The immortal is beside me

Chapter 113 Goodbye Goddess
Zhou Qing pushed open the office door and together with Li Jie pushed the things they bought from the wholesale market back into the room.

The purchase lasted for three days, and what was brought back were heavy items such as fertilizers for the community and hardware tools. Li Jie was sweating and panting after carrying them all the way, so he also cooperated by pretending to be trying hard to avoid embarrassing the former.

"I'm so tired, I'm going to get off work. Leave the rest of the work to me tomorrow."

Li Jie dusted off his hands, glanced at the clock in the room, and said to Fu Chenghao, who was sitting at the table, "Brother Fu, why aren't you leaving? It's already 5:15."

"Not yet, I still have some documents to deal with today." Fu Chenghao didn't even look up, "You guys go first."

"Hey, you look so stupid when you're so curly."

Li Jie sighed as he picked up his bag and went out with Zhou Qing, sighing as they walked in the corridor.

"A graduate from a prestigious university is a graduate from a prestigious university. He's so competitive." Li Jie lowered his voice. "In the unit-wide evaluation in two months, Fu Chenghao will probably be rated as an outstanding employee. In another two years, we might have to call him Director Fu when we see him."

"You make your own destiny, and this is what he deserves."

Zhou Qing could hear the unspeakable envy in his words, which was normal. Although Li Jie was a layman, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious when he saw the people around him soaring to success, just like a beggar would not envy the richest man, but would envy another beggar who begged for more money.

Although sometimes the beggar and the richest man may be the same person, for example, he had seen one before, named Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Indeed, we can't learn their style, so we'd better just take it one day at a time. I'm going this way."

As Li Jie spoke, he turned around and walked along the main road. Zhou Qing turned around and took another path home. He had not taken a few steps when the phone in his pocket vibrated.

He took out his mobile phone and a WeChat message appeared on the screen. The sender was "Yuan Tiangang".

That's right, Yuan Tiangang had WeChat. As the presiding master of the Tianji Academy, he was one of the most modern cultivators. Not only did he have WeChat, QQ, and email accounts, he even anonymously opened a blog to share his daily fortunes. He was reportedly once warned by the Internet police for spreading feudal superstition.

Brother Zhou clicked on the WeChat message and saw the text in a white frame.

Yuan Tiangang: Brother Zhou, regarding the inheritance contamination issue you mentioned to me earlier, Tianji Academy has made some progress.

This was something he had entrusted Yuan Tiangang, or rather, the Tianji Academy, to investigate a few days ago.

Previously, when he was eradicating the Buddhist Pure Land, he discovered that a foreign object had entered the inheritance, which seemed to be similar to the aura of the Peach Blossom Spring before. However, compared with the Peach Blossom Spring during the Southern and Northern Dynasties in his memory, the level of pollution in the Pure Land was more than one level higher.

To be integrated with the Pure Land at the Hedao level, the one who can achieve this level must be either another powerful being or a creation of a powerful being.

This matter involved a dispute at the level of the Hedao, and it also affected the mortal world, so he had to pay some attention to it. Unfortunately, the Buddha was very tight-lipped. He had burned through the Pure Land, but he still couldn't pry open the source of this pollution.

Therefore, shortly after the Buddhist incident, he informed Yuan Tiangang about the inheritance pollution, and used his Yishu and Tianjiyuan's intelligence network to investigate related clues throughout China.

And now what he was looking for appeared.

[Qing: How?]

Yuan Tiangang: Although we haven't yet pinpointed the exact source of the pollution, several soul-sucking incidents have recently occurred in the Yingzhou region. These incidents are somewhat similar to the methods you mentioned earlier, Brother Zhou. However, with the Khitan goddess in charge of Yingzhou, the situation was quelled a few days ago.

Xiao Yao?

This news still surprised him a little. He didn't expect to hear news about her in such a place.

Although he had heard that Xiao Yao was serving as a strategic figure in the government before, he did not think much about it.

After all, a thousand years ago she was a Khitan goddess and the guardian of the Liao Kingdom. Her titles were much more important than they are today, but this did not prevent her from coming to the Central Plains to find me every day when she had nothing to do. Those titles could not restrict her freedom.

He didn't expect that she was actually guarding the city now. This was completely different from his previous impression of her.

[Qing: Is she still in Yingzhou? I'll go find her in a few days to ask about her situation.]

