The Pathway

"Xiu Ying, let"s stop the practice for the afternoon. Let"s go inside. You need to have a nourishing meal and a rest. Your mother is preparing the yellow coloured mountain goat. As a rare and magical animal, it will surely nourish your body and the baby further."

"Father, with all this magical animals, by the time I give birth, I would"ve turned to a magical animal."

"That would be a sight to behold, Xiu Ying. A magical phoenix flying through the sky with wings of inferno. A magical sight indeed."

Zhang Xiu Ying"s mind wandered off to the image of her nascent soul after the words of her father. Her nascent manifestation had been a mini avatar of herself with feathered armour and flaming wings. A flaming bird? She laughed, dismissing it from her mind as her father joined her in laughter too.

They left the practice ground and headed towards the direction of the cave. Once inside, Zhang Xiu Ying could help but aroma she was smelling took over her mind. Her mother was a genious immortal when it was about magical food. By the time she set her sight on the food, she was already floating in a dreamlike world. Setting themselves around a wooden table at the centre of the living chamber, with pots of steaming goat meat on it, they beamed in delight as they went for their share.

Zhang Xiu Ying savoured the meat with her eyes closed after taking a bite.

"Oh mother! This is truly amazing. I never knew animal meat can be this tasty. Thank you mother for this wonder and you too, father, for finding this meat."

"This is a rarity, Xiu Ying. The quality of the energy in the meat will strengthen the bones in your body and nourish your blood. Even the baby will benefit from it. That"s why you need to eat a lot of it. Even if you can finish it all, that will be better. Please go ahead."

"Huh? Father, do you want the baby to have goat horns and goat hooves?"

They all exploded in laughter and resumed their magical feast. Zhang Xiu Ying continued to devour the magical food while glancing at her parents. The content smiles on their faces gave her all the joy she wanted.

"I love you so much, father, mother."

"We love you too, Xiu Ying."

"Never forget that."

Zhang Xiu Ying nodded in response. How could she ever forget that? Their existence had been mostly about her. They had given a lot for her welfare right from her childhood and are still doing so, now that she was pregnant. How can their love for her, ever escaped her memory? It would never happen.

An hour after the magical feast, Zhang w.a.n.g Jing left for the market to sell some of the goat milk from the farm leaving Zhang Li Qiang and Zhang Xiu Ying in the living chamber. Few minutes after Zhang w.a.n.g Jing left, Zhang Li Qiang went into his room and changed into his new farming attire. He turned to Zhang Xiu Ying as he was pa.s.sing the living area.

"Xiu Ying, I will be in the farm if you need me."

"Okay father."

Zhang Li Qiang left their cave and headed towards the farming area of the land. On his way, he glanced back at his daughter apprehensively. After all, she was their only daughter. Only the three of them left now after the death of her husband when a portal had opened in their village and an army of fiends had pa.s.sed through from the nether plane to attack them.They had managed to vanquish them, but many of the villagers had died from the sudden attack. Many of the villagers were just foundation stage and evanescent core cultivators. Only two elders of nascent souls, were present at that time. Such a sad memory. His family had left the village after that.

He could still, clearly, remember his daughter"s husband, Zhang Long Wei. A good natured man of the evanesce core stage from the Meadow-Wood village who happened to bear the same ancestral name as theirs. He was a good husband and always looked for the interest of their child when he was alive. But since he was no longer here, raising a child alone in a deadly world of cultivation without a father would, have been very difficult for any mortal mother. Although their daughter was a demiG.o.d, they wouldn"t take the risk. Hence, they had decided to try their best to ease the burden as much as they could.

The good thing? Zhang Xiu Ying was pregnant.

The pregnancy didn"t come easy but he was grateful he had helped before the sudden death of Zhang Long Wei. He remembered when he had gone to the Sunset-Hills village in the northern province to look for a senior alchemist named Huang Fu — an immortal cultivator of the peak stage golden core — in order to buy the Heavens Spring spirit pill. Alchemist Huang Fu had lived for over five million years which was a reasonable years of experience. Not minding that, golden core cultivators had a lifespan of hundred million years.

He had seen all forms of life on planet Lorra and decided there was nothing left for him in the mortal world. So, he had chosen a simple life to work towards his ascension to the heavenly plane. He had been focusing on his alchemy and cultivating in seclusion to gather the necessary items needed during and after his ascension. He had long concocted a transcendence pill that could easily take him to the ascension stage but was taking his time to prepare further.

"Welcome to my humble home, fellow Daoist. I"m Huang Fu but I believe you already knew that."

Said alchemist Huang Fu as he looked jovially at Zhang Li Qiang.

