Chapter 1 Warm Sunshine

Warm and gentle sunlight fell on his face, almost too dry. Wei Yuan shook his head, confirming his location—a forested area. Ancient trees stretched towards the sky, and rich spiritual energy flowed beneath their shade.

The ground was covered in various spiritual herbs. In ancient times, the spiritual energy was so abundant that even weeds contained a trace of it. From afar, various demons and ferocious beasts roamed the forest, their brutal hunting concealed beneath a seemingly peaceful scene.

Thick clouds obscured the sky, blocking the view.

"This is what Xian described, the situation inside that shard of Heaven?"

"A reflection of the past?"

"No wonder the spiritual energy is so abundant..."

Wei Yuan looked around. This place could easily be considered a small world. But even though it was a small world, compared to his dilapidated Yuxu Palace, his own small world could be thrown away. It was a manifestation of the past, no wonder it was so... extravagant.

Wei Yuan felt that the spiritual energy here was even denser and the world more peaceful than in the era of King Yu.

"Xian? Where are you?"

The white-haired Daoist looked around, but couldn't find the bold dragon girl.

They had entered holding hands, but ended up in different locations? So, that shard of Heaven wasn't as calm as it appeared; it contained various spatial turbulences within?

Well, that was understandable.

After all, it was a fragment that Buzhou Mountain had instinctively grabbed when it was struck.

It must have been held very tightly.

Wei Yuan scanned with his divine sense, but couldn't grasp the connection to the outside world. Even the talisman arrays of the mortal Heavenly Court, as well as the auras of Nuwa and Buzhou Mountain, couldn't be located. From his sleeve, a wisp of special energy emerged, merging with Wei Yuan's own divine sense.

Then, the small world evolved from this shard of Heaven could no longer block Wei Yuan's divine sense.

Wei Yuan clearly grasped the anchor point to the outside world, ensuring that he could break through the seals here and leave in a critical situation. Only then did he feel slightly relieved, reaching out to retrieve the item containing that special aura—the letter left by Huntian.

This item granted Wei Yuan the power to penetrate the Heavenly seals.

"...As expected of you."

Wei Yuan held the ordinary letter with his fingers. "The Heavenly Dao is constant, the highest principle."

"Did you foresee that I would have a connection with 'Heaven' again, so you left this behind?"

The white-haired Daoist was silent for a long time, holding this help from the past in his hand and putting it into his sleeve.

However, activating the power left by Huntian, coupled with the fact that this thing was created due to the mythical events of Nuwa mending the heavens and the collapse of the Heavenly Pillar, this place was probably far more than just a "shard of Heaven." Keeping it in the Nine Hells probably served other purposes.

First, find Xian…

Wei Yuan clenched his five fingers, grasping the secrets of Heaven. Although he wasn't skilled in heavenly calculations, finding Xian's thread and following it was like grabbing one end of a ball of yarn and pulling it tightly. That shouldn't be a problem.

Although the principle was simple, it was effective.

Wei Yuan ascended rapidly, following the heavenly clues. Along the way, a ferocious beast with a wingspan of three hundred meters suddenly attacked the Daoist, only to be swatted away with a backhand. This place was probably isolated from the Great Wilderness Kunlun long ago. Did they not know he could cook?

Were they always this brave?

If he wasn't in a hurry, he would have turned it into braised duck.

Wei Yuan was extremely fast. After about fifteen minutes, he reached the end of the heavenly clue. Wei Yuan looked down and saw a grey-clothed girl with a terrified expression. She was surrounded by ferocious beasts, her body stiff, her eyes filled with bewilderment at facing such danger for the first time.

And this grey-clothed girl had an extremely strong aura of Xian.

What... was going on?!

Wei Yuan was slightly astonished.

His first reaction was that this girl was playing some kind of joke, but then he saw the tears in her eyes. She was obviously scared to tears. He frowned slightly, clenched his five fingers, and cast the Five Thunders Spell of the Mortal Realm, the blazing warding curse. Even without the blessing of the Talisman Heavenly Court, Wei Yuan's Five Thunders Spell was still effective enough.

With the violent light of lightning, the surrounding five ferocious beasts fell down, charred black.

The grey-clothed girl breathed a sigh of relief, her face pale. Her legs went weak, and she sat on the ground.

She looked up and saw the white-haired Daoist descending on the wind as the lightning dissipated, his sleeves fluttering.

"Xian? What's wrong?"

"What? What's wrong?"

The grey-clothed girl's tears hadn't yet dried. Her hands trembled involuntarily due to extreme fear. Wei Yuan was slightly astonished. He could see that this was no act. He flickered and appeared directly in front of the grey-clothed girl, extending two fingers and pointing them at the center of her brow.

'True spirit… in protective sleep?!'

Wei Yuan's mouth twitched.

