Chapter 925 - 358: The Legendary Title_2
The Human Dao Ranking can complete the conferring of titles on its own, without human interference.
Celestial Venerable Baiyu retreated to a Dao Platform off to the side and said to Celestial Venerable Zizai,
"Old Ancestor, will he come?"
Celestial Venerable Zizai opened her eyes. Her silver-white eyelashes trembled slightly. She couldn’t answer this question either, because she could feel that that "he" was currently recasting the Path to Immortality. She thought, with his temperament, perhaps he wouldn’t care about this Human Dao Assembly.
By comparison, recasting the Path to Immortality was certainly far more important.
Yet... in her understanding, to recast the Path to Immortality, together with the Great Thousand and Small Thousand worlds, one needed the Heavenly Dao.
The formation of the Heavenly Dao is not achieved in a single day.
She couldn’t help thinking about what choice he would make: would he wait? Or did he have other ideas?
After mulling it over, she said to Celestial Venerable Baiyu,
"He may well be too busy to bother with the Human Dao Assembly."
Celestial Venerable Baiyu said, "True. I wonder if the Human Dao Ranking will confer a title on him or not. And if it does, just what kind of title would it be?"
Celestial Venerable Zizai recalled the past. "The Human Dao Ranking gathers the fortune of the whole world and has always been secretly observing all living beings. This is one of the Dao Ancestor’s great methods; I imagine it has never lacked its scrutiny of him. I think it is not that he needs a title from the Human Dao Ranking, but that the title of the Human Dao Ranking needs him. Could it be that..."
She paused slightly.
Celestial Venerable Baiyu asked, "What?"
Celestial Venerable Zizai shook her head. "I just thought of a legendary title. The Dao Ancestor once said that although the Human Dao Ranking was forged by him, it has long since surpassed the scope he originally defined for it. I wonder if that title will appear."
Celestial Venerable Baiyu did not ask what that title was, treating it as leaving a bit of expectation, or say, a surprise for himself.
Boundless resplendent light enveloped Human Dao City.
One beam of light suddenly descended, falling upon a certain spot in the guest seats.
Everyone craned their necks to look. It was a young female cultivator with delicate features. She was stunned at first, then her mind cleared, and a flush spread over her face.
Immediately after, her name and title appeared on the Human Dao Ranking—
"Ruiqiong, one hundred and three years old, Fairy Ze Yu."
Someone quickly recognized that this female cultivator named Ruiqiong was a genius disciple of Qingyun Valley on the Immortal Continent, currently just over a hundred years of age, already at the Mahayana stage, absolutely worthy of being called top-grade immortal talent. And "Fairy Ze Yu" was originally the title she used publicly; now it had become her official title, indicating that the Human Dao Ranking greatly acknowledged her.
The glow on her face revealed how excited she was.
The accompanying Elders and disciples of Qingyun Valley all offered her their congratulations in turn. It was quite lively and aroused much envy.
So young and already so highly recognized by the Human Dao Ranking—her future was surely promising.
Right afterwards, the second beam of light fell—
"Wu Tonghe, five hundred and seventy-eight years old, Venerable Xieyang."
The third beam,
The fourth beam,
...
The Human Dao Ranking continued conferring titles upon the rising generation.
Those who received titles were variously thrilled to be so highly acknowledged, calm because they had long expected it, smiling in resignation at something barely satisfactory, or disappointed by something short of their hopes... Everyone wanted their public appellation to be adopted as an official title, to prove that their achievements on the Immortal Dao were widely recognized.
Voices of congratulations, praise, and consolation rose one after another.
Celestial Venerable Baiyu said,
"This is the multitude of beings. At times, what the Daoist School has pursued as ’the will of all beings’ has indeed gone astray. Preaching the path of transcendence from the world, yet caring more than anyone about all the twists and turns of worldly affairs. Fortunately, now we’re able to return to the proper track. What does Old Ancestor think?"
Celestial Venerable Zizai answered lightly,
"In the past, the Daoist School never sought carefree freedom, yet its disciples really were carefree and free. Conversely, once Carefree Heaven and Zizai Heaven were established, it all became less carefree, less free."
Celestial Venerable Baiyu fell silent.
Because the founding of Carefree Heaven and Zizai Heaven had been proposed by Ancestor Qing.
These words carried a meaning of criticizing Ancestor Qing.
Celestial Venerable Baiyu couldn’t help wondering in his heart what exactly had happened in the Three Elders Pavilion. Strictly speaking, what had happened between Celestial Venerable Zizai and Ancestor Qing? And now, where was Ancestor Qing?
Was Ancestor Qing still the Ancestor Qing of the Daoist School?
Celestial Venerable Baiyu had never dared think about these questions before, but after all these various events had occurred, it was impossible not to think about them.
Among the Wenxin Heaven seating in the guest area,
Ye Wuyue and Bai Yihuan were sitting together chatting. Guan Xin was now the Literary Ancestor, the figurehead of Wenxin Heaven, so she couldn’t sit there and casually chat with them; she could only speak via Divine Soul Communication.
