Chapter 2034: Growing Up And Regressing
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
An Lin felt like his experiences were already quite extraordinary, but Little Hong Ling’s experiences made his appear normal. She attained her divine dao by hurling abuse at the heavens? How was that even possible!
“So what is the divine dao you attained on that day?” An Lin repressed the urge to go insane and asked.
“My divine dao…” A reluctant expression appeared on her face. “You might not believe me when I say this, but my divine dao is growing up…”
An Lin was perplexed. “Growing up?”
Just as his voice faded, a brilliant light suddenly erupted from Hong Ling’s body.
Under the dazzling light, her body began to elongate while her black hair fell like a waterfall. Her short delicate arms extended to become long, slender arms, and her short little legs became long legs as flawless as white jade…
An Lin’s mouth gaped open as he stared at the little girl in front of him, who had transformed into a gorgeous young woman around eighteen years of age in the blink of an eye. She wore a tight-fitting pink dress that accentuated her glorious curves, and her slender waist was like a wicker branch in early spring. Her graceful figure simultaneously gave off a sense of grace and youthful energy.
Little Hong Ling looked at An Lin with her brows in a gentle arch, and her long eyelashes quivering slightly. Her vibrant, red lips were as supple as ripe cherries, and there was a shy blush on her beautiful features as she said in a voice as present as a lark’s cry, “Do you see now, Sect Leader… Th-this is the power of my divine dao; it can make me grow up…”
An Lin wore an astonished expression as he murmured to himself, “I detected your aura and couldn’t identify any change. Do you have some sort of special ability now?”
“No, all I’ve done is grown up.” Big Hong Ling blinked.
An Lin’s expression darkened. “Couldn’t you have just transformed your body if you wanted to grow up? I can also use spell techniques to make myself grow older or become younger…”
“That’s not the same thing. When I grow up into this form, my essential state grows up as well. This is the true me and not a body I attained through the use of spell techniques.” A sweet, refreshing smile appeared on Hong Ling’s face as she asked, “Do I look good?”
An Lin nodded with a speechless expression. “You do, but don’t you think… that the power of your divine dao seems to be fake?”
“I don’t think it’s fake.” Hong Ling pursed her lips. “Growing up has always been my dream, and the power of my divine dao has helped me to achieve this dream. Hold on, I have to regress back to my original form now. Maintaining this form expends a lot of energy!”
She transformed back into the petite and adorable Little Hong Ling as she spoke.
An Lin’s lips twitched in response. Growing up brought no benefit to her whatsoever, but it expended a lot of her energy? This divine dao sounded more and more fake by the minute…
Little Hong Ling propped her elbows onto her folded legs and supported her chin with her hands as she continued, “The citizens of the Flowing Cloud Nation loved and revered me, but I still left in the end.
“Unfortunately, after I attained my divine dao, my cultivation base refused to improve no matter how much I insulted the heavens. I finally encountered a bottleneck on my path of cultivation.”
An Lin grumbled internally, It sure took you a while to get to a bottleneck…
He wondered if other cultivators would be driven mad by rage if they heard this.
“I continued to insult the heavens. I insulted it in different tones, I used different insults, I adopted different poses when I delivered my insults, but none of that amounted to anything. Initially, I thought that was the conclusion of the path of cultivation. After all, no one had reached beyond the Return to Void Stage.
“However, one day, Feng Wuya and He Shen broke through to the Immortal King Stage in quick succession, and I only became aware then, that an issue had arisen with my cultivation.
“I tried to cultivate and improve myself through conventional methods, but…” Little Hong Ling hugged her head with her arms, and a look of despair appeared on her face. “I only know how to insult the heavens; I have no idea how to cultivate like a conventional cultivator…
“I don’t have a clue what stage I’m situated at or how I should cultivate… It’s often said that cultivation is like a journey, and one has to travel step-by-step in order to know where to go next. But I don’t even know how I got to this point, so how am I supposed to know where to go next?”
