As they say, “Those who commit many injustices will surely destroy themselves” – that describes me perfectly. In childhood, I always led the bullying of other children, and now it was all coming back to me at once. Even after being beaten like this, they still didn’t help me up, instead crouching around me and Xuanyue like a group of children observing an ant colony, studying us with lowered heads.
After staring at each other for a while, I discovered these three were indeed as I had imagined: one was a fat man, one was a bright-eyed, fair-toothed, vivaciously beautiful girl, and one was a lively young man thin as a monkey. The girl opened her big eyes and said: “You are… of the Suzhao Clan?”
This question caught me off guard. I had forgotten that my hair was azure and my skin was a shade whiter than mortals’, making me easily noticeable. However, recalling the previous attitude of immortals toward us, to be honest, this Little Princess was scared! If I openly admitted it, who knew if they might set me on fire for kindling.
Fortunately, before I could respond, the skinny monkey had already said: “Suzhao Clan? Who are they?”
“They’re from the…” The girl seemed about to blurt something out, but quickly swallowed it back. “Suzhao is the Lunar Capital on the Northern Sea. It’s said many Suzhao people live there – they all have azure hair and snow-white skin, born with water manipulation abilities.”
The fat man glanced at me: “So all Suzhao people look this beautiful? Are they also immortal beings?”
The girl frowned and forced a smile: “How ignorant. We and they are as different as clouds and mud. I don’t know if they count as mortals or demons. If you say they’re demons, they have no original forms. If you say they’re human…” She pointed at my hair. “Can humans grow hair this color? Wait, hey girl, you look familiar…”
Oh no, had she also seen me before? I quickly said: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. This hair was naturally born this way. Have you seen enough?”
“Oh my, Junior Sister, I think we’ve misunderstood her.” The fat man seemed kind-hearted. “The girl is covered in wounds, so severely injured. We should take her to Ningxin Temple and find some pills for her to take?”
The girl was still somewhat displeased: “Armchair strategizing. Are the pills at Ningxin Temple something we can just grab at will? Whether this girl is human or a ghost, we can tell by bringing her to the Master. You two quickly pick her up and come with me to see Master.”
Before I could struggle, they had already carried me like a side of pork and flown up the mountain.
Now I was finished – delivered to the immortal headquarters.
Watching them fly over peak after peak, I also saw more and more immortals: some shuttled through clouds and mist, flying on swords; some stood on overlapping peaks, chanting and admiring the misty clouds; some rode unknown flying beasts, listening to pipes and drums while intoxicated; some were young and reckless, fighting with others in aerial combat, their magic techniques splashing colorful light across the sky…
Ordinary people seeing such scenes would probably only feel like they were sleepwalking in Handan, dreamlike and fantastical, but my little heart was trembling wildly, goosebumps threatening to turn into a storm of pear blossom needles. This miserable life truly went from one sewage ditch into another cesspit.
Finally, after asking around everywhere for their master’s whereabouts, they tracked him to a high tower platform. Here, despite the accumulated snow everywhere, flowers bloomed in clusters and grass grew lush, crowded with overfed immortal cranes. In the center of this flock of fat cranes was a thin, tall old immortal feasting on rosy clouds and scenic views.
He stood with hands behind his back at the cliff’s edge, snow-white hair reaching his knees, ethereal as cloud and smoke, his ivory-colored long robe floating like wind.
Hearing his three disciples calling, he turned around, looked down at me, then glanced at Xuanyue curled in my arms. He stroked his beard, his long white eyebrows twitched, and said only one sentence: “This is a major matter.”
Whatever major matter they were talking about, I only knew that if I kept bleeding like this, sleeping in a coffin would become my life’s major matter.
Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore and decided to faint.
When I woke up again, I had been bandaged like a dumpling, with warm currents flowing through my body – apparently, I had been treated with immortal magic. I was now lying on an indoor bed, surrounded by towering medicine cabinets filled with countless bottles and jars.
I struggled to get out of bed and walked rather inflexibly out of the room. In the main hall outside, I saw the white-browed old immortal.
Seeing me emerge, he turned and said: “Young lady, I sense spiritual energy flowing through your body, yet it’s not entirely immortal power. Are you cultivating immortality?”
I shook my head: “Actually, I don’t know what I am either. The spiritual energy is innate.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Then what are your plans for the future?”
