Chapter 0
Prologue: An Opportunity
Cui Hua Mountain was located at the intersection between Huzhou Commandery and the East Sea Commandery in Jingji Haizhou prefecture. It was 80 miles southwest away from Jing Capital. The mountain stretched far, multiple small streams flowed through it and its peak stood proud and tall. The trees grew tall and the leaves provided shade. It was like spring all year round, and flora bloomed even in the harsh winter. The forest was home to a wide range of fauna and there was plenty of life in the streams as well. Every 500 years, Goddess of the Moon, Changxi, Shenzong of Kunlun, Jiangyu of Teal Hill, as well as Chidi of Mount Da Huang, all came to Cui Hua Mountain to fulfill the promise they made.
A small curvy path on the mountain broke through the clouds and mist. Shenzong strolled along it. The land might look bizarre, but it was a totally different world above the stairs of the clouds. A peaceful lake that was always covered in snow had gathered divine flying creatures from all around because of the arrival of Shenzong. In order to take advantage of the peace and quietness here, Shenzong would set up a connection between the worlds at the bottom of the lake and wait for his old friend over a cup of tea. However, on this day, he had yet to catch a glimpse of centenarian Changxi when the time came.
“Mei An, go get some Fengshan Maojian tea! Changxi is very picky.”
“Yes!”
Mei An retrieved some tea leaves from the void. The small bunch of tea leaves gave off an enriching aroma; the Spirit Power of divine flying creatures outside of the connection increased tremendously. Mei An pointed her spiritual finger and the alarmed creatures flew way. Shenzong frowned.
“Go and check the peak quickly, Changxi could have already reached the peak.”
“Yes!”
Mei An went away.
“Brother Shenzong, sister Changxi could have already forgotten about us. See, the sky is beginning to darken.”
Jiangyu, who was playing with chess, joked around. He wanted to see his junior sister too. He wondered if the Goddess of the Moon, Changxi, who was in charge of the Fairy World, had ever thought about him. Among all the brothers and sisters in the realm, the Goddess of the Moon were everyone’s favorite. This applied to the Big Brother Kunlun as well.
“Brother Jiang, Teal Hill and the wolf tribe are often fighting against each other. Is Teal Hill not afraid of the war endangering the country and its people?”
“Big Brother, I’m afraid there is someone ordering the wolf tribe. They seem to gain an early advantage during each fight. Also, this person seems to know me very well.”
“Oh! Could there be a spy in Teal Hill?”
“I do not know, I have to check upon returning.”
“Mentor, the Goddess of the Moon is at Cui Hua Mountain’s Xiaoyao Grotto-heaven. She said that she had picked a herb that could suck one’s soul.”
Mei An’s eyes were deep with meaning and the corners of her mouth lifted up. As of now, she only had to direct Shenzong and Jiangyu into Xiaoyao Grotto-heaven. The starving spirits would then start to devour on these divine spirits like vultures. Then, Chidi would be able to devour those spirits. Mei An was calculating as she lowered her head.
“Seems like our younger brother has to move to Xiaoyao Grotto-heaven.”
Jiangyu’s hand that was holding onto a chess piece had a sudden surge in Spirit Power. With a “whoosh”, the black chess piece flew into a rock, causing a dent. Shenzong looked at his junior and shook his head. Jiangyu was blaming Mei An for disturbing his peace. The duo left the connection and headed for Xiaoyao Grotto-heaven. Gazing at the far-away Shenzong, Mei An started to evolve. When she stretched out her golden feathers, she became a phoenix. Shenzong did not know that the kid Mei An had already been eaten up by this phoenix. He was too preoccupied with his thoughts about the Goddess of the Moon and was careless, letting this cultivating baby take advantage of the situation.
Located at the west, the Xiaoyao Grotto-heaven was a piece of abandoned land filled with spiritual power. Jiangyu was amazed at the strange flora there. He did not think that such a spiritual place would exist in Cui Hua. It seemed like Cui Hua was better than Teal Hill.
“Junior Changxi.”
Shenzong entered the Grotto-heaven and saw a girl in red lying on a stone table far away. He took a step forward and the girl turned. He was taken aback. The Goddess of the Moon in front of him looked composed but her gaze was empty. When Shenzong took a step forward to take a closer look, a gush of Spirit Power knocked into him. He was alarmed; he had never seen Changxi in this state. He jumped away to avoid her attack.
“Why are you doing this, Changxi? Use words and not actions!”
Shenzong infused more Spirit Power and trapped the girl. Unexpectedly, Changxi suddenly spat out a spirit beast which pounced towards him. When it was approaching him, it suddenly evolved into a fog state and entered his body. Shenzong immediately went to sleep. In the dark, a black shadow rushed towards his body and tried to attack Shenzong’s chest with its sharp claws. The girl in red immediately pounced onto Shenzong and protected him with her whole body.
“Chidi, I have lured Big Brother here, let go of my daughter!”
“You can see her once I dig into the Shenzong’s spirit. Changxi, your decision made in a split-second can decide your daughter’s fate. I hate Shenzong the most!”
“Chidi, we were all taught together, why must you turn to murder?”
“Is that the case? Shenzong and Jiangyu did not think so. Back then, Mentor gave you guys the best. You have the Cloud Dan, Shenzong had the primitive divine device and Mentor’s Divine Sword. Even Jiangyu had the Ancient Spirit Protection! What about me? I had nothing, except the deserted Mount Da Huang!”
