Chapter 202 At least I need to give myself a chance to move forward...
Asagiri looked up at the portrait of Xuanwu God, and for some reason, for a moment, she felt that the God didn't seem so handsome anymore.
When she came to her senses, she had already unconsciously walked towards the portrait of the God. In the past, she would never have dared to approach this place, as she felt that the God was sacred and inviolable here.
Even if it's just a portrait, it doesn't diminish her deep respect for Lord Xuanwu.
But those words floated over again.
[You've never even seen the deity in person, yet you fell in love with him after just one glance at his portrait. Do you think that's possible? It's just a portrait; you don't even know if it looks like the real person. Even if the real person and the portrait are exactly alike, looking at the portrait, you still don't know what kind of person he is.]
Xiang Bei patiently advised her, explaining that the female protagonist's soul was incomplete. Although she had the ability to think, she was noticeably slow in both her actions and speech.
In the words of the original text, she was simply acting on instinct, loving the male protagonist and waiting for him to return.
Xiang Bei couldn't hold back any longer. The male lead had been undergoing tribulations in the mortal realm for hundreds of years, yet he couldn't even recognize the female lead who was impersonating him. He kept saying that he only loved the female lead and was living a very comfortable life.
The female lead is different. She waits patiently for hundreds of years until the male lead returns, only to be tormented and left battered and bruised, all to make him realize his true feelings.
This is such a ridiculously bad plot device.
Xiang Bei expressed her incomprehension, saying that after so many years, why did the female lead insist on clinging to the male lead's crooked neck tree instead of doing something else?
Instead of wasting time, you should cultivate yourself properly, find your other souls, and give yourself a healthy body.
Asagiri looked at the image of the deity in the portrait and fell silent, unusually, without refuting Xiang Bei's words.
She pondered slowly, watching helplessly as the divine lord with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes in the portrait transformed into a bizarre, unrecognizable creature.
Asagiri's eyes widened, and she subconsciously took two steps back. When she looked again, the portrait of the god had not changed.
Xiang Bei withdrew her hand. She had just bought an item from the system shop. As long as the female lead looked at the portrait for more than three seconds, the male lead's portrait would turn into various ugly shapes.
Since the original story follows the female lead's plot, and she falls in love with the male lead just by looking at his portrait, let's start with the portrait.
Asagiri naturally discovered that as long as she kept staring at the portrait of the god, the god in the portrait would turn into an ugly monster.
Look at him a little longer, see what he looks like when he turns into an ugly monster. Will you still feel happy just looking at him?
Asagiri did indeed look at it. She looked very carefully, watching the people in the portrait turn into all sorts of ugly monsters, as if she hadn't even glanced at them, and felt her heart pounding faster.
"No," Asagiri said, shaking her head.
See? It's just a portrait, not a real person. If you really like it, I can paint it for you, whatever you like. Don't have any expectations of a portrait. A portrait is inanimate; it doesn't move. No matter how beautiful it is, how can you project your feelings onto a portrait?
The male lead is only somewhat decent in his portrait; in real life, he's like a lunatic, constantly giving the female lead the cold shoulder. If the author hadn't forced the female lead to like him, I really don't know who would be so devoted to a man like that.
Asagiri looked at the portrait again, she felt a different emotion.
To become an immortal, one must have a goal. Are you content to spend your entire life as a cleaning fairy?
"I'm willing."
Xiang Bei: "..."
"I'm stupid, I'm slow at doing things, and even my cultivation is much slower than others. Apart from these, I really don't know what else I can do."
Xiang Bei sighed and put her hand on Chao Wu's shoulder.
No, I don't think you're stupid. It doesn't matter if your cultivation is slow; what matters is that you will ultimately gain something.
Asagiri smiled sheepishly, "Well, no, the magical power I cultivate cannot be retained. In the end, all that magical power will be consumed. The fairy who takes care of us doesn't even know how someone with my aptitude could ascend to become a god."
Xiang Bei: "..."
"Alright, stop there. Perhaps your cultivation method is incorrect. We can try again; there's bound to be a method that suits you."
