For the talented adepts and extraordinary practitioners of the world, the immortal god who had manifested under the name "Donghua" brought only shock, along with a faint unease over the sudden change in the world.
But for the one whose nine tails stirred within that magnificent hall, it was more than shock and unease.
For "Donghua" had ascended to his divine seat with the Fusang Tree as his foundation, and Fusang was the divine tree where the sun rose and the moon set. It represented dawn and morning light, and belonged to part of the sun's Authority.
And that was what she herself was pursuing...
"Is this some contingency left behind by those departed immortals and gods? No... If it were them, they would never be this open about it..."
"Hmph. Those people tricked me into obstructing Cheng Tang's Shang realm back then, then broke their promise and suppressed me in the end..."
"Shut up. Wasn't that because you went too far on your own? Which of the things you did were actually things they told you to do, Su Daji!?"
"Do not mention that name to me, Bao Si!"
"..."
There was clearly only one "person," yet different voices rang out within the palace.
From that "person's" mouth.
And, even more, from those nine tails...
"What is there to argue about with yourself?" The "person" who served as the main body gave a lazy yawn. "But you are right. This lady finally united her nine tails and gained power on a primordial scale. I will not give up here so easily."
She swept her golden eyes behind her and let out a light laugh. Nine tails, housing multiple "personas."
They were her, yet they were not her. They were different existences derived from her as the main body.
Different "monstrosities" that had destroyed two former dynasties, demon kings that had ravaged entire lands, demon consorts that had usurped royal power... Each one was a great monster comparable to a top-class Divine Spirit. And now that they had returned to the main body, one could imagine the terror of the existence they displayed.
Thus, although she was surprised by the appearance of "Donghua," she did not feel the slightest fear. At most, she felt a little wary.
"And besides, this really is interesting."
"The aura of this newly appeared 'Donghua' seems connected to the primordial existence that manifested in that vast frozen land to the north some time ago. Or rather, there is a very high chance they are the same existence."
"After all, there are not that many primordials in this world."
"Ara-ara~~~"
"In that case, next, I might as well play with him a little!"
Amid that frivolous voice, the nine tails swept upward. The person lying quietly within the palace twisted her raised hips and slowly rose. Her dark robes hung half-open, leaving the pale fullness beneath them swaying, and as she moved, her legs slipped out from either side of the hem, black silk clinging tightly and outlining their curves.
A fine rain fell beyond the window, reflecting her long, smooth orange hair, brilliant as the blazing sun.
She looked outside.
Her red lips curved into a bewitching, playful arc, and her eyes, fixed on the dome of heaven, reflected the light beyond the rain.
That faint gleam of the rising sun in the sky.
...
The radiance flashed and vanished. The mystery dense enough to burn the eyes of countless talented adepts and extraordinary practitioners instantly drew back and disappeared, as though it had never appeared at all. Yet when they looked again at the sun that rose every morning, they felt there was something more in it now, something different from before.
In the East Sea, the waves rose and fell, the billows surging as they always had. The heavy mist drew back. The ships of the seekers of immortality continued to bob on the sea, swaying with the wind, but the earlier crisis was gone.
The dragon blood that had fallen into the sea swiftly faded and vanished. Even the blood left behind by a demigod flood-dragon comparable to a true deity seemed insignificant against the boundless ocean.
The sailors let out breaths of relief, then bowed one after another toward the still-swaying "giant Fusang Tree" ahead in thanks.
Thin strands of faith mingled with humanity flowed into it, falling upon Rovi beneath the tree.
He only glanced at them once, then fused them into the "sword" in his hand.
He let go, and the sword remained suspended in the air.
After absorbing that "humanity," it gained a trace of spirituality—or perhaps it should be called "Divinity," the humanity possessed by a god.
Red streams of light blossomed...
"From now on, you will be called Pure Yang Sword."
Rovi took half a step back. At the same time, the long robe draped over him transformed in an instant into Huaxia attire with wide robes and broad sleeves, deep blue-green as its base and white jade along its edges. A crown bound up his full head of black hair. His features were handsome, yet now they carried an intensely masculine air.
Before, one could still tell that he had come from a foreign land. But in this instant, he had completely blended into this land.
He gave a soft laugh.
"Donghua, is it?"
"That's a good name."
This name, and this position, without question suited Rovi's requirements... not because of the increase in terrestrial sun Authority it brought. The power of a sun god, the rank of an Emperor-Lord, was only equivalent to an upper chief god, the level of a "God-King." For a primordial like Rovi, the enhancement was almost nonexistent.
