#1945 - Taibai's past!

In the northernmost part of the Third Heaven, a bamboo forest swayed in the wind. The bamboos within were pure white, covered with a layer of frost, giving off a cool and refreshing aura.

Deep within the bamboo forest lay an ice lake, its center dotted with two or three small holes, resembling fishing spots. Beside these holes stood a bamboo hut.

Immortal Taibai led Ji Dongfeng to the hut, lightly flicking his Three-Colored Sword. A burst of sword energy roared out, shaking the entire ice surface, causing over a dozen plump fish to leap from the holes.

"Go," Immortal Taibai uttered softly, the Three-Colored Sword dancing in the air. When it returned, all the fish were skewered upon its blade.

Seeing this, Ji Dongfeng's heart stirred. He asked, "Immortal Taibai, do you eat this every day?"

"Not every day. Though the fish is delicious, one must not be greedy," Immortal Taibai replied, then beckoned, and a pot of fine wine flew out from the bamboo hut.

"That wine, is it also not drunk every day?" Ji Dongfeng inquired.

"Wine, naturally, must be drunk daily. Drinking every day is not greed, but a habit," Immortal Taibai said with a serious expression.

"Good, I've learned something," Ji Dongfeng chuckled.

After a few words, Immortal Taibai set up a table and chairs by the ice lake, placing the fine wine and the fish beside it, slowly roasting the fish with ordinary flames.

Ji Dongfeng's heart stirred once more. During the roasting process, Immortal Taibai didn't employ many cultivator techniques, appearing like an ordinary mortal, doing everything himself with his own hands.

"The process... in anything, the most important thing is the process. Taking this roasted fish as an example, I've tried roasting it in different ways, and in the end, I discovered that this mortal method yields the most flavorful result," Immortal Taibai said with a smile.

"Alright, the fish needs to be roasted slowly, and you can speak slowly too. Tell me more about matters related to Huaxia."

Hearing this, Ji Dongfeng nodded and, after a moment of contemplation, recounted the past of Huaxia.

As he spoke, the Three-Colored Sword beside Immortal Taibai vibrated incessantly, sometimes leaping with joy, other times exuding a rampant killing intent.

By the time all the roasted fish were cooked, Ji Dongfeng had finished recounting his experiences in Huaxia's past.

"I never imagined so much had happened... I initially sealed my avatar's cultivation to experience the most authentic Huaxia, turning it into an ordinary person, experiencing birth, aging, sickness, and death, as well as joy, anger, sorrow, and delight. Looking back, I dare say that those few decades in Huaxia, though merely a fleeting moment in my entire life, are the memories I can never forget," Immortal Taibai said, then drained the wine in his pot.

Seeing this, Ji Dongfeng's heart stirred. He took out various wines from his exclusive space. Nurtured within the space, some of the wines had even reached the level of perfection, supremely precious.

Immortal Taibai's eyes lit up upon seeing this, his face showing delight.

"Fine wine, it smells like fine wine!" Immortal Taibai exclaimed with a smile.

"Immortal Taibai, let us drink our fill today. I also wish to hear your story," Ji Dongfeng said with a smile.

"I see you want to know the story of this Three-Colored Sword... Very well, I have a story, and you have wine. It's not that I don't want to speak of what's in my heart, but there's nowhere to speak, no one to tell. Today, I'll just speak my mind!" Immortal Taibai laughed, then directly lifted a jar of wine and took three hearty gulps.

"In the First Heaven, I fought to the death with that demonic cultivator, ultimately ending in a mutual demise. I was nearly scattered into nothingness. Just before I lost consciousness, this Three-Colored Sword suddenly appeared, using its blade to contain my remnant soul, and brought me to one of my old friends."

"My old friend, named Nian Sancai, was a pitiful person. Born blind and mute, his heart was also incomplete, his body weak. Fortunately, his cultivation talent was not bad, and he stubbornly cultivated to the Tribulation Transcension Realm. More importantly, my old friend was skilled in forging. This Three-Colored Sword was the last treasure he crafted."

Hearing this, Ji Dongfeng frowned slightly and murmured, "Blind, mute, heartless... Isn't that Sancai..."

"My old friend and I met at a wine table. Though he couldn't speak, he had the skill of writing words in the air with wine, making communication interesting. Three years before my death match with the demonic cultivator, my old friend suddenly decided to seclude himself, saying he would use his life's skills to forge a treasure for me. I didn't take it seriously, but unexpectedly, it was this treasure that saved my life," Immortal Taibai said, having already drained a jar of wine.

"The Three-Colored Sword brought me to my old friend's place, and I discovered that my old friend had already abandoned his physical body, leaving only a soul. I asked him what had happened, and he spoke with his soul, saying he was tired of this body and wanted liberation... That was the first time I heard his voice."

"I could tell he was truly tired, and I also believe that all living beings in the world have their own suffering, and we can never truly understand other beings... I still wanted to persuade him a little more, but he had already dissolved his nascent soul... Before completely disappearing, he left his last words."

"He said... Taibai, I can't write poetry, but you are my only good friend. I am willing to use my last wisp of remnant soul to write a poem for you..."

"Born without eyes or voice, I don't hate my parents, but I hate the injustice. Using wine to write words endlessly, after death, there is no monument or grave."

"Sancai is given to my friend Taibai, the roc soars to the Eastern Sea. See all the colors and sing loudly, the heavens and earth are vast, and the heart is joyful."

As his voice faded, Immortal Taibai sighed, the empty wine jars beside him numbering five or six.

Hearing this, Ji Dongfeng said in a deep voice, "Just now, your old friend... mentioned his parents?"

"Indeed. After my old friend died, I found three treasures in the Three-Colored Sword. One helped me reshape my body, one helped me break through my cultivation, and the other was a book of scribbled notes, seemingly hastily written. It recorded the methods of using the Three-Colored Sword, as well as some of my old friend's past."

"My old friend wrote some memory fragments that occasionally appeared in his mind. He said he originally thought he had been abandoned in a mass burial ground, but later, those strange memory fragments showed that when his mother was pregnant with him, she went into demonic possession. After his mother died strangely, he did not die with her, but instead turned into a ray of light, separated from his mother's body, and flew to the mass burial ground..."

"The strangest thing is that my old friend's mother didn't even know she was pregnant. When separating from his mother's body, Nian Sancai's development was less than a month old, but when he arrived at the mass burial ground, he grew rapidly, instantly becoming a full-term fetus, only unable to see or speak."