Chapter 183 Landscape and the Debate on Desire Something's not right.
Mingguang has lost weight.
How did Mingguang lose so much weight?
Mingguang is too thin!
Is he afraid of being seen, so he doesn't eat at all?!
When Bitao looked through the silver net and saw Mingguang's appearance, she was terrified.
Even after losing weight, Mingguang remained handsome and dashing, even more ethereal and otherworldly.
But his chest! It's so big it's almost half the size now, you can tell even through his clothes!
Ahhhhhh—
For Bitao, this was no less significant than the fact that from now on she could only eat half of a pig's trotter.
It's heartbreaking.
From Mingguang's perspective, Bitao soon saw another "White Impermanence".
At first glance, Bitao really thought it was a ghost official.
But upon closer inspection, Bitao was shocked to discover that it was actually Guanghan.
How did Guanghan become like this?
Bitao then thought of Zhan Kui's sudden ascension and traced it back from Guanghan's perspective. Bitao's feelings were indescribable.
She always felt that Zhan Kui and Guang Han were playing around, but Zhan Kui gradually developed genuine feelings for her, and she always imitated her, wanting to be a guardian and giving more in return. In the inheritance, Zhan Kui's incarnation, Zhu Jiuyin, was also Guang Han's mount. If Guang Han were to betray him, it would be a huge blow to Zhan Kui, who had never known failure in his life.
But Bitao never expected that... the promise Guanghan had made to her was true.
He truly did not let "the luck of the Koi Fairy run out".
Bitao saw Guanghan's "inheritance" and knew that it was the magic weapon and authority of the Southern Dipper Star Lord.
Zhan Kui was originally the mount of the Southern Dipper Star Lord. After obtaining power and magical artifacts, he was able to enjoy the offerings of the Southern Dipper Stars and even reshape the true form of Zhu Jiuyin.
Few things in this world are more moving than the deep affection of a seemingly heartless person.
Guanghan sacrificed everything to send Zhankui to ascend to heaven, and ended up in her current state... so it can't be considered a bad thing.
The immortal spirit of Guanghan has dissipated, losing its five senses and seven emotions, but it can now see the laws of heaven and earth and the flow of spiritual energy.
He was able to help Mingguang, and Mingguang seemed to have finally accepted him.
Bitao felt relieved and switched back to Mingguang's perspective.
As long as Mingguang accepts Guanghan, he will naturally plan for her and take her to heaven to assume her position.
Bitao's perspective overlapped with Mingguang's, and she eagerly absorbed everything about him.
I miss him so much.
Knowing that she would miss Mingguang so much after only a few days apart, Bitao would have wanted to be close to him before letting Dongjun take him away, regardless of whether he wanted to or not.
At that time, she was in the lower realm and learned that someone wanted to harm Mingguang. Bitao was only thinking about dying and infiltrating among the people behind the scenes to control the situation. She didn't even have time to say a few words to Mingguang.
However, now that she was separated from Mingguang by the Silver River, Bitao was quite content just listening to him speak.
Through Mingguang's perspective, Bitao saw Xiao Taiji, who looked much rougher and more mature, not far from Mingguang, as well as a group of people she cared about, including the immortals who had been hiding in various places during their descent to the mortal realm. They had all been taken under Mingguang's wing without any surprise.
What surprised Bitao the most was that Dongjun was still in the mortal realm...
Mingguang stood in front of the overturned Nine Heavens Palace. His men, following his instructions, dug out the Spirit Pool, which had once been the Spirit Gathering Array that separated the Immortal Realm from the Mortal Realm and had plundered life force.
The Spirit Pool occupies almost the entire underground area of the Nine Heavens Palace, with eight branches flowing towards the palaces surrounding the Nine Heavens Palace.
—Flowed to the elders of the Nine Heavens Palace at that time.
Therefore, Xu Li, who appeared righteous at the time, did indeed know about and support those nine elders who harmed the common people, and Bi Tao was right to kill them.
Moreover, those elders are insatiable. Despite being supported by the Nine Heavens Palace, they still set up formations in the hall to plunder life force and even summon mortal children into the formations to harm them. How utterly depraved they are!
