Divine Might of the Queen Mother of the West

Xu Ying's heart skipped a beat as he looked toward Feng Yao's cave-heavens of the six secrets. The conical-hatted man's words made his hair stand on end and sent a chill down his spine. The man had clearly implied that Feng Yao was just like him—an angler using Nuo methods as bait to hook the longevity immortal medicine from Nuo immortals! However, Xu Ying quickly came to his senses. *Feng Yao is one of the Undying People. She doesn't need to treat Nuo immortals as great longevity medicines to live forever.* Yet doubt still lingered in his mind. While Feng Yao had no need to consume a great longevity medicine, where had her cave-heavens of the six secrets come from? *Six thousand years ago, Feng Yao accompanied the Son of Heaven of Zhou to Kunlun. She must have already been a top Qi Refiner back then; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to travel alongside him. It was only after the Son of Heaven of Zhou left Kunlun that tales of the six great other shores began to spread. Only after the premier Qi Refiners of that era journeyed to the other shores were the Nuo methods pioneered.* Xu Ying thought, *Could this mean Feng Yao's cave-heavens weren't cultivated by herself?* He shook his head at the thought. The six Nuo ancestors held the keys to the six great other shores and guarded the six immortal medicines, which proved Kunlun had long possessed the six secrets of the Nuo methods. Feng Yao's six secrets were almost certainly an ancestral legacy of Kunlun, completely unrelated to the Son of Heaven of Zhou. Moreover, the six secrets of Nuo methods had appeared far earlier than the Son of Heaven of Zhou. Judging by the layout and scale of Patriarch Qingshuang's tomb at Mount Emei, his lifespan far exceeded that of the Son of Heaven of Zhou; he was undoubtedly a Qi Refiner of the Great Shang era! Having robbed so many tombs, Xu Ying had long become an expert. He knew that the tombs of people from different eras varied in scale, layout, and period style. Patriarch Qingshuang Qiao Zizhong's tomb bore the distinct architectural style of the Shang dynasty. This indicated that Nuo methods were already circulating as early as the Great Shang, and people had already begun planting and harvesting chives back then, even if on a smaller scale. In other words, Feng Yao could very well have opened her six secrets more than six thousand years ago. Feng Yao's cave-heavens shone brilliantly before gradually dimming and fading from sight. Xu Ying asked, "Feng Yao, when did you open your six secrets?" Feng Yao did not hide it. "In the sixth year after my birth, I began cultivating and opened the six secrets." Xu Ying breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Having cultivated for so long, do you know whether Nuo methods can truly grant immortality?" Feng Yao looked at him in surprise. "We Undying People achieve longevity precisely because of Nuo methods. Are you not the same?" A deafening roar erupted in Xu Ying's mind, as if tens of thousands of muffled thunders had detonated, leaving him dazed and dizzy. The Undying People achieved longevity through Nuo methods? Their longevity was not due to a unique physique, nor was it from Kunlun's immortal medicine? Could the Undying People actually just be Nuo masters or Nuo immortals living in Kunlun? This completely contradicted all the information he had gathered before! According to Feng Yao's words, Kunlun back then had actually been controlled by Nuo masters and Nuo immortals. They communicated with heaven, earth, and nature, possessing the ability to live forever without perishing, which earned them the name 'Undying People.' Forty-eight thousand years ago, a catastrophic upheaval occurred in Kunlun. The place was shattered by a terrifying force, and many Undying People fled Kunlun, bringing Nuo methods to Shenzhou. The Qi Refiners of Shenzhou came into contact with the Undying People from Kunlun at that time, encountering Nuo methods for the first time. Presumably, those able to access Nuo methods were the foremost experts among Qi Refiners. Recognizing the secrets of longevity concealed within Nuo methods, they attempted to cultivate them. However, they found their six secrets already firmly solidified and impossible to cultivate with Nuo methods. Only then did they conceive the idea of refining human great medicines—taking disciples, teaching them trap-laden Nuo methods, and harvesting them once they achieved Nuo immortality. Qingluan glared vigilantly at Xu Ying and said, "Mistress, I knew there was something wrong with him! He isn't one of the Undying People. He must belong to the Heavenly Dao Crowd hunting down the Undying People! I can sense the aura of the Heavenly Dao on him!" Killing intent flared within Feng Yao. Her gaze turned sharp as she fixed her eyes on Xu Ying, speaking in a