Several days later, Aman secretly contacted Fourth Grandfather in the Void God Realm, told him they were going to visit the Heaven Mending Pavilion, and secured a Martial King Manor admission slot for Qingfeng.
He also arranged for Fourth Grandfather to meet Shi Hao in private. The lion-like old man wept bitterly, tears streaming down his aged face, and even slapped himself several times. Then he thumped his chest and guaranteed that he would have people look after Qingfeng, producing an examination-exempt admission slot from the Martial King Manor.
After spending half a month reaching the Heaven Mending Pavilion, they saw Qingfeng through its gates. With nothing else to do, Shi Hao charged into the examination grounds and ran wild. He overturned formations, robbed examinees, and knocked passersby on the head, then returned disappointed, complaining that it had been too easy. The Bear Child nickname that had failed to spread in the Void God Realm made a splash in the real world instead.
In the end, Aman hauled him out as he screamed, and a group of elders with greed gleaming green in their eyes took turns beating him up.
The worldline had converged after all. The Bear Child could never change his nature.
After letting Shi Hao finish making trouble, Chen Yao discreetly revealed his identity. With Fourth Grandfather having already sent word, the Heaven Mending Pavilion's elders welcomed him and led their group to visit the pavilion's Sacrificial Spirit.
In the dilapidated courtyard, the essence of heaven and earth fell in streaks of divine radiance. The stars filling the sky and the silver moon shed a rain of light, almost forming a waterfall. Within the verdant little courtyard, which had retained its old appearance without having its essence drained, stood a withered, yellow gourd vine.
Chen Yao spoke personally with the Sacrificial Spirit. After persuading him, he activated the willow leaf the Willow Deity had given him, pierced through space, and entered the desolate Divine Flame region of the Void God Realm. As he had hoped, he drew Second Under Heaven and the Immortal Gold Daoist there.
"Kid, this is a heavenly treasure the Void God Realm accumulated by drawing on those beings' power. How much do you plan to pay?" Lord Bird, now without his bird, chuckled as he took out the Nirvana Divine Liquid.
"Who are these two?" The Heaven Mending Pavilion's Sacrificial Spirit still appeared withered and yellow here, but he was trembling a little now.
If his senses were correct, the faint auras emanating from these two beings seemed to surpass those of Heavenly Gods. He could not see through them at all. Even the Void God Realm's normally unshakable rules restricting cultivation realms had failed to limit their power!
And what had happened earlier? How had they entered the Void God Realm by piercing straight through its barrier? What principle was that based on?
"Little Gourd, this brat wants to give you another lifetime. You'll have plenty to keep you busy afterward. This is a huge debt of gratitude," Lord Crystal Wall said earnestly. "Oh, and ours too. Count that in."
As the Gourd Vine sensed the Nirvana Divine Liquid, even his soul went numb with shock. This substance could absolutely grant him another lifetime, and even let him become a True God whose divine flame never went out! If he kept cultivating, he was confident he could even become a Heavenly God!
"Of course, you two... seniors! Whatever you ask, I will certainly..."
"Don't mind them. They have nothing they need you to do for them. At most, they'll ask you to coax your disciples into going over to be fleeced like suckers, satisfying their taste for playing around in the mortal world and teasing juniors." Chen Yao interrupted the Gourd Vine Sacrificial Spirit's pledge.
"Huh?" The Sacrificial Spirit was bewildered.
"Kid, that's really underhanded of you. You keep smashing our rice bowls. Believe it or not, I'll toss you into the Ten Thousand Beasts Abyss one of these days!"
"Shoo, shoo. Don't you still have a prison to keep suppressed?"
"Ah, times have changed. Children these days truly have no manners." Lord Bird shook his head and walked away looking sorrowful.
"You actually talk to them like that?! Does this count as getting something for nothing?" The Heaven Mending Pavilion's Sacrificial Spirit was utterly stunned.
"It's a long story. It's actually an equivalent exchange." Chen Yao did not elaborate, leaving the Gourd Vine to fill in the blanks himself. In secret, he touched the Nirvana Divine Liquid with immortal qi again. A concealed fluctuation traveled along their connection, rushing in the direction the two old men had gone.
This was something the Willow Deity had told him. They intended to restore the main bodies of their primordial spirits using the essence worn away and extracted over countless years from the fallen Immortal Kings' primordial spirits sealed within the Void God Realm. Previously, the darkness within that essence had required slow purification and could even contaminate them, so they had not dared absorb it in large quantities. Now, with reincarnation immortal qi, they could quickly remove the darkness and naturally no longer had to worry.
In the distance, more black qi burst from the two old men, though far less than before.
"Ah, who knows when this business of suppressing them will ever end?" Second Under Heaven sighed.
"It's fine. We've made it through all these years. Now that reincarnation is there to catch us, things can't get much worse." The Immortal Gold Daoist was quite optimistic. "Besides, we've regained our clarity, and we can use the reincarnation immortal qi we obtained to purify the source essence squeezed from their primordial spirits. We needn't worry about contamination by darkness. Sooner or later, we'll recover. Once we return to our physical bodies, we'll be supreme kings again."
