Swallowed Star 2: Origin Continent

Chapter 250: Water Droplet Flying Boat

“As expected of the Phoenix Clan, that speed really is astonishing. No wonder the Queen Mother chose her as a mount.”

Watching as Qingluan vanished in the blink of an eye, her flight speed not the least inferior to Bixiao’s, a flicker of temptation flashed across Yang Xuan’s eyes. He thought that perhaps he, too, should find himself a mount.

In truth, the little white tiger was also a fine choice. Once it grew up, its appearance would definitely be most impressive.

But the moment he thought of Elder Sister White Tiger, Yang Xuan immediately abandoned the idea.

If he were to use the little white tiger as a mount, when Elder Sister White Tiger returned, wouldn’t she break his legs for it?

Over the years, as the Human Race’s faith in the White Emperor deepened, Yang Xuan could vaguely sense—through the White Emperor’s Seal—that Elder Sister White Tiger’s return was growing swifter.

At this rate, perhaps it wouldn’t even take a million years before she returned to the Great Desolation.

Even if, upon returning, her cultivation suffered severe damage—possessing only the realm of a Quasi-Saint in principle but not in power—

Elder Sister White Tiger’s Dao attainment was still undeniable. Her actual combat strength would surely be beyond that of ordinary Grand Golden Immortals. Breaking Yang Xuan’s legs should be well within her ability.

“The main issue is that the little white tiger’s status doesn’t match that of the God of Wealth. Besides, I raised the little one as a so—” he coughed lightly, “—as a brother, of course. How could I possibly make him a mount?”

Feeling an inexplicable pang of guilt, Yang Xuan recalled the shameless things he had once said before Elder Sister White Tiger. Saying such words before a Quasi-Saint—really, there was no one like him.

Afterward, Yang Xuan took his leave of the Queen Mother and flew toward the Temple of Siming.

“Judging by my beloved minister’s look, he seems a bit interested in Qingluan. Perhaps I should…”

Watching Yang Xuan’s departing figure, the Queen Mother leaned lazily against her chair, her fair jade-like arm propping up her chin. Her posture exuded both grace and indolence, as her eyes turned thoughtful.

Though Qingluan appeared somewhat simple-minded, she had followed the Queen Mother for many years and now possessed early-stage Grand Golden Immortal cultivation.

Moreover, she excelled in flight and escape techniques—so much so that even ordinary Grand Golden Immortals could not restrain her. She was one of the best choices in the Great Desolation as a mount, and truly a suitable companion for Yang Xuan.

The Queen Mother nodded secretly, her mind made up. She decided that once Qingluan returned with Vermilion Bird, she would find some excuse to send Qingluan to accompany Yang Xuan.

If, during Yang Xuan’s last descent to the mortal realm, Qingluan had been with him, even that Black Lotus possessing Grand Golden Immortal power and mysterious arts would not have trapped him—Qingluan could have carried him to safety.

Yang Xuan was deeply tied to the Queen Mother’s Dao path; she could not afford any mishaps on his part. With Qingluan by his side, she would feel far more at ease.

“Hmm… I’ll have Qingluan take along a few treasures while she’s at it.”

The Queen Mother weighed the cyan flag in her hand. This treasure is only lent to Qingluan. Surely my beloved minister won’t refuse, right?

……

On the other side.

After returning to the Temple of Siming, Yang Xuan once again entered seclusion, planning to refine the heart of the Jianmu Tree, integrate the Merit Golden Wheel into his liver, and thus obtain another of the Five Qi within his chest.

As for his appointment with Da Yu—well, he was already forty thousand years late. A bit more delay hardly mattered.

Having gained experience from refining the innate Ren Water Peach earlier, and with a portion of his mana now merged with the pure energy of Fortune, transforming into Five Virtuous Immortal Qi—coupled with the Dao principles of the five elements generating one another—

This time, as Yang Xuan circulated the Five Virtuous Profound Art, the speed at which he refined the heart of the Jianmu Tree increased significantly.

In just a few hundred years, he had refined the tree heart completely, merging it into his liver. His liver turned a pure green, imbued with the innate essence of the Jianmu Tree.

Immediately after—

The Merit Golden Wheel manifested behind his head once more. Yang Xuan operated his profound art, drawing it into his body. It first coursed through his limbs and bones, then circulated through all one hundred and eight acupoints before finally settling into his liver.