I honestly shook my head again: “I don’t know either. I don’t even know where I am or what your status is.”
The white-browed old immortal said, “You are in Qinghong Mountain of the immortal realm. This is a place where immortal disciples cultivate in seclusion. All semi-immortals and wandering immortals can apprentice and learn here. I am Lord Xuxing, commanded by the Immortal Venerable to come here and teach.”
“Then, are you the master of the immortal disciples here?”
“Correct.”
This Lord Xuxing appeared very kind and had no immortal airs about him. He probably knew nothing about the evil deeds of Immortal Lord Huangdao and Elder Ruyue. As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is also the safest. If I could stay here, it would be better than wandering outside and possibly being killed by those immortals someday.
I kept my wits about me and knelt directly on the ground: “Then, can you accept me? My name is Luowei. I’m an orphan who has always wandered about homeless. I beg the Great Immortal to take me as a disciple!”
Lord Xuxing said, “Don’t be hasty with kneeling. Although you have wisdom and a spiritual power foundation, Qinghong Mountain has strict hierarchies. I am a Heavenly Lord, ranked third level among immortals, and don’t take disciples below flying immortal level. If you truly wish to cultivate here, I can take you to find a master.”
“Good! I’ll go with you right now!” I quickly stood up and looked around. “Wait, where’s Xuanyue?”
“Xuanyue is that little tiger, right?” He pointed to the sealed cage in the corner. “Do you know that the little tiger you’re raising has no small background?”
I quickly ran over and looked at the pitiful Xuanyue outside the cage: “Xuanyue has a good nature. Please don’t harm it.”
Lord Xuxing said, “Don’t worry. Hemp growing among hemp needs no support to grow straight; white sand mixed with mud becomes black with it. Though Qiongqi are fierce beasts, this Xuanyue is still young. With strict discipline and sealing spells, I believe it will grow upright and strong. However, others may not think as I do. Anyone with discernment can recognize it as Qiongqi. Have you thought about what to do in the future?”
I suddenly remembered the previous illusion: “Could you change it into a white tiger? Then others wouldn’t see it’s Qiongqi.”
“That’s a good idea.” He lightly pointed his finger at Xuanyue, and it turned white again. “This way, ordinary people will likely mistake it for a Snow Peak Heavenly Tiger. Additionally, I’ve sealed its power – until its nature is fully formed, it will only be an ordinary white tiger.”
Originally, when I made this suggestion, I felt I was thinking too simply and lacked confidence, but unexpectedly, this could deceive heaven and cross the sea. It seemed the young man in the peach grove who changed Xuanyue to white was deliberately giving me a hint? But why did he change Xuanyue back to red?
I recalled falling off the cliff earlier – it was Xuanyue who melted snow into water to save me. For something so small to exert such great power was indeed extraordinary.
I said, “Does it already have spiritual power?”
Lord Xuxing said: “Yes. Qiongqi are descendants of the water god Gonggong and are naturally capable of magic.”
I see. Enlightenment struck. This little thing was actually of the same element as me. That Lord Kaixuan was truly pig-headed to move a rock and drop it on his foot. Now I only hoped Xuanyue would grow up quickly, becoming a fierce, aggressive beast, then letting me command it to help me summon wind and rain, reclaim Suzhao – what joy! What joy!
I glanced at Xuanyue, wildly ecstatic in my heart.
For some reason, I felt it swallowed and retreated further back in the cage, hunching its shoulders, its small body shaking twice.
Speaking of Gonggong reminded me of the idiom about water and fire being incompatible. Speaking of water and fire incompatibility, I soon understood these five characters thoroughly – literally thoroughly. Because I went with Lord Xuxing to find a master.
My master was a middle-aged immortal, slightly plump with black hair and curly beard. He excelled at fire magic, and among his disciples were two wandering immortals and one semi-immortal. Compared to Lord Xuxing, Master was less ethereal. Moreover, his treatment of me was utterly unreliable.
From the first day, knowing I wasn’t even a semi-immortal and was just a woman, he had me live near the woodshed to recover from injuries. After some days, as my wounds gradually healed, I requested to learn from the Master. He continued demonstrating various flame eruption techniques for his three disciples in Fire Qilin Temple while assigning me to collect firewood.
