The world is relative.

Middle-earth is separated from the Great West by the ocean. The east is higher, and the sky seems to be higher, and the clouds rise from the sea and land, and drift towards that place, until they finally converge and continue to disperse all year round.

This is the tomb of the clouds—the tomb of all the clouds in the world.

There is a lone peak in the deepest part of the cloud tomb, and the peak goes straight into the void, and I don't know where it leads.

Legend has it that the world realm is made up of five continents, each with a different landscape, and only those powerful beings who have entered the divine realm can see all of them. For ordinary people, legends are just legends, they don't know where the rest of the continents are, they don't know how to get there, and they don't know that the lone peak in the Cloud Tomb is the passage to other continents.

Naturally, no one has ever seen the scenery above the clouds. Here, the calm clouds spread in all directions like white silk, seemingly endless, and behind the Void Mirror above was an endless black abyss with countless stars inside.

Suddenly, two stars lit up, brighter and brighter, and they were approaching the mirror at high speed. When the two stars came to the front of the mirror, they could see clearly that they were two sacred white flames.

A spiderweb-like crack appears in the mirror that separates the real world from the night sky, and then repairs it instantly.

Those two sacred flames had appeared in the real world realm on this side of the mirror in some magical way, and the thin air was constantly fluctuating and deforming from the scorching—it was not the divine fire, it was just its eyes.

The entire world was disturbed by the huge arrival, the light kept refracting, a shadow like a mountain appeared on the clouds, and the space began to stretch and deform, as if it might be squeezed apart.

A golden dragon that appears between the void and the clouds.

The red sun in the distance was completely obscured by its huge body, and tens of thousands of kilometers above the clouds became dim, and the temperature around it dropped sharply, and frost crystallized in the clouds, reflecting countless rays of light, turning into a strange flickering crystal mirror. Heaven and earth change color because of this, and this is the majesty of the top life.

The golden dragon looked down on this worldly realm, his eyes indifferent.

The scenery on the clouds, it has seen many times.

The golden dragon flew towards the lonely peak in the sky, and when it was about to approach, the terrifying huge dragon body sank into the depths of the clouds and mist, and disappeared. An endless amount of mist was broken through by a terrifying and gigantic body. The lonely peaks and cliffs are rocky and steep, with no plants, not even moss, and a dead silence, like a tomb.

Flying into the depths of the fog like this, after a long day and night, I don't know how far I flew, but I was still in the fog, and I didn't encounter anything else, but I could faintly see the moss between the cliffs, and the clouds and mist were much thicker than the top, perhaps because of the relationship of self-extrusion, and a lot of crystals began to form in the clouds, that is, water droplets, so the air was also moistened.

The golden dragon showed no interest in these changes and continued to fly downward.

The plants in the lonely peak became more and more, the clouds became more and more wet, and the water droplets fell on the cliff, gradually turning into countless streams of water the thickness of green leaves. Countless thousands of thin streams of water bubbled between the cliffs and fell into the fog.

The golden dragon looked at the trickle of ten thousand streams between the lonely peaks, and the expression in his eyes became much more solemn, and the two divine fires became more and more faint - this is the tomb of all clouds and the source of all water.

Countless streams of water fell from among the lonely peaks, and it only looked at one of them.

The golden dragon flew silently in the mist, following the stream, through countless days and nights, seemingly endlessly repeated, but at some point...... The fog in front of it lifted.

Before the clouds, there is the ground.

The lower edge of the cloud is smooth, completely dependent on the undulation of the ground, perfectly ensuring that there is a distance of five feet between the cloud and the surface, which is exactly the height of a human being, as if from the design of the Creator. The space between the surface and the clouds and mist is five feet away, and there is a faint light in the distance, but the sun is not visible, and there are countless streams on the surface.

The mist dissipated in front of the massive dragon's head, revealing the ground and the stream.

The water of the stream came from the wet dew of the lonely peak, it was clear, calm and cold, and there was a wooden basin floating in the stream, and in the basin there were several layers of linen, and on the sackcloth was a baby - the baby's face was slightly blue, his eyes were closed, and it was evident that he had not been born for too long.

The mist on the stream bloomed like a flower, blooming countless petals, crowded, surging, scattering, sneering, and a golden dragon head that was even greater than the palace slowly poked out of the clouds and came to the surface of the stream.

