December.
Whiter snow fell from the pale sky, turning heaven and earth white.
Still wearing his thin green robes, Chen Xia sat on the steps outside his door, propping his head on one hand, his eyelids slightly lowered as he thought.
"Wow, it's snowing!" A clear cry of delight rang out. Huang Qingyue walked up behind him and asked curiously.
"Brother Chen, do you like snow?"
Chen Xia turned to look at her. Huang Qingyue wore a snow-white padded jacket over a pale yellow skirt embroidered with flowers. It hugged her figure somewhat, accentuating her full curves.
He nodded and answered, "Quite a bit."
"Why?" Huang Qingyue crouched down beside Chen Xia and asked curiously.
Why?
The question made Chen Xia think for a while. Only after a long pause did he say softly, "Maybe because it rarely snowed in my hometown, so I like seeing snow."
Huang Qingyue lifted her lashes slightly. Snowflakes seemed to cling to them, making her look all the more lovely. She smiled and said.
"Is your hometown in the south, Brother Chen? It really doesn't snow often there."
"No." Chen Xia shook his head and looked up at the pale night sky. "It's far away."
A rare trace of longing appeared in his eyes.
Huang Qingyue took hold of his sleeve, gave him a comforting smile, and said, "No matter how far away it is, you'll be able to go back someday, right?"
Chen Xia drew his gaze back from the sky, shook his head, and smiled. "It doesn't matter anymore."
There was nothing much left for him to miss.
Huang Qingyue shook her head, inwardly blaming herself for bringing it up and making Brother Chen unhappy.
So she hurried to make up for it. "Brother Chen, let's build a snowman."
"Sure." Chen Xia agreed and stood up.
Huang Qingyue had already jogged into the snow. She turned around and smiled at Chen Xia.
"Let's build two snowmen this time, shoulder to shoulder, all right?"
She smiled brilliantly as she stood in the snow, her breath forming a hazy mist that veiled her face, like a fairy amid the snow.
She was beautiful.
Early spring.
The flowers had yet to bloom.
Chen Xia had already traveled far overseas to meet these overseas Qi refiners.
Even if he did not hammer them to death, he at least had to warn them. Otherwise, if they came to bother him again, Chen Xia really would kill every last overseas Qi refiner.
He did not much like killing.
But when killing was necessary, he would not be softhearted.
The overseas region consisted mostly of islands. Many were undeveloped, uninhabited desert islands, and the overseas Qi refiners were very likely hiding among them.
Chen Xia stood in the air, fully extending the five senses of his Golden Core cultivation. They instantly encompassed nearly ten li, detecting changes in his surroundings like a human radar.
His gaze suddenly stopped on a small island in the distance.
Inside an extremely deep secret chamber.
The white-robed overseas Qi refiners were discussing matters. Having suffered heavy casualties, they were now greatly weakened and had to consider how to survive.
"The deputy sect master went to Great Song's imperial city this time, supposedly to assist that old immortal who had emerged into the world. But in the end, the deputy sect master overestimated him..."
At this, the Qi refiners grew increasingly resentful.
"They made that old immortal sound so invincible, and he even had the nerve to call himself one of the world's two immortals alongside the National Preceptor of Great Song. What a load of shit!"
The dead could not return to life, so this Qi refiner cursed all the more viciously. The old immortal could not do anything to him anyway.
"That National Preceptor of Great Song really is far too invincible, though. Rumor has it he hammered the old immortal to death in under thirty breaths. No one could stop him."
At this point, everyone fell silent again. After a long while, someone finally asked worriedly.
"What if the National Preceptor of Great Song comes overseas looking for us?"
These words made every Qi refiner shudder. Someone immediately retorted.
"Impossible. These are all deserted overseas islands, and we've dug beneath one, right beside the seawater. He couldn't possibly find us."
Those words were like a calming pill for all the Qi refiners. They stopped panicking, though doubts remained.
"But we can't hide here for the rest of our lives. We'll have to make contact with the outside world eventually. What if the National Preceptor of Great Song blocks off the coast?"
This question troubled every Qi refiner. It truly was a difficult situation. One of them suggested.
"Why don't we offer the National Preceptor of Great Song our goodwill? We have a formation that absorbs the power of worship. That was why the old immortal cooperated with us before. Presumably, the National Preceptor of Great Song would need it too."
"Good!" The Qi refiners nodded, but another problem arose. "Who do we send?"
They stared at one another without speaking.
Whoever they sent might never return, so no one was willing to go.
"How about we send the National Preceptor of Great Song a letter, along with some treasures as a token of our sincerity?"
"Yes, that could work. But what if the National Preceptor of Great Song doesn't come?"
"He probably will. He might be looking for us too. Perhaps he's already here, haha."
He had only been joking, but he soon learned that some jokes should not be made carelessly.
Their secret chamber began to tremble. The tables and chairs shook, and the wall abruptly shattered, vanishing like a curtain of water.
A green-robed figure stood beyond it, as though he had suddenly appeared within the earth. Blue-green light flickered in his eyes as he asked them.
"Were you looking for me?"
The Qi refiners were instantly chilled with terror. Their backs felt as though fine needles had rolled across them, aching with fright.
Seeing that they did not speak, Chen Xia stepped out. Behind him, the collapsed wall abruptly rose, reforming and sealing over.