After repeating this cycle for eighty-one full circulations of the Great Heavenly Cycle, it completely merged with his liver—becoming the Wood Qi among the Five Qi of the chest!

Once the Merit Golden Wheel was refined into his liver, the operation of the Five Virtues caused the virtues of Humanity and Heaven to gradually blend into his mana, purifying the Five Virtuous Immortal Qi further.

Even when performing the same “Golden Light Traversing the Earth” technique, his current speed was twice what it was when he merely possessed the Fortune energy. The same enhancement applied to all his divine arts.

This made him even more eager to see the change once all Five Virtues were complete. Perhaps the Taiyi-level mana rivaling that of a Grand Luo Immortal won’t be mere speculation after all.

At the same time, after refining another of the Five Qi, Yang Xuan’s cultivation advanced further—breaking through to mid-stage Taiyi Golden Immortal.

Though he still possessed an innate Fusang Fruit, which—according to the generating cycle of Wood giving birth to Fire—could likely be refined successfully now, he had no intention of continuing his cultivation for the moment.

Firstly, the successive refinements of Fortune and Merit, followed by his breakthrough to mid-stage Taiyi Golden Immortal, had left his foundation somewhat unstable, his Dao comprehension unable to keep up. Continuing cultivation now would not be beneficial.

Secondly, he lacked the Virtues of Sagehood, Dao, and Yin.

Even if he refined the Fusang Fruit into his heart to reconstruct it, without the corresponding Golden Wheel of Virtue to integrate, he would miss the best opportunity to refine the Five Qi of the chest.

Thirdly, cultivation was never meant to be endless seclusion. Rest and motion, action and contemplation, were both vital.

After two consecutive sessions of seclusion, his harvest had far exceeded expectations. Continuing further would only be counterproductive.

Better to venture outside. Perhaps by witnessing a certain event or encountering a certain thing, enlightenment would strike—his Dao comprehension soaring to match or even surpass his cultivation!

Moreover, he had already arranged for Sheng Sanqi and the others to select troublemakers to stir up Heaven. Next came the drafting of the Heavenly Laws, for which much preparation was still needed.

The establishment of Heavenly Laws would indeed make Heaven more orderly. But given its current state, those same laws would inevitably hinder the recruitment of new gods and immortals.

Even though, thanks to Sheng Sanqi and the others’ efforts, Little White Tiger’s tribulation video had long spread across the Great Desolation—prompting many Mystic Immortals, upon learning that becoming an official deity aided in overcoming the Golden Immortal Tribulation, to voluntarily join Heaven—

The general sentiment of the Great Desolation’s beings toward Heaven had not changed much; resistance still prevailed.

If, on top of that, numerous Heavenly Laws were established to further restrict celestial officials, even fewer beings would wish to ascend. For origınal chapters go to novel·fire·net

Even with the bait of “joining Heaven improves one’s chance at surviving tribulation,” the number of willing Mystic Immortals would plummet—let alone Golden Immortals.

Solving this issue was at once simple and complicated.

At its core, the reason beings of the Great Desolation were unwilling to join Heaven was because Heaven’s influence there was too weak—utterly unworthy of its claim to rule the Great Desolation, weaker even than some mid-sized powers.

Moreover, joining Heaven offered no real benefits, only endless restrictions.

It was like a hollow company in later eras: great in name and slogan, but with almost no pay—once food, lodging, and travel expenses were deducted, it was essentially paying to work.

The only merit was that its boss was quite good at painting dreams.

Ask yourself—who would want to join such a place?

No! That’s not right!

Heaven’s publicity hadn’t even been done properly! The Heavenly Merit System hadn’t been promoted yet…

If Heaven’s prestige and influence throughout the Great Desolation could be elevated—instilling a measure of awe in its beings—

Then, once the Heavenly Merit System was fully publicized, letting all beings know that Heaven now paid salaries with decent treatment, surely far more would flock to its gates.

The matter of publicity had already been entrusted by Yang Xuan to the Temple of Siming, while the task of enhancing the Heavenly Court’s influence was now the next issue he intended to tackle.

