Chapter 521: Chapter 521: The World Creating Stone, Giant Zhi Huo
Chapter 521: The World Creating Stone, Giant Zhi Huo
After Ning Fan freed Hong Yi’s corpse, he held it in his embrace and swiftly headed toward the right wing of the palace while stepping on the lightning diagram.
No bronze pillar could be found in the right wing of the palace. Instead, only an ice bed made out of cold jade was placed in the middle of the large empty hall.
On the bed, an illusory female primordial spirit was sleeping.
At the same time, various strange green runes were densely interwoven over that female primordial spirit.
It was none other than the other half of Hong Yi’s primordial spirit.
The runes seemed to have the ability to seal primordial spirits, stubbornly sealing her cultivation base while continuously rendering her unconscious without allowing her to wake up.
The unconscious lady’s brows were tightly knitted together and it seemed like she was in pain. Clearly, she was not comfortable under the effect of the runes.
“These runes… are the divine technique runes of the ancient divine race! Is it possible that the runes on this lady’s body are the sinful seal which Hong Yi previously mentioned?!”
Sinful seal!
Ning Fan had heard of it before! After killing the Fourth Prince of the Rain Palace out of anger, the White-Robed Sword God, Yun Tianjue, was planted with the sinful seal which had restricted his cultivation base at the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm for countless years.
If it was not because he forcibly broke through the sinful seal himself, he definitely would not be able to attain his current cultivation base that was at the Fourth Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm!
However, even Yun Tianjue at his best would have to spend many years to break the sinful seal.
The other half of Hong Yi’s primordial spirit was grievously injured and unconscious. If she had to rely on herself to break this seal, she would definitely not be able to do so no matter what.
“A sinful seal, huh…? A seal from an ancient divine technique. This Rain Sovereign is quite extraordinary. However, even if it is an ancient divine seal, it still can’t withstand the erosion of the samsara power… Erase!”
Ning Fan approached the ice bed and placed Hong Yi’s corpse down. Then, using his palm that was already covered with golden purple mist, he carefully pressed against the chest of the unconscious primordial spirit.
The tenderness he felt from his palm made him slightly lose his concentration. However, he immediately put up a grim look and activated his Wind Mist Technique, cautiously eroding the seal following the network of runes.
*Zi Zi Zi*
The sinful seal that even Yun Tianjue had a headache dealing with was actually so fragile in front of Ning Fan. All ancient divine runes on the primordial spirit were slowly disappearing.
It took him a while to erase all of the ancient divine runes, completely destroying the sinful seal.
There was a natural enemy to every existence in the world. When the samsara power fell into Ning Fan’s hands, it actually became his strongest weapon that could break all kinds of locks and seals.
“I’ve also retrieved the primordial spirit…”
Looking at the pale white face on the other half of Hong Yi’s primordial spirit which was still unconscious, Ning Fan felt a wave of anger rising from within him again.
It was really strange for him to feel this kind of anger. He secretly muttered the heart sutra of the Yin Yang Transformation to make his heart as calm as still water, suppressing all of his negative emotions. Afterward, he regained his neutral and calm expression.
He then walked out of the Thunder God Palace on the lightning diagram, carrying Hong Yi’s physical body in his left hand while holding the other half of her primordial spirit in his right.
He had perfectly accomplished the missions that Hong Yi had entrusted to him. However, he took quite a long time to retrieve her corpse and primordial spirit. It had already been at least six hours since he entered the palace.
When Ning Fan walked out of the large entrance gate of the Thunder God Palace, he did not hear any sound of battle from outside.
As soon as he exited the palace, he saw a lady standing outside the large gate with a cold expression while trampling upon the corpse of a giant ape. Who else could it be other than Hong Yi? As for the giant ape beneath her feet, was not it Ti Hun, the creature that had betrayed its master?
Ning Fan had once again deeply understood Hong Yi’s strength and ferocity. Although it had only been several hours, she managed to kill a giant ape at the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm. Her combat power was truly incredible.
When she saw Ning Fan finally get out of the Thunder God Palace, she frowned with impatience and said, “You’re too slow! I thought you had already died inside the palace!”
“Are you worried about me?” Ning Fan teased.
“Don’t you want your mouth anymore?” Hong Yi smiled coldly. If Ning Fan dared to utter nonsense once again, she would certainly tear off his mouth.