The distance between the surface of the stream and the fog was narrow for it - the body of the golden dragon was hidden in the fog, and the dragon's head was also partially hidden in the fog, which seemed more and more majestic, mysterious, and terrifying.

The golden dragon looked silently at the stream.

The tub still undulated slightly in the stream.

In the tiny tub is an abandoned, closed-eyed, blue-faced newborn baby.

......

......

The fog cleared, and everything returned to tranquility.

However, the tranquility is only temporary...... In the depths of the fog, even as far as the vicinity of Lone Peak, almost at the same moment, countless terrible, panicked whistling and howling sounded!

I thought that in the silent and lifeless world, there were so many birds and beasts hidden, and the fog was full of the sound of flapping wings, the sound of unicorns crashing into the 10,000-year-old giant tree in a panic, and there was even an extremely clear phoenix chirping!

An invisible line of fire formed by divine thoughts spread from the side of the stream to the sky, and the wet grass suddenly became extremely dry, and even the edges of the aquatic plants in the stream curled up!

There was still no emotion in the golden dragon's eyes, noble, indifferent, and dominant.

Below the clouds, the beasts of the world and the world ran away, it didn't care, even if it was the young phoenix, it didn't care, it just stared at the stream in front of it, staring at the wooden basin on the stream. Hundreds of thousands of streams fell from the lonely peak, and it only stared at this stream; after 30,000 years, it came to this world again, just for the sake of this baby in the basin, how could it take its eyes off?

A very thin filament of light slowly fell, the appearance of the filament is golden, the inside is sacred white, as if it can shine on its own, the front end of the filament is extremely thin, the back section gradually thickened, until it is like a child's arm, the surface is extremely smooth and perfect, especially the luster from the depths, adding to the beauty.

The material of this filament of light is like gold and jade, and it feels like it should be heavy, but in fact it is very light, and it sways with the breeze on the surface of the stream, as if dancing, trying to touch the wooden basin, but it is instantly withdrawn.

It was the golden dragon's whiskers.

At this time, the divine fire in the golden dragon's eyes had become no longer so eternal and stable, and its indifference had been replaced by thought, as if it was hesitating about something. The tips of the two dragon whiskers, like gentle fingers, gently touched the edge of the tub on the stream, as if they were caressing, but in fact they did not actually touch.

This golden dragon has gone through a very long time, and has unimaginable wisdom, but at this time, the wooden basin seems to be a difficult problem that it cannot solve—the emotions in its eyes are becoming more and more complicated, there are longing, there are also vigilance, hesitation, and finally it becomes a struggle, maybe unintentionally, maybe intentionally, the wind above the stream changes slightly, and the dragon's whiskers that should have brushed the edge of the basin trembled slightly, and finally for the first time it really touched the basin, and even rubbed under the ears of the baby in the basin!

It was such a slight contact, and there was an extremely drastic change - the two divine fires in the depths of the golden dragon's eyes dispersed with a bang, turning into thousands of stars, and in that sea of stars, there was a cold and greedy **** nakedly!

That **** is praise and moving.

It is a celebration of life, and it is moved because of life.

It is the most primitive desire of life.

The golden dragon looked at the wooden basin on the stream, opened its mouth, and the dragon's breath poured out like broken jade.

The baby in the basin still had his eyes closed, not knowing what would happen in the next moment.

The stream is shrouded in shadows.

The dragon's breath falls on the perimeter of the tub.

In the next moment, the wooden basin and the baby in the basin will become food for the golden dragon.

Right now.

A hand lands on the edge of the tub and pulls it towards the stream!

It was a hand full of scars, a little thin and small.

In the sound of the rushing water, the stream broke, and the hand pulled the wooden basin and ran desperately towards the stream.

The owner of that hand was a three- or four-year-old Taoist.

The trailmaid pulled the tub to the side of the stream, hiding it between the shore stone and his body, then turned around, drew the sword at his waist, and looked at the terrifying, huge golden dragon head on the surface of the stream.

It's a very strange little gossier.

He was blind in one eye, missing an ear, and when he ran desperately in the stream, he could see that his leg was also a little lame, and he could see that he had only one hand when he saw the empty sleeve.

No wonder he could only draw his sword by hiding the tub behind him.

Looking at the huge dragon head on the surface of the stream, the little Taoist servant's face was pale, and his teeth rattled rattle, not because of the cold water of the stream, but because of the fear in his heart.

