The Prodigal Cat! (Seeking Votes!)

A man and a cat walked along a long corridor, turning several corners before the view suddenly opened up.

"This is..."

Even though Zhou Hao knew that an Immortal Mansion was essentially its own world, he still found himself breathless when the scene actually appeared before him.

Before him lay ten thousand acres of red lotus flowers in full bloom, a sea of red as far as the eye could see.

Wisps of water vapor drifted through the air, making it feel as if he had arrived in a fairyland.

This was an incredibly vast space. There were no clouds in the high sky, nor sun, moon, or stars; only five floating palaces hung above the vast lotus sea, resembling a celestial palace of jade.

The palace in the center was carved entirely from yellow jade. A massive plaque hung above it, inscribed with the two characters "Weiyang," emitting an infinite radiance that illuminated the entire space.

Besides the central Weiyang Palace, the other four palaces floated at the four cardinal points, their colors—green, red, white, and black—corresponding to the four elements of wood, fire, metal, and water.

"Stop gawking. You couldn't use the treasures inside the Five Elements Palaces even if I gave them to you now." Ou Huang flicked a cat paw, and a red lotus drifted out from the pond.

By the time it reached Zhou Hao, it had transformed into a massive flower with a diameter of ten zhang.

"Get on. I'll take you to see Loose Immortal Hongchen first; the real benefits are there." Ou Huang leaped onto the red lotus, and Zhou Hao followed, landing on one of the petals.

The lotus felt soft underfoot, and the flower bud in the center was covered in countless crystalline dewdrops.

"Is this... is this Origin Liquid?" Zhou Hao stared at the translucent dewdrops on the bud, feeling as if the rich heaven and earth origin energy would pour into his body with every breath he took.

"Look at you, acting like you've never seen the world." Ou Huang shot Zhou Hao a sidelong glance. "Although Hongchen isn't a Heavenly Immortal, he has lived for nine hundred thousand years; his strength is not much inferior to one. Is it really so strange that the Red Lotus Origin-Gathering Array he set up would gather some Origin Liquid?"

"Not strange, not strange at all." Zhou Hao shook his head repeatedly, his eyes burning with fervor as he looked at the countless red lotuses in the pond.

If every lotus bud contained Origin Liquid, just how much would there be!

But thinking about it, it made sense. Although a Loose Immortal was someone who had abandoned their physical body and escaped with only their soul when they realized they couldn't survive the Heavenly Tribulation as an Earth Immortal, they were still, at their core, an immortal.

While a newly ascended Loose Immortal's strength dropped significantly compared to an Earth Immortal, they grew more formidable the longer they lived after surviving the three disasters and nine tribulations.

A Loose Immortal who had lived for one hundred thousand years was no weaker than an ordinary Earth Immortal, and from then on, every hundred thousand years of cultivation brought a completely different level of power.

A Loose Immortal of three hundred thousand years could rival the peak of Earth Immortals, and one at the million-year level could even rival a Heavenly Immortal.

It was no surprise that an Immortal Mansion left behind by a Loose Immortal with strength approaching that of a Heavenly Immortal would have an Origin-Gathering Array and some leftover Origin Liquid.

It would be even better if there were some Heaven-rank or Immortal-rank Dharma Treasures, or even a Pure Yang Dharma Treasure!

Of course, Zhou Hao knew that while Immortal-rank treasures were possible, a Pure Yang Dharma Treasure was absolutely impossible; that was pure delusion.

Dharma Treasures were classified by rank according to the strength of the cultivators who forged and used them.

As he was currently only a Xiantian Lifeform, he used non-ranked Dharma Treasures—in plain terms, they were bottom-tier.

Once a Purple Mansion Cultivator opened their dantian to form a Purple Mansion Origin Sea and converted their Xiantian True Essence into Origin Power, they could refine and use ranked Dharma Treasures. These finally had a grade, though they were only the lowest "Human-rank" Dharma Treasures.

Above the Human-rank were Earth-rank Dharma Treasures, which could be used by a Myriad Phenomena True Person.

Above the Earth-rank were Heaven-rank Dharma Treasures, usable by a Primordial Spirit Daoist.

Above the Heaven-rank were Immortal-rank treasures, which only Void Return Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals could wield.

As for what lay above the Immortal-rank, those were Pure Yang Dharma Treasures, mostly used by Pure Yang True Immortals, or at the very least, Heavenly Immortals.

Since the master of this Immortal Mansion, Loose Immortal Hongchen, was only a Loose Immortal, he couldn't refine Pure Yang Dharma Treasures, so naturally, there wouldn't be any.

