Taiqing looked up, gazing at the tall youth before him, a smile gracing his lips.
"From whence do you hail, fellow Daoist?"
Qing Ling stepped forward, responding with a warm smile, "From the Eastern Wilderness, passing through the west, north, and south, I come directly to Buzhou to pay my respects."
Yuqing chimed in, "What a coincidence! The three of us are also here to pay our respects to Buzhou."
Shangqing's bright eyes twinkled with amusement. "Fellow Daoist, why not travel together?"
Qing Ling nodded in agreement. "It would be my pleasure."
The three Qing and one Ling smiled, and the four walked side by side.
In those times, there was no dispute of Taoism, no calculations of karma, no divergence of stances. The heavens were clear, and the years flowed leisurely. The Taiqing Elder was not yet devoid of sentiment, thus he was benevolent and smiling.
Yuqing, not solely adhering to the Heavenly Dao, was thus gentle and magnanimous.
Shangqing, without going against heaven's will, was therefore jovial and uninhibited.
Taiqing watched the three converse, Yuqing occasionally inquiring, Shangqing chattering incessantly, and Qing Ling responding to every word.
"Brother Dao," Shangqing asked with great interest, "is it true that the Dragon Clan's Sacred Sacrifice allows anyone to inherit dragon blood, regardless of their origin?"
Qing Ling chuckled, "Indeed it is. As long as the Sacred Sacrifice ranks high, even a lesser clan, if their power is formidable, can break through their limitations with dragon blood."
Yuqing exclaimed in surprise, "The Dragon Clan is so open? I always thought that the bloodlines of all beings in the world are the same. Following one's innate nature, why seek external bloodlines?"
Taiqing smiled, "That is because my second brother does not understand the hardships of seeking the Dao for all living beings. The limitations of acquired bloodlines are truly as difficult as ascending to heaven. To seek a sliver of hope, any method is permissible.
Each has their own destiny; we need not interfere."
Qing Ling said with a smile, "All three of you have valid points. I obtained dragon blood in the past, but I never used it."
Yuqing smiled, "We are descendants of the great Pangu; naturally, our status is higher than those dragon beasts. Why would we need their blood?"
Shangqing, however, became somewhat excited, "I heard that the Dragon Clan is skilled in battle, and also, as Brother Dao mentioned, the Dragon Ancestor, the God of War of the Dragon Clan. I truly wish to have a great battle with him!"
Taiqing chided him, "Nonsense!
That Dragon Ancestor is at least at the peak of the most powerful beings. How can you possibly have the strength to fight him?
Let alone others, even fellow Daoist Qing Ling could easily subdue you."
Shangqing's tall, straight sword-like eyebrows furrowed. "How can I believe that? Elder Brother, do not deceive me!"
Qing Ling looked at his unhappy, furrowed brow and couldn't help but laugh. "Fellow Daoist Taiqing exaggerates.
Your Dao is as vast as the heavens, your sharpness peerless. My wood Dao cannot withstand a few of your blows."
Shangqing's lips curved upon hearing this. "As vast as the heavens, peerless sharpness. Excellent, excellent!"
Taiqing glanced at his expression and shook his head with a chuckle. "Fellow Daoist Qing Ling is too modest. Let alone them, even compared to me, you are half a generation ahead. It is only because we are shameless that we dare to call you Brother Dao."
Qing Ling felt a pang of emotion upon hearing this. He had emerged into the world so early that he was indeed half a generation older than the three Qing. Although he had faced many hardships, he had also gained much.
Among the three Qing, although Shangqing and Yuqing had extremely high potential, they had only emerged for a few Yuan Hui and were only at the first or second heaven of Grand Unity Golden Immortal.
Even Taiqing, who had emerged tens of Yuan Hui earlier, was only at the fifth heaven of Grand Unity.
Compared to Qing Ling's age of fifty to sixty Yuan Hui, he was indeed half a generation behind.
The four conversed and debated as they walked. Although they did not formally discuss the Dao, every word spoken was infused with it. Dao entered their speech, entered their hearts, and touched their primal spirits.
After all, in that era, it was still customary to discuss the Dao, and no one had yet preached it.
The Dao was the fundamental basis for every cultivator. Even great and powerful predecessors would not reveal it to others. Therefore, the Dao of that era was only transmitted within their respective clans.
The four walked for a long time, ascending the mountain for a full two Yuan Hui, reaching the end of the Ninth Spiral Mountain, which was also the end of the Ninth Heaven.
For a moment, the four stopped.
Before them, above the celestial sphere, billions of stars revolved, and the cosmic river, nebulae, and spacetime all swirled around Buzhou.
Endless stars floated above Buzhou, forming a starry canopy, immeasurably vast and boundlessly expansive. To behold it was to have one's spirit shaken; those with weaker resolve would be lost within it.