Even if Donghua Dijun had not existed before this, with Fusang as his support, Rovi was not like he had been with Yahweh, where there had been talk of "usurpation" before receiving recognition from the Spirit of the Void. Because he was Donghua. In this world, that name had originated from his existence.
But what Rovi valued was still only the "fate" that might exist behind this divine name.
Donghua, Donghua Dijun, was also a fairly well-known immortal god in later generations. His status was lofty; he was both god and immortal, and there were even myths of him reincarnating as a human after his body died and his Dao disappeared—becoming the famous Ancestor of Pure Yang, Lü Dongbin.
Rovi naming the sword in his hand "Pure Yang" also carried the implication of yearning for that fate to arrive.
He would become that name.
And within that name, he would leave behind an opportunity for death.
With every step he took, Rovi would leave behind as many possibilities as he could to achieve his goal.
"You... tricked me again, didn't you!?" Yu Mei-ren finally could not hold herself back. She flipped over and charged straight at him, grabbing Rovi by the collar.
The fur-trimmed coat flew backward with her movement, and her black hair poured down. The exquisite face of the "Immortal Maiden Yu" was full of indignation, her chest heaving violently enough to stir a wave of white. Her slightly raised toes brought her legs together and drew them tight, outlining the flat, soft warmth of her abdomen. "The Fusang Tree, Donghua... you... Hah!"
Her expression changed in an instant, from indignation to gloom, then to helplessness, and finally to realization.
As if she had suddenly understood something, she let go. "Hmph. Forget it. Annoying. This place wasn't mine to begin with anyway. Do whatever you want."
"It wasn't mine. It wasn't mine in the first place—so why am I getting sad and angry?"
Yu Mei-ren curled her lip, disdain appearing on her pretty face. "If you want it, take it!"
So you knew this place wasn't yours?
Rovi was amused. "Don't worry. This place belongs to me now, but I can truly lend it to you. You can stay as long as you want."
"Do I need you to tell me that?" Yu Mei-ren snorted. She brushed back her long black hair, revealing a pair of small, delicate fangs. "Even if you wanted to drive me out, you couldn't!"
"But if you dare disturb me while I'm sleeping again..."
"I'll definitely make you pay!"
"Do as you please." Rovi laughed aloud.
Yu Mei-ren, who thought herself fierce, did have a certain fierceness to her—especially when her threat to Rovi was practically nonexistent. She was almost like a milk kitten baring its claws and teeth at him.
It was hard not to laugh.
"Um... Emperor... Emperor-Lord?" A small, slightly timid, clear voice sounded from the side.
Xu Fu, who had been watching everything from up close all this time, raised her hand.
"You can call me Donghua, or Rovi," Rovi said, looking over. He smiled at the small girl, appearing rather gentle.
After all, she was his first "witness."
She was his first "anchor" to the lands of the Divine Land. It was only natural that he treat Xu Fu somewhat specially.
"How could I do that?" Xu Fu seemed to summon all her courage. "An Emperor-Lord is an Emperor-Lord."
"Speaking of which, why exactly are you seeking immortals?" Rovi suddenly asked.
It seemed that, up until now, Xu Fu had not asked him or Yu Mei-ren for anything.
It was as if she had simply come to meet them.
"Seeking immortals is for seeking immortals, isn't it?" Xu Fu looked puzzled. "What else would it be for?"
"..."
This child... seems even dumber than Yu Mei-ren?
Rovi glanced sideways at the graceful, exquisitely beautiful young woman beside him.
What answered him was Yu Mei-ren's gaze, full of confusion and wariness.
It feels like this person is thinking something very rude...
But Yu Mei-ren, too, found it rather strange. When ordinary people sought out immortals, they always had a purpose. Either they sought arts to set foot on the immortal path, or they sought an elixir to ascend in broad daylight and become ageless and deathless.
Those who sought immortals usually yearned not for the immortals themselves, but for the immortal path.
Xu Fu, however, seemed to be the other way around...
Not only did she have no request, she even took the initiative to offer help. "If there's anything you need me to help with, I'll definitely help!"
Even Yu Mei-ren, who had seen countless seekers of immortality, found this somewhat funny and helpless. The baffling ill will she had accumulated toward Xu Fu earlier drifted away with it.
Faced with such a foolish child, who could truly hate her from the bottom of their heart?
Yu Mei-ren hated humans to begin with only because of their seemingly endless desires.
"We don't need your help. On the contrary, I will give you something." Rovi swept his sleeve and took out an object. He bent down slightly, meeting Xu Fu's eyes at the same level as the girl who only reached his chest, then placed the object in her hand.
