Chapter 88: Hou Yi Shoots Down the Immortal Cow with His Divine Arrows

  The vastness of the universe is boundless, with no end in sight. It's unknown how many billions and trillions of miles it spans. There are numerous great mountains, which stretch for tens of thousands to hundreds of millions of miles.

  In the north of the vast continent, there is a mountain called Yisu Mountain. Its top is rich in gold and jade, its bottom is full of vines and trees, and there are also streams and waterfalls that wind through the mountains and fields. Although no magical creatures or spirits can be seen, it is still a rare and beautiful place.

  Deep in the mountains of Yisu, there lived a family.

  Three small thatched cottages lay quietly at the foot of a mountain, in a small secluded valley, like ants. In front of the cottage, there was a small courtyard surrounded by bamboo fences, with sparse medicinal herbs and flowers planted, and a small stream flowing gently in front of the gate. Although the mountain residence is simple, many birds perch on the thatched roof to rest, or drink from the stream, occasionally making soft and pleasant low calls. The distant mountains send greenery, and the secluded residence is hidden deep in the mountains, truly a good place.

  "Ah!" The courtyard door was pushed open from the inside, and a man came out first. He had a strong and masculine face, with slightly sunken cheeks, but his handsome face still showed some signs of wind and frost. His clothes were all made of animal fur, and on his waist, a leather belt with a short sword inserted at an angle, what a dashing deep mountain hunter!

  "After the man left, he turned around and said: 'Wife, this time I go out hunting, if it's quick then three or two days, if slow then four or five days I'll be back. You're alone at home, you must be more careful about wild beasts. Around this thatched cottage, I've set up many traps, ordinary wild beasts can't disturb your peace.'"

  As soon as the sound fell, another woman came out of the wooden door. The surrounding crowd's dusty and mundane mountain scenery suddenly seemed dull and colorless. The woman's golden lotus steps carefully stepped out of the threshold, her right hand gently stroking her cloud-like green silk hair, her fingers like snowy scallions, her mouth like a hidden pearl, her waist like a slender willow, her eyebrows like distant mountains, a pair of clear and beautiful eyes deeply gazing at the man. The woman's left hand held up an iron-wooden hard bow, a quiver of iron-wooden arrows, carefully placing them on the man's back.

  "Hou Yi, big brother, don't worry and go. This Yisu Mountain is a good place, you and I have been hiding here for many years, but we've never seen any mountain spirits or wild monsters, maybe there are gods or immortals living in seclusion here. Go early and come back early, I'll be waiting at home." The woman carefully helped Hou Yi tidy up his fur clothes, her jade-like hands gently patting the dry food bag at Hou Yi's waist, afraid it wasn't tied securely.

  "This Yishan Mountain is indeed a bit strange, I vaguely feel that there is a very strong aura. This time entering the mountain to hunt is secondary, mainly to see if there are any hidden hermits. Chang'e, you are really my good wife, I will go and come back early." Hou Yi hugged Chang'e for a moment, then let go and turned around, taking several steps in a hurry, rushing into the forest and disappearing from view.

  Chang'e gazed at the place where Hou Yi had disappeared, motionless for a long time: "Hou Yi, my brother, you and I are separated by the vastness of the universe. How can Chang'e accompany you for all eternity? If only we could find the gods and obtain the elixir of immortality, then Chang'e would be able to live a longer life and stay with you for a while."

  Hou Yi entered the vast and dense mountains, vigilantly paying attention to the surroundings. He was originally a small shaman of the Wu tribe, with a kind heart. Once, while going out, he happened to see a Wu person teasing a human girl, intending to do something evil. Unable to bear it, he secretly hit the Wu person from behind and knocked him unconscious.

  It turned out that the woman's name was Chang'e, and she had lost her family. She was a member of a small tribe that had scattered to avoid the war between the three tribes. Not long ago, their village was raided by a group of witches, and she and her people fled in all directions. All her companions died, but she, with the face of an immortal fairy, received special care, and people left food for her, which allowed her to survive.

  Chang'e, although having experienced the hardships of wandering, had not lost her beauty. Hou Yi, with a kind heart, rescued her and did not treat her cruelly like other shamans. He was also exceptionally handsome, and the two fell in love at first sight. However, Hou Yi dared not bring her back to his tribe, as shamans were different and almost sworn enemies, so they could not be together. The two had no choice but to wander again, facing many dangers until they finally arrived at Yishan Mountain. They discovered that the mountain had a peaceful atmosphere with no evil spirits or demons, so they decided to settle down there. Chang'e was an ordinary person, and Hou Yi was just a minor shaman; usually, even small monsters could easily kill them. It was fortunate that Yishan Mountain did not have any powerful demons, making it suitable for the couple to live in seclusion.

  Hou Yi used a short knife to cut open the thorny thickets, walking slowly, when he suddenly stopped and found that there seemed to be movement behind an ancient pine tree on his right side. Without hesitation, Hou Yi took down the iron-wood bow from his back, nocked an arrow, drew the bow, and aimed. With a swift motion, the iron-wood feathered arrow shot out like lightning and disappeared behind the pine tree. Immediately afterwards, a low, mournful cry was heard, and the prey had been hit by the arrow.

