Jiang Ming held Nannan and casually sat down on a smooth bluestone nearby. With a flick of his hand, two crimson spirit fruits flew over from the jade-green table. Each was the size of a walnut, and he placed them in Nannan's hands.
The little girl had traveled with him through wind and dust, so she had to be a little thirsty. These were Red Crystal Cherries, each with a century of medicinal age. Their essence was mild and nourishing; even ordinary people could eat one or two. Most importantly, they tasted several times better than ordinary cherries.
Nannan accepted the spirit fruits, her eyes crinkling into crescents with delight as she began taking small bites.
Jiang Ming quietly listened as Hua Yunfei played Silent Bodhi for him. The Zen melody drifted softly, its elegant rhythm pure and tranquil, cleansing the Dao heart, nourishing the mind and lungs. It could cultivate a cultivator's Heart Divine Treasure and Lung Divine Treasure. Hua Yunfei had created it after breaking through those two realms and pondering them deeply.
He was only twenty years old now. Before Ye Hei, the Child of the World, descended upon the Big Dipper Burial Emperor Star, his life had been rather peaceful.
Of course, the tree might wish for calm, but the wind would not cease.
There was no true peace or freedom from worry.
As the final note faded, Hua Yunfei slowly rose to his feet. He glanced curiously at little Nannan. She looked like an ordinary person, so why had she not fallen asleep?
His Serene Heart Bodhi was especially effective at soothing the spirit and calming the heart. It could help one sleep; even the birds, insects, and ants nearby would naturally drift off.
Fortunately, the birds here did not dare fly around freely because of the Air-Sealing Formation Patterns. Otherwise, if they fell asleep in midair, they would surely plummet to their deaths.
Seeing Hua Yunfei's gaze, Jiang Ming suddenly found it somewhat amusing. In theory, Nannan was Hua Yunfei's patriarch, wasn't she?
Anyone who cultivated the methods of the Ruthless Empress's lineage could be considered half her disciple. However, the Ruthless Empress usually did not care about such disciples. There were already very few people in heaven and earth who could make her care.
"A heart still as water, untouched by waves—that is tranquility.
The highest goodness is like water; great virtue carries all things.
There have never been perfect people or perfect matters in heaven and earth.
The body is a Bodhi Tree, the heart a bright mirror stand. I urge you to wipe it diligently, and never let it gather dust."
Jiang Ming looked at Hua Yunfei. When one knew another person's ending and found it regrettable, one could not help offering a few words of guidance.
Jiang Ming wanted very much to jinx him to death, but he also felt it would be a pity for such an outstanding figure to die like this.
Later, when the Primordial Royal Clans emerged and the Alien Race encroached upon Human Race territory, the major powers would be forced to shrink their domains. Conflicts would continuously intensify. That would be the magnificent tide of the age, crushing down upon all as the Golden Age began. Hua Yunfei had died too early, consumed by internal strife.
Hua Yunfei was momentarily distracted by Jiang Ming's words. Whether the speaker had meant something or not, the listener took them to heart. His heart, which had only just feigned calmness, rippled once more.
If Jiang Ming had not been so young, and if this were not his first appearance on this land, Hua Yunfei would have suspected that Jiang Ming knew something and was hinting at it.
Especially since Jiang Ming's few words contained boundless Zen intent and Dao insight.
Jiang Ming said nothing more. At some point, the fruit platter had ended up in his hands. After sensing that Nannan's constitution was special and that she could eat freely, he told her to fill her stomach to her heart's content.
There were all kinds of fruits here, delicacies they normally would not have the chance to enjoy.
These great powers truly knew how to indulge themselves. The fruits they served to guests were all the best-tasting varieties.
Chen Feng really had a sharp eye. Jiang Ming had indeed come to mooch off them, and little Nannan was quite the foodie too.
Meeting him was Hua Yunfei's misfortune, but it was also an opportunity.
It depended on whether Hua Yunfei could truly comprehend it.
In the original plot, Hua Yunfei had been too impatient. In his haste, he had set his sights on Ye Fan's Desolate Ancient Sacred Body, as well as Ye Fan's wife Ji Ziyue's Origin Spirit Body. He believed that devouring Ye Fan's origin and the Origin Spirit Body would be worth more than painstakingly gathering the corpses of seven or eight fallen geniuses and refining their origins.
Moreover, Li Xiaoman had told him that Ye Fan came from another starry sky. Killing him would not bring any subsequent trouble or karma.
