Chapter 40. The figure without form was clearly him, yet he appeared somewhat unfamiliar. ...
Beyond the dazzling, guiding light, all things rapidly retreated, transforming into beams of light.
Within the celestial light, however, all was peaceful.
Hua Xun stood sullenly within the celestial light, staring blankly as the scenery beneath her feet transformed from a vast ocean into an endless desert, and then into a dense forest stretching for thousands of miles.
Shenjun Jiuqing looked at her quietly.
The girl lowered her head, and the hairpin with the pendant hanging from her hair seemed to droop as well, an invisible sense of decline enveloping her.
Quietly, without uttering a sound.
The deity watched for a few moments, then lowered his eyes.
A plate of peach blossom cakes, lifted by the clear golden light, floated to Hua Xun's eyes on its own.
Hua Xun was slightly taken aback. She looked at the peach blossom cake, then turned to look at the deity.
He still smiled gently, but his unfamiliar face was like a mask, just like the different faces of the gods enshrined in the temple, which could be majestic, compassionate, or upright.
"Thank you, Divine Lord." Hua Xun said softly, took a piece of peach blossom cake, and put it into her mouth in a small bite.
Feeling down, Hua Xun also lost her appetite, and only ate a small piece before stopping.
The smile on the god's lips faded slightly, and his gaze fell on the plate of pastries that were almost intact and floating in mid-air.
Even pastries aren't working anymore...
Before he could think further, the guiding light descended upon a mountain forest filled with miasma.
Hua Xun looked around in surprise. This familiar aura was clearly from the Demon Realm.
She never expected that her soul would fall into the demon realm.
"When the earth's soul is extremely turbid, it will naturally fall into a place where turbid qi is abundant." The divine lord seemed to see her confusion and took the initiative to answer.
Hua Xun was slightly surprised. After glancing at Shen Jun, she quickly looked away and softly replied, "Mm."
"Is the Earth Soul located nearby?"
The deity nodded: "Indeed."
Just as Hua Xun was about to search around, he suddenly heard several painful groans coming from the forest ahead. The voices were deep and rough, just like the bellowing of a calf.
Hua Xun hurried forward, climbed over the dense forest, and immediately saw a young rhinoceros with its belly covered in blood, lying on the ground, panting in pain.
And a wisp of bamboo-green spiritual energy still lingered on its wound.
Hua Xun flew forward in surprise, and when Youxi saw someone coming, a trace of fear appeared in her eyes.
"I won't hurt you," Hua Xun quickly comforted her softly, and carefully stepped forward.
Perhaps sensing that she really meant no harm, the young rhinoceros gradually quieted down, but still kept a cautious eye on her.
Hua Xun walked to its side and examined the wound, only to find that its abdomen had been ripped open with a bloody hole the size of a fist, and the last wisp of bamboo-green spiritual energy had dissipated into the world.
Hua Xun pursed her lips. She wasn't mistaken; it really was the aura of Lord Luo He's earth soul.
She turned to look at the Divine Lord: "Is the Earth Soul of Divine Lord Luohe on this young rhinoceros?"
The deity lowered his eyes and gazed at the young rhinoceros, seemingly lost in thought. After a long while, he sighed, "It has now been taken away by someone else."
Hua Xun was startled: "Are there others searching for the whereabouts of Lord Luohe's soul?"
Just as the deity was about to speak, he suddenly raised his eyes, raised his hand, and golden light emanated from his palm.
Hua Xun didn't understand what it meant. The next moment, he heard a series of rapid footsteps in the bushes, and the ground was trembling.
Immediately afterwards, a two-zhang-tall Sky-Splitting Rhinoceros charged over, roared angrily, and was about to crash into Hua Xun.
Before she could get close, a beam of golden light, both gentle and powerful, enveloped Hua Xun, blocking the fatal blow from the Sky-Splitting Rhinoceros.
Hua Xun stared at the dazzling golden light and turned to look at the Divine Lord in astonishment.