“…”
Ning Fan decided to keep quiet. Hong Yi was really moody. Who knows if he would provoke her again by saying something wrong?
He quietly passed the corpse and the other half of Hong Yi’s primordial spirit to her. Then, he quietly observed her, trying to see how she would deal with them.
If he was not mistaken, Hong Yi was going to resurrect the corpse and allow her primordial spirit to return to her original body.
To low-level cultivators, resurrection was extremely mysterious. However, when cultivators reached Ning Fan’s level, the so-called resurrection was actually not really that mysterious.
Cultivators with great capabilities could use certain secret techniques to repair their organs, broken limbs and even use special means to reconstruct their physical bodies.
Some devil cultivators who were skilled in corpse seizing techniques could even revive themselves through seizing the bodies of the living.
For experts at Hong Yi’s level, as long as they still had a trace of their primordial spirits left in this world, they had lots of methods to reconstruct their bodies and revive themselves.
“Primordial Spirit Unity!” Hong Yi put her body down. She then lifted her finger and gently placed it on the glabella of the other half of her primordial spirit.
That primordial spirit immediately opened her eyes with a vacant expression. When she saw Hong Yi was the one standing in front of her, she gently smiled and made a gentle step forward to unite with her.
*Howl*
A strong gust of wind blew through the air. The aura force produced from the fusion of Hong Yi’s primordial spirits was too powerful.
This process lasted for three whole days. Three days later, Hong Yi successfully combined with the other half of her primordial spirit. She shifted her blood-red eyes to her own corpse. After pondering for some time, she said with determination.
“The act of fusing primordial spirits is simple. However, perfectly returning one’s primordial spirit to their physical body is difficult. My primordial spirit has been separated from my physical body for far too long. In addition, my primordial spirit also underwent a troublesome situation as I split it into two halves. One half of it was sealed by the sinful seal, being put into ten thousand years of slumber whereas the other half was divided into ten thousand tufts of lightning grass that were hidden across the world. But even so, the lightning grasses also encountered their own problems…”
“Fortunately, Zhou Chen and the others are loyal to me. They have searched for various heavenly ingredients and earthly treasures that are good for nourishing one’s physical body and primordial spirit for me. As long as I can bring this body out of the tomb and return my primordial spirit to my body with the help of those items, I can truly be reborn in no time!”
Hong Yi muttered to herself. In just a brief moment, she had made up her mind to leave the tomb with her body.
“She actually wants to bring an item out of the Sovereign Tomb!” Ning Fan was slightly surprised. However, when he thought about it in another perspective, he no longer found it strange.
Every cultivator who possessed the thunder jade tokens could enter the Sovereign Tomb. However, no one could bring out anything from within the tomb.
But Hong Yi’s case should be a special one. She personally built the Sovereign Tomb. She was the one who put in all of the undead spirits, ingredients and treasures in here. Thus, she certainly could take anything she wants out of here.
The feeling the current Hong Yi who now had a complete primordial spirit gave Ning Fan was vastly different from before.
In Ning Fan’s eyes, the current Hong Yi seemed to have once again become the master of the Sovereign Tomb and the life and death of all undead spirits inside the tomb were now under her control. She could either choose to kill or spare them if she willed it.
“You’ve retrieved my corpse and the other half of my primordial spirit. Thus, I want to give you a reward. There are countless heavenly materials and earthly treasures in the Sovereign Tomb. I kept all of them here in the past. I’ll pick out the most precious of them and show them all to you. You can choose to take three of them with you as a reward from me!”
As soon as Hong Yi finished speaking, she clawed at the sky. The entire Sovereign Tomb began to tremble violently.
All of a sudden, be it the Outer Region, the Central Region or the Divine Region, the undead spirits in every place began to shiver in fear!
They could instinctively feel that the master of the Sovereign Tomb had truly returned!
The entire Sovereign Tomb was under the control of Hong Yi’s consciousness. When Hong Yi clawed at the sky, countless treasures and items flew to the area outside the Thunder God Palace as if they had been infused with spirituality.
There were precious spiritual medicines, magic treasures, pill recipes, spirit minerals and cultivation methods…
There were nearly ten thousand pieces of treasures and items floating in midair.
