The Unruly Immortals

Bai Lingmiao, who looked unspeakably terrifying as she leaned against Li Huowang and smiled, shifted to a more comfortable position and gently rubbed against him.

"Look how scared you are, just lie down quickly, and I'll explain everything to you slowly."

Li Huowang's tensed body relaxed, but at this moment his heart was in knots. Was the Bai Lingmiao in front of him the First God or the Second God?

This was something he definitely needed to clarify, as it would determine his next course of action.

Bai Lingmiao narrowed her eyes in thought, but then suddenly laughed inexplicably.

"What are you laughing at? Speak quickly!"

"Ah, I really don't know how to start telling you, that feeling is hard to explain in ordinary language."

"Then use the simplest words possible. The simpler, the better."

Having heard this, Bai Lingmiao carefully considered for a moment, then slowly began, "Huowang, do you know what people have on them? Or rather, what are people made of?"

Li Huowang furrowed his brows at these incomprehensible words, not knowing what the other party was trying to explain with this nonsense.

"Ah~ Huowang, take a guess, come on, guess."

The deliberately coquettish behavior of Bai Lingmiao made Li Huowang quite uncomfortable, as the Bai Lingmiao of the past would never have acted this way.

"A physical mortal body?"

"Ah, well~" Bai Lingmiao shook her head slightly. "How should I put it? If I must say, humans are formed by Ten Emotions and Eight Miseries. The Ten Emotions are happiness, anger, sadness, greed, hate, stupidity, fear, love, aversion, and the Eight Miseries are birth, aging, sickness, death, union with what one despises, separation from what one loves, failure to obtain what one seeks, and the five aggregates in full flourish."

"Everyone has more or less of the Ten Emotions and Eight Miseries, but everyone has them nonetheless, no matter who they are or what they do. It's all because of these things."

Li Huowang's heart stirred. "Who told you this? The Immortal Sects?"

"What's the rush! Let me finish speaking," Bai Lingmiao said with a displeased glare at Li Huowang, continuing, "When people have no use for some of the Ten Emotions and Eight Miseries, they don't disappear, but are hidden away."

"If they're simply hidden, so be it, but it's different for those who invoke the deity; they generally have two sides, the First God and the Second God."

Li Huowang silently looked at the two women on his left and right, continuing to wait for Bai Lingmiao to go on.

"Although we share the Eight Miseries, the Ten Emotions are separate. Initially, the Immortal Sects used my hidden Ten Emotions and some of their own scattered elements to finally merge into the Second God."

"So you mean..."

"It means that we are the same person, although there are some differences in memory, we really are both Bai Lingmiao. Just because of Evil Qi, I've overused happiness, anger, hate, aversion, and greed, leaving her nothing to use."

"The past Bai Lingmiao didn't overuse happiness, anger, hate, aversion, and greed, so these naturally became the domain of the Second God."

Looking at the face so close to him, Li Huowang's mind was a mess, hearing all these things for the first time.

"Who told you this? The Immortal Sects? Don't trust them too much! Maybe they're deceiving you!"

"What's with that? The Immortal Sects aren't the Oblivion Path; it's not fun at all for them to deceive you with something that is commonly known."

The one who said this was Hong Zhong, and the moment he appeared, Li Huowang instinctively wrapped the blanket around Bai Lingmiao's body.

"You know about these so-called Ten Emotions and Eight Miseries too?" Li Huowang hesitantly asked him.

"How novel, it's common knowledge; weren't you hiding in the Astrological Bureau? Just ask a few more people at random, and you'll know whether I'm telling the truth or not."

Having been in this world for so long, Li Huowang hadn't known about these so-called Ten Emotions and Eight Miseries until now.

"That child from the Luo Sect with a Nascent Soul mentioned these before, but I didn't pay attention."

Li Huowang recalled that his philosophy of Immortal Cultivation seemed to be about shedding all Ten Emotions and Eight Miseries to become the only One.

"So, Huowang, do you understand now? All that's happened is that I've grown a bit too fond of joy, anger, sadness, fear, and greed, but Bai Lingmiao is still Bai Lingmiao. And this Bai Lingmiao is even more at ease, even more... comfortable!"

"No, that's not right; the original one, that's the Bai Lingmiao I knew!"

Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao was not the least bit excited and simply pointed a finger at Second God next to her. "Isn't she the one? That timid and indecisive Bai Lingmiao, so weak and meek."

Li Huowang raised his head to look at Second God, and when he saw the pity in those vast beastly pupils, that familiar yet unfamiliar gaze, he couldn't help but extend his hands and gently embrace the other in his arms.

"Alright, you two be busy, I'll clear the space for you." After putting on her bellyband and drawers, Bai Lingmiao lifted the bed curtains and left.

Li Huowang gently pressed his face against the other, feeling the icy Snake Scales and the sharpness of porcupine quills scratching against his skin.

"Rest assured... I will make you turn back... I promise!" Li Huowang's words were firm and definitive.

In the following period, with the care of Bai Lingmiao and Second God, Li Huowang's body gradually recovered, and his mood grew more restless with each passing day.

So much time had passed without any news from Record of Appearance, making Li Huowang increasingly worried that something might have gone wrong.

Another day, still dark, Li Huowang woke up. As he propped himself up on the bed, a soft little foot forcefully kicked against him.

"Hey! You're so annoying! I was woken up by you again!"

Li Huowang had long since gotten used to it. He threw off the covers to get up and quickly covered back up to avoid losing the warmth.

He opened the window and directly climbed onto the roof. Then he patted his abdomen, pulled out an enlightenment book, and began to read.

A tentacle wrapped around a pair of eyeballs emerged from his navel and carefully started to read along with the money invested in the book.

Listening to the voice that completely overlapped his own chanting beside his ear, Li Huowang realized that the mission of the book was almost complete, and it was time to find something else to teach Li Sui.

But he struggled with what to teach next; with his capabilities, he could only teach Li Sui enlightenment books.

Those obscure classical texts that were a level higher, he truly didn't know how to teach.

"Should I just give up? I'm not planning to have him become the top scholar. He can already speak clearly, and our relationship is harmonious, which fulfills the goal I had initially set."

"Father, I want to learn this." Li Sui rolled a piece of Ginger Yellow Paper in front of Li Huowang with his tentacle.

"You want to learn Drawing Talismans?" Even leaving aside whether it could be used, the very thought of a wriggling tentacled creature practicing Drawing Talismans was an utterly bizarre image.

As Li Huowang hesitated over whether to try it, a shadow flickered across the sky. Just as he looked up, a stack of letters descended from above.

"What's this..." Li Huowang's heart thumped wildly. As he swiftly opened them, and his eyes landed on the words "Er Jiu Bureau Verified," his pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints.

"This is the item that Record of Appearance promised to send me!"

Overwhelmed with excitement, Li Huowang carefully read each line, eagerly searching for the words "Bei Feng."

As he searched, Li Huowang suddenly came to a halt, his breathing grew rapid, and his palms began to sweat.

"Since parting in Yinling, a score of years has passed, today…"

From the records inside the Astrological Bureau, it turned out that this Bei Feng of the Oblivion Path, like himself, was also a Xinsu!

Moreover, it was precisely because he was a Xinsu that he could use the perplexity in his heart to disperse the obsessions that grew with age. In the end, he lived to be one hundred ninety-four!

Not only that, but based on the Astrological Bureau's long interactions with him, Bei Feng truly had a way to free himself from Huan Jue!

In that moment, Li Huowang, moved to tears, finally felt hope after the myriad hardships he had faced on his journey!