"Y-you've seen it?" The Qi Refining cultivator still found it hard to believe.
"Yes." Chen Xia nodded, his gaze gradually growing unfocused, as though he were remembering.
"That hand was enormous, covered in lightning that darted between its fingers like little snakes. Then it pressed down just like that, and with a smack, the whole great city was gone."
The Qi Refining cultivator trembled and nodded. "Exactly as the founding ancestor's book described."
Then what exactly was that enormous hand, and why had it come to this world to destroy cities?
None of them could understand.
"What other benefits are there to becoming a god?" Chen Xia changed the subject.
The Qi Refining cultivator hurriedly answered, "After becoming a god, you will be the fastest cultivator in the world, and your progress along your Great Dao will also improve. All of this is recorded in the founding ancestor's book."
"Mm." Chen Xia nodded. He had never intended to kill these Qi Refining cultivators anyway. Seeing how agreeable they were now, he lost his killing intent as well, and blue-green light shone in his eyes.
The entire secret chamber rose straight out of the ground and arrived outside the deserted island.
The Qi Refining cultivators naturally looked at Chen Xia with even greater horror. Such a Divine Ability already reached through heaven and earth.
Chen Xia stood high above them, facing all the Qi Refining cultivators with his back to the great sun about to sink beneath the sea. The water shimmered, reflecting the orange-yellow sunlight and Chen Xia's green-robed silhouette.
Chen Xia smiled.
"Then, everyone, help me..."
"Become a god."
Year thirty-five of Great Song's Southern Calendar.
Golden statues of Chen Xia began to be built throughout the country. Each region was overseen by a Qi Refining cultivator, responsible for polishing Chen Xia's golden statues and handling offerings.
Commoners who came to make offerings would receive Chen Xia's blessing. Their every wish might not come true, but over the next three days, they would at least encounter one good thing they had hoped for.
This brought more and more people to make offerings to Chen Xia's statues, all of them sincere.
Meanwhile, Chen Xia sat within the imperial palace, cultivating in seclusion. He had yet to feel any benefits from the offerings, but he supposed they needed time to accumulate. There was no rushing it now.
Still, he kept his guard up. If the Qi Refining cultivators turned against him, he would slaughter every last one of them at once.
If one rebelled, they would all die.
They had all deserved death to begin with. Chen Xia's soft heart had let them live. If they stirred up any more trouble now, his heart would soften no further.
Aside from that, Chen Xia cultivated diligently every day, mainly condensing Mystic Primordial Qi so he could inscribe the Netherworld Deadly Realm, the Dao chapter that could force a one-on-one duel.
That was still a long way off, though. At his current pace, Chen Xia estimated that he would need another hundred years to gather enough Mystic Primordial Qi to inscribe it.
The city-destroying palm that had appeared out of nowhere also weighed on Chen Xia's mind. It was like a mad dog-you never knew when it would leap up and bite you.
And you lacked the strength to kill it first, so you could only wait for it to bite.
It was an awful feeling.
Chen Xia sighed, circulated his Mystic Primordial Qi through another cycle, then stood, stretched, and ambled toward the door.
Huang Qingyue was tending the peach blossoms. Seeing that Chen Xia had finished cultivating, she smiled, clasped her hands behind her pert bottom, and skipped over in little steps. Tilting her head, she asked with a smile.
"Brother Chen, do the flowers I trimmed look pretty?"
Chen Xia glanced at the peach tree, which had already grown tall, and nodded with a smile. "As pretty as you."
Huang Qingyue's lovely face flushed. Delighted inside, she nevertheless protested coyly, "Oh, stop."
Chen Xia looked at her, his expression turning distant for a moment. After a brief silence, he suddenly asked, "Qingyue, what if we have to part ways someday?"
"Why?" Huang Qingyue frowned, her expression growing anxious.
Chen Xia chuckled. "I said what if. And that day may very well come. We both still have long roads ahead of us."
Huang Qingyue's delicate brows drew tighter. Puzzled, she asked, "Why can't we walk them together?"
"Of course I want to walk them together too." Chen Xia nodded, paused, then held out a hand. "But nothing ever goes as perfectly as we imagine, does it?"
Huang Qingyue nodded with a frown, feeling that Chen Xia was right. Yet she still could not bear the thought. Only after a long while did she answer in a muffled voice.
"If we really have to part, then we'll definitely meet again."
Chen Xia nodded and answered firmly.
"Of course."
Parting was for the sake of a better reunion.
Eighty years.
Song Nan reached the end of his natural lifespan, and the crown prince succeeded him.
Chen Xia had cultivated the Great Turtle Breathing Technique to great mastery and was only a step away from the threshold of Nascent Soul.
And one of the colors within his Golden Core had fully revealed itself.
Brilliant white.
It was the color of time, passing years, and flowing moments.
It was also his Dao.
Chen Xia could now freely control the flow of time within thirty meters of himself.
Huang Qingyue's cultivation also progressed smoothly-so smoothly that it astonished Chen Xia.
Unlike Chen Xia, who took a shortcut through the Great Turtle Breathing Technique, Huang Qingyue genuinely condensed the Mystic Primordial Dao Chapters herself.
She had now condensed a Golden Core, and with a thousand wisps of Mystic Primordial Qi in her body, she could already inscribe Dao chapters.
Huang Qingyue's cultivation could be said to rely on talent alone.
But all those with great talent shared one trait.
They shone.
