Chapter Seventeen: Fuxi's Speculation

  Zhuang Xiong saw that Nüwa was worried about Fuxi, and thought to himself: "It's better if that dead sister-control doesn't show up for a while, so I can spend more time cultivating feelings with Sister Nüwa." However, he also knew that Fuxi must be speeding up to hurry over, and wouldn't let him be alone with Nüwa. So he smiled and said: "Sister Nüwa, don't worry, we've been traveling for three days without stopping, who knows how many tens of millions of miles we've gone beyond Brother's reach? Even if he's late by a few more days, he must have been delayed by something, with Brother's cultivation and abilities, this vast wilderness is nothing to him, even if he can't win a fight, at least he can save his life. Anyway, Brother also knows the purpose of our trip, why don't we just proceed slowly, discussing the Dao along the way, it's better than waiting here."

  Nüwa hesitated for a moment, but couldn't think of any reason to refuse, so she said: "Okay."

  Zhuang Xiong was overjoyed and laughed, saying: "Sister, don't worry, brother's luck is great and his life is strong, nothing will happen. Why don't I first confess my own affairs? Of course, as a reward, please let sister give me a little hand." As he spoke, he also knew that at this time, he couldn't wait for an answer, so he boldly took the soft and delicate hand of Nü Wa in his, and saw that Nü Wa only gave him a sly glance but didn't pull away. He was overjoyed and quickly grasped her hand tightly, then mounted his cloud and slowly flew forward.

  Zhuang Xiong had actually been in contact with Nüwa's small hands many times before, but he shouldn't have been so excited. At that time, he had countless worries, and although he liked Nüwa very much and hoped to live with her, he was afraid that it would all be just a dream, and there would always be a day when he would wake up. Feeling lost, anxious, and fearful, Zhuang Xiong carefully tried to explore, even looking at palm readings was done with caution. He held Nüwa's small hand in his, but he was carefully observing her expression, not daring to carefully experience the softness of Nüwa's small hand.

  It wasn't until recently, when Zhuang Xiong entered the Great Luo Golden Immortal Realm, that he suddenly understood his own heart and had a feeling of "who else but me". This allowed him to boldly pursue his feelings. Only then could he carefully experience the feeling of holding Nüwa's small hand.

  Moreover, can holding hands with one's own woman be compared to the contact between siblings?

  Here is the translation:

  "Meanwhile, Zhuang Xiong was chatting with Nü Wa, but didn't mention anything about Fuxi. However, Fuxi's sister suddenly had an outburst of her soul and broke through her limits, but she didn't fall behind by much. Nevertheless, she eventually couldn't hold on any longer and had to stop to rest. She calmed down in her heart and thought: "That foolish bear may be faster than me by a few points, or even twice as fast, but according to our agreement that day, I should have caught up with him already? Ah, it must be that he deceived my sister and didn't let her stop along the way, or maybe he even kidnapped her! That foolish bear has had ulterior motives towards my sister for a long time. When I was around, he wouldn't shut up about his sweet talk, directly ignoring me and hoping I would leave far away. This time, with the opportunity to be alone with my sister, he must want to prolong it indefinitely. It's not impossible that he kidnapped my sister either. However, although he is shameless in words, he is also a straightforward person and won't use force. I just hope my sister isn't deceived by him. What a mistake, what a big mistake! I was so careful with my sister every day, but in the end, I still gave that foolish bear an opportunity. No wonder he agreed to it so readily that day. And it's also my fault for being careless and not having the pressure of Pangu, which made me relax for a moment and let that foolish bear take advantage of me. Next time, I definitely won't be so careless again." She secretly made up her mind: "Good job, you foolish bear! Even if you took advantage of me this time, I don't believe your few days' efforts can win my sister's heart. As long as things haven't been settled yet, there is still a chance to make up for it. When I see my sister again, I will definitely stick to her side every day and speak ill of you in front of her, not giving you any opportunity to make small moves. No, I won't even give you the opportunity to make small moves."

