Chapter 702: May this flame give you some warmth

Dao rhythm circulated, and that scene gradually faded away, leaving the world once again a vast expanse of white.

This was Nüwa Niangniang's true form, which had always been present, perhaps as her incarnation or her soul.

In ancient times, she had stood up for the human race but ultimately suffered defeat, imprisoned by Tiandao in the confined void of Shengmu Gong, unable to move, confined for countless ages.

Li Changshou had anticipated such a situation, but he never expected to witness it firsthand, and he nearly lost his composure.

The white expanse was utterly empty, and the atmosphere in the pavilion felt somewhat oppressive.

Li Changshou lowered his head and returned to his earlier seat, picking up his brush to continue drawing.

Nüwa Niangniang sat quietly on the soft couch. She had a moment of emotional breakdown but quickly regained her previous coldness and composure, her gaze fixed on the pool, lost in thought.

It was as if nothing had happened at all.

As saints, beings at the pinnacle of existence, high above all, they naturally did not want others to see their plight, especially a junior like him.

Li Changshou recalled how, when he first arrived, Nüwa Niangniang had been particular about his address, reminding him not to casually call her “mother” or “ancestor,” deliberately downplaying her connection to the human race.

It was probably... unbearable.

“Niangniang, let the flow of time return to normal,” Li Changshou said warmly. “I'll finish this comic, and I won't rush to leave. Besides, if I wanted to leave, you in your current state couldn't stop me. If I'm right, the rebellion of Wucheng Wang has just occurred in Nanbuzhou, and the Shang kingdom is mobilizing its armies to attack the Zhou kingdom. The first battle will likely happen in two to three months.”

Nüwa's delicate brows furrowed slightly, and she lightly tapped her slender finger, summoning a cloud mirror that revealed various scenes, flashing through dozens of images from Nanbuzhou.

Li Changshou continued, “If Niangniang could spy on Yuxu Gong and Biyou Gong, you'd see that the two are probably in discussion. On the Chan School side, they're deciding which third-generation disciples to send as the first wave of aid to the Zhou kingdom. The candidates should be a few of those disciples. On the Jie School side, it's likely that Tongtian Shishu is arguing with his senior disciples, or the argument has just ended, leaving the place empty as the disciples sulk, feeling their master suddenly lost his edge. In reality, Tongtian Shishu understands just how powerful the Pangu Banner in Er Shishu's hands truly is.”

Nüwa's brows furrowed deeper, and her fingers tapped repeatedly.

Soon, she looked at Li Changshou's figure, her voice somewhat hoarse, and asked: “You're not here in your true body?”

Li Changshou immediately shook his head and replied, “If I were, the difference in time flow would leave me dazed, reacting slowly, and my primordial spirit would be strained.”

“Then how do you know these details?”

“I've calculated it countless times,” Li Changshou said seriously. “Niangniang might not know, but my calculations don't rely on Tiandao. I list out various possibilities and integrate known information. I have a thorough grasp of the Shang kingdom's situation—the speed of their mortal armies' marches, the deployment of forces at each location, and the temperaments of the commanders at key passes. I've investigated it all in detail. The reactions of Chan and Jie Schools are influenced by the events in the Shang and Zhou kingdoms, which isn't hard to deduce.”

Li Changshou pointed to the two hourglasses in front of him, reminding Nüwa Niangniang of the time flow difference within and outside her divine abilities.

Nüwa's brows knitted lightly, and she flicked her finger, sending a faint grayish halo rippling out. The flow in Li Changshou's hourglasses began to slow down continuously.

After a moment, the time flow inside and outside differed by a factor of two.

Yet, it still hadn't returned to normal.

Li Changshou said nothing more, simply picked up his brush and continued drawing. If not for the constant movement of his wrist and hand, one might think he was frozen in place.

Li Changshou drew page by page, each one meticulously detailed.

The comic told the story of a ghost-slaying youth, burdened by a deep blood feud, pursuing the ghost king and seeking a way to save his sister.

The content wasn't the main focus; hidden in each page was a special symbol—a blooming fire lotus flower.

The inkstone dried and was rewetted beside him, and Li Changshou's brush moved steadily, unhurried.

Nüwa Niangniang, on the other hand, began observing the situation in Nanbuzhou more frequently, the cloud mirror displaying scenes at double speed, the pace quite intense.

It essentially followed the events Li Changshou knew.

Jiang Ziya resigned from his post in Chaoge City and, through arrangements by the Chan School immortals, went to Xiqi as an official.

Since Jiang Ziya had lost control of the Fengshen Bang and Dashing Whip, the Chan School didn't pay it much mind, allowing him to enter the Zhou kingdom largely to interfere with Li Changshou's intentions.