The Great Desolation was vast—solving this problem all at once was clearly unrealistic, and Yang Xuan didn’t possess that ability anyway. However, as long as the plan was devised properly, allowing the Heavenly Court’s influence to greatly increase among the Human and Dragon Races, this goal was still within reach.

Both the Dragon and Human Races were great clans of the Great Desolation. If he could change their perception of the Heavenly Court, he could use them as a starting point to radiate outward into surrounding regions, gradually expanding the Heavenly Court’s influence and altering how all races of the Great Desolation regarded it.

Even without aiming so far ahead, merely gaining the support of the Humans and Dragons would be a great boon—enough to offset the negative effects of establishing the Heavenly Laws.

With the Humans and Dragons ascending to Heaven, not only would the Heavenly Court’s development not slow down, it would likely accelerate as a result.

More importantly, the deities already in Heaven could rely on the faith of these two races to gain incense offerings, thus condensing Incense-Fueled Golden Bodies.

For the Heavenly Court, this would be a monumental advancement—ushering it into a new stage where incense-powered avatars could aid in governance!

“Let’s head to the Nine Provinces first…”

Yang Xuan nodded silently, decision made.

Of course, since he was descending to the mortal realm, he couldn’t go alone. Even if, within the Nine Provinces, he could command part of the Nine Cauldrons Grand Formation’s power—thus unlikely to face grave danger—

Without a Grand Luo-level bodyguard, Yang Xuan simply couldn’t feel at ease.

As for the choice of bodyguard, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden became his first pick.

Back during that battle against Black Lotus, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden had left a deep impression on him—one strike, one Grand Luo down. It was hard to be more impressive than that.

With the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden guarding him, even if that Black Lotus fellow had fully recovered and tried to intercept him outside the Nine Provinces, he’d have nothing to fear.

Thus, Yang Xuan went to the Palace of the Mysterious Maiden—only to find it empty.

After asking the palace’s fairies, he learned that in recent years, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden had spent most of her time stationed in the Heavenly Court’s Ministry of War.

During that period, she had descended multiple times, slaying several Taiyi-level beings, gravely injuring two, and killing one Grand Luo—all to avenge fallen heavenly soldiers and generals, thereby upholding Heaven’s prestige.

Nowadays, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden’s title as the Female God of War of Heaven was fully deserved.

She had earned not only the respect of all heavenly soldiers in the Ministry of War but also a fearsome reputation across the regions surrounding the Nine Provinces, bringing much stability to those lands.

That her fame spread mainly throughout the Nine Provinces was, in fact, due to Yang Xuan’s policy.

As the saying went: “Two birds in the forest aren’t worth one in the hand!”

Rather than swinging aimlessly east and west—achieving no substantial merit—it was far better to focus on one region, amplifying Heaven’s presence there, and instilling awe in its nearby beings.

As it stood, the Nine Provinces had the deepest connection with Heaven, making them Yang Xuan’s top priority.

His order had been simple: abandon other regions of the Great Desolation, focus on the Nine Provinces and their periphery.

Purge all beings steeped in karma and shunned by Heaven and Earth, maintain order in the Great Desolation, and let Heaven fulfill its rightful role.

By making this region more stable and orderly, improving the lives of its inhabitants, Heaven’s reputation would naturally rise.

Now that the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden had gravely injured two Grand Luo and slain one, she had exceeded the target by far.

“As expected of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden—so fierce indeed!”

Upon learning of her accomplishments over the years, Yang Xuan nodded in satisfaction—an entirely unexpected reward.

Originally, he had merely wanted to shape her image as Heaven’s Female God of War, the spokesperson of the Ministry of War—so that the heavenly soldiers wouldn’t project all their expectations onto him.

Unexpectedly, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden had taken the initiative to station herself in the Ministry, personally leading expeditions to the mortal realm, slaying demons, and avenging the fallen—greatly strengthening the unity of Heaven’s army.

Truly, with such a powerful Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden holding the Ministry of War, how could the soldiers fear the wicked beings despised by Heaven and Earth?

Even if they couldn’t win, wasn’t she there to cover them?

In the past, when the Mirror of Haotian’s intelligence proved faulty and accidents occurred, they could only retreat in disgrace.

But now, even if they retreated, it was a tactical withdrawal! They’d just regroup in Heaven, find reinforcements, and return for round two!

