Chapter Ninety-One: A Child’s Devoted Servant, Xuan Du Takes a Master

After leaving the human tribe, the old man’s figure seemed bleak and lonely. He knew that someone had deliberately ruined his chance to attain sainthood, yet he could not calculate who it was.

What he did not know was that after he left, a plump figure appeared in the human tribe, muttering, “If you cannot sincerely protect the human race, how can I allow you to be bound to its destiny? A School for the Human Race? Hmph.” As the words faded, the figure vanished.

This man was none other than the chubby Zhu Feng. Of course he knew how ruthless the old man had been along history’s original path, how after becoming a saint and serving as head of the Human Teaching, he had stood by indifferently while the Witch and Demon races slaughtered humankind.

The claim that the human race must endure calamity in order to become the leading race under heaven—how could Zhu Feng, as one from the future, believe such words?

Though he had not seen it with his own eyes, he had long since learned from Chen Xing that the great tribulations of humanity in the past were a hundred times more horrific than what had appeared in the records he once knew.

As a member of the human race, he did not want such things to happen before his very eyes. Even if Chen Xing blamed him, he could not spare the thought for it now.

By now Zhu Feng was cultivating the law of karma, and in these tens of thousands of years his cultivation had shockingly reached the midstage of the Quasi-Sage realm. He no longer cared in the slightest for such cause and effect.

Those like the old man, with karmic ties to him, would never be able to calculate anything about the fat man, even after attaining sainthood.

Zhu Feng returned to Fragrant Isle and went to Chen Xing’s residence, only to find him circling around Little Demon as if he were a spinning top. Zhu Feng rolled his eyes, the corners of his mouth twitching.

He had seen doting fathers before, but never one like Chen Xing. The child had not even been born yet, and he was already orbiting around her nonstop. How did this look like a mighty expert renowned across the ten thousand realms?

Indeed, Little Demon was already carrying Chen Xing’s child, and this had sent the entire island into a frenzy of excitement. Especially Chen Xing’s two mothers, who practically held Little Demon in the palms of their hands, forbidding her from cultivating and forbidding her from running about. They said they feared any accident.

Anyone else might have collapsed under such treatment, but Little Demon was delighted by it. Every day she dreamed of what the child would look like after birth. As for cultivation and the like, in her heart nothing was more important than her child.

The only problem was that the pregnancy dragged on for over three hundred years. Not only were the two mothers stunned, even Chen Xing was completely baffled. What kind of situation was this? How could someone be pregnant for three hundred years and still not give birth?

After a flurry of chaos, they first asked Nuwa to calculate what was going on, but the result was: impossible to divine.

Under the wrathful gazes of the two mothers, Chen Xing clutched his head and ran off to the Witch race, bringing back Pangu, who had been disguising himself as an ordinary person among them, to help with the calculation. The result was even more exasperating: still impossible to divine.

This time everyone was dumbfounded. Pangu was at the peak of the Grand Unity Gold Immortal realm, and with his Primordial body, even among the ten thousand realms his strength was among the very best.

In the end, they had no choice but to let matters be and allow everything to follow its natural course.

This left Chen Xing puzzled, but at present he was powerless to do anything. It seemed he would only understand when he unsealed the great power of chaos.

Though the child could not yet be born, everyone’s care for Little Demon remained unchanged. As time passed, Chen Xing even grew addicted to listening each day for the baby’s movements in her womb. Every tiny kick from the fetus could keep him happily occupied for half the day.

Thus Chen Xing became the fat man’s so-called doting father, and Chen Xing did not mind. After all, loving one’s child was nothing to be ashamed of.

Seeing Zhu Feng arrive, Chen Xing no longer circled around Little Demon. He took Zhu Feng to the sofa and sat down, then smiled and asked, “Fatty, why aren’t you over at the human tribe playing today? You actually have time to come see me.”

After a long silence, Zhu Feng said solemnly, “Today I drove the old man away.”

