The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance looked towards the Elder of Heavenly Tomes. His eyes were filled with reverence.
Li Qingshan said, “A day in the heavens, a year in the mortal world. If you put it like that, it’s the gods’ loss.”
Chao Tianjiao disagreed. “Even if the flow of time between the large worlds and small worlds is different, you don’t sense anything different no matter where you are, so how can you call that a loss?”
Then she clasped her hands towards the Elder of Heavenly Tomes. “Master, if you want to experience the changing of seasons of mortal life, all you have to do is send a clone over to that world. Why must you head there personally? And I’ve heard that those who were well off avoided all risks, let alone True Immortals?”
The Elder of Heavenly Tomes was an honoured True Immortal, such that even the ten kings of hell had to proactively greet him when they came across him. Even if he entered rebirth again, it would be different from those cultivators captured by the underworld and sent into rebirth against their will. When he underwent rebirth, he would definitely have everything prepared. There was no need for him to go through the confusions of the womb, and he would have ways to protect himself.
However, no matter how much preparation he made, no matter how powerful his ways to protect himself were, he would definitely come under the risk of dying as long as he was reduced to a mortal. No matter how small the risk was, it was not worth it, as it was completely unnecessary.
On the side, Li Qingshan had understood what was going on. Now that the crisis was imminent, Chao Tianjiao did not want the Elder of Heavenly Tomes to venture down to a lower world, as that would cost her a powerful ally.
The Elder of Heavenly Tomes smiled. “How would it make no difference?” He pointed at Li Qingshan. “At the very least, I can forget about the troublesome matters regarding little bro.”
No matter what, it was impossible for a mortal to contain the entire consciousness of a True Immortal. They needed to give up a majority of their memories, only preserving the most central part of themselves.
However, that was instead good news to the Elder of Heavenly Tomes. He could cast aside his burdens and weariness, rebuilding himself through his own consciousness, before starting over again.
Everything would be so novel and intriguing.
Li Qingshan smiled. “That would be perfect. I also find myself vexing often, so I might as well just forget about it!” His stance was the complete opposite of Chao Tianjiao’s. If the Elder of Heavenly Tomes remained in the heavens, he would definitely serve as a powerful enemy.
The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance interrupted them. “I will make note of it and tell master when the time is right.”
Actually, just using simple words to record the major matters that occurred here did not take much soul sense. And, as a spirit turtle, even a newly-born one, his soul sense would be countless times greater than regular people. The information he could maintain was countless times more.
And, as his powers rapidly recovered, many of his lost memories could be retrieved through his bloodline legacy.
Remembering such a terrifying crisis with such a feeble existence in itself was a heavy burden. However, spirit turtles never feared burdens.
“Alright… hopefully a little later!” The Elder of Heavenly Tomes patted the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance’s shoulder, but he was aware that this was the nature and talent of spirit turtles.
The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance answered in agreement with his head lowered, behaving with much loyalty. He made up his mind about telling the Elder of Heavenly Tomes that this world might be done for because it was drawn into the crisis of the world once he underwent the second heavenly tribulation. He could not afford anything later than that!
The only pity was he could not remain here and personally witness history. He glanced deeply at Li Qingshan. The moment when this kid perished definitely would be incredibly imposing!
Li Qingshan felt pissed off for some reason, glaring back at the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance until he silently shifted his gaze away.
“Oh right!” The Elder of Heavenly Tomes slapped his forehead. “I almost forgot this.” He took out an object from his sleeve and passed it to Li Qingshan solemnly. “Little bro, hang onto this. You have to place it in the safest spot possible, just in case it gets destroyed or lost.”
In Li Qingshan’s hand was a deep-blue turtle shell. He asked curiously, “What is this?”
The Elder of Heavenly Tomes said, “This is the heavenly tome.”
“Hold on, then what did I obtain?”
“You obtained the Myriad Heavenly Tome.”
