Taking on the role of the antagonist, only to be unmasked by an acquaintance right to my face.
Is there anything more embarrassing than this?
Surprise, panic, embarrassment, confusion, regret, shame... a plethora of complex emotions flickered across Jing Yao's face.
"It's you, Xuyao Daoist!" Jing Yao's myriad thoughts ultimately coalesced into a single sigh—a sigh of utter despondency.
Xuanqing felt like the other party was almost shattered to pieces.
"Looks like there's still practice to be done," Xuanqing murmured softly; of course, he wasn't referring to Jing Yao's pit-digging skills, but rather the thickness of his skin.
Readers familiar with frequent travels know that as innate divine beings, ordinary death is not a concern, as there are plenty of opportunities to start over.
A pitfall this time, just be more cautious next time.
No matter what, the skin must be thick, certainly not as naively honest as Jing Yao currently is.
Naive to the point where he is nearly broken apart, still needing his true self to come and greet himself.
Watching Jing Yao transform from ethereal to solid, materializing before his eyes at an observable rate, Xuanqing confirmed that it was indeed his real self who had come.
Crowned with a Star Crown, treading on Cloud Shoes, draped in Purple Clouds and Auspicious Clouds Clothing, he carried a Jade Scroll in his left hand and rested his right hand on the Seven Star Treasure Sword.
Clearly, Jing Yao Zi Qi Shang Venerate had also come in full regalia.
"Daoist, what brings you here?" Jing Yao, feigning composure, looked towards Xuanqing, trying hard not to reminisce about the recent event.
"I'm here for the conference," Xuanqing responded naturally.
Jing Yao, with a strained face, pointed out quietly: "But this is the Southern Star Domain, the Taiwei Constellation is to the north."
Xuanqing nodded: "I know. I figured not everyone had arrived yet, so I thought I'd just wander around the starry sky."
[So... so casual, it's indeed Xuyao, no doubt.] Jing Yao couldn't help sneering inside.
As vast as the Primordial Land is, so is the extent of the Cycle Star Sky.
Xuanqing's "just wandering around" is equivalent to strolling from Beiming to the South Sea.
Not only that, in such a vast starry sky, amid so many traps, he "caught" himself with precision.
Was it done on purpose or by accident?
Seeing the conflicted look on Jing Yao's face, Xuanqing roughly guessed what he was thinking and did not bother to explain.
Instead, he counter-asked: "Did you just say you lack materials for alchemy? Have you researched any new products lately?"
"Of course!" Jing Yao suddenly looked up, his eyes lighting up.
Speaking of alchemy, his demeanor changed abruptly, and his tense face instantly blossomed into a bright smile.
He straightened his spine, lifted his chin slightly, and with a look of immense pride said: "Supreme Soul Pill of the Thousand Spirits Transformation."
"What?"
"The name, the name of the new elixir!"
Jing Yao, with excitement in his brows, explained: "Nine heavens and ten earths are the materials, the Thousand Spirits Transformation is the effect, 'Supreme' is the quality, and as for the 'Great Soul Pill'—"
Pausing, Jing Yao glanced at Xuanqing with a hint of ambiguity: "—The Great Soul Pill can be considered an abbreviation!"
Great Soul Pill it is, why are you looking at me?
Accustomed to Jing Yao's inexplicable slyness, Xuanqing couldn't be bothered to pinpoint it.
Seeing that Xuanqing was silent, Jing Yao had no choice but to continue his explanation with a feigned calm: "The 'Nine Heavens and Ten Earths' required for my elixir are not the literal heavens and earths but refer to two of the Three Souls!"
"Of the two souls, 'Heavenly Soul' and 'Earth Soul' are often externalized, only the 'Life Soul' always resides within. The 'Heavenly Soul' and 'Earth Soul' of all gods are often set free, while my Great Soul Pill requires nine strands of 'Heavenly Soul' and ten strands of 'Earth Soul' to be incorporated into the pill, hence I left a mark here with the Soul-falling Bell, planning to snag a few unlucky fellows. I had not expected..."
"To run into me?"
"Yes." With an awkward smile, Jing Yao recalled the incident and still felt a tad guilty, so he offered compensation:
"Some time ago, I refined a batch of Cycle series elixirs..."
Before Jing Yao could finish, Xuanqing's expression changed, he put on a shocked look, and quickly raised his hand:
"Stop, stop, your elixirs are even more unreliable than my Spiritual Treasures, I dare not take them. If you're looking for someone to test your elixirs, you better find another deity!"
If it were any other matter, Jing Yao would not argue, but once his alchemy skills were called into question, he immediately protested.
"How can you unjustly taint the divinely innocent?" he argued. "Alchemy, how can that be called unreliable? That's called side effects!"