When Ning Fan took a closer look at them, he found one hundred thousand years old spiritual herbs, fiendgod cultivation methods and even the Bu Zhou Secret Art which Hong Yi cultivated in the past…
According to what Hong Yi said, he could take away any three items that he liked among them. Well, she really was being generous to him!
“Hurry up and pick what you want!”
“Huh? This is… I want that ball of spirit flame!” Ning Fan suddenly saw one thing among the treasures that filled the sky. Without hesitation, he instantly pointed at it and made his first choice.
“You want the Arctic Flame? This flame is just an Earth Vein Demonic Flame and it is ranked fifth among the twelve flames. Are you sure you need this spirit flame?” Hong Yi reminded me.
“Mm. I am sure. This Arctic Flame might not be precious but it has a unique meaning to me!” Ning Fan smiled faintly. Being able to get the Arctic Flame in the Sovereign Tomb was indeed a welcomed surprise.
If he got the Arctic Flame, he would only lack the Mending Heavenly Heart and Earth Blazing Flame to complete his collection of Heavenly Cold Qi and Earth Flames.
“Very well. You’ve chosen the Arctic Flame. Now, you can choose two other items as your reward. What else do you want?” Hong Yi uttered indifferently.
“There is no need to rush. Let me look at them carefully.”
Ning Fan spread out his spirit sense and scanned across each and every one of the items and treasures.
Even though there were many things here, he did not find many things which were really necessary to him.
Ning Fan casually browsed through the treasures. After a while, his eyes suddenly turned serious. He then said with his finger pointing at an item.
“I want this item.”
“It’s the World Creating Stone! You have a good eye. This stone is much more precious than that Arctic Flame. You’ve chosen your second item. Now, you can only choose one more.” Hong Yi said calmly.
Ning Fan’s eyes scanned across many items but he could not find anything else that could really move him.
He shifted his gaze away, no longer looking at those treasures and items. Instead, his eyes fell on the corpse of the giant ape beneath Hong Yi’s feet.
“I want this corpse.” This is the corpse of a Void Fragmentation Realm beast. Be it for brewing wine or concocting Fierce Cultivation Pills, it was extremely valuable.
“Ti Hun’s corpse, huh…?” Hong Yi hesitated for a second. It was unusual for her to behave this way. Afterward, she nodded and said, “Alright! Ti Hun has betrayed me at the end of the day. Since you want its corpse, there is no harm in giving it to you. Let’s leave!”
When Hong Yi gently lifted her finger, the Arctic Flame, the World Creating Stone and the giant ape’s corpse were kept inside a storage pouch which flew to Ning Fan’s hand.
When she flicked her sleeve, both of their figures gradually faded away within the tomb. They were now leaving the Sovereign Tomb.
Ning Fan clung tightly to the storage pouch in his embrace as the scenery before his hand transformed. When he reopened his eyes, his separated soul had already returned to his true body.
The storage pouch that contained the Arctic Flame and the other items were still in his embrace. However, Hong Yi, who was sitting opposite to him naked, was no longer in his room… She has probably already left…
Ning Fan felt a hint of emptiness inside. This feeling was difficult to let go. It was similar to the feeling of your best friend which you had spent days and nights with suddenly leaving you without saying goodbye…
“I must have met her somewhere before…”
“Perhaps she was Ning Honghong which is why I would feel so close to her… Perhaps I’ve already met her even before that…”
Ning Fan shook his head, dismissing his various thoughts to calm his mind. No matter what, he had already repaid the favor to Hong Yi. He now had finished one of his matters in the internal sea.
Before he had time to deal with the Arctic Flame and the other rewards, a massive magic power from his separated soul suddenly spread throughout his entire body!
This time, the cultivation base of his separated soul sharply rose with Hong Yi’s help, reaching five hundred and fifty thousand units.
The moment his separated soul returned, the amount of magic power it had also fused with his true body’s magic power.
At this moment, the total amount of his magic power was no longer at the Half-Step Void Refinement Realm.
At this moment, the total amount of his magic power had already gone beyond one million units, exceeding the standard of the Void Refinement Realm!
“I actually am going to break through to the Void Refinement Realm right now!”
Ning Fan put down his storage pouch and immediately sat in a meditative position. He was stark naked as he circulated his qi. He dismissed all of his miscellaneous thoughts and entered into his cultivation state as fast as possible.
