The Queen Mother of the West waved her hand and said with a smile, "She has rendered great service and has been worn out lately, so I told her to rest in the palace. You may go and find her."
Delighted, Xu Ying rose and headed toward the inner quarters of the Palace of Ten Thousand Gods.
The Palace of Ten Thousand Gods was vast. Its landscapes possessed the tranquil elegance of a gentle maiden. As Xu Ying walked through it, admiring the scenery on all sides, the faint, lingering notes of a zither suddenly drifted to his ears, mingling with the murmur of water.
Xu Ying followed the sound. Before long, he arrived beneath a waterfall. It was not high—only twenty or thirty feet—and its babbling stream gathered into a pool before flowing under a bridge.
Yet when he stepped onto the bridge, he saw the waterfall plunging straight down from a mountain tens of thousands of feet tall, becoming immensely magnificent, like cascading jade and scattered pearls.
This was a sight unique to the Palace of Ten Thousand Gods. Seen from a distance, the scenery appeared minute and delicate; viewed up close, it turned grandiose and majestic.
Xu Ying walked to the head of the bridge and noticed a pavilion not far away. The zither music was drifting from within.
He looked up. The doors and windows of the pavilion were open, and someone upstairs was playing the ancient zither. The notes were leisurely and serene, reflecting a player whose mind was equally at ease.
Suddenly, the tune faltered, as though the player's tranquility had also been disturbed.
Standing beneath the pavilion, Xu Ying listened as the music slowly faded to silence. Then, the female immortal appeared by the window lattice and looked down.
Xu Ying raised his gaze, his eyes meeting hers, and broke into a smile.
The woman upstairs smiled in return, then vanished from the window. Moments later, she descended from the pavilion and walked to Xu Ying's side.
Even though she was no longer merely Yuan Weiyang, seeing her still made his heart skip a beat.
Xu Ying could not help recalling the moments of their first meeting, catching dragon loaches in the pagoda tree, running wild without restraint through Shendu, and the vivid rouge on her lips.
Suppressing the strange stirs in his chest, Xu Ying smiled and said, "We haven't seen each other in quite a few years."
Yuan Weiyang said, "It has indeed been seven years since we parted last."
Xu Ying was startled. "Seven years already? Time flies so fast."
Walking side by side, Xu Ying parted his lips, wanting to speak of the Dao methods and divine powers he had comprehended during this time, wanting to tell her of the ancestral methods and techniques he had derived.
Yet when the words reached his lips, he realized this female immortal would have no interest in them.
She was already an immortal, free from birth, old age, sickness, and death. The daily cultivation prior to ascending to immortality that he wished to share held no meaning for her.
In the past, when she was Yuan Weiyang, Feng Xue'er, or Yan Bao'er, he could discuss such things with her. But now that she was a peerless female immortal, they could no longer talk of them.
It was as if a thick veil separated them, leaving their perception of each other slightly blurred.
They walked together into a garden. Xu Ying stood beneath a flowering tree. The female immortal reached toward a blossom on a branch, her sleeve slipping back along her arm.
Just then, she fell toward the flowering tree against her will. Alarmed, Xu Ying hastily caught her other hand.
The moment he grasped her hand, he too was drawn irresistibly into a fall toward the flowering tree.
The blossom and the tree grew larger and larger before their eyes. Their bodies drifted lightly in midair, floating between petals and stamens.
Only then did Xu Ying realize they were as tiny as bees. Holding his hand, the female immortal guided him through the blooming blossoms, intoxicated by the fragrant nectar.
Bees and insects flew back and forth among the petals, larger even than they were.
It was not that Xu Ying and the female immortal had shrunk; rather, the immortal trees in the Palace of Ten Thousand Gods were originally this massive, and the insects were naturally the size of people. The Queen Mother of the West had merely used magic to fold space, making them appear no different from ordinary trees and insects from afar. Yet when one drew near, the flora and fauna resumed their true scale, looming immense.
