Cross was hugged by Xue'er and coughed "Aiya! You're dead too?" Xue'er slapped his chest lightly as she said angrily "Do you know how worried I am for you?!" Cross smiled wryly and said "I know." Feng Xue'er sighed and helped him up, Cross stretched out his hand and grabbed Xue'er's breast.
She frowned and said "You still can't see?" Cross replied "Mantra is good, sight is a no go. let's pretend to be a cripple." he waved and a wheelchair appeared. He waved his arms and grabbed the wheelchair before sitting in it, he gave Feng Xue'er a silly smile and she sighed before smiling herself and pushing his wheelchair to Long Chen.
Cross said "Yo! Wake up." he really needed to get the hang of using his mantra as eyes because he was currently talking to Yu Xiaoyun. Long Chen burst out laughing and Cross looked up saying "Ah! The straw bag emperor!"
Yu Xiaoyun almost coughed up blood and shouted "What did you call me!?" Cross said "The straw bag emperor!" then he suddenly sighed and said "This place is cursed, I lost my sight and the straw bag emperor is deaf. Hais..."
Feng Xue'er giggled and said "Alright, silly boy. Let's leave before you get attacked." she rolled him out and Cross said "Are you my sexy nurse?" Xue'er giggled "If you want me to beee~"
The people inside had amused looks on their faces and Yu Qingxuan was blushing.
A while later
Cross was at a table, being fed by Xue'er, he had a big smile and directly didn't use his mantra. Enjoying the sensation of being fed by her, he said "Xuexue, can you take care of me like this everyday?" Feng Xue'er's heart felt sweet and said said "Of course~" before wiping his face with a cloth.
Guo Ran looked at Lily, who paused and snorted saying "Fat chance." before going back to eating. Guo Ran almost started crying as he ate his meal in silence. Cross waved his hand and the gourd in Long Chen's hand flew over.
Long Chen and Yu Xiaoyun already drank 3 bowls but Cross drank from the gourd and crushed more than 3 bowls in one go, stunning everyone. Cross had a red line of blush from his left cheek, over his nose, to the right cheek as he slurred "Heh, this daddy... Hic! This daddy likes this wine~"
Long Chen had a blush as well as he snatched the gourd back and said "Bastard! That's my wine!" Cross giggled and said "Bah! Bah! What's yours is mine, what's mine is mine as well!"
The atmosphere was happy.
A while later
Long Chen, Cross, Yu Qingxuan, Feng Xue'er, and the rest of the Dragon Blood Legion, including Guo Ran, Xia Chen, Lily, and Artemis, disappeared on a teleportation formation.
The entire group appeared in the wilderness. Cross sighed in the wheelchair and said "How many fools will come to die now?" Long Chen chuckled and said "Who knows. Silent Night recognized the Tripod. The Huayan Company said it's the Universe Cauldron, how many people will come... It's hard to tell."
Cross stood up from the Wheelchair and said "Fuck me! Universe Cauldron?! I should've taken it for myself!" Long Chen sneered and said "With just you?" Cross grabbed Guo Ran and said "You want to fight?!" Guo Ran said "Father-in-law, you missed..." Cross grabbed Xia Chen and had a fierce expression, Xia Chen said "Father-in-law, you missed again..."
Cross clicked his tongue and said "Damn! I hate being blind!" Long Chen chuckled and the group boarded a flying boat, vanishing into the sky towards the Corruption Filled Heaven region.
Days later
Cross got used to seeing without eyes and stood at the front of the boat with a black blindfold on. He said to Long Chen "What do you think?" Long Chen said "We don't have a choice." Cross was silent before saying "Inner World?" Long Chen said "Please." Cross walked away and gathered the Dragon Blood Legion, he waved and said "All of you except Guo Ran and Xia Chen, get inside." he didn't give them room to disagree and sucked them in.
Soon it was just Guo Ran, Xia Chen, Long Chen, and Cross on the ship.
Suddenly a ship appeared and a laugh was heard "Hahah! Long Chen, our Longteng Company will get revenge and the Universe Cauldron! What a deal!" Cross clenched his fist and black Qi created an orb over his fist as he said "Abyss swallows the Earth!" before punching out.
The old man put up a barrier with a sneer but Cross' punch went through the barrier and blew up the old man's head like a watermelon, killing him completely. Cross grinned and stole his weapons as he stepped back.
The Ship suddenly sped off into the Heavenly River and disappeared as everyone was stunned. The boat escaped and the strong people in hiding cursed.
The boat sailed forward and Long Chen said seriously "We need to get stronger, if these Hierarchs keep coming for us, one day we'll get swarmed and die." Cross sat down and said "Then we fight to the death." apparently he was fine with dying.
He took out a bunch of precious ores and materials, weapons, boats, cauldrons, armors. everything that had runes and was forged. He took off his Prayer Bead necklace and started forging with his Divine Consciousness.
He melted the things and started molding the liquid with big invisible hands as he imprinted runes with his hands. Guo ran and Xia Chen watched in awe as the black and gold crown appeared over Cross' head and ripped the Heavens down to use it's power.
Aurora was submerged in the liquid and the Impurities were being pushed out and into a bottle, that smelled like death. Guo Ran's eyes sparkled at the bottle. All the impurities were cast away and the necklace was revealed again.