"Ou Huang, can I take some of the Origin Liquid?" Zhou Hao stood on the lotus petal as it carried him toward the center of the pond.

Seeing that almost every red lotus bud he passed had droplets of Origin Liquid, his heart couldn't help but itch.

This was Origin Liquid!

The heaven and earth origin energy contained in a single dewdrop was equivalent to a High-Grade Origin Stone.

Most importantly, Origin Liquid placed no burden on the body; it was the purest form of heaven and earth origin energy. As long as one could absorb it, one could use it to rapidly break through and increase their strength.

Ever since the Nine Cloud Seal Secret Patterns on his left arm had transformed into a blue flower in his sea of consciousness, Zhou Hao had been constantly troubled by a lack of High-Grade Origin Stones. Now that he saw so much Origin Liquid, which was even better than the stones, he was desperate to collect every single drop he saw.

Zhou Hao thought that with so much Origin Liquid, taking a hundred pounds or so would be like taking a drop from the ocean.

But to his surprise, Ou Huang shook its cat head.

"No." Ou Huang refused flatly.

"The array formed by these Hongchen Lotuses is the source of power for this entire Immortal Mansion. Those dewdrops of Origin Liquid are needed to maintain the mansion's operation."

"I'll just take ten pounds," Zhou Hao pleaded.

If a hundred pounds wouldn't work, ten pounds would be fine.

The energy in one tael of Origin Liquid was equal to ten High-Grade Origin Stones, so ten pounds would be equivalent to one thousand High-Grade Origin Stones.

With these ten pounds of Origin Liquid, not to mention breaking through to the Purple Mansion, he wouldn't have to worry about a shortage of water vapor for the Blue Flower Space for a long time.

"No." The cat head continued to shake.

"Not even ten pounds?" Zhou Hao grew anxious. "Just a ladle, a single ladle will do, right?"

As he spoke, he took a wine gourd out of his Mustard Stone Space.

He had taken it from Zhu Da Restaurant before he set sail, and it was filled with rice wine.

He didn't care about the wine now; he condensed his energy into a blade and cut the gourd in half, fashioning it into a large water ladle.

"No." The cat's head shook again. "Don't even talk about a ladle; half a ladle is out of the question."

"Are you telling me all this Origin Liquid is used just to maintain the Immortal Mansion? Is there really not a drop to spare?"

Although Zhou Hao knew there were still treasures left behind by Loose Immortal Hongchen waiting for him to claim, the thought of passing through ten thousand red lotuses without being able to touch a single drop of Origin Liquid still made him feel quite miserable.

"There is."

Ou Huang finally stopped shaking its head, instead staring at Zhou Hao as if looking at a fool.

"What do you think I've been using to fuel the Bronze Furnace while I spent all these years painstakingly crafting statues? I am the Immortal Mansion Spirit; I have no physical body or magic power, so of course I use Origin Liquid!"

Damn it!

So after all that, the reason you wouldn't give me a single ladle of Origin Liquid is because the surplus was wasted by you, you damn cat!

Thinking of the countless Feifei statues he had seen on the seabed, Zhou Hao just wanted to grab the white cat and give it a rough, aggressive petting.

How much of a spendthrift must one be to do something like this!

But since it was the Immortal Mansion Spirit, and it was wasting its own master's resources, Zhou Hao opened his mouth, only to shut it again in frustration, never mentioning the Origin Liquid again.

...The red lotus drifted along.

Before long, it carried the man and the cat deep into the heart of the flower pond.

They had reached nearly the center of the ten-thousand-acre pond, directly beneath the floating Yellow Jade Palace, 'Weiyang Palace'.

Zhou Hao had been observing carefully along the way, seeing wisps of Origin Power steaming out from the red lotus buds within the pond, transforming into countless strands of mist that were swallowed by the Weiyang Palace above. He assumed the other four palaces were likely the same.

This confirmed that Ou Huang hadn't been lying; the majority of the Origin Liquid dew from the buds was indeed used to maintain the operation of the Immortal Mansion's arrays.

Just then, some of the Origin Power mist, before being fully consumed by the Weiyang Palace, condensed into water droplets in the air and began to fall back down.

Zhou Hao followed the direction of the droplets and saw, nestled among countless red lotus flowers, a red copper statue roughly the size of an adult, lying on its side on a stone platform within the pond.

Though cast from red copper, the statue was incredibly detailed; even the folds of the robes and the texture of the hair were perfectly clear.

"We're here."

The red lotus beneath their feet didn't stop until it reached the copper statue.

The usually carefree Ou Huang now fixed its two cat eyes on the red copper figure, a trace of sorrow in its gaze. "This is Hongchen."

