This is not how immortals cultivate

Chapter 439 Sword Master Su Ran: I'm so excited!

With delicate features and a fair complexion, he is not exactly identical to King Mu of Zhou in the picture book, but he is definitely a one-to-one replica.

Ji Ao stared intently at the figure ahead, his pupils contracting slightly, his breathing involuntarily quickening. He had no doubt that this was the face that had once entered Western Kunlun and shared wine with the Queen Mother of the West.

"Enjoying wine and conversation" is a euphemism. King Mu of Zhou spent the night on the summit of Kunlun Mountain, where he and the Queen Mother of the West were intimate for several days.

This romantic affair was passed down through generations within the Ji royal family, not only because of its allure, which aroused envy and a desire to replace the emperor, but also because it involved a shocking secret.

The Queen Mother of the West possesses the elixir of immortality!
Legend has it that those who take this medicine will live forever, ascend to heaven, and join the ranks of immortals, thus escaping the suffering of reincarnation and truly living as long as heaven and earth.

The problem is, King Mu of Zhou is dead!

Imagine, even King Mu of Zhou, who had intimate relations with the Queen Mother of the West, could not escape death. Who else in this world would be qualified to obtain the elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West?

Therefore, the rumor that the Queen Mother of the West possesses an elixir of immortality is likely false.

The allure of immortality was too strong, and the emperors of the Ji clan, knowing that the hope was slim, still went on to search for the Western Kunlun Mountains.

My ancestors were incapable, but that doesn't mean I am! King Mu of Zhou couldn't obtain the elixir of immortality, but that doesn't mean I can't!

I want the elixir of immortality, and I want the Queen Mother of the West too!

Harboring the ambition of those who shared the same path as their ancestor, successive Zhou emperors were full of energy and never gave up searching for West Kunlun. Naturally, no one ever found West Kunlun.

Ji Ao stared blankly at the pretty boy in front of him, then realized the key point: everyone had been deceived.

The ancestor King Mu of Zhou did not die. He shed his skin like a cicada, leaving behind a false body. Not only is he alive and well, but his appearance is also unchanged, exactly as described in the picture book.

Time has left no trace on it.

Ji Ao's fingertips trembled slightly. The rumors were true; the Queen Mother of the West did indeed possess the elixir of immortality!
In an instant, Ji Ao's desire for the Queen Mother of the West faded, replaced by an even more urgent impulse.

They stepped forward to acknowledge their relatives, knelt down, and called out "ancestor!"

King Mu of Zhou being here indicates that West Kunlun is also here. As long as he obtains the approval of his ancestors, he can enter that legendary fairyland.

But then, a more complex question arose in my mind.

Once he enters the Western Kunlun Mountains, how should he conduct himself?

Is it to act subservient all day long, hoping that one day the Queen Mother of the West will be in a good mood and reward him with an elixir of immortality, or... to follow the original plan, offer the location of West Kunlun to the Heavenly Court in exchange for the opportunity to be listed among the immortals and live forever?

Ji Ao knew very well that Bai Laogui and the other three were merely pawns of the extraterrestrial demons, who had come for the so-called relic.

He has this thing; it's hidden in the palace, and he has two of them.

Heavily guarded and equipped with numerous traps and mazes, it was as solid as a rock and could not be lost.

The Ji family never figured out the truth about these two relics, only knowing that King Mu of Zhou brought them out from West Kunlun, so they must be extraordinary.

Ji Ao didn't know exactly what the relic was or which powerful deity it was transformed from, but he knew that the extraterrestrial demons were also seeking it, so it must be an extraordinary treasure. If he could enter the Heavenly Court with this item, how could he not be promoted and given a higher rank?

Yes, although there is no passage to ascend to the upper realm in the Lower Abyss Realm, there are still pawns planted by the Heavenly Court and the Demon Realm. Ji Ao outwardly submits to the extraterrestrial demons, but he knows that the demons are unreliable. In secret, he has already established a relationship with the Heavenly Court.