Beneath this spirit pool was a teleportation array, although the array has now been destroyed and the spiritual energy of the spirit pool has completely dissipated.
But the traces of the spirit remain, and the bright light can still allow people to trace the whereabouts of those spiritual energies.
Following Mingguang's instructions, his subordinates retreated to a distance. Mingguang stood alone before the remnants of the formation and addressed the Spirit Pool: "The arena has rules. In the event of an anomaly, the accompanying immortals must obey the requests, advice, and orders of the participants. Now, in my capacity as the supervisor of the Nine Heavens, I hereby order the six immortals accompanying the competition to obey my command! Appear immediately!"
After Mingguang finished speaking, the scene was silent for a moment, and then the spiritual energy in the spiritual pool, which had previously dissipated, suddenly rose.
Immediately, several celestial figures appeared in the pool: "The Dou Department follows the celestial ranks, obeying the decree!"
"The Ministry of War follows the Emperor's decree and obeys!"
"The Thunder Department follows the Immortal's position and obeys the imperial decree!"
"The four celestial officials of the Celestial Realm shall obey the imperial decree!"
...
As the immortals who rarely appeared in the competition arena appeared one after another on the spirit pool, not only were the other participants in this competition, like Mingguang, shocked, but even Mingguang's subordinates who were unaware of the situation were stunned by the scene.
So there are so many true immortals in this world!
The immortals all possessed divine eyes that pierced the lightning, and their bodies were imbued with immense power and thunder.
Even the Netherworld's Earthly Fiend King came upon being summoned.
It turns out that the rumor circulating in the group that their leader was a prince from the Heavenly Realm... wasn't made up to win people over; it was true!
Mingguang stood before the immortals, overlooking the Spirit Pool, and said, "In this urgent situation, we must act expediently. Only the four duty officers will remain in the arena to record the results; the rest will be tracked down by the spirits. The beings of this realm have been deprived of their life force; I fear that the people of other star regions may also suffer this calamity. I have sent messengers back to the Nine Heavens to pay homage to the Heavenly Dao and the Earthly Court of All Realms, requesting that the celestial officials of the heavens be mobilized to assist in the pursuit. From the Nine Heavens and the Myriad Realms to the Nine Netherworlds and the Mysterious Spring, we will trace the source and exhaust the flow; those who harm the common people will be punished without mercy!"
All the immortals said in unison, "We will obey your decree!"
The immortals vanished in an instant, following orders to pursue the spiritual energy along the great formation.
The four duty officers who were ordered to stay behind once again vanished into nothingness.
Mingguang gazed into the void, hoping that this time those behind the scenes would be caught off guard, or at least thrown into disarray.
As long as we can help Xiao Taozhi get through this legal dilemma safely, that's all that matters.
Unbeknownst to him, at that very moment, Bitao was observing his words and actions from his perspective.
When he summoned the immortals who accompanied him, he and his men marveled at his awe-inspiring divine power.
When he, as the ruler of the Nine Heavens, ordered the immortals to investigate the flow of spiritual energy in this realm, Bitao already understood his true intentions from afar.
Having received Guanghan's assistance for several years, he should have known about the array ruins beneath the Nine Heavens Palace long ago.
He had previously remained inactive, pretending not to know anything, but today he suddenly appeared here with his men, leveled the ruins of the Nine Heavens Palace, and ordered the immortals to trace the origins of the palace.
He's trying to catch the person behind his back!
However, he remains in this realm and refuses to ascend in the same way as his subordinates. Even if he catches those people by the tail, if he cannot return to heaven to establish his position and personally investigate, it is likely that the people behind them have deep connections with the heavenly realm and will soon be able to escape unscathed.
Then there's no point in him doing this; it would only provoke those in this world who fear the Silver River Net and lie in wait to act rashly.
But when Mingguang said he wanted to return to the Nine Heavens to report to Kunyi and mobilize the immortals to help, Bitao knew that he was going to make a big fuss.
It became common knowledge.
He knew that Kunyi must be defending her at this moment. If a celestial being returned to the Heavenly Realm to report this, she would know, and the celestial masters who were defending her would also know.
Mingguang guessed that someone in the debate was trying to harm her and was making a show of force for her from afar.
Bitao was already shaken by the successive union of two souls.