Li Qingshan was puzzled. He checked the turtle shell and came to a realisation. “So this is the true heavenly tome!”
The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance had probably shed the turtle shell. It contained a tremendous amount of information, but they were not cultivation methods or secret techniques, but the entirety of the Elder of Heavenly Tomes’ memories—the rebirths, the journeys, the partings and reunions, the joys and sorrows.
It was like an overly-detailed journal, carefully recording the taste of each cup of alcohol, the smell of each flower, the emotions of each encounter…
Compared to that, the Myriad Heavenly Tome was insignificant. Even the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes was insignificant.
The Elder of Heavenly Tomes said, “This old friend of mine loves reading. I like reading too. Being a reader truly is an extremely wondrous matter. You can explore the worlds and experience the joys and sorrows without setting a single foot out the door, but I’m just never satisfied with that. I always want to try out being the main character.”
Li Qingshan said, “There’s probably more than just one copy of this, right?”
“Of course.”
“The heavenly emperor is in possession of a copy?”
“Of course.”
“You’re not afraid that the heavenly emperor would unleash his wrath?” Li Qingshan fiddled around with the turtle shell. He was rather at a loss as for how to respond.
Very clearly, the Elder of Heavenly Tomes was making a gamble with this. He gambled that Li Qingshan would be able to survive this crisis of the world. This was obviously good news for Li Qingshan.
However, as a close subject of the heavenly emperor, perhaps there were reasons why he could give the Myriad Heavenly Tome to him, but giving this to him was basically cursing the downfall of the heavenly emperor. Could the heavenly emperor really accept that?
Or perhaps, would the heavenly emperor die?
Li Qingshan tried to find an answer from the turtle shell in his hand, through the Elder of Heavenly Tomes’ memories, but he discovered that everything regarding the heavenly emperor had been hidden away.
“He’s the mighty heavenly emperor. How can he be so stingy?” The Elder of Heavenly Tomes laughed, except he glanced at the sky. He discovered that the sky was just as calm as before, just a little darker in colour. Only then did he completely relax, confirming his judgement.
Li Qingshan pouted. “You sure make me feel flattered with such a high opinion of me, old bro.”
The Elder of Heavenly Tomes smiled. “It’s never about the things that happen with certainty, but the one-in-a-million events.”
Li Qingshan also began to laugh out of exasperation. “Then thank you for your blessings, old bro. There are some things that are worth a try even if there’s only a one-in-a-million chance at success!”
The Elder of Heavenly Tomes was taken aback, suddenly becoming slightly at a loss for words. He wanted to persuade Li Qingshan into accepting the demand for surrender, but when the words reached his mouth, it turned into a sigh.
Li Qingshan held the turtle shell between his fingers and waved it around. “Though, haven’t you given this to me a little too late?” He was already prepared to go on a mocking spree in the Lingxiao hall. He did not believe this clone of his would still be able to return to the Demon domain safely.
The Elder of Heavenly Tomes said, “It’s not late, it’s not late. You’ll know once you try it.”
Catching the prompt, Li Qingshan shut his eyes and tried to sense for the distant star called the Demon domain. A while later, he opened his eyes and swung his hand. A deep, pitch-black demon cavern opened up.
At the same time, the black arm of an ape demon was also swung on the other end of the demon cavern.
As it turned out, the Primordial World possessed an extremely deep connection with all of the worlds and was particularly close with a large world like the Demon domain. It was only due to the obstructions from Fuxi and Nüwa’s pure powers of yin and yang that he could not come and go as he pleased like in the six realms of saṃsāra.
As the lord of the Demon domain, Li Qingshan could use his paramount authority to greatly strengthen the connection between the two worlds. Then he could use the Ape Demon Transformation to pave a path between them.
Li Qingshan was about to toss the turtle shell and bamboo pole into the demon cavern when Li Liehuo suddenly asked, “Li Qingshan, you just said that if I yield to you, I’ll retain my promise of godhood. Does that still count?”