gentle, hushed voice: "Young Master Xu, you had better prove that you are one of the Undying People." Cold sweat beaded on Xu Ying's forehead. Prove he was one of the Undying People? How was he supposed to prove that? If the Undying People were merely Nuo masters or Nuo immortals, so many people cultivated Nuo methods today—how could anyone tell who was an Undying Person and who was not? Feng Yao and Qingluan shifted their steps stealthily, flanking him on both sides. Feng Yao said, "Young Master Xu, you truly carry the aura of the Heavenly Dao Crowd, making it difficult for us not to suspect you. You need to prove you are one of the Undying People." Qingluan huffed angrily, "This pretty boy is definitely from the Heavenly Dao Crowd! Let me eat him!" Feng Yao shook her head. "Calm down, Qingluan. You saw it yourself—the Heavenly Dao Crowd was hunting him down at the foot of the mountain." Qingluan was murderous. "How do you know that wasn't a bitter-flesh ruse staged by the Heavenly Dao Crowd? Mistress, over these thousands of years, we've suffered countless ambushes and pursuits. What despicable tricks haven't those bastards pulled?" Feng Yao's gaze rested on Xu Ying's face, hesitation creeping into her expression. Over the years, she had been tricked and deceived beyond count. Having finally found a fellow clansman, she truly did not want to accept that Xu Ying was a fraud. Suddenly, Xu Ying sighed. "Please, both of you, calm down. I will summon the deity of this place to testify for me. High God Lu Wu—!" His voice reverberated across the mountains, echoing endlessly. Qingluan flashed her wing, bringing it against his neck with a sharp swish. She said coldly, "You'd better not pull any tricks. Across the myriad heavens and worlds over these thousands of years, the two of us sisters have forged quite a reputation. We are known as the Twin Green-Clad Rakshasis, and we kill without batting an eye!" Xu Ying worried privately whether Lu Wu could hear him. And even if Lu Wu could hear, would he be able to arrive before these two female rakshasis finished him off? Suddenly, a streak of rosy light ripped through the air in the distance, and an immense surge of divine power whistled forward, landing squarely before them. The rosy glow condensed, revealing Lu Wu with his tiger head, human face, and nine tails. He burst out, "A fight? Where is it? How many?" Centering on Xu Ying, Lu Wu crossed dozens of li in an instant. After sweeping the perimeter once, he abruptly pulled the half-flesh, half-skeletal corpse of a heavenly god from the mountains. The corpse had already turned into a corpse demon, lurking in Yuzhu Peak to absorb heaven and earth's spiritual qi and gather the essence of the sun and moon. The remnants of the Heavenly Dao within its corpse had formed a forbidden zone that ordinary Qi Refiners could never breach without dying in droves. Yet a bolt of misfortune struck from the blue. While cultivating peacefully before even tasting a few humans, it had been dragged out by Lu Wu for no reason and subjected to a savage beating. Lu Wu pummeled the heavenly god corpse demon until its body and soul were utterly annihilated, then came roaring back. Gale-force winds buffeted Xu Ying's face as the tiger-headed mountain god rested a furry paw three sizes larger than Xu Ying's head onto his shoulder. "Any more?" Lu Wu asked solemnly, yet his nine tails wagged with greater excitement than a peacock fanning its feathers. Xu Ying coughed and said, "High God Lu Wu, please tell these two young ladies whether I am one of the Undying People." Lu Wu glanced at Feng Yao and Qingluan, expressing his disappointment: "You're wasting a wish on just this?" With a leap, he broke through the sky and vanished, his voice drifting back from afar: "That's right, he is one of the Undying People! I'm off! Next time, don't call me unless it's a big, serious fight!" Qingluan lowered her right wing from Xu Ying's neck. Countless feathers fluttered, and as the plumage folded back in, the wing morphed back into a slender arm. She apologized, "I misunderstood you. I thought you were from the Heavenly Dao Crowd. I'm sorry, Uncle. How about this—you can hit me twice?" Seeing Xu Ying shake his head, her eyes rolled around, and she stuffed the pearl in her hand into his grasp, smiling. "This is a pearl from the Pearl Tree. It's yours now. Wearing this treasure prevents aging; girls love it most. I'm going to pick another one!" Spreading her wings, she darted away and charged once more toward the Pearl Tree. However, having already lost one of its fruits earlier, the divine tree was on guard. As she drew near, a branch whipped forward with a loud crack, wrapping around Qingluan. Other branches seized the chance to lash out with sharp snaps, thrashing Qingluan into a disheveled mess. Feng Yao rushed to her rescue and finally hauled her back. Qingluan landed on the ground, limping with her head drooping low. Feng Yao said to Xu Ying, "We wronged you just now. Please don't take offense, Uncle Ying." Xu Ying pocketed the pearl, feeling delighted. *If I give this to Little Sister Weiyang, she'll definitely love it and buy even more rouge!