Friends from the First Lifetime

He realized the truth. The deity enshrined in this temple was not that ferocious, terrifying statue, but Daoist Wuliu himself. When people came to this unremarkable temple to offer incense, their burnt incense turned into ash. Daoist Wuliu swept it all up and carried it behind the temple. Over the years, it had accumulated into this massive mountain! None of the worshipers who came to burn incense and pray to the gods could have ever imagined that the god they sought was right beside them all along—none other than the humble, broom-wielding Daoist of the temple! Xu Ying looked toward the mountain peak. With incense ash piled into a mountain, the power of incense gathered here had to be extraordinarily vast. His strength was unimaginably formidable! *The boy who barged into the village he just spoke of—that was me, wasn't it? And the village in his story was actually the Ancestral Court. He must be someone I knew during my first lifetime.* Daoist Wuliu had told him that story because he was likely one of his followers back then. Having once harbored hope, the disappointment cut even deeper. That was why his spirit had been crushed, driving him into seclusion here. "Yet I can't remember what I did back then," Xu Ying whispered to the willow beside him. He couldn't remember anything. His memories had been sealed. For over forty thousand years, he had drifted aimlessly, tossed from one orchestrated fate to another, living in a daze like a fool. At the mountain's peak, Daoist Wuliu sat beneath the tree, holding a wine jar propped on his knee as he gazed into the distance. His gaze was distant and somber, as if reminiscing about the past. Once, there had been a golden, blazing era that burned with his youth, filling him with passionate fervor to confront the perils of the world, forgetting danger, heedless of life and death. Yet all of that had gradually faded following that person's ascension, until it was ultimately buried beneath the incense ash. His heart had turned to cold cinders. "Master Wuliu, if one day Master awakens and calls upon you all, will you answer?" a voice spoke. Daoist Wuliu turned toward the sound and saw the white-robed scholar, the Little Celestial Venerable, strolling over with an elegant, unhurried air. "Once incense has burned to ash, can it ever be reignited?" Daoist Wuliu lifted the wine jar and drank deeply with his head tilted back. "There is no Master Wuliu in this world anymore, only Daoist Wuliu. I am a man of the cloth—why speak of past ties? Why speak of fighting and killing?" He gave a self-mocking smile. "Little Celestial Venerable, I know why you came. You only brought your master here so I could see him, hoping it might draw me out of seclusion to assist you. Let me tell you, not a chance! Unless..." He pointed to the ground beneath his feet. "Unless you can set this mountain ablaze! Otherwise, I will never leave!" The Little Celestial Venerable's expression darkened. He turned to leave and said, "Pardon my intrusion on your peace, Master." Daoist Wuliu watched his retreating figure, took another drink, and muttered to himself, "The very first handful of incense ash here was already dead. Burned clean through, it can never be reignited. Never." Having finished their rest, the two black qilin shook off their weariness and resumed the journey. Sitting inside the qilin carriage, Xu Ying watched the mountain of incense ash recede into the distance. "Little Celestial Venerable, was I truly an irredeemable villain back then?" The Little Celestial Venerable looked over at him. After a pause, he said, "Perhaps in the eyes of some. But in the eyes of others, you were their hero." Xu Ying started slightly, and a smile broke across his face. The carriage passed beneath a towering, withered tree. The tree had been uprooted and was long dead, yet it remained undecayed, resting tilted between heaven and earth. As the carriage passed under it, Xu Ying looked up at the unimaginable divine tree, feeling only shock and desolation in his heart. They stopped before a city situated ahead of the tree. The city was called Jianmu, home to many inhabitants of the Ancestral Court. Numerous divine beings guarded this place, each surrounded by flourishing incense offerings. Suddenly, a towering divine being bent down, resting both hands on the city wall. His enormous face pressed almost directly against the qilin carriage as his gaze bore into Xu Ying within. The demon god burst into loud, mocking laughter. "Well, if it isn't Celestial Venerable Xu! I heard you became a lapdog of the Immortal Realm. What, couldn't make it there anymore? Came back to enjoy life?" The Little Celestial Venerable said, "Uncle Pan." "Don't call me Uncle Pan!" the demon god sneered. "I am a demon god, not a Qi Refiner. I have nothing to do with you Qi Refiner bastards. Only those who believe in me are my people; anyone who doesn't is a piece of dog shit! Offer incense to me, or get lost!" The Little Celestial Venerable said, "Do you still remember back then..." Demon God Pan flew into a rage. Snatching up an enormous treasure umbrella, he shoved it right before the qilin carriage and sneered, "Little Celestial Venerable, don't you dare bring up the past! You may be revered as the Little Celestial Venerable, but in the Ancestral Court, before me, you don't get to act like one!" The Little Celestial Venerable frowned. Xu Ying stood up and said, "Little Pan, what is your name? If I did anything to wrong you in the past, you..." Seeing him, Demon God Pan's fury surged uncontrollably. He snapped the treasure umbrella open, unleashing a burst of primordial divine might from within. Xu Ying began, "Pan..." The two black qilin could no longer suppress their terror of Demon God Pan. Auspicious light burst from beneath their hooves, and they bolted forward with a roar! *Whoosh!