Venerable Huanghun naturally noticed Qi Yuan blinking repeatedly, and he felt somewhat puzzled, unsure of what it meant.
Seeing this, Qi Yuan sighed. "I want to make the hundred flowers bloom too. I also want to obtain a supreme treasure."
Whether the flowers bloomed or not, Qi Yuan did not actually care. What he cared about was getting a supreme treasure.
Ye Liuyun's two supreme treasures had nearly made his mouth water.
He was even a little frustrated—why hadn't Jin Jiao been the one to get them instead?
Standing beside him, Venerable Huanghun heard Qi Yuan's words and seemed to understand what he meant.
Between tears and laughter, he walked toward Qi Yuan. "I have heard that Origin Celestial Venerable possesses peerless talent in visualization. Why not give it a try? Perhaps you can cause the flowers to bloom."
Venerable Huanghun's words instantly drew everyone else's attention to Qi Yuan.
These Ancient Gods were also quite interested in Qi Yuan, whose identity remained an enigma.
Hearing this, Palace Master Qionghua's eyes lit up as well, and she looked at Qi Yuan with expectant eyes.
"However, among the gods I know, none of them know Great Venerable Qionghua," Qi Yuan answered truthfully. "If I fail to make the blossoms bloom, you won't laugh at me, will you?"
As Qi Yuan spoke, he glanced around at the surrounding Ancient Gods.
The Ancient Gods waved their hands dismissively one after another.
"How could we?"
"Blooming is a good thing, but failing to bloom is hardly a fault. Why would we mock you?"
"Origin Celestial Venerable, feel free to try! If anyone dares utter a disparaging word, this old man will be the first to strike them down!"
The Ancient Gods were extraordinarily genial.
Qi Yuan smiled. "There really are a lot of good people in this world; everyone is so easy to talk to."
Qi Yuan thought to himself: if characters in television shows and anime were just as reasonable when faced with such situations, telling others not to mock them, those onlookers probably wouldn't dare mock either.
Anyone who mocked would simply be beaten to death.
"Since you all want me to try, I'll give it a shot. What if... the flowers actually bloom?" Qi Yuan said.
In any case, it was just an attempt to see if he could obtain a supreme treasure.
With that, Qi Yuan entered the Mountain of Visualization.
Passing by the group chat, a flurry of messages caught his eye.
"Godfather!"
"Godfather is here to visualize again!"
"I, Dong Jianghe, refuse to believe it! Can he really succeed again? How could there be something so absurd in this world? There were only so many True Gods in the Hongtang Great War! There can't possibly be that many who slipped through the cracks! Could he truly be a genuine genius?"
"It's in the bag!"
Qi Yuan did not say anything in the chat. He had no desire to take on a pile of adopted sons.
Entering the visualization grounds, he immediately saw the Mountain of Visualization.
After a moment's thought, Qi Yuan murmured softly,
"Her heavenly fragrance and peerless grace stand unmatched in this world; a hundred charms and a thousand beauties defy any painting."
Following Qi Yuan's voice, the phantom of an exquisitely enchanting woman appeared, cloaked in brilliant garments of vibrant crimson and purple.
Illuminated by the Stellar Golden Core, the Two Inquiries of the Heart began once more.
A few breaths later, Dong Jianghe nearly spat blood in the group chat.
"Has my destiny as Eastern Heavenly Emperor truly run dry? How is there another Legendary!"
Watching the golden radiance and the chorus of a hundred birds, Dong Jianghe was utterly at a loss.
Meanwhile, within the Hundred Flowers Gathering, Qi Yuan opened his eyes.
"I hope the Hundred Flowers Fairy brings me some unexpected rewards."
The others were all watching Qi Yuan as well.
Just then, a flash of golden light flared, and a God Visualization Art materialized beside Qi Yuan.
"Legendary!" The peacemaker elder at Step Two Sky Treading widened his eyes, his gaze brimming with shock.
Making the hundred flowers bloom did not depend on the grade of the God Visualization Art.
Sometimes, even an ordinary art could cause the blossoms to unfold.
At this gathering, not even a Rare grade had appeared so far.
Yet now, a Legendary grade had suddenly emerged.
How could he not be stunned?
The other Ancient Gods exchanged dumbfounded looks.
"A Legendary grade... in ancient times, that would correspond to a mighty expert at Step Six Sky Treading or higher!"
Such a God Visualization Art could practically produce a Great Venerable.
Seeing one appear at the Hundred Flowers Gathering was truly astonishing.
Witnessing this, Venerable Huanghun was also shocked, though considerably less so than the others.
