On one of Grand Emperor Netherflame’s random memory worlds, there was a pitch black plain, within which was a massive ravine. It was like an abyss.
An old man in a black robe sped through that abyss. He no longer looked like Netherflame. Instead, he seemed ancient. He was the very same black-robed individual who had appeared on Grand Emperor Devilbird’s dao altar. His chains clinked as he moved forward, and they were intensely hot, though there was no indication that he felt any pain because of them. In contrast, he seemed very excited.[1]
Almost there....
The black-robed old man struggled to control his breathing as he accelerated, going faster and faster for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Then, he abruptly stopped in place. The abyss ended up ahead. And at that spot was a well.
The old man excitedly approached the well and looked down into it. There was water inside, and within it was the blurry reflection of a world. It was a world full of darkness and death. And it was raining.
“This is the place!”
He took a deep breath and, looking very determined, shot into the well.
***
In another memory world, one full of birdsong and the fragrance of flowers, puffy white clouds floated across the sky and immortal cranes soared back and forth. It was like a celestial paradise. Immortal mountains rose up everywhere, surrounded by clouds, and it was even possible to see immortal palaces built on them.
Outside of the seventeenth immortal palace, Patriarch Yun stood. Looking over his shoulder at the impressive scenery, he hoarsely said, “It’s about to start raining.”He pushed open the door of the immortal palace. The moment he did, a wind sprang up in the world. All of a sudden, humidity began to spread through the world. Inside the immortal palace, the sky was dark and it was raining.
Patriarch Yun stepped inside, his expression reverent, as if he were beginning a pilgrimage.
***
Throughout Grand Emperor Netherflame’s secluded meditation facilities, the western Devilbirds, as well as Lin Kun of the eastern Devilbirds, had used a variety of methods to leave the memory shards they were in. Then they used various methods to find and explore other memory worlds.
But whatever worlds they were on, one after another, the weather changed. Clouds seethed and rain started to fall.
***
“It's raining?” A raindrop hit one of the leaves of the sageheaven god vine in front of Xu Qing. The rift in the gray sky was already starting to close. But elsewhere, the clouds had grown thick and rain was falling.
It fell on Xu Qing, on the ground, and on Erniu’s head as he stood there with his mouth hanging open.
“Let’s go, Eldest Brother,” Xu Qing said calmly. His next goal was to go find the empress. After everything he had experienced in this gruish place, he had come to the conclusion that the safest place to be was at the empress’ side.
However, Erniu clearly had different ideas. As far as he was concerned, he had endured a lot of hardship on this planet. And after Xu Qing’s very amazing entrance scene, Erniu was not exactly feeling very great. And thus, his unyielding heart began to race.
I didn’t get a damned thing from this stupid place. What a waste of effort and suffering!
Of course, what he thought and what he said were very different things. Looking very proud, he coolly said, “Don’t be in such a hurry to leave, little Ah Qing. Although I conquered this planet already, I was only just about to harvest the destined opportunity from here. I suppose that means you’re lucky. You showed up at just the right time. As the Eldest Brother, I'm not going to bicker with you over particulars. Just enjoy the show as your Eldest Brother rises to prominence!”
Erniu stuck his chin up, rolled his shoulders, then waved his voluminous sleeve. He looked truly arrogant. That was especially true considering he had only one hand and one leg. Plus, his hair was disheveled, and he was covered in all sorts of wounds. He actually looked quite tragic.
Xu Qing, meanwhile, sighed inwardly. He knew full well that his Eldest Brother’s competitive heart had been riled up.
Jumping off the god vine, he landed next to Erniu and cooperatively said, “What destined opportunity are you talking about?”
“Well,” Erniu said, his eyes sparkling, “what else but the most amazing good fortune that Grand Emperor Netherflame ever acquired!”
Erniu licked his lips, then looked around at the planet full of maggots and corpses. Lowering his voice, he continued, “You just got here, little Ah Qing, so you have no idea what I went through here. I already explored this entire place, and fully analyzed the karma. Don't pay attention to how bad things look. The reality is that, based on my detailed analysis, the worse a place looks—like this one—the greater the destined opportunities that are hidden here.
“After all, this memory world obviously contains something that left a profound impression on Grand Emperor Netherflame.... What's more, my analysis also confirmed that the version of Grand Emperor Netherflame that I have assumed sustained grievous wounds that pushed him close to death. And that begs the question: how did he recover? Also, how did he escape this place?
“Ordinarily speaking, he should have died, beyond the shadow of any doubt. Yet he didn’t. He escaped! And that proves that there is some sort of incredible destined opportunity here. An amazing good fortune. And Grand Emperor Netherflame acquired it!
“Whatever good fortune that was, the fact that I’m standing in for Netherflame here means that only I can get it!”
Erniu was actually correct. And after hearing his explanation, Xu Qing, who understood a good deal about karma, looked around with glittering eyes. When Erniu realized that Xu Qing actually agreed with him, Erniu felt even more confident. He cleared his throat.
“I might seem like I'm in bad shape, and truth be told, those maggots gave me a run for the money. But the reality is that I did it all on purpose. I was simply trying to get into the same sense of despair that Grand Emperor Netherflame felt back then.”
It took Erniu a bit of jabbering, but he had eventually arrived at his main point. There was no doubt about it. Erniu had had a rough time, and his analysis made a lot of sense.
