Cube-like Supernatural Powers: Longevity Begins with Qi Refining

Chapter 64 Heavenly Python Banquet

Chapter 64 Heavenly Python Banquet

A smile played on Xiong Zhou's face as he softly called out to the towering serpent before him.

"Waaah."

[I intend to travel to Danxue Divine Mountain to participate in the Phoenix's Sweet Spring Banquet soon. I will need to pass through the Orange Light Divine Sea, so I am making a special trip to inform Fellow Daoist Cao Hui to avoid any unpleasant incidents.]

"call."

[As for the owner of the other kind of authority, Fellow Daoist Cao Hui may respectfully address her as the White Jade Sovereign, the principal deity of our Kunlun pantheon.]

Cao Hui flicked his tongue, looking at the tiny creature that wasn't even enough to fill a gap between his teeth, his expression one of doubt and disbelief.

The bountiful totem before him was probably an auspicious beast. Although its cultivation and strength were a bit strange, it possessed bountiful authority at the same level as the Phoenix. Cao Hui believed it when it said that it had come to attend the Phoenix's Sweet Spring Banquet.

Any immortal being who has lived in the Nanshan Mountain Range for a certain period of time will have heard of this story and know that the Phoenix always welcomes the totems of the Nanshan Mountain Range to participate in the Sweet Spring Banquet he holds at Danxue Divine Mountain.

But besides that, Cao Hui felt that this fertility totem had other purposes.

According to this fertility totem, the chief god of the Kunlun pantheon to which he belonged was someone whose name he had never heard of.

"White Jade Goddess".

Without a doubt, this is an incomparably ferocious god.

Such a ruthless authority, even with just a trace of its power, reveals a deep-seated murderous intent, and its killings are so brutal that they resemble mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Wherever they went, war was inevitable, death was ever-present, and the fall of totems was commonplace.

A mythical beast emerging from the territory of a ferocious god to attend the Phoenix's Feast of Sweet Springs—this behavior seemed utterly abnormal. Cao Hui felt that this bountiful totem was like an advance force of that peerless, ferocious god, sent to gather intelligence for an impending war.

As for a friendly visit, the probability is not nonexistent, but it's a bit small.

Cao Hui considered the pros and cons, assessed the current situation, glanced at the faintly visible mark of calamity and power on the forehead of the bountiful totem, and a sudden inspiration struck him, a thought quietly arising in his mind.

He thought to himself, "The chief god is a fierce god, while the subordinate gods seem to be auspicious beasts. Perhaps their temperaments are different."

"Let's sound them out first. Auspicious beasts are easier to handle than ferocious beasts, which can be completely illogical when they go berserk."

Cao Hui's tail swayed, creating huge waves. Driven by the power of his authority, it formed a waterway leading directly to the divine palace.

Cao Hui smiled slightly: "Fellow Daoist Fengrao must have traveled through countless mountains and rivers. Why don't you come to my residence to rest first?"

"The Kunlun pantheon should be based on a sacred mountain called Kunlun, which must have been an exceptionally magnificent and beautiful mountain."

"It just so happens that I have never been far from the Nanshan mountain range, and I am curious about the world beyond Nanshan. I would like to ask you to tell me about the scenery beyond the mountains and the affairs overseas."

Xiong Zhou was stunned by the smile on the face of the ten-thousand-foot-tall serpent and the invitation it extended.

No, something's not right about this development.

Seeing Bai Yu's calamity and power mark should not be like seeing a plague god, making one feel uneasy. To avoid trouble, one should simply send him to the other side of the Orange Light Divine Sea, go their separate ways, and keep to oneself. Wouldn't that be better for everyone?

Why would they extend such an invitation?

Cunning, if you enter a snake's den, you'll become food in no time.

He hadn't forgotten the characteristics of the Divine Realm: as long as one doesn't exceed the Immortal Realm, one can add a rank to a totem.

This means that within their own divine realm, the strength of a totem's authority and the power of its legal application can be temporarily increased by one level.

The authority and related applications of the [Lv.5] level can cross that mysterious threshold and reach the [Lv.6] level in terms of power intensity.

Looking at the smiling, ten-thousand-foot-long celestial python, Xiong Zhou could only grit his teeth, maintain his confident demeanor, and say, "O..."

"Waaah."

[Isn't this too much trouble? We can just chat casually on the beach...]

Upon hearing this, Cao Hui felt a sense of relief and thought to himself, "Indeed, this Abundance Totem is an auspicious beast. It has a gentle nature, unlike other beasts or ordinary totems, which are stubborn and difficult to talk to."

His smile widened as he said, "No trouble at all, no trouble at all. My residence has plenty of fruits and vegetables. If you want blood food, there are also schools of fish from the entire Divine Sea for you to choose from."