Seeing that Mingguang himself had degenerated into a mortal, yet was still calculating time and plotting for her to ascend to the rank of Grand Immortal, tears welled up in her eyes uncontrollably.
How could he be so stupid?
How can he be so good...?
Bitao was deeply shaken and silently shed tears. When she opened her eyes, all the immortals were looking at her.
Bitao directly addressed the Heavenly Dao of the Myriad Realms: "Mingguang has found a formation in the lower realm that steals the life force of mortals. That formation is not only flowing to the elders who harm people in the competition star realm! Someone is using a formation to gather the life force of mortals and flowing it to other star realms to support who knows where. It's simply outrageous and insane! Mingguang has ordered the immortals accompanying the competition to ignore the competition arena and go to investigate where that spiritual energy is flowing to."
Bitao said to Kunyi in a coquettish tone, "Immortal Master, quickly send people to capture the villains who harm the common people, and send more people to protect Mingguang and the immortal positions in the competition!"
"If they dare to teleport away all the life force of the Star Realm, they will definitely wipe out the immortals competing for the throne. The immortals competing for the throne in this realm are all the best in their respective departments of the Nine Heavens. Killing them is to destroy the future of the Immortal Realm. This is simply... this is simply like someone trying to overthrow the Heavenly Realm and usurp the throne of the Emperor!"
"Or we could just cancel the competition and summon all the Immortal Sect members back. Once we find the villain who stole our life force, we can hold a tiebreaker."
Bitao declared with righteous indignation, "As long as all the immortals who competed can return to the Heavenly Realm safely, I can forgo this position of Grand Immortal!"
Bitao cannot let Mingguang's "mountain" be knocked in vain.
Interrupting the competition is unlikely. The immortals... at least Kunyi and Qingming Emperor clearly know the dangers of this realm, yet they still chose it as the venue for the third match.
The Immortal Rank Competition is not like sending elementary school students on adventures in the wilderness from a mortal school. The more dangerous and stormy the environment, the more they can be tempered into immortals who can truly bring peace to the world.
True immortals stand proudly amidst thunder and lightning, even when the sky collapses and the earth crumbles. If they are rushed to be protected by their elders at the slightest disturbance, then the celestial realm will perish on its own without anyone needing to overthrow it.
But since things have come to this point anyway, regardless of whether the people behind this plan to retreat or show themselves next, Bitao will first slap the big accusation of treason and rebellion on their heads.
Making them feel awkward and helpless will at least put Mingguang and his group under close surveillance for the time being, deterring those people from taking desperate measures.
Bitao's claim of sacrificing herself for the sake of immortals, and being so righteous as to give up even the position of Grand Immortal, was naturally not believed by any of the immortals.
Da Ju said with a hint of teasing, "As expected of someone who is dedicated to the common people, he is already willing to give up his own interests for the sake of the common people even before he has ascended to the highest immortality."
"Kunyi, why don't you go and see what's going on? Leave this to us."
The Heavenly Dao of Myriad Realms, Kunyi, glanced at Bitao, nodded, and then rose and disappeared into the clouds.
Bitao looked relieved and said, "I'm rested enough, we can continue."
This time, it was Dong Wanggong who teased her: "What, aren't you going to wait until your fellow immortals are brought back by the Heavenly Dao of the Myriad Realms, and then have your position as a Grand Immortal revoked, and then add another competition?"
Bitao pursed her lips.
The three officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water, who did not belong to any of the three departments, also revealed mocking expressions.
On the contrary, the Azure Emperor, upon hearing from Bitao that someone was plotting to usurp his throne, didn't even blink. He remained seated solemnly, watching Bitao being teased and adored by the immortals, his eyes thoughtful.
Bitao has already defeated the four debaters, leaving only the debates between Lei, Bing, and Shanshui to be fully demonstrated.
"Then, regarding the next debate, I, the Ministry of War..." The Yin Goddess Jade Maiden among the Six Ding and Six Jia Gods began to speak, "I, the Ministry of War, have a question."
Suddenly, the King of the Well spoke up, his voice rough and urgent, rudely interrupting the Goddess of the Underworld: "I'll do it!"
