The Yuqing Primordial Celestial Venerable looked at the disciple before him: feet planted on the earth, an endless vitality rising around him, his right arm wrapped in pure, vast golden-red flames, and his left wrapped in pure, brilliant golden sharpness. He fell briefly silent.
With only the slightest shift of thought, everything that had just happened—the causes, the consequences, every last detail—entered his mind.
Not a single thing was omitted.
But even knowing what had happened, the sheer absurdity of it still left the Yuqing Primordial Celestial Venerable speechless for a moment.
Then he looked at the disciple before him, who was asking him curiously.
Silence.
He swept his horsetail whisk once, brushed it across the air before him, then rested it in the crook of his arm. His voice was flat and calm, without the slightest ripple, as he said lightly:
"Passable. Not bad."
After a pause, he added:
"Not bad at all."
"Thank you for the praise, Teacher."
The young Daoist clasped his hands. The Fire Source Qi, taken from the Fire Luminary, currently the strongest of the Eleven Luminaries, and the pure Gold Primordial Qi, taken from the Four Symbols' White Tiger, both dispersed. As they did, they did not harm the young Daoist in the slightest. They were utterly obedient to his will, pure and domineering.
Only then did the Yuqing Primordial Celestial Venerable learn the origins of the two kinds of Qi within Qi WuHuo. He understood that each was both cause and effect, like a sip and a peck.
Had the young Daoist before him not undergone that tribulation earlier, the Fire Luminary could never have risen to this level. Had he not helped, Houtu would not have broken Gouchen's weapon, nor thwarted Taiyi's encroachment. And without gaining the Taiyi Cultivation Body, he would