"Medicines are poisons in part, such is the rule. Consuming elixirs with some unpredictable side effects, isn't that reasonable?"
"One yin and one yang is called the Dao; fortune and misfortune must coexist; this is the principle of the Great Dao!"
Unmoved, Xuanqing wouldn't have believed it had he not witnessed too many accidents caused by elixirs.
Once, Jing Yao refined a Cycle All-Phenomena Pill, claiming that consuming one pill would gather the power of all phenomena, providing an extraordinary effect during combat.
One Daoist used it during battle and ended up summoning ten thousand Chaos Divine Elephants.
The opponent was trampled to death instantly, but the Daoist himself almost got sent off as well.
The second example also involved that same Daoist.
After the incident, he received a Supreme Clone Pill from Jing Yao, promising that consuming it would allow him to practice a unique cloning skill unseen in the Primordial Land.
However, after the Daoist ingested it, he immediately shattered into four billion and eighty million parts.
If it were not for the strong life force of the innate divine beings and Jing Yao's timely rescue—stuffing the four billion eighty million Divine Fragments back into the alchemy furnace for reconstruction—the situation would have been truly comical.
Seeing Jing Yao's assertive and vehement demeanor, seemingly determined to hand out his elixir, Xuanqing considered the other's "track record." He thought for a moment and asked, "Do you have any Divine Sakura Wood by any chance?"
Jing Yao was taken aback: "Divine Sakura Wood? I do have some..."
"That's exactly what I need. If you really want to give me something, just give me a piece of Divine Sakura Wood," Xuanqing breathed a sigh of relief.
"That works too." Jing Yao reached into his sleeve, fetched a rod of wood, and handed it to Xuanqing.
Xuanqing accepted it with a smile: "With this, the materials for my artifact refining are nearly all collected."
"Daoist, what kind of Spiritual Treasure do you plan on crafting?" Jing Yao asked curiously. Among the attending deities of the Taiwei Constellation, Xuanqing was famous for his artifact refining.
His crafted items were known for their novelty and usefulness, although with side effects as bizarre as his elixirs, sometimes no less hazardous.
"I just had an inspiration."
Xuanqing, feeling that the conference time was approaching, casually took Jing Yao onto the Time Bridge.
A blazing trail of silver light dashed through the night sky.
"Oh, and this is for you."
Xuanqing nonchalantly tossed a wooden box over.
"What is this?" Jing Yao caught it.
Offhandedly, Xuanqing said, "Some unlucky souls' Earth Soul fragments, found right out front."
Although in this era the cycles of reincarnation had not yet emerged, and the Netherworld was not yet the final destination of all spirits, tapping into the River of Oblivion to fish out a few broken soul fragments was still a simple feat.
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"If you wish to know about the Heavenly Soul, perhaps you could have a chat with Moon Bright Daoist friend."
"Moon Bright?" Jing Yao was taken aback and almost blurted out, "Does the Heavenly Soul also grow at the entrance of Moon Bright Daoist friend's home?"
Xuanqing burst into hearty laughter, "Grow? Of course, they grow!"
He glanced at the bright moon high above the Nine Heavens, the right eye of Pangu God, equal in existence to the Sun God Star. He knew there were countless divine beings who wanted to explore it.
Yet, the Moon God is not one to be trifled with.
Not to mention that the Taiyin Star was also protected by the lingering might of Pangu Dao.
Xuanqing was certain that the space-time outside the Taiyin Star must have laid many divine beings to rest.
Beside him, Jing Yao had a thought and joined in the laughter.
Beyond the Taiwei Constellation, a streak of golden light crossed the night sky, coming from the west, spanning seven hundred thousand li, imbued with the supreme aura of solemnity and might.
"The two Daoist friends have arrived quite early!"
An Innate Divine Being aglow with golden light, cradling a Geng Metal Longsword, nodded slightly toward Xuanqing and Jing Yao as a greeting.
"We live nearby."
Xuanqing and Jing Yao said in unison, telling an obvious lie.
"Oh, is that so?" Golden Bright Taibai Venerable raised an eyebrow, neither affirming nor denying.
The Jidu Divine Star and the Purple Qi Divine Star are not in the same direction, are they? How is that 'near' for you two?
Xuanqing took note of the direction from which Golden Bright had come—it was undoubtedly from the Taibai Divine Star.
He shared a glance with Jing Yao.
[This guy's act is quite convincing.]
Just like there's no Jidu Venerable in the Jidu Divine Star, there's also no Purple Qi Venerable in the Purple Qi Divine Star.
At their first meeting, he and Jing Yao didn't need to probe to know that the other was using a lower-profile identity to venture out.
Likewise, it's certain the true identity of Golden Bright Taibai Venerable is not among the Cycle Star Gods.