* "I couldn't be entirely sure whether I was one of the Undying People either, so your suspicion was inevitable," Xu Ying replied. "Is the Nuo method the only way to identify an Undying Person?" Feng Yao shook her head. "There is also the imprint in our bloodline." She drew back her sleeve to reveal snow-white skin. "Look here, Uncle Ying." Beneath her arm, as her blood flowed, a golden radiance gradually seeped from her vessels, condensing into a colorful phoenix that fluttered around her arm. "My people have long resided in Kunlun's Jade Pool, kept company with green qingluans, and consumed various immortal medicines, endowing our bodies with extraordinary bloodline power," Feng Yao explained. "Furthermore, the Nuo methods of the Kunlun lineage differ from those circulating in the world today. The Nuo methods of different Undying tribes also incorporate bloodline power. When activating the Nuo methods, corresponding anomalous phenomena manifest." She stepped closer to instruct Xu Ying, but no matter how Xu Ying circulated his Nuo methods, no anomalous phenomena appeared, nor was there any sign of bloodline manifestation. "A spy of the Heavenly Dao Crowd!" Seeing this, Qingluan was on the verge of erupting again, but Feng Yao hastily pulled her aside. "Qingluan, he might be different from us, but he is definitely not a spy of the Heavenly Dao Crowd. Otherwise, he couldn't have fooled High God Lu Wu. When I passed by the sacred mountain last time, High God Lu Wu recognized me as an Undying Person and asked me to call out his name. Because I was born late, I didn't know his name, so I couldn't awaken him. Guess who woke High God Lu Wu up?" Realization dawned on Qingluan. She stared at Xu Ying and murmured, "He knows Lu Wu's name, and he said he's already over twenty thousand years old... But if he didn't achieve longevity through Nuo methods, how has he lived so long?" "He doesn't even know that himself, so how could we?" Feng Yao brought Qingluan back to Xu Ying's side and continued searching for the Jade Pool. She said, "Uncle Ying, Nuo immortals cannot truly achieve genuine immortality. They still age and die. The Hidden Scenery latent transformation does not grant true eternal life. The immortal realm within their bodies will eventually face the Five Decays of Heaven and Man, and the inner realm will inevitably wither." Qingluan added, "We once met an elderly Undying Person whose Grand Dao was rotting away. His physical body and Primordial Spirit were both ruined, and he passed away outside the Kunlun Ruins. Before dying, he said he had lived for thirty-six thousand years." At this point, she looked at Xu Ying and thought, *He's an Undying Person from the Great Shang era, so by now he should be old and withered. Why does he still look like a teenager?* Just then, Xu Ying suddenly sensed a vast, profound aura sweeping down from the mountain peak. It was continuous and boundless, as vast as the Kunlun mountain range, as gentle as utmost motherhood, akin to a god of the central heavens and the sovereign of all deities. "It's the aura of the Queen Mother of the West," Feng Yao said. "When Qingluan and I came to Kunlun last time, we tried to awaken her, but failed." Qingluan spoke quickly: "Last time we were too far away to wake her, but this time, being closer, we'll definitely manage." Feng Yao looked somber and said in a low voice, "The Queen Mother of the West is the goddess of myriad mountains. I'm afraid she met with disaster during that great catastrophe and will never wake again." Facing that boundless divine majesty, they pressed forward, searching for traces of the Jade Pool. Before they knew it, they had reached the summit. The divine power over this mountain range was visible to the naked eye, forming a brilliant golden light that blanketed the peak. The closer they got to the mountain's crest, the more immense the divine power grew, and the heavier the divine majesty became! This divine majesty was the Heavenly Dao—pure, harmonious, and unadorned, lacking the domineering harshness of the heavenly gods. Faint Dao resonance echoed in the air, enduring and carrying a vitality that nurtured all things. Unlike the sounds of the Heavenly Dao Xu Ying had witnessed before, however, this vitality did not cause human bodies or plants to sprout haphazardly and mutate out of control. Instead, it preserved each organ's natural form, elevating them to a state of flawless health and enhancing human bodily functions. *The Heavenly Dao indeed contains growth, aging, and destruction, but the Heavenly Dao of those