The Heavenly Court gave Ji Ao a chance to improve himself.

If your ancestors could find West Kunlun, you certainly can too. As long as you offer up the location of Yaochi, immortality is not a dream.

The Heavenly Court needs the Jade Pool!
To find the Jade Pool, one must first go to West Kunlun; this is the purpose of Ji Ao's entry into Youshan.

How long can worldly riches last? What good is reaching the highest level of cultivation if one is still just a mortal? Only by becoming an immortal can one achieve immortality.

Ji Ao's journey was partly driven by luck. The Zhou emperors had been searching for him for years without any success, and he dared not guarantee that he could find West Kunlun. Little did he expect that such immense wealth would fall into his lap.

It's impossible to expect to get an elixir of immortality from the Queen Mother of the West through the ancestor's connections. If the Queen Mother of the West were so easy to talk to, all the Zhou emperors before her would have been immortal long ago.

Ji Ao speculated that his ancestor, King Mu of Zhou, did not hold a high position in West Kunlun. He may have married the Queen Mother of the West, but she was the one who made the decisions at home, and he was a gigolo who lived off his wife.

Therefore, if he wanted to live forever, he couldn't rely on the elixir of immortality. He had to offer it to the Jade Pool and be listed among the immortals to have any chance of living forever.

You have to rely on yourself to be a good person; you can't rely on your ancestors either!
With this in mind, Ji Ao felt much more at ease and had already made up his mind. He would first kneel down and beg the ancestor for a chance to enter West Kunlun, and then inform the Heavenly Court about this matter, acting as a guide in exchange for immortality.

This is sure!

Ji Ao took a deep breath, straightened his dark blue robes, and walked forward with a solemn expression.

He arrived at the pond, knelt down without hesitation, and kowtowed heavily with a thud: "Grandson Ji Ao pays respects to our ancestor!"

"..." x4
Bai Laogui and the other two were completely bewildered, not understanding what had happened, and subconsciously looked at Xiang Yuan, who was immersed in the Five Elements Metal.

Grandson... Ancestor...

You were also the Zhou emperor? x3
Xiang Yuan was even more bewildered than Bai Laogui and the other two. He looked at Ji Ao with a blank expression, not understanding where this guy came from and how he could kneel so smoothly.

Heaven help him, although he is diligent in planting and has a particular fondness for cream puffs, he has yet to reap a single harvest due to the overly potent medicinal properties.

Simply put, the seeds are poisonous and will not germinate.

Even experienced traditional Chinese medicine practitioners were helpless in the face of such an unspeakable problem.

Without even a child, how can there be a grandson?
Don't talk nonsense, kid. If this gets back to the Qianyuan Realm, with the Heavenly Sect's great formation, even the Overlord's Mansion will be torn down by those two women like building blocks.

Xiang Yuan couldn't help but roll his eyes and said irritably, "What a coincidence, your grandfather's surname is also Li?"

In the Qianyuan Realm, if a passerby suddenly appeared and called him "Grandpa," Xiang Yuan, unaware of the reason, might even chat with him about everyday things. But here in the Xiayuan Realm, anyone claiming kinship is considered a fraudster.

“Ancestor, you have lived in the Western Kunlun Mountains for a long time and may not recognize your grandson. I am the successor to the great throne and will be the current Zhou emperor.”

Ji Ao slowly raised his head and saw Xiang Yuan looking bewildered. Suddenly realizing what was happening, he took out a picture album, unfolded it, and pointed to the portrait of King Mu of Zhou, saying, "Ancestor, look! Who else could this be but you?"

Time, like a butcher's knife, can erase too many things. Ji Ao believed that his 'ancestor' had lived for too long and forgotten his former identity. He took out the picture album to prove that he was not trying to scam anyone.

"King Mu of Zhou..."

Xiang Yuan looked at the pretty boy in the picture book and thought to himself, "He's handsome, no wonder he can live off the Queen Mother of the West."