When he heard Bitao say that "Mingguang asked Master Suisai to investigate the flow of spiritual energy" and "someone is going to rebel," he was frozen in place, but then suddenly "came back to life."
"I, from the Department of Landscape Architecture... have a question!"
Jing Haiwang was so anxious that he leaned forward slightly, as if afraid that someone would try to take it from him.
He originally planned to wait until Bitao won all the arguments before delivering the final, fatal blow to her.
But when he heard about the changes at the competition venue, he couldn't sit still.
Originally, after Bitao ascended to heaven in the third competition, the Celestial Venerable ordered them to clear away all the formations that were plundering the spiritual energy of other realms.
However, having tasted the sweetness of having life at his fingertips, the Sea King did not completely obey...
He cleared away the offerings to the Heavenly Venerable, but left himself two hidden offering arrays that were directly connected to the spiritual veins of the two cultivation realms.
I thought everything was fine, but who knew that Mingguang could command dozens of immortals who were accompanying the competition to disregard the competition arena and scatter into the myriad realms to investigate the matter of plundering spiritual energy!
He had to use the illusion array below to temporarily escape Juntian, return his soul to his own abode, and deal with the spiritual energy array.
Bitao turned to look at Jing Haiwang, her peach blossom eyes revealing a strange light that made Jing Haiwang's hair stand on end.
However, remembering that he had come prepared, he calmed himself and said, "Since you are committed to the well-being of all people, I will ask this question on behalf of Heaven."
"Immortals are also human, and they have human desires. Walking, sitting, and lying down are human desires, and climbing to high positions or even protecting all living beings are all driven by human desires. If one day all your desires are satisfied, will you still remember your duty as an immortal, and will you still remember the living beings you are determined to protect today?"
After Jing Haiwang finished speaking, he waved his hand and brought Bitao's soul into the illusion.
He pointed to the illusion above the clouds, suspended in mid-air, where Bitao stood at the crossroads of countless paths.
"This realm is my Dharma vessel, 'self-generated cocoon,' and when the mind is attached to lustful acts, it is like a silkworm spinning its cocoon, born and dying on its own."①
King Jinghai said, "A magical artifact needs its master's care to function properly. Please wait a moment."
After he finished speaking, he and Bitao left their bodies and entered the illusion.
Bitao stood in a pure white open space, with dense, silk-like paths extending in all directions beneath her feet. These paths climbed upwards to the horizon, converging and intertwining like a net.
At the end where all the paths converge, there is one road that stretches to the horizon.
The azure clouds and brilliant sunshine symbolize that it is the only way out.
Countless paths, like silkworms spinning cocoons, trapped the peach blossoms within this enormous cocoon.
She stood on this small patch of open space where countless paths intersected, observing for a long time. She had to choose a direction and find the right path to reach the exit in the sky.
However, you can't tell the difference just by looking at it.
Bitao stepped onto the path directly in front of her.
The scene suddenly shifted, and she was pulled out of the illusion.
The Heavenly Dao of Myriad Realms, Kunyi, returned at some unknown time, placed a hand on her shoulder, and said to her, "The third competition has been terminated, and all the immortal positions in the competition have been recalled. Additional competitions will be needed later, so your promotion to Grand Immortal will be postponed."
The immortals dispersed one after another, and before Bitao could follow the others down from the clouds, the contestants who had been summoned back to the celestial realm suddenly appeared above the clouds.
Mingguang was among them!
After a moment of stunned silence, Bitao rushed over with overwhelming joy.
Mingguang also came in her direction, and the two embraced tightly above the clouds.
Then Bitao bumped into Mingguang's soft, muscular chest.
She felt a chill run down her spine as the illusion shattered.
She returned to the starting point of countless paths.
"Huh?" Tian Guan, propping himself up on his arms, looked at Bi Tao, who had broken through a realm in the illusion in the blink of an eye, and asked in surprise, "How did she sense that something was wrong with the illusion?"
The water official standing beside him also looked puzzled.
Beneath the clouds, among the immortals watching this scene, one offered an answer.
"Because Mingguang Xuanxian has lost weight, his pectoral muscles couldn't possibly be that big."
"Yes, yes, yes, when Bitao Xuanxian was resting on the clouds, she saw Mingguang Xuanxian burst into tears after being caught by Yinhan Gu. I suspect she was lamenting the loss of her big pectoral muscles."
