"Thief, how dare you tread upon the River Eye Plain and touch the source of the Tongtian River? Kneel down and accept your death!" the younger male disciple shouted.
The female disciple had the same expression, with her Immortal Sword ready to fall and decapitate him.
The Third Level Immortal person remained nonchalant; he didn't take Li Changzhou seriously. The opponent's treasured Magical Fish Basket, which was treated with such respect, was annihilated with a single stroke of his sword. How else was he supposed to regard the opponent highly?
Concentrating his Perception, Li Changzhou found that inside him was nothing but emptiness—characteristics of the Black Fog Magical Power, that was it... His physical body seemed somewhat interesting, at best.
Despite this, he still stopped his disciple who wanted to make a move directly and stepped forward, looking down upon Li Changzhou.
"I am a disciple from the Eastern Supreme Qinghua Great Emperor Taiyi Salvation Heavenly Venerate's following; who are you to dare steal from the Heavenly Venerate?" the Third Level Immortal spoke with a tone that was calm yet piercing.
Li Changzhou, who was ready to sneeze and kill them, held back upon hearing the other's introduction.
After the Great King of Numinous Power and The Bodhisattva Guanyin, it was now the senior's turn to come forward, having been proven.
"Greetings to the three Daoist friends," he bowed his head and said, "I am from the Penglai Sect, passing through the Tongtian River. Since it's my first time leaving Penglai and I haven't seen the world, I went upstream and arrived at the River Eye Plain. Realizing it was under the jurisdiction of Taiyi Salvation Heavenly Venerate, I promptly left. If I have offended in any way, please forgive me."
The female disciple took a glance at Li Changzhou and found him very handsome, with a graceful demeanor and a charming air between his brows and eyes.
Upon hearing Li Changzhou was a subordinate of the Three Immortal Islands' Penglai Sect, the male disciple's temper somewhat subsided; after all, everyone was from the proper lineage of immortals.
The Third Level Immortal also withdrew his killing intent.
While the Immortals of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity were not Heavenly Immortals, the three of them were not true disciples of the Supreme Qinghua Great Emperor either.
So-called 'disciples under the Eastern Supreme Qinghua Great Emperor Taiyi Salvation Heavenly Venerate' were actually followers of an inner sect disciple of the Qinghua Great Emperor who had established a line of teaching in the Mortal World. These people, they had never even seen the face of the Heavenly Venerate.
— 'Emotion Control'
"Since it's a misunderstanding, let's leave it at that. Daoist friend, do not approach the River Eye Plain again, or else don't blame us for disregarding fellowship," the Third Level Immortal said.
"Many thanks, Daoist brother," Li Changzhou replied promptly.
"Disciples, let's go," the Third Level Immortal mounted the sword light, shooting upstream.
The female disciple cast a lingering look at Li Changzhou before leaving with another disciple.
[You handled that well; acting on impulse would only have gotten you into endless trouble.]
There's more than one way to resolve an issue.
Li Changzhou didn't take this minor event to heart; the three of them were like children in his eyes, amusing to tease.
If they did not "appreciate" and allow themselves to be controlled by 'Emotion Control', then they could only stay behind—to either die or join him in facing Sun Wukong.
[What's happening with 'Guanyin'?] he looked up to the sky.
[Based on my guess, there should be no trouble now.] Guanyin knows herself very well, and this is also part of her accumulation of Merit towards attaining a Heavenly Position.
Most people can't control their thoughts, recalling ghost stories at night or a song heard before during an exam. Bodhisattvas can control them.
Most people also don't understand themselves, unable to determine how they will act in a certain situation, unsure of their abilities, uncertain if they can control their temper. Bodhisattvas understand and can control.
These are acts of Merit.
◇
Heavenly Palace.
Guanyin was taken aback, then smiled gracefully and said to the Queen Mother: "My basket, it seems, was destroyed by a disciple of the Taiyi Salvation Heavenly Venerate."
The Queen Mother also smiled and said: "Those who would steal chickens and dogs deserve death; Bodhisattva, do not mind."
Although the Supreme Qinghua Great Emperor is a Heavenly Immortal, in terms of status, he is quite similar to The Bodhisattva Guanyin, because The Buddha is very strong, extraordinarily strong, ordinary Heavenly Immortals can't even lift a finger of The Buddha.
The Heavenly Position that Guanyin aspires to is also different from that of the Qinghua Great Emperor, which is why she has yet to become a Heavenly Immortal.
"I have lost this challenge," Guanyin said with a smile.