He quickly found the key to the problem.

'This is, a side effect of reversing Yin and Yang? Disturbed by the effects of this shard of Heaven?'

'Huntian's power remains here, and Xian's foundation was interfered with by that snake-like scum, Fuxi. It's as if her own foundation is at the level of the Ten Great Peaks, but unstable. After this impact, she entered a brief sleep...'

The external manifestation was temporary amnesia...

Similar to the Queen Mother of the West back then.

In other words, if Zhujiu Yin himself had entered, he would have had the same problem. Wait, so Zhujiu Yin deliberately went into seclusion and let Xian take the fall?

Damn it, Fuxi, you snake-like scum, you can still cause trouble after so many years?!

Was he doing this on purpose?!

Wei Yuan's mouth twitched. He deeply felt that compared to Zhujiu Yin and Fuxi, Xian was simply too naive. Fuxi, powerful, unfathomable, the master of heavenly secrets, a snake-like scum who would leave behind poison for ten thousand years. When he got out, he would show him a hundred years’ worth of NTR doujinshi until he became triggered!

The white-haired Daoist pointed his middle finger at the sky.

His actions made the amnesiac girl wary, and she subconsciously opened her mouth and bit down hard. Even if her true spirit was in temporary sleep, her external personality was full of Xian's characteristics. While being aggressive, there was one important thing.

The Candle Illuminating Nine Nether Dragon had very good teeth.

Crack.

The skin of the Buzhou Mountain body was broken like a crispy ice cream shell.

Veins popped on Wei Yuan's forehead. He lowered his head, looking at the amnesiac version of Xian biting his arm. The amnesiac Xian had even transformed into a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl, biting his arm and refusing to let go. The white-haired Daoist raised his hand, and this girl simply hung onto Wei Yuan's arm like a dried salted fish.

She wouldn't let go, her eyes full of stubbornness.

"Let go."

"Wuuu!"

"I told you to let go, you bastard!"

Wei Yuan waved his arm vigorously, using his other hand to grab her head and try to make her let go. But snakes never let go of their prey once they bite down. Veins popped on the curator's forehead as he had the good fortune to experience the biting force of the Candle Illuminating Nine Nether Dragon. The Buzhou Mountain body was almost bitten through.

This was still Xian losing her memory and being in a state of instinct. If this girl went berserk, it was unimaginable. Wei Yuan finally understood what Zhujiu Yin meant when he said his defense was too weak. At this moment, he suddenly heard the sound of a stomach rumbling.

Wei Yuan paused, looking down.

The grey-clothed girl biting him looked away, her face flushed red.

Rare, Xian was actually blushing?

The white-haired Daoist stretched out his finger and said, "I'll cook for you. You, let go."

"Understand?!"

The grey-clothed girl was silent for a moment, seemingly deliberating. Finally, she obediently let go and sat quietly on a nearby rock, hugging her knees and spacing out. Wei Yuan saw the bite marks on his arm, and then the indestructible body of the Buzhou Mountain body took effect. Even though he had only initially mastered it, Wei Yuan's wounds were slowly healing.

As long as his HP bar was high enough, any damage was fine.

It was just that the healing was too slow.

There were ferocious beasts all around, and especially, in this world of Heavenly shards, those demons weren't afraid of Wei Yuan. They even treated him, who was suppressing his aura, as prey and actively attacked him. This treatment made Wei Yuan almost want to cry with joy.

Finally, he no longer had to go through the difficult life of finding prey…

The conditions here were relatively simple. Wei Yuan simply roasted a few demons with suitable meat. Ordinary flames couldn't even cook these things; he had to use spiritual flames with higher temperatures. Relatively speaking, the taste was indeed better, but they were also too tough. Ordinary people couldn't bite them.

Of course, such a problem was no problem for the grey-clothed girl's teeth.

The roasted deer leg, golden and crispy on the outside, dripped grease into the flames, further stimulating the aroma. Wei Yuan used sword qi to cut the ingredients, and the girl over there devoured them like she hadn't eaten in a long time.

"Eat slower… I'll go find some water."

Wei Yuan shook his head, confirming the general layout of this place.

With his current cultivation, even travel memories from thousands of years ago would be extremely clear. Wei Yuan roughly recognized where this was, or rather, which part of the human world it corresponded to. If he remembered correctly, there was a large river nearby that Gonggong had created back then.

The fish in it tasted very good.

It was home to a kind of shrimp that could withstand the high temperatures of superior flame supernatural powers.

Eating them raw was extremely delicious and could purify the bloodline.

Just thinking about it made Wei Yuan's mouth water. He was actually looking for food, not water. However, Wei Yuan rode the wind back and forth, searching many times, but couldn't find it. When he sensed that the girl over there was full, he had to return regretfully.

