Heavenly Continent.
Mount Reverse Space.
The master of Guixu arrived with wine and drank and chatted with Madam Wenqu. This place, like a paradise apart from the world, brimmed with spiritual charm, tranquil and serene.
Madam Wenqu wore sumptuous robes patterned with dark gold and emerald flowers. Her figure was elegant, her bearing like clouds. With bright eyes, pearly teeth, and skin whiter than snow, she looked like a young woman, yet her gaze was deep and distant, as though submerged in endless ages of worldly vicissitudes.
Her breath was deep and long, her pressure held within. Even the master of Guixu was somewhat deferential before her. She certainly seemed to be a mighty expert living in seclusion.
"Little Zhige, at least you still have some conscience, remembering to visit me."
Madam Wenqu glanced at the tiny bronze flask, the corners of her crimson lips lifting slightly as she teased him.
Her voice was neither clear and crisp like a young girl's nor hoarse like an old woman's. Instead, it was deep and mellow as jade, exceedingly pleasant to hear.
This fellow was still so stingy!
It was only some wine, yet he couldn't bear to bring it in a larger vessel.
Judging by this fist-sized flask, he must have racked his brains and searched for ages...
After all, finding a wine flask this small must have been quite a challenge for him...
Madam Wenqu shook her head with a smile.
The "Little Zhige" she spoke of was the master of Guixu, whose name was Xuanyuan Zhige.
The master of Guixu said awkwardly, "This Immortal Brew was made with eight-thousand-year morning dew, eight-thousand-year Chinese toon leaves, and eight-thousand-year divine fruit, brewed for nine times nine-eighty-one years-to yield just two jars. I normally cellar it in the depths of the vast sea. Only because I was coming here did I take out a flask."
He normally couldn't even bear to drink such precious wine himself...
Giving you a flask was already parting with a treasure...
Besides, he had no idea why...
He didn't usually drink much, so why was the wine visibly dwindling?
Could it have grown legs and flown away?
Or was there a little mouse in Guixu stealing his wine?
How strange...
The master of Guixu muttered inwardly.
"By the way, is Changying well?" Madam Wenqu asked warmly.
"That girl cultivates all day, paying no heed to worldly affairs. I imagine she's diligently cultivating right now," the master of Guixu replied.
He had always felt at ease about his disciple.
Sipping the immortal wine, Madam Wenqu suggested, "The future immortal master of Guixu should enter the world to temper herself. Standing high above the clouds does her cultivation no good."
"Yes."
The master of Guixu nodded.
Madam Wenqu raised her eyes toward the sky, her divine intent spreading out. High in the heavens, three Heavenly Rankings gradually emerged.
They were-
[Aptitude Ranking] 1. Chaos Sacred Body (Xie Feng) 2. Primordial White Tiger Immortal Physique (Sushang) 3. Immaculate Body (Changying) 4. Human Emperor Physique (Chu Shanjun) 5. Azure Luan Immortality (Qiuye) 6. Supreme Double Pupils (Ye Yuan) 7. Numinous Heavenly Calculation (Qi Wuyan) 8. World-Purifying Dao Physique (Daoist Zhi'e) 9. Buddha-Devil Tyrant Physique (Lu Xiuluo) 10. Sumeru Vajra Physique (Feng Chen) ... [Dharma Artifact Ranking] 1. Immortal-Slaying Furnace (Xie Feng) 2. Azure Profound Fan (Xie Feng) 3. Supreme Dream Robe (Xie Feng) 4. Beacon Cloud Hook (Xie Feng) 5. Water Dragon Chant (Sushang) 6. Fate Cauldron (Qi Wuyan) 7. Blood Tathagata Beads (Blood Devil) 8. Soundless Disc (Ye Yuan) 9. Fleeting Life Umbrella (Jiang Fei) 10. Rainbow Abyss Flute (Xing Qianran) ... [Grace Ranking] 1. Xie Feng 2. Jiang Fei 3. Lu Xiuluo 4. Chen Queyue 5. Chu Shanjun 6. Flame Emperor 7. Changying 8. Qi Wuyan 9. Qin Luofan 10. Ye Yuan
Since the Heavenly Rankings descended, they had undergone several changes before the final standings settled!
"Primordial White Tiger..."