It was the first time he had seen a real dragon. He didn't even know what the Dao Dao Dragon was, he only knew that the Dao was afraid, but he didn't run away, but took the thin wooden sword and kept the basin tightly behind him.

The golden dragon looked at the little Taoist with an indifferent expression, only the super powerhouse who had also advanced to the divine realm could see the anger and coldness in the deepest part of its pupils.

The little roadmaid shouted something, his face was pale and terrified, but he did not let go of the basin in his hand.

The golden dragon was furious, and its breath enveloped both sides of the stream, and death was imminent.

The wooden sword in the little man's hand fell into the water, and he turned around and took the wooden basin into his arms.

The scales on the golden dragon's body rubbed against the mist, splashing countless heavenly fires, and the stream began to burn.

At this moment, a middle-aged Taoist appeared on the bank of the stream.

The middle-aged Taoist looked at the golden dragon on the surface of the stream with a calm expression.

The fire on the surface of the stream suddenly went out.

The golden dragon looked at the middle-aged Taoist and let out a dragon groan!

The dragon's chant was so long that it seemed to never stop, it was a very complex syllable, and it sounded like the most complex music, and it sounded like the sound of the most terrifying hurricane in nature, mixed with unimaginable power!

The middle-aged Taoist looked at the golden dragon and said a word.

It was a monosyllabic word, the pronunciation was extremely strange and difficult to understand, it didn't seem to be like human language at all, and the fragment seemed to contain infinite information, full of ancient meaning!

The golden dragon understood, but it disagreed.

So the fog on the surface of the stream surged violently.

The dragon's breath spewed everywhere, and the wet grass and woods by the stream turned into a terrifying fire in an instant.

The little man had his back to the stream, and he didn't know what was going on, so he lowered his head in fear, closed his eyes, and just hugged the tub in his arms tightly.

......

......

I don't know how long it took for the river to finally fall silent.

The trailmaid plucked up his courage and looked back, and saw that the water was clear, and the fire on both sides of the stream had been extinguished, and only the charred trees and cracked stones told the horror of the previous battle.

A dragon roar was heard from the depths of the clouds. The howling sound was full of pain, unwillingness, and remorse, and it was telling the entire five continents of the world what kind of painful regret its previous hesitation had brought.

The little Taoist was startled, holding the wooden basin in one hand, limping up from the stream to the shore, walking to the middle-aged Taoist's side, and timidly looking into the depths of the clouds.

The middle-aged Taoist reached out to extinguish the flame on his shoulder.

The little roadmaid remembered something, and lifted the tub with some difficulty.

The middle-aged Taoist took the wooden basin and gently picked up the baby in the basin, the tip of his right finger fell on the baby's body through the linen, and the next moment, his brows furrowed.

"Your life...... It's really bad. He looked at the baby wrapped in sackcloth and said with pity.

......

......

In the east of the Dongtu Continent, there is a small town called Xining, there is a small stream outside the town, there is a mountain by the stream, there is a temple in the mountain, but there are no monks in the temple, only a middle-aged Taoist with two disciples here to practice enlightenment.

The mountain is a nameless green mountain, the temple is an abandoned Buddhist temple, and there are more than two disciples with a big Taoist number, and the small one is called Chen Changsheng.

The town of Xining is in the territory of the Zhou State. The Great Zhou Dynasty since 800 years ago set up Taoism as the state religion, until now in the orthodox years, the state religion dominates the world, it is even more respected, logically speaking, the master and apprentice should live a life of brocade clothes and jade food, but Xining Town is too remote, the broken temple is even more remote, and the population is rare on weekdays, so it can only live a life of coarse tea and light food.

Taoists naturally want to cultivate the Tao. There are countless cultivation methods in the world today, and the Taoism taught by the middle-aged Taoist is completely different from the Taoism of other sects.

Yu Yu began to recite Taoist classics since he was a child, Chen Changsheng was forced to look at those yellow old books in a daze as soon as he opened his eyes, the first thing he knew was a room full of Taoist classics, after learning to speak, he began to learn to read, and then began to recite the words on those Taoist classics.

Reciting and learning from time to time, so that you can memorize it like a stream, this is the life of the two small Taoist servants in the broken temple.

When I woke up in the morning, they were reciting books, the scorching sun was blazing, they were reciting books, and in the twilight bells, they were recognizing. Spring is warm, summer thunder is shaking, autumn wind is bleak, winter snow is cold, they are on the ridge, on the stream, under the tree, on the plum side, holding the Taoist scriptures and reading constantly, carrying them, not knowing the passage of time.

