Mythic Cultivation: My Tongtian can’t be this Cute

Life seemingly returned to normal after the Ten Sun Incident, but both the Titan Tribe and Demon Clan knew it was only the calm before the storm. Before old grievances could be settled, new ones were made. Such was the nature of war.

However, that was a worry for the future. When Houyi returned to the Houtu Tribe, the whole tribe celebrated Houyi's advancement.

"A toast for Houyi!" Chiyou said, raising a cup of wine. The wine was made from naturally fermented fruits that the giants had discovered. There weren't many of them, so it was only brought out on special occasions.

Houyi drank cup after cup. He probably drank nearly half of all the wine saved up by the Houtu Tribe, but none of the giants cared. To them, the gigant instantly became the most respected warrior after Houtu.

When the celebration was over, Chiyou pulled Houyi aside. "My brother, how did you break into the Quasi-Saint Realm?"

Although Chiyou was happy for Houyi, he was also envious. He had reached the Golden Immortal of the Great Firmament level first, but he had been stuck at the final step. Houyi, who had reached it later than him, actually broke through first.

"I don't know," Houyi said. "Without realizing it, I had suddenly broken through. Perhaps it was because I was facing a crisis of life or death. If I didn't break through, I would have died."

Chiyou nodded. He wanted to engage in battle and replicate Houyi's feat, but there were too few opponents for him. And the Titan Tribe would never allow two giants to engage in a fatal battle just for the chance of one of them becoming a gigant.

When Chiyou left, Houyi sighed. There was something he hadn't told Chiyou or even Houtu. The truth was that he couldn't recall what happened when Taiyi attacked him and when he broke through to the Quasi-Saint Realm. It was as if he had suddenly fallen asleep and discovered that he had accomplished several incredible feats while sleepwalking.

Even if he told the truth, Houyi doubted that anyone would believe it. Besides, a voice in the back of his mind told him not to, and Houyi trusted his instincts.

After the banquet, Houyi returned to his regular routine. Well, that wasn't exactly true. He still hunted and cultivated normally, but instead of focusing on his physical prowess, he trained his mind.

After shooting down nine golden crows and injuring Taiyi, he had received an epiphany. Where my heart goes, the arrow follows. It was an incredible technique that strengthened the power of his arrows through concentration, but it required a strong daoheart. Overuse would result in mental fatigue and even deep sleep, if not a soul injury.

He hadn't yet given a name for it. Before shooting the golden crows, the technique was still in its conceptual stages, untested. "Let's call it mindforce."

Houyi paused, wondering why the name seemed so familiar. He shook his head, ridding it of the déjà vu he felt.

The next day, Houyi took his bow and left the Houtu Tribe to hunt. With his increased strength, he easily took down a beast the size of a mountain and carried it back to the tribe. On the way back, he paused in his steps when he noticed an unconscious woman.

She was tiny, a fraction of his height. A human.

The woman's eyelashes flickered as she opened her eyes. She slowly sat up and blinked her eyes to get rid of her hazy sight. Then she noticed Houyi.

She screamed.

Houyi gently laid his hunted game down and tried to reassure the woman, but his massive height had obviously scared her. Left with no other choice, he shrank until he was only a head taller than her.

The woman, who had hidden behind a giant rock, peeked out to stare at the miniaturized gigant. When she saw Houyi looking straight at her, she quickly hid behind the rock again but discovered that he had somehow appeared in front of her. Her face flushed upon seeing Houyi's handsome face, and she quickly looked down.

Houyi also froze as he saw the woman's beauty. Unlike the coarse skin of the humans he knew of, the woman had tender, white skin like a newborn's. She wore white robes instead of clothing made of fur or leaves, which only accentuated her features.

"What's your name?" Houyi asked before he could stop himself.

The woman stayed silent, and just as Houyi thought she couldn't or wouldn't speak, she suddenly said, "Chang'e, my name is Chang'e."

Houyi brought Chang'e back to the tribe with him. Because she couldn't live in his normal home, Houyi built a smaller, human-sized one. While in the tribe, he mainly used a human form since Chang'e was scared by his giant size.

A century passed in a flash. Compared to Houyi's eons of life, these hundred years couldn't even make up a tenth of a percent of his life, but he treasured the memories of these hundred years the most.

During the past century, Houyi had moved from the core of the Houtu Tribe to the periphery where most of the human and demigiant tribespeople lived. He once questioned why his fellow giants would stoop so low to live with humans, but he finally understood after meeting Chang'e.

While living with her, Houyi recalled the time when Di Jun married Xihe and the grand celebration they held. He would know; he crashed the wedding with the Titan Tribe after all. Houyi wanted to marry Chang'e, so he sought out Houtu. Since Nuwa presided over Di Jun's and Xihe's marriage, then Houtu would preside over theirs.

Recalling the merits that descended when Nuwa established the heavenly marriage, Houtu agreed. When she prepared the ceremony and started the establishment of the earthly marriage, she received a warning from the Way of Heaven, causing her to halt. Even if she forcibly gone through with it, they wouldn’t receive any Karmic Merit but Karmic Sin instead.