At noon in the hundredth year.
A rainbow appeared in the sky and, like a broad bridge, stretched into the imperial palace under the eyes of everyone in the capital.
A golden palanquin came from the heavens, crossed the rainbow bridge, and hovered above the imperial palace. Two odd-looking young Daoist attendants emerged on either side, cupped their hands, and proclaimed toward the ground.
"The higher sect is accepting disciples!"
Standing in the courtyard, Chen Xia felt that this display closely resembled the time the immortals had taken Xu Zhen as a disciple.
But times had changed. Back then, he could not defeat those immortals and had little say. Now that he had become the strongest in the world, he could negotiate terms with them.
He simply did not know whom they intended to take as a disciple.
While Chen Xia was still thinking, the golden palanquin suddenly dropped to the ground, coming to rest before him. Its golden light dimmed and withdrew, though various patterns resembling true dragons and divine phoenixes were still visible on it.
"To think such a minor world could produce a cultivator approaching Nascent Soul. Not bad at all."
A woman's voice rang out, filled with arrogance.
The two odd-looking young Daoist attendants hurried to the palanquin's door and bent at the waist, as though preparing to carry something on their backs.
The door swung open, and a pair of porcelain-jade feet stepped onto the attendants' backs. Looking down at Chen Xia from above, she spoke again.
"But you're not the one I'm looking for."
"Brother Chen, Brother Chen!" Huang Qinghua called as he ran inside. Seeing the scene before him, he frowned, wariness rising within him.
The woman's crimson eyes looked at Huang Qingyue. Her expression was hidden beneath her veil as she said with a smile.
"It's this young lady. Come back to the sect with me."
Her tone carried an arrogance that brooked no refusal.
"And you are?" Chen Xia asked in puzzlement.
"The sect master of the Ninth Mountain in the immortal realm," the woman said again, her voice full of pride.
"Never heard of it." Chen Xia shook his head.
"Neither have I." Huang Qingyue shook her head along with him.
The woman glanced at them, a trace of helplessness in her eyes, and waved a hand casually.
"All you need to know is that it's very powerful. I'm here to accept a disciple, not explain this."
Chen Xia still had questions. "Shouldn't the Fuyao Immortal Sect be the one accepting disciples?"
The woman looked at Chen Xia, unsurprised that he knew such things. After all, someone on the verge of attaining Nascent Soul was bound to know something about the immortal realm. Suppressing her impatience, she explained.
"The Fuyao Immortal Sect is indeed your Upper Realm, but accepting a disciple only requires both parties to be willing. Besides, this woman has an affinity with our Ninth Mountain. You should have gone to our Ninth Mountain in the first place."
"Furthermore, the Fuyao Immortal Sect hasn't produced a Great Emperor in tens of thousands of years. Even if they now have a holy maiden, she's only a potential Great Emperor, not an actual one. They certainly stand a tier below our Ninth Mountain."
Chen Xia still frowned, feeling it was too much of a coincidence. How had Xu Zhen been extraordinarily gifted before, and now Huang Qingyue was too?
The woman seemed to see his confusion and explained.
"Your minor world only has so much providence. Those with exceptional talent and aptitude attract one another. In other words, the Heavenly Dao creates opportunities for you to meet, thereby raising your providence."
At this point, the woman glanced at the two of them again with her red eyes and could not help offering a word of praise.
"For both of you to cultivate to Golden Core in this minor world so lacking in Spiritual Qi and providence is truly impressive."
Huang Qingyue suddenly stepped forward, her expression serious, and asked the woman.
"If I agree, can Brother Xia enter the... the Ninth Mountain with me?"
The woman looked Chen Xia over, extended a fair, delicate finger, and gently wagged it before her.
"No."
"Why?!" Huang Qingyue's words were almost an accusation.
The woman looked at her and explained, "He has no providence. Even heaven and earth cannot fathom him, and with his cultivation so low right now, he will affect others to some degree. Our Ninth Mountain has no need for him."
"Absolutely no need," the woman added emphatically.
Huang Qingyue frowned. Unable to bear hearing someone speak of Chen Xia that way, she immediately shook her head and declared, "I'm not going."
The woman seemed to press her feet harder into the two young Daoist attendants' backs, making them pant under the weight. After a moment, she continued.
"If you want to stay with him forever, then you must ascend and cultivate. You're only at Golden Core now, while he's already approaching Nascent Soul. When he ascends first, you'll still have to cultivate in this minor world."
"And his ascension may take away the last share of ascension providence, leaving you with no path to ascend. You'll only be able to die of old age in this minor world!"
"Is that what you want?!"
Huang Qingyue's eyes grew somewhat lost, and she looked toward Chen Xia as though seeking help.
Chen Xia frowned and asked, "How are we supposed to believe you?"
"Believe?" The woman seemed to have heard something hilarious and burst out laughing. Only after a while did she stop and address them.
"You can only believe me. You have no other choice. Even after descending into this little world, my cultivation is still at least Nascent Soul."
"You can't resist me anyway."
"Can you?"
Her laughter was filled with arrogance as it spread between heaven and earth.
"Nascent Soul?" Chen Xia shook his head. "Nascent Soul isn't enough."
He took a step forward.
The breeze abruptly stilled.
PS: A small eight-thousand-word update today. Brothers, tap the update reminder and keep reading. Ten thousand words tomorrow.
One tap from you, one tap from me, and Sour Baby will give you a little more tomorrow.