It's like the patriarch is chasing after someone to give them food—no, it's like they're chasing after the patriarch and trying to steal the food from his mouth!

Le.JPG
The smugness didn't last long before it was replaced by a chilling sense of dread.

Is it possible for any Tom, Dick, or Harry to eat the Queen Mother of the West's soft rice?

Who does he think he is, to be so different from King Mu of Zhou!
This is a deadly situation!

Alarm bells rang in Xiang Yuan's mind. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. He was confused and had all sorts of ideas. He suspected that he had been tricked yet again.

When he first entered the Tongyou stage, he tried to enter a dream to find himself in the three thousand worlds, but he didn't dream of any of them. He asked a simpleton and learned that there were not many people like him, but there were not a lot either, so there was nothing strange about it.

Since then, I have been convinced that 'Xiangyuan' is unique, the only one of its kind in the world, with no other branches.

When asked, Xiao Lingyue and Chan'er said they had never dreamed of themselves either.

However, the fact that there is no second Xiang Yuan in the three thousand worlds does not mean that Xiang Yuan did not have a past life.

Xiang Yuan took the picture book, looked at the handsome young man who looked exactly like himself, and wondered if King Mu of Zhou was his past life...

Unable to figure it out, I panicked even more.

To reiterate, does anyone think they can just live off the Queen Mother of the West? This is definitely a scheme; someone forcibly inserted the storyline involving the pretty boy and the Queen Mother of the West.

who is it?

White House Master, come quickly! Something big has happened. Please help with a divination.

When he needed the rich woman the most, but she wasn't around, Xiang Yuan's first reaction was to use the Pure White Golden Wheel to summon Bai Wuyan, even if it meant making the rich woman vomit blood on the spot.

His hand had just touched the golden wheel when he stopped.

Although the world is vast, there are only a handful of people who can scheme against her... no, those who can tarnish the reputation of the Queen Mother of the West.

Bai Wuyan couldn't figure out who these people were even if she spat out all her blood; she needed to find someone even more powerful.

Xiang Yuan quickly sorted out the candidates. It seemed that only Frieza, whose upper limit was unknown, was qualified to do some divination and see who was throwing a pretty boy at the Queen Mother of the West. Bah, throwing mud at her.

"Ancestor?!"

Seeing Xiang Yuan staring blankly at the picture book, not responding for a long time, Ji Ao sighed at the horror of time, that their ancestors had forgotten the past but were still in their memories.

Snapped!
Xiang Yuan closed the picture book and put it into the jade space. He insisted, "You've mistaken me for someone else. I am not your ancestor and have absolutely no relation to King Mu of Zhou. If you dare to make any more accusations, I will kill you to silence you and make sure you die without a burial place."

Please, please, this King Mu of Zhou is unacceptable, let me go! "Ancestor, it is or it isn't. As the current emperor, how could I make such a fuss?"

Ji Ao also insisted, and was not flustered when Xiang Yuan took the album away. There was still a unique copy in the palace, and if this copy was gone, it was gone too.

Xiang Yuan's pale face darkened, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked. King Mu of Zhou had ruined the reputation of the Queen Mother of the West, and his death was no loss. There was absolutely no way he would have spilled his blood on Xiang Yuan.

If Ji Ao dares to continue spouting nonsense, he will have no choice but to sacrifice his fellow Daoist to save his own life today.

boom! !

Suddenly, demonic energy surged from the direction where Bai Laogui and the other two were located, and pitch-black mist shot into the sky like a volcanic eruption.

The moment they heard the name 'King Mu of Zhou', the demonic energy within them, or rather, the black speck of light called 'Demon Seed'—a gift from the extraterrestrial demons—was stimulated and instantly went berserk.

"Ughh ...

The three men's faces were contorted, thick black blood seeped from their seven orifices, their eyeballs were completely swallowed by black light, and hideous demonic patterns appeared under their skin. A terrifying will that did not belong to the human world descended and completely took over their bodies.

