629: Chapter 40 True Immortal, Holy Maiden

"Greetings to the Dao Lord, from the first generation shepherd of the God Race, He Yanni."

Seeing the Holy Maiden take the initiative to greet Meng Li, Zixuan was extremely surprised.

She had lived with the Holy Maiden since she was a child, for over two hundred years now.

In Zixuan's impression, there was almost no one who could make the Holy Maiden take the initiative to offer greetings. Since the Holy Maiden had already assisted the Descendants of Nüwa before her, her seniority and cultivation were terrifyingly high; the people she would treat with such courtesy were very few.

Wan Yuzhi was equally surprised—or to be precise, shocked!

Not long ago, just like in the original story, Zixuan had approached her to maintain her youth, offering to save her husband in exchange for her heart.

Wan Yuzhi, who wanted to stay with her husband forever, naturally refused.

Later, she managed to find out that Zixuan was one of the Descendants of Nüwa.

This made her both surprised and delighted; for a fox demon like her, the Descendants of Nüwa were existences she could hardly reach.

And the Holy Maiden was someone Zixuan, a Descendant of Nüwa, respected deeply.

Now that the Holy Maiden had actually taken the initiative to greet Meng Li, Meng Li's background must be...

Wan Yuzhi did not continue that train of thought.

She couldn't fathom it, but she was filled with regret.

If she had known Meng Li was so extraordinary earlier, she would never have attacked Lan Kui for the earth spirit pearl, but would have tried to beg Meng Li instead. Perhaps her husband would have truly been saved, and she wouldn't have had to suffer that strike from the thunder talisman.

It was a pity that there was no medicine for regret in this world.

Wan Yuzhi could only shrink into a ball, trying to lower her presence, while her mind raced to find a way to make amends.

As for Meng Li, the person involved, he was currently somewhat confused.

"Why does the Holy Maiden call me 'Dao Lord'?"

Hearing Meng Li's question, the Holy Maiden was stunned for a moment, then asked in confusion, "The Dao Lord does not know?"

Meng Li shook his head.

The Holy Maiden immediately explained: "Your Excellency practices the path of the True Immortal. According to ancient records, this path was prevalent in the primordial era and formed a complete system. Those who achieve success in their cultivation have specific honorifics based on their Realm. Since your Dao Embryo has formed, according to the rules of the True Immortal path, you may be called 'Dao Lord'."

Only then did it dawn on Meng Li. He then cupped his hands and asked, "My Legacy is incomplete. Could the Holy Maiden tell me more about this path of the True Immortal?"

Hearing this, the Holy Maiden was not surprised.

From the fact that Meng Li did not know the title 'Dao Lord,' she had guessed his Legacy was incomplete, but...

"The cultivation of the True Immortal path is too dangerous. Its Legacy is hard to find in the Six Realms today, and relevant records are scarce. What I know may not be much more than what you know, Dao Lord. However, since you wish to know, I will tell you everything I know."

Saying this, the Holy Maiden gestured for him to follow, then walked inside, passing Zixuan and Wan Yuzhi, and sat down on a chair inside.

Meng Li followed and sat opposite her.

Immediately, the Holy Maiden began: "As far as I know, the path of the True Immortal advocates 'discarding the false to cultivate the true, pursuing the true self,' with the goal of 'transcending heaven and earth, attaining great freedom and great liberation.' But all things are born between heaven and earth and are naturally part of nature. Intending to transcend heaven and earth is naturally not permitted by heaven and earth."

"Therefore, the cultivation of the True Immortal path is an act of rebellion against heaven and earth."

"However, heaven has the virtue of cherishing life and leaves a glimmer of hope for all things."

"The cultivation of the True Immortal path is the same..."

Following the Holy Maiden's explanation, Meng Li quickly gained a general understanding of this so-called True Immortal path.

According to his understanding, heaven and earth were like parents, and all living things were their children. However, the number of living things in the world was too vast for heaven and earth to care for them all, so they adopted a free-range approach within their capabilities.

Only some outstanding children would receive varying degrees of attention from heaven and earth.

These outstanding children were extraordinary existences, mostly Cultivators.

According to these existences' paths, heaven and earth held different attitudes.

The most typical examples were the Loose Immortal, Celestial, and True Immortal mentioned by the Ancient Vine Elder earlier.

Among the three, the difference between a Loose Immortal and a Celestial was said to be whether they transcended Reincarnation, but in reality, it was about whether they had an official position.

But whether it was a Loose Immortal without a position or a Celestial with one, their range of activity was within the scope covered by heaven and earth, or the world as a whole; they were just jumping around in their own home. No matter how they stirred up trouble, whether the result was good or bad, it was all internal digestion.

Therefore, heaven and earth themselves basically would not interfere with these two.

After all, no matter what, the meat was in their own pot; even if it rotted, at most it would be recycled.

But the True Immortal was different!

Practitioners of the True Immortal path took the path of running away from home to start their own business.

Compared to the Celestials and Loose Immortals who stayed honestly at home, True Immortals were complete rebels. Once their wings were strong enough to fly away, it was basically impossible for them to come back.

Then the parents, Heaven and Earth, had to test them well.

First, starting a business required capital, and this capital was taken from home.

Second, starting a business required ability and luck; if one lacked the skills or the luck, one might as well go back to the furnace and be remade.

This test was the Heavenly Tribulation.

In addition, the Holy Maiden also spoke about the title issue mentioned earlier.

The Heavenly Tribulation was extremely dangerous, and one could die if not careful. But once passed successfully, the practitioner's strength would be vastly different, and it would also prove their luck.