Yuan Tiangang: This is the second thing I want to say.

Yuan Tiangang: Three days ago, she was in Yingzhou, but she has since cut off all contact with the outside world. Officials say she went to the Hulun Grasslands, hoping the Tianji Temple can divine her future. According to my divination, she's been plagued by bad luck and a dangerous fate. Perhaps this is related to what Brother Zhou is looking for.

Zhou Qing, who was destined to be in trouble, stared at the message on his phone with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Having worked in the same field for hundreds of years, he naturally understood the meaning of Yuan Tiangang's Yishu terms.

He hadn't thought much of Xiao Yao's arrival in the Central Plains when he heard the news. Although he had last seen her during the Song Dynasty and didn't know exactly what she had done in the past thousand years, there had always been many examples of nomadic peoples integrating into other regions, and the Khitan tribe doing so was nothing new.

But now that there is this saying that she has an "evil destiny", her entanglement with the grassland does not seem as simple as it seems.

What is the reason?

【Qing: I already know.】

After typing these words, he was about to press the send button, but he saw a flash of fire beside his shoulder, and a bird with red feathers appeared out of thin air and stood beside his shoulder.

"Khitan? Is she the celestial maiden who came to see you, Immortal Master, a thousand years ago?"

It craned its neck to read the words on the phone, its golden eyes blinking. It had also been around Zhou Qing during the Song Dynasty, so it naturally knew about a foreign woman who had had many interactions with the immortal.

"I've heard some things about her before. Immortal, it seems she came to the Central Plains because of you."

Zhou Qing shook his head: "I was not here when she came. Why is it because of me?"

"You weren't here when I founded the Demon Kingdom, Immortal Master, but it was all because of you," Phoenix said. "From what I've seen, if it weren't for you, Immortal Master, why would a Khitan like her come here to protect the Central Plains?"

This time Zhou Qing didn't say anything.

He had noticed Xiao Yao's special attitude towards him before, but that was just her admiration for the strong. In fact, there had never been any substantial intimate behavior between them. They had fought many times, and each time was earth-shattering.

At that time, he did think that this was just a little girl who simply pursued fighting, but now it seems that the little girl seemed to have undergone some changes in places he was unaware of, just like he himself was very different from before.

As time flies by, people often experience moments of hindsight. For example, only after graduation do we realize how precious the innocent days of school were, only after a breakup do we realize that a fleeting moment of love should be cherished, and only after the elders grow old do we realize that family time is gone forever.
This was also true for him. Looking back now, his 1,800 years of life had also been filled with moments of sudden realization. For example, when he saw the flourishing Tang Dynasty, he finally understood the meaning of the prosperous times that the old man had spoken of. When the Immortal Alliance collapsed, he realized the significance of those three hundred years to him. And when he stood before the tombstone of an old friend, he realized how extraordinary they had been.

Now he realized something was different again, but unlike the past, he could still reclaim that time. "Master?" Phoenix blinked and tilted his head as he saw him suddenly put his phone in his arms.

Zhou Qing raised his head and looked through the sky. All the information from heaven and earth poured into his mind.

Somewhere in the distance, a storm seems to be brewing.

1200 kilometers away, Hulun Grassland.

Under the winter sky, the withered yellow grassland rolls like a brown and yellow ocean.

In the yellow ocean, a piece of land encircled by a magic circle stands out like an isolated island on the sea. Thousands of figures wearing animal skin coats stand on the "island", and at first glance, each of them has a high level of cultivation.

In the center of the crowd, a priest in a long robe stood with his head raised and his eyes closed, as if waiting for something.

Until a gust of wind blew, the people around were suddenly startled, and the priest in the center also suddenly opened his eyes, and the blue sky and the figure with long hair flying in the sky were reflected in his pupils.

"You really came."

Supported by the crowd, the high priest slowly stepped forward and bowed to the figure. "Your Excellency Shaowa, I haven't seen you for six hundred years, and your grace remains as strong as ever."

"I am no longer called Shaowa." The woman's voice came against the wind.

"Haha, it's not just your faith, you've even abandoned your past name."

The high priest laughed hoarsely, "Having been away from home for so long, have you completely forgotten where you belong on the grassland? Even with your true family here, even a fleeting glimpse of the past can't bring you back to it?"

Xiao Yao in the air lowered her eyes and glanced at the thousands of people on the ground one by one.