Soon after, Wucheng Wang Huang Feihu rebelled and fled to Xiqi, enraging Emperor Xin, who halted most offensives except to the east and focused all forces on attacking the Zhou kingdom.

The Zhou kingdom faced a dire threat, fully preparing for war as outer passes fell one after another, with Shang armies advancing to the base of Qishan.

Chan School immortals began directly intervening in the mortal war, forcibly blocking the Shang armies east of Qishan. Wen Zhong, stationed at the rear, secretly summoned Jie School immortals already embedded in the Shang army.

Figures like the Four Mojia Generals and Zhang Guifang emerged one after another.

Nezha, Lei Zhenzi, and Yang Jian were commanded by the Chan School to serve as generals for the Zhou kingdom; after several battles, Jiang Ziya's strategies and abilities gained Ji Chang's recognition.

More importantly, Jiang Ziya was a key link between the Zhou kingdom and the Chan School.

The Chan School effortlessly seized control of the Zhou kingdom's military and political affairs, earning gratitude from Ji Chang and the Zhou royal family.

The situation near Qishan stalemated.

This wave was led by the Jie School, but the one truly making an impact was only Wen Zhong.

The Jie School's destiny at this moment hinged entirely on Wen Zhong's decisions—whether he would seek aid from the Jie School and when, which was crucial.

And Wen Zhong was a disciple of Jinling Shengmu...

A great calamity? Merely a grand spectacle.

Strands of karmic chains twisted and turned, drawing Zhao Gongming into the core of this great calamity's storm.

The only one who could stop it all was in Shengmu Gong, drawing a passionate comic for Nüwa Niangniang.

And putting his heart and soul into it.

One day,

Nüwa Niangniang, through the cloud mirror, saw Wen Zhong leave the camp, summon the auspicious beast Mo Qilin he had obtained in battle, and head toward the East Sea—he was going to request reinforcements from the Jie School.

Nüwa Niangniang asked, “Do you know what's happening right now?”

Li Changshou paused his brush and smiled. “Wen Zhong has gone to the East Sea?”

Nüwa Niangniang: ...

“Aren't you worried? Or have you already resolved to oppose Tiandao completely over the matter of Zhao Gongming?”

“Niangniang, you've misunderstood me,” Li Changshou said with a smile. “I'm someone who fears death above all—how could I do something so suicidal?”

Nüwa Niangniang asked, “May I ask what your plan is?”

“Tiandao is likely monitoring this place.”

Nüwa Niangniang flicked her finger lightly, and Li Changshou's two hourglasses changed again, the precious sands within trembling, flowing sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

Layer upon layer of time-stop divine abilities enveloped the area.

“Niangniang, it's not that I'm disrespecting you, but I think you're still underestimating Tiandao's power.”

Li Changshou said seriously, “Tiandao is nearly omniscient and omnipotent, and Daozu plans every move with multiple layers of consideration. I truly daren't say too much. But Niangniang, rest assured—in this matter, I won't have any conflicts with Tiandao or Shizu. On the contrary, Shizu and I should reach a consensus in the end.”

“What exactly do you want to do?”

Nüwa Niangniang couldn't help but raise her hand to her forehead, murmuring, “You're just like the teacher—impossible to fathom, with schemes layered upon schemes.”

“Niangniang, you'll find out soon enough.”

Li Changshou gently shook his head at Nüwa Niangniang and said warmly, “I've only accumulated so many years—there's no way I have a plan to shake Tiandao's foundations. And Tiandao's growth rate now... Niangniang, you should sense it—it's something no living being can stop. This world has been imbalanced since Lang Senior's life and death; he truly wasted so many resources.”

“The human race truly...”

“Niangniang, I won't endanger the human race or exploit them in the slightest.”

Li Changshou said firmly, his voice carrying twelve degrees of resolve, “I just want to try balancing Tiandao in my own way. Not involving the human race is my bottom line. Likewise, if Daozu uses the human race to pressure me, I won't bow my head like you did. If the human race is slaughtered, I'll place the blame on Tiandao and fight it to the death, but I won't halt my plans because of unrelated human casualties. Niangniang, what we fear, what we dare not do, what we care about—these are all things our enemies will exploit. To contend with Tiandao, we must be prepared to become like it—hold firm to our stance and use every means necessary. To seize even a slim chance of survival, we must have enough at stake, even if it means total defeat for all living beings.”

Nüwa's brows furrowed tightly, and for a long time, she said nothing.

“Do you realize what you're saying?”

