Chapter 256: The Mother-Child River and the Twin Lotus River

 

Translator: yikaii Editor: yikaii

 

“When I was still a dominant force, an entire planet was under my domain. I could manipulate it at will and bring benefits to the world.”

 

“This Twin Stem Lotus is also a new species that I cultivated.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

The Everlasting Fairy had been chattering incessantly in Lu Yang’s mental space. Initially, Lu Yang treated her words like background noise, in one ear and out the other, not really listening. But now, Lu Yang was intrigued.

 

Lu Yang had always had a feeling that heavenly materials and earthly treasures had existed since ancient times, unchanged. For instance, common precious herbs like ginseng and lingzhi, and even roadside weeds like foxtail and wild chrysanthemums, have been recorded in human history for ages.

 

Since they’re called heavenly materials and earthly treasures, they must be naturally occurring.

 

Lu Yang had never heard of any heavenly material or earthly treasure being cultivated by a great power in later generations.

 

Now he had.

 

“Tell me more, what’s the story?” Lu Yang asked eagerly.

 

The Everlasting Fairy smiled proudly, very pleased with Lu Yang’s attitude. This was how one should treat an immortal.

 

“Speaking of this matter, I must mention my skills.”

 

“This happened after I became an immortal. You know, I was extremely renowned in ancient times, and many people willingly worshipped me.”

 

“At that time, a devout female believer came to me with a request. She wanted twins, but such a thing was beyond human capability, so she came to me.”

 

“I considered it and decided that fulfilling this wish wouldn’t be problematic, so I got to work,” the Everlasting Fairy said, being a discerning immortal who wouldn’t fulfill just any wish.

 

“I could have originally crafted a pill to help this believer bear twins, but then I remembered something Nonuple Immortal once said.”

 

“Nonuple Immortal said that when one believer makes a wish, there will be ten more wanting the same.”

 

“Childbearing is an eternal desire, and it was unlikely that only one believer wanted twins.”

 

“Even if I crafted a pill now, what would I do if more people came to me with the same request? Continuously making pills would be too troublesome.”

 

“I thought of a once-and-for-all solution: using my supreme divine power, borrowing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, extracting Daoist rhymes, altering some rules, and using various means you can’t understand yet, I transformed a river into an immortal artifact.”

 

“Anyone who drank the river water would conceive twins.”

 

“I named the river ‘Twin Lotus River.'”

 

Lu Yang was silent for a moment, then asked, “You didn’t later on have another sudden idea and create another river called the ‘Mother-Child River,’ where drinking the water would make women pregnant, and they’d all give birth to girls, did you?” (TL Note: This is from Journey to The West https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AD%90%E6%AF%8D%E6%B2%B3/551739)

 

“No, I didn’t…”

 

Lu Yang sighed in relief.

 

“I created the Mother-Child River before the Twin Lotus River.”

 

The Everlasting Fairy was curious. “How did you know about the Mother-Child River? Is it recorded in ancient texts?”

 

“Let’s just say I dreamed about it.”

 

The Everlasting Fairy didn’t think much of it and continued, “The creatures living in the river were influenced by the water, changing from their soul essence, or you could say they evolved.”

 

“The most notable change was in a lotus plant. Originally, it would bloom with a single flower, but after growing in the Twin Lotus River, it started blooming with two.”

 

“I found it interesting and named this lotus…”

 

“Twin Stem Lotus?” Lu Yang interjected, following the Everlasting Fairy’s train of thought.

 

“Twin Sister Flowers.” (TL Note: The word used here to refer to the flower, 姐妹花, can also refer to a pair of beautiful sisters)

 

Lu Yang: “…”

 

“When Ying Tian Immortal learned about this, he advised me to change the name. He said ‘Twin Sister Flowers’ didn’t reflect the grandeur of an immortal’s creation and suggested I rename it ‘Twin Stem Lotus.'”

 

“I thought the name was good and agreed.”

 

“The seeds of the Twin Sister Flowers taste great. I often made porridge with them for Ying Tian Immortal and the others.”

 

The Everlasting Fairy had mentioned before that the lotus seed soup could bless people with many children and good fortune. This wasn’t just talk; it was a real possibility.

 

“With the end of the ancient era, I don’t know where the Mother-Child River and the Twin Lotus River went. Whether they were refined into other immortal artifacts or hidden away by someone, I have no idea.”

 

The Twin Stem Lotus, a precious heavenly material and earthly treasure that could help in forming a first-grade core, was always assumed to be naturally occurring. No one ever thought it was an immortal creation, and its original use wasn’t for core formation but for making porridge.

 

“Using the Twin Stem Lotus to form a core is nothing special. Stick with me, and I’ll teach you how to form an unbeatable core,” the Everlasting Fairy sneered at the idea of forming a core with the Twin Lotus, believing that cores formed this way were far inferior to what she could teach.

 

Even among first-grade cores, there were differences in quality.

 

Lu Yang rolled his eyes and ignored the Everlasting Fairy. He turned his attention back to discussing how to divide the lotus.

 

“Since the Twin Lotus is meant for core formation, why don’t the four of us observe it together? Whoever gains insights for core formation can keep it. How about that?” Meng Jingzhou suggested.

 

The other three agreed.

 

Meng Jingzhou found a vase and placed the Twin Lotus in it. The four of them sat around, staring intently at the lotus.

 

The scene was quite strange, resembling some kind of forbidden ritual from a demonic sect.

 

Fortunately, they were all disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect, a legitimate righteous sect, so no one would suspect anything.

 

Lu Yang stared intently at the Twin Stem Lotus, hoping to form an extremely powerful yin-yang core like his Second Senior Brother.

 

Meng Jingzhou imprinted the image of the Twin Lotus in his mind. Over time, the Twin Lotus had developed the ability to reverse attributes. Meng Jingzhou hoped to use this opportunity to reverse yin and yang, changing his single spirit root into a harem spirit root.

 

Peach Blossom Leaf aimed to enhance the yin-yang changes in her illusions, making them even more mysterious. If she could integrate the insights from the Twin Lotus into her illusions, it would be perfect.

 

Barbarian Bone, meanwhile, thought about poetic descriptions of lotuses, such as “untainted by the mud, purified by the clear water,” and “boundless green lotus leaves, unique red lotus flowers reflected in the sun.”

 

Soon, Barbarian Bone pondered another key question: “Can the lotus be eaten? Can it be roasted?”

 

The four of them sat like this for two whole days.

 

Lu Yang’s eyes grew dry from staring at the lotus. He took out the eye drops given by Eldest Senior Sister and felt much better after using them.

 

“Have you gained any insights?” he asked.

 

The other three shook their heads, indicating they had gained nothing.

 

After two days of observation, it was clear that their opportunity for core formation wasn’t tied to the Twin Lotus. Forcing it wouldn’t work.

 

“It wouldn’t be right to just discard it. We worked hard to obtain it. How about we sell it to the guild and split the spirit stones?” Peach Blossom Leaf suggested, seeing no point in continuing and advocating for cutting their losses.

 

“That works,” Meng Jingzhou and Barbarian Bone agreed.

 

Lu Yang raised his hand with a different request: “I want the lotus seeds. I don’t need any spirit stones from the auction, is that okay?”

 

The Everlasting Fairy had been causing a ruckus in the mental space, insisting on having the lotus seeds.

 

To appease the immortal’s demands, Lu Yang decided to take the seeds.

 

(End of the chapter)