An undying body, an immortal soul (13)

From the perspective of Li Boyang, Xiluo, and Azure Bird as bystanders.

It's actually difficult to comment on Gouxing's behavior of transforming himself into Guhuo Bird and then devouring Guhuo Bird's original form.

After all, Li Boyang had mentioned the concept of "Dao Heart" more than once when he was spreading the Dao to all living beings in Yunmeng Marsh.

In fact, "Dao Heart" is a very abstract concept.

However, it can be simply summarized as the desire to seek the truth, which is the initial motivation for every seeker to embark on this path.

If one forgets this original intention and chooses to abandon everything in pursuit of greater power, it is putting the cart before the horse.

Gouxing clearly belongs to the kind of being who has lost his "Dao Heart".

She originally transformed into the Guhuo Bird because of her fear of death.

As a result, after transforming into Guhuo Bird, it lost its sense of self and became someone else.

It is for this reason that even though Gouxing crossed both the physical and spiritual Divine Gate, he could not reach the ultimate goal and cross the Heavenly Pass.

Fortunately, it possesses the dual "immortal attribute" of an immortal physical body and an immortal soul.

Gouxing successfully survived the catastrophe instigated by Hao Jun ten thousand years ago and has lived on until the present day.

Throughout this process, Gouxing has been trying to cross the Heavenly Pass and become a true Great Heavenly Deity.

This led to the spread of the Guhuo Bird tribe and the event a thousand years ago in which the soul of the Witch of the Huai River was devoured.

In fact, Gouxing did not initially intend to share Wu Yao's territory.

Compared to the ability to "Seek Fortune and Avoid Calamity," Gouxing values Wu Yao's "Heavenly Mandate Divine Ability" more.

In order to get close to Wu Yao, Gouxing first tried to transform Huai Calamity's dragon girl, and then approached Wu Yao as the dragon girl, gradually finding out how to cross the Heavenly Pass.

However, to Gouxing's utter surprise...

Before the Dragon Girl could transform into the Guhuo Bird, Wu Yao had already neutralized her evil intentions.

This led to the subsequent events where the Dragon Girl manifested both good and evil aspects, attracting Wuzhiqi.

What Gouxing didn't expect was that Wu Yao decisively led her people away from Huai Calamity after that.

Thanks to the abilities of [Heavenly Mandate Divine Ability] and [Seek Fortune and Avoid Calamity], Gouxing was unable to pinpoint Wu Yao's location accurately.

It wasn't until Wu Yao fought against those barbarian gods in the Hundred Lands Mountain Range that her whereabouts were exposed.

This led to the Guhuo Bird opportunity to infiltrate and bewitch Wu Yao's people, ultimately resulting in the Guhuoniao devouring them.

All the Guhuo Bird that participated in the feeding frenzy gained the ability to Seek Fortune and Avoid Calamity, and their individual souls will inherit this ability after they are divided again.

However, the [Heavenly Mandate Divine Ability] that Gouxing desired most has disappeared without a trace.

We now know, of course, that Wu Yao entrusted her [Heavenly Mandate Divine Ability] and her remains to Xiluo for safekeeping.

For the next thousand years, Xiluo secretly guarded Flying Peak and protected Wu Yao's remains.

It wasn't until Li Boyang was born that Xiluo handed over the [Heavenly Mandate Bone Plastron] to him, thus fulfilling Wu Yao's last wish.

What happened next was exactly what Li Boyang, Xiluo, and Azure Bird knew.

Gouxing, hiding in the Heavenly Emperor's Capital, sensed the crisis and rescued Huoji, whom he regarded as his only "savior," at the last moment.

Unfortunately, Gouxing underestimated the danger of this crisis.

Having lived for over ten thousand years and even survived the crisis of "Ten Suns Destroy the World," Gouxing ultimately fell into the hands of Wu Yi.

--The immortal soul was shattered and fell into the Eighth Heaven.

--The immortal physical body remained in the Gouxing Palace, becoming a puppet controlled by the Huoji.

So, is Gouxing dead or not?

Watching the [Memory Palace] gradually transform back to its current form until it completely overlaps with reality.

Xiluo remained silent for a long while before finally asking the question that had been puzzling her.

Logically speaking, Gouxing should be dead beyond any doubt, and Wu Yi's decisive departure is enough to prove this.

However, she does still retain some of her divine soul, and her physical body still retains the attribute of immortality.

"That depends on your definition of death."

"The body that remains here now is merely an immortal body that has consumed the Immortality Herb."

"The soul that fell into the Eighth Heaven is essentially no different from this remaining body."

"Gouxing's will and mind have long been shattered by Wu Yi..."

Even if the soul and body were to reunite and the deity were to be reborn, it would only be a new god.

"Aside from possessing an immortal body and an immortal soul, she has absolutely no connection to Gouxing."

Li Boyang paused slightly at this point.

"In my opinion, the real Gouxing died the moment it became the Guhuo Bird."

"The Heavenly Emperor's daughter, who remained active for the next ten thousand years, was merely a Guhuo Bird a mythical bird) bearing the name Gouxing."

Seeing the incredulous look on Azure Bird's face, Li Boyang added with a smile.

"Didn't you notice anything when you viewed this memory?"

"Ever since Gouxing transformed into the Guhuo Bird, she has never seen Hao Jun again."

"No, not only has she not seen Hao Jun, but even her ten older brothers and twelve older sisters, who used to dote on her, have not shown up again."

"Perhaps in the eyes of these gods, she is no longer their family."

Hearing Li Boyang's explanation, Xiluo finally understood.

"Yes, Gouxing was Hao Jun's daughter after all, yet she never understood how that great calamity occurred."

"Initially, it could be said that Hao Jun doted on her and didn't want her to get involved in such matters."

"But even after the ten Golden Crow died and the Heavenly Emperor's Capital fell, no one told Gouxing anything about that great catastrophe."

"This shows that it's not just Hao Jun's family..."

"Perhaps even the gods under Hao Jun's command no longer regard her as Hao Jun's daughter."

For some reason, when Xiluo say that, a strange sense of sorrow suddenly arose in Azure Bird heart.

Before the sorrow in Azure Bird's heart could spread further, Xiluo spoke up again.

"So, where exactly is my sister's soul?"

Even after viewing all of Gouxing's memories, Ke Xiluo still didn't know the whereabouts of Wu Yao's soul.

But she trusted Li Boyang; if he said he could find Wu Yao's soul through the Gouxing, then he definitely could.

"Unexpected, yet perfectly logical."

"All the Guhuo Bird that participated in devouring the Witch of the Huai River possess a fragment of her remnant soul."

"Theoretically speaking, as long as we find their whereabouts one by one, we can piece together the complete soul of the Witch of the Huai River."

Monthly Pass/Recommendation Ticket

(End of this chapter)