The Great Way to Truth, Starting from Jiazi Laodao

Chapter 117: The Deepest and Shallowest Streams, Refining Treasures with Earthly Fire

Xuan Ming followed the beautiful figure closely, burrowing underground for thousands of miles. He had a strong intuition that there was a high probability that he would gain something if he followed her. Otherwise, why would he go through such a thankless task by following this special existence that was neither alive nor dead?

A chill hit her face, and Xuan Ming couldn't help shivering. A heat followed closely behind. After burrowing hundreds of miles underground, she came to a special underground cave, where the temperature alternated between hot and cold.

Looking up, fire and ice formed a special blue and red Tai Chi diagram on the ground. One yin-yang fish was blazing with fire, but in the center of the flame there was a ten-foot-long night-blooming cereus; the other yin-yang fish was freezing cold with snow and ice, but in the center of the ice there was a piece of red stone.

Ice and fire meet, movement and stillness blend, cold and warmth interweave, and a mysterious artistic conception permeates. Each yin and yang fish is connected to a vein of the earth, one is the source of the hot river at Chiyao Mountain, and the other is the root of the glacier in Tianhe County, connecting to Hanying Mountain adjacent to Chiyao Mountain.

Witnessing this scene, Xuanming had some understanding, but he did not comprehend it immediately. Instead, he looked at the Fire Rat King standing in front of the red stone.

She stared at the red stone intently, her clear eyes filled with memories and obsession. After hesitating for a moment, she slowly reached out her hand and carefully touched the red stone, feeling the subtle soul fluctuations contained in it. A charming smile sincerely appeared on the Fire Rat King's beautiful face.

After a long while, she turned to look at Xuanming and said, "Daoyou, would you like to hear our story?"

Looking at the Fire Rat King and the Red Stone, Xuanming nodded: "Daoyou are willing to talk, I am all ears."

The Fire Rat King, or the Dream Lady, nodded, caressing the red stone lovingly, and said slowly: "Everyone knows that thousands of years ago, the water of the great river came from the sky, transforming the barren land that had been drought-stricken for many years into a fertile land with lush grass and rivers. Many people moved here, and Tianhe County was established. But few people know why Tianhe fell into the mortal world..."

As Meng Po told the story, Xuanming gradually understood the whole story.

---

Two thousand years ago, a dream palm grew by the side of the Milky Way. Nourished by the river water day and night, it gradually gained intelligence and embarked on the path of spiritual practice.

Later, a stone by the river bathed in the first purple rays of the morning sun every day, and it also became intelligent and began to practice.

They were together day and night and were childhood sweethearts. Plants, trees, bamboos and stones have no internal organs, so practicing is difficult. Even if the conditions for practice are excellent, after five hundred years, they each transformed and entered the Qi training stage.

Meng Tan and Chao Shi naturally became Taoist companions, composing a story of wood and stone marriage. They built a hut and lived beside the Milky Way. They watched the sunrise and the moon together, often discussed Taoism, traveled in the Milky Way, admired the celestial realm, and advanced and retreated together.

However, things in the world are unpredictable and people's hearts are hard to predict. The promise of winning one's heart and staying together until old age is still fresh in one's mind, but Chao Shi is two-faced. When his Taoist partner's yin and yang were combined, he took advantage of her off guard and killed her. Not only did he give her a meteorite medicine, which greatly reduced her strength, he also tried to take her energy and use wood to create fire, so that she could evolve into a yang stone and further improve her footing, thereby breaking through the bottleneck and advancing to the stage of spiritual practice.

But he underestimated his fellow Taoist's strength. Wood has no roots, stems, branches or leaves, so it is easier for it to practice and attain enlightenment than stone. In addition, it gained wisdom earlier, so Meng Tan's strength was far superior to Chao Shi. He could not have imagined that after thousands of years of practice, Meng Tan's roots had already been connected to a branch of the Milky Way.

Chao Shi overdosed his job and ended up seeking his own death. He only managed to gather a little energy before stopping abruptly. A great battle broke out between wood and stone. After three days and three nights, Chao Shi fell, and Meng Tan's roots were also damaged. The Tianhe branch was also shaken as a result, and it fell into the mortal world along with Meng Tan.

Before his death, Meng Tan set up a large formation between Chiyao Mountain and Hanying Mountain, and used Meng Tan's body to nourish Chao Shi's body. After doing this, Meng Tan fell, and his body and soul were separated after his death.

Two hundred years after Tianhe County was formed, two creatures were born in Chiyao Mountain: one's corpse merged with the flames to become the Fire Rat King; the other's soul merged with Rehe to become the Dream Lady.

The two demons have been fighting each other since the day they were born. Because they come from the same source, they both want to devour each other and perfect themselves. This is the instinct of life. In other words, the two demons are destined to fight to the death.

---

“My fellow Daoist knows the subsequent story. With your help, the Dream Queen devoured the Fire Rat King and truly possessed a physical body. The moment her spirit and body merged, her past memories burst out like a flood that could not be stopped.

