3: Ichiyo no Megumi

As for how to defy heaven and change fate, Qing Wu had not yet thought of a foolproof method.

After all, there is a saying in the Great Desolation: Under the great trend, human effort is hard to defy.

Even someone as powerful as Beast Emperor Shen Ni, who led hundreds of millions of Vicious Beasts and beat the myriad races into submission, could not escape the fate of falling in the end.

During the Lich Calamity, Dijun and Taiyi were both leading figures of the new generation in the Great Desolation, and the Twelve Ancestral Witches were the true descendants of Pangu.

Yet their ends were still miserable.

Even during the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, Shangqing Tongtian, despite his status as a Saint, still found it difficult to save the crumbling destiny of the Sect of Interception.

In the end, he was even forced onto the path of restarting the Immortal Slaying Formation and re-refining the elements of earth, water, fire, and wind.

These three examples were all swept away by the great trend, pushed step by step onto a path of no return... But there is another saying in the Great Desolation: while the great trend is irreversible, the minor trends can be changed.

In this, what is the great trend, and what is the minor trend?

Was the Calamity of the Three Races the great trend, or was Yuan Feng ascending to the position of Lord of All Birds and embarking on the path of hegemony the great trend... Qing Wu pondered for a long time, yet still did not have a clear definition.

But at least he had a preliminary idea, and he would begin to test the boundaries step by step.

Therefore, the first step would start with disciplining Yuan Feng.

It couldn't exactly be called disciplining; it should be called education.

Now that Yuan Feng was closely connected to him, he should give her some careful guidance to make her give up the idea of striving for hegemony.

He didn't want to watch this cheap younger sister of his walk down that old path and enter the calamity once again.

After all, the bond between Yuan Feng and himself had grown a layer deeper now.

If Yuan Feng suffered a calamity, it would also backfire on him to some extent.

In every sense, he should properly teach Yuan Feng the survival Law of the Great Desolation—steadiness.

The first step was to change her fiery temper.

Judging from Yuan Feng's previous attitude of admitting defeat but not accepting her fate, she appeared honest and obedient now.

But deep down, who knew when she was planning to suppress him in turn and then consume him entirely... As the Lord of All Birds, she was not one to willingly remain subordinate for long.

Indeed, while Yuan Feng appeared to be providing feedback to Qing Wu on the surface, her eyes were constantly fixed on the Wutong fruit that was about to ripen.

She was just waiting for the moment it matured to pluck it away.

Once refined, it would further increase her strength and complete her transformation.

At that time, the entire situation would be reversed... Tens of thousands of years passed again.

Buzz!

With the emergence of a golden light, the Wutong fruit had fully condensed.

The entire fruit appeared dark brown, yet it could not hide the majestic power of vitality within it.

Yuan Feng was quick of eye and hand, immediately flying out from the branch and pecking at the Wutong fruit.

A cold sneer couldn't help but appear at the corner of her mouth, "Wutong, oh Wutong, in the end, you are no match for me..."

But all of this was already within Wutong's control.

Swish!

A strand of Sword Qi condensed from the Wutong Heartwood emerged, slashing toward the Wutong fruit.

Without a doubt, it was sliced off.

The Wutong fruit fell and was then collected by Qing Wu.

"You damn Qing Wu, you actually dare to play me!"

Realizing she had been fooled, Yuan Feng grew furious and immediately activated her great magic power.

Flames filled the sky, seemingly wanting to burn Qing Wu to ashes.

Yuan Feng darted up and down, lighting fires all over Wutong's main body.

Tsk~

Wutong let out an impatient sound, "Look, anxious again."

"Don't you know I'm immune to your flames?"

No wonder the three races of Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin, as overlords of the Great Desolation, were easily provoked by behind-the-scenes figures like Luo Hou, eventually starting a great war.

All of this stemmed from the leaders' temperament of starting a fight at the slightest disagreement.

This was absolutely unacceptable and had to be changed.

