Chapter 411: If Love is Fated

Though his Avatar was formed, Wei Yuan was in a rather dire state.

At the moment, he was charred both inside and out. His surface flesh had completely burned into charcoal. Only his skeleton had turned into a dark gold, shimmering with metallic and glass-like luster. Outside his skeletal frame, only a thin membrane remained, enveloping his internal organs.

Suddenly, a beam of light descended from the heavens. Endless worldly origin qi poured down as if the heavens had turned upside down, bathing Wei Yuan’s body. His internal organs, which had been charred black here and there, broke out of their scorched shells and revealed tender, newly regenerated flesh underneath.

The worldly origin qi manifested in various forms. Lotus blossoms were raining from the sky, heavenly maidens were soaring here and there, and heavenly music was playing in the air. Wherever the beams of heavenly light shone, grass sprouted and flowers bloomed. A great tree grew behind Wei Yuan rising ever higher. It resembled a Bodhi tree, but it was also distinctly different from it.

Wei Yuan’s charred, black flesh dropped to the ground, and his flesh and blood began to regenerate.

Across the Great Realm, the sun’s true fire still blazed everywhere. However, the earth began to tremble. In some places, the ground slowly rose, transforming into mountain ranges. The sea-calming pearl[1], scorched by the true fire, cracked. But all of a sudden, it spewed forth a water dragon that instantly transformed into a lake. As the lake continuously grew in size, the sea-calming pearl gradually sank, pulling the surrounding land down with it.

In the blink of an eye, though the lake’s surface area had not expanded significantly, its depth had already exceeded 100 zhang. Moreover, the sea-calming pearl continued to release seawater, seemingly without end.

Suddenly, a clap of thunder rang out from the heavens, and a torrential downpour began. The rain fell fiercely and rapidly, yet upon encountering the still-blazing heavenly fire, it transformed into a misty vapor that rose upward, turning into patches of thin clouds.

By this time, the jade mountain had grown to 100 zhang in height, while the All-Gate of Reincarnation within it stood ten zhang tall. It was quite a magnificent sight. The treasure tree atop the jade mountain grew in the wind and rain, reaching several zhang in height and growing a canopy like a massive umbrella in the blink of an eye.

The mortals in the Great Realm felt as though a thin veil had been lifted from their consciousness, leaving them exceptionally clear-sighted and lucid. But almost immediately, the sensation vanished as if something had covered them once more.

To them, though the world before their eyes was barren and treacherous, it was the place where they would thrive and survive for lifetimes to come. Here, there was the sky and the ground, the immortals and the gods; mountains, rivers, wind, fertile earth and spirit fields—what more could they ask for?

Oh, there was also endless work to be done in this world, so there was no need to worry about their life lacking meaning either.

And so, the mortals emerged from their shelters at the foot of the jade mountain and spread out into the new world, ready to begin their new lives.

At that moment, in Wei Yuan’s perception, this particular Heaven and Earth had transformed into a world that breathed.

Countless heavenly fire still burned across the Great Realm, and Wei Yuan had to wait for his flesh and blood to regenerate. Having been refined by the heavenly fire, his reborn flesh had soared to new heights. When he inspected it closely, he discovered that every inch of it was shimmering with a faint treasure glow and enveloped in a mist of immortal qi.

Just because he was waiting to recover did not mean it was right to idle away his time. Wei Yuan was currently pondering who he should write to and share his joy with.

Of course, he would need to choose his words carefully. After all, it had taken him a year and a half to finally attain his Avatar; a speed that was merely passable. There was no need to share it with everyone either; it was enough to let those who had once flaunted their Dao Foundations in front of him to know. Oh, he should also let those classmates who had outperformed him academically back in school know as well. Hmm, Lee Zhi shouldn’t be left out either....

As for everyone else, there was no need to go out of his way to inform them. Wei Yuan felt that if too many people knew how quickly he had attained an Avatar, it might shake their Dao heart.

According to the long-standing tradition of the Palace of Absolute Beginning, whenever a cultivator attained a rare Avatar, an Avatar assembly would be held. Friends and fellow disciples from both inside and outside the sect would be invited to attend, and the one who attained the Avatar would give a public lecture, sharing their understanding and insights into the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

Alas, the war had intensified in recent years, and the situation at the northern mountain gate had become critical. The Palace had been losing cultivators non-stop including a True Lord just a few months ago. Thus, no one mentioned holding an Avatar assembly anymore. Wei Yuan couldn’t help but feel a touch of regret when he thought about this.

Now that he had attained his Avatar, Wei Yuan felt that his combat prowess was decent enough. So, after paying his respects to the elders of his sects as customary, it was time to address some of the minor grievances and disputes that had been simmering for a while, such as the Shamans, the Xu Clan, the now obedient officials in the vicinity, Mahayamuri Buddha Mother, Zhao Fusheng... and so on.

Suddenly, Wei Yuan recalled that there was a female Great Warlock among the Shamans. He had fought quite the fierce battle against her back then. This grudge needed to be settled as well. Fortunately, Tianyu seemed to share a close relationship with her. He decided that when he had the time, he would pay Tianyu a visit and ask him for information about that woman.

While thinking, his physical body had finally finished forming. His eyes had fully grown, and his vision was restored. As Wei Yuan looked down at himself, he suddenly thought of Zhao Fusheng and sneered inwardly: if he were to reveal his thing to Zhao Fusheng, wouldn’t the man cover his face, turn away, and walk off in shame?