He seemed to have anticipated this. With a slight twitch of his fingers, Hua Xun felt herself being lifted up by a gentle force and held behind the Divine Lord until the golden light dissipated.
The Sky-Splitting Rhinoceros, having missed its target, glanced at the severely injured young rhinoceros, its eyes growing even angrier, and it was about to attack again.
"Settle." A gentle, soothing voice rang out.
The Sky-Splitting Rhinoceros's soaring momentum dissipated in an instant, and it stood motionless in place, glaring at them with burning anger.
"It was neither of us who harmed your young daughter," the deity said slowly.
Whether it believed them or not, the Sky-Splitting Rhinoceros stared intently at them.
The deity sighed softly, looked at the dying young rhinoceros, and gently stroked it with his hand. Like spring rain nourishing the earth, the wound on the young rhinoceros's abdomen healed rapidly, and the bloodstains disappeared.
The young rhinoceros was stunned for a moment, then rolled over and stood up. After realizing that its wounds had healed, it quickly ran to the side of the Sky-Splitting Rhinoceros and rubbed against it affectionately.
The Sky-Splitting Rhinoceros was still unable to move, but the hostility in its eyes gradually disappeared. It tried its best to look down at its child, and tears seemed to well up in its eyes.
"Resolve it," the deity said again.
The powerful impact of the attack suddenly dissipated, causing the Sky-Splitting Rhinoceros to fall to the ground. However, it quickly stood up and examined the young rhinoceros's body.
Only after realizing that the young rhinoceros was safe and sound did it look at the deity and lower its head.
The deity said calmly, "The person you should apologize to is someone else."
The Sky-Splitting Rhinoceros straightened up, looked at Hua Xun, and bowed deeply.
Hua Xun was slightly taken aback. She glanced at Shen Jun's tall figure and didn't react for a moment, so she remained silent.
The Sky-Splitting Rhinoceros kept its head down, and the Divine Lord remained silent.
It wasn't until Hua Xun hesitated and said, "...I'm fine," that things changed.
The Sky-Splitting Rhinoceros then raised its head.
The deity also looked at the young rhinoceros and asked gently, "Where has the person who hurt you gone?"
The young rhinoceros opened its bewildered eyes, and after a moment, looked towards the southwest.
After pointing out the direction, the Sky-Splitting Rhinoceros quickly disappeared into the depths of the jungle with its young.
Hua Xun continued to gaze at the figure of the Divine Lord, pursed her lips, but did not know what to say.
Until her body was once again enveloped in divine light, transforming into starlight, she only had time to ask one question: "Where are we going?"
In the blink of an eye, she and the Divine Lord appeared in a city tens of thousands of miles away, and the Divine Lord's voice echoed: "Thousand Shadow City".
Hua Xun's pupils widened slightly.
Thousand Shadows City is the largest city in the northwest of the Demon Realm. Its lord is named Thousand Weaving Sorrows, and he has a stunningly beautiful appearance.
It is said that she has lived for nearly 10,000 years.
Back then, Baili Sheng unified the demon and monster races and slaughtered thousands of demon city lords. Qian Zhichou handed over Qianying City and submitted to her. Since then, Qianying City has always been under her jurisdiction.
Hua Xun surveyed the city.
This place is not as magnificent and imposing as the demon capital, Eternal Ashes City; in fact, it is somewhat similar to a human city.
Brightly colored pavilions and towers, bustling streets and shops, lined up one after another.
What surprised Hua Xun even more was that, although the demons were unruly by nature and never disrespected the God, very few of them worshipped him.
However, there are quite a few temples dedicated to deities in this Thousand Shadows City, and you can see portraits and statues of deities almost everywhere.
On the distant edge of the city, a nine-story pagoda stands tall.
Beside the nine-story pagoda stands a statue as tall as the pagoda itself.
The statue is exquisitely carved from white jade. With lowered eyes, it looks down upon all living beings, its face sacred and untouched by dust.
