Would You Listen to My Dao, My Lord

"Huang Jing?"

Qi WuHuo subconsciously tugged at the basket on his back. "These Huang Jing, did you plant them?"

The spotted deer shifted its hooves, aggrieved. "Of course!"

"You humans dug up all the Huang Jing we planted on the mountain before! It took us so long to replant them, and it took so long for them to grow again, why are you back now!"

Qi WuHuo thought for a moment and said:

"How can you prove that these are medicinal herbs you planted?"

"And not something unique to this mountain?"

The deer said indignantly, "Of course we planted them! We've already numbered them. Look if you don't believe me!" The deer quickly leaped down from the stone wall, its movements nimble, and gestured for Qi WuHuo to look.

Indeed, every spot where Huang Jing was planted had a marker.

Some were small stones arranged in a pattern, others were small stone slabs hidden behind trees. All of them corresponded. As the deer pointed these out, its face was full of pride, a stark contrast to the man-eating monsters Qi WuHuo encountered when he fled into the demon country as a youth.

What the Primordial Spirit saw was the pure and clear Qi surrounding it.

Qi WuHuo asked curiously, "Are you a deer demon?"

The deer emphasized, "I'm a Deer Spirit!"

"Ah, don't ask me, look, we planted these ourselves, so you have to give them back to me!"

Qi WuHuo nodded. "You planted them, so they should be yours."

With that, he unslung his basket and took out the Huang Jing inside.

The deer counted out a portion, then gave a small part of it to Qi WuHuo. "This is for you."

"For me?"

"Yes, you helped us dig them out, consider it your reward."

The little deer gestured for Qi WuHuo to wrap the Huang Jing in cloth. He put it into a bundle and carried it on his back, tying a knot. Only then did the deer happily flick its tail and walk forward.

After a few hops, it paused, looked back at Qi WuHuo, and said:

"However, you're a good fellow."

"We're having a banquet today, do you want to come?"

The young man in the blue cloth clothes thought for a moment, pointed at himself, and smiled:

"Can I come too?"

"Of course."

"It's a banquet in the mountains!"

The mountains were covered in a layer of white. A little deer hopped ahead, while the young man in blue, his black hair tied up, his basket on his back, and wearing simple needle-bottomed shoes, walked step by step on the snow. He held the strap of his basket, his eyes full of curiosity. "By the way, how did you learn to speak?"

The deer proudly raised its head and said, "Of course I can speak."

"Look, I've already refined my epiglottis and can speak. I've cultivated Primordial Essence. Hmph, ordinary deer only live for twenty years, but I can live for a hundred."

The young man carrying the basket asked:

"After cultivating, you can only live for a little over a hundred years?"

The deer snorted. "Do you think all living beings are like humans, an immortal race?"

Qi WuHuo was puzzled. "Immortal race?"

"Humans only live to seventy or eighty years old."

The deer replied in a tone that suggested he didn't know how fortunate he was:

"But for deer, fifteen years is already old age!"

It leaped onto a rock and said:

"My grandfather was adopted by a Daoist from the human world. There was a mountain fire back then, and that Daoist took him in. When my grandfather was young, that Daoist looked just like that. When my grandfather grew up and could move freely in the mountains, the Daoist still looked like that. When my grandfather died of old age, the Daoist still looked like that."

"For many wild beasts in the mountains, from birth to death, a human's appearance doesn't change much. They are powerful and have long lifespans, five times ours. Aren't they an immortal race?"

The little deer was very confused, then said:

"It's already amazing that I can cultivate to live over a hundred years!"

Qi WuHuo thought for a moment upon hearing this and smiled. "That makes sense."

He thought to himself, it seemed that lifespan and immortality weren't absolute. For deer, five years was a generation. Cultivating to reach the human lifespan limit would mean living through more than twenty generations of deer, which could be considered an ancestor.

But for humans, this was merely the Complete Three Talents realm.

And for mayflies, they live from dawn till dusk.

Even the lifespan of deer must seem incredibly long to them.

The young man's mind was clear, and he murmured to himself:

"The years are long, and life between heaven and earth lasts a hundred years."

"But compared to heaven and earth, it's merely like a mayfly."

"Born in the morning, dead by evening."

The Deer Spirit, leaping ahead, heard the words spoken from behind.

It found them very strange.

Humans could live seventy or eighty years, seventy or eighty years! How could they compare themselves to mayflies? But then, what were mayflies?

Strange person, strange indeed.

Suddenly, a booming laugh echoed from ahead: "Hahaha, well said! Compared to heaven and earth, we are but mayflies. All things are born between heaven and earth, who is not like this?"

"It seems this little deer has found a remarkable guest."

"Friend, please come in!"

The voice was incredibly bold, shaking the very forest ahead. The Deer Spirit darted through the gaps in the trees and mountains, then stopped and looked back, its dark, bright eyes seeming to urge Qi WuHuo inside.

The young man smiled, pushed aside the pine branches blocking his path, and bent down. The pine branches swayed, and snow fell into his blue robe. His clothes were clean, his eyes as bright as morning stars. He walked in, saying, "Excuse me for intruding," and his vision suddenly opened up.

It was a wide, flat clearing. The snow lay un-melted. In the center, large banana leaves, still green in the winter, were spread out. Upon the banana leaves were piles of various fruits and herbs. On a stone platform in front, a white-browed tiger with fierce eyes lay sprawled.

Its body was easily over ten feet long. Its tail lazily twitched. As it stood up, its forehead was as high as Qi WuHuo's. Its amber eyes regarded the young man in the blue robe with a tranquil gaze.

Seeing the fierce tiger, Qi WuHuo's body instinctively stiffened.

He soon felt the pure, spiritual energy emanating from the tiger, and his tension eased. The fierce tiger recognized Qi WuHuo as the young man who had carried the unfathomable old man down the mountain some days ago. Though he hadn't gotten close enough to listen to the teachings that day, he had heard other tiger beasts mention it.

He thought, As expected of someone favored by that old man. To be able to speak those words. He opened his mouth, his voice bold:

"Little brother, I am the Mountain God of this mountain. Today is the year-end grand banquet, and you arrive at the perfect time."

Qi WuHuo cupped his hands and said, "It is indeed a fortunate coincidence."

Then he saw a bronze cauldron next to the fierce tiger. The little deer jumped over, untied the bundle on its back, and poured all the Huang Jing inside.

After the little deer moved aside, apes climbed down one by one.

They placed large, plump fruits into the cauldron.

Then, foxes brought spiritual herbs, and a white snake brought ginseng, all of which were placed inside. Under the little deer's prompting gaze, Qi WuHuo also put the Huang Jing from his bundle into the cauldron.

As the fierce tiger spoke, a low growl rumbled, saying:

"This is my treasure."

"At the year-end gathering, various spiritual fruits are placed within to refine Spiritual Liquid. Consuming it can extend one's life by a year, temper the physique, and purify Primordial Essence, greatly benefiting cultivation. I am using this to become the Mountain Lord."

"A year-end gathering to create Spiritual Liquid."

"A gathering every three years to discuss the Dao."

Qi WuHuo asked, "Purify Primordial Essence?"

The fierce tiger nodded. The other spirits present didn't know the meaning of "Primordial Essence," so he had spoken casually. Seeing Qi WuHuo's reaction, it seemed he understood, so the tiger smiled and asked, "Do you know the method for Primordial Essence?"

Qi WuHuo shook his head:

"I don't know the method, I only know of Primordial Essence."

The fierce tiger nodded slightly.

Then it continued:

"In that case, are you willing to listen to my Dao?"