Crossover: In Little Garden, Becoming a God Through Once Proven, Forever Proven

Zhuge Qing narrowed his eyes even further and spoke with a show of ease.

"Qing, I'm not here to comfort you. I'm here to do you a favor. I'm very interested in Zhuge Village's arts and divine mechanisms."

"So I want to do you a favor and make a connection with the future head of the Zhuge Clan."

"Stop squinting and open your eyes properly. You're not at home now. You're in the mountains, and there's no one here but the two of us."

Qin Qi reached out and held Zhuge Qing's eyes open. "The eyes are the windows to the soul. Squinting means you want to hide what's inside."

Zhuge Qing looked at Qin Qi, at his open, gentle smile, and in that instant, he felt the scenery before him change.

But long-standing habit still made him want to hide on instinct, only now Qin Qi's hands were holding his eyelids open.

He couldn't hide. His whole being was exposed there in the mountain forest. He could feel the wind blowing and hear the birds calling.

He could feel the warmth of sunlight filtering through the leaves. It was an utterly ordinary moment, yet now everything felt different.

"Mr. Qin Qi, my family are all good people. They won't be disappointed because I failed. They're all very good people."

Zhuge Qing stopped squinting. Looking at Qin Qi, who had openly stated his intention to do him a favor, he spoke.

Only now did he stop concealing things. He understood that the man before him had seen through his thoughts, and there was no use hiding them.

"That's precisely why you feel worse. You know that when you go home, they won't blame you or look at you differently."

"They'll still love you, just as they always have, but you feel you don't deserve it anymore. You've let down their expectations, and you feel you no longer deserve to be treated that way."

Qin Qi looked calmly at Zhuge Qing and spoke.

"Yes. I feel I don't deserve it. Everyone had such high hopes, and I thought I could do it too."

"But I failed. I failed to inherit the legacy, and I failed to make a name for myself when I came out here. I can't do anything."

"Bai comforted me and said it was all right. Father comforted me and said it was all right. The rest of my family did the same, but I really wish they'd give me a good, harsh scolding!"

Zhuge Qing gave a self-mocking smile. "I'm useless, aren't I? I wear the cloak of a genius, but inside I'm a timid coward."

"I thought my mental cultivation was so advanced, but I can't even admit my own failure. In modern terms, I'm just a pathetic loser pretending to be hot shit."

"Hahahaha, you're pretty blunt, aren't you?"

Qin Qi couldn't help bursting into laughter when he heard that last remark. "But you're not wrong. Apart from being a little handsome, you're just a loser."

"Mr. Qin Qi, being that blunt is a little hurtful."

Zhuge Qing looked at Qin Qi laughing so hard and couldn't help laughing too. Yes, it really was pretty funny coming out of his own mouth.

But for some reason, it made him feel a little lighter inside.

"I know what my problem is, and I know what I should do. I should admit it and accept my failure."

"I should acknowledge what I'm really like. I'm human, and humans fail. That's normal."

"I've told myself countless times that I admit I failed, that I admit I feel inferior, that I admit I'm useless."

"But... no matter what, I can't calm my heart."

Zhuge Qing was a warlock. A warlock's most basic practice was meditation and introspection, understanding where one's problems lay.

He knew exactly why he had become like this, but knowing didn't necessarily mean he could solve it. A physician couldn't heal himself.

"Qing, let me tell you a story about the Three-One Sect's past."

Qin Qi sat down beside Zhuge Qing and began:

"The Three-One Sect was once an immensely prosperous sect. Threefold Reversal was hailed as an orthodox Daoist art, a path to heaven."

"The sect leader at the time, my master Zuo Ruotong, thought so too. He held to that belief for many years."

"Who knows how many seniors and fellow disciples sacrificed their lives or were crippled for it? Then one day, my master reached Threefold Reversal."

"He suddenly discovered that even cultivating Threefold Reversal to its peak couldn't achieve their goal. The physical body was still a body of flesh."