heavenly gods is far too chaotic, running contrary to the essence of heaven. The aura of the Heavenly Dao exuded by the Queen Mother of the West is the true Heavenly Dao,* Xu Ying reflected inwardly. As they moved through the golden light, Feng Yao called out to the Queen Mother of the West, stirring ripples of divine power, yet she could not awaken the owner of this might. Xu Ying sensed it carefully, feeling countless shattered thoughts within the divine power. That was the consciousness of the Queen Mother of the West, which had been smashed to pieces, reduced to a state of primal chaos. "Queen Mother of the West!" Xu Ying called out. The divine power in the mountains surged like a vast ocean, churning violently as ripples turned into towering waves. Yet the chaotic consciousness still failed to coalesce. Feng Yao and Qingluan looked on in astonishment, turning their eyes toward Xu Ying. Qingluan whispered, "Mistress, Xu Ying is definitely one of the Undying People, but this Undying Person seems a bit different from us." "Queen Mother of the West!" Xu Ying called out once more. The divine power whipped up a tempest, roiling continuously with awe-inspiring force. Feng Yao and Qingluan immediately felt the countless shattered, chaotic consciousnesses crashing against one another across the mountains. Within the ocean of divine power, wind and fire surged, lightning crackled, and the environment turned extraordinarily perilous. At the very center of the divine power, lightning darted like fireballs of electrical brilliance, swept along by wind and fire into a terrifying vortex of chaos! Feng Yao turned pale and murmured, "Qingluan, he might not be an Undying Person of our uncles' generation. He might belong to that generation of Undying People who originally walked out of the mountains..." Qingluan assumed her human form and snuggled close beside her, scanning the surroundings warily as she whispered, "Do we still call him Uncle Ying, then?" Feng Yao fretted, "If we don't call him Uncle Ying, what else would we call him?" Qingluan chuckled softly. "Brother Ying, of course." Blushing with mock fury, Feng Yao pinched her hard under the arm. Qingluan quickly blocked her and began tickling her in return, using her feathers to tease Feng Yao's armpits, neck, and abdomen. Feng Yao hastily counterattacked, reaching toward her and rustling the girl's thin robe. Xu Ying stole a glance, then quickly focused straight ahead, keeping his gaze strictly disciplined. *I'm their uncle; I can't be staring like this.* Having told himself that, he stole another glance anyway. *With Lord Bell not around, I truly can't rein in my heart,* he thought to himself. The divine power atop Yuzhu Peak churned incessantly. The chaotic core expanded farther and farther, the turbulence growing increasingly violent. Suddenly, a muffled grunt rang out. A small boat burst forth from the chaos. Half of the conical-hatted man's hat had been incinerated, and his boat was ablaze as he fled in panic. He brushed past Xu Ying. Just as Xu Ying attempted to catch a clear look at his true face, he saw only a charred, blackened visage, which gave him quite a shock. *Such a powerful figure, yet his face was scorched black by the divine power of the Queen Mother of the West!* No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than another towering figure charged out from the chaos, terrifying magic power surging violently in an effort to extinguish the thunder and fire clinging to his body. "The master of the Mud Pill Palace!" Xu Ying was so stunned he nearly cried out. One after another, immensely formidable figures burst out of the chaos. Someone roared furiously, their voice ice-cold: "Who dared ambush me while I was collecting water?" Just as Qingluan was about to speak, two hands clasped over her mouth simultaneously from left and right. One was Xu Ying's hand, and the other was Feng Yao's. Both feared her loose tongue would expose Xu Ying and provoke the wrath of these terrifying beings. Feng Yao's hand pressed over Xu Ying's. Blushing slightly, she quietly withdrew her hand. Meanwhile, Qingluan bit down on Xu Ying's hand. He quickly pulled back as well, finding his palm wet with what was likely Qingluan's saliva. *She bites hard,* he thought. After the last figure charged out of the chaotic sea of divine power, a long time passed without anyone else emerging. "Feng Yao, Qingluan, should we head in?" Xu Ying suddenly asked. All of a sudden, a familiar voice drifted from behind them, chuckling warmly: "Lord Xu, when you fetch the immortal water of the Jade Pool, spare me a ladleful." Xu Ying's heart jolted. Turning around, he saw a square immortal mountain floating not far away. Standing atop the immortal mountain was Xu Fu, clad in black robes and a red sash, dressed in the exact same attire as himself. The two of them looked like brothers.