The Green Lotus Celestial Maiden

The sapphire-like little lake shimmered as the colossal blue lotus—a tree-like giant—bloomed with radiant petals, crystalline as colored jade, filling the air with a dense, divine fragrance. The massive lotus leaves spread like sky-covering umbrellas, blotting out the sun.

The Twelve-Grade Lotus Platform, white as finest mutton-fat jade, appeared and vanished among the huge leaves, exuding a dreamlike luster. Spiritual energy rippled, and the entire space was bathed in gleaming, sacred light.

“The Celestial Maiden has been well, I trust?” The old man chuckled, cupping his hands toward the giant lotus.

“You old barbarian, what brings you here?” The enormous blue lotus emitted a cold, proud voice.

“Heh, I’ve come for my disciple. I beg the Celestial Maiden to release my young student. Should you have any other needs, I will do my utmost to assist.”

“Your disciple?”

“Yes, the little girl you captured today.”

Shua!

Light flashed. Multicolored rays burst forth around the giant lotus, a thousand streams of auspicious radiance. The umbrella-sized lotus leaves parted in unison, revealing the lake surface behind the giant lotus.

There, light swirled and spiritual energy gathered densely. A peerless beauty lay supine on a leaf carved from green jade, as if in deep slumber. It was Qingqing.

Around her, Heavenly God Fruits, Nine-Leaf Jade Fungi, Dragon Tongue Orchids, Purple-Gold King Ginseng, and other celestial essences glowed, all floating beside her body. The space was illuminated with dazzling, ever-shifting colors.

Spiritual energy flowed from those essences at an astonishing rate, rushing toward Qingqing’s body like a hundred rivers returning to the sea. Thousands of rays shimmered with a dreamlike, beautiful brilliance.

“Is this the one you speak of?” The woman’s voice turned cold. “Her body is a rarity seldom seen through the ages. I wish to refine it further.”

The old man smiled again and cupped his hands in thanks. “I am grateful for the Celestial Maiden’s kind intention. On behalf of my young disciple, I thank you.”

“Hmph, old barbarian, you need not thank me. I do this for my own sake. This body is truly too perfect—it suits me well.”

Hearing this, the old man’s smile faded. “Celestial Maiden, will you not honor our friendship? I have already said, she is my disciple.”

The woman’s cold laughter rang out, her tone arrogant. “If you lose a disciple, you can take another. Today, I will remember this favor. In the future, I will not treat you poorly. Besides, who is to say she is truly your disciple? She is clearly not a cultivator.” At this, her voice turned icy, and she channeled her words into a concentrated thread that thundered in Xiao Chen’s ear: “So, brat, you brought reinforcements?”

The old man’s expression darkened. “Celestial Maiden, you go too far! She is my newly accepted disciple. How can I stand idly by and watch her perish? Do not push me too hard!”

Xiao Chen gradually understood. An inexplicable pain gripped his heart. He roared, “You old witch! You killed Ruoshui… and stole her body!”

The Green Lotus Celestial Maiden paid him no heed. At her level of cultivation, she could overlook all beings of heaven and earth, treating mortals like ants. She regarded him as empty air.

The old man stepped in front of Xiao Chen, his eyes blazing with two divine beams as he stared at the Green Lotus Celestial Maiden. “I beg the Celestial Maiden to release my disciple.”

“Impossible!”

“Green Lotus Celestial Maiden, since you bully us so, this old man will not be courteous either.” With these words, the old man’s aura changed abruptly. He no longer seemed so easygoing; he became like a giant who pierced the heavens, an oppressive, towering presence.

“Old barbarian, do you wish to taste the power of my four War Swords?” The Green Lotus Celestial Maiden’s voice was extremely cold.

“I would like to test them.” With that, the old man waved his hand. The thumb-sized crystal tower on Xiao Chen’s body flew up and landed in the old man’s palm.

He gently tapped it. The crystal tower blazed with light, then trembled continuously as it broke through nine layers of seals, releasing an immeasurably vast power. It slowly spun and rose, hovering above his head. Misty chaos primordial energy poured down, stirring the heart.

At that moment, the sacred tower finally revealed its original power; before, it had been sealed.

The Green Lotus Celestial Maiden showed a trace of gravity. “The legendary Haotian Tower. In ages past, it swept through the cultivation world, flooding the heavens with blood, annihilating five great sects, and sealing three Half-Ancestors. Today, I am honored to witness it.”

Xiao Chen finally understood why the cultivators had been so terrified upon recognizing the Haotian Tower—it had such a world-shaking, glorious past.

Light shot into the sky. Four ancient War Swords appeared beside the Green Lotus Celestial Maiden, stationed in four directions. Dazzling sword radiance pierced the clouds.

Xiao Chen was greatly startled. These four War Swords… were identical to the twenty-four War Swords he had seen in the World of Immortality. They were absolutely from the same source.

The old man’s eyes shot out two cold bolts of lightning, staring at the four War Swords. “Outsiders say you were searching for the Twelve-Grade Lotus Platform to warm and nourish the War Swords. That was all smoke and mirrors. Your true body is the blue lotus itself; you possess a peerless lotus platform. You refused to transform because you were already using your true body to warm the War Swords.”

