Chapter 654: Chapter 638: Practice

“Do you want the Vermilion Bird Venerable to kneel before you?”

“Yes.”

How could anyone not want that…

The demonic claws that emerged from the blazing flames, dripping with blood, surrounded by wails and screams, heads rolling, and heroes bowing, filled with fear and horror. That grotesquely cruel beauty — Zhao Changhe had not spared his words about it to the Vermilion Bird, proclaiming it truly beautiful.

Even without seeing the face under the mask, it was truly beautiful.

His words seemed casual, without any hidden intent, a pure compliment, but in reality, it was a man’s deepest desires of lust and conquest, something no one could deceive their own heart about.

But he had once dared not even think it.

Even two days ago, he hadn’t dared consider it… The faint hope in his heart was to one day overcome her, but even with victory, it was merely about stopping her from meddling in his and Chichi’s affairs. The deepest level of that hope was still 108,000 miles away, essentially hopeless.

Yet, she was Huangfu Qing.

Zhao Changhe found it hard to discern his emotions at the moment as he watched Huangfu Qing, half her face masked, serving him…

He didn’t dare think, even in dreams, about devouring those strangely enchanting red lips of the Vermilion Bird… Although her demeanor was different now, and her lips didn’t look as exotic and sexy, it was still her, unchanged in essence.

It could be said that any past grievances he had against Vermilion Bird had completely dissipated at this moment.

In this moment, as “your woman, Huangfu Qing,” she had stomped the face of the other identity, the Vermilion Bird, into the mud… At least at this time, her lover was more important than the Vermilion Bird, more important than the sect.

You want to play with Vermilion Bird, I’ll let you play with Vermilion Bird.

Such was her love; even if she ultimately held the sect in higher regard, there was nothing to harshly criticize, she had done everything Huangfu Qing should do.

Previously unsure how to regard Vermilion Bird, unsure whether to forge the Night Emperor’s Sword, Zhao Changhe now knew what he should do. She hoped for unity, the only plan was for him to replace the Night Emperor, so he would go ahead, regardless of his reservations and the difficulties with the Night Emperor’s Sword, he could not let her gesture go in vain.

He would bear the consequences. With preparations made, there shouldn’t be any issues.

…

“Are you satisfied?” Huangfu Qing wiped the corner of her mouth, reclining on him with a trace of melancholy, still wiping him: “This really is… dressing up as another woman for your amusement, shamelessly…”

Er… well…

Zhao Changhe coughed twice: “Could you convey a few words to the Venerable for me?”

“What?”

“First, ask her whether her faith lies in the Night Emperor himself, or in the ultimate philosophy of martial and human paths resonating with the heavens.”

“Is there a difference?”

“If it’s the former, a specific person, then any so-called ‘inheritance of the Night Emperor’ is false, and once the true Night Emperor appears, she will follow the Night Emperor’s command. If it’s the latter, a concept, then as long as someone progresses further than the ancient Night Emperor, representing the celestial bodies better than the Night Emperor, that would be the true Night Emperor. Like Wanzhuang, is she loyal to the Emperor, or to the land? Wanzhuang belongs to the latter, but what about Vermilion Bird? Could she view the latter as heresy, simply because it differs from the original Night Emperor’s intent?”

Huangfu Qing pondered deeply for a while, unable to settle her thoughts as she hadn’t ever considered this kind of issue.

When such an issue is clearly raised, the knowledgeable might find it quite stirring; she felt a bit moved and nodded faintly after a long moment: “I will convey it.”

“Secondly, no matter what’s worshiped, it ultimately comes down to ‘what it can bring to me.’ A figure like Vermilion Bird wouldn’t merely seek a refuge and peace of mind as ordinary people do; she needs to see tangibility to have faith, right?”

“Right. Like our cultivation, it’s tangible. Our resonance with the stars truly brings about enormous improvements; finding one’s star chart guarantees breaking through the Secret Realm. The facts are there, thus forming the foundation of our sect’s faith, we aren’t a cult like Maitreya that deceives people.” Huangfu Qing spoke earnestly: “Initially, you also practiced the Venerable’s method of celestial resonance to break through your acupuncture points, and the gains were genuine, weren’t they?”