"Greetings Daoist Huang Fu. My name is Zhang Li Qiang. I came from the Skydome city in the southern province, here on Ankhor continent."

"That"s a long way from home. What bring you all the way to my place, fellow Daoist Zhang Li Qiang?"

"Thank you alchemist Huang Fu. I have heard about your pills and the wonders they can perform. So, I came to see if I can acquire the Rainbow-Womb spirit pill for my wife. I heard it"s especially good for the unborn baby. I will be very grateful if it"s available for me to buy."

He had pleadingly sought a.s.surances about the pill"s availability from the alchemist. He knew alchemists were not under any pressure to sell their products unless they wanted to. Some alchemist would even send the buyer away without even listening to the buyer"s words. Alchemists were at the center of proceedings in the cultivation world. Their position was highly coveted and mostly secured.

"Hm, the Rainbow-Womb spirit pill. Yes, it"s really good for a baby in the womb. However, the pill only contained the refined life essence energy from some notable sources. Although I have to admit that the materials were very rare and a little difficult to gather. And once consumed, the essence energy in the pill will combine with the womb nourishments to form the Cloud-Of-Life around the baby. It naturally flows through the meridians of the baby."

Alchemist Huang Fu had stopped for a moment and contemplated before continuing.

"But I need to tell you this, fellow daoist. The effectiveness of the pill will depend on your child. On how much of the essence energy the child can absorb and retain inside the body. While the womb nourishments is left to the mother. So, the outcome is not totally on me."

He had slowly uttered as he stared keenly at the thoughtful face of Zhang Li Qian .

"However, I can tell you that the pill is safe and works accordingly. And yes, I do have one. Only three were ever made according to my memory and two of those were made by my father before his ascension. One was sold but the outcome of it was not that effective. The result and the materials needed made my father to abandon it. When I came across some of the needed materials, I decided to give it a go. I searched for the other materials for hundreds of thousands of years. I also had to use some alternative materials but the effect should be the same. Nonetheless, if you want to buy it, it will cost you fifty thousand high grade spirit stones."

"Uh?"

Zhang Li Qiang had been caught off-guard with the steep price before he quickly gathered his thoughts together. The price was majority of his ancestral inheritance which put him in a difficult situation. However, if the pill worked accordingly as he believed it would, the high price would be justified.

"Okay, I will take it."

It was very costly but he had taken it with a hopeful heart. Now, remembering the effect on his daughter after she had taken the pill and now tgat she was pregnant, was bringing abundant joy to his grateful heart. With a wide smile on his face, he continued his walk to the farm.

Whereas, somewhere in the village market, Zhang w.a.n.g Jing saw a road antique merchant and branched to check his products. Not frequently would someone see an antique dealer, so, she might just use this opportunity to find something nice. She was looking for something good but also cheap.

"Greetings, Nu-Shi. Do you want to take a look at my collections? Maybe, you can find something fancy that can catch your eyes? As a matter of fact, I have all existing collections of antiques. Magical, decorative, talismans, seals ... I have them all."

Zhang w.a.n.g Jing went through the collections and saw a small white crystal paG.o.da that caught her eyes. This was something she could give Xiu Ying"s child when the would child grow up. It really looked beautiful as a gift for a child.

"I"ll like to get this little crystal paG.o.da. How much does it cost?"

"Oh, you have great eyes, Nu-Shi. This is the gate of the seven realms of fortune. You may see this is empty bragging, but this is the best antique you can find and there"s a myth about it too. This paG.o.da is golden gateway that leads to seven ancient realms with all forms of treasures. You name it, Nu-Shi, and it"s there. You see the layers of the paG.o.da, Nu Shi? They are layers of treasures. Even just having it can bring you good fortunes."

"And why is it not bringing you fortune? I believe you would have kept it for yourself if it has all sort of treasures. Wouldn"t you?"

"Ah, it"s fate, Nu-Shi. Fate. Me and the paG.o.da are not fated to be together. But you Nu Shi, you are fated to have it. Destiny is on your side and I can feel it."

"Hehehe, very funny. You merchants have ways with words. How much is it anyway?"

"Nu-Shi, with a heart full of sorrow, I will take five thousand pure grade spirit stones from you."

"Eh? Five thousand high grades? Am I buying a graded treasure? I don"t have that amount but I can give you one thousand high grade stones, if you agree."

"Make it two thousand then, Nu Shi, and it will be."

"Hm. Okay, two thousand it is."

Their quiet life in the cave went on without any disturbance. Two months later, Zhang Xiu Ying gave birth to a boy and named him Ju Feng.

Reincarnation completed.