"Is it really possible?"
How will you know it can't be done if you don't try? If you give up on yourself, you might as well be a cleaning fairy for the rest of your life.
She couldn't stay a fairy maiden forever. After the male lead returned from his tribulation with the female supporting character, her good days as a fairy maiden were over. After being tormented for a while, she went off to live happily ever after with the male lead.
No, Xiang Bei quickly shook off the images in her mind. She was already here; how could she just watch the female lead repeat the same mistakes?
Asagiri looked at the changes in the portrait and felt it was too ugly. All sorts of strange shapes had appeared, making it impossible for her to look at the portrait of the god directly. She simply covered her eyes with her hands.
A voice in her mind seemed to be saying that this was wrong. No matter how ugly Xuanwu God became, it was all an illusion. She loved the real Xuanwu God.
Then another voice emerged, saying that a portrait is, after all, a portrait, and how can you compare a real person to a portrait? The two are ultimately different.
Asagiri listened blankly for a while, but still felt that what Xiang Bei Sanxian, who had not shown himself, said was right.
A portrait is just a portrait; no matter how beautiful it is, it cannot speak or move.
[Keep cultivating diligently. When your magical power is strong enough to shoulder responsibilities, you can have your own temple, and then you can hang as many portraits of yourself in it as you like.]
Xiang Bei also did some research and found that the gods in the original text all had to undergo rigorous tests. Only those who fully met the requirements could move into the temple and take charge of a region.
Fairy maidens and attendants can all cultivate, but their cultivation path is much slower than that of immortals born with divine bodies.
Needless to say, the female protagonist is also in a difficult situation. She has a seal left by her parents, and her soul is incomplete, making her cultivation path even more difficult.
Xiang Bei continued to encourage Chao Wu.
If you want your own temple, you can't be afraid of hardship. Let's start tomorrow—oh, no, since we're going to cultivate, let's start today.
Now?
"Is it not possible now? I see you've almost finished cleaning; that handrail next to you, I think you've wiped it more than twenty times."
While Asagiri was lost in thought, she was still unconsciously wiping with the cloth in her hand. Xiang Bei couldn't help but praise her, "She's really dedicated."
Looking down at the rag in her hand, Chaowu hesitated for a moment before looking up at the sky and saying, "But I am just a little fairy in the divine realm. If I want to have my own temple, I'm afraid it will take me thousands or even tens of thousands of years."
【Doing nothing and just watching all day is useless. This temple isn't something you can obtain with your willpower; you need to take action. That's why I told you to start cultivating now. No matter how many years it takes, at least give yourself a goal to strive for.】
Asagiri hesitated and said, "Then how am I supposed to cultivate? I have absolutely no clue about how to do it, Immortal Xiangbei."
She knew she couldn't cultivate and had little confidence in herself; she was only worried that it might be too much trouble for Xiang Bei Sanxian.
Don't underestimate yourself. How will you know you're incapable if you don't cultivate? Even if you really are incapable, is it because your methods are wrong? Solve problems instead of worrying. You'll only create unnecessary trouble for yourself. Just think about how, when you're as powerful as Lord Xuanwu, you can have your own temple, and maybe even take his place.
"Replace Xuanwu Divine Lord?"
"Yes, gods have their responsibilities; becoming a god doesn't mean you can get away with everything. Don't you know that?"
Asagiri shook her head. She had inexplicably ascended to heaven. She hadn't stayed on Penglai Immortal Island for long before being taken to the Ninth Heaven by an envoy from the Divine Realm. She was then assigned to the temple of the Xuanwu Divine Lord as a cleaning fairy.
The temple's presiding fairy told her that her task was to clean the temple for the god, and that nothing else was her concern.
Asagiri knew that her brain wasn't working well and that she would stutter when she spoke too quickly, so she just focused on doing her own thing.
But even she, in her naiveté, knew that sweeping the floor would never turn her into a god.
To become a god, one must cultivate diligently.
But she didn't even know how to cultivate. Before ascending, she was slow at everything, even when thinking. So she rarely thought about these things afterward.