Extraterrestrial demon!

The extraterrestrial demons didn't know who King Mu of Zhou was, but the three old ghosts knew that he had entered the Western Kunlun Mountains, gained the favor of the Queen Mother of the West, and was a handsome young man who was in a class of his own throughout the three thousand worlds.

The trigger keyword caused the demonic seed to multiply and the program for the descent of the Heavenly Demon to begin.

"Hehehe—"

The three bodies, transformed by demonic energy, simultaneously turned and faced away, their mouths torn to their ears, revealing inhuman, savage grins. Bai Laogui's hands transformed into sharp claws, Qin Lie's flesh withered into bare white bones, and Wang Liu swelled into a ball, with black veins clinging to his skin, and something seemed to be writhing beneath his skin.

Black energy also emanated from Ji Ao's brow, but because of the Heavenly Court, the demonic seed withered and died as soon as it showed signs of taking root and sprouting, thus preventing itself from becoming a vessel for the arrival of extraterrestrial demons.

Xiang Yuan narrowed his eyes and pointed his fingers like a sword at the three demons.

His strength at the Integration Stage is only average; he can easily handle it by lying in the metal element of the Five Elements.

Zheng!
Just then, a clear sword rang out, and a ray of sword light was born from the void.

The sword light was as pure as fresh snow and as dazzling as stars. It was born out of nothingness and vanished in an instant, drawing a perfect arc in Xiang Yuan's eyes.

Wherever it passed, the overwhelming demonic energy melted away instantly, like snow melting under the blazing sun.

Three heads flew high into the air.

The three demons, Bai Laogui and Sanmo, ferociously contorted their expressions, and the headless demonic bodies crashed to the ground, their dissipating demonic energy receding like a receding tide.

Throughout the entire process, the sword light was not stained with a trace of blood, as if it were just a casual brushing away of dust.

A figure dressed in pure white stepped out from the void.

She was a woman around twenty years old, with jet-black hair that moved gently behind her without any wind. Wherever she passed, the raging golden energy retreated, not daring to approach her in the slightest.

The pristine white dress accentuated her tall and slender figure.

Her skin was as smooth and lustrous as jade, radiating a moonlit glow that seemed out of place in this turbid world. Her jade-like face was exquisitely elegant, ethereal and otherworldly, unlike anything found in the mortal realm.

What is most striking are her sword-like eyebrows, which slant upwards towards her temples, sharp yet cold and beautiful, exuding an awe-inspiring majesty that makes people dare not look directly at her, let alone feel any sense of disrespect.

"The Queen Mother of the West..."

Ji Ao unconsciously swallowed, his knees going weak.

Without a doubt, this ethereal and otherworldly goddess-like figure must be the legendary Queen Mother of the West.

Xiang Yuan: (д)
"The Gate... the Solemn Sword Master?!"

Xiang Yuan's pupils contracted slightly, and he subconsciously crossed his arms to cover his innocent body. He stared in horror at the approaching Sword Master Su Ran, with only one question in his mind.

Why is the Sword Master of the Door Crack in the Lower Abyss Realm?

Xiang Yuan knew that the Door Crack Sword Master had a demon-absorbing physique, so he was never short of extraterrestrial demons wherever he went. Moreover, he was one of the firewalls of the Qianyuan Realm, and he routinely killed extraterrestrial demons that crossed over from other realms.

But this is the Lower Abyss Realm, so why would the Gate-Crack Sword Master appear here?

"Oh, so you are King Mu of Zhou..."

Su Ran Sword Master stared at Xiang Yuan with shining eyes, seemingly lost in thought. Perhaps it was something very happy he was thinking about, his cheeks flushed with excitement, and his voice brimming with barely suppressed joy.

Xiang Yuan shuddered instinctively under that murderous gaze and stammered, "Sword Master, why are you in the Lower Abyss Realm instead of enjoying blessings at the Sword Heart Pavilion?"

"This lowly servant invited me here, so I came, but I never expected to have such an unexpected gain."