Houtu hadn’t only wanted to preside over Houyi and Chang'e's marriage for their happiness but also to increase the overall luck of the Titan Tribe. She hadn't forgotten how much merit descended when Di Jun and Xihe married. Forcing it would only worsen their Karmic Luck.

The Titan of Earth summoned her siblings to determine how she should proceed. After several rounds of debate,they decided to send a messenger asking Nuwa for an audience. If she accepted, then Houtu would go to Wa Outer Heaven to discuss the terms for her establishing the earthly marriage. But to prevent Nuwa from taking advantage of this meeting, the other titans would wait outside Wa Outer Heaven, ready to form the Pangu Genesis Formation at any time.

Houtu didn't think it was likely that Nuwa would accept to meet with her, but she still sent a messenger. To her surprise, Nuwa actually agreed.

The twelve titans made their way to the chaotic boundary. When they reached Wa Outer Heaven, Houtu entered while the rest waited outside as they planned. Upon entering, a child-like artifact spirit greeted the Titan of Earth.

"Welcome, Lady Houtu," the child said. "I am Spirit Pearl, and Mother Nuwa is waiting inside Wa Palace."

"I've troubled you," Houtu said as she followed Spirit Pearl, showing none of a titan's usual ferocity. After all, she was a guest in Nuwa’s home base and she came with a request, not to pick fights.

"Welcome," Nuwa said. She did not rise to greet Houtu, merely waving her toward the seat a level lower than her, showing her feelings on the status between the two.

Even without Nuwa purposely revealing her strength and even hiding it, Houtu's intuition told her that Nuwa could kill her with a finger. So, she didn't object and obediently sat down. "I've come to Daoist Nuwa because of a request."

"Oh? And what is that request?" Nuwa asked without hurry.

Houtu took a breath and explained. "I heard that Daoist Nuwa holds a treasure known as the Red Hydrangea. With it, you can establish three marriages: heavenly, earthly, and mortal. I've come here for the earthly marriage. Houyi and Chang'e qualify for the earthly marriage."

Nuwa nodded. "Those two do indeed qualify."

Upon hearing this, a smile blossomed on Houtu's face. Her previous words had only been a guess, and Nuwa confirmed her suspicions. But Nuwa's next sentence made that smile disappear. "But why should I?"

"Daoist Nuwa is joking," Houtu said. "The earthly marriage is predetermined by the Way of Heaven. How can you joke about such matters?"

"I never thought I would hear a titan speak about the Way of Heaven. Don't you fellows only respect Pangu?" Nuwa asked, ignoring Houtu's increasingly ugly expression. "Leave. I am a demon. Do you think I would preside over Houyi's marriage after he killed nine demon princes? More importantly, why should I help the culprits that chased my brother and me away from our home and killed his Corpse?"

"Daoist Nuwa, no, Mother Nuwa. Everything can be negotiated. I believe we can work out a deal as long as the price is right," Houtu began. As a titan, she didn't like to beat around the bush. She knew nothing she said could erase what already happened, so she directly asked what price the titans had to pay.

Nuwa closed her eyes for a brief moment as if to consider Houtu's words. After opening them, she said, "Tell me the inner workings of the Pangu Genesis Formation, and I'll agree."

"Impossible," Houtu rejected without a second thought. The titans agreed to tell the Three Purities in order to improve the Titanomachy Flags and because the two groups had no reason to fight, at least for now. The demons, on the other hand, were a different story.

"Change the condition. What about materials? The Titan Tribe has collected a vast amount of them during our rule over the lands," Houtu counter offered.

The two haggled over the price for years before finally settling on the Titan Tribe giving Nuwa five percent of all the materials they collected over the years as payment. They also grabbed numerous artifacts, but they didn't want to give them to the Demon Clan even if they couldn't use them. It would be better to waste the Demon Clan’s time and have them refine spiritual artifacts themselves.

It took over a thousand years before the Titan Tribe delivered the agreed upon materials to Nuwa. They could have sent it to Thirty-Three Heavens and avoided the hassle, but the one they made a deal with was Nuwa and not Heavenly Court. Why would they deliver materials to their sworn enemies?

Let Nuwa deliver if she wanted to give it to the Demon Clan.

With the payment received, Nuwa flew to the Houtu Tribe. All twelve titans also arrived to watch the ceremony. Rather than watching the ceremony, they were there to monitor Nuwa in case she tried anything.

Nuwa looked at Houyi without emotion. Strictly speaking, she didn't really hate Houyi. It was Di Jun's sons who died and not hers, after all. When she glanced at Chang'e, an indiscernible look flashed across her eye for the briefest of moments.

"The Way of Heaven above, after the heavenly marriage is the earthly marriage. With Houyi representing yang and Chang'e representing yin, I hereby establish the earthly marriage!"

As with Di Jun and Xihe's marriage, clouds of merit descended onto the Houtu Tribe. Nuwa's Red Hydrangea absorbed twenty percent of the merits, while Houyi and Chang'e split the rest of the merits between themselves.

