"Is there a chance that the law changed and those loan companies went under?" Canary discussed earnestly.
No matter the topic, she could always keep up with Qi Yuan's eccentric train of thought.
Qi Yuan nodded approvingly. "You have a point. So you see... whether fortune or misfortune, it wasn't caused by me. Perhaps it was simply fate."
"Therefore, whatever you do can never be wrong." In Canary's lovely eyes, stars seemed to shimmer.
"Likewise for you." Qi Yuan was equally adept at playing the human echo.
He opened his other messaging apps.
They were filled with a jumble of useless messages and holiday greetings from acquaintances.
Among them, seven months earlier, a classmate had sent: *Are you there? Things are a bit tight right now, old classmate.*
Then, in the dead of night a day later, another message had arrived:
*You really are pragmatic. I didn't actually want to borrow anything. It's just been a long time since we caught up, so I was asking casually...*
Following that was an entire essay of aggrieved rambling.
Then, seven days later in the middle of the night, yet another message had been sent:
*Desperate times! My cash flow is in a pinch. For the sake of our years as old classmates, lend me some money—not much, just thirty thousand!*
Seeing these messages, Qi Yuan was left speechless.
"What on earth is wrong with people?"
After grumbling a complaint, Qi Yuan immediately blacklisted the classmate and deleted him from his contacts.
He continued inspecting his social media apps.
Suddenly, a direct message caught his attention.
"Canary, take a look at this. Do you think this person has a crush on me?"
Qi Yuan handed his phone to Canary.
Canary's eyes widened. Her lingering drowsiness vanished, and she perked up instantly. "Let this young miss have a look. I'll vet them for you!"
On Qi Yuan's phone was a direct message.
Judging by the timestamp, it had arrived on the very day Qi Yuan obtained marriage certificates with Canary and Xiao Jia.
At the time, Qi Yuan had flaunted his marriage and paid no further attention.
Yet someone had actually sent him a message.
The message was very simple.
*Congratulations on your wedding.*
With just those six characters, Qi Yuan felt as though he could see through the phone screen to someone on the other end, despondent and putting on a brave face with a forced smile.
"They definitely have a crush on me. Otherwise, why pay to send a direct message wishing me a happy marriage?
"Sigh, having too much charm really is a burden. No matter where I go, I always attract fangirls." Qi Yuan's expression was calm, though tinged with slight annoyance.
After all, he was somewhat socially anxious.
Yet his looks and charm simply could not be hidden.
If he accidentally became an internet celebrity, it would be such a hassle.
"Haha, maybe it's not a fangirl, but a fanboy." Canary tapped on the user's profile picture, scrutinized the past videos posted by the account owner, and delivered her verdict.
"A guy?" Qi Yuan paused. "A devious little femboy? How horrifying. This isn't even the Shu region—how did I run into something like this?"
Qi Yuan felt foul luck hanging over him.
His orientation had always been completely normal.
"Forget it, let's not dwell on this. Canary, transfer some spiritual qi to me. I want to break through to the Divine Infant realm as soon as possible."
Qi Yuan turned his gaze to Canary's moist lips.
For Qi Yuan, his martial path could not fall behind, and naturally, his immortal path could not lag either.
A comprehensive improvement in strength would, after all, feed back into his true body.
Granted, he hadn't managed his immortal cultivation in this game with much care, treating it somewhat casually, but raising his realm remained immensely beneficial to him.
Even if this Divine Infant couldn't effortlessly obliterate Mythological figures like the one back in the Canglan Realm, slaughtering the Purple Mansion realm would still be an absolute breeze.
"Alright." Canary looked at Qi Yuan. She swallowed, her fair, slender neck moving gently, and leaned in close to him.
Spiritual qi as sweet and vast as mountains and seas flowed into Qi Yuan's mouth alongside her delicate, fragrant tongue.
Qi Yuan closed his eyes, his hands instinctively wrapping around Canary's slender waist.
*No wonder everyone loves cultivating immortality. A sensation like this... who could possibly refuse?*
That night, holding Canary in his arms, Qi Yuan formally stepped into the Divine Infant realm.
...
Two days later, Qi Yuan opened his eyes, a look of delight shining within them.
"All the Divine Infants... have finally appeared."
Directing his inner vision into his body, more than four thousand Divine Infants had manifested within him.
These Divine Infants had all been formed during his time in the Mortal Heart Realm.
"A pity that my body in this game is too weak to unleash the true might of these Divine Infants."
Long ago, Qi Yuan had realized that his persona in the game counted as his "spirit."
Put in more common, accessible terms, it was a soul.
It was just that this "soul" was somewhat peculiar—it differed little from an ordinary person, and it started out weak each time he arrived in a new world.
Thus, Qi Yuan simply referred to it as his spirit.
A Divine Infant was different from a Stellar Golden Core.
A Stellar Golden Core hung suspended in the cosmos; as long as the spiritual energy in his body was sufficient, he could project it at any time.