Originally, he had planned to achieve the Void Refinement Realm using the blood wine. However, who could predict that Hong Yi would give him five hundred and fifty thousand units of magic power which allowed him to reach the bottleneck of the Void Refinement Realm?!
Since his magic power had gone beyond the boundary of the Void Refinement Realm, it was difficult to suppress it. Ning Fan needed to break through the bottleneck of the Void Refinement Realm right now. He could no longer wait for the blood wine to be brewed…
Now, the blood wine would now be reserved as a method to increase his cultivation base after achieving the Void Refinement Realm.
He must achieve the breakthrough at this very moment or else his immortal veins would collapse due to the immense magic power from his separated soul!
“What is void…?”
Ning Fan closed his eyes, recalling the insights he obtained back in the Sovereign Tomb. His heart gradually became as calm as still water.
Infusing the comprehension of ‘void’ into one’s magic power, eyes and breathing… That’s the Void Refinement!
…
Outside Ning Fan’s room, his women had stood guard for another three full months.
Xu Qiuling and the rest had seen Hong Yi enter his room. Moreover, they even saw the two of them sitting opposite to each other without any clothes.
Luckily, Ning Fan did not do any intimate activities with Hong Yi. Other than Yue Lingkong and Ming Que who were slightly dissatisfied, the other women could tell that Hong Yi and Ning Fan were doing something important. Thus, they did not disturb them.
“Who is that lady?! How dare she seduce my Brother Biscuit? She is too much!”
Ming Que was truly dissatisfied. Ning Fan was her personal “biscuit baking master”. How could a random lady take her Brother Biscuit away from her?!
“Wasn’t she the one we met at the Lightning Bamboo Island?! Why does she always visit Little Cucumber lately?! Since when did Little Cucumber have such a close relationship with her? The two of them sat face to face without wearing any clothes. Aren’t they afraid of encountering an accident? Aren’t they scared of catching a cold?! What if Little Cucumber can’t hold himself back?! Wait. This isn’t right. Since Little Cucumber is so handsome, that female devil in red robes might be the one who would fail to restrain herself! What if that red-robed lady pushes Little Cucumber to the bed and do it with him? Wouldn’t I be cuckolded by her?! I can’t let this happen. I must save Little Cucumber!”
Under the flag of justice and righteousness, Yue Lingkong was anxious to go inside the room and eliminate Hong Yi to save Ning Fan from trouble.
Xu Qiuling gently rubbed her forehead, feeling a mild headache. Yue Lingkong and Ming Que were too noisy and hot-headed. Other than Ning Fan, no one could control them.
It was at this moment that an extremely powerful aura force suddenly rushed out of Ning Fan’s room.
In the meantime, countless layers of heavenly tribulation clouds appeared in the sky above them!
“This is… the Void Glimpse Stage heavenly tribulation! Someone is breaking through to the Void Glimpse Stage! Who is it?! Could it be Little Cucumber?!” Yue Lingkong stopped being boisterous and her eyes started to be filled with worry.
“Isn’t Big Brother a ‘Void Inquiry Stage’ expert? Why is he facing the Void Glimpse Stage heavenly tribulation now?” Xu Qiuling looked puzzled.
“The power of this heavenly tribulation… is quite unusual! It’s too huge!” Su Yan said as her face turned pale.
In the Giant Devil Clan, Old Ancestor Dong Xu, Venerated Sword, Venerated Pill, Ju Qing and the others were sitting in the main hall, discussing something.
All of a sudden, the aura force of a heavenly tribulation spread across the entire Giant Devil Clan. The four venerated beings rose to their feet and dashed out from the hall. Staring at the tribulation clouds in the sky, all of them were extremely shocked.
“A Void Glimpse Stage heavenly tribulation… How is this possible?! Who is breaking through to the Void Glimpse Stage?!” Venerated Sword was the first person who lost his composure.
“It’s him…” Dong Xu shifted his gaze toward the direction of Ning Fan’s mansion. That was the place where the heavenly tribulation was gathered.
