Chapter 1 An Isolated Town

A small town seemingly completely cut off from the outside world. The people coming and going gave Wei Yuan a peculiar sense of familiarity. And that gentle and beautiful woman standing in the middle of the road was, without a doubt, the [Houtu] that Wei Yuan knew. However, after the initial joy of seeing his friend again, Wei Yuan was plunged into a series of doubts.

Where was this place?

Why was Houtu here?

And if Houtu was safe and sound, why hadn't she returned to the Great Wilderness?

Or at least sent them a message to let them know she was alright?

Houtu was unharmed, and with her strength and understanding of the Great Earth Dao, sending a message from this place shouldn't be a problem. After all, Wei Yuan had arrived here using Kaiming's power of the Nine Heavens Gate, and Kaiming's own strength was at the Dao Fruit realm's standard level.

Weaker than Gonggong and the Queen Mother of the West.

Even without the Nine Heavens Gate's assistance, Houtu's power could achieve this, albeit taking some time. However, in these thousands of years, the outside world hadn't received a single message. Houtu had remained out of contact.

What exactly had happened? Connecting it with the earlier strange behavior of the Vodka Maiden and the Western Emperor, there was definitely a huge problem here. Wei Yuan's mind raced as he strode toward the gentle woman in front of him.

After her initial confusion, the Vodka Maiden had turned to stunned silence. Once she recovered, she grabbed Wei Yuan's arm and shouted, "Hey, hey, hey, Curator, you're about to get engaged! Don't go interrupting other people's proposals! It's said that you shouldn't break up a marriage even if it means demolishing ten temples! Calm down, calm down!"

Wei Yuan stopped.

The gentle woman standing there shook her head, and then seemed to say something. The young man from before became dejected and retreated with a look of regret. Wei Yuan took another step, entering the town's perimeter. He slightly raised his eyes and sensed an extremely rich earth aura. Just as he was about to speak, a clear, cold voice came from behind:

"It's the power of the earth."

"Houtu's power."

Wei Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly. He turned his head abruptly and saw the Vodka Maiden, who had just reached out to grab him, withdrawing her gaze. She still looked the same as before, but her temperament had undergone a tremendous change. Her delicate face carried a sense of cold beauty, giving her an aura like the snow on the Kunlun Mountains.

Even if their features were identical, their appearance the same, and they wore the same clothes, no one would mistake her for the Vodka Maiden.

Kunlun, the Western Emperor!

Wei Yuan suppressed the emotions surging within him and said calmly, "You remember?"

The Western Emperor smiled as she looked at Wei Yuan, then naturally released her grip on Wei Yuan's arm. She raised a hand and twirled a strand of hair at her temple, saying, "Never forgotten, so what is there to remember?"

She said softly, "It's just that usually, 'her' consciousness occupies the dominant position."

"And 'I' am always sleeping."

"Or rather, most of the time I'm just in a state of slumber, not fully awakened." She simply explained, but didn't elaborate further. Looking ahead, she asked, "So, do you know what's going on with the earth power here?"

"Son-in-law?"

"Cough, cough, cough, cough!"

Wei Yuan, who had been maintaining his composure and calmness as the Primordial Heavenly Lord, almost choked to death on the spot.

Then he saw the Western Emperor standing with her hands behind her back, her expression ethereal and aloof, with a meaningful smile at the corner of her mouth. She tilted her head playfully and said, "What's wrong? Don't you want me to call you son-in-law?"

"Or are you planning to become someone else's son-in-law?"

"If that's the case, should we have a fight now?"

Wei Yuan tried to calm himself and said, "It's just a little unexpected."

Then, looking at the antique town, he sensed the incredibly rich power of the earth and said, "This place is inextricably linked to Houtu's power. It may even be a world created by Houtu. The karma that emanates from this world is also gradually nurtured by the town created by Houtu."

"Perhaps she intends to rely on this..."

"Day after day, year after year, accumulating karma, and finally combining it with the earth power here, forming a karma anchor point that even I can't ignore. Then she can make me discover this place. From this point of view, although [Houtu] seems to be safe and sound, she's probably also under great restrictions."

The Western Emperor nodded slightly, "Yes, that's right. Good analysis. Makes sense."

Wei Yuan looked up at her, "Then you are..."

"Me?"

The Western Emperor's expression was calm and indifferent. "I once visited this place."

"Of course, that was just by chance. After coming here, I was hunted down. Although I made some arrangements, those guys still chased my aura here. In the end, I had no choice but to kill all the pursuing gods and demons hundreds of miles outside the town. And I myself was seriously injured..."

Wei Yuan nodded.

He could guess these things from the images he had just seen.

The terrifying and ferocious bones of the fierce beasts, and the overbearing and baleful attacks that completely annihilated the essence within the bones, were undoubtedly the work of the Western Emperor in a state of fury. However, Wei Yuan had been waiting to hear the rest of the story and couldn't help but ask:

"So, what happened next?"

"Who were your enemies? And how did you return to the human world, and how did you anchor yourself to the museum?"

"And what caused you to become the artist we know?"

The Western Emperor stared at Wei Yuan, then shifted her gaze.

Her expression was calm as she said, "I don't know."

Wei Yuan frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "Because of the previous injuries, you briefly lost your memory?"

The Western Emperor, with her cold temperament, said calmly, "Almost."

