The Saintess of the Sun

A person's nature is difficult to change unless it is constantly "carved and polished" over a long period—and even then, the effect is minimal.

Xiao Chen had altered his appearance, changed his bearing, revealed new techniques and divine abilities, but his core nature remained unchanged. He was a man who could not be bound, could not be suppressed. No framework of rules in this world could confine him. Some things deep in his bones were impossible to alter, even by death.

He had emerged from the Pure Land to experience the myriad faces of life. He had spent enough time in Yin Capital. He felt it was time to move on.

His identity was on the verge of exposure. Before leaving, he decided to act as he pleased, to make a scene with his opponents. It would be a kind of life experience, another form of cultivation training.

"Xiao Chen, I advise you to leave Yin Capital as soon as possible. Otherwise, you will lose your life, and it will be too late for regrets." Zhao Lin'er did not want him to stay. Seeing his confidence, she knew he had the means to protect himself, but she did not want him to become a focal figure in Yin Capital, to be courted by other major powers. She wanted him to heed her advice, withdraw quietly, and then she would guide him in a direction, thus securing this infinitely promising expert firmly in her grasp.

"Impossible!" Xiao Chen replied with just two words, rejecting her proposal.

Zhao Lin'er looked down at him from a height, putting on a show of strength, but then withdrew her overbearing manner, affecting sincerity. "You are too arrogant. Who do you think you are? Can you contend with the Tiger Clan, which has demigods and even stronger experts? I am doing this for your own good. Flee now, and I will arrange a retreat for you—gold, beautiful women, as you please."

The result was predictable. Xiao Chen could not agree. Instead, he was curious about how Zhao Lin'er had become a saintess.

Speaking of that, Zhao Lin'er sighed with deep emotion. Once a royal celestial maiden of the mortal world, she had to compete with other noble ladies—and even women of common birth—after arriving in the World of Immortality. She had come to understand the importance of power profoundly.

Her eventual victory was due to multiple factors. First, her personal beauty and bearing were beyond question. She had been the most beautiful woman in the mortal world, and even in the vast, boundless World of Immortality, few could compare to her.

Another important reason was that she possessed a purebred young unicorn. Moreover, as verified by some elder priests of the Solar Religion, the young unicorn was actually a descendant of the mount of the Sun Saintess, the daughter of the Supreme Sun God. It was a symbol of light and purity.

Across the entire continent, there were only three unicorns of this bloodline, all of them now old. No one had expected such a young one to return from Dragon Island. This was a blessing for the Solar Religion—an opportunity to proclaim that the Sun Saintess would return to the land, that the Sun God was watching over his people. For the Solar Religion, this was a rare chance for expansion.

The appearance of this young unicorn had made the other great religions envious for a long time, because whenever a figure or object related to a supreme god appeared in the world, it would greatly enhance that religion's reputation and increase its power.

Of course, Zhao Lin'er's smooth rise to sainthood was also linked to two important people.

One was Lan Nuo. Her limitless potential had deeply shocked even the Pope of the Solar Religion, who, despite his distinguished status as a religious sovereign, had received her with solemn ceremony.

Able to shatter the void and enter the World of Immortality from the mortal world, where spiritual energy was extremely scarce, in such a short time—Lan Nuo's talent was unparalleled in the ages. Those who had entered the World of Immortality in history were generally a few years older than her. In later years, they all became supreme figures who founded sects on the Eternal Continent.

How could Lan Nuo not be valued? A woman under her protection would naturally be given serious consideration by the Pope.

The other person was the treant who had come from Dragon Island to the mainland. On Dragon Island, he had shed his treant body and become a green cultivator with flesh and blood.

He had lived on Dragon Island for endless ages. It had taken him countless years to transform into a treant, and then he had cultivated for over ten thousand more to gain a sentient heart. If the island's sealing power had not suppressed his abilities, his cultivation would have been unimaginable.

Even so, he had cultivated a divine body of flesh and blood on Dragon Island. Yes, a divine body! After breaking free from Dragon Island and arriving at the Eternal Continent, with no power to block him, his cultivation progressed at a startling pace. He kept breaking through barriers. Even the Pope of the Solar Religion dared not underestimate him, believing his future was limitless.

On Dragon Island, Zhao Lin'er had built good relations with the divine-body treant in Treant Valley. Naturally, after arriving on the Eternal Continent, she received his patronage.

Initially, the only factor restricting Zhao Lin'er from becoming a saintess was that she was not of Western ethnicity. However, because the Roman religious alliance was about to wage war on the Van Kingdom and wanted to spread its doctrine eastward, someone boldly proposed that perhaps a religion could establish an Eastern woman as a saintess to demonstrate racial equality—perhaps achieving an unexpected effect. Thus, her Eastern ethnicity became a favorable factor for her smooth ascension to sainthood.

The Van Kingdom had many races, mixed blood being predominant.

The Solar Religion publicly declared that the Sun God's light shone on all under heaven, that his children were everywhere, and that regardless of race or place, the Sun God treated all equally...

With the above factors, Zhao Lin'er naturally stood out among the candidates and became the new saintess of the Solar Religion.

