Daoist Master of Qing Xuan

After a long argument, Heng’e got angry and chased Xuanqi out and Shen Lian finally had the chance to witness Heng’e’s techniques.

Heng’e took out a silver hairpin from her hair and gently stroked it. A Milky Way then appeared between her and Xuanqi. Xuanqi attempted to cross over the Milky Way but regardless of how fast he was, he just failed to cross over. This was because as Xuanqi moved, the Milky Way would expand concurrently. As long as Xuanqi did move, the Milky Way would not stop expanding.

Heng’e’s supernatural power reminded Shen Lian of the monkey from ‘Journey To the West’, who failed to escape from Buddha’s palm. This supernatural power was known as the ‘Buddhist Kingdom on the Palm’ among the Buddhist sects.

Xuanqi eventually gave up. He took a step back and exited the Milky Way. Before he left, he angrily said, “My sister, you are so cruel.”

Heng’e watched Xuanqi leave and let out a sigh of relief. Xuanqi was her one and only younger brother. If he requested for something else, she would have delivered it without a doubt. But Xuanqi wanted to unify the demon clans and become the Emperor of the Demons. The karma effect of this would be so deep that it would definitely kill Da Yi.

Shen Lian was unsure of Heng’e’s thoughts but he was inspired by her supernatural powers. Xuanqi failed to fly over to the other side of the milky way and that meant that there was something extremely abstruse was hiding behind it. The constant expansion of the Milky Way was stunningly unbelievable. It was understandable if she created a space. But to have the ability to expand it after creating it, and expanding it quicker than Xuanqi’s light travel, this was definitely unexplainable.

In other words, this would mean that Xuanqi was far below the level of Heng’e.

Technically, even if there was a gap between Xuanqi and Heng’e, it should not be too big. Moreover, the moment Heng’e drew out the Milky Way until the time she retracted it, the surrounding sceneries were not affected at all. It was as if the Milky Way was in a parallel world that had no intersection with the reality.

This was somewhat similar to the Dream Heart Sutra and the Free Form Incarnation. Was it real or was it a fantasy?

If he could fathom the abstruse behind it, he might have discovered the method to escape from this state of ‘is this a dream or a time-space’.

It was hard for Shen Lian to make sense of it alone but at least he found hope.

Heng’e still ignored Shen Lian. She leaned against the door and looked outside, like a wife longing for the husband to return.

Anyone who saw her looking like that would never associate her with those with supernatural power as mentioned in the legends.

Just before sunset, Da Yi returned.

He walked towards Heng’e and hesitantly said, “Xuanqi was here?”

Heng’e told him about the incident earlier.

Da Yi said, “He is after all your brother and I can relate to him. Ever since the Emperor disappeared, the demon clans had lost their restriction. The demon kings had been terrorizing the world and had brought tremendous sufferings to the living beings. Although he cannot be the Lord who unites all, at least he could still unify the demon clans and set their boundaries. There are also merit in it and it is a good thing to all living beings and him.”

“I am sure he hates me with all his guts. Collecting demons would give him access to the demon’s fate and this is a key to his path to Dao. But now that I am married to you, I need to consider things for you. Once you are out there, you will be bound to trials and misfortunes. Even someone as strong as the Emperor too succumbed to misfortune trials. I do not want you to follow his footsteps.” Heng’e held on tightly to Da Yi’s hand.

This was the first time Shen Lian witnessed the intimate moments of Heng’e and Da Yi. He found it extremely odd as legendary folks like Heng’e and Da Yi actually had the husband and wife feelings for each other just like any ordinary mortal being. After all, the more cultivated a person was, the more detached the person would be. Shen Lian knew better than anyone that relationship and bonds were obstacles of cultivation.

He could not help but admit that the deeper he entered Dao, the lesser he was attached emotionally. Everything would happen naturally and he would not be able to prevent it from happening.

Obviously, Heng’e’s state was higher than Da Yi but they were so deeply bonded and her feelings towards Da Yi was genuine.

Shen Lian knew that it was not him that was wrong neither was Heng’e. There must be something that he could not observe behind it.

Da Yi said, “Although the Emperor had to succumb to misfortune trials, he was attempting to detach. Moreover, you knew too that as long as we exist here, there would be unavoidable misfortune trials.”

Heng’e responded, “According to the Queen Mother of the West, there were three Daoist on the Mount Kunlun that collaborated to open a new world known as ‘The Other Side of Heaven’. As long as we reside there, they would be able to avoid every misfortune trials. Shall we go and check it out?”

“Aren’t the three Daoists, the Daoist Masters of the Three Pure Ones? To be honest, I have met them and besides the Celestial Extermination Sword of Daoist Master Tongtian, I do not see the value in the other two Daoist Masters,” Da Yi replied sarcastically.

Heng’e was mad, she said, “You would eventually lose out if you keep devaluing others.”

Da Yi pointed at his bow and said, “With this, everyone else would lose out.”

Heng’e raged furiously and went down the mountains.

Da Yi went to chase after her but Heng’e used the same method she used against Xuanqi. Da Yi may be strong but he could not do anything when his wife used her supernatural powers against him. He could only return home.

He hung his bow on the wall and said to himself, “Looks like you would be the only one accompanying me for now. I do not know how long will she stay angry and how soon will she come back.”

Shen Lian who witnessed the drama did not know whether he should he cry or laugh.

After a period of time, there were sudden drastic change to the sky. Ten suns appeared in the sky and everything started to wilt.

Shen Lian was not able to experience it as he was in a special state but he could see the constant oozing out of Qi of death from the mountains. On top of that, the True Fire of the Sun was too blazing hot that even if a living being died, their soul could only scatter everywhere.

People of the same tribe as Da Yi gathered around and Shen Lian was able to connect the dots of the reason behind the ten leaping suns. It all started from Xuanqi.

Apparently, Xuanqi received the support from the Phoenix, and as a result, his forces gained tremendously. He tamed the demon kings of millions of mountains and waters and proclaimed himself as the White Emperor. People would call him the Emperor of the Demons and that angered the Golden Crow.

In this world, the sun was not stellar but was made up of ten Golden Crows. They would take turns to inspect the sky and their job was to bring brightness to the world. Because of that, they have accumulated merits that improved their cultivation experience.

They were part of the demon clans and now that Xuanqi claimed to be the Emperor of the Demons, this meant that he was above them. Moreover, the bad blood between the Phoenix and Golden Crow had been ongoing for a long time. The Golden Crows were jealous and boiling with hatred when they saw the Phoenix supporting someone so glamorous like Xuanqi. The Golden Crows came together to teach Xuanqi a lesson.

The ten leaping suns were indeed the coming together of the Golden Crows in attempt to kill Xuanqi.

That was why people could see the ten suns flying around the sky in no particular direction.

Xuanqi could only try to protect himself. Moreover, the Golden Crow’s True Fire of the Sun was tyrannical and a menace. Even if the world was a big place, very few people could overcome the True Fire of the Sun that got too close to them.