The old Sacrificial Spirit completed his rebirth in the Void God Realm and returned to his physical body with his primordial spirit. He immediately sealed off his surroundings, and only then dared carefully release the fluctuations of his rebirth.
The slender gourd vine turned green and grew swiftly. In the blink of an eye, he became a colossal pillar holding up the heavens, as though Jianmu had been reborn. A small-looking gourd swayed, releasing chaos qi. Inside it, gourd seeds jingled with the divine sound of heaven and earth, their clear notes shaking the soul.
Tears streamed down the elders' aged faces. Seeing the Sacrificial Spirit, who had practically watched them grow up and spent his entire life protecting the Heaven Mending Pavilion, gain a new lease on life, they wept with joy. They no longer feared for the pavilion's future.
"Many thanks, young friend. Now that I have another lifetime, I would not dare refuse anything you ask." The Gourd Vine returned to his original form, but he was no longer withered and yellow. His leaves were emerald green, his vines strong and full of life.
"We hope to enter the Sacred Academy. There's a limit of one admission slot there. Could an exception be made?" Chen Yao asked.
"A trifling matter. Back then, the Heaven Mending Pavilion made an agreement with the Ancient Sacred Academy. The admission limit was imposed so that only the best candidate would be sent in, but room for exceptions was always left. As it happens, I'm the only one who can communicate with the Ancient Sacred Academy now. Even if the Heaven Mending Pavilion were destroyed one day and another faction tried to substitute itself in our place, without me, the Sacred Academy would pay them no heed. It would choose those with the proper affinity entirely on its own, with no possibility of special consideration," the Gourd Vine said gently.
"Then there's a second matter. In the future, I hope you can feign injuries, senior Sacrificial Spirit, to lure in our enemies and wipe them out. I want you to capture the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow, who will definitely come, and not let it escape." Chen Yao made his second request.
The Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow had dug up the Mountain Treasure from the place where the gravely wounded Zhu Yan had undergone transformation and rebirth, and had been quietly studying it ever since. Unfortunately, it knew nothing of the Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Art and could only stare helplessly. Later, its own master, the Swan Saint, would kill it single-handedly to purge his ranks, and the Mountain Treasure would fall into his hands.
But Chen Yao could not be bothered to wait. On his side were the Immortal Gold Daoist, the dragon Second Under Heaven, the Sacrificial Spirit Progenitor, and the Immortal Phoenix King. They might not possess the complete Six Paths of Reincarnation Heavenly Art, but in discussions of the Dao among Immortal Kings, they must have had at least some exposure to its six opening forms. They could open the Mountain Treasure.
And combining the Mountain Treasure's outer shell with the bone cauldron inside Stone Village's old cauldron would form the Transcendence Chapter of the Primitive True Explanation.
How could he possibly pass up such a supreme treasure? Even the Willow Deity would be tempted!
Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow, you might as well die.
"That is a trifling matter. I already intended to lure in the enemies coveting the Heaven Mending Pavilion and catch them all in one net. This merely adds another target. A mere peak Venerable is hardly worth mentioning." Divine flame rose from the Sacrificial Spirit, faintly taking solid form and no longer going out.
After his rebirth, he already had half a foot in the True God realm. Even a Venerable showing signs of divine flame would not last a single exchange against him. In fact, he was certain he would have fully become a True God by the time the enemies attacked. It would be an utter stomping, a high-level fighter beating down low-level fools.
There was no way he could fumble a fight with a gap of two major cultivation realms.
"And..." Chen Yao could not think of anything else for now. "That's all for the moment."
"Can we read everything in the scripture repository?" Shi Hao poked his head out.
"Of course. Read whatever you like. Young geniuses like you are precisely the people the Heaven Mending Pavilion seeks to nurture," the Gourd Vine said with a smile.
There was no time like the present. Half a month later, the Gourd Vine, who had fully become a True God, began to "pass into nirvana."
Experts from Xiling Beast Mountain, the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow, Qiongqi, and expert after expert from the various divine mountains swarmed in.
"So you finally can't hold on anymore. You've lived since ancient times. You should have died long ago. Hand over the Divine Seed!"
An expert from Xiling Beast Mountain spoke. The Gourd Vine soared into the sky, but he was withered, yellow, and weak, unable to conceal his decline. He actually failed to take his opponent down easily and merely held the upper hand!
The Beast Venerables immediately rushed in to surround and kill him, no longer standing by.
Below, king after king laughed as they charged forward, bombarding the Heaven Mending Pavilion's protective formation. Infiltrators from the great clans had also been lurking within, and now stirred up unrest from the inside, seeking to coordinate with the attackers outside. The Rain Clan was particularly conspicuous.
Just then, a vine suddenly lashed out and pierced straight through the Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow!
Before you continue