"Lan Nuo... how is she?"

Zhao Lin'er glanced at Xiao Chen. "You fellow... Sister Lan Nuo is well. In the first year after arriving on the mainland, she broke through directly from the Nirvana Realm into the Deathless Longevity Realm."

Xiao Chen knew that Lan Nuo's talent was extraordinary. Such terrifying speed did not surprise him.

"When will I ascend to the summit of longevity?" he murmured to himself.

Hearing this, the stunningly beautiful Zhao Lin'er pursed her lips, trying to diminish his hopes. "Don't forget, Sister Lan Nuo shattered the void on her own to enter the World of Immortality. She's not like you and me—stowaways. What kind of place is the mortal world? Spiritual energy is extremely scarce; it can no longer support cultivators reaching the Nirvana Realm. Sister Lan Nuo achieved that under such adverse conditions. She is a miracle in herself, a prodigy that appears only once in several thousand years. No matter what achievements she makes in the future, don't be surprised. You are not her match."

Xiao Chen just smiled and said nothing, because his cultivation speed was already fast enough. Among the younger generation, he was considered a strong expert. If he complained about that, he would be struck by lightning.

He truly was a cultivation genius. At least, among the people he had met so far, few could match his cultivation speed. Only the genius among geniuses, Lan Nuo, and the unfathomably wise maiden Qingqing, had progressed faster than him.

"Where is Lan Nuo?"

"You do have some conscience, after all. It's not for nothing that Sister Lan Nuo, hearing about your trouble in Heavenly Emperor City, secretly made a trip to the Southern Wastes. Unfortunately, you had already disappeared by then. Otherwise, I might already have you as one of my knights."

No matter how Zhao Lin'er changed, that hint of inherent pride never faded. It was tied to her birth and experiences. It annoyed Xiao Chen, but he couldn't be bothered to debate it.

"Heh, does Yin Ying know something about Sister Lan Nuo? But how can she compare with me? Perform well, and we'll work together to find the ultimate treasure within reach. Then we'll go find Sister Lan Nuo..."

Zhao Lin'er began a new round of scheming. Though Xiao Chen vaguely guessed at it, he only smiled.

He asked no more about Lan Nuo and took his leave, trusting in his own strength and his potential.

As he walked out of the royal garden, Xiao Chen kept pondering one question: how could he make his cultivation path smooth and far-reaching?

Given the same effort, cultivators achieve different results. The fundamental reason lies in personal aptitude and talent. To improve one's talent potential, perhaps there was only one opportunity: Nirvana.

Mortal-Shedding, Spirit-Treasury, Sky-Mastery, Nirvana, and Deathless Longevity—these were the five well-known great realms.

Nirvana, as its name implies, resets everything for the cultivator, allowing them to undergo a qualitative rebirth and ascend to an entirely new peak. Of course, most people fail and die.

Nirvana was the most significant opportunity in a cultivator's life. If successful, a few people would undergo a qualitative change in talent and aptitude, potentially launching them onto an unimaginably new starting point.

Xiao Chen shook his head. It was still too early to think about that. He had not even entered the Sky-Mastery realm, also known as the demigod realm. The path to Nirvana was still distant.

Returning to his inn, the plump Niu Ren was waiting for him. Every time he saw the little fatty, Xiao Chen felt like laughing.

This guy was actually quite handsome, but his cheeks were too chubby, and he had a little potbelly, which completely ruined his looks and gave him a foolish impression.

"Xiao Chen, I've been waiting for you. Let's go to the Palace of Sunken Fish and Fallen Goose to see Sister Liu Ruyan. We've been in Yin Capital so long and only visited once."

The little fatty lit up, his eyes gleaming.

"Forget it. Another day. My identity is very sensitive right now—many people are suspicious. If I go like this, I might bring her trouble."

"That's true, but I think you just don't want to go. If you wanted to, sneaking in wouldn't be a problem, right? Hehe..." The little fatty laughed. "Don't you like Sister Liu? Well, my standards aren't that high—I like any beautiful woman. How about I go take a look for you?"

The little fatty, who looked honest on the outside but spoke completely differently, left Xiao Chen speechless.

"How about we go together after all?" the little fatty urged again.

"You go on your own." Xiao Chen picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Ask her if she needs help. If there's anything, she can speak freely, and I will do my utmost."

"Hey, why don't you say that yourself?" The little fatty circled Xiao Chen in the room twice. "Look at Sister Liu—so alluring, so enchanting. Marrying a woman like that would be the blessing of eight lifetimes. And Sister Yan Qingcheng, peerlessly elegant—one of the Twin Pearls of the Southern Wastes. And Sister A Bing—also graceful and charming, a famous beauty of the Western Frontier. Yet you seem to ignore them all. How about we go visit them one by one, chat a bit, and build some rapport?"

"Spring hasn't even arrived yet. What's with our Ox Fatty today?" Xiao Chen smiled faintly, looking at Niu Ren.

"Sigh!" The little fatty sighed, dejected. "My grandmother sent me a message. She said I can't come out here for nothing. I have to settle my lifelong matter. She wants to hold a great-grandchild."

