Night hung heavy, and the moonlight was cool as water.
"This..."
Under the moonlight, Yan Shanshui stared in utter shock at the many phantoms of Immortals and Gods floating in midair, scarcely able to believe her eyes.
The Dharma Bodies of the Defiled Earth Jianmu lineage belonged to the Three Sovereigns, Five Emperors, and Twelve Gods-twenty paths in all. The Three Sovereigns ranked highest, followed by the Five Emperors, while the Twelve Gods were the most common. The vast majority of cultivators in this lineage cultivated the Dharma Bodies of the Twelve Gods.
And now, one, two, three, four, five, six... twenty!
A full twenty phantoms of Immortals and Gods!
The wills of every Immortal and God in the Defiled Earth Jianmu lineage had gathered here!
Merely looking up at this gathering of divine wills, Yan Shanshui felt an oppressive weight that almost suffocated her.
She had thought that even for a tree spirit rarely seen in the mortal world, even one awakened by an immortal master like Senior Lin, receiving the Azure Emperor's Dharma Body inheritance would count as extraordinary luck.
When she had mentioned Shennong, one of the Three Sovereigns, earlier, she had only been joking.
It had been so many years since a Dharma Body of the Three Sovereigns had last appeared.
But even if the little pine tree truly received a Dharma Body inheritance from the Three Sovereigns, her shock would not have been a tenth of what she felt now!
How was this possible?
All twenty divine wills of the Defiled Earth Jianmu lineage had taken a liking to this little pine tree?
Not a single one was missing, including Gonggong, the water god she herself had chosen.
Yan Shanshui simply could not understand it.
Even with her innate water virtue body, the Black Emperor's will had never appeared to choose her. Why would it choose a plant spirit whose attributes were clearly incompatible?
The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors had all appeared, with not one of the Twelve Gods absent.
It was as though... they did not care whether the little pine tree was a suitable inheritor at all, and were choosing it simply for the sake of choosing it...
Hmm?
At that thought, an unbelievable possibility suddenly flashed through Yan Shanshui's mind. She slowly turned toward the little calligraphy and painting shop beside her, her heart racing as she began to speculate.
Could it be... that the divine wills had chosen the little pine tree not because of its aptitude or attributes, but simply because...
Senior Lin had awakened it?
Were they choosing it out of respect for Senior Lin?
Other than that, she could think of no more reasonable explanation.
At that moment, she felt as though she had uncovered an earth-shattering secret!
After all, a mysterious immortal master like Senior Lin must naturally have lived in the Heavenly Realm and ought to know quite a few Immortals and Gods.
And now, it seemed Senior Lin was no ordinary immortal master, but someone acquainted with exalted Immortals and Gods like the Three Sovereigns, Five Emperors, and Twelve Gods!
At the very least, he had some degree of friendship with them!
Every Immortal or God qualified to bestow a Dharma Body inheritance held a high position in the Heavenly Realm without exception. They were figures of myth widely celebrated among mortals, not ordinary Immortals and Gods.
Yet after noticing that Senior Lin had awakened this little pine tree, the wills of the Three Sovereigns, Five Emperors, and Twelve Gods had all arrived together.
There was no doubt about it. They were showing respect for Senior Lin!
And no ordinary degree of respect, either!
At that thought, Yan Shanshui's heart began pounding wildly. Her breathing quickened, her palms grew sweaty, even her fingertips trembled, and her head buzzed.
Heavens...
Senior Lin, he... he actually had ties to legendary Immortals and Gods like the Three Sovereigns, Five Emperors, and Twelve Gods?
The feeling was like an ordinary person frequently seeing reports about world leaders on television or in the news. Though they had long heard of them, those leaders were so far removed that even meeting one was virtually impossible. Then, one day, an unremarkable middle-aged neighbor suddenly told them:
"Actually, we chat and joke all the time. We often play Werewolf together, and a few of them have even slept on my floor."
Yes, it was roughly that same absurd, dreamlike, unbelievable feeling.
Only even more intense!
Besides, Immortals and Gods had always revered magic power and divine abilities. The stronger they were, the higher their standing.