"Perfect. I was looking for you too."
Chen Xia smiled.
But none of the Qi refiners could smile at all. They stared at the man before them in terror.
Were they going to die today?
Chen Xia gave them an answer with a smile. "Today, I'm giving you two choices: death or life."
"I'm not someone who enjoys slaughter, but I do kill. So show me your sincerity, and I can consider sparing you."
The Qi refiners exchanged glances. One of them hurriedly spoke in a trembling voice.
"We were just discussing submitting to you. If you are willing, we will complete the Attendant Grand Formation for you. From then on, the living beings of Great Song, and even of this entire world, will worship you!"
Chen Xia raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "What benefits would that bring?"
The people of Great Song already worshipped him, but apart from receiving some additional Spirit Dragon Qi on the annual National Preceptor Day, he gained nothing else.
The trembling in the Qi refiner's voice stopped at that moment. His tone grew solemn as he spoke seriously and earnestly.
"Becoming a god."
Chen Xia frowned in puzzlement.
The Qi refiner hurriedly explained, "Having reached your realm, you must already know about the myriad worlds of the heavens."
Chen Xia nodded. "Someone told me about them."
That someone was naturally the Upper Realm immortal he had beaten to death.
The Qi refiner placed his hand on the table and traced an enormous circle.
"Among the myriad worlds of the heavens, there are many powerful realms. The Immortal Realm above us is one of the highest-ranking realms, while the one governing our world is merely the Fuyao Immortal Sect within the Immortal Realm."
This was Chen Xia's first time hearing any of this. He nodded, then asked, "What does that have to do with becoming a god?"
The Qi refiner placed his hand inside the circle he had drawn and said, "Every world, or realm, is like this circle. The circle can be regarded as a human body, possessing internal organs, limbs, and bones."
"The reason our realm is so weak, unable to produce even a Golden Core cultivator for hundreds of years, is that it lacks the most important thing..."
"A heart!"
With a solemn expression, the Qi refiner pointed at the very center of the circle and continued.
"To become its heart is to become a god, the supreme existence of this world. Afterward, everything in this world will nourish you in return, and your cultivation realm will also influence this world, making it stronger and stronger."
"The two complement each other and benefit one another."
Chen Xia folded his arms, finding it rather interesting, and asked curiously, "How do you know all this?"
The Qi refiner hurriedly said, "Five hundred years ago, our Golden Core patriarch once sought to become a god and ascend, but his aptitude ultimately fell short. He failed and perished amid a hundred thousand lightning tribulations."
"You have to undergo lightning tribulations too?" Chen Xia grew even more curious.
The Qi refiner seemed to recall his patriarch who had died in the lightning tribulations. Looking somewhat sorrowful, he nodded.
"Anyone who wishes to ascend to the Upper Realm must undergo lightning tribulations. Ordinary lightning tribulations would be nothing much, but because the patriarch sought to become a god and ascend, he triggered a hundred thousand lightning tribulations capable of destroying a nation."
Chen Xia glanced at the Qi Refining cultivator, set his finger at the center of the circle, and smiled. "You mean that if I want to ascend after becoming a god, I'll also have to undergo a hundred thousand lightning tribulations, perhaps even more?"
The Qi Refining cultivator gave a dry laugh, then hurriedly said, "Undergoing lightning tribulations isn't a bad thing. Since ancient times, cultivators have faced lightning tribulations when breaking through, so they count as good news."
"The more powerful the lightning tribulations, the greater the benefits to a cultivator who survives them. The patriarch lacked sufficient aptitude and failed to withstand the hundred thousand lightning tribulations. Otherwise, had he ascended to the Immortal Realm, he would be quite a significant figure by now."
The Qi Refining cultivator was especially wistful as he said this. Five hundred years ago, how glorious their Qi Refining cultivators had been. Even emperors had to bow their heads and kowtow upon seeing them, yet now they could only hide on a deserted island like this.
The affairs of the world were fickle. Truly fickle.
Chen Xia suddenly asked another question. "Have there been any rumors of other immortals descending into this realm? I don't mean the sort that even the greatest martial experts can kill. I mean ones who can destroy a city with a single palm strike."
Destroy a city with a single palm strike?
Hearing this, the Qi Refining cultivator furrowed his brows deeply. Seeming to recall something, he said gravely.
"The patriarch's book records one occurrence six hundred years ago. A city was likewise destroyed with a single palm strike, but the patriarch surmised that the owner of that palm was not an immortal."
"Because even the envoy who descended from the Fuyao Immortal Sect knew nothing about it. If it had been a fellow cultivator from the Immortal Realm, the fluctuations of their techniques could never have escaped the Fuyao Immortal Sect's detection."
"So the envoy who descended from the Fuyao Immortal Sect surmised that it was someone from another realm. Which realm that existence came from remained unknown, but they had certainly entered the level of a Saint."
Chen Xia stared at the Qi Refining cultivator, the light in his eyes sinking deep like the waters of a fathomless pool, and spoke one word at a time.
"A hundred years ago, I saw it."
The Qi Refining cultivator instantly trembled like duckweed battered by a violent downpour, nearly unable to remain steady on his feet.
Six hundred years ago.
A hundred years ago.
Then the interval was...
Five hundred years?