Houyi absorbed the merit and increased his strength, but his brows couldn't help but furrow in worry when Chang'e still remained an ordinary mortal despite absorbing forty percent of the merit.

He glanced at Nuwa, wondering if she had interfered, but Nuwa directly stored the Red Hydrangea and left, disdaining to explain. Houyi turned towards Houtu, seeking help, but she also shook her head. All twelve titans and giants present saw Chang'e absorb the merit. They couldn't very well accuse Nuwa of playing tricks with the evidence present.

Because of this, Houyi began to worry. He knew that humans had short lifespans. Unless they cultivated to become a Golden Immortal, they would die of old age. Unfortunately, Chang'e had no talent regarding cultivation, whether it be Laozi's Grand Purity Scripture Later Heaven Method or Wutian's martial arts.

Houyi wracked his brains trying to find a method to turn Chang'e immortal. His search eventually led him to Kunlun Mountain. He had heard of how Laozi was the most skilled alchemist in the Great Desolation, so he came seeking an elixir of immortality.

Laozi rejected him, but Houyi would not give up. He kneeled outside Kunlun Mountain for a hundred years but Laozi still refused. At this time, a woman appeared in front of Houyi. “Why have you been kneeling here for so long?”

Houyi looked at the woman. She was extremely beautiful and exuded a feminine beauty only rivaled by Chang’e. “You are?”

“I am Xi Wangmu,” Xi Wangmu said and pointed at the mountain west of Kunlun Mountain. “I usually reside on West Kunlun. When I have nothing to do, I take a stroll.”

Houyi nodded and explained his purpose.

Upon hearing this, Xi Wangmu sank into thought. “I have an elixir of immortality. It can make any human who drinks it unaging, but it will not increase their cultivation. If you don’t disdain it, I can offer it to you.”

Houyi profusely thanked Xi Wangmu and quickly returned to the Houtu Tribe after accepting. He had not seen Chang'e for over a hundred years, but it was a small price to pay for the eternity they would spend together. He gave Chang'e the elixir, but the moment she drank it, an invisible force pulled her into the sky.

Houyi chased after her, but Chang'e was pulled onto the Supreme Yin Star and locked within Coldlight Palace. When he stepped onto the Supreme Yin Star, the Quasi-Saint Changxi greeted him.

"Give her back!" Houyi screamed as he notched his arrow, preparing to kill Changxi.

Changxi raised her hand, motioning Houyi to stop. "Don't worry, Chang'e isn't in any danger, but I cannot guarantee her life if you kill me. The moment you kill me, she will lose her life."

Houyi hesitated. He wanted to dismiss her words, but she seemed extremely confident. Plus, as the owner of the Supreme Yin Star, killing a powerless mortal like Chang’e was as simple as waving her hand.

"Did you think that you could live happily after killing my sister's sons?" Changxi asked.

"Don't speak in riddles, return Chang'e to me. Or don't blame me for beating a woman!" Houyi said.

"It's not impossible to release her from my Coldlight Palace," Changxi pointed to the Lunar Laurel Tree. "As long as you cut that tree down without harming the source of the Supreme Yin Star, I'll release Chang'e."

"So easy?" Houyi said. He walked up to the laurel tree and grabbed the ax attached to his waist. He started to hack away at the trunk, but he discovered that as soon as his ax head left, the cut quickly healed.

"It's not so easy. The Lunar Laurel Tree is connected to the source of the Supreme Yin Star. Whatever damage the tree receives, it will be immediately healed," Changxi said.

"You tricked me!" Houyi roared as he raised his ax against her.

"Do you not care about Chang'e anymore?" Houyi stopped his ax. Changxi continued. "I did not trick you. As long as you can cut it down, I'll fulfill my promise. If you do not chop it down, I guess I can only send Chang'e to her death."

Houyi growled but returned to hacking away at the Lunar Laurel Tree. He used all the strength of his Quasi-Saint Realm body, but he could only leave a shallow mark on the trunk that quickly healed. He continued to chop it down, each strike containing his full power until he felt that he had no power in his body, but the results were the same.

Days passed, followed by a month, years, ten years, a hundred years, and thousands of years passed. Houyi continued to chop at the laurel tree with a single-minded obsession. His eyes grew dull as if he had lost all reason, becoming a machine that could only swing the ax.

Houyi no longer existed. Only a woodcutter existed in his place.

Changxi watched from afar as the woodcutter continued to chop the Lunar Laurel Tree with a sigh. A figure appeared beside her, and Changxi greeted her. "Sister."

Xihe stared at the mindless Houyi with hatred. She sneered. "This punishment is too cheap for him."

"When the ten eons are up, you should stay on the Supreme Yin Star. Do not join the war." With those words said, Xihe turned and left.

Changxi sighed. She almost couldn't recognize her sister anymore. A moment later, another woman walked next to Changxi. Surprisingly, it was Chang'e!

Chang'e's face was a mirror copy of Changxi. A moment later, Chang'e merged with Changxi. She turned to leave, never noticing that beneath Houyi's feeble ax strikes, his strength gradually rose.