Chapter Seventy-Two: Convincing Hou Tu, Gathering Once More at the Purple Cloud Palace

Upon hearing Chenxing’s explanation, Houtu fell silent. Over the years, she had naturally come to understand the treachery of the human heart. Although the Wu tribe’s strength left them unafraid of anyone, if in the future they were to be plotted against by those with ill intent, even the Wu tribe might meet a disastrous end.

After a long pause, Houtu suddenly asked, “Can you tell me who helped me?”

Chenxing was taken aback, then curiously probed, “Why do you ask? Do you want him to help your brothers form their primordial spirits as well?”

Houtu’s cheeks flushed. She retorted, “And why not?”

The improving look on Chenxing’s face darkened once more. He wished he could crack open this woman’s head and see what was inside. He’d already told her that the one who helped her had paid a steep price—why did she not care at all, still thinking of those useless brothers of hers?

On the side, Nüwa noticed the blush on Houtu’s face and seemed to ponder something. Tugging at Chenxing’s sleeve, she whispered a few words to him.

Hearing Nüwa’s transmission, Chenxing was momentarily stunned, then gave a wry smile, silently lamenting his own lack of emotional intelligence. The anger in his heart vanished, and he looked at Houtu with a strange expression, probing, “Don’t tell me you’ve taken a liking to the one who helped you?”

Houtu’s face turned even redder. She replied again, “And if I have?”

“Of course not! That’s your…” The chubby man beside them, trying to suppress his laughter at Houtu’s blushing face, suddenly interjected.

He realized his blunder and quickly shut his mouth, terrified he might blurt out the greatest secret of this world.

Seeing him stop mid-sentence, Houtu eyed him suspiciously. “He’s my what? Go ahead, say it!”

“N-nothing!” the chubby man stammered.

His expression only deepened Houtu’s confusion. She thought it over and realized that among those she knew, none could possibly help her condense her primordial spirit. Half believing, half doubting, she turned to Chenxing and said, “Though he paid a price to help me, my Wu tribe, though unable to cultivate primordial spirits, possesses many treasures. We will certainly repay him. If he could help my brothers as well, we would pay any price.”

Chenxing paused before replying coldly, “You couldn’t afford it.”

Houtu was stunned, then fell silent. She was not angered by Chenxing’s dismissal; she had only been testing him. If her brothers could be helped, so much the better.

Now she understood: whoever had helped her must, as Chenxing said, have paid a tremendous price, one she could never hope to repay. Chenxing was merely feeling indignant on that person’s behalf, which explained his coldness.

“I just want to know—if I can keep this hidden for now, what will I do when those people at Zixiao Palace grow in power and see through it?” Houtu asked hesitantly.

Seeing her yield, Nüwa hurried to reassure her. “Don’t worry. As long as you don’t reveal it, we have our ways to help you.” With that, she turned her palm over, and a willow branch appeared in her fair hand. Instantly, a flame exuding the air of chaos enveloped the branch, refining it.

After several hours, Nüwa had refined the willow branch into a verdant sash. Withdrawing the flame, she handed the sash to Houtu. “As long as you wear this at all times, no one will be able to see through you,” she said confidently.

Watching Nüwa use the willow branch, Chenxing couldn’t help but recall the ill-fated Yangmei. Back when Hongjun and Yangmei fought, Yangmei, relying on his mastery of the Dao of Space, swept up all of Hongjun’s treasures into his own spatial domain, forcing Hongjun to admit defeat.

But Yangmei, emboldened, challenged Nüwa next. Seeing the prey delivered to their door, Chenxing immediately agreed, with one condition: if Yangmei lost, not only must he return all the treasures to Hongjun, but he must also break off a willow branch from his own body for Nüwa.

Yangmei, seeing Nüwa’s delicate appearance, agreed at once, even gallantly declaring that Nüwa need not pay anything if she lost.