Bai Yihuan had a straightforward personality and said,
"Say, Guan Xin, you’ve become the Literary Ancestor; how come you’ve turned so distant? Do you feel it’s embarrassing to sit here chatting with us face to face? You even have to play at this Divine Soul Communication thing."
Guan Xin replied, "Don’t overthink it."
Since she wasn’t allowed to overthink, Bai Yihuan simply let her imagination run wild. Her eyes rolled, and she asked with a broad grin,
"Could it be you’re afraid that if you stand next to little Wuyue, you won’t be able to hold back and give yourself away?"
Guan Xin turned her head and glared at her fiercely.
Ye Wuyue, who was beside them, saw this and asked curiously, "What’s wrong? What are you two talking about?"
Bai Yihuan said with a laugh, "I was just telling her—"
Guan Xin took three quick steps over, pressed a hand on her shoulder, and said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes,
"If you dare talk nonsense, I’ll see to it that you never graduate for the rest of your life."
"Oh? So you’re going to lean on your status to make things hard for me?"
Guan Xin said blandly, "With your grades, graduating was already going to be difficult."
Ye Wuyue saw the two of them bickering without regard for status and felt a bit strange inside. She puffed out her cheeks, stepped between them, and reached out to separate them.
"Alright, stop arguing! This is such a solemn occasion—how inappropriate you two are."
Guan Xin immediately became a different person, her expression smoothing out, even her gaze turning gentle.
"Mm."
Usually as noisy as a little sparrow, Ye Wuyue also suddenly became shy and reserved.
Bai Yihuan, watching this, was delighted.
She felt that watching the interaction between these two was simply too interesting. Two people standing at the pinnacle of ability and authority actually behaved no differently from the neighborhood youths just awakening to love. Who says life in the heavens has no fun? Isn’t this fun right here?
Ye Wuyue’s delicate hand pinched at her sleeve as she searched for a topic.
"Yihuan, do you think you can make it into the top hundred?"
Bai Yihuan crossed her arms over her chest. "You’re underestimating me! At least the top thirty! And I told you, call me Sister Huan! I’m dozens of years older than you."
Ye Wuyue looked genuinely surprised. "Eh? You’re that confident in yourself? I’m the General Director of the Demon Extermination Bureau; I’ve dealt with forces all over the world and know there are plenty of outstanding talents. I don’t see what advantage you have."
Bai Yihuan snorted with a grin. "I’m just that confident."
Guan Xin said, "That’s called being conceited."
"Just you wait and see!"
Ye Wuyue looked at the Human Dao Ranking. "Wow, so many disciples of the Eternal Immortal Sect have made it into the top five hundred!"
Guan Xin said, "The Eternal Immortal Sect has had extraordinary significance in both its previous and current lives. Now it can be said to have washed away its glitz and truly established its immortal enterprise, so naturally it’s entering a phase of explosive growth. The key is whether it can sustain this momentum over the next millennium. If it does, the Eternal Immortal Sect will become a truly top-tier power."
Ye Wuyue looked at Guan Xin and said, "Oh, I see. You’ve got such a far-reaching view—how impressive."
Guan Xin froze. Many people had praised her like this before. Yet Ye Wuyue’s praise carried a subtly different flavor, making her heart beat faster.
"I got praised..." she muttered under her breath.
"Hm?" Ye Wuyue hadn’t heard clearly.
"Nothing!" Guan Xin said quickly.
Bai Yihuan sat to the side, resting her cheek in one hand, grinning so wide her mouth couldn’t close.
Guan Xin scolded, "Your drool is about to drip out. Please pay attention to your image and don’t disgrace Wenxin Academy."
Bai Yihuan leaned back and stretched. "Can’t help it. They say beautiful sights are like a feast. When I see a good view, of course I’m drooling with hunger." She saw Guan Xin about to blow up and quickly added with a laugh, "I mean the fine scenery on the Human Dao Ranking."
"You... really deserve to be locked up by Great Saint Yan Cheng for a good long reflection."
Bai Yihuan immediately protested, "You can’t abuse your power just because of your status!"
Guan Xin was the top authority of Wenxin Heaven, while Bai Yihuan was merely an ordinary student in Wenxin Academy, which itself was a subordinate institution under the Wenxin Institute, a subordinate organ of Wenxin Heaven. The great gap in status had never affected their bickering.
Ye Wuyue watched them from the side and only felt stifled. In her eyes, trading jabs like this was precisely the sign of a very close relationship—close enough to make someone as serious as Guan Xin lose her composure.
She didn’t want to seem petty, but unable to swallow her frustration, she reached out and gently tugged on Guan Xin’s sleeve.
Guan Xin turned and asked, "What’s wrong?"
Ye Wuyue turned her head aside and said softly,
"Don’t act like I’m not here."
Realizing Ye Wuyue was unhappy, Guan Xin suddenly panicked. She had no idea what to do and just stood there stiffly, looking very constrained.
Bai Yihuan rubbed her nose, wondering if she’d gone a bit too far in stirring up the fun.
She had to defuse the mood quickly. Looking up at the Human Dao Ranking, she called out,
"Look! It’s down to the top hundred!"