After speaking, the ten-thousand-foot-long celestial python flicked its tail, and strands of orange-glowing seawater slightly widened the underwater passage leading to the majestic divine palace. Pieces of five-pointed rhombus-shaped, seemingly solid water films were pieced together, making the passage even more magnificent.

"Fellow Daoist Fengrao, please."

Seeing the giant serpent, now leading the way and extending another invitation, Xiong Zhou's heart sank slightly. Suppressing his worries, he maintained his composure and stepped into the passage.

When the fleshy pads step onto a pentagonal rhombus-shaped water film, the surrounding environment changes, as if transforming into a long snake, weaving through the ocean.

A few breaths later, you can see groups of aquatic creatures chasing and playing among various corals that shimmer with dazzling starlight, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that seems to exist only in fairy tales.

After several dozen breaths, Xiong Zhou could see large shrimp and crabs with life levels close to the fourth level of Refinement, swimming along a certain path, as if on patrol.

This underwater passage leading directly to the shrine was naturally very conspicuous. The shrimp and crabs that seemed to be on patrol stopped and looked at it with curious eyes. Some of the more active ones had already approached the underwater passage to observe it up close.

However, upon seeing the ten-thousand-foot-long celestial python, with the totem of their own divine realm leading the way, they either dispersed with a roar or remained silent with reverent gazes.

Xiong Zhou was led by Cao Hui to the gate of the majestic divine palace, and under the watchful eyes of one celestial python after another of varying sizes, he entered the palace.

Upon entering the temple, Xiong Zhou sensed something different.

The water inside the shrine contrasts sharply with the water outside, one as light as the wind, the other as heavy as a mountain.

Even without casting a spell similar to a water-repelling spell, Xiong Zhou could breathe freely in this light water, and the comfort level was roughly the same as on the shore.

Strands of seven-colored starlight emanated from all parts of the shrine, like the morning light and afterglow of the setting sun, illuminating everything without being dazzling.

"Fellow Daoist, what do you think of my divine palace? Can it compare to your residence in Kunlun?"

Cao Hui, who had calmed his mind for hundreds of thousands of years, suddenly felt a slight ripple. He pointed with the tip of his tail at the star-filled palace wall beside him, where various ornaments hung.

Xiong Zhou was initially a little apprehensive. There were so many Heavenly Pythons outside whose life levels were close to the fourth or even fifth level of Qi Refining. If they swarmed him, he would definitely be overwhelmed and die, and he would have to go back to Ruomu to resurrect.

But when Cao Hui asked him that question, Xiong Zhou followed the tip of his tail and looked around more closely.

My anxiety has subsided, replaced by a strong sense of frustration.

The wall material seems to be quite good; it looks like bricks and stones made from fine sand from the beach, drawing down starlight from the sky to create a wonderful place for cultivation.

But it's too rough.

There was no trace of array patterns, nor any complete circuit of the Dao patterns of heaven and earth. It was simply built up by relying on the properties of materials, like a bare house without any hidden decoration work, which was uncomfortable.

However, by utilizing the inherent properties of the materials to differentiate the water quality inside and outside the shrine, and by using soft starlight to create a fairytale-like atmosphere, it's quite acceptable.

As for the ornaments hanging on the palace walls, the vast majority were animal bones or dried, ferocious-looking animal heads. This kind of aesthetic, this kind of style, might be appreciated by some ancient demon saints in the "Refining World" who like to collect specimens, but he really couldn't appreciate it.

In the middle of the night, you can turn your head and see the hideous beast heads piled up together, without even feeling the heavy yin energy.

Xiong Zhou looked at the very few ornaments hanging on the palace wall and called out softly.

"Waaah."

[Not bad, the colors are quite vibrant, and it has a light and airy feel.]

The overall evaluation of the shrine was completely ignored, and Xiong Zhou avoided discussing it altogether, focusing only on the decorations hanging on the walls.

Some ornaments woven from soft animal hair and down of various colors were hung on the rather "primitive" palace walls, which had an epic beauty reminiscent of the early signs of a primitive civilization, and he could appreciate them.

Seeing Xiong Zhou's gaze fall on certain ornaments woven from feathers and down, Cao Hui immediately gained a deeper understanding of the nature of this bountiful totem.

He said, "These feather ornaments are all brought back from the several Liquan Banquets I've participated in. They can be considered a specialty of Danxue Divine Mountain."

A stream of water swirled slightly, taking down a golden feather woven from Xin gold, shimmering with golden light, and floating it in front of Xiong Zhou.

The subtle flow of heaven and earth flowed inward, illuminating a corner of the celestial and terrestrial patterns within.

