"If your so-called 'real skill' is just the same old tricks as before, I suggest you save your breath."
The Mysterious Woman's voice rang out, leaving Da Xing the Mad Monk utterly astonished. He asked incredulously, "What? Old tricks? You speak as if you know all about this old monk. You probably have no idea how vast my abilities truly are, do you?"
"If I recall correctly, your little old tricks are nothing more than the Myriad Buddhas Pay Homage."
Hearing the words "Myriad Buddhas Pay Homage," Da Xing was struck as if by lightning. Before he could even react, when the Mysterious Woman's voice sounded again, Da Xing simply couldn't believe his ears.
"Besides that, there's another trick, something called the Eight Classes of Heavenly Dragons, isn't that right?"
"You... you!" If the Mysterious Woman mentioning the Myriad Buddhas Pay Homage left Da Xing in disbelief, then when she spoke of the Eight Classes of Heavenly Dragons, Da Xing was completely dumbfounded. He stood there gaping, even his speech growing halting.
He had never imagined that the Mysterious Woman truly knew him inside out. Not only did she know he had comprehended the Myriad Buddhas Pay Homage, she even knew about the Eight Classes of Heavenly Dragons.
Although Da Xing the Mad Monk enjoyed stirring up trouble and loved a good fight, relying on his Unshakable Golden Body, the Great Compassion and Mercy Fan in his hand, and various great Buddha supernatural powers, he generally had no real opponents. Even when encountering some powerful beings, he could handle them with ease.
Over the years, in his many battles, he rarely even resorted to his Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata. As for the Myriad Buddhas Pay Homage, since the Primeval Era, the number of times he had used it could be counted on one hand.
And regarding the Eight Classes of Heavenly Dragons, this particular Creation, Da Xing himself could not fully control it. Therefore, ever since comprehending it, he had never displayed it before outsiders. Forget about others; even his senior brother, White Brow Sage Monk, probably didn't know he had comprehended the Eight Classes of Heavenly Dragons.
He simply couldn't fathom why the Mysterious Woman knew him so well. Knowing he had comprehended the Myriad Buddhas Pay Homage was one thing, but to know so clearly that he had also comprehended the Eight Classes of Heavenly Dragons...
"You!" Da Xing felt his scalp tingling, a chill creeping down his spine. His inner fear grew as he asked, "Who the hell... are you!"
"Hehe, I said, if you're willing to call me 'Grandaunt' three times, I'll tell you who I am!"
"You... I..." Originally, Da Xing had wanted to unleash his real skills to probe the Mysterious Woman's identity and origins. But now that his trump cards had been seen through, using them again would likely be pointless. Moreover, judging from her tone, she seemed to hold Da Xing's Myriad Buddhas Pay Homage and Eight Classes of Heavenly Dragons in complete disdain, which only heightened the shock and dread in his heart.
After much deliberation, Da Xing gritted his teeth and stomped his foot. He figured since there was no one else here, losing a bit of face was just losing a bit of face.
Right then.
Da Xing steeled himself and shouted, "Grandaunt! Grandaunt! Grandaunt!"
After shouting "Grandaunt" three times in succession, Da Xing hurriedly asked, "This old monk has finished shouting, Grandaunt! Shouldn't your esteemed self show yourself now?"
"I told you to shout and you just shouted? Little monk Da Xing, I never thought after all these years, you'd still be so gullible. How have you not learned a thing?"
"What! You... you're messing with me?"
"That's exactly what I'm doing! Hehehehehe..." Da Xing was so angry he turned crimson, hopping with rage. Suddenly, he felt this scene was familiar, as if he had experienced it before.
Thinking carefully, Da Xing remembered he had been tricked like this once before. That time, too, he had been forced into a corner and shouted "Grandaunt" three times in surrender. And the one who had tricked him that time was also a woman!
At this realization, Da Xing finally understood the Mysterious Woman's identity. He trembled with a mix of excitement and fury, grinding his teeth as he roared, "You! You... are that old witch Cang Yan! Cang Yan of Langya Grotto-Heaven!"
"Hehe... Finally recognized your Grandaunt, huh... How rare."
A flash of light swept through the chaotic vortex.
As the light dissipated, a pavilion appeared.
That's right.
A pavilion.
The base of the pavilion looked like a black-and-white flower in bloom, blossoming like Yin and Yang intertwining, appearing profoundly mystical.
The four tall pillars of the pavilion were carved with four images: one resembling an Azure Dragon, one a White Tiger, one a Black Tortoise, and one a Vermilion Bird. The carvings were vivid, as if imprinted with life itself.
The top of the pavilion resembled the vault of heaven, containing within it both sun and moon, as well as countless stars.
This pavilion had appeared out of thin air, standing there, emanating a faint glow as the surrounding spatial chaotic currents parted ways.
Inside the pavilion were two women.
One woman stood to the side.
She wore dark red robes, her features coldly beautiful, giving off an elegant and noble air. Her eyes held a faint, amused smile as they stared at Da Xing the Mad Monk, looking as if she wanted to laugh but didn't dare.
The other woman sat on a stone stool within the pavilion.
She wore a magnificent black gown, her long hair coiled high, her appearance utterly stunning, dignified and grand.
This was a woman of peerless beauty.
Her beauty was breathtakingly radiant, enchanting and moving, charming in myriad ways, and Fenghua peerless.
Her aura was matchless, both sacred and luminous like the great sun, and darkly serene like the Gloom Moon of the night sky.
Her existence was mysterious and elusive, like a deity of the Nine Heavens or a demon of the Nine Netherworlds—illusory and real, true and false, impossible to see through, giving a feeling of utter unreality.
Every subtle expression and smile, though seemingly casual, resembled an empress descending from the heavens above, supremely noble, inspiring awe and reverence.
She sat on the stone stool, leaning against a pillar, appearing somewhat languid. She held a white jade cup containing half a measure of wine, a playful smile hanging at the corner of her lips.
Da Xing the Mad Monk recognized these two women.
The woman standing to the side was Nalan Qianqiu, both a disciple of Langya Grotto-Heaven and an Empress of the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao.
And the woman sitting in the pavilion was the master of Langya Grotto-Heaven, Cang Yan.
Langya was one of the Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens.
It was also an extremely mysterious and low-key existence among the Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens.
The name Cang Yan was itself a legend from the Primeval Era.
During the great war between Immortals and Demons in the Primeval Era, wielding a Great Dao Heavy Treasure—the Zhutian Qin—she played a single tune, 'Shaking the Eight Wastes,' that shook the Nine Heavens and made the Nine Netherworlds tremble, moved the cosmos, startled heaven and earth, threw the void into chaos, and caused both Immortals and Demons to halt their fighting.
At the same time, she was also a Great Dao Empress.
She was both an Empress of the Immortal Dao and an Empress of the Demonic Dao, the one and only Peerless Empress of Immortals and Demons in all the world.