And at the end of the Ninth Heaven, below, was a pool of water.
Chaos contained water, with great tides rising and falling, and small trickles ceaseless.
A pool of chaotic water nourished a pond of lotuses.
In that pond of lotuses, there was only one lotus.
The twenty-four-petal Creation Green Lotus!
This was Pangu's bequest, and also Pangu's destiny.
Because Buzhou was so vast, no one would traverse the same path. Without Pangu's destiny to guide them, no one could reach this place to witness the pond of lotuses.
The green lotus had been gestating for countless years, and upon seeing the four, it instantly matured and bloomed. Its blooming was creation, its lotus was creation, and the Daoist was creation!
Taiqing clapped his hands and laughed heartily, "Our fated encounter is all here."
Yuqing and Shangqing also felt a sense of connection.
Qing Ling was inwardly astonished. He was excited to see the green lotus, but he felt no guidance from the Great Dao.
With a slight shift of his thoughts, he said with a smile, "Since that is the case, fellow Daoist Taiqing, please go first."
Taiqing heard this and replied, "Brother Dao, you please go first!"
Qing Ling shook his head, "My Dao must come after the three of you have achieved yours!"
He was not being humble or refusing the opportunity. Rather, he knew that this opportunity was not easily obtained. Thus, Qing Ling was allowing the three Qing to scout the path for him.
However, Qing Ling did not realize that his casual remark, "My Dao must come after the three of you have achieved yours," would shape the future.
Taiqing saw this and his heart became clear. The four were all direct descendants of Pangu, but their primal spirits were paramount, their physical bodies secondary, and their fates predetermined.
Therefore, he stepped forward, unfolding the two forces, which merged into one, forming the Taiji.
The Taiji underwent birth and death, illusion and disillusion. The Dao entered the green lotus to take its flower. The creation essence of the green lotus flowed away in an instant, leaving only two tenths that transformed into a crimson staff. Scarlet light suffused the heavens and stabilized the universe. The vast Buzhou became a sea of Qi, reaching high into the Ninth Heaven.
Taiqing took the staff with one hand. The myriad celestial phenomena surrounding the crimson staff vanished.
Laozi's aura resonated deeply with the staff, fluctuating between illusion and reality.
Yuqing saw this and also stepped forward, manifesting the myriad celestial clouds of glory. All the clouds streamed into the lotus pond, taking away the rootless lotus stem. Another two tenths of the green lotus's primal essence was separated.
The lotus root instantly transformed into a jade-white pillar, like jade, capable of shattering heaven and earth. All laws were rendered void.
Shangqing, however, made his right arm into a sword. With a single strike, his sharp sword Qi pierced the void. His sword pointed to heaven, severing a green leaf. Another two tenths of the green lotus's primal essence was divided. The falling green leaf merged with the sword Qi, transforming into a three-foot green sword with unparalleled sword intent.
Shangqing took the Qingping sword and turned to Qing Ling, "Brother Dao, please."
Qing Ling was stunned. He looked into the lotus pond. Apart from the water, only a single green leaf floated on the surface.
He stepped forward, and the gazes of the three Qing fell upon him.
He felt inwardly delighted. If he had not come, if there had been no Pangu's destiny, perhaps the creation green lotus's primal essence would not have nurtured this second leaf!
Qing Ling pondered for a moment. He did not use his Jianmu Dao manifestation but instead pointed to his spiritual platform. The red-leafed toon tree, nurturing spiritual energy, bloomed with a hundred flowers. The wood Dao converged into one tree, and beneath that one tree, ten thousand flowers blazed like fire.
Since it was Pangu's will, it required Pangu's object.
Jianmu was a Dao he had planted, not Pangu's Dao.
Only if his own essence was of the same origin as Pangu could he draw forth the objects from the lotus pond!
The red-leafed toon bloomed. The wood Dao flowed into that green leaf. The green leaf ascended, again dividing two tenths of its primal essence. The remaining two tenths of the creation green lotus's primal essence flowed into the pond water. The pond water then concealed itself, disappearing into the stars.
Qing Ling stepped forward, walking into the fields of blooming red-leafed shore flowers. He picked up a green jade umbrella and slowly unfurled it. Green lotuses scattered across the ground, mingled with red flowers swaying. Beneath the tree, red flowers, and upon the flowers, a green-clad figure holding an umbrella.
From this moment on, there was no longer a Creation Green Lotus in the world.
Of the five innate lotuses, due to Qing Ling's variable presence, the twelve-petal Creation Green Lotus was lost, but a supreme innate spiritual treasure was born into the world: the Green Jade Umbrella!
The twenty-four-petal Creation Green Lotus, an object born from a chaotic supreme treasure, although only two tenths remained, it was already a supreme-grade spiritual treasure.