Sword Master Su Ran smiled and stepped forward, sweeping away the troublesome Ji Ao with a wave of her hand. She stood by the pool, looking down at the naked Xiang Yuan, her eyes surging and shimmering, already extremely excited.

Xiang Yuan saw schadenfreude and a strong desire to gossip in his eyes, but he didn't lust after him, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

"King Mu of Zhou, please take out the album and let me have a look."

For some unknown reason, Sword Master Su Ran squatted by the pool, grabbed Xiang Yuan's hair, and said with piercing eyes, "Don't worry, I'll just take a look and then return it to you."

I had been hiding in the shadows and hadn't noticed the true face in the painting; I just wanted to see it for myself.

If Xiang Yuan is truly identical to King Mu of Zhou in the painting...

So excited!

"Sword Master, quickly restrain yourself, you're drooling."

"Let it flow!"

At this moment, Su Ran Sword Master didn't care about any of that. He told Xiang Yuan to quickly take out the picture album. He was so impulsive that he was practically rubbing his hands together like a fly.

Her demeanor changed drastically, completely at odds with her ethereal beauty and the imposing title of Sword Master; it was as if she had become a different person.

This swordsman with the crack in the door might be suffering from heatstroke due to the change in environment!

The album was a matter of life and death for Xiang Yuan, so how could he possibly hand it over? Even when Su Ran Sword Master grabbed his hair and pulled hard, he resolutely refused to comply.

When asked, they said no; when asked again, they said two different people who didn't look alike at all.

"hey-hey……"

Sword Master Su Ran wasn't angry. She stared intently at Xiang Yuan, even more excited than when he refined a drop of blood from a god and demon right before her eyes. She grabbed Xiang Yuan's hair and tried to pull him out.

"Sword Master, you're not wearing any clothes!"

Xiang Yuanmao was in the golden pool, with only her head showing, her face full of rejection.

"What are you afraid of? I've seen this before. Don't worry, it's not like you've offended me."

Su Ran Sword Master, despite his efforts to pull and tug, was no match for the innate divine strength and finally gave up. He then excitedly said, "Boy, I've heard that King Mu of Zhou once spent the night in West Kunlun and entangled with the Queen Mother of the West for several days..."

She gestured with her hands, winking and making faces at Xiang Yuan with an impulsive expression. She was already shameless, but because she crossed the line, her persona completely collapsed.

Ji Ao stood there dumbfounded, watching the 'Queen Mother of the West' dancing wildly. After a moment of calm reflection, he realized that he had mistaken her for someone else.

The Queen Mother of the West is a figure of great stature, aloof and arrogant; how could she possibly act like this...?

Ji Ao racked his brains but couldn't find a suitable adjective. If he had to say, the goddess in front of him had no restraint whatsoever; she was just a beautiful but crazy woman.

"Sword Master, I don't know what you're talking about." Xiang Yuan sank his body further into the golden pool, leaving only his eyes above the water.

"Yes or no, there's nothing to be embarrassed about!"

Su Ran Sword Master spoke in a loud voice, and shamelessly tugged at Xiang Yuan's hair, saying with a grin, "Whether you admit it or not, the Queen Mother of the West and King Mu of Zhou had consummated their relationship. Although this matter is in the past, it can also occur in the future. The marriage is set, it is real, and no one can deny it!"

At this point, Sword Master Su Ran slowly stood up, her eyes shining as she looked into the distance: "You agree, don't you, Queen Mother of the West?"

Xiang Yuan was taken aback upon hearing this, and quickly looked over, holding his breath, wanting to see what the Queen Mother of the West looked like.

The space rippled like water, and a pure white figure emerged from it.

His face was as cold as frost, and he exuded a murderous aura!
Bai Wuyan.

Xiang Yuan: (°Д°≡°Д°)
Is the White Palace the Queen Mother of the West?
Did he really end up living off a woman?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

10,000 words, please vote with monthly tickets!

(End of this chapter)