A moment later, another plate of peach pastries appeared in the blonde girl’s hands—naturally given by Hua Yan.
She ate with crumbs tumbling down, getting them all over her face.
“Mmm… this is good too!”
Taking advantage of her cheerful mood, Hua Yan tentatively spoke up:
“Senior Huang, this junior still has a question weighing on her mind and would like to ask for your guidance.”
“Speak, speak, ask away. I’ll indulge you since you’re so well-behaved.”
The little girl waved her hand, cheeks puffed out like a little hamster hoarding food.
“Senior, this junior and her companion both entered the Secret Realm through a painting, and the scenery inside matches the island in the painting exactly. The sun in this realm’s sky is drawn in ink wash, the plaza before the hall is also black and white ink style, and rows of animated colorful mural pillars stand there. Even the trials within this Grand Hall are intimately connected to the Painting Dao.”
Hua Yan paused, choosing her words carefully:
“This junior originally assumed the Immortal who left this place must have cultivated the Painting Dao, and that the Immortal Artifact left behind would also be related to it. But this Myriad Worlds Gate… is a treasure of spatial translocation, seemingly unrelated to the Painting Dao. This junior is puzzled and hopes Senior can clarify.”
“Oh, that’s what you mean.”
“You’ve understood correctly. An Immortal Artifact is formed when one who achieves immortality condenses their personal Dao rhyme into a Magic Treasure—cultivate one path, and the artifact you forge should be of that type. As for why the artifact here is of the Space Dao…”
The girl licked her fingers, picked up another peach pastry, and spoke with a mouth half-full:
“The answer is simple. This Myriad Worlds Gate was left behind by an Immortal who cultivated the Space Dao, one known as Taixu Immortal—not an Immortal of the Painting Dao. And this place isn’t actually a Secret Realm left by an Immortal.”
“The Space Dao? Taixu Immortal?”
Hua Yan was taken aback, not expecting that answer:
“Wait, Taixu Immortal… isn’t he the Immortal who left behind an artifact allowing later generations to mass-produce Storage Pouches? Why would he leave an Immortal Artifact here? May I also ask Senior—who exactly created this Secret Realm? If not an Immortal, yet possessing an Immortal Artifact here, what is that person’s connection to Taixu Immortal?”
“That old man’s reputation is quite good; people still remember him even now… mass-producing Storage Pouches…”
The blonde girl muttered, shook her head, then extended a small hand dusted with crumbs and pointed at herself:
“The creator of this Secret Realm is, of course, this old woman.”
“And Taixu Immortal… is this old woman’s Dao Companion.”
???
Taixu Immortal’s Dao Companion… is this little thing? Really?
Hua Yan stared blankly at the little girl before her—face covered in pastry crumbs, barely the height of her own daughter—and blurted out:
“Then when Taixu Immortal Senior weathered the Immortal Tribulation, how many heavenly thunderbolts did he endure?”
“Ouch!”
Her head was whacked hard by the girl’s staff.
“What heavenly thunderbolts! My husband was no Evil Cultivator! Immortals don’t need to endure any lightning tribulations!”
The blonde girl shot her an exasperated glare and withdrew her staff.
“Honestly… you juniors, what are you always thinking about…”
“This old woman and my husband formed a proper Contract, our ages differing by less than a hundred years. This body is merely a Realm Spirit formed from a wisp of my original soul’s remnant. When my Lifespan was nearly exhausted, I was a proper Old Woman, hmph!”
She hugged her staff again and turned her head away sulkily.
“Then, Senior, why did you turn yourself into such a young child’s form?”
Hua Yan rubbed her head in grievance. Beside her, Yun Xuechang stepped forward and gently blew on the spot, causing Hua Yan’s cheeks to flush slightly.
“Old woman I am, about to die and sit in meditation. Before I go, can’t I give my Secret Realm a younger image? Honestly…”
The girl shot her a glare, then cleared her throat and formally introduced herself:
“Listen well, junior. This old woman’s name is Huang Cailing, a late Void Amalgamation Stage cultivator of the Painting Dao, Dao Companion of Taixu Immortal, and creator of this Xuancai Penglai Secret Realm.”
Though she had never heard of this Senior “Huang Cailing” before, and found plenty to critique about this “young image,” Hua Yan wisely put on an admiring expression and clapped enthusiastically.
Yun Xuechang glanced at her, pondered briefly, then followed suit with light applause.
Huang Cailing seemed quite pleased with their reactions. She puffed out her still-undeveloped flat chest, nodded with restrained pride, and continued:
“This Xuancai Penglai Secret Realm was jointly created with the help of my husband, Taixu Immortal Li Lingxiao. Think about it—if this old woman had built it alone, would I have made such ostentatious palace complexes? Positively hideous!”
