Qing Ling raised an eyebrow, nodded, reached out and grabbed the bat's wing, holding it up to examine it for a moment.
Bai Fu, staring at the "giant python" up close, shivered all over, not daring to struggle for fear of being swallowed whole.
Qing Ling stared for a long time, then suddenly said, "So it's a male bat."
After speaking, she noticed how nervous and frightened the little bat was, and couldn't help but chuckle, "Don't worry, I won't eat you raw. It would be bad if I got a stomachache."
Qing Ling poked out a finger, and a drop of azure crystal flowed from her fingertip, imprinting itself on the bat's brow, directly into its spiritual essence.
Bai Fu's expression startled, and he was about to resist.
"Don't resist. If anything happens to your spiritual essence, I won't save you."
Hearing this, Bai Fu's heart relaxed, signifying that this divine being had no intention of destroying him.
Qing Ling extended her fingertip and then withdrew it. A drop of azure crystal had already penetrated Bai Fu's spiritual essence and sealed it.
"You should know, I've left a mark in your spiritual essence, right?"
Bai Fu nodded, and spoke divine words, "This humble one knows. This humble one is willing to obey Your Excellency's command."
Qing Ling couldn't help but smile, put him down, and said leisurely, "I've merely planted a thousand of my tears within your spiritual essence."
Bai Fu's expression was slightly surprised. He scratched his head with his wing but still couldn't understand.
"My tears can poison the spiritual essence of Golden Immortal Venerables. It's the pain of consuming the spiritual essence and true soul. Even unconsciousness will not alleviate the pain in the slightest.
As long as my mind moves, the Thousand Tear Sorrow will activate, and your spiritual essence will suffer the pain of a thousand days and nights, without stopping for a single moment, until after a thousand days, your spiritual essence will decay and completely return to heaven and earth!"
Bai Fu's heart sank upon hearing this. Such a peculiar and potent spiritual poison was no ordinary matter. If he were truly careless, his life would truly be inescapable.
Qing Ling smiled faintly and said nothing. She pointed her finger, and the seal was lifted. Bai Fu found his magical power and spiritual essence restored to normal. With a flash of white light, a handsome youth in gray clothes emerged.
"Bai Fu pays his respects to Your Excellency. From this day forward, I swear to follow you to the death, as your servant."
Qing Ling stepped forward and personally helped him up, saying gently, "There's no need for such formality. We are all born of the same essence as Great God Pangu, so what master-servant relationship is there?
Rest assured, as long as you obey my commands, I will not fail you. Although we Innate Gods are blessed by heaven, in this era of the Three Clans, we must still be cautious.
If you do not mind, I will be your guardian god, protecting you to the best of my ability, until you grow."
The reason she said this was not out of kindness, but because Qing Ling had taken a liking to this Innate God's status. After all, as an Innate God, he was bound to possess a deeper destiny. Otherwise, he would not have encountered this sliver of hope with Qing Ling in his desperate birth. If Xi Mountain were to have another Innate God, the momentum of destiny would surely become even more substantial! Da Feng Novel Network
Bai Fu was taken aback. He had not expected Qing Ling's words to be so sincere. In his silent years, he had only gathered life force alone to conceive and transform. Born of heaven and earth, no one had ever cared for him.
At this moment, the man radiating light before him, in the chaotic and treacherous wilderness, promised him protection, causing Bai Fu's heart to uncontrollably stir with an inexplicable emotion – gratitude!
Bai Fu immediately bowed his head to the ground, his heart warm with emotion, and said sincerely, "Bai Fu wishes to pledge allegiance to Your Excellency."
Qing Ling was momentarily stunned by his grand gesture and was too late to stop him.
This bow was no ordinary gesture.
Since Qing Ling accepted this礼 (lǐ - ritual bow), she would have to reciprocate the cause and bear the consequence. The rites of gods were no small matter. Even though Bai Fu's divine rank was minuscule, he was still an Innate God.
Bai Fu remained prostrate for a long time.
Qing Ling sighed and stepped forward to help the youth up, saying, "Bai Fu, although I have saved you once, as a god, you must uphold divine dignity and not bow lightly.
