Even now, Rovi still carried on his back the sword made from a branch of the Fusang Tree, formed by drawing out its concept of the "sun."
It was constantly being steeped in the concept he emitted as a "sun god," as though tempered again and again. Though the sword had not been drawn for a long time, its edge burned even hotter than before.
And next, in the heartland of Qin, behind Xianyang, Rovi intended to further "forge" this sword, transforming it completely into a pure "scorching sun."
He would use it as an "Immortal-Slaying" sword to slay the Old Ghosts of the Six Heavens and purify the last traces left upon the earth by the Great Old Ones that had once attempted to invade Huaxia, the Divine Land.
The Old Ghosts of the Six Heavens were hidden in the "gaps of history" of the various states. This was something Rovi had discovered while traveling through them.
Though some of the states across the Divine Land had not existed for very long, most of the families within them could trace their origins back to the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. The weight of their Human Order already spanned several thousand years.
The difficulty of finding them went without saying. The Old Ghosts of the Six Heavens hidden within could even influence the human world at all times. In a certain sense, the collapse of rites and music and the endless warfare of the four hundred years of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods could be said to have begun because of them.
But if they faced a crisis of national destruction, if their states and homes collapsed, the Old Ghosts of the Six Heavens would naturally have nowhere left to hide.
Great Qin's march east had given Rovi just such an opportunity.
Of course, finding them was difficult, and killing them was in truth even more difficult. But Rovi was confident—because of the "chaos" in his mind, and because of his utterly fearless, death-defying nature that left him unafraid of being tainted.
Then, by purifying them with the Pure Yang sword, he could also lend the final bit of strength to the ancestor gods of Huaxia who were resisting the "Old Ones" beyond the heavens.
No matter what, these Old Ghosts of the Six Heavens were the "strange" traits the ancestor gods had peeled from their own bodies. Their existence was also a warped kind of restraint upon the ancestor gods.
Of course, that was Rovi's plan. And since it was a plan, it was naturally something to be carried out later, step by step.
As for now...
"First, let's build ourselves a home in Qin!" Rovi stood atop the dragon carriage, looking down over the mountain range beneath him.
The Azure Dragon dragged the carriage, its dragon head held high. At this moment, even if the Norse God of Trickery, Loki, were to see this divine beast with his own eyes, he would likely never recognize it as his own offspring. It had already been thoroughly localized into Huaxia, and assimilation in the realm of ideas had always been something this land excelled at.
It slowly lowered the carriage to the ground. Amid steaming wind and cloud-mist, its eight dragon claws, hooked like eagle talons, touched down, and the carriage wheels rolled forward.
They landed atop a tall mountain.
This was the highest mountain around Xianyang. Its peak stood like a fortress, overlooking everything below, enough to sweep the whole land within Qin Pass into view without the slightest obstruction.
"A home?" Xu Fu tilted her head. "Then I'll help too!"
"So annoying. I'll help too!" Yu Mei-ren swayed as she rose. "I won't let you steal all the glory by yourself, Emperor-Lord."
"Then let's get off together!" Rovi leapt up and down from the carriage.
But before the group could set out, they noticed the ground trembling faintly. Dust and smoke rolled toward them from afar. It was a Qin cavalryman, bringing Ying Zheng's command. "By order of my king, this mountain is designated as Donghua Dijun's resting place in the human world. All sprites, spirits, ghosts, and monsters are to keep away—"
In truth, he did not need to say it. The sprites, spirits, ghosts, and monsters on this mountain had already fled one after another after Rovi entered Qin. In this era, aside from ancient demon sages like Wuzhiqi who remained from antiquity, there were simply no such beings who dared face the heavenly might of Donghua Dijun directly.
But clearly, that was not the only order he had brought.
"My king commands: hire laborers with generous treatment to build Donghua Dijun's divine temple upon this mountain, with the immortal attendants on either side enshrined alongside him. Its specifications shall be equal to the Qin royal palace."
Rovi, Yu Mei-ren, and Xu Fu, who had originally planned to do the work themselves and raise a residence here with a single "divine ability," all stopped at once.
"It seems the owner of this place is rather excessively hospitable. We should not disappoint him." Rovi said this, but in truth, there was another reason. If Qin built it, then the structure that rose here would not be a "miracle," but a work of human hands.
It would be recorded into Human Order and become a page of history.
This would also count as the first time Donghua Dijun's existence was "engraved" in the human world by others. Of course Rovi would not refuse.
Moreover, King Zheng of Qin's command was to "hire," not forcibly conscript.
For the common people, this would bring benefit as well.
He trusted that King Zheng of Qin would not resort to deception in front of Rovi...
"Huhahaha! My Great Qin is prosperous and powerful. What does this little bit of wealth and material amount to?"
Behind the cavalryman, more dust and smoke rose. A royal carriage came, drawn by six horses.
According to the rites of Zhou, the Son of Heaven rode with six horses. Clearly, the person who had come already regarded himself as equal to the Son of Heaven.