An Lin’s heart jolted upon hearing this, and he caressed Little Hong Ling’s head as he offered gentle words of comfort, “That’s alright. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I can actually empathize with what you’re feeling right now…”
“No! You’re a cultivator in the traditional sense, how could you possibly understand the frustration of a messed-up cultivator like me?” Little Hong Ling shook her head with a painful expression.
An Lin’s lips twitched upon hearing this. How am I a traditional cultivator?
Little Hong Ling continued, “I tried to uncover the secrets behind my body and my cultivation. I had a feeling that my cultivation base would be able to improve once I uncovered these secrets. I began to seek help, but no one could identify my issue. I’ve been unable to self-diagnose this entire time either.
“And then, I saw you…” Little Hong Ling suddenly turned to An Lin with excitement shimmering in her large, watery eyes. “White-Robed Immortal King, you are an omnipotent deity in my heart. I look up to you so much! Can you help me?”
“Er…” An Lin faltered momentarily upon hearing this. He only wanted to learn why Hong Ling’s heaven crushing aptitude was exceptional, but he had never thought about resolving her issue…
However, she was now also a member of the Four Nine Immortal Sect, so he wasn’t going to just leave her out in the cold.
“Alright, let me assess you.” An Lin nodded.
Little Hong Ling sprang to her feet with excitement upon hearing this. “Thank you! How do you want to conduct the assessment?”
She lifted the hem of her little dress. “Should I take off my dress? Should I grow up?”
An Lin’s flesh crawled, and he immediately shook his head. “No need! Please don’t do any strange things!”
“Oh…” Little Hong Ling nodded obediently before looking at An Lin with an expectant expression.
An Lin continued, “Give me your hand.”
Little Hong Ling immediately placed her soft little hand on top of An Lin’s palm.
An Lin began to assess her bodily condition, but he was unable to find anything different about her compared to a normal Return to Void Stage mighty figure even after conducting his assessment for several minutes. The only real difference was that she was a lot more petite…
However, he knew that Hong Ling was definitely no simple character. Her outstanding heaven crushing aptitude most likely had something to do with her ability to cultivate through insulting the heavens. As for why she was able to cultivate through such a strange method…
An Lin’s brows furrowed, and he hesitated momentarily before issuing an instruction, “Can you grow up for me?”
“Oh!” Little Hong Ling twirled and transformed into her grown-up form before laying her slender hand obediently onto An Lin’s palm.
In the instant Little Hong Ling made her transformation, An Lin finally captured a slight divine dao fluctuation.
That fluctuation was very feeble, and it disappeared in a flash.
An Lin was unable to fully assess it.
He could only issue another instruction, “Regress for me.”
“Oh!” Little Hong Ling twirled and turned back into a little girl before looking at An Lin with her head cocked to the side.
“Now grow up again,” An Lin commanded.
“Oh…” Little Hong Ling nodded before transforming into a gorgeous young woman once again.
An Lin managed to capture that wisp of divine dao power again, but it still wasn’t all that prominent.
“Now regress,” An Lin instructed.
Little Hong Ling: “… Alright.”
“Grow up again,” An Lin immediately instructed.
Little Hong Ling: “…”
“What are you looking at me for? Grow up!” An Lin’s brows furrowed slightly.
Little Hong Ling could only do as she was told. This was the first time she had received such strange requests. Just what was An Lin trying to achieve? Could it be that he had some sort of weird fetish?
“Regress.
“Grow up.
“Regress.
“Grow up…”
An Lin issued one instruction after another while Hong Ling transformed back and forth between her two forms.
Their interaction had even attracted many Exalted Immortals to gather around and spectate. This was no surprise as this scene was a little baffling, after all.
This was the first time Hong Ling had ever used her divine dao so frequently, and it was also the first time she had felt like growing up was such an exhausting endeavor. She was only holding on by drawing on her trust and admiration toward An Lin…
Finally, An Lin stopped issuing his diabolical instructions.
“I’ve finally discovered it… I know what that faint divine dao fluctuation is now.”
An Lin’s eyes lit up, and at the same time, a look of astonishment appeared on his face. “The fluctuations are very faint, but they’re also supreme and ethereal in nature, as if they’re the source of all things. This is…
“The power of the heavens!”