Eyebrows dancing up and down, Xu Qing said, “So, Eldest Brother, did you find the destined opportunity already?”
Erniu blinked a few times. “Almost. It should only take a few more tries. There are only two things I haven’t tried yet. One: eat the maggots. Two: die!
“Originally, it would have been hard to explore the second option. Based on my analysis, if Netherflame died to get the destined opportunity, then he had to have used some unique treasure to make sure that he was resurrected after dying. Unfortunately, I have no such treasures.... But now that you’re here, I have an option that comes very close to option two....”
Erniu looked at him. Xu Qing looked back at him and immediately understood what he meant.
“Eldest Brother, are you suggesting that the two of us use threads of the seven emotions and six sensory pleasures that come from Six Thieves Deceive Life?”
Erniu nodded. “Exactly! The two of us both have the same Six Thieves authority. The threads of the seven emotions and six sensory pleasures that they create are connected. You know, like a rope. That rope, attached to my greed, can become the lifeline that pulls me out of death! So that's what we’re going to do!”
Erniu’s eyes shone with madness as his Six Thieves authority glittered, and the threads of the seven emotions and six sensory pleasures appeared.
After seeing his Eldest Brother’s fierce determination, Xu Qing thought briefly, then tapped into his own Six Thieves authority. His own threads of seven emotions and six sensory pleasures appeared, and linked with Erniu’s. As the threads overlapped and connected, an intense sensation of greed and madness flowed out from Erniu’s threads. Along with them came a strong desire for victory.
“Are you sure?” Xu Qing asked.
“Absolutely,” Erniu replied. “Don’t worry. My desire to stay alive might not be the strongest. But I have plenty of greed. As long as I'm greedy enough, everything else will be a breeze.”
Erniu took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, then winked.
Xu Qing could sense that the threads really could tap into Erniu’s deepest emotions of greed. Most importantly, he noticed that wink. And thus, he sat down cross-legged without any sign that anything was amiss.
Erniu also sat down, then lifted his hand and slammed it down onto the top of his head. A boom rang out, and he crumpled to the ground.
However, he wasn’t dead. Gasping for breath, he weakly said, “Help me, little Ah Qing. I can’t actually kill myself....”
With a bit of an odd expression on his face, Xu Qing reached out and touched Erniu’s chest with his finger. A boom rang out from that spot, and Erniu’s life force drained away even more quickly.
Xu Qing’s gaze hardened as he realized that the connected threads were extracting his life force.
Time passed slowly but surely.
Erniu, who was standing in for Netherflame, had almost no life force left. Xu Qing’s authority glittered as he finally yanked Erniu back from the brink. Erniu shivered, and his greed surged. Life force was thus stimulated, and he breathed in raggedly. Then his eyes snapped open. At first, they seemed blank, but as he recovered, they filled with excitement.
“I sensed the power of death.... I was right! The destined opportunity here can only be acquired by dying! Okay, let’s do it again, little Ah Qing. This time, wait a bit longer before saving me.”
Erniu looked at Xu Qing with great anticipation.
Knowing he had no choice in the matter, Xu Qing launched another blow.
Erniu toppled.
This time, as his life force faded away, Xu Qing held back from saving him. Eventually, when the threads of the seven emotions and six sensory pleasures grew dim, as did the greed, Xu Qing knew he couldn't wait any longer. His authority surged, and he began to yank Erniu back again. His carving knife of fate shone brightly.
Erniu’s greed surged, and it seemed that he wished to awaken. But then, an aura of death swept out from the planet, through Erniu’s body, and into the threads. A gray mist appeared that seemed about to completely overwhelm Erniu.
Xu Qing’s eyes glittered. He could tell that whatever his Eldest Brother was after, it had just appeared. Given how well he knew Erniu, that wink had made everything clear.
Without a moment of hesitation, he used his carving knife to slash viciously at the gray mist.
At the same time, the fading greed suddenly seemed to shed its disguise and become incredibly strong. Greed towered to heaven, seemingly turning into a heavenly dog that howled noiselessly and then started gobbling up the mist.
All of a sudden, wild colors flashed in heaven and earth. Intense rumbling sounds rose into the dome of heaven. All of the corpses on the barren planet opened their eyes. Countless maggots screamed, trembled, then exploded one after another.
Xu Qing observed as the gray mist inside Erniu rapidly returned to the planet. However, there was a bit of it that was snagged and eaten by Erniu’s greed.
What was more, Xu Qing could also see that the carving knife of fate he had already retracted also had some gray mist on it, which it had absorbed in the moment of impact. Xu Qing’s eyes gleamed.
An aura of death erupted within Erniu, causing him to rise up into the air. As he hovered in midair, all of the corpses on the planet kowtowed to him. The living maggots shrank back and pulsed with a will of allegiance.
Erniu slowly opened his eyes. They were gray. A moment later, the gray color vanished, replaced by pure greed. Erniu laughed maniacally.
“I’ve conquered this planet!”
Xu Qing felt a bit relieved, and was about to open his mouth and speak when something dramatic happened.
Rain began to pour down. It was much heavier than before, forming streams and then thick sheets. Within the sheets of water, a world was visible. It was a dark world filled with countless grave mounds....
It was raining outside and inside.
At that moment, the rain became a medium that could fuse everything, including the laughing Erniu and the grim-faced Xu Qing. Everything was being devoured.
1. The black-robed figure appeared in chapter 1037. ☜