"Injuries and crippled bodies still couldn't be healed. The thing they had looked forward to for countless years, that had cost countless people their blood, sweat, and effort..."

"In the end, it all came to nothing. How do you think that felt?"

Qin Qi looked at Zhuge Qing and asked.

"Despair. Incomparable despair. I'd even doubt whether my existence had any meaning. I might even choose suicide to escape."

Just listening made Zhuge Qing feel utterly hopeless. Everything in one's life had been negated, and the meaning of one's existence was gone.

What remained but despair and death?

"How did Senior Zuo Ruotong feel then? Did he see through it? What method did he use?"

Zhuge Qing asked eagerly.

"I don't know. My master died decades ago. I never even met him, so how would I know what he thought?"

"I don't know whether he saw through it, but I do know he died because of grievous injuries, and that he felt his life had been enough."

"My senior brother told me he didn't die in despair. He died smiling."

Qin Qi didn't presume to guess what Zuo Ruotong had been thinking based on scenes from the manga.

He had never met him, and that was that. The person he imagined wouldn't be the same person who had lived back then.

So the truth was that he didn't know.

"Senior Zuo failed too?"

Hearing this, Zhuge Qing lowered his head deeply. How could he succeed at something even a person like that couldn't accomplish?

"No, he didn't fail. He took me as his disciple, and I modified the Three-One Sect's cultivation method, turning that old dream into reality."

"If I can't solve it, there'll be people after me. If they can't solve it, there'll be people after them. Simply put, if I can't solve a problem, I'll leave it to future generations to figure out."

"Come on, Qing, let's cross hands again. Let's exchange one move. You lost without getting a single move out last time, so you weren't satisfied, were you?"

Qin Qi stood up and patted Zhuge Qing's shoulder with a smile, then gave him a chance to establish the central palace.

"Then here I come!"

Zhuge Qing jumped up without hesitation, established the central palace, and prepared to use the wind-element attack he was best at to decide the outcome in a single move.

But the instant he unleashed his move, he found that Qin Qi had vanished from before him, and heaven and earth began to turn upside down.

Qin Qi appeared beside Zhuge Qing and slapped him across the face without holding back, pressing him straight into the ground.

"Qing, what do you say? Will you accept this favor and acknowledge me as a friend?"

Qin Qi asked with a smile.

"Phew... I accept. If you need anything in the future, I definitely won't refuse as long as it's within my power."

Zhuge Qing looked at Qin Qi. At that moment, he was convinced. Whatever methods he used, he had still lost.

"All right, I'm off. You can lie there on the ground by yourself."

Qin Qi turned to leave.

Please send flowers: 0

"Mr. Qin Qi, one last question. The Old Celestial Master always squints too. Is he also hiding what's in his heart?"

Zhuge Qing shouted.

"No, his eyes are just small. Old Master Tian said he was like that when he was young too."

Qin Qi smiled as he spoke. With that, his figure dispersed, and he vanished in an instant.

"His eyes are just small, hahahaha... sob..."

Zhuge Qing laughed, but as he laughed, he began to cry. He burst into loud sobs. Being hit had hurt, and losing had made him miserable.

But the pressure in his heart began to lift. Once he had let it all out, he lay on the ground looking at the sky and suddenly felt how blue it was.

Just then, Zhuge Xiaobai came rushing over. Seeing Zhuge Qing lying on the ground, he hurried forward in concern.

"Big brother, are you all right? Why is your face swollen? Did someone hit you?"

"Bai, I'm fine. I'm doing great. I've decided that once the Luotian Grand Ceremony is over, I'm going home. After I get home, I'm going to try the True Fire of Samadhi one more time."

Zhuge Qing looked at Zhuge Xiaobai and smiled. Sitting up, he patted his little brother on the shoulder.

"But if I fail this time, I'm done. It's too tiring. I'm going to give up trying and live the life of a salted fish."

"From now on, I'll leave the burden of passing down the True Fire of Samadhi to you. I'll leave it to you to hold up the Zhuge Clan, too. Do your best, Bai."

