"Star."
"What's wrong?"
"Do you want to try if my Divine Sword is sharp?" Xuanqing glanced emotionlessly at the Divine Monarch of the Star.
"Do you mean to use the Enchanting Demon for the Sacrificial Sword? Isn't that a bit regrettable?" The Star Venerable smacked his lips, reminiscing.
"Actually, the taste of an Enchanting Demon is quite good."
"They can become whatever you want them to be. I really don't know which Daoist created these beings, it truly tests one's Dao Heart, it's so hard to choose which is better."
Clang!
With a flash of swordlight, a massive head soared into the air.
"Great sword!"
The tumbling head voiced its admiration.
The headless body clapped for Xuanqing at the spot.
Not a single drop of blood fell, the clean cut on the neck of Star Venerable looked like a bubbling spring, where many cheerful small fish were blowing bubbles.
Plunk~
A small fish jumped out of the water transforming into a new head.
Star Venerable steadied his new head with his hand, then waved his sleeve to summon back the head that had flown away.
Holding his old head in his hands, he squinted and smiled, "As I said, the beauty of the Dao of Desire is not something everyone can appreciate."
"Hey, hey, hey! You, I rarely come out..."
The Star Venerable, while casually stuffing the angrily glaring old head into his sleeve, apologized to everyone:
"My apologies to you all."
The Upper Venerables such as Taiyang regretfully withdrew their gaze.
A pity they didn't fight.
Jingyao Zi Qi Shang Venerating even muttered: "You incite him for no reason if you're not going to fight. How idle."
Sitting opposite Xuanqing, the Taibai Venerable had a thoughtful look, this pair of Daoists gave too much leeway, it's hard to see the quality.
After assisting Star Venerable in achieving the "separate head movement," Xuanqing casually threw out a sentence:
"You just asked which Daoist created the Enchanting Demon, I can definitively answer you — Luo Hou Daoist."
"...Oh~ it's him."
After a moment of silence, Star Venerable spoke with a tinge of difficulty in his tone, slightly bows his head: "Seems a bit troublesome."
In a flash, Star Venerable returned to his position.
"Eh? Did I miss something?" Just as Star Venerable sat down, a figure appeared in the position representing Wood Star.
Age Star Venerable's face was handsome, beard sharp as a knife, his deep eyes seeming to peer into the myriad mysteries of the world.
He surveyed the surroundings, his gaze flitting back and forth among the vacant positions of Hidden Star Luo Hou, Xuyao, Earth Star, and Fire Star Ying Huo, then looked up at the Moon in the Heavenly Vault.
"Xuyao Daoist friend probably can't make it, right?"
In the seat of Moon Brightness, Wang Shu looked somewhat unexpectedly at Age Star Venerable, "Indeed."
"You all know, Xuyao Daoist is a bit different from us, he has... a great spirit of adventure," Wang Shu carefully chose the words.
At this, several of the "fishing old men" present fell silent for a long time.
Eventually, Xuanqing sighed lightly: "Did he step into a great pit and couldn't climb out?"
"That's not it." Wang Shu shook her head gently.
The gods breathed a sigh of relief.
"He's dead."
"..."
Wang Shu's mouth corners lifted slightly, undetectably.
She continued, "Xuyao Daoist said before his demise that he encountered some troublesome stuff, was heavily tainted, and wanted to rid himself of the negative influences through dying once."
"It happened suddenly, so he couldn't make it to this meeting."
As Wang Shu finished speaking, several glances intersected in the Taiwei Constellation.
Xuanqing's eyes conveyed an inquiring intent: "Who dug the pit this time?"
"Not me this time."
"I don't sabotage my own people."
"Such a stupid fish, whoever loves to fish will fish."
"Better think about how to fish him back."
"I am a mushroom that cannot speak."
???
Swish swish swish, Xuanqing and others glared angrily at the guy who last disrupted the formation.
[Earth Star Town Star Venerable] — Zhen Yuanzi.
He had just arrived and was greeted by all gods with a saluting gaze, yet he remained calm, still conveying his will through his eyes:
"I am a mushroom that cannot speak."
Everyone stared at each other with wide eyes.
"What was he last time in the meeting, a noisy green bamboo?"
"The time before that, he was a straightforward clump of earth." Taiyang Venerable pinched his brow, recalling that memory with a look of unwillingness to revisit the past.