“I do,” Li Changshou smiled, looking down at the drawing before him. “I'm not that close to you, and I lack a full sense of belonging to the prehistoric human race. But Niangniang, in my old home, you were an inviolable mythological symbol. What I've seen and heard here today has stripped away my last hope in Tiandao.”

Nüwa said, “You can't defeat the teacher.”

“If that's the case, then I'll leave the prehistoric world,” Li Changshou whispered. “In any event, I have to make the attempt.”

Nüwa countered, “Do you want to incite a war among the saints?”

Li Changshou fell silent, silently adding a word in his heart...

Not just that.

“On the day all mysteries are revealed, I hope to earn your understanding—nothing more than that.”

Li Changshou organized the pages in front of him, laid out new drawing paper, and continued working with his head down.

He added, “Please, Niangniang, keep an eye on the Nanbuzhou situation for me. If the Twelve Golden Immortals from Chan School appear, let me know. To be safe, I'll try to head back early, though I might encounter trials from Shizu along the way.”

Nüwa fell silent.

Goodness, he was already instructing her!

Fine, considering he had become the hope of the human race, she'd tolerate this once.

Li Changshou stealthily observed Nüwa Niangniang's expression.

He guessed she was regretting impulsively revealing her current state to him—such humiliation for a saint.

The pavilion fell silent again, and Nüwa Niangniang adjusted the time flow back to two-to-one, sitting there lost in thought.

She had originally intended to stop Li Changshou from returning to Nanbuzhou to interfere in the great calamity.

But now, she felt no urge to block him at all.

How could one balance Tiandao without using the human race or relying on the human path?

Tiandao's power had already surpassed that of the Six Saints, and with more lonely souls in the Fengshen Tai, Tiandao grew even stronger.

This wasn't just the addition of a single expert's strength to Tiandao;

The orthodox gods were like “array foundations,” forming a great array that enveloped the Three Realms, allowing Tiandao's control over the world to leap qualitatively.

That was the true significance of the Fengshen Great Calamity.

Time passed swiftly, the great calamity in Nanbuzhou escalated step by step, and the world was filled with tension.

Finally, Wen Zhong returned from the East Sea with the Ten Heavenly Lords to avenge the slain Jie School disciples. After discussing, the Ten Heavenly Lords set up the Ten Absolute Arrays in front of the Xiqi army, with a deadline of a hundred days.

If the Chan School couldn't break the arrays in a hundred days, they would shift the arrays and annihilate the Zhou army.

Among the Twelve Golden Immortals, Huanglong, Wenshu, Puxian, and Cihang, the four experts, were the first to arrive in Nanbuzhou, pondering how to break the arrays.

In Shengmu Gong,

Nüwa Niangniang's lips moved slightly before she softly said, “On the Chan School side, the Twelve Golden Immortals have appeared.”

“Mm.”

Li Changshou responded, his brush not faltering as he finished drawing the last fire lotus flower and let out a light sigh.

Mission accomplished!

“Niangniang, this should be the most heartfelt comic I've ever drawn,” Li Changshou bound the drawing paper into a book, infused it with immortal power, and wrapped it layer by layer.

“I hope this story can warm your weary heart.”

A hint of disdain appeared in Nüwa Niangniang's expression. “Hmm, such words are fine in books, but saying them out loud feels a bit nauseating.”

“It's genuine,” Li Changshou said with some helplessness. “Niangniang, you've done so much for the human race, yet the human race can't do anything for you. If these drawings of mine can alleviate some of your fatigue or bring you a moment of joy, I'd be happy to draw more. Before, I thought Niangniang was indifferent to the human race... It was my misunderstanding due to ignorance.”

“Enough,” Nüwa's eyes flickered with a touch of melancholy. “You're all the same—either emotional or righteous when you want to scheme against someone. I really just whimsically molded some clay figures to keep me company. Go on, what do you need me to do?”

“Rest, and nothing else.”

Li Changshou bowed deeply to the figure on the soft couch and smiled. “I'll handle the road ahead myself.”

“Do you really have a trump card against Tiandao?”

“Mm,” Li Changshou nodded. “Otherwise, Tiandao wouldn't let me roam freely—it could just threaten me with my loved ones' lives. Isn't the world better off without me right now?”

Nüwa's eyes sparkled with curiosity. “I'm truly curious.”

“You shouldn't get involved in the upcoming struggles.”

Li Changshou sighed lightly and smiled. “If you're old, just rest and don't wander around. If I win, you can enjoy peace. If I lose, your situation won't be worse than now.”

A vein bulged on Nüwa's forehead, and the saint's Dao rhythm surged around.