Rustle~

Qing Wu's main body let out a series of sounds as his magic power began to circulate.

This was him using one of his innate Divine Abilities—Wutong Listening to the Wind.

Using his own comprehension of the Law of Wind, he could gather the surrounding wind elements.

As more and more wind elements were gathered, forming a powerful storm, the flames released by Yuan Feng were all extinguished.

Only her solitary figure remained, disheveled in the wind.

Snap!

Another lash came down, and Yuan Feng was struck down hard.

"The Wutong fruit is something I worked hard to produce; when the time is right, I will naturally give it to you."

"But all of this is decided by me. If I do not give it, you cannot snatch it."

"Be obedient and go back to work."

Yuan Feng suffered this setback, and her anger reached its peak.

Yet she could do nothing against Qing Wu.

She even felt that what he said made some sense.

The Wutong fruit was originally produced by Qing Wu, and he certainly couldn't use it himself.

So who would it be given to? That was obvious.

At worst, she would wait until she got the Wutong fruit before trying to suppress Qing Wu again.

She was indeed a bit impatient just now, which led to another beating.

After figuring it out, Yuan Feng said nothing and silently returned to the main trunk to continue providing feedback to Qing Wu.

A long time passed again, and during this period, Yuan Feng was very well-behaved.

Qing Wu was very satisfied with her; it seemed his education of her was working.

After a long period of deduction, he once again mastered one of his innate Divine Abilities—One Leaf to Substitute the Eye.

He could place a wisp of his mind onto a leaf; when the leaf fell, it would turn into a 'spiritual eye,' drifting with the wind to spy in all directions.

The advantages and disadvantages of this Divine Ability were very obvious.

The advantage was that the magic power fluctuations were extremely weak, making it hard for ordinary Cultivators to notice; it could be called a top-tier secret-spying method in the Great Desolation.

The disadvantage was the separation of the mind, which would inevitably affect the main body to some extent.

One or two leaves were naturally not worth mentioning for Qing Wu, who possessed massive vitality energy.

But since he wanted to conduct an all-round exploration, he certainly couldn't just send out one or two leaves.

It would take thousands or tens of thousands of leaves to have any effect.

Since coming to the Great Desolation, Qing Wu had always been Cultivating with Yuan Feng within this Innate protective array and had not explored the outside world.

He would take this opportunity to try out the Divine Ability and also gain a grasp of his surroundings.

This was so he could keep as much as possible within his control.

No sooner said than done, Qing Wu first activated Wutong Listening to the Wind.

As a great wind swept through, it took away 129,600 leaves, heading in all directions.

"Falling leaves are heartless, I entrust them with my spirit!"

As the Dao sound fell, 129,600 wisps of his mind also dispersed, beginning to explore the surroundings.

In an instant, Qing Wu could feel countless images flashing before his eyes.

The massive amount of information flowing in at this moment forced him to concentrate his mind intensely.

He filtered for useful information among these countless images.

He then shifted more energy over to complete positioning and marking.

Gradually, Qing Wu gained a general understanding of the area he was in.

A map centered on himself slowly unfolded... And as these wisps of mind dispersed, he could feel his own aura decrease slightly.

But with his powerful vitality, it wouldn't take long for him to recover as before.

At the same time, Yuan Feng could also clearly perceive that Qing Wu's aura had weakened by a fraction.

This was an excellent opportunity.

As long as she took the chance to exert her power and snatch the Wutong fruit from Qing Wu's hands.

The situation between the two would immediately change.

Yuan Feng was already about to move.

But after some thought, she did not act rashly this time.

After all, with the previous lesson in mind, it was hard to guarantee whether this was another test from that crazy Wutong Tree.

Rather than getting another beating, it was better to be honest and obedient to get the Wutong fruit for real.

Temporary forbearance would always be rewarded one day.

All of this was seen by Qing Wu.

This cheap younger sister of his learned quite quickly and already possessed some steady traits.

This showed that his educational policy for her was absolutely correct.