Seeing Qiānniǎo's anger, Dānqīng Lǎozǔ comforted her, "Little girl, this Ancestral Patriarch isn't forbidding you from going out. It's just that you're still young, your childishness hasn't faded, and your mind isn't mature yet. Your main task right now is cultivation. Once you cultivate to the Golden Immortal realm and your mind matures a bit more, this Ancestral Patriarch will permit you to go out for experience, alright?"
"Cultivation, cultivation, it's cultivation all day long! I'm almost bored to death!"
Qiānniǎo pouted, her face full of displeasure.
"Ai, little girl, you truly don't know how fortunate you are. Back in the Ancient Era, when this Ancestral Patriarch was your age, I still..."
Hearing the words "back in the day," Qiānniǎo couldn't help but mutter, "Really, here we go again... Ancestral Patriarch, can you please stop bringing up your old stories? Yes! In the Ancient Era, Spiritual Energy was scarce, cultivation was difficult, and people would fight until their heads bled over an ordinary Spirit Stone. Our generation has caught a good era. Our aptitudes are a thousand times better than yours, the Spiritual Energy we absorb is ten thousand times purer, yet we don't know how to cherish it. Please, Ancestral Patriarch, after all these years, aren't you tired of saying it? We're almost sick of hearing it."
Dānqīng Lǎozǔ feigned anger, "You little girl, how dare you rebel! You've actually learned to talk back to your Ancestral Patriarch!"
"I'm just stating the facts, okay? Besides, Ancestral Patriarch, you always say we've caught a good era and don't know our fortune, but this so-called 'good era' might seem good to you, but to us, it's not necessarily so. I don't know what others think, but Qiānniǎo doesn't feel this is a so-called good era at all."
Qiānniǎo spoke very seriously and solemnly, "Back in your time, conditions were harsh, aptitudes were poor, and Spiritual Energy was scarce, but at least you clearly knew what you were cultivating for. But now? What's the use of having superior aptitude, purer Spiritual Energy, and better conditions? You've always taught us to cultivate, but even now, Qiānniǎo still doesn't understand what the purpose of cultivation is."
Qiānniǎo's words caused Dānqīng Lǎozǔ to freeze for a moment.
He couldn't help but start thinking: what exactly is the purpose of cultivation?
At this moment, Qiānniǎo continued, "Ancestral Patriarch, your dream back then was to become Immortals admired by everyone. But now, we descendants have already cultivated into Immortals. What should our dream be? To live better? But Qiānniǎo feels we're already living very well—no worries about food or drink, no calamities, no dangers. You could say we're carefree."
"But Qiānniǎo isn't happy. And whenever I think that from now on, for countless years, it might just be this day after day, year after year of cultivation, Qiānniǎo finds it terrifying. What is the purpose of this endless, boundless cultivation? If one lives a whole lifetime like this, wouldn't life be too boring? If that's really the case, what's the meaning of living?"
"Little girl, you... you..." Dānqīng Lǎozǔ frowned, looking at Qiānniǎo with some disbelief. It was hard to believe these words came from a little girl only twelve years old. This made him both shocked and astonished, but more than anything, worried. Because having such thoughts wasn't necessarily a good thing, especially for a little girl who had never experienced the world—it could even be said to be very dangerous.
Dānqīng Lǎozǔ didn't scold or lecture her. Instead, he asked with concern, "Girl, tell this Ancestral Patriarch, how do you think one should live to make life not boring, to make it more meaningful?"
"Hmm..." Qiānniǎo tilted her little head and thought very seriously for a while, then raised her head and said, "Qiānniǎo thinks we women should all live like Empress Saintess to have a meaningful life. Empress Saintess has lived two lifetimes. In her previous life, she cultivated diligently in the Langya Blessed Land from a young age. When she entered the Great Desolate, she shook heaven and earth with a single song of the Langya Sword, treading Immortal Mountains, ascending Immortal Peaks, roaming Immortal Rivers, ascending the Nine Heavens, questioning the Immortal Dao, and finally became the Nine Heavens Celestial Maiden."
"In this life's reincarnation, she traveled throughout this endless Great Desolate, delivering all living beings, traversed these myriad heavens and worlds, enlightening all creation, and finally became the Empress Saintess of the Present Era."
When speaking of Empress Saintess Sū Huá of the Present Era, Qiānniǎo's little face was filled with infinite admiration and boundless envy. She said, "But what Qiānniǎo admires most is Empress Saintess's devoted love—love without complaint or regret. In her previous life, when she first met You Di, she already felt admiration. However, You Di's existence was intolerable to heaven and earth. In the end, she could only watch helplessly as the man she loved was judged to death by the Great Daos of heaven and earth."
"After reincarnating, Empress Saintess came to You Di's hometown, visited the places where You Di wandered in his youth, the places where You Di cultivated in his youth, and even the places where You Di once opposed the Three Thousand Great Daos and contended with heaven and earth. Empress Saintess followed the footprints You Di left between heaven and earth, retracing every place You Di had been in his five hundred years."
"Although she finally waited for You Di, it was already too late. Legend has it that You Di was the incarnation of Original Sin. The Three Thousand Great Daos couldn't tolerate him, heaven and earth couldn't tolerate him, even Karmic Fate couldn't tolerate him. The only one who could tolerate You Di was Empress Saintess."
"Even so, Empress Saintess still loved devoted heart, without complaint or regret. Even knowing You Di would die, Empress Saintess was still willing to endure endless waiting and endless pain, just to exchange for that belated and fleeting romance with You Di."
"Empress Saintess waited for You Di for over ten thousand years. She never gave up, just kept waiting, wandering yet persistently waiting. Even though all living beings, even though the Great Daos of heaven and earth knew You Di had vanished forever, Empress Saintess still waited..."
"Qiānniǎo feels that only by being a woman like Empress Saintess can life be truly meaningful, can one say they haven't lived in vain. Ancestral Patriarch, don't you think so?"
Qiānniǎo said a lot, and Dānqīng Lǎozǔ listened while shaking his head.
The story between the Saintess and You Di had long spread throughout the entire Great Desolate. It could be said to be known to everyone and widely circulated. Many young men and women were utterly fascinated and yearned for it, all hoping they too could encounter a world-shaking, bone-deep Immortal Fate like Empress Saintess. As a result, for the past ten thousand years of the Present Era, what young people talked about most wasn't cultivation, but Immortal Fate. And the situation was getting worse. Now, all the young people in the Great Desolate, regardless of gender, seemed to be searching for their own Immortal Fate Dao Companions.
In Dānqīng Lǎozǔ's view, the reason the youngsters nowadays had no mind for cultivation and were full of thoughts about Immortal Fate was entirely due to the influence of this ill-fated relationship between the Saintess and You Di. Several generations of descendants in the Xiaoluo Secret Realm had been deeply poisoned by this ill-fated relationship, infatuated over so-called Immortal Fate. Among them, several had been outside for thousands of years and still hadn't returned. One even eloped with someone.
Even Qiānlíng, who in this Ancestral Patriarch's view had the best mental state among this generation of descendants in the Xiaoluo Secret Realm, hadn't been spared. After hearing the story of the Saintess and You Di, she couldn't restrain herself at fifteen and started going out for experience.
If Qiānlíng was like this, now Qiānniǎo was no exception. At only twelve, she was already yearning for so-called Immortal Fate, constantly clamoring to go out for experience.