Yellow Court Daoist

In the forest, green bamboo continued to grow, and the sound of Dao principles echoed throughout:

"Glancing at each other, expressions intertwined; harboring thoughts at the mysterious portal, surrendering the mind's restless churns. Nothing within or beyond, like murky ice becoming clear. Untouched by dust, unblemished by worldly shapes."

The sound of Xuan Music resonated,

subduing the roaring thunder. The brocade-clad youth stood rooted in place, hand raised skyward, his face still etched with ferocity, unswerving. Yet, the thunder that roared all around seemed to slow.

Within the bamboo forest,

the Xuan Music continued:

"The void is tranquil and vast, utterly devoid of anything. Nothingness gives rise to all, simplicity and complexity form together. Forgetting self and object, akin to cosmic primordial chaos. Heaven and earth boundless, all things as one."

...

"Fallen petals and leaves, the mind as open as a valley. Thousands of worries, vanish at the heart's release. As the furrowed brow clears, serene becomes the spirit platform. Heart without obstacles; intent holds onto nothing."

...

Each note ethereally lifted, imbued with Daoist meaning. In that instant, the world seemed to be draped in strands of refreshing coolness, cleansing the impatience and troubles of this mortal coil.

The youth's expression remained unchanged.

But the surrounding thunder began to ebb, and the growth of green bamboo, for the first time, overshadowed the rampant thunder.

The bamboo forest subdued the Thunder Prison.

Without a sound, it enveloped the brocade-clad youth who had yet to stir.

In an instant.

The Xuan Music intensified, ringing in the ears like the profound gong of Yellow Bell Great Lv, questioning the soul, striking at the core of one's being.

For the first time, a hint of change flickered in the blood-red eyes of the brocade-clad youth.

Meanwhile, within the bamboo forest,

the Daoist tones cleansed, and visions began to surface—

Among the stars.

The Daoist often reached out, the youth at times perplexed, at times enlightened, filled with joy in his heart. With the passage of years, the Daoist aged, his hair graying, his hands and face lined by wrinkles.

The Daoist's earnest teachings whispered by the ear.

Stars shifted and changed.

In the end, the Daoist grew old.

The youth extended a hand, pale as jade.

But it was all in vain, nothing but an illusion.

The figure with white hair and beard faded silently between heaven and earth, leaving behind only a gentle smile and, upon the ground, an Iron Voucher and a Compass.

The vision lingered.

Stars circled, time and space transformed.

After who knows how long, darkness swept in, engulfing everything.

When the scene reappeared, it was all magic, Flying Swords, and Magic Artifacts flying around, cries filled with killing intent:

"Kill him!"

"The Six-winged Golden Silkworm has achieved enlightenment, heaven and earth won't allow it!"

"Six-winged Evil Demon, resign yourself to death!"

...

The youth fled.

Time progressed; space shifted. Finally, turning to face his pursuers in a massacre, shattering magic, Flying Swords, Magic Artifacts, the sky stained with blood.

The cries of demon slaughtering grew more intense.

"Teacher."

Faintly, one could hear the youth's whisper, filled with boundless reverence and longing.

A search accompanied by pursuit and killing.

Alongside deceit and scheming.

Scenes flashed by.

The youth emerged from the starry sky into the Cultivation World, hiding here and there like a stray dog, suffering countless injuries, great and small. Sometimes grievously wounded on the brink of death, hanging on by sheer will, he sank into the Fiery Abyss, hid among the Magma Earth Fire, sealing himself away.

And then, as injuries healed, he emerged into the world anew.

The cycle repeated – deceit, scheming, pursuit, counter-killing, grievous injuries, hiding.

His violent nature grew deeper.

His malice grew heavier.

The youth's brocade robe was tattered.

His silhouette was desolate and lonely, sitting beside a mountain stream, clumsily stitching. Before he could finish, pursuit came again.

Thus,

he searched.

All the while fleeing.

Unbeknownst when, the world changed and was no longer the same.

"Guang Yuanzi?"

"That's a familiar name, but for the moment, I can't recall. Six-winged Daoist, why don't you follow me to Southern Border, to the Ten Thousand Spirits Cave on the Hundred Barbarians Mountain and rest? I'll command my disciples and grand-disciples to inquire everywhere for clues, to see if we can help find your teacher. How about that?"

...

"Ha ha!"

"Six-winged!"

"Six-winged Golden Silkworm!"

"With the awakening of Spiritual Wisdom, unaware and fumbling in Cultivation to the Earth Immortal Level, the Six-winged Golden Silkworm is a heavenly fortune. If we use you as the source to refine the 'Golden Silkworm Gu', perhaps even the 'Hundred Poison Golden Silkworm Gu' my teacher nurtured over countless years cannot compare!"

"Don't resist anymore. This wine contains three thousand nine hundred and eighty-one kinds of toxins that numb the Divine Soul, paralyze the body, seal Mana, and Dao ability – you can't break free!"

"Your teacher?"

"Just a Lower Realm Mortal Cultivator, died in the starry sky. In the vast Nine Nether, even a Golden Immortal would struggle to find the Reincarnation. How could I know!"

"Deceive you?"

"Ha ha!"