Xu Ying followed the female immortal through the sea of flowers. An immortal bird spread wings spanning thousands of feet and soared over their heads, the wind in its wake fluttering their clothes.
Though this was the mortal realm, it was no different from a paradise of immortals.
The female immortal glided down to a branch and sat upon a leaf as large as a woven mat. Xu Ying sat beside her, as if getting to know her for the first time. "What should I call you? Yuan Weiyang, or another name?"
The female immortal smiled serenely. "Just call me Yuan Weiyang. Once you remember the past, you will naturally remember my name."
Xu Ying said dejectedly, "I do not remember the past. Over the years, I have tried every method to break my seals and recover my memories, unraveling them back to thirty thousand years ago. In those thirty thousand years of memories, I find traces of you everywhere."
As he recalled those experiences across the ages, boundless tenderness swelled unbidden in his heart.
Throughout those years of reincarnation, she had taken on different appearances, borne different names, and experienced different origins and hardships, yet in the end, she had always crossed paths with him.
It was as if they were fated by destiny to cross paths inadvertently in the vast sea of mortals across the myriad worlds.
"I know you suffer from a reincarnation curse. I rescued the Reincarnation Mysterious Maiden; she is the Female Emperor of the Netherworld who rules over reincarnation. She told me you remain trapped within the reincarnation curse and have not escaped it."
Xu Ying suppressed the boundless tenderness in his heart, letting reason prevail, and smiled. "Having formed this karmic bond with the Female Emperor, I can ask for her assistance to help break your reincarnation curse. Once the curse is undone, we can break free from this state of entanglement across generations, and I will no longer burden you."
The female immortal looked at him. After a moment, she smiled. "Very well. When you have enough time, we shall take a trip to the Netherworld."
Xu Ying breathed a sigh of relief. "I do not know whether I can break free from the fate of being manipulated in this lifetime. Perhaps one day, I will fail again and turn into a fool. I do not want you to fall back into reincarnation on my account."
The female immortal said softly, "I understand it all."
She paused, then smiled. "Do you still see me as Yuan Weiyang?"
Xu Ying hesitated. He wanted very much to see her as Yuan Weiyang, yet he knew Yuan Weiyang was merely a fraction of this female immortal's long life.
He recalled Fairy Qingbi, and suddenly understood why Qingbi had kept him at arm's length.
What one desires is all of them. Yet what one encounters is merely an incomplete part of them, and one never truly knows how much weight one carries in their heart.
Seeing his expression, the female immortal looked somewhat downcast, yet she also knew she was not Yuan Weiyang—or rather, she was no longer entirely Yuan Weiyang.
*Perhaps after another cycle of reincarnation, things will return to how they used to be,* she thought silently.
During their days of leisure, Xu Ying and the female immortal toured Kunlun together, picking ripe immortal medicine, admiring the scenery along the way, and occasionally chatting about bits and pieces of their past. Gradually, they grew familiar again, laughing and conversing easily.
When topics ran dry, Xu Ying deliberately searched for more, recounting his recent experiences in the Ancestral Court and exploring its secrets.
He still strove to draw closer to her, sharing embarrassing mishaps involving himself and Little Celestial Venerable, and recounting what he had faced in the Taishi Great World.
They drew closer, though their bond remained ambiguous—unable to be defined as lovers, at best as friends.
As she listened, the female immortal suddenly remarked, "If the scroll you obtained was truly painted by the Imperial Monarch when he broke the seals of the various Buddhas, then it is extraordinary beyond measure, containing the Imperial Monarch's wisdom and accomplishments. Your seals were also placed by the Imperial Monarch. Perhaps you can use what you gained from the painting to uncover the secrets of all your seals."
Xu Ying froze, then was overcome with joy, laughing out loud. "Heaven aids me! At last, there is hope of breaking my seals!"
His laughter rang through the clouds, startling the snowy peaks around Kunlun to the brink of an avalanche; fortunately, the various mountain gods stabilized the snow, averting catastrophe.