The Queen Mother gave a slight smile and said nothing more; Guanyin's abilities didn't need proof, and the appeal of the Flat Peaches to her was average—she had attended the Flat Peach Festival countless times.
She turned to the assembly of fairies and said: "Continue, please."
After wracking their brains for a day, the Queen Mother announced the end of the first challenge, with three thousand six hundred fairies passing through.
"Please announce the second challenge, Your Majesty," the Weaving Maiden said with a smile.
"This second trial," the Queen Mother said with a smile, "requires you to enter the Mountain and River Map, where each person must face one realm. If you can come out, you will have passed."
Her magnificent sleeves, embroidered with sun, moon, and rivers, swished, unfurling the scroll-like Mountain and River Map above the Turquoise Pool.
On the Mountain and River Map, there was a simple landscape painting.
Li Qianxia gave it a careful look, only to realize that the ink strokes of these mountains and rivers were individual stars.
The Flowers Fairy, leading a few Flower Fairies such as Peony and Mu Dan, was the first to enter the map. When nearly all 3,600 female immortals had gone in, it was then that Yang Qinglan and the others made their move.
Once inside the Mountain and River Map, Yang Qinglan found her mana completely gone, replaced by an inexplicable strength.
It was very similar to how the "Ability" in the Value game instance was transformed into another kind of strength.
She raised her hand and lightly flicked it as though she were scrubbing a video's progress bar, and the shattered cup at her feet restored itself automatically.
It was a magical power.
Broken mirrors are hard to mend; in the Magical Power System, this simple act defies the natural rules completely.
"What happened?" a robust woman clad in armor approached.
"Nothing's wrong," replied Yang Qinglan after giving her a glance.
The robust woman stared at her for a moment, then turned to leave and spoke to something similar to a communicator, "The witch's magic power might be out of control. Send me a Demon Extermination Sword; I'm going there to get it now."
Witch? Magic power?
At that moment, Yang Qinglan naturally understood her task: to fathom the magic system without revealing her identity, and to develop a new spell within this magic system.
Was the test about their ability to survive and adapt in a new environment?
It was all in preparation for the distant journey beyond the heavens.
Yang Qinglan closed her eyes.
She had grown accustomed to exploring different power systems, due to the influence of the Value game and her own cultivation path.
She was in harmony with nature, and to nature, there is no distinction between mana, magic power, divine will, and so on.
Previously, she had used the Magical Power System as a means to study nature; lately, she had already attained a hint of enlightenment and was no longer confined to mana.
In different power systems, nature is perceived differently. If one persists in adhering to mana, it might lead away from the true essence of nature—similar to how the world humans see is not the true face of nature.
Take colors, for instance.
White is the dirtiest color, yet the human brain considers white light to be a color of high illumination and low saturation, symbolizing purity.
The so-called colors are actually the brain's way of translating and interpreting information—not an absolute, objective representation of reality.
This applies to just colors; let alone the true forms of the universe, everything within it, and the differences from what humans see, hear, smell, and feel. And there's even more that humans cannot perceive.
Yang Qinglan possessed great talent in this area, but even with such talent, it would have been impossible for her to reach this stage in less than a year.
However, she had the best teacher, the best laboratory, and the best study room.
Her teacher was the Value game, her laboratory was the S-level "Little Jade Cauldron," and her study room was the [Gu She Divine Woman] posture—low-level omniscience, with the ability to process information enhanced by tenfold.
As she delved deeper into this "realm," the magic system was not much of a challenge. However, the experience and mentality of understanding new powers and developing them enlightened her, and subsequently, a speck of light appeared on her brow.
The universe obeys the law of conservation of energy, maintaining a constant total mass, but this speck of light came from nothingness, truly adding to the universe's total mass.
Constant Sand.
The process was natural.
Yang Qinglan became the first among the four to ascend to an Earth Immortal of mana.
Outside the Mountain and River Map, the Queen Mother nodded. Gu She, who had been unfavorably regarded by her before—an individualist, though beautiful and talented, wouldn't be favored by a ruler in a place like the Heavenly Palace, with its hierarchical order.
But times had changed.
With the Heavenly Palace about to take its leave, talented individuals were more important than those who were good at socializing and flattering.
"Your Majesty," The Bodhisattva Guanyin spoke up, "I find the Gu She Fairy to be quite spirited. She has no elders or connections in the Heavenly Palace. Why not let me take her to the South Sea for guidance?"
Without waiting for the Queen Mother to speak, she transmitted her voice, "When the day comes for the Heavenly Palace to depart, I will send her back to the Turquoise Pool."