Chapter 125: A Minor God Among Mortals (2/3)

Only by mastering the three flowers atop the head and the five internal energies circulating toward the origin can one become an immortal Golden Immortal.

The "three" corresponds to the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, while also symbolizing the three great laws of time, space, and matter. The "five" corresponds to the Five Elements: green qi from the liver, white qi from the lungs, red qi from the heart, black qi from the kidneys, and yellow qi from the spleen. To condense these five energies within the chest is to transcend the cycle of mutual generation and restriction of the Five Elements, achieving a state of true freedom and ease.

Just as there are grades of the three flowers, there are naturally subtle distinctions in the circulation of the five energies. Based on the varying levels of comprehension of the Great Dao of the Five Elements among the Golden Immortals, and by observing the strength displayed by the many Golden Immortals in the Heavenly Court, Luo Feng has finely divided the realm of "Five Energies Circulating Toward the Origin" into four levels.

The first level is the Lesser Completion of the Five Elements, involving a preliminary grasp of elemental changes, marking the standard for an ordinary Golden Immortal.
The second level is the Great Completion, where one transcends elemental shifts and roams the three realms freely, the standard for a seasoned Golden Immortal.
The third level is the Consummation, where one masters the laws of elemental change, creating objects from the void and opening heavens with a single thought, the standard for a Dao Fruit Golden Immortal.

As for the fourth level, it is the legendary realm of Kong Xuan, the son of the Phoenix and master of the Five-Colored Divine Light. It involves condensing the innate Five Elements, manifesting the five primordial states and five virtues, which cycle perpetually. The innate Five Fortunes arise alongside these five virtues; each fortune restrains a virtue, and is in turn restrained by one. The entire universe is contained within the Five-Colored Divine Light—nothing can escape it. Ultimately, it reaches the final leap, using the five extremes of Taiyi, Taichu, Taishi, Taisu, and Taiji to construct the cycle of formation, existence, destruction, and emptiness, achieving non-dual Nirvana.

Of course, this final level is Luo Feng’s own conjecture; he suspects that even Kong Xuan himself might not recognize the Five-Colored Divine Light if it were cultivated in this manner.

In Luo Feng’s deductions, reaching the fourth level should be enough to survive in the treacherous Primordial World, and even when facing a Great Luo Heavenly Venerate, he could hold out until help from his backers arrived.

Currently, however, four of Luo Feng’s five energies remain at the first level of Lesser Completion. Only his water energy, relying on his position as the Northern Water Virtue Star Lord and his authority over a portion of the Primordial World's water essence, has been pushed to the third level of Consummation, known as the "Water Energy of the Northern Black Emperor’s Dao-Mystical Circulation."

He remains an incredibly weak Golden Immortal, likely unable to defeat even Taibai Jinxing, the Jade Emperor’s close attendant. But regardless, Luo Feng is still a Golden Immortal. If he cannot bully the great powers of the Heavenly Court, he can certainly handle the demon gods of a minor realm. Even as a mere avatar, his understanding of the Great Dao of the Five Elements is far beyond that of these backwater bumpkins.

Gazing at the six frozen demon gods, Luo Feng smiled with satisfaction. "In the Heavenly Court, I am submissive and cautious, but in these borderlands, I strike with a heavy hand."

With a flick of his robe, the Five Elements restraint on five of the demon gods was released, leaving only the Green Flood Dragon trapped.

"Little gods of the mortal world, you have done your best."

Luo Feng then walked slowly to a nearby blue rock, stood with his hands behind his back, looking toward the sky, and spoke with calm indifference.

***

Captured in a single move.

The five demon gods were stunned. Falling onto the grass and covered in dust, their eyes were filled with terror. They had never experienced such helplessness—not even during the most vulnerable moments of their birth. They looked at one another, sitting limply on the ground, utterly bewildered and beginning to doubt their existence as demons.

As for the Green Flood Dragon, still suspended in the air, he was in a total panic. Having ascended Mount Tianzhu and attained the Primordial Spirit, he was effectively the master of the mountain. He was battle-hardened and experienced; there was no sacred mountain or great river in the Heavenly Chen Realm he hadn't visited. He had even conversed with the mysterious Yellow Bird of Mount Tianzhu. Before Luo Feng arrived, he could have proudly boasted, "What have I not seen? You are all just naive." But now, he felt like weeping, realizing he truly had never seen such a display.

The air grew stiflingly quiet. The Green Flood Dragon was trapped, and the five gods on the ground exchanged glances, not daring to speak. In this gathering place of demon gods, not even a bird dared to chirp. The silence lasted for several awkward minutes.

"Little gods of the mortal world, do you have nothing to say?" Luo Feng glanced over and asked nonchalantly.

The five demon gods exchanged looks. *Don’t panic, the situation is critical.*

The large black bear on the ground scrambled to his feet, a flattering smile plastered on his face. "Respected Great God, Hei Xuan offers you his highest regards. This little god swears to the Great Will of the World that I was never involved in the plans of the Green Flood Dragon and the Water Turtle. Draining the water veins and severing the divine embryo has nothing to do with me! It is the greatest honor of this little god that such a great, holy, perfect, and flawless Great God has descended upon Mount Tianzhu..."

The black bear—the Black God of Mount Tianzhu—continued his endless stream of sycophancy, shocking the other demon gods. They knew that this creature spent eight hundred out of every thousand years sleeping, and the remaining two hundred on his way to sleep.

However, the adaptability of a demon god far exceeds that of a mortal. They despised the black bear in their hearts, cursing him for being a backstabber, but their resentment was quickly replaced by a sense of urgency. *Let go of that Green Flood Dragon and let me handle it—I am the only one allowed to betray my teammates!*

Don't talk to me about the dignity of gods; that’s worthless. Don't talk to me about the unyielding nature of the demon race. The demon race has one ancestral maxim: the weak are prey to the strong; submit to the powerful. True hard-headed fools had long gone extinct since the ancient times.

Soon, every demon god except the Water Turtle followed suit, engaging in a frantic contest of flattery, though none could match the black bear’s level of obsequiousness.

Luo Feng studied the black bear and asked with curiosity, "How do you manage that smile?" He didn't mean to mock; the bear was, after all, telling the truth. He was simply curious how one could squeeze such a fawning expression onto a bear's face.

The black bear pondered for a moment and replied, "Perhaps it is a natural talent."

Luo Feng couldn't help but sigh; the universe is vast and full of wonders. Don't ask why—it's just cultivation.

***

"Enough, enough. Tell me about this matter of draining the water veins."

With a wave of his hand, Luo Feng silenced their endless protestations. He was here on official business, and he was tired of these platitudes. The Water Department of the Heavenly Court had plenty of high-ranking officials who could write entire books of such flowery, sycophantic drivel. These demon gods were far too crude; it was like eating rich meat—fine at first, but tiresome if consumed too often.

Under their stammered explanations, the story was pieced together. In short, this world was preparing to give birth to a natural water god to govern all waters. The Green Flood Dragon, who followed the path of water essence, discovered this and feared that once the water god was born, his own authority would be stripped away, leaving him with no chance to attain immortality. Thus, he decided to cut the ground from under the feet of his rival, draining the water veins and destroying the divine embryo to ensure the natural water god would never be born.