On a scenic reef island along the Coast of the East Sea,
Tai Yi stood against the wind, his golden robe gleaming as he smiled warmly.
He spoke gently to a Female Immortal before him, Zhu Ying, a clam spirit with delicate features and a hint of shyness.
"...This is the 'Pearl of the Bright Moon over the Blue Sea.' It was formed from a wisp of innate moonlight in Chaos, and its essence resonates with yours. Wearing it can calm your mind and aid your cultivation."
"I felt an affinity with you as soon as I saw it. I hope you'll accept it."
In his hand rested a radiant pearl, wreathed in the power of the tides and moonlight. It was unmistakably a High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure—a truly lavish gift.
Clam spirit Zhu Ying looked at the pearl, then at Tai Yi's handsome face and "sincere" gaze. Her cheeks flushed, and her heart fluttered.
She had only been cultivating for a short time. How could she have ever faced a scene like this?
Just as she hesitated over whether to reach out and take it—
"Tai Yi, you scoundrel! How dare you seduce my Dao companion? Prepare to die!"
A roar packed with boundless fury exploded like thunder!
True Lord Li Huo charged at the front. Before he even arrived, a pillar of crimson flame, hot enough to scorch the heavens and boil the seas, tore through the clouds and crashed down on Tai Yi!
The attack's power made it clear he had unleashed his own True Fire. He showed no mercy!
Right behind him, countless green vines from Hermit Qing Mu lunged like venomous dragons, coiling around their target.
Bai Xiao Sheng brought forth a mountain-and-river seal, suppressing and sealing the space.
Several other wronged parties and their allies followed, unleashing magical treasures and supernatural abilities in a dazzling array, their killing intent surging as they instantly surrounded the reef island where Tai Yi stood!
"Oh?"
Tai Yi raised an eyebrow, seemingly caught off guard, but not particularly flustered.
He swept his sleeve and gently sent Zhu Ying, whose face had gone pale with fear and who stood frozen in confusion, to a safe place in the distance.
Then Solar True Fire roared to life around him, forming the phantom image of a miniature golden sun above his head. Its heat, dominance, and aura of incinerating all things spread outward.
True Lord Li Huo's crimson pillar struck the golden sun's phantom image, only to melt away like snow beneath the sun. Much of it was even devoured and assimilated by the Solar True Fire.
"Daoist Li Huo, why are you so angry? Zhu Ying and I merely happened to meet, chat, and discuss the Dao. Giving her a gift is only a common courtesy. How can you call that 'seducing your Dao companion'?"
Tai Yi spoke with unruffled ease. Framed by the Golden Crow Divine Fire, his voice rang even clearer.
"Smooth talker!" Seeing his attack fail, True Lord Li Huo grew even more furious. "Everyone in the Prehistoric World knows you go around hitting on Female Immortals!
"You even went after my Dao companion, Ling Rui. Today, I'll teach you a lesson!"
"A lesson?" Tai Yi laughed. His smile blurred in the Solar True Fire, but there was something in it that made True Lord Li Huo and the others uneasy. "You think you can teach me one?"
Before he had finished speaking, the golden sun's phantom image above him suddenly swelled!
"Caw—!"
A clear, majestic crowing cry rang across the East Sea!
Solar True Fire, blazing at its utmost intensity, surged outward like a tsunami.
The countless green vines instantly withered and burned. The mountain-and-river seal trembled and wailed, while the other incoming techniques and magical treasures were scattered by the pure, overbearing force of the flames!
He was at Grand Unity Perfection, and his True Fire came from the essence of a top-tier innate divine being, the Golden Crow. How could it be ordinary?
True Lord Li Huo and the others retreated again and again, channeling their power to resist the heat that found its way through every gap. Their faces changed one after another.
Only then did they realize how formidable this "simp bird," Tai Yi, truly was!
"Daoist friends."
Tai Yi drew in his flames, though golden fire still wreathed him like a divine being amid the flames.
His gaze swept over everyone. His warm smile faded, giving way to the pride and coldness of the Golden Crow Crown Prince.
"The Prehistoric World is vast. Cultivators associate according to their own affinities, and it takes two willing parties."
"Who I speak with and whom I give gifts to is no business of anyone else's."
"Daoist Li Huo, you say Ling Rui is your Dao companion. Have you formally married her? Have you announced it to the Prehistoric World?"
"If not, she is free to make her own choices. What does it have to do with you if I discuss the Dao with her and give her a gift?"
"You... You're twisting the truth!" True Lord Li Huo's face reddened with anger. He and Ling Rui had indeed never formally become Dao companions.
"Twisting the truth?"
Tai Yi gave a soft laugh, his voice carrying in every direction. "But you all gathered here and attacked me without learning the facts, trying to gang up on me. Isn't that what breaks the rules and makes you lose face?"
"Is this Prehistoric World yours to rule? Are others not allowed to associate with anyone they please?"
By taking the moral high ground of "free association" and "opposing violence," he had turned the tables on True Lord Li Huo and the others.
Some of the cultivators watching whispered among themselves. Tai Yi might behave recklessly, but... he did seem to have a point.
True Lord Li Huo and the others trembled with anger, but for a moment, they had no reply.
Fight him? They had already tried, and likely wouldn't come out ahead. Tai Yi's strength was beyond what they had expected.
Argue with him? They didn't seem to have much ground to stand on.
Seeing that he had bluffed them into silence, Tai Yi let out a quiet sigh of relief.
He had yet to break through to the Quasi-Saint realm, and the rewards from his system wouldn't come until those little Golden Crows were born.
Although he had the Innate Supreme Treasure Chaos Bell, he probably wouldn't gain much by fighting them all.
Damn it... As a Transmigrator, why am I still getting pushed around like this...
"Enough!"
Just as the two sides stood at an impasse, the tension thick in the air, a clear voice rang out.
Ripples spread through the air as Fuxi emerged, stepping on the Eight Trigrams Array Diagram. His expression was somber, and mysterious patterns of heavenly secrets flickered faintly behind him.
He looked at Tai Yi with undisguised distance and a trace of annoyance.
Seeing Fuxi arrive, True Lord Li Huo and the others felt their confidence return.
Fuxi, too, was at Grand Unity Perfection.
He had come because of Tai Yi as well.
Tai Yi had been harassing Nuwa and disturbing the two siblings' secluded cultivation. Unless he taught the bird a lesson, he would surely keep pestering her sister shamelessly.
"Daoist Tai Yi, there have been many rumors about you in the Prehistoric World of late."
Fuxi's voice was calm, but carried an innate authority.
"Cultivators befriending one another and discussing the Dao is perfectly normal, but too much is as bad as too little."
"Your conduct has damaged the reputations of several female cultivators, unsettled Dao companions, and provoked disputes among fellow Daoists. This is no sign of harmony in the Prehistoric World."
He paused and glanced at True Lord Li Huo and the others.
"Daoist Li Huo, gathering a crowd to make an issue of this was also inappropriate. But there was a reason for it. Daoist Tai Yi, shouldn't you offer some explanation and exercise some restraint?"
With Fuxi stepping in personally to mediate, his words naturally carried weight.
He was not only Nuwa's elder brother, but also highly accomplished in cultivation and renowned throughout the Prehistoric World for his mastery of divination.
True Lord Li Huo and the others relaxed a little. They all looked toward Fuxi, then fixed their eyes on Tai Yi.
Tai Yi's heart gave a thump.
That attitude from Fuxi... Could he have learned about Tai Yi's earlier attempt to "pay his respects" to Nuwa?