The outcome, however, was obvious. Though Nüwa cultivated the Dao of Creation, when she summoned the Chaos Pearl, Yangmei’s Dao of Space was utterly suppressed. Before this complete Chaos Supreme Treasure, any sage who cultivated a single Dao was doomed to crushing defeat.

Chenxing smiled knowingly as he recalled the aggrieved look on Yangmei’s face when Nüwa unleashed the Chaos Pearl.

Houtu hesitated as she gazed at the green sash. “Sister Nüwa, can this sash truly conceal me from a quasi-saint?” She was doubtful, for she knew that once the sermon ended, the era of saints would dawn.

Nüwa smiled gently. “Rest easy, little sister. Apart from Daoist Hongjun, even if others attain sainthood, they won’t see through the protection of this treasure.”

Houtu was astonished. “How can that be? Sages are immortal, all-knowing, able to see past and future. How could this possibly fool them?”

Now that Houtu had agreed to keep the matter secret, Chenxing had no more patience for discussion. Rolling his eyes, he said, “Nüwa is already a saint. Why is it strange that something she makes has such power?”

With that, he paid no further heed to the stunned Houtu. Nodding to Nüwa, he waved his hand, and they vanished from the Wu tribe’s lands.

In the void, the chubby man asked curiously, “Star, why did you tell Houtu about your wife becoming a saint? Weren’t you always… keeping a low profile?” His eyes twinkled with mischief.

Chenxing shot him a look. “Though I said a lot before, I could see that girl wasn’t afraid. With Pangu’s connection, I couldn’t really do anything to the Wu tribe. Besides, Nüwa’s attainment of Hunyuan can’t be hidden for long. Chubby, you know that great event is nearly upon us. When that comes, Nüwa’s cultivation will be known to all. I told her about Nüwa’s sainthood only to keep her respectful. Ah, people—without reverence in their hearts, disaster is sure to follow.”

Everyone agreed with this sentiment. Even the shameless chubby man nodded. Only Fuxi asked doubtfully, “What great event is coming that will expose Nüwa’s cultivation?”

Chenxing and the chubby man exchanged a knowing glance and replied mysteriously, “Heaven’s secrets cannot be revealed!” Nüwa, too, looked on in amusement at the pair, while Fuxi rolled his eyes in frustration and dropped the subject.

In the blink of an eye, another thousand years passed. The bells of Zixiao Palace sounded throughout the world, summoning the great powers of the land to gather once more. After a millennium of cultivation, many had now reached the quasi-saint level.

Zhenyuanzi used his companion spirit treasure, the Earth Book, to sever his good corpse, becoming the second to achieve quasi-sainthood after Laozi.

Eastern Emperor Taiyi suppressed himself with the innate treasure, the Chaos Bell, and severed a corpse as well.

The Demon Emperor Dijun entrusted his primordial spirit to the River Diagram and Luo Book, also severing a corpse to become a quasi-saint.

Many other great powers also broke through, though lacking spirit treasures to suppress themselves, their strength was somewhat less than those who possessed such treasures.

Seeing these new quasi-saints, Yuanshi was consumed with jealousy. Without a spirit treasure, he refused to become an ordinary quasi-saint. His pride would not let him fall behind his senior brother; he would only break through with a spirit treasure to suppress himself.

At that moment, Hongjun appeared atop the cloud platform, his face calm. But this time, only three arrived with Chenxing—Fuxi and his sister did not appear.

Besides Chenxing and the chubby man, the one accompanying them was a little girl of seven or eight—their sister, Chenmi.

After all these years, Hongjun knew well that among those on Fangzhang Island, you could provoke anyone—even Chenxing himself—but there were three whom not even the so-called great powers below, nor Hongjun himself, dared to offend. Otherwise, even he might face destruction.

Those three were Chenxing’s two mothers and his sister, Chenmi. As for Chenxing’s father—in Chenxing’s own words, “Don’t you know sons are always closer to their mothers?”