Thinking back to the past, I realized that unless the Fire Rat King and the Dream Lady died together, they would never truly perish. They were born to carry the love, hatred, and sorrow of the Goddess Meng Tan. They were transformed by obsession, shouldering a mission, and living to accomplish one thing. "

Talking about the latter part, Meng Po smiled sadly. She lowered her eyes to look at the red stone within her reach. Her palm glowed, and she forcibly seized the fragments of the remaining soul inside it, muttering to herself: "The deepest and shallowest clear stream, the closest and most distant couple, you wanted to be promoted to Yang Stone, I did it for you, but unfortunately, you will never have a chance, and I will not give you a chance either."

After saying this, Mrs. Meng clasped her five fingers together and decisively pinched out the remaining soul in her palm. Looking at the soul fragments that were scattered in the wind like fireflies, she seemed to have unloaded a heavy burden. Her expression became less heavy and more relaxed.

"Swordsmen in the martial arts world always say that if they don't have women in their hearts, they will naturally become gods when they draw their swords. For female cultivators, the same is true for men. If you don't have men in your heart, the great way will come naturally."

Stepping into the fire pool and touching the blooming Epiphyllum, the Dream Lady said slowly, "In this life, the Fire Rat King and I have never truly lived. After all the fighting, we finally realized that we are nothing but a joke, neither alive nor dead, but both alive and dead. It seems mysterious, but in the final analysis, it is just the goddess's obsession. Now that the dust has settled, we should also truly live for ourselves."

With her slender fingers she gently stroked the Epiphyllum, and looking at the withered petals, Mrs. Meng's brows lit up, and a ray of light fell into her palm, which was then sent to Xuanming's hand.

"This is the experience and enlightenment of the cultivation of the Goddess, myself and the Fire Rat King. I hope it can help you. Thank you for your hard work and help me in my next life. As for this Dream Epiphyllum and Yang Stone, you can do whatever you want with them."

After putting away the ball of light, Xuanming thanked him and asked, "May I ask fellow Taoist, where exactly is the Cangqiong Tianyu?"

Grandma Meng's eyes were deep and her thoughts were far away, as if she was recalling the past. After a long while, she said calmly: "The Heaven Realm is nothing special. It is just a ruined world. Although there are living beings and abundant spiritual energy, it is not as wonderful and colorful as the universe."

She didn't say much about the Heaven Realm. She turned around and continued to stare at the Dream Epiphyllum. The Dream Granny said, "In this life, I have committed many evil deeds and killed countless lives in my dreams. Although the Heavenly River nurtures all things and eliminates my sins, wrong is wrong. I am willing to give up all my cultivation in this life to benefit the people. I only hope that I can truly live for myself in the next life."

With every word she spoke, Meng Po's body dissipated a little. When she finished speaking, her figure disappeared completely and turned into a sweet rain covering tens of thousands of miles, nourishing every part of Tianhe County.

Xuanming did not stop Meng Po. All living beings have their own destiny and paths to follow. Staring at the disappearing Meng Po, he bowed and said, "Daoyou, rest in peace."

After the ceremony, Xuanming sighed.

No wonder Meng Po killed innocent people indiscriminately but had no karma. It turned out that she had received help from the Tianhe River. This time, she had used up all her cultivation in her past and present lives to redeem her sins. In the next life, when she embarks on the path of cultivation again, she will surely be like a fish in water and achieve twice the result with half the effort. As long as the Baichuan of Tianhe County exists, she will have endless merits and will definitely be a favored daughter of heaven.

With this kind of fate, it is very likely that Mengpo's reincarnation will worship or take refuge in the Qiuzhen Temple in the future.

Retracting his thoughts, Xuanming raised his hand, took out the peach wood sword, cut half of the Yang Stone, and waved his sleeves to roll up dozens of petals of the withered Dream Epiphyllum after the death of Meng Po. Fishing in a dried-up pond and hunting in a burned forest are just inferior and not good ways. Xuanming will not ignore the sentient beings of Tianhe County just to satisfy his selfish desires.

Although taking away the Yang Stone and the Mengtan would only cause the glaciers and the Jehol wonders to disappear, and all rivers would become similar in shape and still nourish all things, it would also destroy the existing structure and wonders of Tianhe County, causing unnecessary trouble and even panic.

Half a Yang Stone and half a Dream Palm were enough, so Xuan Ming did not take any more. Before leaving, he set up formations and restrictions. If any later comers spent within their means and did not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, there would be no problem. If they were greedy and wanted to take both items away, they would be killed.

---

After walking out of the cave, Xuanming returned the same way.

Returning to the lava cave, he first took out the Yin-Yang Stone and injected the petals of the Epiphyllum morifolium into it. The Epiphyllum morifolium used to grow by the Milky Way and was later planted in the underground fire pool. It combines yin and yang and is an excellent tonic for spiritual creatures.

When the Yin-Yang Stone absorbs the power of half of the Dream Cloud, it will most likely break out of its cocoon and become a butterfly, advancing from the Profound Stage to the Earth Stage. At that time, using the Yin-Yang power of the Moon Stone and the Yang Stone in this stone, he can refine a magic weapon that has both potential and power. This is also the treasure that carries his own great way.

After putting away the Yin-Yang Stone, Xuanming sat cross-legged in the air, regulating his breathing and concentrating his mind. When his energy and spirit reached the peak, he raised his hand to draw the earth fire and adjusted the temperature. When the heat of the martial fire was just right, Xuanming took out a piece of black iron from his Ruyi bag.

(End of this chapter)