Countless little runes were swimming in all the beads and the Necklace gave off a subtle pressure of a Realm Artifact. Cross put it back on and threw the bottle to Guo Ran, who caught it excitedly. Cross leaned against the ship and sighed, taking out his scythe and caressed the blade.
Suddenly, the boat was blown into the air, the 4 got a good look at a giant mouth in the sea that closed as the boat came back down. Guo Ran said "What the fuck was that?!" Cross said "It was a giant mouth? In the sea? Did it eat the fish or aim at the boat?" Xia Chen said "The fish."
Cross smiled and said "It's a Sky Whale." Guo Ran said "Sky Whale?" Long Chen explained "The Sky Whale is a legendary beast. Nobody has ever seen it's true body before but it's said to be bigger than the entire 9 Heavens."
Guo Ran and Xia Chen were stunned, was that even possible!? Cross smiled and said "They're relatively harmless. Though they might accidentally eat you, they don't meant to." Guo Ran said "That's reassuring...."
The boat continued on for days without an incident, until they came to a vortex. It was the Eye of the Devil that Cross and Long Chen met when they came to the Purple Flame Heaven Region.
Long Chen said "Go towards it!" Xia Chen was stunned and Cross got up to look at the eye, Guo Ran held his shoulder and transmitted his vision with Cross, so he could see.
They went into the Eye of the Devil and floated down to see a mountain of skeletons with a Tree on top. Cross said "Ah... That's what I saw last time." Long Chen asked "You saw this before?" Cross nodded and said "The Tree Demon is what I saw, under the Mountain, I can't see." Long Chen jumped off and went to the Tree Demon before talking to it.
Eventually.
Long Chen freed the Tree Demon, who was unexpectedly an Undead Dragon Tree, part of the Undead Plant race like the Undead Willow Tree and the Magic Eye Water Lily. Technically, this old guy was the same as Die Wu.
Cross looked sad thinking of Die Wu, he hoped she was alright wherever she was. He really wanted to see her again, actually he wanted to see them all again. He grinded his teeth in hatred and looked at the skies, when everything was done he would tear up this hateful sky and create a new one.
Free of Demons, hateful things, under his own iron fist ruling! Whoever doesn't agree, Death!
Long Chen looked down at a giant life crystal and sucked out the life into the Universal Cauldron, 1/3 of the rust came off and was collected by Guo Ran. Long Chen came back with the Tree Demon, Uncle Huai.
Cross smiled and said "Old man." Uncle Huai smiled and said "Magic Eye Water Lily?" Cross smiled and said "My Wife, originally a Flower Spirit. Fortunately, became a 9 colored Water Lily." Uncle Huai was deeply shocked and said "So lucky?!"
Cross just smiled and the boat floated out of the Eye of the Devil.
Suddenly, a ghost ship surfaced from the sea. Cross and Long Chen were excited and the boat chased after the Ghost Ship. The group swung from a loose chain onto the Ghost Ship deck, Cross looked around and said "Treasures!"
they walked forward into the ship and saw a bunch of skeletons dragging a person. Uncle Huai said "Primordial Era Powerhouse!" Long Chen was stunned and said "We gotta save this guy!" he went through the ship and they came to the Ghost Ship core.
Cross touched the core and forcefully took control. Long Chen had Xia Chen drive the Ghost Ship and after 7 days the person, who was identified as a Starry Sky Warrior moved his hand, but nothing more than that.
They came to a dead Sky Whale and traveled for 3 days before landing on it's head. Cross looked at the whale head and the head exploded revealing a core that flew behind the group. they turned around to see the Starry Sky Warrior eating the whale core, then he crushed the whale head and ate that too, then he ripped out the whale spine and made it into a whip before shrinking it to his waist.
Long Chen, Cross, and the others were stunned. The guy looked around before leaving without a word. Long Chen cursed "What a rude fellow!"
They went back to the Ghost Ship and Long Chen started trying to get the cauldron to refine pills. Cross set up a portal to his Inner World on the deck and put up a Time barrier around Yu Qingxuan and Long Chen while they played with the Universe cauldron.
Cross sat on the deck in a chair, next to the Inner World Portal and looked out to the distance, sitting peacefully. Being blind ironically let him see things he didn't see before. What is Life truly about in a world like this?
What is the meaning of life? In an endless battle for strength, what is the meaning of fighting for everything? Just to reach the top? The top of this mountain is inevitably the starting point of another mountain.
The truth was blindness wasn't a curse, the curse was to see the world. If you can't see the next mountain aren't you happy with your own life? What is there to look forward to when the world you know doesn't expand infinitely? Love, peace, happiness, growing old and eventually returning to dust.
Cross suddenly was enlightened! His body glowed white before dimming down, everyone looked at him and felt peaceful. It was very strange. Cross drank from his wine gourd and hummed softly, looking out into the distance.
It wasn't a cultivation enlightenment, but an enlightenment of the temperament and mindset. He felt a lot calmer than before.
In truth, Cross was really tired. He already decided a long time ago that this would be the last world he becomes a God in. After he changes the sky and creates a Peaceful world, he'll retire and manage his sect.
He had big dreams, he wanted his sect to welcome everyone. Beasts, Humans, Spirits, etc. If they wanted to learn, he would teach them.
He sighed to himself and held Xue'er's hand, caressing the back of it softly as he felt himself to be turning into an old man. Feng Xue'er smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder, looking out to the distance with a longing smile, feeling his thoughts.