It was a black-and-white yin-yang jade pendant. "This is..."
"A reward." Rovi rubbed Xu Fu's head through her hat.
It was a reward.
But in truth, it was a wedge.
It was the ability of the "Key of Heaven" to create "keys," an ability he had not used in a very long time, and had not needed to use in just as long.
It would serve as the first physical object Rovi left in the Divine Land, proof of the traces of his true existence. And Xu Fu, who held this object, would also receive the protection of "Donghua Dijun."
"Mm..." Xu Fu's face reddened slightly. She really wanted to take off her hat and let Rovi rub her head properly, but felt that doing so might be a little strange.
So she gripped the jade tightly in her hand.
Rovi withdrew his hand. "Go. Your companions are still waiting for you."
"Emperor-Lord, will we... meet again?"
"Of course."
"Hmph. Next time, don't disturb me while I'm sleeping. Otherwise, I really will eat you all!"
The combination of a gentle Emperor-Lord and an irritable immortal maiden looked strange no matter how one looked at it, but Xu Fu merely nodded hard. "In the future, I'll definitely come out to find you!"
"And I'll bring lots and lots of gifts~"
Xu Fu returned to the ship. The group of seekers of immortality who had come here departed with hearts full of excitement and returned laden with gains. Although the others had not been able to meet the immortals, they had seen the sword strike that slew a dragon and seen the divine tree taller than the sky. They too felt refreshed, as though they had received a god's blessing.
"When she comes back next time... I'm afraid it will be after Great Qin is founded." Rovi watched the sailboat depart into the distance.
Yu Mei-ren, however, inexplicably let out a breath of relief. "They're finally gone!"
Places with too many people always made her feel uncomfortable.
"Mm? What are you..." Yu Mei-ren looked at Rovi and froze.
Rovi was sitting cross-legged, his posture upright. Faint light spilled from within his body, flowing like a nebula.
"Cultivating immortality," Rovi said seriously. "I've been called an 'Emperor-Lord,' after all. I should practice at least a little, so the identity fits better."
"Speaking of which—this is something I simulated by calculating the circulation frequency of magical energy in that little girl's body... no, of spiritual power."
"It feels a little crude?"
"..."
So you didn't know how? Then how did you speak so confidently earlier?
A seeker of immortals had come seeking immortals and had not received many benefits, yet even her family's "cultivation method" had been learned by an immortal instead. This was probably unprecedented.
"That little girl should have learned Daoist arts. Daoist arts originate from Huang-Lao. Although what she learned is quite refined, she has not touched the immortal path yet, so of course it is shallow." Yu Mei-ren commented casually, then shook her head. "Hmph, hmph, hmph. If you really want to learn, you can come to me. Whether it's the secret arts of Huang-Lao or the qi-refining methods created by the ancient perfected immortals, I remember them all perfectly!"
"If you want to learn, I can teach you."
"You just have to beg... Ahem?"
Yu Mei-ren looked at Rovi sitting cross-legged before her and watched as layer upon layer of aura suddenly spread around him. Countless streams of "spiritual power" breathed in and out like nebulae coiling beside him.
The crude qi-refining art that came from Xu Fu had, in an instant, become incomparably profound.
It was in no way inferior to the qi-refining arts that Yu Mei-ren called the painstaking creations of the "ancient perfected immortals."
In an instant, he became an immortal.
His human form instinctively resonated with the planet, as if he had transformed into a planetary Elemental at the same time.
But in the next second, Rovi abolished it himself.
The girl's red lips parted, and the words she was about to say stuck in her throat.
Rovi merely opened his eyes. "It still seems... a little wrong?"
It could only be said that with a primordial-scale Machine God as his backing, Rovi's computational power had reached a level that even ordinary supreme gods could not compare to.
Any qi-refining art that entered his hands could be renewed and transformed in an instant into a path pointing directly toward the possibility of the "primordial"—though that possibility remained infinitesimal, it was already terrifying enough.
It simply brought no improvement to Rovi himself. It was only icing on the cake.
He could feel that this was not what he wanted.
What he wanted was...
"Cough, cough. M-merely this level." Yu Mei-ren's words had already grown somewhat unnatural. A faint blush appeared on her pretty face. She coughed softly, crossed her arms before her chest, and pressed in that overflowing fullness. "What does qi-refining count for? I also know the 'Old Era' methods that were prevalent in the Xia dynasty and have long since been forgotten..."
The Xia dynasty? Old Era?
Rovi's heart stirred, and he abruptly looked over.
--
T/N: heh
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