Xu Ying's laughter continued, but suddenly his eyes stung, and tears streamed down uncontrollably as he murmured, "I can finally break the seals... I can finally do it..."
All the grievances and bitterness of tens of thousands of years surged up at once, overwhelming his heart so thoroughly that he could not stem the flow of his tears.
The female immortal was truly happy for him, yet she also felt a twinge of sorrow, ripples stirring in her heart. *Perhaps when he recovers the memories of his first life, our relationship will return to what it once was.*
Xu Ying finally collected himself and immediately brought paper and brush, writing down the sixteen characters: "By Heaven's Mandate, Ever Suppressed in This Life; Imprisoned, Confined, Sealed, and Penned." He studied the sixteen characters intently, attempting to decipher them.
In the past, he had merely known how to write those sixteen characters, completely ignorant of their deeper mysteries. But once the Imperial Monarch's Seal-Breaking Diagram had met his eyes, its profound wonders had been imprinted upon him.
Looking at these sixteen characters now, the myriad subtleties of these sixteen immortal dao runes came flooding into his mind!
Within his thoughts, the various immortal Daos embedded in the sixteen immortal dao runes surfaced one by one. The profound principles transformed into resonant Dao voices, ringing in his ears.
In his vision, the sixteen-character runes decomposed, transforming into Dao chains that formed immortal dao domains. The Dao chains wove through space, then dismantled into bizarre Dao phenomena.
As the days passed, the Queen Mother of the West sent Feng Yao to summon Xu Ying. The female immortal replied, "Young Master Xu is still comprehending the Dao, right at a critical juncture."
Feng Yao looked over and saw bizarre Dao phenomena dancing around Xu Ying, Dao voices ringing incessantly, and immortal Daos turning into rosy radiance that illuminated the clouds in resplendent splendor.
Feng Yao had no choice but to return and report to the Queen Mother of the West.
The Queen Mother of the West said, "We shall speak after he awakens."
More than ten days later, Feng Yao came once again by order of the Queen Mother of the West, only to find Xu Ying still as before. Rosy immortal dao radiance hovered around him, and Dao phenomena condensed into various Dao characters that recorded unfathomable principles.
The female immortal said, "He is still in deep comprehension."
Feng Yao had to leave quickly.
More than a month later, Feng Yao returned. The female immortal said, "He has not yet awakened."
Feng Yao shook her head. "The Queen Mother of the West invites the fairy instead. She says immortals have recently descended to search for Kunlun, and their cultivation is exceptionally formidable. In asking for the fairy, she likely intends to relocate Kunlun to another world."
The female immortal went with her to see the Queen Mother of the West. After discussing the matter, she activated her Primordial Spirit to commune with the myriad worlds. Anomalies appeared continuously in the sky as countless world planes manifested one after another.
Master Fire Dragon and his disciple Han Zekang had also encountered extraordinary fortunes in Kunlun during this time—consuming immortal grass, excavating immortal gold, drinking from immortal springs, and even running over to mountain gods like Lu Wu and Kaiming to observe and comprehend those divine beings.
Master and disciple had long thrown the Divine Vulture Palace to the back of their minds. Seeing such anomalies appear across the sky now, both stood slack-jawed.
Master Fire Dragon suddenly stammered with a trembling voice, "These are the Dao... the Dao phenomena of the myriad worlds! The Dao phenomena of the myriad worlds!"
Han Zekang's mind was in total chaos; he had no idea what his master was talking about.
Master Fire Dragon seized him by the neck, shaking him back and forth as he trembled, "Foolish disciple, these are the Dao phenomena of the myriad worlds! Every single Dao phenomenon contains the power of a world! If you comprehend it and turn it into your own divine power, its might will be astonishing beyond belief!"
Han Zekang's eyes rolled back under his grip, and he gasped, "M-Master, I'm... I'm suffocating..."
Master Fire Dragon released him, staring blankly at the sky. Suddenly, two lines of tears rolled down his aged cheeks, and he choked up. "I, Zhang Huolong, can finally escape the shadow of the Founder of the Divine Vulture Palace! I can finally surpass the founder!"
