The spring rain, the summer thunder, the autumn gales, and the winter snow came and went. The seasons changed.
Within the tribulation lightning, Li Qingshan set off acquaintance after acquaintance. He asked Rāhu Xiaoming, who was bundled up in blankets, “Where do you think they ascended to?”
Rāhu Xiaoming had become incredibly tiny, even smaller than a newborn. It only took Li Qingshan a single hand to hold him up. His skin had even become a tender pink, and he spent most of his time with his eyes shut like an infant sleeping away. However, his brows would always be furrowed, and his expression would sometimes twist until it was almost hideous. He poured with sweat, regularly soaking the blankets as if he was stuck in a nightmare that he could not wake up from.
Li Qingshan would always shake him awake at a time like that and ask him about something.
As a result, Rāhu Xiaoming opened his eyes. His eyes shone like rubies, but they were blurred with a layer of mist. It took a while before he focused his gaze. His lips moved as he mouthed a reply, “The six realms of sa?sāra.”
“Sure enough!”
Li Qingshan nodded because one of the asura under his command had recently ascended. Through the eyes of his mirror clone, he clearly saw a blood-red swirl appear in outer space, sucking the asura away.
Originally, he thought they would ascend from small worlds to medium worlds, and then from medium worlds to large worlds. As it seemed now, the six realms of sa?sāra were all the worlds in outer space, the final destination of all creatures, whether it was through life or through death!
That did make sense. It was obviously impossible for those who ascended to travel through space and arrive in another world. Only the six realms of sa?sāra was connected to every single world, which was why it was possible to ascend in the first place. However, the exact form that the six realms of sa?sāra existed in was not something Li Qingshan could understand right now, but he was finally beginning to understand this world gradually.
Rāhu Xiaoming fell asleep again, and his expression gradually became twisted again. It was even filled with fear.
Asura were always known for their courage, their viciousness, and their fearlessness, so Li Qingshan had no idea exactly what could make this son of an asura god show an expression like that. His nightmares were growing deeper as well, so deep that even Li Qingshan could not wake him anymore. His aura became weaker and weaker too until it was almost non-existent.
This continued. One day, he entered an extremely long slumber, so long that Li Qingshan thought he would never wake up again. Then he suddenly snapped open his eyes and began to cry loudly like a child, filled with sorrow and pain.
Li Qingshan was taken by surprise. He picked up the blankets in a hurry, only to smell the reeking of blood, which made him open up the bundle to take a look. His tender skin cracked open as droplets of blood fell down, igniting as red lotuses.
His instincts for danger made him let go of Rāhu Xiaoming and back far away. The feeling that the red lotus flames gave him was actually even more terrifying than Xiao An’s Samādhi Flames of White Bone. They seemed to possess some kind of law, even more profound and ancient than the laws of the world. It was undefiable, penetrating the countless worlds.
It was exactly this law that had turned against this son of an asura god that once possessed immeasurable might.
Gu Yanying, who was coming up with new laws, was dumbfounded too. Gazing at the blooming red lotuses, she felt like even the laws from the Hell realm struggled to rival the laws within them.
Li Qingshan and Gu Yanying both held their breaths.
The red lotuses all began to wither and fall after blooming to their limit. Rāhu Xiaoming’s crying stopped. A red lotus emerged from his mouth, much larger than the other red lotuses. Its petals all opened up, around the size of a washbasin, with an infant lying inside. He looked exactly like Rāhu Xiaoming. A delighted smile stretched across his face, devoid of any sorrow. When they looked beneath the lotus again, the original Rāhu Xiaoming had already been reduced to ash.
The final lotus began to wither away slowly before shedding its petals and dispersing in the very end. Everything had happened in a short while.
The infant tottered about as he stood up. He studied his body in satisfaction and placed his hands on his hips, proudly placing the little elephant between his crotch on display.
In that moment, all of his depression and degeneration had been washed away. He ordered boldly, “Li Qingshan, go get me some food. I want milk and grapes!”
Li Qingshan and Gu Yanying exchanged glances, still rather puzzled by the situation. Rāhu Xiaoming seemed to go through some kind of alarming change, but looking at him, he only seemed a little more energetic.
Li Qingshan asked with uncertainty, “Xiaoming?”
“Yeah, let’s just settle on Ming then, but get rid of that ‘Xiao’. From today onwards, I am Rāhu Ming!”
“Sure, Xiaoming.”
“It’s Rāhu Ming.” Rāhu Xiaoming’s face darkened.
“No problem, Xiaoming.”
“You bastard of a thing!” Rāhu Xiaoming shot a vicious glance towards Li Qingshan. His eyes were filled with fighting spirit like a true asura.
Li Qingshan approached him slowly and crouched down. He extended his right hand in an experimental manner, pulling back his middle finger.
“What are you trying to do? Don’t you dare!” Rāhu Xiaoming swayed around as he tried to avoid Li Qingshan’s hand.
Smack! Li Qingshan flicked Rāhu Xiaoming in the head. He collapsed with that, leaving him red with anger.
Li Qingshan scratched his chin and grinned. “What, I had thought you had suddenly developed some kind of impressive ability! It’s not special at all!”
Rāhu Xiaoming sat up. “Li Qingshan, I will never spare you in the future!”
Li Qingshan slowly pulled back his middle finger on both hands, and Rāhu Xiaoming decided to avoid trouble by keeping quiet.
Li Qingshan ordered others to bring over milk and grapes. Rāhu Xiaoming immediately stopped caring about anything else and began stuffing his face.
Gu Yanying asked curiously, “Xiaoming, what was the fire just then?”
Rāhu Xiaoming said in exasperation, “The Karma Flames of Red Lotus.” Then he said seriously, “We need to leave here quickly!”
Note: The Karma Flames of Red Lotus are a reference to the seventh cold hell of buddhism. The cold makes a person’s flesh crack open, resembling a red lotus.
“Why?” Li Qingshan raised an eyebrow. Even Li Qingshan was not in a hurry to leave right now, so of all the people that were anxious to leave, why him?
“Have you noticed my changes yet?” Rāhu Xiaoming clenched his fist.
“You’re growing!”
Gu Yanying noticed the hair on Rāhu Xiaoming’s head. It had become much thicker compared to when he first emerged from the red lotus. His voice had become clearer too.
However, Li Qingshan saw much more. The original Rāhu Xiaoming did not face rejection from the world, but he was not accepted by the world either. However, ever since his rebirth in the Karma Flames of Red Lotus, the spiritual qi of the world surged towards him, almost like it was unstoppable.
“That’s right. If this continues, I’ll undergo the first heavenly tribulation before long. I can’t undergo the tribulation in this world, or I’ll return to the Asura realm.”
Unlike a half-assed god of a world like Li Qingshan, Rāhu Xiaoming was born as a god, and he was “born” in this world too, so he became a son of the heavens protected and blessed by the world. Even if he was isolated from the spiritual qi of the world, he could rapidly grow through his diet alone. He became stronger with each passing second, and this would continue until he reached the limit that the world could withstand.
“Yeah, your mum is searching the entire universe for you. Wouldn’t you just be delivering yourself to her then?” Li Qingshan expressed his agreement. He asked Gu Yanying impatiently, “Gu Yanying, are you going or not?”
“Don’t you have to comprehend the laws of the world?”
“I’ve already comprehended most of it. I can just comprehend the rest once I get back to the nine provinces.”
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll lose the connection with your clone over such a distant space?”
“Foolish woman, don’t underestimate my innate ability!”
“Alright, let’s set off then! Though, clever man, where are the nine provinces?”
“Are you kidding me?”