“Mentor gave you the Eternal Primordial Spirit, don’t you know to be grateful? Brother Chidi, I beg you to return my daughter!”
Changxi fell below his senior bother’s knees, hoping that there still existed a tint of kindness in his heart.
“Changxi, I’ve given away your daughter. I made a deal with that Spirit King to never let your family reunite. If he goes against the deal, he will be covered in white snow for thousands of years. This divine skill was left behind by Mentor, but, if you want to see your daughter, all you have to do is to dig out Shenzong’s spirit. ”
“No! I cannot hurt Big Brother anymore! He is the father of my daughter, and I am already regretting luring him here. Chidi, if you didn’t interfere back then, we wouldn’t have been separated. You’re the one that killed Mentor and yet let me carry your title of a murderer.”
“So what? Mentor is already dead, and there are no more divine spirits in Cui Hua. If I manage to get you and Shenzong’s spirit, I will be quite undefeatable in these three worlds!”
“So that’s the case.”
Right after Chidi finished speaking, a man appeared in the Grotto-heaven. Jiangyu shoved his hand forward. This was for Mentor and also for Changxi. The poor girl had to carry a name of guilt and was kicked out of the Spirit World for decades.
“Jiangyu, hand over the Ancient Spirit. Can you master Mentor’s Ancient Spirit? That was condensed using Spirit Power from all places.”
Jiangyu started to execute the spell. Chidi swung his long tail and curled it around Changxi. Jiangyu’s divine light surged and his fox tail sprang out, headed towards Chidi. Changxi’s spiritual finger flipped and pricked into Chidi’s long tail. Under attack, Chidi let go of Changxi and Jiangyu sprang in to catch her.
“Changxi, why is Big Brother still sleeping?”
Looking at Shenzong lying on the ground, Jiangyu hated Chidi even more. How could he hurt one of his own! Actually, Jiangyu knew that Shenzong was under a dizzy spell cast by Goddess of the Moon on purpose. If someone like Shenzong found out that he had a child, he would definitely forgo the duties that Mentor had given him and go into hiding with Changxi. How could Changxi bear to let him forgo everything to be with her? He was a leader who shouldered many responsibilities, and she could not afford to be selfish.
Seeing Goddess of the Moon escape, Chidi was even furious. His big tail swung towards Shenzong while Changxi protected him. Jiangyu swung his fox tail and a strong gust of Spirit Power hit the four walls of the Grotto-heaven. This forced Chidi to hide in the walls. The big tail shattered the stone walls into pieces. Chidi executed a spell and a strong gust of Spirit Power started to rage around him like wild waves. As the spirit soul surged, he cut them in half with his palm. The Spirit Power from the spirit soul turned into millions of doppelgängers, pouncing towards Jiangyu.
“Changxi, bring Big Brother away now!”
Changxi was shocked. What was this spell that Chidi had cultivated? When she went near Chidi, his spirit even tried to suck away her Spirit Power. Changxi was sent flying against the walls and could only watch this Spirit Power devour over Jiangyu. Chidi executed the leave-soul spell and Changxi saw brother Jiangyu’s separated true body. Gradually, it started to disappear as the Spirit Power continued to devour it. Despite knowing that she was not worthy to be Chidi’s opponent, Changxi flipped her spiritual finger and turned into a divine crane. She tried to bring Shenzong away and hoped that Big Brother could escape from Xiaoyao Grotto-heaven. Just as the divine crane was bringing Shenzong out of the entrance, the doppelgängers blocked its path. Changxi saw that things were not good and flew high up, using all her Spirit Power to protect Shenzong.
“Goddess of the Moon, you will taste death for blocking my path.”
Chidi evolved into a ball of fire and charged towards Changxi. Jiangyu broke out from Chidi’s trap of spirits. Changxi saw that brother Jiangyu was being burnt. Chidi lifted the almost-disappearing Jiangyu. How could he forget about the Ancient Spirit? Deep down in the spirit soul, there was information on the Ancient Spirit. Where else could this Ancient Spirit be if not in Jiangyu’s body?
“Where is the Ancient Spirit?”
Seeing brother Jiangyu struggling, Changxi was filled with guilt. She had brought him down.
“You didn’t expect this right? You will never get the Ancient Spirit…haha…”
At this moment, Changxi realized that Jiangyu did not have the Ancient Body Protection but had been struggling to protect her. Changxi gathered all her Spirit Power, hoping to escape all of these. If Big Brother woke up, he would definitely save her life. However, Changxi knew that once Shenzong woke up and realized she had betrayed them, he would definitely not forgive her. By then, she would be unable to face Shenzong ever again. Back then, if she had not disclosed Mentor’s race, then Cui Hua Mountain would still be prospering right now. She hated that she was greedy over her relationship with her children and had ruined Cui Hua Mountain. Although she did not kill Mentor, he had died in the hands of Chidi. She would live in guilt for millions of years and never dare to step into Cui Hua Mountain again.
Thunder and lightning struck over Cui Hua Mountain. Divine light flickered above the skyline. When lightning struck across the firmament, Chidi saw Mentor’s Primordial Spirit. Sitting above the clouds, Mentor had his golden hands pressed against each other. In the streak of light, Chidi was torn away from his Real Body. His physical body disappeared in the golden light. Never would Chidi have imagined his Real Body being destroyed by Mentor.
“Evil creature, return to your underground spirit world. Never step foot into Kunlun again!”
Watching Mentor bring away Shenzong, Changxi broke into tears and fell to the ground.