He rambled on, speaking of the cherished ambition of his youth—his vow to surpass the founder and glorify the Divine Vulture Palace. Yet by his generation, the Divine Vulture Palace had dwindled to just the two of them.
He had worn himself bald, practiced the wrong techniques until a horn grew atop his head, and had been ridiculed as Master Fire Dragon, implying he was merely a person riding atop a fiery dragon.
Yet now, relying on these Dao phenomena of the myriad worlds, he, Zhang Huolong, could surely surpass the founder and bring glory to the Divine Vulture Palace!
The founder had betrayed his sect, so he, Zhang Huolong, would be the new founder of the Divine Vulture Palace!
Han Zekang stared unblinkingly at the Dao phenomena of the myriad worlds in the sky, thinking to himself, *Master is losing his mind with excitement here. But while this chance lasts, if I comprehend the Dao methods of the myriad worlds and grasp their divine powers, I can become the founder myself...*
Around Kunlun, the heavens tilted and the earth pitched. Moments later, Kunlun suddenly vanished from the Lingjun World!
The next instant, at the western extremity of the Gengyin World, the earth violently convulsed. A world-shaking roar echoed from the depths of spacetime, and vast Kunlun emerged from another spacetime. Streaks of radiance filled the sky, flanked by the myriad worlds, fading only after a long time.
Meanwhile, at the former site of Kunlun in the Lingjun World, beams of immortal light descended one after another, transforming into powerful, bizarre figures who scanned and searched in all directions, unable to find any trace of Kunlun.
Leading them was a middle-aged man of immense, imposing presence. Clad in red robes and crowned in gold, wherever he walked, the sky split open, and a beam of immortal light cascaded down from the heavens to illuminate his figure.
It was as though wherever he went, the Immortal Realm followed!
The middle-aged man said, "Kunlun is on the run. But they cannot flee far. Let us go."
They turned into beams of immortal light and vanished.
Kunlun came to rest in the Gengyin World. More than ten days later, the Dao voices in Xu Ying's ears finally subsided. The sixteen-character runes ceased to dismantle, and all anomalies vanished completely.
He slowly opened his eyes, dazzling light brewing within his pupils. Only after a moment did the brilliance fade back to normal. Xu Ying stood up.
"By Heaven's Mandate, Ever Suppressed in This Life; Imprisoned, Confined, Sealed, and Penned."
The myriad secrets of these sixteen characters held few mysteries for him any longer!
He could even cast the divine powers and Dao methods derived from these sixteen characters at will, and they were far more exquisite than the divine powers contained in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Demon-Breaking Art!
Furthermore, based on these immortal dao secrets, he deduced the flaws in the deciphering methods for the character "Prisoner" as well as the characters "Ling-Yu-You-Yu"!
During his life as Yan Bao'er, Xu Ying had comprehended the method to break the character "Prisoner," while Little Celestial Venerable had comprehended the method to break "Ling-Yu-You-Yu." Yet neither of them had fully broken those immortal dao characters.
Though the height of Xu Ying's understanding of these sixteen-character runes was not quite equal to the Imperial Monarch's, it was not far off. Following the deciphering methods left behind by his past self and Little Celestial Venerable, he could completely eliminate these five characters!
Sitting cross-legged, he let his Immortal Realm cave-heaven blast open with a roar. The Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron, Twelve-Storyed Mansions, Immortal Dao Jade Pool, and Third Heavenly Pass surfaced one by one with formidable auras as he immediately set to work breaking the remainder of the five characters: "Prisoner" and "Ling-Yu-You-Yu"!
Seeing an Immortal Realm cave-heaven descend from the sky in the distance, the Queen Mother of the West was astonished. Suddenly, she sensed something and said hurriedly, "Fairy, pursuers have caught up again! The people from the Immortal Realm this time are extraordinary and are tracking us closely. We must leave at once!"
Chapter 392