Naturally, there was no doubt as to his identity.
It was the King of Qin, "Ying Zheng," who had been in the Qin palace at Xianyang just a moment before.
The cavalry parted. The king personally dismounted, stepped out from beneath the shadow of the canopy, and walked up to Rovi.
Others could not look directly at Rovi, who had manifested at this moment as Donghua Dijun. But King Zheng of Qin, as the king who held Qin's territory in his grasp, naturally had that qualification.
"You and I have finally met formally, Emperor-Lord."
"Why be so courteous, King of Qin? Our exchange in the sea of consciousness gave me much to reflect on as well."
"Shall we sit?"
"Very well."
"Hahahaha! To sit with an immortal and a god—I thought I would only have the chance after all under heaven was unified, once I went to Penglai in the East Sea to explore!"
"Not many immortals remain on the East Sea..."
One man and one god, a sovereign of the human world and an Emperor-Lord of the immortal path, each took a seat atop the mountain.
The towering cavalry had long since surrounded the mountain so tightly that not even water could seep through.
Xu Fu hid inside the carriage, concealing herself beneath the canopy. Yu Mei-ren merely yawned lazily and basked in the sun.
As a planetary Elemental born inside the planet, she had never liked the sun on the surface. But by Rovi's side, she could always sense his presence and aura from the sun, and that made her feel especially peaceful and calm.
Over there, the King of Qin and Donghua Dijun sat behind a table carried over by Qin soldiers.
"Not many immortals remain on Penglai?" King Zheng of Qin murmured, lifting his wine cup. In truth, he was somewhat disappointed—disappointed that he could not test himself against the immortals and gods of the mythical age.
The Rovi before him was already his ally, and King Zheng of Qin would not strike at an ally.
Rovi also raised his cup to meet him. Though Ying Zheng, who had yet to unify all under heaven, was still lower than him in "scale" within the Divine Land, they could barely meet as equals.
After all, he was an emperor and a king. Though there was a gap between emperor and king, both were monarchs, already set apart from ministers and subjects.
And so-called scale, broadly speaking, could also be defined as "influence." Whether one influenced things through one's own mighty power, or through authority and strength, it could all be summarized within scale.
"There is actually no real difference between the immortal path and the human path." Rovi drained his wine in one gulp and said, "Even after attaining the immortal path, even as an Emperor-Lord of the immortal path, am I not still drinking wine and eating meat in front of you?"
"How can there be wine without meat?"
Faced with this very worldly demand from Donghua Dijun before him, Ying Zheng froze for a moment. It was different from the lofty immortals and gods in his impression—but it made him feel closer to him.
"Huhahaha! Wine cannot be without meat. Wine cannot be without meat!" He immediately ordered Qin soldiers into the mountain to hunt. "Use what is at hand. Let the Emperor-Lord taste the flavor of Qin!"
Before long, the Qin soldiers hunted down a deer from the mountain, and King Zheng of Qin personally demonstrated what was meant by the flavor of Qin...
"King of Qin, your cooking skills are hard to describe." Rovi set down the knife he had used to shave off meat.
"Huhahaha! I have never needed to cook. Where would skill come from?" King Zheng of Qin admitted it as a matter of course.
"Then why invite me?"
"Why not? I am the King of Qin. Food made by the King of Qin does not require skill. Whatever I make is the most delicious thing in this world!"
"Then I'll just drink."
"Even Donghua Dijun cannot understand my greatness?"
"I just think you deserve a beating about as much as someone else I know."
Though he was not as crude and unbearable as Gilgamesh, the King Zheng of Qin before him was without question another arrogant and proud man.
In the end, King Zheng of Qin said, "Since you cannot appreciate my delicacy, I shall have no choice but to leave it for my soldiers to deal with."
Though arrogant, he was still able to hold in his heart the "good" he insisted upon...
Rovi set down the knife in his hand, let out a breath, and smiled.
To be honest, the taste was actually passable.
At least it was much better than anything he made himself.
"Since the Emperor-Lord says my cooking skills are hard to describe, then next, please witness for yourself the true delicacy I shall prepare for all under heaven!"
Using the Qin sword as his kitchenware, and these mountains and rivers as his ingredients.
"Hahahaha!" King Zheng of Qin came with laughter, and left with laughter as well.
Yu Mei-ren frowned. "What a strange guy..."
"Mm, very strange. The Emperor-Lord is still better," Xu Fu said too.
Yu Mei-ren's eyes instantly flashed with murderous intent. Even at a time like this, you still have to keep desperately sucking up!?
Rovi remained seated behind the table, drawing his gaze back from the departing figure of King Zheng of Qin.
Strange? He was strange indeed.
And yet he was not strange at all.
Because this was King Zheng of Qin... a sovereign of the human world who, even when facing immortals and gods, dared to rise and swing his sword.
Rovi rose with a flick of his sleeve and said, "Whether he is strange or not will depend on what comes after. Next—"
"We shall wait here!"