She glanced disdainfully at the richly decorated carved beams and painted rafters around her, curling her lip:
“And those patchwork island sections—clearly pieces moved from various places using the Space Dao. If this old woman had truly painted them, I would have made them like the plaza before Penglai Hall, in ink wash style. I’ve told you all before, I’m not a realist painting cultivator…”
“Still, that Lingxiao fellow did put in the effort. The land fragments he found were all quite to my liking…”
She nodded again, somewhat grudgingly.
This…
Hua Yan looked at the blonde girl speaking with such conviction, excitement shining in her eyes.
If the former life of this girl calling herself “Huang Cailing” truly was Taixu Immortal’s Dao Companion, then she must surely possess many, many secrets about attaining immortality!
She had to seize the opportunity to ask more questions!
Her curiosity was instantly ignited. However, before she could ask, Yun Xuechang—who had been silent for some time—spoke up coldly:
“Senior Huang, may I ask why you sat in meditation and passed away countless years ago? Wasn’t your husband already an Immortal?”
She frowned slightly:
“Don’t those who achieve immortality ascend to the Immortal Realm, living as long as heaven, never aging? Could it be that Taixu Immortal Senior failed to bring you along in ascension? And where is he now?”
“You certainly ask directly.”
Huang Cailing glanced at her and huffed:
“But this old woman doesn’t dislike juniors as straightforward as you.”
“Junior, let me ask you this—how do you understand the stages of cultivation toward immortality?”
She didn’t answer directly, instead posing a counter-question.
“At the Qi Refining Stage, Spiritual Qi enters the body to improve the constitution. At the Zhuji Stage, one establishes the dantian and formally enters the Dao. At the Jindan Stage, one condenses Qi into a core and lays the foundation. At the Nascent Soul Stage, one refines the Nascent Soul and forges a second spiritual body. At the Huashen Stage, the Nascent Soul transforms into spirit and communicates with heaven and earth. At the Void Amalgamation Stage, one dissolves the void into Dao and cultivates one’s own laws.”
Yun Xuechang answered line by line, then paused and added:
“Beyond that, one attains the Dao and becomes an Immortal, ascends to the Immortal Realm, and lives forever.”
“Essentially correct. It seems your elders taught you well.”
Huang Cailing nodded:
“Only the last point is too vague.”
“Achieving immortality means, at the Void Amalgamation Stage, fully creating one’s own laws of heaven and earth and fusing them into the world itself—then one may live as long as heaven and become a true Immortal.”
“Only by becoming a true Immortal can one live forever without aging. This has no connection whatsoever to ascending to the Immortal Realm.”
At this, she sighed softly:
“It’s just a pity. This old woman’s original body exhausted her entire Lifespan and still failed to create her own Dao, failing to become an Immortal. Across Shenzhou, for countless tens of millennia, there have been innumerable prodigies, yet those who truly attained immortality… are few and far between…”
“As for Taixu Immortal Li Lingxiao… after I passed, he chose to sit in meditation and pass away alongside me. He did not choose to ascend to the Immortal Realm.”
She closed her eyes and sighed quietly.
“Passed away together… that’s possible?”
Hua Yan couldn’t help but exclaim.
“What else? If you don’t want to ascend, would heavenly soldiers bind you and drag you up the Ascension Ladder? If you wish to return to dust, who could stop you?”
“Those who become Immortals have always made different choices—some ascend to the Immortal Realm and live forever; some willingly die of old age and re-enter the cycle of reincarnation. It’s merely a difference in personal choice.”
Huang Cailing rolled her eyes at her, then waved her hand:
“Alright, enough talk. You’ve received your benefits, heard quite a few of my stories, and now it’s time for you to leave.”
That brief moment of wistful reminiscence seemed to have completely drained her patience:
“Aside from the Immortal Artifact, this Secret Realm still holds many inheritances and treasures. Once you leave, remember to tell those outside that this Secret Realm will open once more in the next thousand years.”
The moment she finished speaking, Hua Yan and Yun Xuechang felt her voice suddenly grow distant, the scenery around them blurring at tremendous speed.
“Wait! Senior! I haven’t asked you yet—what is the Immortal Realm actually like?!”
Hua Yan hastily shouted at the blonde girl whose figure was already fading from view.
Huang Cailing merely waved her hand at her.
The next instant, Hua Yan’s vision flashed white, and when she came to, the two of them had already returned to the mountaintop behind Yuxin Island, warm and humid sea breeze greeting their faces.