Longevity, starting from being a chicken raising servant Chapter 2493: 234: Transformation

Chapter 234: Transformation

Hidden within the murky depths of the water, Wang Ba drifted peacefully, allowing the gentle currents to wash over his transformed body. With fish-like eyes, he scanned the surrounding silt and darting aquatic life, his mind absently marking the passage of time.

He remained uncertain about the duration of the assembly. Yet, recalling the declarations of Taiyuan, the Lord of Realm Sea, he reasoned that such a banquet could not possibly last indefinitely. Once the celebration concluded, both host and guests would surely take their leave.

“I wonder if my master’s wife will manage to mention me to Taiyuan,” he mused. “However, her position here seems modest at best; she likely lacks the standing to speak with such an exalted figure. If he simply departs, must I remain trapped here for seven or eight centuries?”

Wang Ba contemplated his dilemma in silence. He knew nothing of Taiyuan’s temperament, and a rash appearance risked offending this mysterious Lord, which would undoubtedly spell his doom. Thus, he resolved to wait, mimicking the aimless movements of the local fauna, and drifted back toward the spot where he had first been released into the water.

Refusing to surface or draw near to the water's edge, he feigned the mindless nature of a common fish. After an indefinite period of waiting, he finally caught the muffled, urgent sound of voices from above.

Recognizing the tone of Li Yuehua, Wang Ba felt a jolt of anticipation. He swam upward, breaking the surface to find her scanning the area with visible anxiety. Upon spotting him, a look of relief washed over her face as she ducked her head to whisper, “The master left on an errand, and the window to speak with him has vanished. Remain in hiding and take extreme care not to be noticed.”

Before she could continue, the voice of Official Cui rang out in the distance: “Yuehua, who are you addressing? Be quick and attend to your duties!”

With a hurried acknowledgement, she murmured, “I must go. I shall return to check on you later—stay safe.” She then vanished from sight.

A mixture of relief and disappointment settled over Wang Ba. Even without encountering the Lord of Realm Sea, the sheer weight of his presence had been suffocating. Now that the Third Realm Sea was likely being vacated, his only reliable path out seemed to have closed. He would have to wait for the Master of Quiet Cave to appear, a position of frustrating passivity.

Setting aside his worries, he followed her instructions and submerged once more, nudging toward the outer reaches of the water. Staying too close to the pavilion risked exposure to the maidservants, yet he dared not drift too far either—his ability to exist in this water depended entirely on the elixir provided by Li Yuehua. Once its effects faded, his trials would return, and he needed to remain within range to hear her should she return.

After finding a secluded spot, he slowly floated to the surface, tilting his eyes toward the dark blue sky where stars flickered in the distance. His heart suddenly thumped—he remembered Taiyuan’s words from the banquet: “The rules of the Realm Sea lie within the Sky Dome.”

He pondered the claim, perplexed. “The laws governing this Third Realm Sea should be elementary for an immortal, yet Taiyuan acted as if they were of paramount importance.”

Despite his confusion, he focused his gaze on the heavens once more, recalling the snippet he had overhead: “The east is the aspect of Qingmu…”

At first, the observation seemed trivial. But as he compared it to the insights he had cultivated regarding the rules of the world, those words functioned like a master key, parting the veil of the mundane. The complex, hidden laws of the Third Realm Sea began to manifest before his very eyes.

The starlight pulsed and the cosmos shimmered. Taiyuan’s words echoed within him, acting as a bridge to the profound mysteries of the domain. Much like when Xin Yuan had allowed him to merge with the heavens and earth in the Little Cang World, he now observed the evolution of the Yin and Yang and the Five Elements. The laws here were far more intricate, manifesting the cycle of the one birthing the two, the two birthing the three, and the three birthing all things.

Lost in a trance, he stared at the Sky Dome, his consciousness fully absorbed by the vastness of the Origin Realm Sea. He remained oblivious to the fact that his True Spirit was undergoing a fundamental metamorphosis. Within the void of his mind, his comprehension of the rules deepened.

Freed from the distractions of a physical form, Primordial Spirit, or Dao Domain, he perceived the rules in their raw, transparent clarity. They were like endless grains of rice scattered across the earth, waiting for him to gather them. When finally the trance broke, he was left with a sudden, overwhelming sense of hunger and profound emptiness.