The most essential secret Zhuge Qing had learned from Qin Qi's story was this: don't put pressure on yourself. Put it on someone else.

Their clan was so big, so why did he have to shoulder the pressure alone? Didn't he have a younger brother? If he couldn't do it, what if Xiaobai could?

"Ah... me, learn the True Fire of Samadhi? Seriously? Can I do it?"

At an age when Zhuge Xiaobai still couldn't control his tears, he was already setting out on the road to managing the Zhuge Clan. This child's childhood was bound to be miserable.

"It's fine. If you can't do it, pass it on to your son. If your son can't do it, pass it on to your grandson. Your descendants will go on without end."

"Damn, wait. Did Dad think the same thing?"

Zhuge Qing suddenly thought of his father. Could the old man have thought the same way back then? No wonder he hadn't been all that upset when he saw him fail.

So his father had already been through the same thing back then, and that was why he'd given up trying.

[Zhuge Qing and Zhuge Xiaobai planned to go home after watching the Luotian Grand Ceremony. As the two left the forest...]

["Big brother, want some candy?" Zhuge Xiaobai took out a lollipop, wanting to share his treat with his brother.]

["You eat it. I don't want any. But Bai, I remember you didn't bring any snacks before we came. Where did you buy that?"]

[Zhuge Qing was a little puzzled. There shouldn't be anywhere selling lollipops on Mount Longhu, right?]

["I ran into Brother Qin Qi just now. He told me you were here and sent me to find you. He gave me candy too."]

["He's really gentle, and he's easy to be around. He gave me candy too. He's a good person."]

[Zhuge Xiaobai thought Qin Qi was a good person. He liked Qin Qi.]

[Zhuge Qing looked into the distance. He felt that Qin Qi was watching him now, so he cupped his hands and bowed.]

[He accepted this favor. Whether or not he ultimately mastered the True Fire of Samadhi, from this day on, the Zhuge Clan had established a relationship with the Three-One Sect-or rather, with Qin Qi.]

[Though he didn't have the title of a teacher, he had acted as one. Zhuge Qing felt he had learned something, so he acknowledged the favor.]

[After parting from the brothers Zhuge Qing and Zhuge Bai, you returned to your room and began thinking about something.]

"True Fire of Samadhi burns the soul specifically... In other words, if I directly set Innate Primordial Qi alight, could it burn life itself?"

White Qi began to emerge between Qin Qi's fingers. He formed it into the shape of a flame and used the vibrations of Hamon to give it the temperature of fire.

"No, that's not right. It looks the part, but its essence hasn't changed. A true flame of burning Innate Primordial Qi should become fire in substance."

"Form, substance... That might be the path ahead."

Qin Qi pondered. He felt he had found the path beyond mastering the Threefold Reversal Second Stage. First came form, and after that came substance.

"Ah, what Master said was right. Having a path to follow in Threefold Reversal is already the greatest blessing."

Qin Qi took out the videos he had collected and began studying them, examining those people's arts and techniques.

But before he had watched for long, he received a message from Liu Wukui.

Liu Wukui: "Boss, boss! Old Master Bi Yuan says there's a huge problem with the betting pool! He asked me to let you know!"

Chapter 67: Bai Shixue: I Don't Believe He's a God Who Can Foresee Everything!

Qin Qi looked at Liu Wukui's message. His first question was why Bi Yuan hadn't messaged him himself.

Qin Qi: Wukui, why didn't Old Master Bi Yuan message me himself? Why did he ask you to do it?

Liu Wukui: The old man isn't very good with modern devices. He's still figuring out the capital letters over there, so he types too slowly.

Qin Qi: "That's such a legitimate reason that I have no words. All right, tell me what happened."

Liu Wukui: "Someone has started placing big bets, and they're betting at five-hundred-to-one odds."

Liu Wukui: "Old Master Bi Yuan says these definitely aren't normal bets. Someone's trying to drain our funds."

Liu Wukui: "Old Master Bi Yuan also asked me to ask whether you want to set a betting limit."