As the Luo Sheng flower bloomed, the daoist radiance of hundreds of Golden Immortals and Grand Unity cultivators surged skyward in an instant.
A hundred streams converged, with wood in command, yin and yang in balance, the Luo Sheng flower bloomed, a hundred times and again. The first two hundred odd flowers were real, while the latter thousand flowers were illusory, born from the daoist radiance of the first two hundred and thirty-nine flowers.
A thousand flowers, ten thousand flowers, a sky-covering expanse of red blossoms, forming a scarlet hue, illuminating the universe, like a red omen of disaster, with blood rain descending from the heavens.
As the Black and White Attendants’ hearts filled with suspicion, they once again unleashed their divine abilities of taiji’s two colors.
Within the extreme yin death qi, the old man transformed into a god of death, wielding a scythe, drawing souls.
Within the extreme yang life qi, the young man transformed into a god of light, a sacred halo appearing behind his head.
The black and white hues surged, forming the outer layer of the golden tide. The god of death and the god of light, the holy emissary, three beings forming a trinity, black below, white above, gold in the middle. The trinity formed a circle, encasing the expanse of a hundred thousand li where Qing Ling resided.
The three rings converged, and terrifying pressure bore down on the sea of scarlet flowers surrounding Qing Ling.
Qing Ling’s expression was solemn. The Yin-Yang Life-Death Dao transformed into a divine bridge, connecting heaven and earth, separating life and death.
With a finger tracing time, a white cascade flowed like a river of time. The bridge spanned a jade river, and flowers bloomed on the other shore.
Qing Ling stood at the end of the Life-Death Bridge, where flowers bloomed on the other shore, withering and flourishing. Time flowed like a river, with an eerie wind blowing. Behind him, the Wood Dao ascended directly, commanding all other daos. All daos returned to the Wood Dao, which connected to the Jian Mu at the edge of the sky, even sustaining Qing Ling in the final li of his position within the three divine rings.
To the east, the vast Du Guang Plain.
The four directions trembled, and the four Guardian Emissaries stood up, their four treasures ascending.
The Jian Mu vibrated, and the four treasures flew westward, summoning the distant southwest.
But at this moment, in the northeast, there was a mountain, its height like a blade, named Kunlun.
On the mountain, there was a divine beast, with a leopard’s tail, tiger’s teeth, skilled at roaring, its hair disheveled and adorned with a phoenix crest.
The divine beast descended southward, its golden roar sending tidal waves rolling. Within the golden tide, rumbling thunder was born, the heavens and earth roared, and ten thousand golden lightning bolts vibrated, piercing the three divine rings.
The holy emissary’s face darkened, and he said coldly, “Gui Tai Jin Mu, how dare you interfere in the affairs of my Qilin clan?”
The divine beast stood in the sky, its feet treading on golden clouds. A majestic female voice emerged, “How can I fear anything when I dare to anger fate?”
Thunder rolled like a tide beneath the divine beast’s feet. A half-step supreme being at the twenty-ninth layer of Da Luo Golden Immortal, her strength already terrifying beyond description.
Seeing this, Qing Ling’s divine pattern settled, and the four treasures of Du Guang Plain returned to their places.
He threw himself into the sea of golden lightning, following the myriad furious lightning bolts directly towards the northwest.
The holy emissary said coldly, “Good! Jin Mu, I will remember today’s events.”
The leopard-tailed divine beast stood on the clouds, its mane fluttering in the wind, exceptionally majestic. Its voice was cold, “Qilin clan, your words do not count.”
The holy emissary’s face flushed with anger, his composure instantly shattered, and he was about to erupt when he saw the golden clouds beneath the divine beast’s feet moving eastward. Without looking back, it left, as if it did not consider her worthy of its attention at all.
In the sky, the thirtieth heaven, in the void, the White Tiger Supreme’s surrounding winds and罡 stopped. He let out a cold snort and turned to leave.
The Azure Dragon Ancestor also retracted his vast sword energy, and the Xun Tian sheath returned to its scabbard. He looked at Qing Ling helplessly and shook his head.
“This little fellow truly never ceases to cause trouble.”
On the northwest divine mountain, at the foot of the mountain, Qing Ling followed a divine beast into the mountain.
The beast walked ahead, casually and nimbly, while Qing Ling followed, slightly constrained.
“Senior, what is the name of this mountain? Is it your place of cultivation?”
The divine beast did not look back, continuing to walk on the stone steps that stretched as far as the eye could see, and said faintly, “West Kunlun, my territory.”
Qing Ling’s heart trembled, and he was greatly surprised. “Then, senior, are you the Queen Mother of the West?”
“Queen Mother of the West?”
