Chapter 685: The Expert’s Favorite, Tong Tian’s Epiphany
“Good rice! Good rice, indeed!” Li Nianfan grabbed a handful of the glutinous rice and was satisfied with the coolness of the grains against his hand. Glutinous rice is not only delicious but also possesses high nutritional and medicinal value. It can supplement the human body with calcium and strengthen digestion.
The group breathed a sigh of relief and felt very proud of themselves when they saw Li Nianfan smiled. Getting their hands on the rice was a happy surprise and they were only glad that Li Nianfan was overjoyed with it.
Nanan brought out the stamp and said, “Brother Li, maybe you can use this for the walnuts?”
“Oh! This looks very fancy.” Li Nianfan accepted the stamp and found the weight and hardness to be acceptable. It could definitely be used for cracking walnuts but somehow it felt a little over the top. He initially thought that they would bring back a hammer. He wondered where they managed to get their hands on the stamp. It looked very well made and holier looking than an imperial jade seal.
In his previous life, he had heard somebody say that they use imperial jade seal to crack walnuts, never would he have expected he would do the same one day. At the same time, he was moved by their thoughtfulness. They must have gone through a lot of trouble to get him to stamp.
Li Nianfan stroked Nanan’s head and with a smile said, “Thank you for this. This is perfect for cracking walnuts!”
“Brother Li, the Heavenly Palace people helped out a lot during this mission,” Nanan said, not forgetting to give credits where they were due.
“Oh yes! We have guests. Come in, come in,” Li Nianfan said when he saw Cultivator Junjun and Tong Tian outside. He kinda guessed that the intel must have come from the Heavenly Palace for how could the two little girls know where to get the Heaven Spiritual Rice and stamp when they were always in the four-part architecture?
“Greetings, Saint Lord. Sorry to disturb you,” Cultivator Junjun and Tong Tian said courteously and with a bow of their head.
“You’re not disturbing me at all. In fact, I should thank you for bringing me these two awesome items,” Li Nianfan said.
“Those are small matters. We didn’t really do much,” Cultivator Junjun said honestly. The two of them felt like they were only there to make up the numbers and to act as cheerleaders. ‘Sigh, our cultivation is too low. We need to train more in order to better serve the expert.’
Li Nianfan looked at Tong Tian and curiously asked, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before. Are you a new member of the Heavenly Palace?”
“He’s actually an old member of the Prehistoric. Saint Lord had mentioned the gods’ list before and he was the one who suffered the most,” Cultivator Junjun answered on behalf of Tong Tian.
Li Nianfan searched his memories for Tong Tian’s identity. “Are you perhaps Tong Tian, the founder of Anti-teaching Sect?”
During the period of the investiture of gods, all of Tong Tian’s followers ended up dead and from then on, he was controlled by others, and no longer showed his face around. However, Li Nianfan had heard all the stories about his powerful combat power and how he was willing to do anything for his followers. This alone made him admire him and he was glad he could meet him at last.
“Those are all stories of the past. After travelling around the Chaos, I finally realized how little I know of this world. The experience has truly humbled me so if Saint Lord doesn’t mind, you may call me Tongtong or Little Tong.”
Li Nianfan was surprised. It seemed like Tong Tian had suffered a huge blow during his travels. He quickly shook his head and said, “Please don’t say that. The world is as big as the heart is. Even if a frog jumps out of a well, how will it know for sure it didn’t jump into another well? The only person limiting you, is you. Yes, it’s true the world is big but that doesn’t mean that you’re not important. It’s important to stay grounded throughout all this.”
Tong Tian and Cultivator Junjun’s body shook and it felt like a volcano had exploded in their minds which kicked up a boundless windstorm. The line — the world is as big as the heart is — gave them a new understanding of the world and themselves. Tong Tian, especially, broke out in cold sweat and his soul was trembling. He was so used to lowering his head that he had forgotten what it was like to raise his head.
He always felt that he did not deserved the name Tong Tian but if he did not deserve it, then who deserved it? He was afraid that once he completely erased his name, he would never get it back. Yes, it was true he had gotten back his body and power but had lost his original dream. He would always be Tong Tian and then and there swore to make this name famous across all seven dimensions.
As for Cultivator Junjun, the epiphany he had gotten solidified his Dao Heart even more. Then, as if he had thought of something, he gasped and became even more shocked. The world is as big as the heart is — did the expert say this line specially for him? When one wants something, all the universe conspires in helping one to achieve it. The expert must be really enlightened to be able to come up with a line like that!
Tong Tian’s eyes were all red. He bowed deeply and said, “Thank you for guidance, Saint Lord. I will keep what I’ve learned today close to my heart.” Based on that exchange a lot, he should call Li Nianfan his master.
Li Nianfan laughed and humbly said, “I was only saying what I feel to be true. Take it however you will.” He was just glad that all the motivation stories he had read proved to be useful here. He really wished Tong Tian would not change his name for it was part of his childhood.
“Come and have a seat. Xiao Bai, bring out some juice for the guests!” Li Nianfan said. Then he asked Daji to bring some walnuts so he could try out the stamp on it.
Tong Tian sat down carefully and discreetly took a deep breath. He felt unbelievably comfortable there due to the thick Spiritual Qi floating in the air. There were no other places in the world better than there. He then looked around his surroundings and was almost blinded by all the treasures there. Yes, he had heard all of the stories about Li Nianfan, but listening and seeing proved to be a different experience.
After that, he looked at the juice in his hand and felt a tightening in his heart. ‘This is the juice of Spiritual Root. I can’t believe he’s serving it out to guests. It’s no wonder everybody wants to come here. There’s just too many opportunities for advancement,’ thought Tong Tian. A word, some snacks, and some drinks were all opportunities that the others who had not been here could not imagine.