After all, with twenty-one Legendaries already under Qi Yuan's belt, one more was easier to swallow.
Looking at Qi Yuan, he desperately wanted to know what his identity had been in ancient times.
Why did he know so many formidable ancient True Gods—gods that Huanghun himself had never even heard of?
"Origin Celestial Venerable, what connection does this deity have with Great Venerable Qionghua?" Venerable Huanghun could not help but ask.
Palace Master Qionghua looked on with intense anticipation as well.
With such a powerful God Visualization Art, the deity depicted might very well be an acquaintance of Great Venerable Qionghua.
It might truly be able to awaken her.
"This deity is named the Hundred Flowers Fairy, revered as the Sovereign of a Hundred Flowers. She shouldn't know Great Venerable Qionghua," Qi Yuan replied.
Hearing this, the others found the title "Hundred Flowers Fairy" entirely unfamiliar.
"Both are associated with flowers; Great Venerable Qionghua might very well know this Hundred Flowers Fairy!" Palace Master Qionghua said excitedly, gazing at Qi Yuan with eager eyes.
The Hundred Flowers Gathering had grown worse with each passing session, and this one was particularly bleak.
Great Venerable Qionghua had virtually no hope of awakening.
Now that a Hundred Flowers Fairy had suddenly appeared, Palace Master Qionghua naturally pinned all her hopes on her.
Everyone stared at the God Visualization Art beside Qi Yuan, waiting to see the blossoms unfold.
Qi Yuan looked at the art and said softly, "Go, Hundred Flowers Fairy."
Instantly, the phantom of a woman emerged from the God Visualization Art.
Slender and graceful, she drifted forward holding colorful ribbons. Though she was merely a phantom not of this world, the Ancient Gods present seemed to catch a faint, ethereal fragrance.
Sweet scents across four seasons, butterflies lingering in the evening breeze.
The phantom of the Hundred Flowers Fairy reached out a slender finger.
Her finger seemed to transcend space, descending simultaneously upon every single flower.
Some were waiting to bloom, while others were already in full blossom.
This sight puzzled the Ancient Gods.
Suddenly, one Ancient God's eyes went wide.
"These flowers..."
He stopped halfway through his sentence, glanced at Qi Yuan, and dared not say another word.
The other Ancient Gods exchanged bewildered looks.
Palace Master Qionghua's pupils contracted sharply. "What is going on? The flowers... why did they close?"
Indeed, the moment the phantom of the Hundred Flowers Fairy appeared, a massive transformation swept through all the flowers at the gathering.
Except, rather than blooming, most of them... had closed. Full-blown blossoms retreated into buds, and some even vanished entirely.
Hearing Palace Master Qionghua's distressed cry, Qi Yuan muttered, "Maybe blooming made them clam up."
Hearing Qi Yuan's response, the others fought desperately to hold back their laughter.
They felt it was an absolute miracle that Qi Yuan had managed to survive to this age.
Beside him, Palace Master Qionghua whipped her head around to glare at him. "Make her stop! Stop quickly!"
If this continued, every single flower at the gathering would clam up.
All the efforts Qionghua Palace had poured into this over the years would go down the drain.
Watching this unfold, Qi Yuan could only sigh. "It's too late."
As the Hundred Flowers Fairy's phantom swept past, three-quarters of the two-thirds that had originally been in bloom chose to close up.
The number of blooming flowers left in the venue had dwindled to almost nothing.
Calling this event the Hundred Buds Gathering seemed far more appropriate now.
Seeing this, the other Ancient Gods had thoughts they dared not voice aloud, resorting to private mental exchanges.
"How is she the Hundred Flowers Fairy? She's a Flower-Destroying Fairy!"
"Instead of making flowers bloom, she makes them shut tight. This Hundred Flowers Fairy hardly lives up to her name!"
"Palace Master Qionghua has suffered terrible luck!"
"She'll probably have no choice but to swallow this bitter pill."
The Ancient Gods felt pity for Qionghua Palace.
A gathering planned for over a thousand years had been ruined just like that.
Not even a quarter of the flowers remained open.
Palace Master Qionghua slumped limply to the ground, her eyes vacant and unseeing. "It's over... it's all over!"
Now that these flowers had closed, getting them to bloom again would be unimaginably difficult.
Her master, Great Venerable Qionghua, would likely never have another chance to awaken.
The members of Qionghua Palace wore crestfallen expressions, their hearts heavy with sorrow.
The visiting Ancient Gods also wore somber faces, tinged with pity.
Just then, Qi Yuan suddenly chuckled. "I understand now why these flowers clammed up!"
