Chapter 178 Resonance of the Sea of Clouds Today's sea of clouds seems somewhat...
The sea of clouds today seems a bit strange, always creating ripples that are only seen on the surface of water, which become more pronounced the further west you go, the more obvious the cave dwellings and blessed lands of the demon immortals are.
"Why is the sea of clouds so turbulent?" The young boy in blue robes from Jiya Mountain was burying discarded pills under the medicine field when he noticed the strange phenomenon in the sea of clouds not far away.
The little boy in red next to her stood on tiptoe and peered in for a while before shaking his head repeatedly: "Go tell the adults."
The boy in green quickly sped up his work, and soon he and his companion had buried the several gourds of discarded medicine.
“That’s how adults are.” The boy in blue pointed at the sea of clouds and looked at the tall man beside him.
"Strange... Whose enlightenment is this? How can it be so grand?" The man frowned slightly, his fingers flying as he calculated, but he gained nothing.
"Is it an epiphany?" The child in red was more lively and bolder than his companions.
The man responded softly before explaining, "This is a resonance of the sea of clouds, but usually the resonance of the sea of clouds only extends to within ten miles of the enlightened one. I have never seen such a magnificent sight before."
"Even adults have never seen this before..." The little boy in red stood on tiptoe, his eyes full of curiosity, gazing into the depths of the sea of clouds.
The man paused as he turned to leave, a hint of sadness flashing in his eyes: "I suppose so. I was still young then, and I only heard about it from my elders."
"When the adults were young, that must have been a story from many years ago," the child in red murmured with emotion.
The man smiled and patted her head: "Yes, it has been... many, many years."
Such a massive cloud sea resonance phenomenon has awakened not only Jiya Mountain, but the entire cultivation world, as long as they are not in seclusion, has noticed this anomaly.
"The last time I saw such a resonance of clouds was more than three thousand years ago..." The old man in Qingliang Cave stroked his beard and sighed softly.
His figure was slightly transparent, swaying in the breeze, adding to his already ethereal quality.
Beside the old man was a middle-aged woman with a serious expression and a hint of reminiscence in her eyes: "Yes...it has been more than 3,500 years."
"I wonder how she is now?" The old man turned to look at an unfinished chess game in the cave.
The middle-aged woman shook her head: "She hasn't yet overcome the hurdle in her heart, and now I don't know where she went."
"Spending her days wandering in the sea of clouds, drunk and unconscious every day, let alone you, if she didn't want to appear, who could find her!" The old man's tone carried a hint of reproach, then he sighed, "This strange occurrence might be related to her, you should go and look for her."
The middle-aged woman thought for a moment, nodded in agreement, and left with a flick of her sleeve.
The old man watched her departing figure and sighed softly, "I wonder if existence beyond fate is good or bad..."
Qingyan, who was with the Sparrow Fairy, looked speechlessly at Sang Zhitao, who was already in a state of enlightenment.
Looking at the rich azure aura around her, the Sparrow Fairy couldn't help but marvel: "As expected of a divine beast, the last time you caused such a massive cloud sea resonance was more than three thousand years ago, wasn't it?"
Qingyan glanced at her speechlessly, then turned her gaze back to Sang Zhitao. She couldn't help but stroke her chin and murmur softly, "Could it really be that the divine beast race has extraordinary talent?"
“When she first started learning, her talent wasn’t apparent, but now that she’s had an epiphany, it’s clear she’s a true genius…” The Sparrow Fairy seemed to remember something and chuckled smugly. “Although she’s a divine beast, she’s still considered one of our demon immortals.”
Qingyan looked at her with disdain: "I don't mind joining your demon immortal clan, but I'm afraid the spirit clan won't agree."
"You're not exactly a Spirit Clan either. If the first cultivator you encountered when you entered the cultivation world hadn't been a Spirit Immortal, they wouldn't have had a chance to pick up the scraps." Sparrow Immortal couldn't hide her disdain as she thought of the Spirit Immortal who would show off in front of her from time to time.