* The carriage canopy flared with brilliant red light, spinning rapidly as it flew into the air. It transformed into a gigantic inverted parasol like a celestial canopy, sheltering the three people and the two black qilin within. A terrifying tempest struck, as if an unrivaled demon god were assaulting the carriage. The hanging strings of pearls beneath the canopy dissolved into a sky full of stars. The stars suddenly fell into disarray, then condensed into a dazzling galaxy that flew upward with a rush, as though being swallowed by an abyss-like maw! Xu Ying looked up, his scalp tingling. Several pearls as large as round hampers flew up and settled into the canopy, turning into several suns and moons to illuminate the sky. Yet in the next moment, the suns and moons were devoured one after another! Cold sweat broke out on Xu Ying's forehead. He glanced at the Little Celestial Venerable. He remembered how confident the Little Celestial Venerable had been about his qilin carriage, having once claimed that not even Perfected Cangyue, ranked third in the Ancestral Court, could breach the canopy's defenses alone! Yet under Demon God Pan's assault, the canopy was practically being dismantled within breaths! Meeting Xu Ying's questioning gaze, the Little Celestial Venerable hesitated before saying, "Don't fight back. Let him vent, and it will pass. If you resist, it'll only fire him up to settle the score from forty-eight thousand years ago. I speak from experience." Xu Ying had originally planned to step in and clash with Demon God Pan. Hearing this, his heart skipped a beat. *Another piece of 'good karma' from back then! Wait, what does he mean by having experience? Did he come here before and get beaten up by Demon God Pan?* *Boom!* The sky formed by the canopy was smashed open, letting light from beyond leak down. The immense force pressed down in this single blow, sending the carriage shuddering violently. The two black qilin were powerful beings on par with Daoist Ji, yet even they wailed under the pressure. Unable to steady themselves, they tumbled from high above, dragging the carriage down with them in a wild crash. The Little Celestial Venerable remained unperturbed, instructing Zhou Yashu, "Hold on tight, don't get thrown out." His face pale, Zhou Yashu hurried to grip the bronze mount of the canopy. The carriage and qilin slammed violently into a mountaintop, tumbling and crashing straight into a mountain forest! From the forest, they crashed into an Immortal Dao anomalous zone, burst out the other side, and plunged into a body of water. Injured, the two black qilin struggled desperately and dragged the carriage out of the water. The Little Celestial Venerable casually helped Zhou Yashu purge the Immortal Dao mutation from his body. When they crashed into the anomalous zone just now, Zhou Yashu's cultivation had been too weak, leaving him vulnerable to Immortal Dao pollution. In an instant, his physical body and Primordial Spirit had begun mutating, turning him into something neither human nor ghost. Pulling the carriage, the two black qilin fled in desperation. A howling wind came from behind as the canopy, now riddled with holes, was hurled spinning through the air after them! "Leap upward," the Little Celestial Venerable warned the two black qilin. Treading on auspicious light, the two black qilin leaped up with all their might. With a sharp whistle, the enormous canopy flew beneath their hooves, slicing the top off a distant mountain. The canopy continued hurtling forward, vanishing who knew where. Demon God Pan landed on a peak, leaning on the Huntian Treasure Umbrella as he shouted curses, "Consider yourselves lucky you ran fast! Don't let me catch sight of you bastards ever again!" Xu Ying's face was dark. Turning back, he fumed, "Little Celestial Venerable, he called us bastards, and you just took it?" The Little Celestial Venerable looked as calm as ever. "He calls everyone a bastard. You were cursed by him countless times back then as well." Xu Ying asked in surprise, "And I didn't kill him?" The Little Celestial Venerable shook his head. "No. You even swore brotherhood with him." Xu Ying blinked and smiled. "Little Celestial Venerable, you call him Uncle Pan. What should you call me?" The Little Celestial Venerable's face sank slightly. "Xu Ying, don't forget you are my prisoner. Don't take your jokes too far." Xu Ying looked at him with a grin. The Little Celestial Venerable's expression was as still as water, devoid of any change. Seeing that