"Before that, he said he was the echoing valley and then kept repeating what we said." Xuanqing looked at Zhen Xing Venerable with a strange expression, guessing the intentions of this Daoist friend.
Yet whenever he saw such a refreshing and unworldly style, Xuanqing sometimes wondered if he had guessed wrong.
"Could it be that the future rumors were wrong, and the 'zhuang' in Five Towns Temple is not the 'zhuang' for solemn, but the 'zhuang' for pretense?"
Xuanqing wondered, could this be considered the foremost god of performance art?
Golden Bright Taibai Venerable, however, highly approved of this, nodding and praising, "Enter all forms, break all forms, to attain true freedom. It seems that Earth Star Daoist friend has truly grasped the essence of the Great Dao."
Regardless of how everyone viewed Zhen Xing Venerable, he remained composed, wholeheartedly playing the role of a mushroom, even his trailing clouds transformed into a giant mushroom image.
Wang Shu sat at the head, capturing the expressions of the people around him, "Apart from Hidden Star and Xuyao who are absent due to reasons, Fire Star Daoist friend could not make it this time either, I will keep a meeting summary for them after the meeting."
Wang Shu lightly tapped the Jade Chime on his right, "Now, the 972nd symposium of the Taiwei Constellation begins formally."
As the words fell, stars twinkled, and all gods looked on.
Silver-white moonlight flowed in the void, and each innate Taoist text bearing immense power appeared.
"[Persist in implementing the spirit of mutual aid, continue to delve into exploring Primordial Heaven and Earth]"
Wang Shu announced the topic of this meeting, a style set by Xuanqing during the first Taiwei Constellation symposium, which everyone continued to use since.
Such topics had actually appeared many times before.
The vastness of Primordial is unimaginable; each flower and leaf conceals heaven and earth, each grain of sand encompasses the universe.
In this First Epoch of Heaven Creation, the Age of Gods, there are too many things worth exploring, trying, and encountering...
Initially, the eleven gods of Taiwei ganged up because Xuanqing started a group chat; secondly, everyone felt that having such a platform for exchange was indeed more convenient and interesting than exploring Primordial alone.
Wang Shu crossed his hands and placed them on the tabletop, looking at everyone with a hint of expectation, "Fellow Daoists, please share any major discoveries you've made recently."
"I'll start." Taiyang Venerable extended his right hand and swept it across the table, rolling clouds billowing up, suddenly a gust of wind blew through, the clouds unfolded like a painting on both sides, revealing a scenery.
Majestic mountains, vast seas of clouds, a gigantic red serpent winding through the age-old verdure. It lies across the meridians of heaven and earth like a dragon, carrying the ripples of time, disappearing into the deep mountains.
Taiyang Venerable slowly spoke, "Zhong Mountain has a deity, with a human face and serpentine body in red, seeing is day, closing eyes is night, blowing brings winter, calling brings summer, breathing is wind."
"This Daoist friend seems to control the power of time, not easy to communicate with. I tried communicating twice, then he took Zhong Mountain and ran off, now his whereabouts unknown."
"Ran away?" People looked at each other, guessing how Taiyang Venerable might have communicated with the deity of Zhong Mountain.
Having a clear understanding of the opponent's appearance, capabilities, and the Great Dao involved, who would believe they did not fight?
"Has anyone visited the Gui Ruins recently?" Star Venerable smoothly took over the conversation, winking at Xuanqing.
Xuanqing's face darkened, this isn't over yet, huh.
Sure enough, Star Venerable continued, "Recently, many Enchanting Demons, or rather various kinds of demons, have inhabited the outskirts of Gui Ruins, odd and numerous; what did Hidden Star Daoist friend create them for?"
"So you're planning to drag me into this murky water, aren't you?"
Star didn't deny it; he indeed had that idea.
"But, the taste of Enchanting Demons is really not bad. If I hadn't estimated that they wouldn't enter Taiwei, I would have brought you some."
Xuanqing rolled his eyes, "Thank you very much."
Star Venerable smiled, "You're welcome."
He looked at the others, distributing coordinates to each.
"If interested, everyone can go and check it out."
"Thanks to you too!" Everyone instantly deleted the coordinates from their memory.
Star was deeply sorrowful.
Jing Yao sympathized with his plight, comforting him, "You, struck by lightning, better go face Luo Hou Daoist friend yourself!"