His laughter clashed jarringly with the pervasive grief around him.
Palace Master Qionghua gritted her teeth, wishing she could take a bite out of him.
Who among them cared why the flowers had closed?
What they cared about was how to make them bloom, and how to awaken Great Venerable Qionghua.
Qi Yuan's words felt like a one-man show, completely devoid of an audience.
Qi Yuan did not pay any heed to their reactions, continuing on his own: "On the day of the Queen Mother's banquet, the immortals came to offer their felicitations. A fairy proposed that the Hundred Flowers Fairy command all the flowers to bloom at once to add to the festivities."
Hearing this, everyone was drawn in.
Who was this Queen Mother?
"However, the blooming of flowers has its own preordained laws. Seasons and locations all differ; how could one defy natural order and force them to bloom at whim? The Hundred Flowers Fairy was unwilling to let all flowers bloom simultaneously, so she refused the request."
Qi Yuan recounted the story from his memory.
It bore some resemblance to the tale of Wu Zetian and the peonies.
Hearing this story, the Ancient Gods present each had their own reflections.
They realized that the flowers closing here was likely due to the Hundred Flowers Fairy's influence.
She was unwilling to see flowers blooming out of season and without order.
Thinking of it that way, it made sense.
Yet no matter how much sense it made, the flowers here had still closed up.
Palace Master Qionghua was consumed by sorrow, unable to utter a single word.
However, right at that moment, an ethereal voice rang out unexpectedly.
"I thank the Celestial Venerable for the grace of preaching the Dao."
At the sound of this voice, every Ancient God's heart skipped a beat.
Deep within Qionghua Palace, an exquisite woman walked out with graceful steps.
Her eyes shifted from chaotic confusion into pristine clarity.
Around her neck rested a golden floral ornament, and three rare, otherworldly flowers were embroidered upon her white gown.
The moment she arrived, it felt as though a hundred flowers had blossomed at once; the sky turned clear and bright, and a subtle fragrance drifted through the air.
"Great Venerable Qionghua!" An Ancient God at Step Two Sky Treading gasped, eyes wide with shock.
The newcomer was none other than Great Venerable Qionghua, who had been slumbering for thousands of years.
Palace Master Qionghua froze as well. Staring at that familiar figure, her eyes brimmed with excitement. "Master!"
It truly was her master, Great Venerable Qionghua.
How had her master awakened?!
Great Venerable Qionghua walked up to Qi Yuan, placed her left hand over her right, and bowed respectfully. "This humble woman had long been trapped at Step Four Sky Treading, striving to condense the divine office of the Flower God to no avail. Today, upon hearing the Celestial Venerable's words, I have suddenly seen the light."
Great Venerable Qionghua had been slumbering due to her injuries, and there had originally been only two paths for her to awaken.
The first path was for all the flowers here to bloom, allowing all her memories to return. If she awoke that way, she would simply be her former, injured self.
The other path was to break through her bottleneck and comprehend the divine office of the Flower God.
No one in Qionghua Palace had ever dared to consider this path.
Even if another Great Venerable intervened, they could not assist her in comprehending the divine office of the Flower God.
Furthermore, even when Great Venerable Qionghua was awake, comprehending the divine office had been exceedingly difficult.
Yet now, Qi Yuan had visualized the Hundred Flowers Fairy, causing the flowers to close, and his brief explanation had allowed Great Venerable Qionghua to grasp the true essence of the Flower God's divine office, enabling her breakthrough and subsequent awakening.
Hearing this, the other Ancient Gods were thoroughly stunned.
"Great Venerable Qionghua... broke through?"
"She mastered the divine office of the Flower God?"
The Ancient Gods looked on with intense envy.
A divine office was something that even Great Venerables coveted immensely.
Ordinary Venerable-level deities could not touch such things at all.
Only a Great Venerable had a sliver of hope to graze the threshold of a divine office.
A Great Venerable who managed to touch a divine office was praised as possessing the potential to transcend True Godhood.
Of course, it was merely praise.
In ancient times, many Great Venerables who wielded divine offices had still failed to truly break through beyond True God.
Even so, this was already terrifying.
With a single God Visualization Art, Origin Celestial Venerable had directly awakened Great Venerable Qionghua and granted her comprehension of a divine office.
This was simply absurd!
The other Ancient Gods stared at Qi Yuan with burning eyes.
Great Venerable Qionghua stepped forward, showing none of the arrogance typical of a Great Venerable. "If the Celestial Venerable does not disdain me, this humble woman is willing to take you as my master!"
As soon as these words fell, the Ancient Gods present were floored.