It seemed that after all, this was just a world evolved from a fragment of Heaven.

It was ultimately different from reality.

Also, this fragment was created when Gonggong collapsed Buzhou Mountain, so that river might not have existed at that time. This fragment wouldn't reflect it, so thinking about it that way, it was normal. Wei Yuan was thoughtful, looking at the grey-clothed girl who was full, and said, "How is it?"

"...Good."

The girl Xian spoke simply, patting her stomach unladylike and pondering.

"What do I have to do to get you to cook for me, forever?"

You're really persistent, you bastard…

Wei Yuan's mouth twitched, and then he slapped her forehead, complaining as a matter of course:

"I'll cook for you forever when I'm dead."

When will your true spirit wake up, damn it… Wei Yuan gnashed his teeth. Damn Fuxi, he made his guide lose her memory, so he had no idea how to get through this shard of Heaven's small world and gain ownership of it.

It was like a game where the goal of clearing it was directly removed.

In any case, he would explore this world first.

And bring her along, maybe she would recover her memory someday…

Wei Yuan tried to capture the wild amnesiac Xian.

The amnesiac Xian was wary, baring her teeth.

Curator Wei used three skewers of delicious grilled meat.

The effect was remarkable.

Capture successful!

………………

Wei Yuan looked at Xian beside him, watching her bite hard on the slightly tough meat skewers that had become chewy due to the drop in temperature. He was thoughtful. It seemed that although her memory was sealed in this fragment of Heaven due to the temporary sleep of her true spirit, her instinct to sense auras was still there.

That's why she trusted him so much.

If she encountered any danger, she would probably break through the seal immediately. Hmm, should he try throwing her into some Mountain and Sea Rift, a primordial lava core, or something?

The white-haired Daoist rubbed his chin, looking at the girl Xian beside him, but dismissed the idea.

He would be beaten up by the Xian who regained her memory…

And then probably be beaten up again by the Zhujiu Yin who shared the memory.

"Hmm?"

The fourteen- or fifteen-year-old girl looked up, her eyes curious and clear.

The white-haired Daoist rubbed his brow and said, "It's nothing."

He couldn't bring himself to do it.

Along the way, Wei Yuan constantly released his divine sense, but for some reason, this shard of Heaven was filled with an extremely strange fog that even his divine soul couldn't extend too far. It seemed to be the residue of Huntian's power, possessing the characteristic of "above all else."

In other words, possessing the highest priority among all concepts.

Still the same seemingly gentle but actually unreasonable guy…

Wei Yuan complained. After spending several days in this fragmented small world, he finally found people. It was a trade caravan, still wearing ancient-style clothes, with sharp stone axes at their waists. The ancient Qinggang rocks contained spiritual energy structures, naturally forming arrays, with a sharpness that could directly tear rocks and shatter steel.

But it would only be born in this level of spiritual energy environment.

Wei Yuan actively released a trace of his aura.

The leader of the team immediately stood up, his eyes bright, a heavy battle axe appearing in his hand. "Who is it?! Which tribe?"

He looked at the white-haired Daoist walking out of the jungle, with some vigilance.

Wei Yuan rubbed his chin and said, "Tribe… well, the Tushan tribe."

"Tushan…?"

The leader's mouth seemed to twitch. He looked at the white-haired Daoist, especially the appearance of the white-haired youth, and nodded in agreement. "Indeed, that's how the Tushan tribe's foxes look. Little brother, are you a white-haired fox spirit? How many tails do you have?"

Wei Yuan: "…………"

"Well, probably… seven?"

Nine was definitely not possible. Impossible.

He couldn't be that scum.

"Oh…" The leader looked him up and down, uttering an ancient, rhythmic sound. Wei Yuan had lived in the Tushan tribe and knew that this was one of the Tushan tribe's passwords. He smiled and responded with the corresponding incantation. The leader nodded and said, "It's true. Since you're from the Tushan tribe, would you like to travel with us?"

"But the Tushan tribe isn't in this direction. How did you come out of here?"

Because he came from the outside.

Wei Yuan replied without changing his expression, "I had something to do outside, so I took a detour. May I ask where you all are going?"

"Oh? Is there any need to ask?"

The leader laughed heartily. "Of course, we're going to the Youxiong tribe, Xuanyuan Hill!"

"The Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan will be there to select the next generation of Human Emperor."

"And this time's candidates, one is Gonggong, and the other is Zhuanxu!"

"Of course, we have to go for such a big event!"

Who?!

Xuanyuan, Zhuanxu, and Gonggong competing for the Human Emperor?!

Wei Yuan's smile slightly froze. He suddenly remembered what Xian had said before entering this shard of Heaven—

'A fragment of ancient Heavenly Dao, evolving into a small world.'

'Inside, it's probably a reflection of the past…'

"A reflection of the past?"