"Who have you got your eye on? I'll help play matchmaker."

"Never mind, I don't need it. My standards aren't high—easy to handle. I'm just wondering about you. Are you trying to maintain some kind of state—passing through ten thousand flowers without a single leaf touching you?" The little fatty began to analyze seriously. "That doesn't seem right. I remember that on Dragon Island, Sister Liu Ruyan had an unusual relationship with you. And Sister Yan Qingcheng was once captured by you..."

Finally, Niu Ren asked suspiciously, "What are you really thinking?"

"Me? I'm like a drifting duckweed, a passing wave. When I'm tired, when I'm weary, then I'll sail into a calm harbor and finally settle down."

"So you're taking a stance of playing through the mortal world, but only fleeting, watching the flowers from afar without touching them." The little fatty stood up. "I'm off to visit Sister Liu. See you later." At the door, he turned back, grinned, and said, "I bet you that by the time our peers' children are running around, you'll still be adrift."

The little fatty left. Xiao Chen shook his head with a smile, but he did think it over carefully.

Was he really avoiding matters of the heart? Perhaps.

The peerless enchantress Liu Ruyan had once offered herself to him as a gift, and he had not refused. But he had not given any clear sign, either. Yan Qingcheng had once been captured by him. Facing her unparalleled beauty, he had felt a stirring, but it stopped at words. Earlier, to undermine the proud royal celestial maiden Zhao Lin'er's saintess dignity, he had been bold enough to make a move on her—one could call it teasing.

But all of this seemed superficial. Had his heart truly been moved? The answer seemed to be no.

When he first entered the World of Immortality, survival was the only thing on his mind. He hadn't had time to consider personal feelings. But what about now?

"Am I really deliberately avoiding it?" Xiao Chen murmured to himself.

He suddenly realized that he truly was running from this issue. He could play at romance, tease beauties, but in the end, he retreated, unwilling to truly open his heart.

Falling for someone was easy—it could happen in an instant. But forgetting someone was truly difficult. It might take a lifetime.

Was it because he dreaded going through that kind of forgetting again that he dared not truly open his heart?

Xiao Chen suddenly understood the root of the problem. Perhaps it was because he did not want to experience another forcible forgetting.

Everything in the mortal world was truly hard to forget. But Xiao Chen understood that cultivation was cultivation of the heart. He had to forget, to properly resolve his emotional issues. That, too, was a test of cultivation. Now that he understood the cause, he felt he could no longer retreat. He should truly face everything, not just be "a drifting duckweed, a passing wave."

But when he thought about how to begin, he was at a loss. There seemed to be no one who could truly make his heart stir.

Casual... not deliberate—then just go cultivate.

Xiao Chen activated the Eight Aspect Worlds, leaving an afterimage on the street. Ordinary people could not see his form at all. In an instant, he was several li away.

Legend had it that Yin Capital was an ancient relic, a divine burial ground. Even several Ancestral Gods had left their traces here.

Soon, Xiao Chen arrived at a famous historical site in Yin Capital. In a stone forest in the western district stood a petrified tree. Legend said that Ancestral God Youchao had sat meditation beneath it for nine days. This towering tree, as thick as three houses, had once been a living spirit tree, flourishing for ten thousand years. No one knew why it had not become a tree spirit. It eventually withered and, for unknown reasons, petrified.

The stone forest was vast. Ordinary people easily got lost within. Only cultivators came here, but as endless years passed, fewer and fewer visited, because few had ever gained anything from it—only a very small number.

Xiao Chen walked to the foot of the massive petrified tree, looked up at the desiccated, stony branches, and then silently sat down in meditation.

He found nothing here, but he did not want to leave just yet. He decided to emulate Ancestral God Youchao and meditate here for nine days.

On the first day, the clouds were light and the wind gentle. The stone forest was silent.

On the second day, heavy clouds pressed down, but no rain fell. The stone forest felt oppressive.

On the third day, a torrential downpour came, a curtain of water covering heaven and earth in a vast, white expanse.

On the fourth day, the rain continued, steady but sparse.

On the fifth day...

By the seventh day, deep in the night, Xiao Chen still had gained nothing. He only felt that the weather had been extremely unusual. Though he had gained nothing, he was not discouraged.

Throughout history, only a handful of people had gained anything here. It was normal for him not to receive an opportunity.

On the eighth day, Yin Capital was brilliantly lit. The strongest young experts cultivated by several great religions through secret methods had arrived. At the same time, the legendary strongest warriors of the Great Shang Empire, evenly matched in fame, had also arrived.

And several great experts of the Tiger Clan arrived in Yin Capital on that same day.

Xiao Chen remained in meditation, as still as an ancient well. He wondered why Ancestral God Youchao had meditated here. Why did legend say he had sat motionless here for nine days, leaving behind no words or carvings?

On the ninth day, he still had gained nothing. The night was like water. Midnight came and went. The latter part of the night was silent. Xiao Chen seemed to have fallen asleep. But at that moment, he faintly heard a sound—as if someone were speaking.

"Refining the Heaven-Earth Crucible..."