Such an existence with both strength and luck was naturally worthy of respect from others.

Therefore, every Realm of the True Immortal path had an exclusive honorific.

Specifically, Meng Li felt it was similar to the cultivation system titles from his first life in the web novel world, such as Qi Refining Cultivator, Foundation Establishment Old Ancestor, Golden Core Immortal Master, and so on.

Meng Li's Dao Embryo had currently formed, which corresponded to the title of Dao Lord.

Further up, there were Venerables, Great Powers, Giants, and so on.

This gave Meng Li some enlightenment, but also a little regret.

Because this was all the Holy Maiden knew.

Apart from this, she knew nothing about other aspects of the True Immortal path.

However, Meng Li still thanked her: "Many thanks to the Holy Maiden for clearing up my confusion."

The Holy Maiden said politely: "The Dao Lord is too kind, these are just trivial words. It is Zixuan who offended you just now; I hope the Dao Lord is magnanimous and will not take it to heart."

Hearing this, Meng Li glanced at Zixuan in the distance. Seeing her talking to Wan Yuzhi outside and only occasionally looking over here, he couldn't help but say to the Holy Maiden: "If I am not mistaken, this Miss Zixuan must be the generation of Descendants of Nüwa that has caused the Holy Maiden the most worry."

"The Holy Maiden's hair must have turned white because of her as well."

Hearing this, the Holy Maiden was stunned for a moment, then glanced at Zixuan as well and let out a long sigh.

Because the facts were exactly as Meng Li said. She had assisted more than one Descendant of Nüwa, but Zixuan was the one who worried her the most.

The Holy Maiden's hair was not naturally white; it had been black at the beginning. The reason it turned from black to white was indeed related to Zixuan.

When Zixuan fell in love with Gu Liufang, they agreed on a date to meet at a certain place when they parted.

In the end, Gu Liufang failed to show up. Zixuan wandered and waited at the agreed place for a long time, but to no avail.

The Holy Maiden originally thought Gu Liufang would not come, and after a long time, Zixuan would give up, so she went to deal with other matters. Unexpectedly, during this period, Gu Liufang and Zixuan met by accident and cleared up the misunderstanding.

Later, not knowing if it was for revenge or what, the two ran to the Taoist temple where Gu Liufang lived and set it on fire. After the incident, they were driven to a dead end and had to jump off a cliff for love.

At that time, Zixuan had the intention of dying for love and didn't take any protective measures. The reason she didn't end up dead like Gu Liufang was purely due to the passive protection of the Divine Power of the Nüwa clan. Even so, she was severely injured and her life was hanging by a thread.

When the Holy Maiden sensed this, she was stunned.

When she rushed to the scene and hurriedly gathered the power of the earth to pull Zixuan back from the gates of hell, she also suffered heavy damage to her own Origin Qi in her haste.

Gu Liufang was a mortal, and after falling off the cliff, he died without a whole corpse. She could not save him, nor did she want to.

Because she felt that only after Gu Liufang died could Zixuan give up.

Later, the Holy Maiden chose to go into seclusion to restore her lost Origin Qi.

But what she never expected was that not only did Zixuan not give up, but during her seclusion, she found Gu Liufang's Reincarnation, Lin Yeping, and married him. But not long after, the two had a conflict, and Zixuan returned to Nanzhao alone, almost losing her life in a rebellion.

Sensing that Zixuan was falling into despair due to Lin Yeping's death and had a tendency to go crazy and risk her life, the Holy Maiden hurriedly came out of seclusion to save the situation.

Not long after, Zixuan gave birth to Lin Qinger.

The Holy Maiden thought that with a daughter, Zixuan could settle down.

After all, when Lin Qinger was born, Zixuan's Divine Power would fade, and she wouldn't live long.

Unexpectedly, Zixuan actually begged her to freeze Lin Qinger and delay her own aging by limiting her growth.

This crazy operation—thanks to the fact that Zixuan wasn't born to the Holy Maiden, otherwise she would definitely have strung her up and whipped her.

Is there such a mother?

And you are a descendant of Nüwa, the Mother of the Earth!

After so many things, the Holy Maiden saw through Zixuan, was physically and mentally exhausted, her black hair turned into white hair, and she just let her be.

As long as she couldn't see her, she was too lazy to interfere.

Anyway, when the next generation of Descendants of Nüwa was born, Zixuan's ending was already doomed.

The reason she appeared here now was purely because Zixuan begged her to come.

At this moment, seeing Meng Li mention Zixuan's affairs, the Holy Maiden was not surprised at how he knew.

The path of the True Immortal was extremely dangerous, but once cultivation was successful, one could possess unfathomable abilities. Knowing some past events was not worth being surprised about.

This was also the reason she respected Meng Li.

It was just that mentioning Zixuan and thinking of the past made her feel helpless, which was why she sighed.

Seeing the Holy Maiden's expression, Meng Li immediately knew he had guessed right, so he followed up: "The Holy Maiden has truly had it difficult."

Hearing this, the Holy Maiden was startled.

She was a shepherd of the God Race, dedicated to assisting the Descendants of Nüwa and guarding the common people. She was a career-oriented existence, but she also had her own emotions. Especially when encountering a love-struck fool like Zixuan who couldn't be cured, it was inevitable that she would feel stifled.

She had no one to tell about these things, and no one could understand her feelings.

Meng Li's exclamation suddenly gave her a feeling of "he understands me."

However, the Holy Maiden was not an ordinary woman after all. She recovered in an instant and said to Meng Li: "If the Dao Lord has anything to say, please feel free to speak."