A man and a cat followed the long corridor, turning several corners before the view suddenly opened up.
"This is..."
Though Zhou Hao knew it was common for an immortal's cave abode to contain a world of its own, the sight before him still left him holding his breath.
Before them stretched ten thousand acres of blooming red lotuses. Everywhere he looked, all he saw was red.
Billowing wisps of mist drifted through the air, making it feel as though they had arrived in a land of immortals.
It was an immense space. There were no clouds in the sky, nor sun, moon, or stars. Instead, five palaces floated above the vast sea of red lotuses, like jade towers in the heavens.
The palace at the center was carved entirely from yellow jade. Above it hung a massive plaque inscribed with the characters "Weiyang," radiating endless light that illuminated the entire space.
Aside from the Weiyang Palace in the center, the other four palaces floated at the four cardinal points, their colors—blue, red, white, and black—corresponding to the elements of wood, fire, metal, and water.
"Quit staring. Even if you got the treasures in those Five Elements Palaces now, you wouldn't be able to use them." Ou Huang flicked a paw, and a red lotus drifted out of the lotus pond.
By the time it reached Zhou Hao, it had transformed into a giant lotus with a diameter of thirty meters.
"Hop on. I'll take you to meet Hongchen first. The good stuff is there." Ou Huang leaped onto the red lotus, and Zhou Hao followed, landing on one of its petals.
The lotus petals were soft beneath his feet, and countless crystalline dewdrops dotted the bud at its center.
"Is this... is this Origin Liquid?" Zhou Hao stared at the clear, glistening dewdrops. The dense spiritual energy of heaven and earth seemed ready to pour into his body with every breath.
"Look at you, acting like you've never seen anything before." Ou Huang gave Zhou Hao a sidelong glance. "Hongchen might not be a Heavenly Immortal, but he lived for nine hundred thousand years. His strength wasn't much weaker than a Heavenly Immortal's. Is it so strange that the Red Lotus Origin-Gathering Array he set up gathered some Origin Liquid?"
"Not strange, not strange." Zhou Hao shook his head repeatedly. His eyes burned as he looked at the countless red lotuses in the pond.
If every lotus bud held Origin Liquid, just how much would there be?
But then again, it made sense. Loose Immortals were Earth Immortals who, realizing they couldn't survive their tribulation, abandoned their physical bodies and fled with only their souls, eventually cultivating into Loose Immortals. But they were still immortals, after all.
A newly ascended Loose Immortal was far weaker than an Earth Immortal, but after enduring the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations, the longer they lived, the stronger they became.
A Loose Immortal who lived a hundred thousand years would be no weaker than an ordinary Earth Immortal. And with every additional hundred thousand years, their strength would change dramatically.
A three-hundred-thousand-year-old Loose Immortal could rival a peak Earth Immortal, while a Loose Immortal who had lived for a million years could rival a Heavenly Immortal outright.
It was only natural that the cave abode of a Loose Immortal whose strength approached that of a Heavenly Immortal would have an Origin-Gathering Array and some leftover Origin Liquid.
It would be even better if he'd left behind some Heaven-Grade or Immortal-Grade Dharma Treasures—or even Pure Yang Dharma Treasures!
Of course, Zhou Hao knew that an Immortal-Grade Dharma Treasure was possible, but a Pure Yang Dharma Treasure was out of the question. That was pure wishful thinking.
Dharma Treasures were divided into ranks according to the strength of the cultivators who crafted and used them.
As a Xiantian Lifeform, he could only use unranked Dharma Treasures. In plain terms, they were low-grade junk.
Purple Mansion Cultivators opened their inner dantian and transformed it into a Purple Mansion Origin Sea. Once their Xiantian True Essence became Origin Power, they could refine and use ranked Dharma Treasures. In other words, those treasures finally had a proper rank, even if it was the lowest: Human-Grade.
Above Human-Grade were Earth-Grade Dharma Treasures, which Myriad Phenomena True Persons could use.
Above Earth-Grade were Heaven-Grade Dharma Treasures, which Primordial Spirit Daoists could use.
Above Heaven-Grade came Immortal-Grade Dharma Treasures, which only Earth Immortals of the Void Return and Loose Immortals could use.
And above Immortal-Grade were Pure Yang Dharma Treasures. They were mostly used by Pure Yang True Immortals, though at the very least, Heavenly Immortals could use them too.
No matter how powerful the master of this Immortal Mansion, Loose Immortal Hongchen, had been, he was still only a Loose Immortal. He couldn't even refine a Pure Yang Dharma Treasure, so naturally he wouldn't have one.