"Hahahaha... I still remember during the second competition, Mingguang Xuanxian had no memory and was tricked by Bitao Xuanxian into sucking on him for over an hour. That changed my preference for a future partner from then on..."
"I still remember it vividly. At the time, I was wondering if Mingguang Xuanxian would kill himself after regaining his memories."
"I understand the reasoning, but isn't this way of breaking through to a higher realm a bit shameful? When Mingguang Xuanxian returns from the lower realm, I'll have to crawl into a hole in the ground again."
...
Zhu Ming, like the other immortals, instantly understood why Bi Tao had broken through to the next realm. He only wished he had eyes that had never seen Bi Tao's wicked deeds and ears that had never heard such sordid things.
Bitao was puzzled as to why she hadn't left the illusion after breaking it.
This time, she changed direction and took a different path.
In the blink of an eye, Bitao was out of the illusion again. This time, it was the Heavenly Dao of the Myriad Realms that pulled her out and told her that the competition and debate were suspended.
She and Mingguang embraced once again above the clouds.
This time, Mingguang was normal. Bitao hugged his waist and said with concern, "How did you get so thin!"
Then, past Mingguang's figure, she saw Taiji silently staring back at her.
The illusion shattered once again.
The immortal above the clouds remains a rarity, but the supporters of the peach blossoms below the clouds have once again provided the answer.
"Of course something's not right. How could that little brat Taiji not pounce on his Fairy Bitao immediately after seeing her, but instead just stare at her quietly?"
"That's right, hahaha. If Taiji were above the clouds, Bitao and Mingguang Xuanxian wouldn't be able to hug each other. You guys forgot about the place in the lower realm competition arena where Bitao Xuanxian and Mingguang Xuanxian reunited and happened to run into Dongjun confessing his feelings to Bitao. It was Taiji who rushed over and hugged Bitao Xuanxian at that time."
"Yeah, this illusion is way too easy to spot..."
"But why did Bitao Xuanxian return to the starting point after the illusion shattered? Did she lose the debate?"
"This is quite interesting. I want to see how Bitao Xuanxian will break Jinghaiwang's magic weapon!"
...
Bitao changed her path once again.
The scene was the same, but this time the illusion captured Bitao's thoughts. To mend the leaks, she headed towards the bright light, but was embraced halfway by the enthusiastic Taiji.
Bitao embraced Taiji and stared excitedly at Mingguang above the clouds.
Then everyone descended from the clouds, and she and Mingguang finally embraced in her Palace of All Living Beings.
Mingguang told her, "The immortals I ordered to go to all realms have already found the source of the spiritual energy being plundered. Mother and Father will soon..."
Mingguang whispered something in Bitao's ear, but Bitao didn't listen anymore.
She looked around her Palace of All Living Beings and found that the palace was... empty?
Where are her little waiters?
At this point, shouldn't they disregard all social cues and rush over to chatter on, expressing their regret that Zhan Kui, who failed to be promoted to the rank of Grand Immortal?
And so the illusion shattered once more.
Let's try another route.
It shattered again.
Let's try again.
Each time, this illusion can accurately perceive Bitao's thoughts, and based on her thoughts, make everything "reasonable" in the next illusion.
The faster Bitao breaks the illusion, the more realistic the illusion will become the next time it is regenerated.
The immortals above the clouds looked at Bitao as if she were an ant struggling in a hot pan.
The immortals below the clouds, who had initially found the spectacle amusing, gradually became serious.
"If one's mind is set on lust, it is like a silkworm spinning its cocoon, destined to live and die on its own... Does this mean that the Well King's magical artifact can create illusions based on the thoughts of the Peach Blossom Immortal?"
"It seems so. What should we do then? If it were a difficult problem like the ones the immortals posed before, Bi Tao Xuan Xian could easily solve it because she is too clever and too perceptive. But within this magical artifact, her cleverness and perceptiveness will become her own 'prison'."
"Why do I feel like... Bi Tao Xuan Xian looks increasingly weak?"
"It's getting weaker and weaker. Is this magical artifact some kind of sinister object?! It seems to be draining Bi Tao Xuanxian's immortal essence!"