You should know that firewood in the immortal realm also has its particular requirements. Ordinary wood would extinguish quickly in the immortal realm and couldn’t float in the air, burning on its own. So I had to specifically go to Qiong Wood Forest to collect branches. Whenever I felt indignant, I would think that Master was a fire-element person whose magic I couldn’t learn anyway, so I contentedly became his little wood-collecting sister.
Living like this, three months passed, and hardly anyone on Qinghong Mountain knew me.
Until one day, I again encountered Lord Xuxing in Qiong Wood Forest. He descended before me riding a Chongming Bird, its feathers like fire and tail like gold, indescribably beautiful. I put down my basket and properly bowed to Lord Xuxing: “Greetings, Master Uncle.”
Lord Xuxing handed me a bottle of pills: “Luowei, you’ve come at the right time. Your Taishi Jun encountered a large demon army ambush while passing through the Divine-Demon Chasm and is now injured, resting by Xiang’e Lake. Quickly take this medicine to him. I need to return and fetch newly refined pills to send to Divine Lord Lingyin.”
“Divine… Divine Lord?” I admit, hearing the word “divine” scared me.
“Remember to keep it secret. The reason they’re still visiting Qinghong Mountain as planned is because they don’t want to cause city-wide panic.”
“Yes, yes, yes!” I hugged the medicine bottle and hurried toward the depths of Qiong Wood Forest.
The Qiong trees rose straight to the sky, their white jade-like branches and leaves blocking the view. Only at the end of a main road did I finally see Xiang’e Lake.
Xiang’e Lake was surrounded by slate-azure mountain groups, usually with waves upon waves and cold emerald smoke above. But this time, it was mostly filled by a deep blue giant creature.
Two people stood by the lakeside – one with black hair and azure crown, one with white hair and magnificent robes. Hearing footsteps, the black-haired man turned around, his peach blossom eyes seeming to always carry a smile. The white-haired man appeared as an aged, venerable, naturally imposing person without anger.
This white-haired, venerable man must be my Master Uncle’s master. And that azure-haired man should be Divine Lord Lingyin.
To have the fortune of seeing a god in my lifetime – I hadn’t lived in vain. I was extremely nervous. Xuanyue, on my shoulder, seemed equally tense, gripping my arm tightly.
“Taishi Jun! Taishi Jun! The medicine is here!” I waved the medicine bottle and ran frantically toward them.
Halfway there, I heard Xuanyue cry “aowoo” and then it suddenly hid behind my back. I was puzzled, but when the trees thinned and my view suddenly opened up, I finally understood what it was crying about – a giant dragon was lying in Xiang’e Lake! Its eyes were cold and arrogant, with a deep wound on its back almost as long as a mountain range.
I was so frightened my feet trembled, my joyful steps tripped over wood, and I fell to the ground with a “thud,” the medicine bottle rolling away.
I saw the white-haired venerable extend his hand, and the medicine bottle rolled twice before flying into his grasp. Taishi Jun’s chess moves were indeed a step higher – despite his advanced age and injuries that weren’t obvious, he still reacted so quickly with extraordinary skills. He even kept such a fierce dragon – masterful, truly masterful!
After opening the medicine bottle, he didn’t immediately use the medicine himself but poured out several golden pills and put them in the giant dragon’s mouth. Seeing this, my respect for Taishi Jun increased by another point. Taishi Jun was truly benevolent – he injured himself, yet thinking first of the divine beast. As I climbed up, moved to tears, Taishi Jun turned and glared at me: “Whose disciple are you? Why don’t you quickly withdraw? Don’t you know Taishi Jun needs quiet for recuperation?”
“Ah, yes! This disciple will withdraw immediately! Taishi Jun, rest well!” I bowed several times and ran out of their sight.
In less than a tea time, Lord Xuxing had speedily returned with many prominent immortals behind him. After a while, a seven-colored light flew from Xiang’e Lake’s direction, even more beautiful than fireworks – presumably, I could have seen various marvelous techniques if I went over. I was extremely curious but didn’t dare approach, only continuing to collect wood on Master’s orders while occasionally looking up to appreciate the radiance in the sky.
By evening, when golden light filled the Qiong forest and the immortals gradually left, the two gods still hadn’t emerged. I secretly crept near the lakeside, wanting to see how gods heal, but those two had long vanished, leaving only the giant dragon still soaking in the cold water. I slapped my forehead, only then remembering they were gods – gods had higher magical power than immortals, coming and going without a trace. How could our mortal eyes see clearly!