"Six-winged Daoist, your words are amiss—"

"Six-winged, how dare you—"

...

"Six-winged brat, you killed my disciple and think you can escape?"

"Let me show you the power of my 'Hundred Poison Golden Silkworm Gu'."

"This—"

"You scoundrel actually dared to swallow my 'Hundred Poison Golden Silkworm Gu'?!"

...

"Six-winged Golden Silkworm, what a fine treasure."

"The green-robed old fool is incompetent; this treasure is mine now!"

...

"Yah!"

"How dare this vile creature ruin my 'Five Elements Divine Furnace'?!"

...

Green bamboo sways.

Shadows flicker, voices mix with the thunder and the mystical tones of the Dao music, though muddled, can still be discerned.

Deep in the bamboo forest,

A bamboo stalk thrashes wildly in emotion, as if enraged, as if grieving.

A youth in brocaded robes sits cross-legged on the ground.

Around him surges a chilling cold, shrouding him in mist like wisps of clouds.

Within this icy cloak, strains of mystical music rise. At first faint, but soon harmonizing with the sounds in the bamboo forest, becoming indistinguishable, calling and responding to each other—

"Void at peace, wholly without substance. No origins to give birth, no difficulties to forge futures. Forgotten is the part among things, converged into the primordial chaos. Boundless are heaven and earth, merging all into one."

...

"Falling blossoms and leaves, have a mind as open as a valley. All worries cast aside, only then does the heart lighten. As brows unfurl, Spirit Platform Serenity. Heart without obstacles, intent holds onto nothing."

...

"Release the heart and liberate the soul, becoming serene without spirit. Purity returns to unity, breath aligns and spirit fades. Water flows, the mind stays undisturbed, clouds linger, intentions all delayed. A heart uncluttered with things, roams free through eternity!"

...

The 'Ice Heart Technique', a tranquil heart cultivation of Great Divine Power, is chanted ceaselessly.

It resonates.

Around the youth, waves of cold are born and, with each breath he takes, are devoured. An ongoing cycle, round and round.

Days pass unknown.

The youth's malice and ferocity fade, not erased but momentarily cleansed by the 'Ice Heart Technique', forcibly suppressed.

To resolve it,

Even for the Great Divine Power level 'Ice Heart Technique', would be no easy task over mere days.

Amid continuous sounds in the bamboo forest,

The green bamboo transforms into a handsome young Daoist.

The Daoist appears unsteady, pale as death. With each breath, clouds and thunder enter his chest, steadying his frame, hiding his pallor.

In one hand, he holds a green bamboo staff, looking up into the forest's heights, witnessing a scene—

A streak of golden thunder opens the 'Five Elements Divine Furnace'. Golden radiance slashes wildly, thunder rampaging, a malevolent blade breathing within. Hidden amidst the thunder and gold, it strikes down seven Earth Immortals from Red Wood Ridge. Escaping without a trace.

On its path, it encounters the blockade of Yingsheng Peak.

A group of Earth Immortals sets their formation.

But are breached by the gold, unable to stop it for an instant, instead losing many Earth Immortals.

Among them, some familiar faces.

Like Nine Nether True Monarch, once doomed for execution on the Slaughter Demon Platform by Du Jiuyou, and Lin Yun, who took on the guise of Killing Rain Demon Monarch through Lin Ye's clone—both shattered, their Dao Fruit broken, cast into the cycle of reincarnation with this one collision.

The golden light and thunder flicker,

Already disappearing into the void, diving headfirst into Shaohe Abyss, sinking into the silent darkness.

...

"You've suffered much."

Lu Qingfeng, holding the green bamboo staff, stands amidst the Green Bamboo Forest, surrounded in all directions by concealed thunder and lightning, stepping forward to stand before the brocaded youth.

From a distance, unnoticed, but now upon close look, beneath the gold and cold, the youth's brocaded robe is patched and tattered, barely covering his body, bare arms, shoulders, and part of his back exposed.

Appearing rather disheveled.

The clumsy stitches would make any woman laugh.

Lu Qingfeng cannot.

He faintly remembers.

In those starry skies, the youth once rolled on the ground transforming into a stern youth, wearing not a thread. This brocade was spun from Fire Silkworm Silk pulled from beneath the glaciers of a desolate star next to the fiery abyss at the world's pole.

Bestowed upon the youth.

Treasured like a jewel.

Bitterness swells in Lu Qingfeng's heart; he gently reaches out, as he used to, to touch the youth's forehead. The youth remains still, the golden light slightly retracts, the cold, however, remains bitingly present.

The youth's eyes do not open, yet a single teardrop slides from his eye.

Transparent and glistening.

Touching the chill, it quickly turns to ice.

Lu Qingfeng catches it carefully, tucking it away. Then looking at the youth, he softly says, "Disciple, follow your master to kill."

As his words fall,

A flash of gold, a shiver of cold.

The brocaded youth transforms, in an instant, into a Six-winged Golden Silkworm the size of a giant elephant, prostrating before Lu Qingfeng.

Lu Qingfeng shakes his head slightly, opening his sleeve wide.

The Golden Silkworm understands, flapping its wings, it shrinks to the size of a fist and disappears up the sleeve.