If Senior Lin had ties to the Three Sovereigns, Five Emperors, and Twelve Gods, how weak could he possibly be?
Surely he was at least close to their level!
"I... I actually chatted face-to-face with someone like Senior Lin, and I'm even going to study calligraphy under him? I..."
Just thinking about it made Yan Shanshui's scalp tingle and her mind go blank. Everything she had experienced over the past two days felt like a dream.
She, a mere mortal-world cultivator who had not even passed the second Heavenly Pass, had actually met a mysterious mighty being acquainted with great gods such as Nuwa, Fuxi, and Shennong?
Perhaps Gonggong, the water god who was the source of the Gonggong Dharma Body she cultivated, was even on good terms with Senior Lin?
Ah... this was just...
The intense excitement of being separated from them by only a single acquaintance brought a rush so overwhelming that she almost felt she might faint.
Apart from freedom and immortality, wasn't the point of cultivation and ascension to meet those legendary figures of myth?
She could not help feeling that her own standing and level had undergone a transformative rise the moment she met Senior Lin!
"Wh-what's wrong?"
The pine tree beside her noticed that the girl before it had suddenly stopped speaking and seemed a little strange. Her shoulders trembled slightly, and her tightly pressed legs were quivering too. It could even hear her somewhat rapid breathing...
"Excited? Is seeing the phantoms of these divine idols really that exciting?" A look of kindly concern appeared on the pine tree's face.
"Ahem."
Hearing the little pine tree's voice, Yan Shanshui immediately came back to her senses. She coughed and steadied herself.
"L-little pine tree."
Yan Shanshui took a deep breath and composed herself a little before saying, "Go ahead and choose. You can choose any Immortal or God's Dharma Body inheritance you want. Among the Twelve Gods, Goumang, the wood god, would be best. Among the Five Emperors, the Azure Emperor would be best. Any of the Three Sovereigns would work."
"Any of the Three Sovereigns?" A trace of confusion appeared on the face in the pine tree.
Yan Shanshui said softly, "Lady Nuwa is the Mother of the Earth, which bears all things, so she doesn't conflict with you. The myth of Shennong tasting the hundred herbs is widely known, so he clearly excels at using plants and would suit you. As for Fuxi... he was also the previous Azure Emperor, so naturally, he would suit you very well too."
After listening, the pine tree thought for quite a while, then said, "Then... I'll choose Fuxi."
"Oh? Fuxi?"
Yan Shanshui could not help asking curiously, "Why?"
"Didn't you say the higher their rank, the better?" the pine tree explained slowly. "He was also the previous Azure Emperor, and I happen to like azure."
"You like azure?"
Yan Shanshui smiled and said, "Come to think of it, you don't have a name yet. Why don't we just use the single character 'Qing' for your name? Whose surname would you like?"
"I don't know..." the pine tree said in confusion.
"How about Song? It sounds like the word for pine. Song Qing... shu... never mind." Yan Shanshui coughed and said, "Then you could simply take Senior Lin's surname. Lin Qing... xia... that seems all right, though I don't know whether Senior Lin would be willing to let you take his surname."
"Then just call me Qing. We can decide on a surname later," the little pine tree said.
"All right."
Yan Shanshui smiled and said, "Qing, since you've chosen Fuxi, the Sovereign of Heaven, as your Dharma Body, all you need to do now is touch his phantom."
"Oh."
The little pine tree, Qing, nodded, then slowly bent down and extended an arm-like branch toward Fuxi's phantom in midair.
The instant the tip of the branch touched Fuxi's phantom, an ethereal chorus of sighs rang out, as though all the other phantoms had sighed at once. Fuxi's phantom gave a soft chuckle, then turned into a stream of azure energy that flowed into the branch.
Then all of Qing's branches shuddered before returning to their original state. At the same time, a thick azure haze arose, and vast amounts of wood-element spiritual energy began pouring steadily into its bark.
Yan Shanshui silently watched from beside it.
She knew.
At that moment, another cultivator possessing what could be called a pinnacle Dharma Body had appeared... in this mortal world.