Moreover, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden’s feat of injuring two Grand Luo and killing one had greatly boosted Heaven’s morale.

The heavenly soldiers and generals now might not look down their noses at others, but they certainly walked with their chests high.

Even when Mystic Immortals faced wicked Taiyi beings, they carried a newfound sense of superiority.

“With the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden overseeing the Ministry of War, those soldiers surely won’t keep projecting onto me anymore.”

Yang Xuan smiled slightly, inwardly congratulating himself on his foresight.

Then he left the Palace of the Mysterious Maiden and flew toward the Ministry of War.

This descent of his wouldn’t last long—borrowing the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden for a while wouldn’t affect the Ministry at all.

After all, this was the Great Desolation, where eras were measured in Yuanhui. Even if she were gone a hundred thousand years, she’d still be “stationed” there, and no one would notice a thing.

When Yang Xuan arrived at the Ministry of War, however, he witnessed a scene that completely caught him off guard.

Bixiao stood at the front, a Golden Jiao Scissors hanging at her waist, a Dragon-Binding Rope coiled around her wrist, holding up a Profound Yin Thundercloud Umbrella, leading tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers out of the Ministry gates in grand formation—heading straight for the Southern Heavenly Gate.

Yang Xuan: ???

You’re not at the Temple of Guidance performing your divine duties—answering the prayers of believers seeking children—so what are you doing here in the Ministry of War?

And why are your movements so practiced? It doesn’t look like your first time here!

Don’t tell me that after I went into seclusion, you’ve been coming here all along!

Just then, Bixiao noticed Yang Xuan. Her eyes immediately lit up, a radiant smile blossoming across her face.

She took one step forward, instantly appearing before him. Closing her umbrella, she grabbed his arm and shook it excitedly.

“Little brother, little brother! You’ve no idea—during all the years you were in seclusion, this Lady has been leading the heavenly soldiers of the Ministry of War, fighting all over the realms!”

“Now, whether among Heaven’s deities or the creatures of the Nine Provinces, everyone salutes me respectfully, calling out ‘Lady Bixiao!’ My prestige is at its peak!”

“…And what about your duties at the Temple of Guidance?”

At that question, Bixiao’s smile froze instantly. Then—

She spun around, clung to Yang Xuan’s arm, lifted her chin slightly, her apricot eyes widening, a faint shimmer of tears glinting within as she looked up at him pitifully.

“The Temple of Guidance is being looked after by Xian’er and Youlian. There’s nothing to worry about. I just wanted to share Uncle Haotian’s burden, so I came to the Ministry to lend a hand!”

“That Grand Luo the Mysterious Maiden slew—I had a part in that too, you know! You can’t scold me, little brother~”

Yang Xuan: …

I’m still too young. How could I ever expect Bixiao to actually fulfill her divine duties?

The management of the Temple of Guidance should be left to Yunxiao and Qiongxiao—they were the reliable ones. As for Bixiao…

Better to let her roam free. If she were actually in charge of births and new life, who knows what chaos she’d cause? If she somehow produced a “Diamond Barbie-style Nezha,” that’d be disastrous…

“As long as the Temple of Guidance isn’t affected, that’s fine.”

Yang Xuan shook his head, not bothering to blame her.

Seeing that, Bixiao dropped her pitiful act, smiling sweetly as she lightly swayed his arm.

“Little brother is the best!”

Then, with a gleam of excitement in her eyes, the Golden Jiao Scissors at her waist flashed brilliantly as she volunteered eagerly:

“So, little brother—who are we killing this time?”

Yang Xuan: …

I’m a peace-loving man—why would I go around killing people?

“No one. I just intend to descend for a while, and I’d like Lady Mysterious Maiden to accompany me…”

“I want to go too! I want to go too!”

Before Yang Xuan could finish speaking, Bixiao had already put on her pitiful expression again.

Unable to refuse her, Yang Xuan brought her along to meet the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden and explained his intent.

Although Bixiao was a bit mischievous, she was still obedient toward Yang Xuan.

Bringing an additional Grand Luo along was, after all, beneficial—offering both strength and insurance.

As for the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden, she agreed to Yang Xuan’s request without a second thought.

In the end, Yang Xuan once again flew out of the Southern Heavenly Gate—this time with two Grand Luo bodyguards—speeding toward the Nine Provinces.