Suddenly, he heard a clear cracking sound — Li Nianfan was using the stamp on the walnuts. Judging by the perfect walnut coming out of its shell, the stamp was the perfect tool for cracking walnuts.
Li Nianfan was overjoyed. He laughed and said, “Haha! This stamp is perfect for cracking walnuts!”
Cultivator Junjun and Tong Tian were looking at him with astonished eyes. Even though they had mentally prepared themselves for this to happen, they still found the corners of their lips to be twitching. They could not believe that the Origins of Wisdom with the power to suppress Wisdom itself was being used to crack…walnuts?
People might have called them crazy if they told anyone else about it. Heck, even the Murong ancestor would be turning in his grave if he knew about it but of course, those are not the main points. The main point was the seal seemed to be very cooperative and enjoying its new role of cracking walnuts. They could not help but wonder where its previous overbearing force and unparalleled power went.
Li Nianfan was enjoying cracking walnuts so much that it was a good long while before he stopped. He then passed the walnuts to them. “Cultivator Junjun, Founder Tian Tong, please help yourself to the walnuts.”
“Thank you, Saint Lord,” said the two politely.
“Founder Tian Tong, it’s a shame you’ve missed out on a lot of interesting events during your travels in the Chaos,” said Li Nianfan. Tian Tong had missed out the changes in the Prehistoric to the Area of the Gods, and the gathering of different sects, and all the feasts they had. “Make sure you don’t miss out on the walnuts too.”
Tian Tong nodded his head and put a walnut into his mouth. A thunder crashed inside his brain as soon as he bit down on the walnut, as if something was awakening in his mind, like a walnut coming out of its shell. He could feel his brain was transforming at a rapid pace. No longer was he a fool but a genius for he had gained a billion years of knowledge.
He had never felt so one with everything between heaven and earth. It felt as if he could touch the laws of the universe with his very hand. At the same time, he could feel his mana spinning wildly, harmonizing with heaven and earth, and elevating his Dao heart.
Suddenly, his body became lighter and unbelievably comfortable, as if a barrier had been pierced through which then allowed the Spiritual Qi to roll in, thus increasing his power. It was not long ago he had become a Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal and now because of a walnut, had immediately broken through to the Heavenly Realm!
‘No, this is not some ordinary walnut but a Spiritual Root that can help one to reach enlightenment. Not to mention it was personally peeled by the expert himself and it was cracked by the Origins of Wisdom! The expert reminded me not to miss out on anything from now on. He must have been hinting at me to make up for all of the opportunities that I’ve missed. He’s helping me to catch up to the rest of them!’ thought Tong Tian with red eyes. He was unbelievably moved by Li Nianfan’s gestures.
He was on the brink of death and was only saved when he drank the Deer Blood Wine and now he had even advanced to the Heavenly Realm after eating the walnut. He must have done a lot of good deeds in his past lives to reap the good karma now. He would never be able to repay the expert, not even if he had a million lifetimes.
“How’s the taste of the walnut?” Li Nianfan asked.
“Delicious. Absolutely delicious!” Tong Tian took a deep breath and in an all-sincere tone said, “This is the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten.”
Li Nianfan laughed heartily and said, “You still have a long life ahead of you to try out more yummy food. I’ll make sure to send something over to the Heavenly Palace once I create a new dish with the glutinous rice.”
Cultivator Junjun became excited at that. “Lucky us! We thank the Saint Lord in advance.”
Li Nianfan waved his hand and said, “You’re too polite. It’s only food.”
Cultivator Junjun and Tong Tian did not want to overstay their welcome so got up to excuse themselves. Tong Tian’s whole body felt unbelievably pleasant as he walked out of the four-part architecture. He felt as if he had become a whole new person who could do anything in the world.
Nuwa and others were waiting for them at a place nearby and immediately surrounded the two of them when they saw them.
“Little Tong…” Juling Shen said. He did not get to finish his sentence because a sword bursting with boundless sharpness appeared in front of him within seconds.
“Where is your manners? My name is Tong Tian! Make sure you remember it.” Tong Tian said coldly. This shocked everyone and they could sense he had gone back to his previous personality in the Prehistoric.
“Brother Tong Tian, have you broken through the Heavenly Realm? And…you’re not going to change your name anymore?” Nuwa asked with surprise.
“No, I’m not going to change my name anymore.” He shook his head and smiled gloatingly. “Thanks to the expert’s guidance, I had an epiphany and remembered my original dream. The expert approves of my name and has given me some walnuts to help me break through to the Heavenly Realm.”
“Lucky you!”
“Gah! I’m so jealous. The expert is so good to you.”
“I knew it! I knew that the expert will reward you richly. I should have fought for the chance to visit him!”
“No wonder you’re acting so arrogantly now.”
Tong Tian smiled and said, “As a sword cultivator, I think that the line ‘God would not accept the birth of Tong Tian, but my sword cultivation is still historical like the long night’ is perfect for me so I’ll be using it from now.”
Xiao Chenfeng and Jiang Liu immediately exploded.
“As if! Have you asked the sword in my hand for its permission?”
“You shameless prick! You don’t want to make an enemy out of me!”
“Looks like the three of us need to fight it out for the right to use the line.”
Meanwhile, back in the fourth dimension, where the Murong Clan were, two figures were standing in mid-air and looking at the giant dog paw print on the ground with a serious expression on their faces.
“It looks so terrifying. The remnant aura tells me this dog is a Wisdom Elite with unimaginable power.”
“Cut the crap. The dog paw is not the most important thing right now. Tell me what you people from the Heaven Mystery Pavilion know now!”