  As Fuxi was about to leave, he saw a long rainbow stretching across the sky, and at the end of it, a figure in red appeared. The figure stumbled as soon as his feet touched the ground, and he had no energy left to move, so he slowly sat down on a nearby rock. Fuxi looked over and saw that the man was dressed entirely in red - red robes, red boots, red belt, and even his hair was red, but his current state was pitiful. His scalp was peeling, revealing bald spots, his nose was flat, one eye was closed, and the other was slightly open, still bleeding. His eye sockets were shattered, and his ears had several cuts on them. He had no teeth left, and his chin was detached. The rest of his body was in an even more severe state - his spine was broken, and almost every bone in his body was fractured. He couldn't stand stably, and blood was dripping from all over his body. In just a short while, he had bled out a large puddle on the ground. It was Hongyun, who had been brutally beaten by Zhuang Xiong.

  Fuxi's gaze was met with a chill, what kind of ruthless person had he encountered? Killing would have been one thing, but to beat someone into this state was a deep-seated hatred. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that even the yuan Shen and true spirit were in danger of being scattered at any moment. It should be known that for cultivators who had reached their level, physical damage was ultimately minor, as long as the true spirit was unharmed, they could reform their yuan Shen at any time, and as long as the yuan Shen was unharmed, bodily injuries would recover in an instant. Therefore, it was very difficult to truly kill a high-level cultivator of the same realm, let alone someone who wouldn't even stand still to be hit. Generally, only those with higher cultivation or those who were determined to fight to the death could achieve this. And yet, the wounds on that Daoist's body seemed to be mere external injuries, caused by physical blows, but somehow managed to harm his yuan Shen and true spirit, leaving a mark that made recovery even more difficult. Fuxi secretly speculated about the killer's cultivation, guessing it was at least that of an accurate saint, but how could someone with such cultivation inspire such hatred in an accurate saint? To the point where they suffered such torture? Was it like a cat playing with a mouse? Fuxi's musings were interrupted by his gaze meeting Hongyun's eyes, which seemed to hold a few more hints of sympathy.

  He would never have thought that the injury Red Cloud had sustained was actually caused by his old friend, Zhuang Xiong. Although Zhuang Xiong didn't have the cultivation of a Quasi-Saint, he had already reached the peak of Taiyi Golden Immortal in just a few days after parting ways with him, which was enough to suppress Red Cloud. Moreover, Zhuang Xiong's physical strength was genuinely at the Quasi-Saint level. When Zhuang Xiong was enraged, his movements seemed disorderly, but in reality, he had employed the techniques he had comprehended since the ancient times of Pangu opening the heavens. These techniques could directly penetrate through the flesh and strike the true spirit, something that even Zhuang Xiong himself didn't know before using them. He had created the Qiankun Wu Qu to satisfy his obsession with martial arts, but now it was truly an unexpected delight. It seemed that from now on, Zhuang Xiong would have to carefully excavate its value.

  Actually, cultivators all look down on fleshly divine abilities, just like Fuxi understood. Generally, physical attacks cannot harm the true spirit of the primordial spirit. No one is willing to go through the hardships of cultivating their physical body, and only after fighting with others do they discover that even if they manage to kill someone's physical body, the other person can instantly recover.

  It wasn't until the rise of the witch tribe that people realized that fleshly divine abilities could also be used to kill cultivators. After careful observation, it was discovered that this was because the ones being killed were only practicing their magical powers and not cultivating their moral character. Those who only practiced their magical powers without cultivating their moral character had high-level magical powers, but their primordial spirit was weak and did not receive recognition from heaven and earth.

  When their physical body was destroyed, their true spirit was unable to gather its energy and re-condense into a physical body, ultimately leading to dispersal. However, the soul still remained, resulting in the Honghuang resentment filling the air and the later earth's cycle of reincarnation. This is a later story and will not be mentioned for now.

  The fleshly divine ability that can destroy the primordial spirit was only discovered after the Three Pure Ones became saints and carefully comprehended the Nine Turns of the Mysterious Merit left behind by Pangu. The cultivation of fleshly divine abilities did not suddenly rise to prominence, but was instead treated as a protective technique by the Three Pure Ones.