"Ou Huang, can I take a little Origin Liquid?" Zhou Hao stood on the lotus petal as it carried him toward the center of the pond.
As he passed, he saw glistening beads of Origin Liquid in almost every lotus bud. His fingers were itching.
This was Origin Liquid!
A single dewdrop contained as much spiritual energy as a High-Grade Origin Stone.
Most importantly, Origin Liquid placed no burden on the body. It was made from the purest spiritual energy of heaven and earth. As long as he could absorb it, he could use it to break through and grow stronger quickly.
Ever since the Nine Cloud Seal Secret Patterns on his left arm had turned into a blue flower in his sea of consciousness, Zhou Hao had been struggling to find enough High-Grade Origin Stones. Now that he had found so much Origin Liquid, which was even better than High-Grade Origin Stones, he wished he could collect every drop he saw.
Zhou Hao had thought that, with so much Origin Liquid around, taking a hundred or eighty pounds would be no more than a drop in the ocean.
But to his surprise, Ou Huang shook his catlike head.
"No." Ou Huang refused outright.
"The array formed by these Hongchen Lotuses is the source of this Immortal Mansion's power. All those droplets of Origin Liquid are needed to keep the mansion running."
"Then I'll just take ten pounds," Zhou Hao tried again.
If a hundred or eighty pounds was too much, ten would still be good.
One tael of Origin Liquid contained as much spiritual energy as ten High-Grade Origin Stones. Ten pounds would be equivalent to a thousand High-Grade Origin Stones.
With those ten pounds of Origin Liquid, he might not be able to break through to the Purple Mansion Realm, but at least the Blue Flower Space wouldn't have to worry about running short of water for a while.
"No." The cat's head kept shaking.
"Not even ten pounds?" Zhou Hao grew anxious. "Then just one ladle. Surely one ladle is fine?"
As he spoke, he took a wine gourd out of his Mustard Stone Space.
He'd picked it up from Zhu Da Restaurant before going out to sea, and it was full of rice wine.
He couldn't worry about the wine now. He formed a blade of condensed qi and sliced the gourd in half, turning it into a large scoop.
"No." The cat's head still shook. "Forget a whole ladle. You can't even take half a ladle."
"Does all this Origin Liquid really have to be used to keep the Immortal Mansion running? Isn't there even a little left over?"
Although Zhou Hao knew that treasures left behind by Loose Immortal Hongchen were waiting for him, passing countless red lotuses without being allowed to touch a single drop of Origin Liquid still left him feeling miserable.
"There is."
Ou Huang finally stopped shaking his head. Instead, it stared at Zhou Hao as though he were an idiot.
"What do you think I've been using to power the Bronze Furnace while painstakingly refining all those statues over the years? I'm the Immortal Mansion Spirit. I don't have a body or any magic power, so of course I use Origin Liquid!"
Damn!
So that was why. It wouldn't give him even a single ladle of Origin Liquid because this dead cat had wasted all the extra!
Thinking of the countless Feifei statues he'd seen on the seabed, Zhou Hao wanted to grab the white cat and give it a good, thorough rubdown.
What kind of spendthrift had to be to do something like that?
But it was the Immortal Mansion Spirit, and the only home it had wasted was its master's. Zhou Hao opened his mouth, then could only close it again in disappointment. He didn't bring up the Origin Liquid anymore.
...The red lotus drifted onward.
Soon, it carried the man and cat deep into the lotus pond.
They were nearly at the center of the vast pond, directly beneath the floating yellow jade palace, Weiyang Palace.
Along the way, Zhou Hao carefully watched as wisps of spiritual energy rose from the lotus buds, turning into countless strands of mist that were swallowed by Weiyang Palace above. He believed the other four palaces worked much the same way.
This proved that Ou Huang hadn't been lying: most of the Origin Liquid in the lotus buds was needed to keep the Immortal Mansion's array running.
Just then, before Weiyang Palace could swallow all the wisps of spiritual energy, they gathered into droplets in the air and fell back down.
Zhou Hao followed their path with his eyes. Amid the clusters of red lotus blossoms, a red copper statue about the size of an adult lay on its side on a stone platform in the pond.
Though it was cast in red copper, the statue was exquisitely detailed. Even the folds in its robes and the texture of its hair were perfectly clear.
"We're here."
The red lotus carried Zhou Hao and Ou Huang right up to the copper statue before stopping.
The usually carefree Ou Huang stared at the red copper statue, its round cat eyes holding a trace of sorrow. "This is Hongchen."
Zhou Hao examined it closely.
Even though it was only a copper statue, he could tell that Loose Immortal Hongchen had been a person of peerless beauty.