Chen Xing stared blankly, and only after a moment did he react. “You mean the one from Mount Kunlun?”

Zhu Feng nodded and said with disgust, “That fellow still came to the human race, hoping to use them to attain sainthood. Since he cannot sincerely protect the human race, why should I let him become the leader of the Human Teaching?”

Chen Xing understood. After a calculation, he found that the old man still had other opportunities, and that the Human Teaching would still appear in the primordial world, though its karmic ties to the human race would be far weaker. So he did not care much. Instead, he asked with curiosity, “How did you do it?”

Then Zhu Feng excitedly recounted how he had given the Daoist Scripture to human children to chant, thereby starving the old man out of his chance. At the end, he grinned and said, “So, what do you think? Pretty good move, wasn’t it?”

Chen Xing was instantly speechless. This fellow was truly vicious. He suspected that even now the old man was still wondering how the profound truths he had comprehended could possibly have spread so far.

Suddenly Chen Xing’s heart stirred, and he did not know whether to laugh or cry. Worried all along that he might alter the course of the primordial world too drastically, he had never allowed the Human Teaching to pass on cultivation methods. Now this fat bastard had directly handed the human race the Dao insights of a future saint. With those cultivation methods, and the terrifying talent of the human race, Chen Xing could not help but sympathize: it looked as though the demon race was in for trouble.

As for the old man, ever since he had come down from the eastern shore of the sea, he had been filled with confusion. Not only had he failed to seize the chance to attain sainthood, but for some unknown reason, his Dao insights had been spread by someone else.

Even though he was furious beyond measure, he did not dare wipe out the human race. Did they really think the words Nuwa had spoken back then about protecting the human race were a joke? As the first being in the primordial world to attain the Great Dao of Origin, he would not dare provoke her.

One day, the old man came before a small human tribe and saw the men dressed in beast hides, going out each day with various tools to hunt.

The women, meanwhile, busied themselves within the tribe preparing food, while the children gathered around them, occasionally receiving food from their hands and cheering with delight. The tribe was peaceful and serene.

Seeing all this before him, the old man was moved. His cultivation, which had not broken through for a long time, even showed a faint loosening. He hurriedly sat down cross-legged and entered cultivation.

After a long while, when the old man opened his eyes again, he saw a little boy standing before him, looking at him curiously. He could not help smiling faintly and asked, “Little one, what are you doing here?”

The little boy smiled shyly and said in a clear voice, “Old grandpa, I saw you sitting here for many days and was afraid wild beasts might come and bite you, so I stayed here to watch over you. You haven’t eaten in so many days, you must be hungry. Here! This is the food the tribe gave me. You can have it.”

As he spoke, he held out a piece of beast meat in his small hand and offered it to the old man.

Looking into the boy’s pure eyes, the old man felt a stir in his heart. He did not take the meat, but instead asked kindly, “Where are your parents? Why haven’t I seen them come looking for you?”

At once, tears welled in the little boy’s eyes. He murmured, “My father was bitten to death by wild beasts while hunting, and my mother died of illness. Now I’m all alone.” He finished and bit down hard on his lip, refusing to let the tears fall.

The old man understood. After calculating, he discovered that this child was fated to be his disciple, and he was overjoyed. He quickly asked, “Since you have no relatives left, how about you take me as your master? I shall teach you the way to sainthood, and you may roam freely beneath heaven and earth.”

The little boy blinked and asked curiously, “Like the immortals, able to fly in the sky?” As he spoke, a trace of envy appeared in his eyes.

The old man did not explain further, only smiled and nodded.

The little boy was overjoyed and hurriedly knelt down, saying, “Your disciple greets you, Master!”

The old man laughed heartily and helped him to his feet.

In the sunset, the silhouettes of an old man and a young boy slowly grew distant. Their voices drifted through the air:

“Little one, what is your name?”

“Master, my name is Little Stone.”

“Since you have already taken me as your master, from this day forth I shall give you a Daoist name. It shall be Xuan Du.”

“Thank you, Master!”