"It seems that I suffered some kind of insidious divine power during the battle, and my memories gradually flowed out in fragments. This time, I sensed that this place could retrieve some of my memories and gradually restore my strength, so I came here. But it seems that this place hasn't changed much from what I remember thousands of years ago."

Wei Yuan nodded, then remembered what happened earlier, "You said someone was chasing you before."

"I just saw you kill a lot of fierce beasts."

"Could it be that after so long, the fierce beasts that were chasing you back then are still alive and chasing you?"

The Western Emperor said indifferently, "That's not the case."

"Those are the remnants of the fierce beasts from the Turbid World."

"They seemed to be blocking the border of this place, so I killed them."

The Turbid World...

Wei Yuan frowned slightly and suddenly remembered that in the original timeline, after he entered this place, he had encountered arrangements from the Turbid World. But now it seemed that he hadn't encountered any power that could threaten him. Just a few fierce beasts, although they had already reached the so-called Divine Realm Barrier.

But for Wei Yuan at this moment, killing those fierce beasts was just a matter of thought.

However, he quickly realized that in the original timeline, what had sufficient dense thinking, and powerful strength and defense to stop himself at that stage was probably the Turbid World Foundation. And now, the Turbid World Foundation had already fallen, and this plan was very likely to be shelved.

However, he couldn't let his guard down.

He couldn't rule out the possibility that the Turbid World Foundation had other means to notify the Turbid World Honored One.

Wei Yuan pondered, reached out his hand, and karma gathered, turning into golden light. Finally, he clenched his five fingers together, and with a crisp breaking sound, the karma here directly turned into a storm and swept through, forcibly erasing the karma of Wei Yuan and the Western Emperor's arrival here.

In this way, even if the Turbid World Honored One's strength was at the level of the Heavenly Emperor.

It wouldn't be easy to detect Wei Yuan.

The Western Emperor watched him calmly.

Wei Yuan explained, "To prevent our traces from being detected."

"Don't underestimate them. Although we've concealed our auras very carefully, the enemies aren't fools either."

The Western Emperor nodded in understanding.

Wei Yuan said helplessly, "To be honest, I have a lot of troubles right now. If I'm not careful, it's easy to attract some trouble." Like Fate, or the Turbid World Honored One...

The Western Emperor looked at him, then a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth:

"It seems that the Heavenly Lord is very popular."

Wei Yuan's mouth twitched.

Ah, this. Was the Queen Mother of the West originally this kind of person?

Or was her current state not the experienced Queen Mother of the West, but the ancient Western Emperor?

Just now, she didn't seem to realize that she needed to erase her tracks and traces. In ancient times, even when injured and being hunted down, she had directly and forcibly chopped down the gods, demons, and monsters for three hundred miles.

Was it because she couldn't think of other methods?

Or was she essentially a reckless person whose purity surpassed even Yu the Great?

Wei Yuan couldn't help but complain in his heart. He seemed to have realized his mother-in-law's personality when she was young.

Was she the ice-cold, clumsy, beautiful woman who was bullied by Nüjiao's past life?

And a reckless person.

So, Jue's innocence was definitely inherited.

......

Wei Yuan and the Western Emperor prepared themselves and then walked into the town. They could hear the frustrated voices of the young man who had failed earlier, as well as the laughter and shouts of the passersby. In the very center of the town was a rather ancient and solemn temple.

The gentle woman from before walked into this temple.

They could hear the woman's soft and gentle voice inside, like a clear spring flowing over a stone stream, making people's hearts unconsciously calm down. Wei Yuan stood at the door and saw the woman's back. She was wearing light-colored clothes, and her smooth, black hair fell to her waist, tied up gently with a grass rope.

[Houtu].

Wei Yuan stood there, looking at his friend, his expression softening, as if he was seeing the days they had experienced together.

The Western Emperor behind him stood with her arms crossed, leaning against the wall, not saying a word.

As for whether they would be detected by walking in so openly.

Wei Yuan's karma flowed and changed, silently stripping away the ability of others to observe him. Invisible and unknowable, this method, which was recorded as mysterious and profound, was only the basic application of this position and karma for the Primordial Heavenly Lord.

At this moment, a suppressed and excited voice suddenly came from behind.

"Hey, hey, hey, Curator, Curator!"

"Who is this big sister with a small waist, long legs, and beautiful hair?!"

"Do you know her? Can I draw her? I want to draw a manga for her, can I?!"

Wei Yuan had the urge to cover his face with his hands.

The person behind him was no longer the Western Emperor, but the Vodka Maiden.

My dear mother-in-law, can you be reliable at critical moments? Don't go offline at this time!

The Vodka Maiden behind him seemed to have misunderstood Wei Yuan's silence. She immediately gave the highest respect and promise as a doujinshi artist, and leaned closer like an old brother buying scalped tickets, whispering--

"Don't worry, don't worry, it's a healthy all-ages book!"

"I'll only draw yuri for such a beautiful big sister! Light yuri, light yuri is also okay!"

"Can I, can I?!"

She reached out and patted Wei Yuan's shoulder, but she didn't expect that this light pat would be so strong that Wei Yuan subconsciously took half a step forward. And it was just this half step that happened to take him into the ancient and solemn temple. The sound of his footsteps wasn't loud, but it could be heard very clearly in the temple.

The clear and soft chanting stopped abruptly.

"Who is it?"

The woman in front of him stood up from the futon, her movements still gentle. She turned around, her eyes seeing the Taoist standing at the door, bathed in sunlight.

It was as if the past years had never gone away.

PS: Second update today...