After ascending to heaven, one sweeps the floor and then looks at the portrait of the Xuanwu God.
Remember this: mortals don't support idle gods, and becoming a god is not a reason to neglect everything.
"I know that; God has a responsibility to protect humanity."
Asagiri pursed her lips, a different thought forming in her mind. She realized something was wrong. Why was she constantly sweeping? Why couldn't she cultivate?
Xiang Bei didn't rush her, giving her time to think it over. Seeing that the female lead had actually begun to reflect on herself, Xiang Bei felt that this was a rare sight and was very gratified, proving that all her words hadn't been in vain.
After pondering for a long time, Asagiri said, "The duty of gods is to protect the safety of all living beings. I must cultivate to become powerful so that I can protect them."
Before she ascended to Penglai, she was an abandoned orphan living near a temple. Back then, she saw many people who liked to worship gods and would pray for their protection no matter what difficulties they encountered.
Asagiri's eyes are special; they can see things that others cannot. However, the gods who are worshipped seem to give no response.
It should be said that some deities will respond, while others will not.
Have you seen Lord Xuanwu respond to his followers?
Asagiri shook her head.
She had never even met the Divine Lord. When she ascended to heaven, the Divine Lord Xuanwu had already descended to the mortal realm to undergo tribulation.
Over the years, she had never seen the real Xuanwu Divine Lord; she had only seen his portrait, and she had fallen in love with the person in the portrait at first sight. However, she dared not say it aloud, and only dared to secretly admire him in her heart.
According to the fairy in charge, the portrait was painted by the goddess Shuyue herself for the god.
That was the first time Asagiri had heard the name "Goddess of the Moonlit Night," but she asked who it was. As a result, she was scolded by the head fairy and told not to ask questions she shouldn't.
Chaowu dared not ask any more questions.
But she would still sneak a peek at the portrait of Lord Xuanwu while cleaning.
Even while cleaning outside the main hall, she would occasionally glance inside. Asagiri felt as if she had lost her soul in that portrait.
But now someone is telling her that she doesn't actually like Xuanwu God-King at all. She actually likes the God-King's divine position because she subconsciously feels that she is not worthy of that position, so she turned to like the God-King instead.
Moreover, after the god's appearance became ugly, it seemed that she no longer liked him as much.
Asagiri thought about it, and couldn't help but sigh again.
That's the position of a god-king! How could she not want to become an even more powerful god?
If she becomes a god, then temples of her will appear in the mortal world. Wouldn't the wishes of those mortals who pray in her temples be granted?
Asagiri was lost in thought, but one question remained: "How exactly do I cultivate?"
She didn't see the strange character appear, but she heard a voice behind her ask, "What do you want to cultivate?"
Asagiri turned around and saw the fairy in charge of the temple.
"It is I who want to cultivate, I want to become a God-King." Chaowu looked at the head fairy and said seriously.
Looking at her silly expression, the fairy in charge looked at her in surprise, "You want to cultivate?"
It was the head fairy who initially brought Asagi to the Xuanwu Temple, simply because Asagi seemed a bit dazed. Although Asagi thought she was hiding it well, how could the fairy not notice her infatuated expression as she stared at the portrait of the God?
However, it is also known that she has no bad intentions. The God Lord is of noble birth, the son of the Father God, and many goddesses and immortals admire him. He does not lack Chaowu.
She would diligently follow any instructions given to Asagiri to clean the temple daily.
The fairy in charge glanced at the portrait and then looked away.
After the goddess Shuyue left, the god lived in a daze. He searched through all the things the goddess had given him. When he found this portrait, he sat with it for several days, and finally hung it in the most conspicuous place in the temple.
At that time, the fairy in charge knew the god's thoughts. Although the god did not say it, he was deeply in love with the goddess. His descent to the mortal realm to undergo tribulation was also to find a way to be resurrected.
Knowing that Asagiri might not understand, the fairy in charge still advised, "Asagiri, the God-King has someone he loves. Don't let yourself get caught up in it, understand?"