A dignified Great Venerable wanted to take someone who wasn't even a True God, merely at the Purple Mansion realm, as her master!
Palace Master Qionghua's eyes widened. Didn't that mean she would have to address Qi Yuan as Grandmaster from now on?
Qi Yuan looked at Great Venerable Qionghua and shook his head. "I don't accept disciples."
He couldn't be bothered to take on disciples.
Qi Yuan's refusal shocked everyone even further.
Had it been any one of them in this situation, how could they possibly refuse?
This was a Great Venerable!
And one who bore no malice, coming entirely with goodwill!
Accept her first, worry about the rest later!
Standing to the side, Ye Liuyun's expression shifted continuously.
Great Venerable Qionghua was slightly taken aback; clearly, she had not anticipated such an outcome either.
She looked at Qi Yuan, her flower-like eyes shimmering like painted streams and mountains, as if she had reached a decision. "This humble woman is willing to attend to the Celestial Venerable's side at all times."
This caused the surrounding Ancient Gods' jaws to drop even further.
She was a Great Venerable, and such a gorgeous one at that.
Qi Yuan looked at Great Venerable Qionghua and said casually, "I don't lack maidservants. How about this: why don't you become a subject of my Qingshui Village?"
In any case, the exchange between Qi Yuan and Great Venerable Qionghua left everyone else utterly bewildered.
Great Venerable Qionghua nodded, delight in her eyes. "Thank you, Celestial Venerable."
In the Mortal Heart Realm, a conversation like this was practically equivalent to establishing a covenant.
As long as Great Venerable Qionghua acknowledged it and Qi Yuan consented, Great Venerable Qionghua was now officially Qi Yuan's subject.
"Not bad. Our village finally has a Great Venerable. This God Visualization Art will be your reward."
Qi Yuan casually gave away a precious God Visualization Art.
He did not care whom he gave it to, so long as they were his subject.
Taking the God Visualization Art, even a Great Venerable like her felt quite excited.
"By the way, since I awakened you, should the supreme treasures here that facilitate breakthroughs for True Gods belong to me?" Qi Yuan asked.
His sole purpose in coming to the Hundred Flowers Gathering had been to obtain supreme treasures.
Gaining Great Venerable Qionghua as a subject had been a purely unexpected bonus.
"Naturally!" Great Venerable Qionghua nodded. With a wave of her pale hand, twenty-five supreme treasures immediately flew out from the North Sea God Eye and landed in Qi Yuan's grasp. "At present, the North Sea God Eye has only produced twenty-five of them. They are all here."
The North Sea God Eye was an extraordinary location that produced supreme treasures from time to time.
Qionghua Palace possessed more supreme treasures than most ordinary Sovereigns.
Holding the twenty-five supreme treasures, Qi Yuan felt delighted. "This trip wasn't in vain. Quite a profit."
These words left Palace Master Qionghua at a loss for words.
The other Ancient Gods also felt that this Origin Celestial Venerable was truly eccentric.
Did gaining Great Venerable Qionghua not count as a profit in his eyes?
Qi Yuan looked at Great Venerable Qionghua as a thought occurred to him. "Has anyone from the North Sea Dragon Clan come to apologize to me yet?"
With Great Venerable Qionghua at his side, Qi Yuan decided to borrow her prestige.
The North Sea Dragon Clan had offended him; unless they compensated him with some supreme treasures, this matter wouldn't be settled.
The Ancient Gods present looked at one another.
Had he asked this earlier, they certainly would have thought: *You should count your blessings if the North Sea Dragon Clan doesn't come looking for trouble with you, yet you expect an apology? What are you dreaming of?*
Now, however, Qi Yuan's demand seemed entirely reasonable.
Palace Master Qionghua's expression shifted several times before she stepped forward and said respectfully, "Several of the old dragons of the North Sea Dragon Clan have already awakened. They are likely still discussing the events in the ancient battlefield."
After Qi Yuan had slain Jin Jiao, Palace Master Qionghua had naturally kept a close eye on the movements of their neighbor, the North Sea Dragon Clan.
Among the North Sea Dragon Clan was an old dragon at Step Three Sky Treading.
Right now, those dragons were probably still debating Jin Jiao's death.
"Their efficiency is terrible; no wonder they amount to nothing," Qi Yuan remarked casually. "Great Venerable Qionghua, clear the way. I'm going to pay a visit to the North Sea Dragon Clan."
"As you command, Celestial Venerable." Great Venerable Qionghua smiled radiantly.
To her, handling matters for the Celestial Venerable was also an excellent way to grow closer to him.
Chapter 193