A Divine Infant was different.
Its might was simply too immense.
If he released it, his "spirit" would not be able to endure the strain.
Therefore, for the time being, these Divine Infants could not be converted into his combat strength in this world.
Even so...
A profound light welled in Qi Yuan's eyes. "This world really is one massive breeding ground for gods and demons!"
Previously with Wu Qi, and then with the Yaji siblings found in Wugui Kingdom, their bloodlines were unique. Qi Yuan could dispatch the Divine Infants within him to reside inside their bodies in the guise of wise old mentors.
As they grew stronger, Qi Yuan's Divine Infants would gradually awaken completely, ultimately recovering to their original realm or even taking another step forward.
It could be said that every single one of Qi Yuan's 4,752 Divine Infants was terrifyingly potent, possessing profound foundations and the aptitude to nurture a god.
In fact, ordinary Yang Gods might merely be their starting point.
For example, that old rascal Great Venerable Shenlei had once visualized the Nine Heavens Thunder Sound Universal Transformation Celestial Venerable, and later went on to visualize one of the Six Imperial Sovereigns, the Longevity Great Emperor of the Southern Pole.
Foundations like that could be said to look down upon the myriad heavens.
Not to mention, such visualizations were not unfounded shots in the dark.
What the visualization techniques consumed was the mysterious energy found in the ruins of the Ancient Clan.
Those ruins possessed an astounding origin.
A Yin God Venerable there could only be considered malnourished, needing to ingest Divine Domain Celestial Liquid—the Thriving Gentle Oral Liquid—to barely develop normally, open a Divine Domain, and qualify as a normal child.
Well, although Canary had the strength of a Great Venerable, placed in that world, she would be... well, a minor? Or perhaps just barely an adult.
Qi Yuan inspected his inner world. The 4,752 Divine Infants hovered quietly within, utterly dormant.
They resembled delicate, fragile infants or embryos.
Yet Qi Yuan knew that if any single one of them were released, it could turn Arch Star completely upside down.
"It seems I need to find hosts for them and nurture them to life," Qi Yuan murmured.
If every one of his Divine Infants were nurtured to life in this world and stepped into the Yang God realm...
How terrifying would that be?
Would he even need to step in when fighting?
He could simply release his Divine Infants, and four thousand Yang Gods would take the field all at once.
*Oh, you're a Yang God of the Taihuang Palace?*
*Oh, you're the Great Tribulation?*
*Oh, you're a Yang God of the Moluo Clan?*
Qi Yuan held grudges; he had already noted these three major enemies down in his little ledger.
"In that world of the bloodline progenitors, there are over a hundred... corpses.
"Mm, as the saying goes, fallen red petals are not heartless things; turning to spring soil, they nurture the flowers even more.
"Your descendants turned into demons to ambush me.
"Shouldn't you atone on their behalf by serving as nourishment... to warm and sustain my Divine Infants?"
Qi Yuan closed his eyes.
Meanwhile, across various corners of that unknown world, the skeletons and remnants lying scattered began to flicker with blood-colored light.
Qi Yuan was locking onto their locations.
His blood and a portion of the residual spirit of the Innate Seed served as his guiding coordinates.
He was going to send his Divine Infants over.
Those skeletal remnants were top-grade tonics, ideal for nurturing divine souls.
Countless strands of spiritual power surged forth; even the sun in the sky seemed to flicker as Qi Yuan exerted all his strength to smuggle the Divine Infants within his body across the void.
This delivery was akin to illegal trafficking.
Yet even so, the resistance was immense, draining Qi Yuan's spiritual energy incessantly.
"No good. The resistance is too great. I don't have enough spiritual energy."
Qi Yuan grew uncharacteristically solemn.
At a time like this, he had to ask his wife for help.
"Canary, transfer some spiritual energy to me!" Right now, Qi Yuan was extraordinarily glad Canary was by his side.
At the same time, he realized that living off a woman really was sweet.
Especially off an extraordinary beauty like Canary.
"Husband, I'm coming." Dressed in a sheer black gauze dress, Ning Tao's exquisite curves were faintly visible.
The moment she arrived, there was no playful teasing; her moist, warm lips pressed directly against Qi Yuan's.
Vast, boundless spiritual energy poured into him without pause.
Qi Yuan felt his spirits lift, his vigor instantly restored.
The surging spiritual energy steadily escorted a Divine Infant, smuggling it toward that peculiar world.
"Finally... one succeeded! Let's do another!"
A joyful expression lit up Ning Tao's eyes. Being able to solve Qi Yuan's worries was clearly a source of immense happiness for her.
...
Black seawater stretched on for countless tens of thousands of li.
A dead silence reigned over the expanse.
Occasionally, battered wooden debris or tattered robes drifted by.
Yet garbage of this degree was so worthless that even scavengers wouldn't bother coming here.
