Chen Xuan, we Heavenly Fate Immortal Seeds may die halfway down the road, but as long as we don't die, as long as we carve out a path, then every great cultivator who plotted against us will be purged. Not one of them will survive."

"Lu Zhuan deliberated endlessly today, protected me for a time, and accepted me as his disciple. How does he know that this won't become his good fortune in the future?"

"..."

Chen Xuan's emotions surged. He could not help raising his thumb toward her. Yan Yushu's words continued to echo beside his ears, and a bold, heroic spirit capable of swallowing heaven and earth rose within him.

That was right!

Even Wang Chan, who had accomplished nothing in his previous life, had developed soaring ambitions and a desire to roam the world after obtaining the Yellow Millet Dream.

What reason did Chen Xuan have to fear those who probed him from the shadows and toyed with sinister schemes? In truth, the great cultivators were the ones who should be afraid. The people they were trying to scheme against were the most terrifying monsters in this world.

"Whoosh!"

At that moment, an Azure Gold Immortal Qi spread out from Chen Xuan's body. Golden millet stalks exuded a fragrant aroma, while the roiling mortal world surged like a tide, all flowing within the Immortal Qi and radiating dazzling light.

Yellow Millet Qi!

After cultivating for more than ten days and spending one of Yan Yushu's allotted periods within Six Desires Heaven, Chen Xuan had finally entered the halls of mastery in this true scripture—born specifically to complement the Yellow Millet Dream and exceedingly difficult for anyone else to cultivate!

"Huh? Your Immortal Qi?"

Yan Yushu suddenly felt a jolt of alarm and hurriedly retreated. She sensed a thick aura of danger from Chen Xuan. "You cultivated the true scripture, and the Immortal Qi within your body has transformed and sublimated?"

Her eyes widened as she realized that while resisting Six Desires Heaven, he had actually divided his attention and cultivated a strand of true-scripture Immortal Qi. Such terrifying comprehension and cultivation speed shocked even Yan Yushu, who prided herself on possessing peerless Root Bone aptitude and whose Immortal Qi even supreme powers could not suppress.

The last time he cultivated two strands of ordinary Immortal Qi, she had already been deeply shocked. But this time, he had even cultivated the special Immortal Qi recorded in the true scripture!

"I had already cultivated for more than ten days, and this is only the Ascension Chapter of the true scripture."

Chen Xuan explained, making it clear that he had put in considerable effort.

"Why be modest? I've never seen anyone cultivate this quickly." Although Yan Yushu still struggled to conceal her astonishment, after thinking it over, she reluctantly accepted it.

After all, she could directly consume other people's cultivation, while Chen Xuan could casually enter another person's Heaven's Mandate and cultivate the Illusory Technique Scripture at lightning speed... Heaven's Chosen were meant to accomplish things that ordinary people found inconceivable.

Afterward, the two continued exchanging some of what they had seen and heard.

Six Desires Heaven collapsed and vanished.

...,

Boom!

The earth split apart. A gigantic alchemy furnace as large as a house flew into the sky from deep underground. Qing Yazi stood atop it, his hair disheveled, fleeing for his life while vomiting great mouthfuls of blood.

"Sizzle!"

Blood suffused with specks of azure light scattered across the ground. Countless plants immediately sprang up in the wind, and in the blink of an eye, a field of precious herbs—lingzhi, ginseng, fleeceflower root, and more—had grown.

"Blood of a supreme power! Hurry, it's flesh-and-blood medicine worth a fortune!" Some fearless low-level Qi Refiners wanted to gamble on securing a future for themselves and immediately charged into the outskirts of the battlefield despite the danger.

But the moment they drew near, their bodies convulsed and collapsed. Tender green shoots burst from their flesh, draining them into dry corpses. A gust of wind scattered them into a pile of dust.

"Retreat, retreat, retreat!" The other Qi Refiners turned and fled when they saw this, no longer daring to harbor improper thoughts. "The precious blood took root as soon as it hit the ground and grew at the slightest breeze. Its energy has already been exhausted. It's useless now..."

"Rustle, rustle!"

Chen Xuan and Yan Yushu emerged from the dense forest, a few fallen leaves clinging to their clothes.

"Here."

Yan Yushu took two azure-purple talismans from her sleeve and gave one to Chen Xuan. "This can transmit messages across a thousand li. If I need you, I'll call for you. And, uh, the matter you asked me to handle... I'll find a way as soon as possible."

She could not open Six Desires Heaven on her own. Every opening meant consuming a Qi Refiner... It was not as though she had enemies everywhere.

Chen Xuan would have great difficulty relying on her entirely to cultivate the true scripture. He would need to advance along two paths at once.

"Thank you."

Chen Xuan nodded and placed the Communication Talisman in his sleeve. He said solemnly, "Until we meet again!"