"Will we... ever meet again?" Wu Shi curled up, the desires she had suppressed now surging forth.
Every moment she spent with that man was excruciating; the urge to devour him was nearly impossible to rein in.
She had to repress her nature. She dared not let it show, because... she was far too weak.
Fortunately... he was gone.
Had he stayed even one more day, she didn't know what she might have done.
*When we meet again... can I eat him?* the young girl thought to herself.
...
"A boring, tedious journey."
Qi Yuan cast his gaze over the vast, desolate land, unable to hold back a sigh.
This time, he had seen the Holy Mother of Inedia again—and her childhood self, at that.
He had thought he might uncover some hidden secret of history, some earth-shattering legend of ancient times.
Yet it had been utterly mundane: watching a brat catch fish and eat fish. Nothing special seemed to have happened.
Between him and the Holy Mother of Inedia, there were no deep entanglements of gratitude or grievance either.
It had been just like watching a movie.
"Visualize!"
Putting further thoughts aside, Qi Yuan entered the Land of Visualization directly.
This time, he had an abundant reserve of evil god spiritual power.
This time, there were many figures he wanted to visualize.
A whole host of heavyweights, all visualized in one fell swoop.
"Only one of the Six Imperial Sovereigns has been visualized so far; the remaining five have to come out too. Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li, Yang Jian, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Fire God Zhurong, the Ancestral Witches, Yi... and even the Three Pure Ones, maybe even Pangu!"
In Qi Yuan's memories, there were countless deities.
For many of them, what Qi Yuan had seen on Blue Star in his previous life were flawed or erroneous accounts.
Even so, the deities he visualized turned out identical to what was in his memory.
This actually surprised Qi Yuan quite a bit, and defied explanation.
If one insisted on an explanation, there were two possibilities.
First, these deities truly existed, so even if there were errors in the visualization, it wouldn't compromise the God Visualization Art.
Second, an innate world was capable of creating infinite possibilities, and these deities existed precisely because Qi Yuan visualized them.
Regardless of the explanation, it didn't affect Qi Yuan's plans.
Hence, he couldn't be bothered to dwell on it.
"Often, the things that seem utterly absurd, like made-up jokes, turn out to be reality. Reality doesn't care about logic, but made-up jokes do."
Qi Yuan's gaze calmed.
The first one he intended to visualize was the Ruler of Youdu: the Sovereign Earth Mother, Following Heaven and Embodying Boundless Virtue—Houtu!
He had already planned out Qi Qi's path: first step into True God via the Phoenix, then step into Great Venerable via Houtu.
After all, she was his goddaughter; he had to give her good things, didn't he?
As for Great Venerable Shenlei, Qi Yuan also intended to visualize the Longevity Great Emperor of the South Pole, one of the Six Imperial Sovereigns.
The Nine Heavens Thunder Sound Universal Transformation Celestial Venerable was originally an incarnation of the Longevity Great Emperor of the South Pole.
Thus, he could speed up Great Venerable Shenlei's progress even more.
Qi Yuan had his own selfish motives too.
For most people who followed him, he would naturally bestow God Visualization Arts suited to them.
Only then could benefits be maximized.
However, for those he was familiar with and close to, he naturally had to give a little more.
If a person had no selfish motives, were they even human?
With his selfish motives mingled in, Qi Yuan began his visualization.
"Governing yin and yang, commanding all creation, pacifying the Nine Provinces—the Mother of the Earth!"
In Qi Yuan's mind, that divine woman emerged.
She was a myth, seated in the netherworld, cloaked in mystery across all legends and folklore.
She was even more exalted than the Nine Heavens Thunder Sound Universal Transformation Celestial Venerable.
An immortal or deity of this caliber could likely banish the soul of a Yang God high above the firmament back to Youdu with merely a wisp of aura.
This was Qi Yuan's first time visualizing a deity of such stature.
"I hope... it works."
Countless memories and images spun through his mind.
Just like his previous visualization, her figure did not appear beside Qi Yuan.
At that moment, the entire Mountain of Visualization fell dead silent.