The master of Guixu looked up and sighed, his meaning unclear.
Madam Wenqu extended her slender fingers and tipped the flask again, pouring another cup of wine. She slowly sipped it and smiled serenely. "Does it bring an old acquaintance to mind?"
The master of Guixu sighed. "That old acquaintance passed away twelve years ago."
He closed his eyes. A tumultuous stretch of the past stirred a thousand waves within his chest, yet those feelings could only become memories...
Madam Wenqu smiled. "Perhaps you simply cannot divine the Great Dao?"
The master of Guixu started. "Could it be..."
Could this Sushang be connected to the old acquaintance in his heart?
Twelve years ago...
The Primordial White Tiger Immortal Physique...
The Aptitude Ranking...
Drawing from the young generation's heavenly geniuses across the world...
Could it be!
Astonishment appeared on the master of Guixu's face!
Seeing through his thoughts, Madam Wenqu smiled. "Letting time verify your conjecture will bring you closer to the answer you seek than coming up with a hundred conjectures."
The master of Guixu abruptly rose, his expression excited. For the first time in a thousand years, he, who had always been without sorrow or joy, lost his composure!
He cupped his hands. "Your disciple has attained sudden enlightenment. Thank you for your guidance, Master!"
Madam Wenqu was the very teacher who had first enlightened him!
Madam Wenqu inclined her head slightly. Gazing at the clusters of peach blossoms ahead, she said:
"I am going into seclusion.
"The descent of the Heavenly Rankings has brought immense fortune, enough to return this era to the pinnacle age when immortals vied for supremacy.
"I have already broken through to the Immortal Ascension Realm, but I still wish to seek further. The path of cultivation has always been without end."
Her gaze slowly swept across the three Heavenly Rankings, finally settling on one name.
The one ranked first on all three...
Xie Feng!
"I have a premonition that winds and clouds will surely surge in this era, with mighty figures emerging in droves. There may even appear... a supreme being for the ages!"
Madam Wenqu spoke softly.
The master of Guixu also stared at Xie Feng's name. "The future will belong to the younger generation..."
Xie Feng and his group returned to the Xuanji Sect.
He went to the medicinal garden on the rear mountain to gather herbs, then entered the pill chamber and devoted himself to refining the Great Radiance Spirit-Enhancing Pill.
This was the divine-grade pill recipe rewarded by the Great Dao when Sushang's Water Dragon Chant entered the Dharma Artifact Ranking. The pill could raise a person's soul realm.
Sushang was appointed their little tour guide, responsible for showing the two "tourists," Changying and Anping, around Xuanji Mountain.
"There's a tsundere purple bamboo on the mountain.
"There's an Old Wang at the bottom of the lake who loves sleeping in.
"Master has an Immortal-Slaying Furnace that can roast lotus-leaf chicken.
"The medicinal garden on the rear mountain is full of heavenly treasures."
Sushang swayed her head, giving a detailed introduction to every place they passed.
Powerful fortune...
Rich spiritual vitality...
The purple bamboo in the sect master's courtyard...
Mountains, rivers, an emerald lake, towers, pavilions, and buildings...
For Changying and Anping, everything was novel.
One had spent years in the water, the other years inside a tower. The world they could see had been small and monotonous.
"Look, it's time to feed Mung Bean now. Mung Bean is Old Wang, but that name sounds too awful."
As she spoke, Sushang scattered some fruit over the emerald lake. Ripples spread, and the fruit was swept to the lakebed in an instant.
This lake!
An immense sense of pressure rose in Anping's heart!
He stared fixedly at the lake water, his heart pounding wildly. His senses were definitely not mistaken. At the bottom of this lake was a presence that shocked him!
Sushang said this was an Old Wang?
How could an ordinary turtle make him feel such intense wariness?
Clearly, this was definitely no ordinary turtle!
That presence...
It was like it came from another sacred beast!
Yet Sushang, herself a sacred beast's descendant, looked perfectly normal, as though she sensed nothing amiss. It was probably because the girl was too young, her ability to sense equally powerful beasts still weak!
Anping, however, could sense it very clearly. There was definitely a sacred beast's descendant at the bottom of the lake!
That supreme scent was already etched into his genes!
Just what...
Kind of top-tier aquatic beast could it be?