Indeed, gods were different. This dragon looked even more mighty and magnificent than Yinglong and Panlong. With one body submerged, it soaked most of the Qiong forest. Since this was my first time seeing such a large dragon, I certainly couldn’t bear to leave so quickly. I flitted through the forest like a butterfly spirit, hiding behind the largest, closest tree to secretly observe it.
Seeing it had shark-like, scaly ears and was soaking in water for recuperation, I guessed this was a water-governing dragon.
A water dragon was good! If I could raise such a divine dragon and have it carry me flying, I could probably go up to heaven and down to earth, soaring through all the world’s rivers, lakes, and seas in an instant – so impressive my face would cramp from smiling. However, seeing how Taishi Jun revered it, almost as devoutly as we worshipped Cangying God, riding it would be quite difficult.
Frankly speaking, this dragon was as boring as a loose belt – quite uninteresting. I waited behind the tree from dusk to full dark, yet it maintained the same position, lying there, resting with closed eyes, not even moving its eyelids. I estimated it had fallen asleep, so my courage grew bolder and I walked forward a few steps. Seeing it still did not react, I snapped my fingers at Xuanyue, lifted my robe, tiptoed, and crept beside it like a thief.
I stretched my neck to look at it and discovered this dragon was truly a colossal creature, like Mount Tai pressing down. Its scales were like ice, coldly gleaming, each one the size of two of my faces. If Xuanyue and I together served as dessert, we probably wouldn’t be enough to fill the gaps between its teeth.
Its injury was indeed severe. Although it covered most of it with its tail, the exposed parts were still shockingly deep. Moreover, because its body was so enormous, the wound couldn’t be completely soaked in the lake water. It frowned even in sleep – it must be in great pain. I gently circulated my energy, drawing lake water upward to pour on its wound.
Soon, ice mist rose from the wound area. When we of the Suzhao used water for healing, we had the same reaction. Indeed, we great Suzhao people were a water tribe blessed by the gods. So I continued using water manipulation to heal it. Unfortunately, this fellow was too large. Before long, I felt insufficient spiritual power in my body and turned my head, wanting Xuanyue to help.
As I turned, I was again scared into sitting on the ground.
This dragon had awakened at some unknown time. It had turned its head and was staring at me with open eyes. At this moment, the sky was boundlessly deep sapphire blue, jade trees surrounded the lakeside, light smoke brushed the azure mountains, and a cool moon hung high in the western sky like an ice plate soaked in the deep sea. This dragon’s eyes were also glowing silver-white, looking over coldly, even more terrifying than the cold lake’s moon reflection.
My adaptability still had some skill. The moment I met its eyes, I immediately changed from sitting to kneeling, honestly kowtowing three times: “Dragon God, spare my life! This humble one won’t dare again!”
But this dragon turned its head away indifferently, with a somewhat disdainful expression. Good heavens, what kind of attitude was this? Neither grateful nor angry. I thought about it and continued helping it with its wound. As a dragon of the divine realm, it shouldn’t bully us small fry… no, juniors. Moreover, you don’t hit a smiling face.
The dragon didn’t resist but didn’t close its eyes again either, just keeping those frost-snow-like eyes open, quietly enjoying my service. Taking advantage of the spell-casting opportunity, I observed its appearance again. Compared to the Panlong and Yinglong I’d seen before, this dragon’s face seemed younger and more handsome – using this word to describe a dragon was stranger than an immortal holding an umbrella.
However, this dragon was indeed good-looking – narrow cheeks, bright silver whiskers, graceful bone structure, muscles so taut they gleamed, and those beautiful eyes even more magnificently proud. It was just unknown what breed it was or whether its kind were all this attractive.
I leaned close to Xuanyue’s ear and said, “Xuanyue, look how handsome this Dragon God is. I wonder if it’s male or female.”
Xuanyue tilted its head to one side, apparently thinking. I continued: “But its temper doesn’t seem like a water dragon. Being so fierce without being reborn as a fire dragon is such a waste. I bet it’s not married yet?”
Who knew that before Xuanyue could answer, this dragon slowly turned its head toward us, its eyes practically freezing over.
I hit the ground once again.
Great Cangying, God save me – it heard even such a quiet conversation!!