At this moment, a sudden ripple stirred across the black seawater.
Tracing the ripples backward a thousand meters, a bronze ship was sailing slowly forward.
The bronze ship had a peculiar design.
At its prow rested an object shaped like a massive cannon.
The muzzle was encrusted with thick layers of copper rust, bearing witness to countless weathered eras.
On the deck of the bronze ship stood five iron chairs, and beside each chair was a fishing rod.
However, the anglers had long since vanished.
The fishing lines still dangled into the black sea.
Following the lines down through the surface of the water, one would discover... at the end of each line hung a dried corpse!
No—not dried corpses. They were alive.
At that moment, one of the desiccated figures dangling from a line moved its lips.
"The spatial fluctuations are growing increasingly frequent. It seems... Dawn's Toll has moved up again. In less than three thousand years, I fear... everything will reach its end."
The speaker was a serpentine creature, its entire body withered and parched. In the center of its forehead was a vertical pupil.
However, that vertical pupil looked as though it had been gouged out by someone.
"Only three thousand years left?" spoke a creature shaped like an oversized, round bird's egg, its tone heavy with lament.
"Dongjun has reset everything again and again to grant heaven and earth a sliver of hope, yet... can Dawn's Toll still not be avoided?"
"Alas, Dongjun loves too deeply, keeping solitary vigil over this dead world, yet remains unable to awaken that person."
"Endless vanity, endless illusion, all merely to construct a single truth."
Suspended on fishing lines in the deep sea, the five beings spoke with bleak, desolate voices.
"Enough. Matters of such magnitude are not for petty Martial Lords like us to meddle in. Let us talk of more interesting things."
"Speaking of which, for some reason, just a moment ago, I suddenly caught the scent of my nemesis. Strange. Its trace has been lost for thirty thousand years—how could its aura suddenly resurface?" the serpentine creature murmured, a suspicious look in its demeanor.
"Oh? Just a moment ago, this seat also seemed to catch an unusual scent."
"Could an unforeseen change have occurred?"
"Who knows." The unidentified, egg-like creature shook its head—though when it did, its entire body seemed to wobble.
"Martial Lord Qianyu, I heard that a somewhat talented descendant of yours appeared within the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll?" The serpentine creature looked toward the egg-shaped entity.
This world was known to all Martial Lords as the Origin Land.
The Origin Land was the source of all things.
All living beings and all civilizations were born in the Origin Land.
However, a cataclysmic war had destroyed it.
All living beings had fallen.
The Origin Land had become a forbidden, desolate ground.
Severed and buried in the long river of time, it was known to none.
All Martial Lords were trapped within, unable to attain liberation, their true names forgotten by the world.
Rumor had it that the person Dongjun loved most had also fallen in that great war.
To revive the Origin Land and reunite with their Dao companion, Dongjun used the Brush of Mountains, Seas, and State to paint the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll, gathering the power of the world's Martial Lords to evolve infinite worlds.
Furthermore, in the Land of the End, Dongjun summoned those with karmic affinity, granting them the fringes of the Origin Land as their strongholds. These chosen individuals were known as bloodline practitioners.
These bloodline practitioners entered the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll to complete various missions.
All of this was done so that the Origin Land might regain its vitality and return to its rightful course.
The Origin Land was the beginning, a land of death whose ending was already fixed;
The Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll was the past and history, yet it held boundless futures;
The Land of the End was the present—and thus the future—which also represented death.
Dongjun's goal was to search within the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll for a perfect timeline, reshaping the past, present, and future.
Yet the time left to them was running out. According to the lore handed down from antiquity, once Dawn's Toll rang again, the Origin Land, the Land of the End, and the Mountains and Seas Picture Scroll would collapse in an instant.
Of course, all of this was mere legend. As for how much was truth and how much was falsehood, who could say for sure?
After all, concepts such as time and space were far beyond the purview of these Martial Lords.
They needed only to carry out Dongjun's grand scheme.
In the war of the past, Martial Lords such as themselves had merely lingered on the fringes.
The rotund egg-like creature nodded. "Yes, his talent is quite good. He seems to have reached the Martial Spirit realm, which is rare."
"Nurture him well, and it will be enough for him to become a Martial King. If Dawn's Toll can be averted, you could use him to breed and spread your lineage," the serpentine creature said enviously.
For bloodline progenitors like them, aside from themselves, progeny and bloodlines were engraved into their very instincts.
A bloodline progenitor's might depended on oneself, but also on the prosperity of their descendants.
"The Martial King realm is merely average. Only if he can step into the Martial Lord realm would he qualify to become a second-generation progenitor.
"However, for him to reach the Martial Lord realm, this seat's own cultivation realm must advance, triggering a bloodline leap to help him break through.
"Yet now, we can barely preserve ourselves, let alone break through to a new realm. He will have no opportunity for a bloodline leap to enter the Martial Lord realm," the fat egg said ruefully.
Chapter 347