He lay sprawled among the vast sea of red lotuses, radiating a sense of wild abandon.
His narrow eyes lent him a somewhat androgynous appearance, along with a strange charm that seemed to stir the soul.
"When Hongchen was young, he suffered from the Nine Yin Severed Meridians. He endured countless hardships before finally stepping onto the path of immortality. But even as he grew up, his peerless beauty kept getting him into trouble."
Ou Huang looked at the statue and spoke in a low voice.
"Later, after Hongchen reached Void Return and became an Earth Immortal, he roamed through the worlds. Only after he failed his tribulation and had no choice but to cultivate as a Loose Immortal did he finally return to the Great Xia World."
"By then, he was exhausted. As it happened, he discovered a Cold Crystal Sea Eye in these waters, along with a naturally formed White Mist Maze Array. So he established this Immortal Mansion here and kept only me for company."
"Later, when my lifespan ran out, I didn't want him to be alone, so I asked Hongchen to refine me into the Water Mansion Spirit. That way, I could stay by his side for all eternity..."
Zhou Hao sighed inwardly.
They'd spent hundreds of thousands of years living in this Water Mansion, just the two of them. And Ou Huang had even given up its chance to be reincarnated. It really was a cat with a heart.
As for what Ou Huang had said about Loose Immortal Hongchen suffering from the Nine Yin Severed Meridians, it struck a chord with him.
When Master Jingzhi had explained the path of immortality to him, he'd mentioned several excellent cultivation physiques. Those born with the Nine Yin Severed Meridians often died before they reached adulthood, and their condition was much like Zhou Hao's own had been before he crossed over. So back then, Zhou Hao had asked a few more questions.
The Nine Yin Severed Meridians meant that, from birth, a person's meridians were filled with a great deal of pure yin energy, enough to block them entirely.
People with this constitution were frail from childhood and would die young, before the age of sixteen.
Of course, there were exceptions.
If the Nine Yin Severed Meridians were found in a woman, that person was said to have the Taiyin Body, one of the physiques best suited to cultivating immortality. For a woman, it was a tremendous blessing.
But if they were found in a man, then they truly were severed meridians.
The pure yin energy in his body suppressed the yang energy inherent in a man. Only a being on the level of a Primordial Spirit Daoist could use their own primordial fire to clear the pure yin energy blocking his meridians. Only then might they change his constitution and give him a chance to embark on the path of immortality.
And regardless of whether they were male or female, whether they had the Nine Yin Severed Meridians or the Taiyin Body, people with these constitutions were all peerlessly beautiful, graced with unparalleled charm.
Their innate allure held an especially powerful attraction for others.
No wonder Ou Huang said Loose Immortal Hongchen had returned here to live in seclusion and cultivate after failing his tribulation. His life must have involved far more than just a few troublesome incidents...
Whoosh!
A flash of red light appeared before Zhou Hao's eyes, and a phantom suddenly materialized above the statue.
"In the end, the one who came wasn't a descendant of the Ling Clan?"
A sigh came from the phantom. Zhou Hao felt the blood in his body surge along with its voice.
"How powerful!"
"I haven't even met the real person. This is just a phantom left behind tens of thousands of years ago, yet it's already stirred something inside me. If I saw him in person, what would happen then?"
Zhou Hao hurriedly stilled his thoughts. In his mind, he visualized the sacred image of the Supreme Clarity Moral Heavenly Venerable, driving away the distracting thoughts within him.
"Truly, man proposes, but Heaven disposes!" The phantom of Loose Immortal Hongchen looked at Zhou Hao. "Immortal opportunities have always gone to those with the fated connection."
"You obtained my Signal Talisman, and you found this place without any guidance. That means you're the one with the fated connection."
"What I'm proudest of in my life is that I created a technique called the Great Five Elements Extinction Divine Light, based on a fragment of the Great Five Elements Escape secret art. Now, I'll pass it on to you!"
Zhou Hao opened his eyes.
The Great Five Elements Extinction Divine Light?
Before he could even react, the phantom of Loose Immortal Hongchen raised his right hand and pointed at the space between Zhou Hao's brows.
Boom!
An immense amount of information poured into his mind out of nowhere, and Zhou Hao froze on the spot.
A quick note here.
Ou Huang was a character requested by a loyal reader in my previous book.
I've also always wanted to keep a cat—or a husky.
But there's a little beast at home already, and the head of the household won't let us get one, so I worked that into the book.
I don't really know what cats are like, so I can only use my imagination.
Please forgive me if I got anything wrong.
Before you continue