Zhou Hao looked closely.

Even as a mere copper statue, one could tell that Loose Immortal Hongchen had been a person of breathtaking beauty.

He lay sprawled carelessly amidst the ten thousand red lotuses, giving off an air of uninhibited, devil-may-care charm.

His long, narrow eyes only added to the slightly feminine, delicate quality of the Loose Immortal, possessing a strange allure that could stir a person's very soul.

"In his youth, Hongchen suffered from the Nine Yin Severed Meridians. He endured countless hardships before finally stepping onto the path of immortality, yet his life was still plagued by trouble caused by his peerless beauty," Ou Huang said softly, looking at the statue.

"Later, after Hongchen reached the Void Return stage and became an Earth Immortal, he traveled across various worlds until his tribulation failed. Left with no choice, he turned to cultivate as a Loose Immortal and finally returned to the Great Xia World."

"By then, he was deeply exhausted. He happened to discover a Cold Crystal Sea Eye in these waters, along with a naturally occurring white mist maze. He established his Immortal Mansion here from that day on, keeping only me for company."

"When my lifespan reached its end, I didn't want him to be alone, so I asked Hongchen to refine me into the Water Mansion Spirit, so I could stay by his side for all eternity..."

Zhou Hao sighed inwardly.

Thinking of the hundreds of thousands of years the man and the cat had spent living in this Water Mansion, and the fact that Ou Huang had chosen to give up the chance of reincarnation, it was truly a cat of deep sentiment.

As for what Ou Huang 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 had mentioned several superior physiques. Because those born with the Nine Yin Severed Meridians often died young before reaching maturity—much like his own situation before he transmigrated—Zhou Hao had asked a few extra questions back then.

The so-called Nine Yin Severed Meridians meant that at birth, the body's meridians were clogged with a massive amount of pure yin energy.

People with this constitution were frail from childhood and rarely lived past sixteen.

Of course, there were exceptions.

If the Nine Yin Severed Meridians appeared in a woman, that person possessed the 'Taiyin Body', one of the most suitable constitutions for a woman to cultivate immortality; it was actually a great blessing.

But if it appeared in a man, it was a true death sentence.

The pure yin energy within the body suppressed the man's innate yang energy. Only an existence at the level of a Primordial Spirit Daoist, using their own primordial fire to help clear the pure yin energy clogging the meridians, could possibly alter the bone structure and allow them to step onto the immortal path.

Moreover, whether man or woman, whether Nine Yin Severed Meridians or Taiyin Body, those with such constitutions were all breathtakingly beautiful and peerless in grace.

The natural charm they possessed was especially attractive to outsiders.

No wonder Ou Huang said that after Loose Immortal Hongchen failed his tribulation, he returned here to live in seclusion; his life's experiences were surely far more complicated than just "attracting trouble"...

Whoosh~~~~

A flash of red light passed before Zhou Hao's eyes, and suddenly, a phantom image appeared above the statue.

"So, the one who came is not a descendant of the Ling Clan after all?"

A sigh escaped the phantom's lips, and Zhou Hao felt as if the blood in his own body were surging in rhythm with that voice.

"How powerful!"

"I haven't even met the True Person, yet just a phantom image left behind tens of thousands of years ago makes my heart race. If I were to see the True Person himself, what would that be like?"

Zhou Hao hurriedly calmed his mind and focused his thoughts, visualizing the holy countenance of the Supreme Clarity Moral Heavenly Venerable within his mind to expel all distracting thoughts.

"Truly, man proposes, but Heaven disposes!" The phantom of Loose Immortal Hongchen looked at Zhou Hao. "Opportunities in the Immortal Dao have always been obtained by those with affinity."

"You were able to obtain my Signal Talisman and find this place without any hints, so you are one with affinity."

"The thing I am most proud of in my life is creating the 'Great Five Elements Extinction Divine Light' based on a fragmentary scroll of the Great Five Elements Escape secret technique. Now, I shall pass it on to you!"

Zhou Hao opened his eyes.

Great Five Elements Extinction Divine Light?

But before he could react, he saw the phantom of Loose Immortal Hongchen extend his right hand and point a finger toward the center of his brow.

BOOM!

Countless pieces of information flooded into his mind out of thin air, leaving Zhou Hao stunned in place.

A quick aside here.

Ou Huang is a character named after a loyal reader from my previous book.

Also, I have always wanted to raise a cat or a husky myself.

But unfortunately, there is a little divine beast at home, and the head of the household won't allow it, so I just wrote them into the book instead.

I am not entirely sure what real cats are like, so I can only rely on my imagination.

If I got anything wrong, I hope you all will be understanding.