Zhao Changhe said, “So… if I can help her achieve Breakthrough, what would she think? Eh eh eh… Hiss… how awkward…”

Huangfu Qing, electrified, withdrew her hand which had unwittingly exerted too much force, only to realize she nearly ruined her happiness for the rest of her life…

She stared blankly at Zhao Changhe, who was so bent over he could scarcely speak, finding herself almost at a loss for words as well.

Breakthrough.

For someone like her who was already top class in the human world, just a step away from ascending to the God Demon realm, if someone could guide her on how to achieve Breakthrough in the aspects of stars or fire, who could that be if not a divine being?

Especially if such guidance came from the mouth of a Martial Artist who had not yet broken through the Third Layer Secret Treasure, would that not be an incarnation of a divine being?

Huangfu Qing said earnestly, “Are you sure? This is not something you can boast about carelessly.”

“I can only say I’ll try.”

Huangfu Qing fell silent for a moment, then said softly, “The Venerable has ordered the sect members from all four high levels to rush to the Capital within three days for an important ceremony. During this period, she will come to you.”

Zhao Changhe responded, “Alright, I too need a day or two to prepare.”

Huangfu Qing stood up, hesitated for a moment, then leaned down and kissed him on the face, “I still have many errands to run, I’ll go handle them first. I… I look forward to a good outcome from your conversation with the Venerable. I hope to see you in the ceremony three days from now.”

Saying this, she left, looking back three times with each step she took.

If it weren’t for the multitude of things she needed to handle, she would have preferred to stay by Zhao Changhe’s side to see what exactly he was doing and on what basis he made those remarks.

Before leaving, Huangfu Qing glanced at the Underground Sky Dome, also feeling somewhat expectant.

Sometimes Zhao Changhe seemed quite arrogant, often saying things like, “It only takes one strike to kill you,” but the wild claims he made generally came true. His current wild claim seemed not to be without basis. Although this sky dome did not align with the will of the Four Symbols and seemed almost heretical or even useless in her hands as Vermilion Bird, could he really bring about something miraculous?

“Guard this place well and allow no irrelevant persons to disturb King Zhao. Should King Zhao have any commands, you must not neglect them and should carry them out immediately.”

“Yes.”

A response came from above, soon followed by silence.

Zhao Changhe stayed quietly on the high platform for a while, then entered the chamber below again.

The first thing he did was to take out the Sea Emperor Trident and begin smelting.

His smithing knowledge was all transmitted through San Niang’s Divine Soul linkage — knowledge without hands-on experience — and now he also needed practice. Melting and refining was a very good way to practice.

Compared to others who begin their vocational life with basic copper ore, the items he started with to gain experience were of much higher quality.

This was a Divine Artifact, its material could be refined into Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures no matter what, and there was enough to forge two extremely high-level swords.

But Zhao Changhe only wanted to refine a few material properties from this trident:

One was a self-recovering Divinity material, to be integrated into Dragon Sparrow, which might get nicked in increasingly high-end battles; having this would allow its continual use. Zhao Changhe absolutely couldn’t bear to discard Dragon Sparrow, just as he couldn’t bear to part with Wuzhui, hoping both could follow him forever.

Two related to Divine Soul, allowing him not to rely on the Dragon Soul Bow, and to achieve the Soul injury effect with just Dragon Sparrow. This also served to strengthen the spirit of Dragon Sparrow, encouraging her rapid growth since she could barely keep up with the fight and was stubbornly overconfident… Well, actually, the loli form was also his own fanciful idea, that tomboyish, haughty little ghost looked too much like a hip-handing loli, though she might not be in reality, maybe she looked just like Xia Longyuan? Regardless, if he could strengthen this spirit, it would become achievable to see what she truly looked like…

Three related to the Power of the Water Element; San Niang did not have a suitable weapon of her own, apart from that whip… he should give her something…

As the trident was thrown into the furnace, the Nanming Li Fire blazed intensely. Zhao Changhe sat quietly, silently feeling the changes in the materials as they melted, unmoving from morning until night.

———

PS: Today, “Chaotic World Book” has premiered exclusively at Qidian with voice, and I just found out about it myself; apparently, it’s voiced by a legendary narrator. Everyone interested might want to check it out, and there seems to be a lottery event too.