Qingyan raised an eyebrow: "That has nothing to do with me."
As they were talking, the blue aura around Sang Zhitao flickered and was absorbed into her body. As she moved, the resonance between the clouds and the sea disappeared, and she opened her eyes.
"However, you've already entered the Breaking Illusion Realm right after starting out." Qingyan smiled and praised her, sensing the aura emanating from her.
Sang Zhitao lowered her head and felt the power within her body, experiencing the reality of cultivating immortality for the first time.
She looked at her hands, instinctively channeling her inner energy, and then a delicate little daisy appeared in her palm.
Seeing a flower growing from her palm, the two people opposite her were taken aback, then suddenly burst out laughing: "It seems she has extraordinary talent."
"Do I not need to chant incantations to use spiritual power?" Sang Zhitao asked curiously, gently touching the daisy.
Before Qingyan could speak, the Sparrow Fairy quickly answered, "This is your innate ability, so you don't need magic."
As she spoke, she pulled out a ray of spiritual light from her sleeve, flicked it gently, and the light went straight into Sang Zhitao's brow.
Thousands of spells and hand gestures immediately appeared in her mind.
“Spiritual power is what the demon realm calls it; we call it Qi.” Qingyan took a sip of water. “But it doesn’t matter if you keep it to yourself. Spells and incantations are ultimately minor paths. Cultivating your true nature and your true self is the path of the Great Way. Don’t lose sight of the bigger picture for the sake of the small.”
Sang Zhitao nodded obediently.
The fairy took a plate of fruit from the table and put it into her arms: "Your enlightenment took three days. Qingyan and I have already finished the good food. You should eat some fruit."
She opened her mouth as if to say something, but suddenly frowned and looked outside: "Why would anyone come to my remote place?"
Qingyan's expression stiffened. She paused for a moment before saying softly, "Perhaps it's because of me."
The Sparrow Fairy was taken aback and looked at her suspiciously: "What? You invited other people to my place? That won't do, my spirit beasts aren't enough for you to eat."
Qingyan was taken aback by her words and couldn't help but roll her eyes at her: "What I meant was that an old friend came looking for me!"
The Sparrow Fairy awkwardly touched the tip of her nose: "Since you are a senior, I should naturally welcome you with open arms..."
As she spoke, she walked quickly outside.
Before she even stepped out the door, she saw a middle-aged woman with a serious expression standing outside.
"You..." When the Sparrow Fairy saw her like this, she was stunned for a moment. A figure flashed through her mind, and she hurriedly tried to speak.
The middle-aged woman bowed slightly and clasped her hands in apology: "I hope the demon immortal will not be offended by my sudden arrival."
Seeing her so polite, the Sparrow Fairy was startled and quickly returned the greeting: "Are you Lady Qinglan?"
The middle-aged woman nodded slightly.
The Sparrow Fairy's expression grew increasingly respectful. This was a prominent figure from the same era as Qing Yan. Although she was quite playful and unceremonious with Qing Yan, she still held great respect for the elders of that era, especially this person in front of her who had performed great deeds.
"May I ask what brings Lord Qinglan here?" Que Xian asked, bowing. Then, realizing her actions were somewhat disrespectful, she quickly explained, "This humble fairy meant no harm. Would you please come inside and we can talk?"
She didn't notice Qingyan's stiff face in the room at all.
Just because Que Xian didn't notice doesn't mean Qing Lan didn't. At this moment, Qing Lan stared intently at Qing Yan in the room, her usually serious face showing a rare hint of excitement.
"Qing...Qingyan..." Her voice trembled, as if she could hardly believe that the person she had been searching for for so long had appeared before her.
Qingyan opened her mouth, and after a while, she greeted Qinglan in a hoarse voice: "Long time no see, Qinglan."