The next second, Wei Yuan banished the strange thought—on second thought, why on earth would he show it to him?

Wei Yuan composed himself and stood up. By then, the lightning rods surrounding him had long since melted into lumps of iron, and the ground was completely crystalized—it had literally melted and fused into a single mass by the fire. However, the three Thunder Crystal Trees remained completely unscathed. After all, the instantaneous temperature they endured when a heavenly thunder struck was no lower than that of the sun’s true fire.

Wei Yuan used his mystic energy to cover up his body. Then, he returned to his quarters, changed his clothes, and took a look at himself in the mirror.

His eyebrows and hair had long turned to ash during the heavenly tribulation. Of course, his features remained exceptionally handsome even without them, but he couldn’t help but feel that something looked off. Not having hair was one thing, but not having eyebrows was truly a bit strange.

To fix this, Wei Yuan summoned Feng Tingyu and asked her to draw him a pair of eyebrows. The girl happily agreed, of course. A moment later, Wei Yuan looked at the two caterpillar-like eyebrows above his eyes—wriggly and completely asymmetrical—and deeply regretted his decision to ask someone from the Bright King Hall to perform a delicate task such as this. However, the reason he asked her in the first place was because she possessed an exquisite little face. In terms of facial appearance, she feared nothing and no one.

Wei Yuan scrutinized Feng Tingyu’s eyebrows. The more he looked, the more attractive they seemed, and they were definitely 1,000 times better than the two caterpillars on his face right now. Suppressing his anger, he said, “Just draw my eyebrows the way you draw yours.”

Feng Tingyu arched her eyebrows and replied, “They’re natural. I’ve never drawn them in my life.”

Wei Yuan escorted her directly out of the central peak and summoned Hsu Yi next. This time, he finally found the right person. The pair of sword-like eyebrows she drew were only slightly inferior to his natural ones.

After that, Wei Yuan packed his belongings and prepared to leave. With Qingming now fully operational and him becoming an Avatar, leaving at this point would have little impact on the realm. At worst, his absence meant that no one would be able to control Life is a Flash or Jia Wood Nurtures Life.

Wei Yuan briefed his subordinates on daily affairs before setting off for the northern mountain gate of the Palace of Absolute Beginning, where both his shifu and his founder were currently staying.

Wei Yuan’s mystic energy reserve was now as vast as an ocean, roughly equivalent to that of eighty ordinary Avatars—middle to late-stage Avatars, that was. As for those in the early-stage and equal to him in terms of cultivation level, he saw no need to compare himself to them whatsoever.

With such a vast reservoir of mystic energy, Wei Yuan no longer needed to board a flying vessel to travel long distances. He could simply fly all the way to the northern mountain gate. Hanyang Pass was cripple as it was, and there were no other major checkpoints along the way. So, without further ado, Wei Yuan soared into the sky and soared northward.

A few days later, Wei Yuan arrived at the northern mountain gate and entered the small courtyard where Zhang Sheng lived alone.

Zhang Sheng was sitting by the window and poring over the book as per usual. Her Dao energy had not recovered, so she did not notice his arrival. Wei Yuan did not try to disturb her. He simply watched her quietly, letting the serene afternoon sunlight glow flow gently, slowly shifting away from her and the book as time passed. The light and shadow fell sparsely and eventually settled on her fingertips, which seemed almost transparent under the illumination.

Zhang Sheng suddenly had a feeling and looked up in a daze. There, she saw Wei Yuan.

Although Zhang Sheng had lost her Dao Foundation, her mental composure had returned. The corners of her lips merely turned up a little when she saw his gleaming, bald head, and she asked, “Why have you come?”

Suddenly, she noticed that Wei Yuan’s bearing was markedly different from before. Upon closer inspection, she exclaimed with visible surprise, “Have you become an Avatar?”

Wei Yuan replied, “Your disciple has attained the Avatar called the Fire of Humanity. I am glad to have avoided bringing shame upon the sect and your teachings.”

Zhang Sheng looked very glad. She looked Wei Yuan up and down and spoke gently, “When I first met you all those years ago, you were just a tiny child. I never imagined that, in just the blink of an eye, you would already be ahead of me on the path to immortality.”

As she spoke, her face suddenly flushed slightly, and she quickly looked out the window. She couldn’t let Wei Yuan see her like this.

Looking back on the past, she had originally left the mountain gate in search of a dragon. Little did she know that she would become trapped in Yong Province. Later, she spent three years initiating Wei Yuan and a full decade tutoring him. Now that she thought about it, she had spent her best years—thirteen years to be exact—entirely on him.

But back then, how could she have ever imagined today? It wasn’t until the moment the great Karmic Curse had fallen that she finally caught a glimpse of her true desire. That was why she had unleashed that fatal sword blow, determined to chase him even to the Yellow Springs.

As she stood there, lost in thoughts of the past, Wei Yuan approached her from behind and said, “You once said that there exists great love in your heart, and that it is a love for the world, and for humanity. Look—my Dao Foundation is the Great Realm, which counts as half a world, and my Avatar is the Fire of Humanity. It turns out that our love is fated after all.”

Zhang Sheng’s face suddenly flushed crimson! This was definitely not what she meant when she had spoken those words all those years ago!

1. I really want to capitalize this, but at the same time there is like, zero mention where Wei Yuan had gotten this name from, so I can’t. ☜