A chant that seemed to hail from ancient times echoed through the Mountain of Visualization.
"O soul, return! Go not down to Youdu..."
The Mountain of Visualization trembled in dread, and the Two Inquiries of the Heart did not appear again.
Just like last time.
"Congeal!"
Right at that moment, a vast, resonant female voice sounded in Qi Yuan's ears.
Joy flashed across Qi Yuan's eyes. "It worked!"
If the Five Imperial Sovereigns could be done... could the Three Pure Ones be far behind?
Meanwhile, beside the lake, the young girl suddenly looked toward the distant high mountain—the Heavenly Pillar Qi Yuan had spoken of.
"It's... shaking."
She lowered her head and looked at the fish clutched tightly in her arms, her eyes clear.
"I promised."
She had promised Qi Yuan that if he gave her fish, she would guard the Heavenly Pillar for him.
She extended her pale palm and pressed it against the ground.
The Heavenly Pillar, which had been trembling violently just moments ago, instantly settled into calm.
Her small face was pale, her brow furrowed tightly.
"Eat fish..."
Inside the Land of Visualization.
Qi Yuan's voice flowed without pause.
"Using his nipples as eyes, his navel as a mouth, wielding shield and battle-axe to dance!"
"The Spirit Pearl descends to the world, holding dominion over the innate..."
"Possessing vast supernatural powers... obeying summons to battle, but not imperial decrees!"
"To the left of the Arctic Imperial Throne, commanding myriad spirits, holding the Chart of Ten Thousand Gods!"
"Now, the Nine Stars are the spiritual roots of the Nine Heavens, the luminous pillars of sun and moon, the foundational abyss of all things..."
...
The Heavenly Pillar shuddered continuously.
In the Mortal Heart Realm, all the deities were jolted awake.
They had no idea what was happening.
Shocked and bewildered, they looked around in confusion.
Such tremors lasted for an entire shichen.
Yet even so, the Heavenly Pillar of the Mortal Heart Realm stood towering and unyielding.
However, in the Ancestral Land of the Ancient Clan, towering spires were vanishing mysteriously, one after another.
Yet among the gods of this realm, who still paid attention to the Ancestral Land?
Even if the spires disappeared, those Ancient Gods wouldn't notice.
At that moment, a sharp glint flashed in Qi Yuan's eyes.
Because just now, he had visualized nearly all the mighty deities in his memory, condensing them into God Visualization Arts.
Manuals of God Visualization Arts hovered beside him, one after another.
Each manual exuded a vast, boundless aura like the stars—ancient, profound, mysterious, and unfathomable.
If an ordinary Ancient God saw this scene, it would blind their eyes.
Densely packed, every single one was of the Mythological grade!
Moreover, none of them were ordinary Mythological grades either!
Three of them were especially profound and all-encompassing, with stars revolving within them like mere adornments, and life, death, yin, and yang swirling about them.
Yet when one looked at these three manuals, one could only see three simple points of light.
Beyond any shadow of a doubt, anyone who visualized them with care could perceive that all the other Mythological-grade visualization arts combined could not compare to any one of these three.
These three God Visualization Arts represented the Jade Pure Primeval Celestial Venerable, the Upper Pure Lingbao Celestial Venerable, and the Grand Pure Daode Celestial Venerable.
The three supreme, most exalted deities of Taoism!
"The Three Pure Ones... have all actually come out!" Qi Yuan drew in a deep breath.
The Three Pure Ones, Six Imperial Sovereigns, Five Elders of the Five Directions, Great Emperors of the Three Officials, Six Departments...
Every deity in Qi Yuan's memory had been visualized.
Visualizing them truly made Qi Yuan feel a surge of excitement.
Yet what surprised Qi Yuan the most was that this time, one deity he visualized... was a bit excessively absurd.
Even more absurd than visualizing the Calabash Brothers last time.
Because he had visualized... Gatling Bodhisattva.
"Does someone actually believe in Him?" Qi Yuan expressed utter bafflement.
Chapter 232