Do you know that if you had bowed like this to any other being, you might have dispersed their destiny and brought calamity upon yourself!"
Bai Fu suddenly jolted, realizing his mistake, "I know my error."
Qing Ling smiled, a slight curve of her lips, "Fortunately, you are intelligent. If you were as foolish as Qi, it would not do."
Bai Fu chuckled. He suppressed all expression on his face. If Qing Ling didn't mention it, he wouldn't ask, knowing his place and the proper etiquette.
Qing Ling pondered for a moment and said, "This is already deep within the chaotic lands. It is too dangerous for you to return to Xi Mountain alone. If I were to return to Xi Mountain, I might encounter some unforeseen events. Therefore, you should follow me for now.
Tell me, what are your divine abilities and talents?"
Bai Fu immediately replied respectfully, "This humble one... only knows how to avoid daylight and loves to drink blood. I possess a low-grade Innate Spirit Treasure, the Blood Transformation Pearl.
I originally had the divine ability of being active in both day and night, but I emerged early and abandoned that ability. Most importantly, I carry the turbid qi of Great God Pangu, thus I am without fortune. My only divine trait is to dispel fortune and invite misfortune."
"Dispel fortune?" Qing Ling exclaimed, "Dispel fortune, Bai Fu, you are a god of misfortune!"
Bai Fu's face flushed with embarrassment, even a little apprehensive, and he lowered his head in silence. After all, he was somewhat of a calamity. Who would want to keep him around?
"No wonder you were attacked by several Golden Immortal Venerables as soon as you were born, almost perishing. Bai Fu, Bai Fu, devoid of fortune, it truly suits you."
After a lighthearted remark, Qing Ling's expression turned solemn, "Xiao Bai. I have a younger cousin who also carried disaster and feared being ostracized and abandoned by his clan. But do you know what I told him?
Bai Fu shook his head, looking somewhat bewildered.
Qing Ling smiled and said, "Since you carry disaster, then bring that disaster to your enemies! Your enemies' disaster is your own people's fortune!
Likewise, you dissipate fortune and invite misfortune to others, which means you are inviting fortune and destiny for me!
The heaven and earth are divided into yin and yang. All things are born in opposition yet return to one. In my eyes, nothing is absolutely good or bad, no dao is absolutely superior or inferior, and life and death are not absolute. Therefore, every disadvantage can be turned into an advantage. You must believe in yourself!"
"No dao is absolutely superior or inferior, and life and death are not absolute. What a wonderful state!" Bai Fu was momentarily lost in thought. It seemed that by aligning himself with this god of extraordinary divine rank, he had truly made the right choice.
"Xiao Bai, hurry and catch up!"
Qing Ling had already walked far away at some point. In the desert, the wind was eerily still at sunrise, and the golden sand stretched for miles, bathed in golden light like a vast sea. A green figure walked between the vast sky and the desert, calling out to him from afar, her voice echoing with the wind.
"Hey! Alright!" Bai Fu quickly got up and leaped a hundred feet, catching up to the leisurely walking Qing Ling.
...
In this desert, the wind sometimes blew, and the world was terrifyingly silent. At other times, fierce winds raged, capable of tearing apart the bodies of great beasts of the heavenly rank. Wind and yellow sand were the eternal backdrop here.
Qing Ling no longer traveled underground but simply used the simplest form of "Shrinking the Ground to an Inch," walking a thousand feet with each step.
Behind her, Bai Fu followed suit, like a clumsy imitation.
With Qing Ling as the center and a radius of one hundred thousand li, more than four thousand small puppets were deployed to scout the surroundings, paving the way for them and ensuring a safe path.
This chaotic land was once home to vassals of the Dragon Clan, and earlier, to the Phoenix and Qilin. It contained the eyes and ears of the Three Clans, as well as their enemies. It housed weakened Golden Immortals facing the five declines of heaven and man, as well as hidden Grand Unity Golden Immortals.
Perhaps Grand Unity Immortals disguised as Golden Immortals, or treasures encountered by chance that turned out to be traps, or perhaps giant beasts that occasionally awoke and swallowed mountains and dunes with a single breath...
Here, everything was unknown, hence the fear.
(2153 words)