Even though hundreds of years had passed, she could still recognize that these were Khitan monks. Hundreds of years later, the bloodlines of mortals of all races had long since mixed together, and only the immortal monks still retained their original bloodlines. In this sense, these were the only family members in the world who shared the same bloodline with her.

At first they were proud of her and put her on a pedestal, but when she no longer followed the chosen path, they dragged her down to the ground.

The Supreme Heaven does not need a person with his own will, and neither do these family members.

"We haven't seen each other for hundreds of years, and now you suddenly come looking for me..."

Xiao Yao's eyes widened slightly: "Is this also in accordance with Heaven's will?"

"You really noticed it."

The high priest remained noncommittal. "And today, the earth is undergoing great changes. Spiritual energy is surging in the world, and the interference of heaven in the human world is gradually increasing, reaching a peak not seen in a thousand years."

"The last time there was such a change was eight hundred years ago. You should remember what happened then."

Xiao Yao knew what he was talking about.

Eight hundred years ago, the will of Changshengtian rose to an unprecedented level, and the power of the entire grassland also expanded rapidly. First it was the Khitan, then the Jin people, and then the Mongols. Many powerful people and tribes emerged one after another. While the people of the grassland fought each other, they also launched foreign expeditions one after another. The ultimate winner of all this was a powerful man named Temujin.

Facts have proved that Temujin indeed created an unprecedented era. Throughout human history, there are few conquests that can be compared with his. His glorious record is still the pride of the grassland people.

If she had not betrayed the gods, this glory might have belonged to the Khitan - this was a regret that the Khitan survivors had hidden for eight hundred years.

"Now, with the resurrection of Heaven and Earth, the Mongols, Jurchens, and Oirat tribes are already taking action. Many tribes have already joined forces to gather souls and revive the will of Heaven. What follows is a battle for power, a new round of conquest."

The high priest slowly extended his hand. "That's why we need you, great goddess, great Shaowa. If you return to the heavens and once again take up the banner of the steppe, you will surely accomplish feats no less remarkable than Temujin's."

His tone was so sincere, as if he was a truly pious subject making a plea to the king.

But the figure in the air remained unmoved.

"What you need is not Shaowa, but Changshengtian's agent." Xiao Yao said.

"These two are one," the high priest said. "You were born a daughter of the grassland, and you were born to be a conqueror."

"What if I don't agree?"

The grass leaves on the ground suddenly stopped swaying, and even the wind stopped blowing. The eyes in heaven and on earth looked at each other in silence. After a long time, the high priest sighed.

"Shaowa. A priest from several generations ago once told me that you did this in pursuit of a powerful figure from the Central Plains."

The high priest shook his head. "But if that man was truly as formidable as you claim, how could the Central Plains have been conquered by the Jin and Mongols a thousand years ago? In the end, wouldn't he have surrendered to the steppes' iron hoofs?"

Xiao Yao's pupils trembled slightly.

"You've spent your whole life chasing after the powerful. You should have seen all this clearly long ago. The people of the Central Plains are lambs raised on farmland. Even if they embark on the path of cultivation, they are still sheep that eat grass at heart. We grassland dwellers are the beasts that eat meat."

"You are a high-flying eagle, so why have you fallen to the level of a flock of sheep? This will only weaken your claws and restrain your wings."

The high priest raised his head and said, "Shaowa, immortal genius is your destined destiny. Following the will of heaven is your only hope of breaking through the upper three realms and achieving supremacy in the world."

"If you abandon this path, you will be doomed."

A strong wind blew across the grassland, and the whistling sound of the wind blew away the voices on the grassland, blowing up the long hair of the woman in the sky, making it flutter in the wind. Under the gaze of everyone, the fairy in the sky closed her eyes.

"A hundred years have passed, and you still come here for this."

The strong wind suddenly intensified, and the breeze turned into a storm that swept across the sky and the earth in the blink of an eye. The momentum that burst out in an instant changed the color of the entire sky, and also changed the expressions of the Khitan people on the ground. The high priest in the front suddenly grabbed the scepter, and the roaring hurricane was reflected in his raised pupils.

"Then let's give it a try today."

She opened her fingers slightly, and the giant sword fell into her hands. She slowly opened her eyes, and there was a supreme pressure in her eyes.

"Which is higher, my way or the way of heaven?"

(End of this chapter)