Chapter 1602 — The Righteous Path of the World

"When a man is near death, his words are kind."

Lang Wan watched Gong Tianzun scatter into ash and smoke, and shook her head. "But even so, it cannot hide what you have done these million years, playing jackal to the tiger. One word urging others toward goodness cannot wipe away the evil you have wrought in all that time."

She returned to the Thirty-Three Heavens of Wuyou Township and said to Yan Yunxi, "Gong Tianzun is dead. Please ask Empress Yanxiu of Jingping to draw in the net and purge the foxes."

Yan Yunxi was shaken to the heart. She at once dispatched a deity to Jingping to carry the news to Ling Yuxiu.

More than twenty days later, Xiong Qi'er came to the capital of Jingping and was received by Ling Yuxiu.

She was the true power behind the True Heaven Palace of the Western Lands, a figure of the same era as Ling Yuxiu. Though she was some ten years younger than Shen Mu, in the Western Lands her station and prestige stood even above Xu Shenghua's.

In its day the True Heaven Palace of the Western Lands had been a holy land as renowned as the Heavenly Sacred Cult, the Daoist Sect, and Leiyin Temple. This holy land chose its mistress by selecting one whose Dao heart was pure, the younger the better, so that she might win the recognition of the Four Spirit Pearls.

As early as the age of eight, Xiong Qi'er had won the recognition of the Four Spirit Pearls and possessed power as mighty as a true god's, far stronger than Shen Mu had been in those days.

Through more than a century of bitter cultivation she had reached an exceedingly high level in her Dao heart; that was why, when the Great Emperor's borrowed body, Wei Shijie, was to be slain, Ling Yuxiu had chosen to ask her to act.

"Gong Tianzun was likewise one of great divine consciousness, but she is not the same as the Great Emperor."

Xiong Qi'er heard out the whole account and pondered a moment. "The Great Emperor did not dare come into contact with Jingping's newest fruits of reform, but Gong Tianzun's reincarnation body did. Her reincarnation, Tao Xiufang, commands vast divine powers and stands out among the younger generation of Jingping; her fame is great. Your Majesty, I can kill her, but it will be hard to truly kill her. Her illusion realm of divine consciousness will interfere with me, and she will seize the chance to flee."

Ling Yuxiu said, "Then whom do you think should go kill Tao Xiufang, if we are to have certainty enough?"

Xiong Qi'er said, "To kill Gong Tianzun, high combat strength is not necessarily enough. Whoever kills her must possess a still greater divine consciousness, one able to see through every illusion of hers. Therefore Dao Lord Lin Xuan, Zhankong Tathagata, and the Immortal King of Yujing, I fear, will none of them do; she could easily slip away from them. Divine Blade Luo and Zhe Huali are mighty indeed, but dealing with her divine consciousness would be difficult for them as well. So I recommend one man, whose divine consciousness is vast and whose divine powers are immeasurable, and who can break Gong Tianzun's reincarnation body. Only, this man is not in Jingping."

Ling Yuxiu's heart stirred faintly, and she smiled. "I know where he is. Wait two days."

Two days later, Xue Hu'er arrived at Shangjing. Ling Yuxiu explained the matter, and Xue Hu'er laughed. "So that is how it is. I will summon him."

"Thank you for the trouble, Ling'er."

Xue Hu'er set up an altar and performed the rites herself. The altar established a link with another world, and the sky split open, revealing an incomparably vast opening, at whose far end lay a boundless, endless domain.

A deep, resonant voice rang out, echoing back and forth above Shangjing: "Who is it that summons the godson of the supreme sovereign of the Beast Realm..."

"Pi!"

Xue Hu'er called out loudly, "I am your big sister!"

The deep, resonant voice gave a start. After a moment, an enormous head lowered through the opening; Long Qilin poked his head out, his face wreathed in smiles. "So it is Big Sister. What important matter does Big Sister have for her little brother?"

"No important matter, and I cannot have you come over?"

Xue Hu'er stood on the altar, hands on her hips, brows and eyes bright with laughter. "But this time there is indeed an important matter. Come over quickly!"

"Big Sister, wait a moment."

Long Qilin drew his head back, and from the Beast Realm came the sound of conversation: "Foster Father, my sister is calling me over... Nothing will go wrong, Foster Father, rest easy... I will not fail to come back! This time I am going to see the Cult Leader, and my wife and children; I have not seen them in many years... Rest easy, rest easy, I will not leave Foster Father here alone..."

After another moment, a youth with a qilin's head, dragon horns, and a human body descended from the Beast Realm onto the altar. It was Long Qilin, dressed in black robes inlaid with gold and jade, luxurious beyond words.

Xue Hu'er looked him up and down and said with a cold smile, "You have grown rich in the Beast Realm, with a noble station, while your Yan'er was left at Great Black Mountain to hatch eggs, and your children are already a flock. Are you not afraid some male bird will lure your wife away?"

Long Qilin said with a placating smile, "Foster Father cannot manage the Beast Realm alone, so I help him run it. I want to come back, but Foster Father will not let me go. Yan'er and I are already properly wed; the Southern Emperor himself gave his consent! Besides, all the beast clans under heaven are in my keeping. Who would dare poach from my wall?"

Ling Yuxiu said, "Long Xiao regards you as his godson, but you are likewise a hostage held against the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping. Naturally he will not let you return."

Only then did Long Qilin notice her, and he hurriedly made his salute. "Your Majesty."

Ling Yuxiu said, "No need for such courtesy. The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping saw that you had grown up, and so let you out to accomplish something of your own. These years you have cultivated under Long Xiao, and no doubt have gained much. Just now the little princess of the True Heaven Palace said you can deal with Gong Tianzun's reincarnation body, Tao Xiufang; that is why you were summoned back."

Long Qilin looked at Xiong Qi'er and recognized her at once. Xiong Qi'er ran over, cheering and skipping. "Slide! Slide!"

Long Qilin said helplessly, "You are now the head of the True Heaven Palace, and I am the young lord of the Beast Realm. How can we do something so undignified?"

"Slide!" Xiong Qi'er insisted, firm as a knife-cut.

Long Qilin had no choice but to reveal his true form, transforming into a colossal creature, lifting his tail so that it formed a great arc.

Xiong Qi'er scrambled clumsily up to the tip of his tail and slid down from the top. Long Qilin's body dipped, and the girl slid onto his back, then was carried by momentum up into the air, giggling without pause, then rushing down again.

This was no simple single slide; Xiong Qi'er slid for a long while without stopping. Ling Yuxiu said helplessly, "My dear minister, the real business is more important."

Xiong Qi'er hastily stopped, her face flushed red with embarrassment.

Long Qilin turned back into a stalwart youth and said, "When she was small, the Cult Leader did not care to humor her, so I was the one who played with her like this. Where is Tao Xiufang now? Once she is dealt with, I must go see my wife and children. Lest some unwise male bird..."

Xiong Qi'er took out the Book of Life and Death and the records on Tao Xiufang and handed them to Long Qilin, saying excitedly, "I will go with you!"

Long Qilin hurriedly looked at Ling Yuxiu, who smiled and said, "Long Pi has not returned for many years, and must still go to the Ancestral Court to see Yan'er and the children. My dear minister, we can speak of it another time."

Xiong Qi'er had no choice but to give it up.