Unfortunately, of all people, he had provoked the one person he absolutely could not kill. That was the Child of the World destined to rise during the great era of the Shrouding Era, whose protector was a living Quasi-Red Dust Immortal.
The Ruthless Empress had lived through several lifetimes and slumbered for who knew how long. She had long since begun steadily walking the broad road toward transforming into a Red Dust Immortal.
She was someone even Jiang Ming could not actively make an enemy of. Trying to jinx Ye Hei to death was even harder. Ye Hei had obtained the Green Copper Block early on, a treasure comparable to a fragment of an Immortal Artifact. It suppressed his Sea of Bitterness and his own Fortune.
Even Extreme Dao Emperor Armaments could not shake Ye Fan's Fortune.
Later, during the Immortal Transformation Pool arc, several Extreme Dao Emperor Armaments had been used to try to kill him. Yet hadn't he still survived, lively as ever?
Just thinking about Ye Fan's cheat-filled life made Jiang Ming jealous. He could eat the Undying Divine Medicine of the Desolate Forbidden Land whenever he wanted, drink the Divine Spring that had accumulated over countless years whenever he wanted, soak in it after drinking his fill, even pack some up and give it to others, building favors everywhere.
Cultivating immortality was not merely about cultivating oneself. One also needed wealth, companions, methods, land—and worldly connections!
He could casually stroll around the Demon Emperor's Tomb and pick up the Dao Scripture: Sea of Bitterness Chapter, an exquisite scripture created by an ancient Celestial Venerable, along with a fragment of an Immortal Weapon.
What kind of luck was that?
Jiang Ming could not help thinking of himself. Across three lives, he had suffered miserably for two and a half of them. Why two and a half? Because in his third life, at twenty-one, he had still been a mere Sea of Bitterness cultivator, and his only beloved confidante had died.
Even after the memories of his three lives awakened and he had finally gained a little hope, he encountered that damned system. It gave him a Calamitous Star Fate Pattern and even specifically warned him that it was the Heavenly Lone Star, the Jinx Star Fate Pattern. It was utterly shameless!
It had left him unable to return home.
Whenever he held Nannan, he could not help thinking of his own daughter. Who could understand that pain?
He also wanted to hold his own daughter, watch her smile, watch her eat spirit fruits, and hear her call him Father.
He had wanted to build a good relationship with Yan Ruyu. Abandoning all dignity, he had planned to deceive her feelings, latch onto a rich woman, and borrow the Demon Emperor's Armament that would soon emerge to suppress his own Fate Pattern.
Then the damned system popped up to cause trouble again. It actually went and bound itself to the Ruthless Empress. With a three-and-a-half-star reward, was he even qualified to bind the Empress?
Things had turned out wonderfully. The red thread of the Law of Matrimony had snapped. After the failure, the damned system directly made a tactical detour, and its ridiculous maneuver nearly made Jiang Ming fall flat on his face.
By the principle of proximity, as if specifically trying to disgust him, it bound itself to the Heavenly Jade Saintess, a Desolate Slave. What use was there in binding such an unnecessary woman? Did it think Jiang Ming was so desperate that he wanted to marry every woman he saw and make her his wife?
Then the damned system's next move nearly threw out his back—it actually bound itself to Nannan.
What a sin.
That damned system deserved to be struck by lightning.
On Earth, that was illegal.
After that, the damned system conveniently bound itself to Yan Ruyu as well, ruining his plans. It scared him into fleeing with his tail between his legs, worried that the towering misfortune around him would affect Yan Ruyu's acquisition of the Demon Emperor's Armament.
Why was his fate so miserable?
With the experience from his previous life, even without that extra damned system, he could have lived very well.
"Brother Sanzang, your words have truly enlightened Yunfei. I have benefited greatly."
A full half cup of tea's time passed before Hua Yunfei finally let out a breath. He solemnly bowed to Jiang Ming as he spoke.
"Hahaha—
Brother Yunfei, you are too polite. Come, sit, sit. Would you like some fruit? The fruit from your Star Peak is truly sweet and delicious, with plump flesh and full juice.
I only wonder whether I might taste some Blood Pill Ginseng. This monk made a trip to Flame City but failed to get what he wanted, so I traveled all this way to Star Peak to seek you out in person, Brother Yunfei."
Jiang Ming and Nannan continued eating Star Peak's fruits without the slightest courtesy as he casually stated the purpose of this trip, lest Hua Yunfei overthink things again.
He told the boy directly not to let his imagination run wild. He had come for the Blood Pill Ginseng and nothing else.