There is a whole room in the ruined temple full of Taoist scriptures, and the rest of the people used to count when they were seven years old, there are three thousand volumes, three thousand volumes, three thousand volumes, one volume or hundreds of words, or more than a thousand words, the shortest god scripture is only 314 words, and the longest immortal scripture is more than 20,000 words, which is all they have to memorize.

The two brothers kept reciting it, only trying to remember, not to understand, and they knew for a long time that the master would never answer any questions they had about the Daozang, but would only say, "Remember, and you will naturally understand." ”

For those playful enlightened children in the world, such a life is really unimaginable, fortunately, the green mountains are deserted, few people, no foreign objects linger, you can concentrate, the two small Taoist servants have a special temperament, and they don't feel boring, so they carry it day after day, and unconsciously pass a few years.

One day, the sound of reading, which had not stopped for several years, stopped. The two children sat on the rocks, shoulder to shoulder, a book on their knees, looking at the book, and looking at each other, both of them looked a little dazed.

At this time, they had memorized the last volume, but there was no way to continue, because they couldn't understand it, and the words on this volume were very unfamiliar—to be precise, they were very strange, and those radicals and strokes were clearly recognized, and when combined, they became completely strange things, how to read them? What does it mean?

The two returned to the temple and found a middle-aged Taoist.

The middle-aged Taoist said: "Three thousand avenues, what you are looking at is the last volume, this volume is one thousand six hundred and one words, according to legend, there is the ultimate meaning of the Heavenly Dao, no one has ever been able to fully comprehend the meaning, let alone you?"

Chen Changsheng asked, "Master, you don't understand either?"

The middle-aged Taoist shook his head and said, "No one dares to say that they really understand, and neither can I." ”

The senior brothers glanced at each other, feeling a little regretful, although they were still children, but they had memorized the three thousand Daozang to this day, only one volume was missing and they could not compete for the full achievement, so they naturally would not be happy. But after all, they are not ordinary children, they have been accompanied by the Tao Jing since they were ignorant, and their temperament is also a little light, and the two are ready to turn around and leave.

At this moment, the middle-aged Taoist continued: "...... But I can read it. ”

Since that day, middle-aged Taoists have begun to teach the reading of the last volume of the Taoist canon, teaching the pronunciation word by word, those pronunciations are particularly strange, very simple monosyllables, but they have to use a certain muscle in the throat, and they also have special requirements for the vocal cords, in short, they are not like the sounds that normal humans can make.

Chen Changsheng didn't understand it at all, just like a duckling, honestly simulating the pronunciation taught by the master, but the rest of the people occasionally remembered the words that the master said to that terrifying creature on the bank of the stream many years ago.

It took Yu Ren and Chen Changsheng a long time to finally master the pronunciation of the 1,600 and 1 words, but they still didn't understand the meaning, and they couldn't get an answer when they asked the middle-aged Taoist, at that time, they had already spent a whole year on this last volume, and then they began to continue to recite the last volume as before, until they could memorize it.

When they thought that they had finally gotten rid of the life of apostasy, the middle-aged Taoist asked them to start reading it a second time, and the helpless children were forced to start repeating it again, or because of the repetition, this time they felt a lot more difficult and even a little miserable.

It was only at this time that they began to wonder, why did the master want the two of them to read these Taoist scriptures? Why didn't they teach themselves to practice? Obviously, it was written in the Taoist scriptures that Taoists should cultivate the Tao and should pursue immortality.

At that time, Yu Yu was ten years old, Chen Changsheng was six and a half years old, and it was in the autumn of this year that a white crane broke through the clouds, bringing greetings from the deceased from afar and a silk book, on which was written the eight characters of the birthday, as well as a marriage letter and tokens - a certain dignitary who had been rescued by a middle-aged Taoist wanted to fulfill the promise of the year.

The middle-aged Taoist looked at the marriage book and smiled silently, and then looked at the two apprentices. The rest of the people waved their hands, pointed to their eyes that could not see, and refused with a smile, Chen Changsheng looked confused, didn't understand what this meant, and took the marriage certificate in a daze, and since then he has a fiancée.

In the following years, every New Year's Festival, the white crane would break through the clouds and come at the time to bring greetings from the noble man in Kyoto, and would also bring some interesting small gifts to Chen Changsheng.