"Where are you going to be trapped?" Asagiri looked at the head fairy in confusion.
The fairy in charge sighed, thinking to herself that the child was indeed ignorant.
"This portrait was painted by the God-King's beloved. The God-King already has someone he loves, do you understand?"
"I understand, Fairy, are you afraid I'll be sad?"
Asagiri looked at the words floating past her eyes and then realized what they meant.
To put it bluntly, it's a lack of genuine care. If you truly loved someone, why wait until they're dead to realize your mistake? It gives off a pretentious vibe.
Looking at the expression on the head fairy's face, Xiang Bei could roughly guess what she was thinking. She probably thought that the God Lord was a pitiful and devoted man.
The way the male lead acts as if he's going to die always touches many people's hearts, making them realize his deep affection for the female lead, and ultimately bringing the two together.
In reality, the one who hurt the female lead the most was the male lead, yet he punished everyone else but couldn't bring himself to be harsh on himself.
Asagi looked at the words floating before her eyes, then repeated those words to the head fairy, and finished speaking with a puzzled look on her face, "Head fairy, since the god lord liked the goddess Shuyue, why didn't he treat her well when she was alive, but only realized that he liked her after she died?"
The fairy in charge was also taken aback; this was a perspective she had never considered before. "Perhaps it's because the God-King isn't good at expressing himself."
“In that case, even if the Goddess Shuyue is dead, the God should continue to hide his emotions. Why does he have to show them only after she dies?”
The fairy in charge could not answer this question, because she did not know why either; sometimes she did not even know what the god was thinking.
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. You just said you wanted to cultivate?"
“Yes, I want to cultivate.” Asagiri nodded vigorously.
"You still want to become a god-king?"
The morning mist continued to nod.
"You little fool, you should do your job well first." The head fairy didn't take Chaowu's words to heart.
In her opinion, Asagiri was a bit silly, and her thoughts came in waves. Although she didn't know what kind of luck she had gained to ascend to immortality, she was fortunate to be a reliable and obedient person, which was why she had arranged for her to be here.
The God-King seems gentle, but he is actually not easy to get along with, especially after the incident with the Goddess Shuyue, he became much more aloof.
Even the idea of descending to the mortal realm to undergo tribulation was proposed very suddenly. However, as the fairy in charge of the temple, she had no right to question the god's decisions.
Asagiri's words made the head fairy feel for a moment that the Moon Goddess's fate might be related to the God Lord's attitude.
The burning of the spirit Udumbara in the Western Spirit Realm and the death of the son of the Heavenly Emperor and Empress are both related to the Goddess Shuyue. However, until the very last moment when the heavenly lightning struck, the goddess denied any involvement in the events.
The fairy in charge sighed. The matter was already settled, and the goddess Shuyue had also been annihilated. There was nothing she could do to change it.
Looking at the serious-looking Asagiri, the fairy in charge smiled and said, "Then you'd better work hard."
Perhaps her perfunctory tone was too obvious, and Chaowu became a little anxious, quickly grabbing the arm of the head fairy.
When she gets anxious, she tends to stutter, and it takes her a long time to utter a complete sentence.
But the fairy in charge understood.
"Are you really serious about cultivating, or just joking?"
“Yes,” Asagiri said firmly.
"Do you know those basic theories and Taoist knowledge of cultivation?" the fairy in charge asked.
What she described were lessons that even immortals had to learn. Even those born with divine potential still needed to study to learn how to cultivate themselves.
Asagiri had become an immortal in a rather muddled way, and lived her life in a similar state of confusion. But when the head fairy looked at her with those eyes, her heart softened instantly.
Looking at Asagiri, I had no idea what those things were.
The fairy in charge sighed, "Do you know about the Heavenly Book Pavilion?"
"Know."
"If you truly want to cultivate, after cleaning the temple each day, you can go to the Heavenly Book Pavilion to find some basic cultivation theories to study. Once you understand them, then we can talk about other things."
"The Heavenly Book Pavilion?"
“Yes, go there and take a look. You might find a cultivation method that suits you,” the fairy in charge said with a smile.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