“I’ve already witnessed the Void Glimpse Stage heavenly tribulation once. But the heavenly tribulation this time is much more formidable than the one I saw… It’s really my first time seeing such a frightening Void Glimpse Stage heavenly tribulation… Even the Void Inquiry Stage heavenly tribulation of some Void Inquiry Stage experts did not have power that vigorous!” Venerated Pill recalled the heavenly tribulation when Ming Que attained the Void Glimpse Stage in the past. Compared to Ning Fan’s heavenly tribulation, both of them were simply completely different!”
The sky within the area of two hundred thousand li* (500m per li) was completely covered with fiery-red clouds of fire tribulation that shielded the sun.
The sky looked as if it was burning. Countless snow melted into water due to the heat from the clouds, causing a rain to fall upon the Cold Northern Country.
In the sky above, the shadow of a fire giant was faintly visible. It was clad in divine armor, standing above the layers of fire clouds while staring coldly at Ning Fan below.
Many cultivators who had vast knowledge were instantly terrified as soon as they saw the fire giant.
“That giant… Could it be a giant of legend – a Dao Guardian?!!”
“According to legends, a Dao Guardian is a puppet of the ancient immortal guard who upholds the Heavenly Dao. It doesn’t have life! The Dao Guardians will only appear under one condition – when a cultivator that the Heavenly Dao can’t tolerate appears. The Dao Guardian will then emerge to eliminate that person on behalf of Heaven! The power of the heavenly tribulation that the Dao Guardian personally performs is more than ten times stronger than ordinary fire tribulations. No cultivator will be able to survive it!”
“Could it be that the reason why a Dao Guardian appeared this time is to kill Marquis White Robe?!”
The eyes of every cultivator turned toward Ning Fan’s mansion. All of their expressions were filled with disbelief.
The eyes of the fire giant standing on the fire clouds in the sky were vacant as they focused at Ning Fan’s direction. Then, it began speaking using a jerky tone.
“I am… Zhi Huo! Cultivator Ning Fan has committed too much slaughter and defied heaven’s harmony multiple times. He cannot be forgiven. I will summon the flames on behalf of Heaven to eliminate you from the Rain World.”
As soon as the giant’s voice fell, all the fire clouds shook, sending countless heavenly fire meteors down toward Ning Fan’s room.
Inside the room, Ning Fan suddenly opened his eyes with his face filled with surprise.
“A Dao Guardian! After breaking through to the Void Refinement Realm, I actually drew the Heavenly Dao’s attention and made it try to eliminate me. Is this the price of committing too much slaughter in my life…?”
“Even though I killed people like scything flax all my life, I trampled corpses like a carp moving down a stream, I bathed in a sea of blood from a heavy downpour of blood, I never felt guilty. Even though I took many lives, I never lost my conscience. I cannot accept the fact that Heaven wants me dead. Neither am I willing to bow down and await my death. The only option I have left is to fight against Heaven for my survival!”
In the next instant, Ning Fan turned into a ray of light and dashed out from the roof, soaring into the sky.
The air around him was filled with cold rain. The sky was also densely covered with terrifying tribulation clouds of flames that seemed endless.
Ning Fan raised his head and looked the fire giant that was named Zhi Huo in the eye.
This giant was not a living thing. Instead, it was a mere puppet. However, this puppet possessed a terrifying cultivation base comparable to the Void Fragmentation Realm, making it extremely scary!
Faced with the falling fire meteors from the sky, Ning Fan suddenly touched the air as fast as lightning, summoning multiple halos. The halos expanded and several fire vortexes appeared out of nowhere. It was obviously Ning Fan’s Fire Plucking Technique!
The flames from the heavenly tribulation were absorbed into his Stele of Sun and Moon while the tribulations clouds were forcibly taken away.
Seeing that the fire tribulation could not harm Ning Fan, the fire giant did not utter a word. However, it raised its hand and pointed at Ning Fan, abruptly dispersing its Void Fragmentation Realm aura force.
“The Heavenly Dao as the cauldron… You will be the pill… Refine!”
All of a sudden, a seemingly real but intangible flame enveloped Ning Fan, turning into a massive pill cauldron that was formed out of fire.
When Ning Fan got trapped within the pill cauldron, his body was burned by the void flames. He could feel the giant was really trying to burn him like a pill.
“Those who go against Heaven deserve more than death! The only outcome for those who ruin heaven’s harmony is death!” Giant Zhi Huo spoke indifferently.
Inside the pill cauldron, Ning Fan’s eyes glinted.