Chen Changsheng gradually understood things, knowing what the marriage contract meant, every time at night, looking at the marriage letter lying quietly in the drawer by starlight, he had some indescribable feelings, thinking about the fiancée who heard that he was about the same age as himself, some quiet joy, some shyness, and more confusion.

In his peaceful study career, when Chen Changsheng was ten years old, there was an accident. One night, after he had recited the 1,601 characters of the last volume of the Taoist Collection for the seventy-second time, he suddenly felt that his consciousness had drifted away from his body and began to flutter in the woods in the green mountains.

It's not floral, it's not leafy, it's not fat. It is said to be light, but it does not disperse for a long time under the night breeze, and it is said to be thick, wafting into the nose, but it is so ethereal, not like the fragrance that can appear in the world, unpredictable, extremely attractive.

The first to discover Chen Changsheng's situation was Yu Ren, and when he smelled the strange fragrance, his expression became extremely grim.

In the slightly dark green hills covered by the leaves, there are lions roaring and tiger roaring, cranes dancing and struggling, there are thunder frogs that should only appear on summer nights, and in the depths of the clouds and mist in the east of the green mountains, no one dares to enter, a huge shadow faintly appears, I don't know what kind of creature it is, under the gaze of the greedy and awe-inspiring eyes of countless lives, Chen Changsheng exudes a strange fragrance, closes his eyes and sleeps, I don't know when he will wake up.

The rest of the people were desperately fanning the wind beside the couch, wanting to fan away the fragrance on Chen Changsheng's body, because the fragrance made him mouthful, and made him have a very strange and terrifying thought, he had to fan the wind and fan this thought away.

The middle-aged Taoist didn't know when he came to the wing room, he stood on the edge of the couch, looked at Chen Changsheng who closed his eyes tightly, and said something that only he could understand: "Where is the cause?"

The night passed.

The moment the morning light fell on the green mountain, the strange fragrance on Chen Changsheng's body suddenly disappeared, and he could no longer smell the slightest, he returned to his previous appearance, the thousands of strange beasts in the green mountain and the terrifying figure behind the clouds, and he didn't know when to leave.

Yu Yu looked at the sleeping junior brother, and finally stopped panicking, sighed, and wanted to wipe the cold sweat off his forehead, only to find that his shoulder was in pain because of the fan that had been shaking desperately all night.

Chen Changsheng opened his eyes and woke up. Although he slept all night, he knew what had happened, looked at the senior brother with a painful expression, his face became a little pale, and asked, "Master, what's wrong with me?"

The middle-aged Taoist looked at him, and after being silent for a long time, he said, "You are sick. ”

According to the middle-aged Taoist, Chen Changsheng's illness is due to congenital weakness, the nine meridians in the body cannot be connected, and the strange fragrance of last night is that the soul cannot be recycled, and can only be forced to be discharged with sweat.

"That'...... Can you cure it?"

"No, no one can. ”

"Incurable disease...... That's fate, right?"

"Yes, that's your life. ”

......

......

Since his tenth birthday, the white crane has never been to Qingshan, the news in Kyoto has been cut off, and the other side of the marriage book seems to have never appeared, Chen Changsheng occasionally stands on the bank of the stream, looking at the west, and will think of this matter.

Of course, he was thinking more about his illness, or his fate...... He did not become weak, except for some sleepiness, he looked extremely healthy, not at all like a person who died young, and he even began to doubt Master's judgment. But if Master's judgment is correct, then what should I do? Chen Changsheng decided to leave the ruined temple and go to the prosperous world to see, while he could still see it, he wanted to go to see the legendary Tianshu Mausoleum, and he also went to return the marriage.

"Teacher, I'm leaving. ”

"Where are you going?"

"Go to Kyoto. ”

"For what?"

"Because I want to live. ”

"As I said, it's not a disease, it's a fate. ”

"I want to change my life. ”

"In 800 years, only three people have succeeded in changing their lives. ”

"That's a great guy, isn't it?"

"Yes. ”

"I'm not, but I want to try it too. ”

In Kyoto, Chen Changsheng always has to go, no matter whether he can cure his illness or not, he always has to go, not only because he wants to change his life, but also because the other side of the marriage book is in Kyoto.

He packed his luggage, took the small sword handed over by Senior Brother Yu Ren, and turned to leave.

Fourteen-year-old young Taoist priest, descending the mountain.