he wouldn't take the bait, Xu Ying looked away and asked, "What is Demon God Pan's real name?" "He isn't a demon god. His real name is Pan Yi, a Qi Refiner from my era who followed you back then. Ever since you ascended, he has loafed around in Jianmu City. If anyone dares mention you in front of him, he beats them until only their tongue can move," the Little Celestial Venerable said. "Still, he won't truly go for the kill. At most, he just wants to teach a lesson." The canopy whistled back through the air and slotted back onto the carriage. However, its strings of pearls were in disarray, the hamper-sized pearls had vanished without a trace, and several gaping holes pierced the canopy, allowing sunlight to stream through. Zhou Yashu asked, "Master, should we repair it?" The Little Celestial Venerable waved it off and shook his head. "Leave it for now. Things might get worse in a bit." Zhou Yashu didn't understand what he meant. As they spoke, the qilin carriage carried them into a vast wasteland. The landscape was shattered and desolate, with the ruins of collapsed buildings visible in some places. Looking from afar, four towering statues stood amidst the wasteland, each over a thousand zhang tall with well-defined, sturdy builds, showcasing sheer masculine strength. The statues exerted an incomparable sense of oppression, as though formidable spirits were sealed within the stone. Once transformed into flesh and blood, that power would erupt with earth-shattering force! The Little Celestial Venerable signaled the two black qilin to halt in the center of the four stone statues, hovering in midair. The two black qilin obeyed, but standing in the auspicious light, their bodies trembled so violently that their scales rattled loudly. Suddenly, the sound of shifting stone echoed. Xu Ying looked over and saw that the eyes of one stone statue were slowly moving, turning toward him! The statue had peculiar eyes—three in total, with a vertical eye set right in the middle of its forehead. At the same time, shifting sounds came from the other stone statues as their eyes began turning as well! Seeing this, the Little Celestial Venerable felt a surge of joy. He stood up and called out, "Four Uncles, I have brought an old friend today." "Scram!" A deafening roar like collapsing mountains and surging seas erupted from one of the statues. The Little Celestial Venerable immediately raised his hand. "Go!" As if granted a reprieve from death, the two black qilin bolted at once, pulling the carriage away in a streak of flowing light. Still uneasy, the Little Celestial Venerable released a plume of clear qi from his crown, hoisting the battered canopy aloft. Sure enough, a brilliant radiance lit up behind them. One of the statues turned its head, its vertical eye blazing with light as it fired a majestic beam toward them. *Boom!* The divine light pierced through the canopy, blasting another large hole through it. *Boom!* *Boom!* The other two statues also turned their heads, their vertical eyes firing beams of light that blew two more holes through the canopy. "Master's foresight is truly brilliant!" Zhou Yashu gasped in admiration. The Little Celestial Venerable shook his head. "It is not foresight, merely experience." Xu Ying looked back to see that all four stone statues had regained their flesh-and-blood bodies. The giant who hadn't attacked was currently soothing the other three three-eyed giants. Xu Ying asked, "Were they my friends back then?" The Little Celestial Venerable nodded. "Their divine eyes were cultivated thanks to you. These four uncles are the Four Heroes of the Ling Family, and the one mediating is Ling Bufan." Xu Ying looked back and said, "He's still trying to talk down the others. He and I must have been very close back then." The Little Celestial Venerable shook his head. "Your relationship back then was indeed decent. However, whenever I encountered him over the years, he always urged me not to seek revenge against you until you recovered your memories. Only then would it feel satisfying and thrilling. Most likely, he is advising his three brothers the exact same way." Xu Ying's face darkened, and he lapsed into sullen silence. Two days later, the qilin carriage finally arrived at Hunyuan Palace. Viewed from afar, the mountains housing Hunyuan Palace resembled an immortal realm, wrapped in immortal light and auspicious mist. Several immortal trees cast a radiant glow over the peaks, and immortal herbs exuded a pure fragrance. Divine dragons chanted as they coiled among the waterfalls, while colorful phoenixes soared and perched atop parasol trees and immortal fungi. Outside Hunyuan Palace, purple qi rose straight into the heavens like the Heavenly River pouring down from the sky. Within the purple qi, written in bird-and-worm seal script, were the words 'Ziwei'. Just as Xu Ying was admiring the scene, he noticed killing intent lurking everywhere throughout Hunyuan Palace, and his heart gave a sudden lurch. The Little Celestial Venerable signaled the carriage to stop. Rising, he walked toward the ambush and said, "If I don't display a few methods, the world might forget why I am called the Little Celestial Venerable!"