  Zhunti, on the other hand, had already felt that the witch tribe's fleshly divine ability was extraordinary during the Great War between the Witches and Demons. He then collected and pondered over it, and after becoming a saint, he established the Eight-Nine Mysterious Merit as a protective technique, which was renowned alongside the Nine Turns of the Mysterious Merit.

  At this time, the Three Pure Ones looked down on the Nine Turns of the Mysterious Merit, this fleshly divine ability. The witch tribe had not yet risen to prominence, and Zhunti did not know where he was. Zhuang Xiong was actually the first and only person who knew about the wonders of fleshly divine abilities and had successfully cultivated them.

  But Fuxi was shocked to see Hongyun's injuries, and thought: "Could it be that there is a powerful being blocking the way ahead? I don't know if that silly bear and my sister will encounter danger. However, with that silly bear's speed, they should be fine, right? Or could it be that I haven't caught up to them because they're avoiding danger?" Despite his concerns, he thought for a moment before heading towards Hongyun to gather information.

  Hongyun saw Fuxi walking over and couldn't help but secretly sigh. With such severe injuries, he couldn't even move. If they encountered bad people, what would happen? However, Hongyun was a well-connected person with friends all over the world. Seeing that Fuxi's feet were steady and his face was kind, with clear eyes, she secretly put her mind at ease. After a moment's thought, she already had an idea.

  Fuxi seemed to be worried about the red cloud, so he stopped a few feet away and bowed from afar, saying: "Please forgive me, fellow Taoist. I am Fuxi of Mount Zhou, but I don't know what happened in front of you that made it difficult for someone with great magical powers? As a result, your injuries are so severe? I have a younger sister who is also not far ahead, and my heart is worried, I hope you can tell me something about her."

  Hong Yun smiled and said, "What's the big deal? Of course, there's nothing that can't be said. As the master of the Red Cloud Cave, I'm delighted to make friends. Originally, when I met someone with extremely high cultivation in front, I was itching to go up and greet them, but unexpectedly, they didn't care and beat me into this state, truly ruthless. There was a woman by that person's side, but I don't know if she's your sister or not, what kind of attire is she wearing?"

  Fuxi heard this and hastily described the appearance of Zhuang Xiong's daughter, Nuwa. However, he didn't know that after just a few days, Zhuang Xiong's cultivation had greatly changed, and his true nature was revealed, no longer having that silly and foolish air about him.

  Hong Yun furrowed his brow and said, "This is strange. As you said, the woman was indeed your sister without a doubt, but I didn't see the Xiong Daoist friend you mentioned. I don't know what's going on."

  Fuxi was shocked, and for a moment he thought that maybe Zhuang Xiong had thrown down Nüwa and escaped using the Road of Escape. Then he thought again, Hong Yun Daoyou also said that person's speed was unusually fast, it's possible that Zhuang Xiong didn't escape either, but has already met with harm? For a moment his mind was racing, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of a result. His heart was anxious, and he hastily said: "Friend, please, I really can't put my mind at ease about my sister, so I'll go ahead and catch up to take a look. Thank you for telling me."

  "Wait, fellow Taoist!" Hong Yun hastily said. Seeing Fuxi stop, he continued: "I think that Taoist is quite good to your sister. To be honest, I was able to escape with my life thanks to your sister's repeated advice and obstruction. It can be said that I owe Elder a favor. I don't think your sister will be in danger for the time being. Moreover, that Taoist has high magical powers and is extremely fast, even if you rush over, with your current cultivation, what can you do?"

  Fuxi furrowed his brow and pondered for a moment before saying: "I've learned something. How did you teach me, fellow Taoist?"

  Hongyun smiled slightly and said, "I have friends all over the world. Now my best friend Zhenyuanzi is visiting Kunlun Mountain. The three Qings of Kunlun Mountain are at the peak of Daluo Jinxian's cultivation, and they also enjoy the residual aura of Pangu. They are among the few top-notch experts in the vast wilderness. Why don't you wait for me to recover from my injuries, and then we can go to Kunlun Mountain together? If we can get the help of the three Qings, it will increase our chances of rescuing your sister."