In an instant, a small phoenix covered in golden flames flew out from inside, flapped its wings, scattered wisps of sparks, circled the bear boat once, and finally returned to the feather ornament, leaving behind several long-lasting trails of sparks that could still burn in the water.

This left Xiong Zhou completely stunned.

Magic weapon?

No, this is a divine artifact; this feather ornament has the scent of incense.

A divine artifact at the fifth level of the Divine Refinement Realm?!

In the "Refining World", tools that possess a certain spirituality are collectively referred to as spiritual tools.

A magical artifact is a device that can support the operation of magical power, thereby exerting immense power or having extremely special effects.

A vessel forged using incense as fuel or by adding incense as a "material" is a divine artifact.

Not forged by living beings, but shaped by the natural forces of creation, containing the origin of laws and principles, they are given the prefix "innate" and are thus called innate artifacts.

The feather ornament before us contains the essence of incense; it is a divine artifact, a sacred artifact of incense.

The corner of the Dao pattern that it manifested revealed that this divine artifact possessed an essence similar to the fifth level of the Refinement God Realm.

Xiong Zhou realized he had misjudged the feather ornament and hadn't noticed its special features.

At this moment, upon closer inspection, Xiong Zhou felt that these Dao patterns of heaven and earth seemed to have a certain combination, resembling simple strokes of phoenixes soaring in the sky, already containing the implication of the rudimentary form of Dao script.

It not only subtly conveyed a sense of civilization to Xiong Zhou, but also seemed like some being attempting to explain the universe and depict the vast landscape in its own way, a kind of exploratory practice.

The being who crafted this divine artifact, the feather ornament, may have, like him, embarked on the path of "evolution of magic," and traveled a considerable distance along this path, far surpassing him.

Upon closer examination, Xiong Zhou discovered a sense of wildness within it, a feeling of moving from primitive to civilized, from a faint spark to the flourishing of the world.

It is very similar to the Dao script of "Refining the World", which has been fully formed, but in the details, it highlights various differences, with a kind of wild pioneering charm of the native mountains and seas.

Xiong Zhou remained silent for a moment, then asked softly, "Hoo."

[Was the entity that crafted this feather ornament the Phoenix?]

The ten-thousand-foot-long celestial python nodded and said, "Naturally, it is him."

"Besides the Phoenix, although there are many other birds on Danxue Divine Mountain that can be used to make feather ornaments, only the Phoenix can be made to look so beautiful."

Cao Hui's aesthetic sense was clearly lacking; after thinking for a few moments, he could only describe it as "good-looking."

"Splash..."

""

After Cao Hui hung the feather ornament back on the wall, a sound of water rolled in, and a celestial python entered from outside the divine palace, carrying a square stone table that matched Xiong Zhou's size, and placed it in front of him. Then, several more celestial pythons carried several stone plates engraved with phoenix patterns and placed them on the stone table one by one.

Looking around, Xiong Zhou saw three plates filled with dozens of oddly shaped fruits and vegetables. One larger plate held pieces of fish that had been gutted and partially cut. There was also a glass that looked like it was made of coral and contained a scarlet, rather viscous liquid.

This manner of entertaining distinguished guests clearly shows that it is a deliberate imitation of a certain etiquette, similar in form but not in spirit.

However, through years of deliberate imitation, a unique charm has emerged that belongs exclusively to the Sky Python clan.

The feeling is subtle; it's certainly strange, yet inexplicably natural.

Imagine traveling in Africa in the late 18th century and visiting a relatively primitive tribe, where the tribal chief invites you to a raw meat feast using precious industrialized ceramic plates.

Xiong Zhou looked at the ten-thousand-foot-long celestial python. In front of it was a stone table that was thousands of meters long. On it were similar fruits, vegetables and blood dishes, but they were a bit hasty and rough. For example, the fish meat was gutted, scaled and deboned, and then served. Blood was still on the fish meat.

The ten-thousand-foot-long celestial python seemed to hold a certain expectation in its gaze as it spoke, "Fellow Daoist Fengrao, please have some."

Sensing the host's expectation, Xiong Zhou looked at the food in front of him again, suppressing the slight discomfort he felt towards blood food, and urged Fengraozhi to roll up a piece of fish and put it in his mouth.

"Crunch... crunch..."

'

A glint flashed in Xiong Zhou's eyes. The fish meat was crisp and had a faint citrus-like aroma that barely masked the smell of blood.

This tastes better than I expected.

Just like the sashimi I tried in my past life, the Atlantic salmon sashimi at the buffet is also raw food. Although I can't say I like it that much, let alone love it, I can surprisingly accept it.

Perhaps that's why he likes to eat fish.