Did this mere giant puppet get addicted to torturing me?
Since it’s a puppet… should I just capture him?!
The Life Imprisonment Technique specializes in handling all kinds of puppets. Even though this technique might not be able to subdue this Void Fragmentation Realm puppet, is it possible to capture it by sneak-attacking him using the technique with Luo You’s help?
Ning Fan’s mind was thinking about the probability of capturing this giant puppet. As for Giant Zhi Huo’s renowned identity as a messenger of the Heavenly Dao, it was not within his thoughts…
“Little You Er, I want to capture that giant puppet. Could you help me calculate what my success rate would be?”
“Have you lost your mind? He is a Dao Guardian!” Luo You, who was initially calm and composed, was shocked by Ning Fan’s plan.
“Will I offend anyone if I capture him?” Ning Fan was just considering the probability and consequences of his action.
“No, you won’t. You will just offend the ‘First Ring’ of the Heavenly Dao in the mortal realm. From then onward, the heavenly tribulation you are going to face will be more brutal than the previous ones… Sooner or later, you will be killed by the heavenly tribulation while facing them in the future!”
“It doesn’t matter if there are more heavenly tribulations… The heavenly tribulation I am currently facing is already quite fearsome. Thus, I am not afraid of facing a more fearsome one. This giant wants to kill me. It’s impossible for me to sit here and wait for my death. Which is why I might as well capture him. Besides, no pain no gain. In order to obtain a Void Fragmentation Realm puppet, one has to pay a price, right? Sacrificing future heavenly tribulations in exchange for a Void Fragmentation Realm puppet is a quite reasonable deal.”
“Do you really want to capture it? The heavenly tribulations you’ll face in the future will be really terrifying.” Luo You understood that Ning Fan had already decided. Thus, she was too lazy to continue persuading him.
She had never been a timid person in the first place. She was just shocked by Ning Fan’s bold idea.
Since she was a dignified true immortal, she naturally would not be afraid of a Void Fragmentation Realm Dao Guardian, much less a mere First Ring of the Heavenly Dao.
“I just want to find out what our chances of success would be if you help me. If it’s too low, then I’ll skip this option.”
Even though Ning Fan was trapped inside the pill cauldron of flames, his mind was rapidly coming up with a plan to capture the puppet.
Throughout his journey of devil cultivation, he had committed far too many killings. Now, he finally faced Heaven’s punishment.
Unfortunately, he was not a weakling who would accept his life to end like this.
Old Devil did not teach him much. However, he imparted his domineering Devil Dao to him.
If Old Devil were here, he would certainly be excited to capture the giant of the Heavenly Dao with Ning Fan.
After all, Old Devil was also a lawless person.
“After capturing this giant, I can obtain a Void Fragmentation Realm puppet! However, I must first get out of this pill cauldron.”
Ning Fan looked around the massive cauldron he was trapped in. The temperature of the flames inside was extremely high. Even though he had the Stele of Sun and Moon protecting him, he could faintly feel that he could not withstand the flames.
He tried to use the Fire Plucking Technique but it could not restrain the flames of the pill cauldron using the Stele of Sun and Moon.
There were some ancient runes in the flames. Those runes prevented the flames from being absorbed by the Stele of Sun and Moon.
The magic technique which the giant puppet used was truly not simple. He was really a divine messenger of the Heavenly Dao.
“How can I break free from this fire cauldron…?”
Just as Ning Fan’s voice fell, a scorching fire wave rushed toward him, engulfing him completely.
That fire wave transformed into a huge qilin breathing hot waves of flames. Its presence was truly majestic. Right after it appeared, it began wreaking havoc within the cauldron.
In the outside world, the fire giant finished a hand seal and coldly uttered.
“I’ve already displayed the Qilin Technique. He is dead for sure…”
“Hehe… He is my good younger brother. I can’t let you kill him casually.” An indistinct teasing containing a hint of coldness reverberated across the sea of flames caused by the qilin.
“Even if you are the messenger of the First Ring of the Heavenly Dao, don’t ever think you can harm Ning Fan in front of me!”
(Note: The First Ring of the Heavenly Dao is the weakest Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao in the Four Heavens is the Second Ring of the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao of the upper realm will not hold grudges if you offend the Heavenly Dao in the mortal realm.)