Li Changshou cupped his hands with a smile, stepped back half a pace, and a faint aqua glow appeared around him, allowing his figure to break free from the saint's divine abilities and appear outside the pavilion.

Li Changshou turned and was about to step away when the void before him trembled slightly, and a figure emerged from it, clad in gray robes with a blurred face.

It was the great calamity's will, the Tiandao's will!

The gray-robed elder who had watched him in the Hunyuan Jindou years ago!

The elder stood with hands behind his back, silently gazing at Li Changshou.

Li Changshou said, “Dao friend, making a direct move might not be appropriate.”

“You cannot return at this time.”

The elder's voice was flat, as if stating a trivial matter.

“Cannot return? I truly don't know if Tiandao can produce unlimited incarnations like this—it's far superior to my paper effigies.”

Li Changshou raised his hand and drew a circle, causing the void before him to collapse, revealing the space outside Shengmu Gong. He casually walked into it.

“Come outside; don't disturb Niangniang while she's reading the comic.”

The gray-robed elder stared at the scene in the pavilion, his gaze lingering on Li Changshou's drawing for a while, before his figure dissipated and reappeared outside Shengmu Gong, blocking Li Changshou once more.

Li Changshou spread his right hand's five fingers and gently pressed toward the void.

The Great Dao of Balance, the balance of the Great Dao.

A shadow like a balance beam appeared behind Li Changshou, and streaks of multicolored light emerged in the void, enveloping tens of thousands of li.

I say: The Great Dao has no hierarchy; balance must exist.

The gray-shadowed elder's figure trembled slightly, his aura greatly diminished, and his blurred face seemed filled with astonishment.

Li Changshou stepped forward, and the elder instinctively retreated half a step.

Balance exists between the Great Dao.

Li Changshou's next words broke through: “Dao friend, you're ultimately just a strand of spiritual energy, not a saint.”

The gray-shadowed elder snorted coldly, and shadows of countless treasures appeared behind him. He pointed a finger at Li Changshou with his left hand, unleashing thousands of streams of light that illuminated the void.

In Shengmu Gong's secret pavilion,

The saint on the soft couch frowned as she watched the battle in the void. When Li Changshou played his trump card, balancing the foundational Three Thousand Great Dao within a certain range, her expression showed surprise.

Then, she smirked.

If this was all he had, there was still no chance of victory.

Still, he had exceeded her expectations.

With a flip of her hand, the newly bound book appeared in her palm.

Nüwa Niangniang headed toward the pool, eagerly flipping open the first page, quickly becoming engrossed in the story.

Before she knew it, she had returned to the pool, her form shifting to that of a human upper body and serpentine tail, slowly extending in the water.

Outside Shengmu Gong, the battle raged, shaking the void violently.

Inside, Nüwa Niangniang grew more spirited with each page, laughing lightly at times and tearing up at others as she turned them.

Suddenly, she realized something, sensed something, and looked at the fire lotus on the current page with a hint of panic.

As if to verify, she flipped through the book frantically...

Each page had it—that special symbol, that fire lotus in various forms.

This, this was...

This was!

A sudden boom echoed outside Shengmu Gong, shattering large swathes of the void. The palace's immortal maidens turned pale, and parts of the structures collapsed.

In that instant, Li Changshou, his robes tattered and forehead bleeding, shattered the gray-shadowed elder with a palm strike.

That will dissipated instantly, creating a vacuum in Tiandao's surveillance here!

In Shengmu Gong, Nüwa Niangniang had flipped to the last page of the book. A flame like a candle wick leaped from the fire lotus, imprinting itself into her eyes.

Human race, the eternal flame!

Nüwa Niangniang had a moment of surprise, then hesitation, but she quickly decided, drawing the flame into her body.

On her true saintly form, bound by heavenly locks and impaled by seven spears on the ruined earth, a flicker of fire appeared on her forehead before vanishing.

The previously severed Tiandao power surged back like a tide, thoroughly searching this hidden realm, but found no traces.

In the pavilion, Nüwa Niangniang had flipped back to the earlier page, picking up an immortal fruit and gently biting it.

Outside Shengmu Gong, Li Changshou's figure flashed and disappeared.

On the stone tablet in Li Changshou's heart, the character “five” was erased and replaced with “six,” but after thinking, he changed it back to “five.”

Scheming against the human race's saint was too unscrupulous.

He wasn't Tiandao, after all—the path ahead, he'd shoulder himself.

Glancing back at Shengmu Gong, Li Changshou smiled faintly, his eyes shining brightly.

“May this flame bring you some warmth.”

A disciple of the human race, Li Changshou.