  Hou Yi swiftly stepped around the large pine tree to search for prey, but stood still on the spot. He saw a small black wild ox shot through the spine by an arrow. Although Hou Yi was just an ordinary little shaman, he was also extraordinary in strength. The iron-wooden long arrow pierced through the spine of the small wild ox and nailed it firmly to a statue. The statue was a vivid human-shaped sculpture.

  Hou Yi saw the statue, vivid and lifelike, with a man's appearance. From a few steps away, it seemed like a living person, faintly revealing an unusual aura that made him want to turn around and run. This aura was extremely strange, exactly the same as the powerful aura he had been feeling vaguely every day, similar to the aura of the great shamans in the tribe, but far beyond. He suddenly understood why there were no monsters making trouble in Yisu Mountain, probably related to this statue and the mysterious aura. With doubts, he stopped and stared.

  Only the little wild ox was constantly bellowing, with fresh blood gushing out from the wound and gradually seeping into the statue until it disappeared. Suddenly, a strong light flashed on the sculpture, causing Hou Yi to throw his head back and fall down, feeling inexplicable pain, followed by a loud laughter.

  "Hahaha... If it doesn't break, it won't be established. Hahaha..."

  Hou Yi slowly regained his strength, opened his eyes which were sore from the pain, and in front of him there was no longer a statue, but a man who looked exactly like the statue, wearing a green robe, holding his long beard, and laughing towards the sky. At the man's feet, the small wild ox that had been shot with an arrow was curled up, lowing softly, seriously injured but not fatal.

  This man was none other than Zhou Cheng, who had disappeared for hundreds of years. In the Nine You Boundary, he defied heaven and changed his fate by forcibly using a secret method to ward off disaster with a Lingbao, saving Hou Tu in the process. However, he himself could not escape heavenly punishment. Originally, Hou Tu already had her Yuanshen, so even if she merged with the Six Paths, it would only be a physical death, and her Yuanshen would not be harmed. But if that were to happen, there would be many drawbacks. Firstly, Zhou Cheng would have to watch as Hou Tu suffered great hardship without being able to intervene, which would be too difficult for him; secondly, even if he left behind his Yuanshen, it was still unknown how he would escape the cycle of reincarnation in the future. Even if he escaped the disaster, with greatly reduced strength, he feared that he would become a mere shell of his former self.

  The heavenly punishment that Zhou Cheng received was the first of its kind since the beginning of time. The power of the heavenly punishment was so great that it made him feel death for the first time after his rebirth. He could have used the Pangu Tower to block it, but doing so would have exposed all his secrets. Moreover, Zhou Cheng had always had a challenging attitude towards the Heavenly Way, and he took this opportunity to take a peek at what mysteries lay within.

  But unexpectedly, the power of the heavenly punishment was too great. If it wasn't for the last moment when the heavenly punishment touched Zhou's life-saving treasure, the Thirty-Sixth Rank Chaotic Golden Lotus, which instinctively blocked it, he would have been severely injured and his strength would have been greatly reduced. However, he was still struck and fell into this Yisu Mountain, where he suffered severe injuries under the remaining power of the heavenly punishment, and unexpectedly became a statue standing there for hundreds of years, becoming the appearance that Hou Yi saw later on.

  Zhou Cheng was struck by the first heavenly punishment, but after being injured, he caught a glimpse of the Tao's mechanism and discovered what could be called the greatest secret in the world: The realm of the saint is not the ultimate goal of the Tao, it can be transcended without merging with the Tao. The realm of the Heavenly Way can also be reached, and the most crucial thing is the Great Tao Law. After the creation of the Heavenly Way, whoever can make a breakthrough above the Great Tao Law can achieve the realm of the Heavenly Way, which is beyond that of the saint. Although he only understood one line of the Tao's mechanism, it was as if a bright lamp had lit up in front of him, and Zhou Cheng's Tao finally had a direction to move forward.

  Although Zhou Cheng was also a mixed-yuan saint and existed even before Hong Jun was born, what made him extremely depressed was that although his power to prove the Tao was very strong, he could not withstand the sheer number of people. At least the power of heavenly punishment was not something he could stop with his bare hands. It wasn't until now that he finally understood why Hong Jun had given him the creation jade token in the first place. Rather than saying it was a treasure, it would be better to say that he had given him hope - a distant, uncertain hope that could drive him to keep striving, even if it took countless eons of effort.

  "Who are you? Can even statues come to life?" Hou Yi also knew that the man was transformed from the statue, and he took a step back and shouted.

  This shout actually caught Zhou Cheng's attention, he had just escaped from the Heavenly Punishment and was busy disturbing the heavenly machine, but only now did he notice that there was still a small witch by his side.

  Zhou Cheng looked up at him, and his heart skipped a beat. He couldn't help but feel disappointed, and he said something that made Hou Yi extremely embarrassed:

  "Are you Hou Yi, the god of archery? How can't you even kill a cow, and yet you want to shoot... Hey, are you thinking of shooting me?"

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  In the morning, before class, I was desperately trying to finish writing a chapter. As a result, several friends rushed to look at the beautiful women on the school's internal network and accidentally knocked over the power source... The nearly completed manuscript of Chapter 1 turned into ashes...

  There is still one more chapter today, just a little later...

  ;