"Aaaaaah, I'm so anxious! Peach, Peach, wake up!"
...
Bitao is actually very clear-headed.
Each time the illusion shattered, she was acutely aware of where she had gone wrong.
But once the illusion begins, she becomes immersed in it.
She already knew that this illusion was created and altered based on her own thoughts.
This is like her opponent being herself.
She knew all her weaknesses and desires, and constructed a swamp from which she would inevitably sink.
Moreover, every time Bitao returned to the crossroads, she could sense her own weakness.
As she gradually weakened, the illusion became more and more solid.
She kept choosing new paths, and the illusion had come to the point where the culprit who stole the life force of all living beings was caught.
Bitao had never seen the true face of the person behind the scenes, so the illusion created one after another for her.
She couldn't get her approval from any of them.
Each time, the illusion shatters.
Until the illusion transformed the rebellious immortal who manipulated the Nine Heavens Ancient Immortal Clan to fight against the Azure Nether Emperor and the Heavenly Dao of Myriad Realms into the Eastern Azure Flower Emperor.
Bitao's conviction, along with the incredibly fierce conflict in the Nine Heavens, began in Bitao's repeated conjectures.
Every step is cruel and real.
How did the Eastern Azure Emperor and his subordinates break through their limits? From where did they break through? Which weak immortals did they capture to use as threats? Who would win against whom? And who would lose?
What are their weaknesses? What temptations will they face? Who will rebel? And who will fight to the death?
Everyone who saw Bitao's vision felt terrified, as if they could smell the terrifying aura of a collapsing mountain range from afar.
Moreover, everyone was shocked by Bitao's mind and terrified by her superhuman memory and control over the immortals.
Halfway through the illusionary practice, Bitao gained countless more followers.
Because if a real conflict were to break out in the Nine Heavens, it seems that only those in Bitao's camp could win.
Fortunately, in the end, the Nine Heavens Immortals prevailed.
After the great war, too many immortals had fallen, so the emperor began to bestow titles upon a large number of immortals.
In Bitao's illusion, they saw their future as envisioned by her, in the heavenly realm under her rule, and what high positions they would rise to, and what a prosperous future awaited them.
The immortals' emotions rose and fell with Bitao's illusions. Her friends, who cared about her the most, were extremely anxious when they discovered that the illusions she created were becoming more and more wonderful, while her immortal energy became weaker and weaker after breaking through to the next realm.
Especially Zhan Kui, who had just transformed into Zhu Jiuyin, received unparalleled blessings and fortune from the six stars of the Southern Dipper, and returned to his previous state of outrageously good luck.
It's so good that even stumbling blocks on the road would roll away on their own.
She was no longer weak; she felt powerful enough to overturn the entire heavens on her own.
In Bitao's illusion, the servants of the Six Stars of the Southern Dipper rebelled. Zhan Kui was so angry that he went to the place where the Six Stars of the Southern Dipper were on duty and beat up all of them, even though they had no idea what had happened.
They refused to accept Guanghan before, causing Guanghan and her to suffer a lot in the mortal world. Now, on the Milky Way, Guanghan has become a white-haired creature. Although she has a unique charm, she has lost her five senses and seven emotions.
Even she doesn't remember!
With both old and new grudges combined, Zhan Kui beat the attendant of the Six Stars of the Southern Dipper so badly that he crawled on the ground howling in pain.
Exhausted from the fight, he hurriedly returned to the Heavenly Realm to continue watching Bitao's debate.
Bitao is still shaping a brand new celestial realm.
She was so weak that her immortal essence had dimmed.
Zhan Kui wished he could rush to the Department of Mountains and Waters, overturn the lair of the Well-Sea King, and force him to put away his magical artifacts and stop.
However, Zhu Ming gradually began to savor an unusual flavor within the illusion created by the peach blossoms.
Since it is a magical artifact that uses one's own desires to create an illusion.
So why is there no intimate scene between Bitao and Mingguang that makes people blind in Bitao's illusion?
She's a shameless bastard who has no conscience even in the arena. The "paradise" of desire she created is all about vying for power, ruling the heavens and ruling over all the immortals, but it has nothing to do with her favorite thing: "lust".
This isn't right.
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