The Green Lotus Celestial Maiden smiled brightly, but her voice was ice-cold. “Legend says the War Swords cannot unleash their full power unless they are all gathered together. But I will slowly break that curse in my hands.”

“It seems you have gained much.” The old man stood with the Haotian Tower above his head, shrouded in hazy chaos primordial energy.

“I have comprehended something of their secrets.”

“Then do you know how many War Swords are scattered across the various realms?”

The Green Lotus Celestial Maiden laughed coldly. “The number of the Great Evolution is fifty, but only forty-nine are used. From this, one can deduce the number of War Swords.”

Hearing this, the old man laughed heartily. “Then you will never gather all the War Swords!”

“Why?”

“The Great Evolution can represent the primordial cosmos. If the War Swords were all gathered, what do you think would happen? No wonder the legends say that even Half-Ancestors cannot fathom the power of the assembled War Swords.”

“Hmph, let’s fight!” The Green Lotus Celestial Maiden did not wish to say more. She rode the Twelve-Grade Lotus Platform and charged forward. The four War Swords blazed with dazzling light, sweeping out streaks of chaos sword energy.

The old man was not to be outdone. The Haotian Tower above his head vibrated, emitting beams of light that descended from the sky like a flood, surging toward the Green Lotus Celestial Maiden.

Hong!

The violent tremors were like a tsunami. Sub-dimensional space was punched through in an instant. The void above shattered, directly revealing the clear blue sky outside.

The two powerhouses charged out. Outside lay the vast ocean. The two began a fierce battle above the boundless sea, as if the end of days had come. The blue sea raised furious waves, the vast ocean churned with monstrous billows, seawater flooded back to the ninth heaven, smashing the clouds in the sky.

Xiao Chen, within the sub-dimension, saw all this clearly through the spatial tunnel that had been opened. His heart shook with shock. Without doubt, these two were Half-Ancestors. Such a battle truly shook heaven and earth.

Seeing Qingqing unconscious, Xiao Chen wanted to carry her on his back and flee this place.

But at that moment, the Green Lotus Celestial Maiden’s cold voice drifted down: “If you do not want her physical body to collapse, do not move.”

At the same time, the old man’s voice came from the outside world: “Do not touch Qingqing. Stay there and guard her.”

Xiao Chen flew to the exit of the sub-dimension and looked up at the battle in the sky.

A Half-Ancestor’s power was unfathomable. With a wave of a hand, they annihilated space. Cultivators from afar, unaware of the danger, tried to approach and watch. But before they were even a dozen li away, a casual flick of the Green Lotus Celestial Maiden’s sleeve wiped them from existence—several hundred people vanished into thin air.

Xiao Chen fell silent. No wonder the Green Lotus Celestial Maiden regarded living beings as ants. Such terrifying power was unimaginable.

At this moment, a nameless grief surged within him. Ruoshui had been killed by that old witch… He screamed in his heart.

In the sky, the four War Swords were fierce and unmatched. Each sword beam was as thick as a mountain, and every attack tore the entire heavens apart. The chaos sword energy was unimaginably terrifying.

The Haotian Tower, a supreme treasure that shook the cultivation world, hovered above the old man’s head, constantly vibrating. Beam after beam of light shot down, shattering all the incoming chaos sword energy.

But the Green Lotus Celestial Maiden clearly held the upper hand. Besides the four War Swords with their peerless offensive power, she also had the Twelve-Grade Lotus Platform—the ultimate defensive treasure. Light swirled around her, protecting her completely.

With both offense and defense, she grew bolder as the battle raged. Moreover, the nine pieces of cyan divine lotus leaves on her body also joined the fight. Those crystal leaves whirled out one after another, slashing toward the old man above the sea.

Although the Haotian Tower was a formidable treasure combining offense and defense, the old man could only use it defensively. He dared not send it out to collect the four War Swords, because his opponent possessed three supreme treasures: the War Swords, the Twelve-Grade Lotus Platform, and the Green Jade Lotus Leaves. He was too passive.

The old man was knocked back by the interwoven chaos sword energy. His eyes wide with fury, he let out a long roar and began to move his hands in complex gestures. The entire ocean rose in furious waves!

In that instant, countless mountain-like sword beams shot up into the sky, sweeping toward the Green Lotus Celestial Maiden. Then, divine mountains rose from the sea, shining with brilliant light, shattering the ocean itself as they crashed upward into the sky.

The overseas regions were naturally rich in immortal islands and divine mountains. The old man pulled up mountains from the seabed on the spot, refining them into magical treasures to strike at his enemy. Such a method was enough to shake the world.

Though he did not have many treasures, this place abounded in refining materials. He plucked up mountains and refined the blue sea itself, turning the myriad things of heaven and earth into magical treasures with a mere gesture.

“Taiwu, you are indeed an outlier among cultivators. Or rather, one could call you a Qi Refiner.”

“Cultivators are themselves born from the primal Qi Refiners of antiquity. I am merely a transitional figure between the Qi Refiner and the modern cultivator.”

Cultivators evolved from primal Qi Refiners? Xiao Chen was astonished. The Ancient Martial System and Qi Refining System were cultivation systems that had gradually disappeared after antiquity.

But what shocked him even more was that the old man was none other than the legendary Taiwu!