Only then did Que Xian realize that Qing Yan's earlier mention of an old friend coming to visit referred to Qing Lan.
However, she quickly realized that Qinglan and Qingyan were contemporaries, and it was rumored that they had always been on good terms, so it could be said that an old friend was about to arrive.
Qinglan took a few deep breaths, pulled Qingyan up and down for a long time, and then said with some heartache, "You've lost weight again."
Sang Zhitao, standing next to her, was full of questions, staring incredulously at Qingyan's waist, which was several sizes larger than hers. She simply couldn't understand where the word "thin" came from.
The two chatted for a long time before Qingyan finally had time to introduce Sang Zhitao and Que Xian to Qinglan.
"You know the Sparrow Fairy, the Demon Master of the Demon Fairy Clan. This is the divine beast Phoenix, the cub I found."
She hesitated for a moment before explaining, "She used the Nine Heavens Spirit Inheritance technique and encountered an accident, ending up in Qingyuan Realm."
Qinglan looked at Sang Zhitao with a gentle expression: "Poor child, she looks just like you back then."
Her warm hand had just touched Sang Zhitao's hand when she suddenly paused, then exclaimed in surprise, "This child has actually reached the Breaking Illusion Realm, and can still conceal her aura so well. She is even stronger than you were back then."
Qingyan didn't feel at all that Qinglan was belittling her and praising Sang Zhitao. On the contrary, she proudly raised her chin: "Of course, I raised it."
Qinglan looked at her with affection before looking at Sang Zhitao gently: "Qingyan is the most unrestrained of people, I know you must not have understood."
Before Sang Zhitao could respond, she explained, "In the cultivation world, realms are divided into four levels."
"The first realm is attachment to appearances. All living beings are born with attachments. You must understand your attachments, just as you see a mountain as a mountain."
"The second stage is to break through delusion. Now that you know your attachments, you must break free from their shackles. If the first stage is to see your own heart clearly, the second stage should be to break through your own heart."
"The third realm, Mingzhen, means that you must cultivate yourself and understand your true self."
“The fourth realm…” She paused, then turned to look at Qingyan.
Seeing her like this, Qingyan smiled at her and said, "Why are you looking at me like that? My little phoenix is now in your hands."
Qinglan breathed a sigh of relief, took Sang Zhitao's hand, and continued, "The fourth realm is selflessness and merging with the Dao."
"Why is the Fourth Realm a four-character name?" Sang Zhitao asked curiously.
Qinglan was not surprised by her question, after all, this was something that almost everyone who knew about the ranking system in the cultivation world would ask, even she herself had asked it back then.
"It is said that everyone in the fourth realm is different. Some cultivate selflessness to enter the path of immortality, some cultivate all living beings to embark on the path of saving the world, and some cultivate the Dao to increase the power of the laws of heaven and earth."
"And what about you?" Sang Zhitao could sense Qinglan's aura.
That was the first time she had ever seen the ocean before she met her older siblings—deep, boundless, with even the raging waves as calm as a mirror.
Qinglan smiled and patted her head: "I cultivate the path of all living beings."
Sang Zhitao nodded thoughtfully and looked at Qingyan beside her.
Qingyan raised an eyebrow: "I cultivate the Dao of Harmony."
She then looked at the Mahjong Fairy.
The Sparrow Immortal smiled and touched his sleeve: "I cultivate the Way of Teaching and Moral Transformation."
"And you?" Qinglan gently tapped Sang Zhitao's brow. "You should be able to sense it too, shouldn't you, your future path?"
Sang Zhitao nodded: "I cultivate the vitality of all things."
“The vitality of all things… this is truly a difficult path…” Qinglan didn’t seem surprised; she sighed softly.
Seeing that the two people next to her looked surprised, but not Qinglan, Sang Zhitao asked curiously, "Why aren't you surprised?"
Qinglan stroked her head, seemingly implying something: "You should have cultivated the life force of all things..."
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