Waiting for the people of Qin to build Donghua Dijun's resting place in the human world here.
Waiting for Rovi's trace upon the Divine Land to be engraved by Human Order.
The canopy raised by the dragon carriage lowered layers of flowing light like bead curtains, shielding all directions and forming a place that kept out wind and rain.
They waited here and watched.
It had to be said that ever since Shang Yang's reforms, Qin's state machinery had maintained a high level of operation for over a hundred years, and its administrative efficiency was extremely high. After the King of Qin gave the order, in only half a day, a large number of laborers responded to the hiring. Great quantities of earth and timber were transported up the mountain, and in the process, many stationed Qin soldiers also participated.
From foundations to beams, steady and stable, building after building rose from the ground.
Throughout the process, Rovi merely sat quietly beneath the canopy, watching in silence.
He did not move, and so neither Yu Mei-ren nor Xu Fu moved. Offerings from Qin were presented to them from time to time, and Xu Fu, who had not yet reached the immortal realm, naturally had no need to worry about hunger.
During that time, the sun rose and the moon set several times.
Several times, the brilliant river of stars shone above them.
Rovi looked at the vast earth beneath his feet. He looked at the people of Qin, who always maintained their proud and spirited bearing. He looked at the sky, bright and dazzling, and at the boundless darkness of night.
"Emperor-Lord seems to have comprehended something?" Xu Fu's eyes shone. Her expression was extremely excited, but she sat on the dragon carriage not daring to move, her one exposed eye blinking and glittering.
Yu Mei-ren tried hard to put on an expression that said she did not care at all, but still could not help worrying. "What is he comprehending? There won't be any danger of assimilation into the Dao, will there?"
The path of immortals had always been rough and treacherous.
To form a connection with the planet meant bearing the possibility of being covered over and assimilated by the planet's own vast, innumerable traces of existence, becoming a formless planetary Elemental.
This was the manifestation of an essence far vaster than the nature held by gods.
The "calamity of assimilation into the Dao" was often something even primordial immortals and gods could not completely avoid.
So Yu Mei-ren's worry was in fact reasonable.
But Xu Fu appeared full of confidence.
She believed Rovi could cross the tribulation of assimilation into the Dao. Even more than that, she believed Donghua Dijun would never be assimilated by the stars themselves.
She believed...
Yu Mei-ren's heart suddenly settled as well.
"It sounds like something is ringing?" she suddenly said.
There was indeed a sound.
Thread by thread, like wind blowing through grasses and trees.
Rovi—opened his eyes.
His eyes had always been a mingling of gold and red, but at this moment, the gold was brighter, and the red darker.
The ancient robes he wore billowed up, and strands of his tied black hair drifted loose.
Gold and red, light and dark, intertwined upon him.
They were the sun and moon he had seen during this time, the mountains and rivers he had seen, the people of Qin he had seen.
"This is... yin and yang."
Rovi let out a long chant. His mind shook in an instant, and the chaos formed from the power of the Outer God of old that had always dwelt within it scattered at the same time.
What Rovi had always sought—to accept this chaos and madness—had finally succeeded at this moment.
He assimilated it into himself.
And so chaos separated into yin and yang, then once more converged back into chaos.
And so madness and reason interwove within it...
A bell rang through the boundless night. Yu Mei-ren raised her eyes and saw faint light floating in the air, spreading into a haze. Yet as it slowly flowed, it condensed into an ancient, simple great bell. Only in the blur, Yu Mei-ren also seemed to see a mass of indescribable mist coiling within it, stretching out countless invisible "tentacle"-like things that frantically struck and beat against unseen drums.
Nameless, indescribable.
He transformed into chaos. He transformed into the unspeakable, the indescribable. He transformed at will.
This was the primordial "Taiyi."
The "immortal path" that Rovi had condensed from chaos as seed, belonging only to him.
He had once attempted the immortal path beneath the Fusang Tree. Though he became an immortal in an instant, he abandoned it, because from the very beginning, Rovi had known clearly that what he sought was not an immortal of the stars, not an immortal who shared the lifespan of heaven and earth.
It was this very "immortal path" of indescribable chaos.
It was precisely...
THE SOURCE THAT GOVERNS YIN AND YANG.
The mist vanished, and the great bell dispersed. When Yu Mei-ren came back to herself, she saw Rovi flick his sleeve. The sword on his back hummed as it left its sheath, pointing toward the dome of the sky.
A streak of sword light split into the Two Modes of yin and yang, like the newborn sun, and also like the sinking moon.
As Rovi absorbed chaos, this sword too finally gathered sun and moon at this moment, divided yin and yang, and was forged into the vessel Rovi desired.
The sword light fell as a boundless rain of stars, scattering over the land within Qin Pass.
That night, countless living beings raised their heads in confusion. Though the night remained deep and dark, countless insights seemed to stir in their hearts.
That night, some watched the star-rain, comprehended the Dao, and entered dreams where they beheld Taiyi.
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