Although it cannot match the true form of the God-King in terms of splendor, it is the most similar deity statue that Hua Xun has ever seen to the God-King.
Hua Xun stared at the statue for a moment, then looked at the God, only to meet the God's gaze at once.
He was looking at her.
Hua Xun's heart skipped a beat, and she subconsciously looked away.
But when I actually moved it, I couldn't help but feel secretly annoyed.
When the deity saved and protected her just now, she thought that the deity had only never accompanied her to the mortal realm in his true form. Moreover, the deity had never truly promised her anything.
The deity only said "unless something unexpected happens," perhaps because something unexpected has occurred that she was unaware of, or perhaps he was still not used to being in the mortal realm.
It is she who likes and needs the God, not the other way around.
Hua Xun was born with an optimistic nature. Since she had already decided to stay by the God's side for one day, she would be happy for one day and had no intention of making things difficult for herself anymore.
Despite her continued low spirits and silence, Hua Xun was at a loss as to how to break the deadlock.
As they passed a temple dedicated to a deity, Hua Xun noticed a vendor selling amulets outside. He paused for a moment, then went up and bought one for a spirit stone. He silently entered the temple and knelt before the statue of the deity.
The deity stood in the courtyard, not going in, but only gazing at that figure.
The next moment, the girl's prayer echoed in his mind: "Lord God, could you please bless my peace charm?"
The deity was slightly taken aback. Since leaving White Mist Cliff, his mood, which had been inexplicably shrouded in gloom, was now inexplicably relaxed.
"Yes," he replied to the prayer.
The girl in the temple turned around almost immediately, her eyes sparkling. A few moments later, she smiled, got up, walked out of the temple gate, and stood in front of him.
The deity raised his hand and said with a smile, "A peace charm?"
Hua Xun placed the amulet in his palm, watching the golden light travel along the ink on the amulet paper, before returning it to her.
Hua Xun accepted the amulet and gazed at the unfamiliar face of the deity.
The deity was also quietly looking back at her, as if waiting for her to finish speaking.
Hua Xun moved her lips. She clearly wanted to restore her relationship with the God Lord to what it was before, but for some reason, when she thought about how the God Lord had silently refused her true body's descent to the mortal realm and then silently used an avatar, she couldn't bring herself to speak up and hope that the God Lord could face her in his true form.
Hua Xun ultimately didn't say it aloud, but simply hung the amulet on her purse and said with a smile, "Thank you, Divine Lord."
The deity paused, his eyelids drooping slightly.
"I see an inn ahead. Why don't we rest there today and explore it again tomorrow?"
"good."
"The demon race has a wide variety of guest rooms, including those shaped like birds, beasts, humans, and fish—representing all races. Which type would you prefer, Divine Lord?"
"Either is fine."
"Bird Clan guest rooms are mostly nests made of branches; could the Divine Lord also be one?"
"..."
"Or are they underwater guest rooms belonging to the fish-kin?"
The deity sighed helplessly, "Then let's have the human guest rooms."
*
On the White Mist Cliff.
The Nine-Tiered Divine Lord, seated on the lotus throne, slowly opened his eyes, a smile curving his lips. However, upon seeing the palace shrouded in white mist before him, his mind wavered slightly.
Aside from their true form, gods still possess countless appearances.
When their avatars descend to the mortal realm, they often appear without a physical form to avoid attracting attention.
Just like his alter ego who shares the same feelings and experiences at this moment, he has a face that the world will ignore when it sees him. Even if you pass by him, he will not leave the slightest mark on people's hearts, and he will not even be considered a stranger.
Everything that his avatars saw and heard when they descended to the mortal realm was presented truthfully in his sea of consciousness.
There was nothing unusual.
This time, only.
The clone in his mind's eye had a completely different appearance from his true self, smiling gently as he walked side by side with the girl.
It was clearly him, yet he seemed somewhat unfamiliar.
The girl never mentioned it again, wishing that he would stay by her side in his true form.
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