Or rather, there are only a few serious Star Gods in the Taiwei Constellation; the rest are just a bunch of folks looking for fun!
"Let's move on, the other Daoist friends are about to arrive," Jing Yao spotted several streaks of light approaching the Taiwei Constellation out of the Chaos and softly urged everyone to proceed.
"Alright!"
As the trio made their way into the Taiwei Constellation, space and time twisted.
Dong~~
The serene tapestry of stars emitted a light sound, like a droplet falling into a deep pool, with ripples of time spreading out in waves.
In a flash, the world turned upside down, all directions reversed, stars and matter interchanged.
Three Divine Beings stood shoulder by shoulder, casually stepping across the boundary of reality and illusion.
"It seems that once again, the three Daoist friends are the earliest to arrive."
A light chuckle reached the ears of the gods. Xuanqing looked up to see the boundless Chaos churning, intertwining Dao and principles in an instant, casting a brilliant glow that one strand of light could fill the universe.
Countless rules formed an expansive dome overhead, enclosing the environment; on it danced eleven ancient stars, declaring the omnipotent majesty of the endless Dao.
In a blink, Xuanqing and others found themselves in a grand and ancient hall.
"Are we the earliest again?" Jing Yao looked around the long table with ten vacant seats on both sides.
Only the seat at the head had a high-hanging bright moon, where a goddess sat quietly, watching them.
Moon Bright Taiyin Venerable.
The presider of this session of the Taiwei Constellation meeting.
"Why is everyone so indifferent to meetings?" Xuanqing shook his head with a sigh, I deliberately timed my arrival, yet I'm the earliest?
"Next time, I'll just leave my sword here in the Taiwei Constellation to attend the meeting in my stead."
He disappeared on the spot, next reappearing to the second position on the left of Moon Bright Taiyin Venerable.
"Next session's Lord of the Taiwei Constellation will be you, are you sure you want to use the Jidu Sword to preside over the meeting?" Golden Bright Taibai reminded, walking towards the second spot on the right.
"Do you think Hidden Star Daoist friend will come this time?"
Jing Yao Zi Qi Supreme took the position on the left third, glancing at the seat on the left first representing[Hidden Star Luo Hou], "Hidden Star has been absent from three meetings in a row now."
"He mentioned once, it seems, that he wanted to go to the upper streams of the River of Time, to witness the glory of Heaven Creation. He won't be coming back any time soon."
Xuanqing recalled then that Luo Hou had once invited him to join.
Yes, that's right, this Luo Hou was none other than Ancestor of Demon Luo Hou.
Back when Xuanqing had nothing much to do, he dragged everyone together to establish the Taiwei Constellation, coinciding with the Demon Ancestor's visit to the starry sky.
In a 'while you're here' spirit, the Demon Ancestor casually grabbed a star, named it Luo Hou Star, and then joined the Taiwei Constellation.
At that time, Xuanqing was silent for a long while—why was the Demon Ancestor "surfing online" with his real name?
"Hidden Star wants to see the glory of Heaven Creation? More like the glorious splitting of skulls!" Taibai Venerable's neighbor, Sun God Supreme, suddenly appeared, just in time to hear Xuanqing's recent comment.
Unable to resist, he mocked, "Has Hidden Star Daoist friend become over-confident, or does he think Pangu God is no longer capable? Careful, lest the Heavenly Creation Axe chops down along the timeline, and we all get doomed!"
"The Heavenly Creation Axe? Where is it?" A divine being in a deep blue robe appeared at the fourth spot on the right.
Water Star Venerable joked with a smile, "If you want to find the Heavenly Creation Axe, remember to take me with you!"
The gods: "..."
Seeing everyone went silent, Star Venerable then flashed to the first spot on the left, then exaggeratedly blinked at Xuanqing.
Taking the hint, Xuanqing slightly turned to the side.
Star Venerable leaned in, whispered mysteriously, "Hidden Star Daoist friend, are you interested in Enchanting Demon?"
Xuanqing: "..."
Shush! Shush! Shush!
Several gods' eyes were shining.
Wow—
It seems they just overheard something extraordinary!
~~~~~
Note 1[Eleven Brightnesses]: Refers to the Seven Luminaries and Four Abdicated Ones. Seven Luminaries: Sun, Moon, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth; Four Abdicated Ones: Luo Hou, Jidu, Purple Qi, Moon Comet.
Originally, all Four Abdicated Ones belonged to [Hidden Brightness], but in this text, it is adapted as: Hidden Star Luo Hou, Dark Bright Jidu, Jingyao Purple Qi, Xuyao Moon Comet.
Note 2[Taiwei Constellation]: The uppermost Constellation of the Three Constellations, which, according to legend, is where the Heavenly Emperor conducts his duties, the political center of the entire Heavenly Realm.
Please be informed.
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