The divine beast suddenly stopped and turned its head, a hint of confusion on its beast face. “I have never had this title.
However, it sounds good. From now on, I will be called the Queen Mother of the West.”
Qing Ling’s heart twitched, and he gave a dry laugh. So, the title Queen Mother of the West was actually coined by him.
The ferocious divine beast before him was indeed the Queen Mother of the West, who would later become famous throughout the land.
“Why didn’t senior fly up? These steps are so long.” Qing Ling asked casually after walking with the divine beast for a long time and still not seeing the end of the steps.
“Why fly?” the divine beast asked indifferently. “It takes ten years to climb the mountain, and three quarters of an hour to fly up. Is there a difference between ten years and three quarters of an hour?”
Qing Ling was stunned, his mind unable to catch up. “Ten years requires three thousand six hundred and fifty cycles of sun and moon, while three quarters of an hour is less than one hundred and first part of a day.”
The divine beast shook its head and continued walking, saying, “Is time measured? In my eyes, a million years is no different from a day. I have lived for too long and cannot perceive the passage of time.”
Qing Ling’s heart trembled, and he asked, “Then, senior, how long have you lived?”
“How long?” The divine beast seemed to ponder and then said, “When Pangu created heaven and earth, I was already born. It was only after Pangu fell that I grew. The age of this world is my age.”
Speaking of this, the divine beast felt a sense of loneliness. When heaven and earth were created, it was born. Unlike beings like Hongjun Dao Ancestor who were born before the Primordial World, it was as ancient as heaven and earth.
In the Primordial World, it was as ancient as Hongjun, even more so. This was because Hongjun only entered the Primordial World after Pangu’s demise.
Qing Ling was speechless. He knew that the Queen Mother of the West was a powerful being in the Primordial World, but he never imagined she was so ancient.
The divine beast ascended the mountain. The mountain was surrounded by golden clouds. As they climbed higher, the sky grew closer. The mountain reached into the heavens, and the golden clouds only reached waist-high.
West Kunlun was vast, larger than a great chiliocosm, with numerous peaks and mountain ranges. The divine beast before Qing Ling was the master of this world.
Moreover, as the divine beast entered Kunlun, its aura became more terrifyingly contained. If outside West Kunlun, it was merely a half-step supreme being at the twentieth layer, then as they delved deeper into West Kunlun, its aura gradually approached that of the Azure Dragon Ancestor!
Qing Ling followed the divine beast for ten years. Each step was one zhang, and a divine being climbing a ladder took a hundred steps at a time. He walked for ten years and six months without stopping, finally reaching the summit, which showed how high the mountain was!
The Queen Mother of the West appeared majestic, yet she was very amiable, like an old person who had been lonely for a long time, possessing both majesty and amiability.
She did not mention why she saved him, nor did he ask why she risked incurring the karma of offending the Qilin clan.
What needed to be said would be said. What was not to be said, he would not ask.
Only when Qing Ling, following the divine beast, reached the summit of West Kunlun Mountain did the divine beast before him transform into a human form, with cloud-like hair, a flowery face, and a golden hairpin, exuding an air of elegance and nobility.
The woman’s majesty revealed a touch of kindness, and her seemingly casual movements contained a sense of order.
At the peak of West Kunlun, there was a ten-li peach garden. The Pan Tao spiritual root, an ultimate innate treasure, was imbued with an opulent spiritual energy. Clouds swirled, immortal mist drifted, white clouds fragmented and reformed, and light breezes carried thin mist. The flowers bloomed with extreme beauty, far surpassing the romantic charm of peonies.
“Young friend, what do you think of this spiritual root?”
The Queen Mother of the West walked into the peach forest. Amidst the fragrance of the trees, the composure of this peerless old ancestor was highlighted.
Qing Ling could not help but sigh. Even when she was in her beast form earlier, the Queen Mother of the West before him now possessed a noble aura that inspired heartfelt admiration, as if she was born to be this way.
Qing Ling replied, “Naturally, it is extremely good. I once obtained two superior-grade spiritual roots, which I already cherished as rare treasures in the Primordial World.
This one of yours can already be considered the best of its kind in the Primordial World.”
The Queen Mother of the West listened, smiled faintly, and nodded, “Indeed. Back then, I even fought with the old Taoist from Jade Capital Mountain for it.”
Upon hearing this, Qing Ling was shocked but his expression was puzzled. “Is the Taoist from Jade Capital Mountain also a senior comparable to you?”
The Queen Mother of the West shook her head. “No, He is higher than me, standing at a more supreme level.
But, I still bested Him.” Saying this, a hint of a proud smile appeared on her face. “Therefore, this Pan Tao belongs to me.”