Black Myth: You and I are both destined

Tianming led the way towards the towering side hall deep in the lava pool. The Rakshasa Palace was already magnificent, and even if it was just a side hall, it was still very majestic.

At the entrance, the Taoist floating clouds and relief carvings of gods on the left and right doorposts seem to be engraved with the mysteries of heaven and earth. The auspicious clouds are misty and the gods seem to be about to break out of the stones.

Climbing up the five stone steps, one enters the side hall. The stone sculptures of fire-eyed beasts on both sides are like majestic guardians with their eyes wide open. In the center of the hall, an exquisite round fire basin exudes a fiery breath. It is half a meter deep, and the Taoist gold decorations around it sparkle in the reflection of the flames.

Five flames jumped, and four little finger-sized flames surrounded the most vigorous flame in the middle, just like stars surrounding the moon.

If an immortal were to see at a glance, he would be able to tell that the thing in the middle is mysterious energy, and the four small flames around it represent the heaven, earth, sun and moon respectively!

There is only one person here who can act like this!

Several wine jars behind the flames exuded an ancient and mellow aroma, attracting Tianming's attention.

As soon as Tianming stepped in, he sensed that there were three winter insects he needed in the wine jar, which could be used to make wine.

His eyes swept across the hall and saw the familiar Yuan Shoucheng sitting on the right.

The man was dressed in yellow, half leaning on a stone seat, his face slightly flushed, and he seemed a little drunk.

When dawn approached, Yuan Shoucheng tapped the stone beside him and chanted.

"After thousands of years, who knows honor and disgrace? But I hate that I can't drink enough while I'm alive."

Tianming frowned, pretending not to have heard the poem, and asked carefully: "I was still looking for you, but I didn't expect you to be waiting for me here."

However, Yuan Shoucheng seemed to be intoxicated by the wine and poetry, and ignored his words. He just said to himself: "Why are you throwing away a gourd with such tattered clothes? Go and change it for something nice to drink with me."

Tianming recalled that Princess Wansheng used the Luojia fragrant vine to help him upgrade the gourd from Shenhou. Shenhou once said that this gourd is now a copy of the gourd of Medicine Buddha and there is no difference, but Yuan Shoucheng is so disdainful.

At this moment, a crisp sound of broken porcelain pieces came from behind!

Ma Tianba was so nervous that he was sweating coldly. He was flustered when he entered the room and didn't pay attention to his feet, so he accidentally stepped on a small jar and broke it.

He was already nervous, and knowing that he had gotten into a big disaster, he immediately became panicked.

"Madam...Grandpa Taishang Laojun, I didn't mean it. Don't...don't kill me."

His voice was trembling with endless fear.

Inside the side hall, the atmosphere froze instantly. The flames were still jumping, but as if startled by the sudden change, the light and shadows on the wall swayed in panic.

Yuan Shoucheng raised his eyes slightly, a hint of displeasure flashed across his face, and his gaze went straight to Tianming: "Since the beginning of the world, I have been deceived twice, and you are the first one."

Tianming's expression was as calm as water. He did not refute verbally, but his fingers unconsciously clenched and he gripped the stick in his hand tighter, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

His eyes were fixed on Yuan Shoucheng, but his heart was in turmoil.

Yuan Shoucheng still sat there leisurely, muttering: "How can I express my feelings? I am just drinking muddy wine and getting intoxicated."

He seemed free and easy, but every word he said was like a knife, stabbing into the tense Tianming.

The door behind Tianming was open. He made a decision in an instant and swung the stick without hesitation. A burst of energy wrapped around Ma Tianba and knocked him out of the door.

Seeing that Ma Tianba flew out smoothly without encountering any obstruction, Tianming felt relieved.

He turned to look at Yuan Shoucheng and asked, "Can you let him go?"

Yuan Shoucheng smiled and replied, "His life does not depend on me, but on you." Then he added, "You know that we are not enemies, so why do you resist each time we meet?"

After hearing this, Tianming raised his hand and threw the gourd into the fire. Then he sat down on the ground, put away his iron soldiers, and took out the Flying Dragon Scepter.

The picture of Shangqing Palace engraved on the Flying Dragon Staff suddenly shone brightly, and the gourd in the flames absorbed the power of the flames. Soon it fell back into his hand, having changed from a Medicine Buddha gourd to a Shangqing treasure gourd.

Seeing this, Yuan Shoucheng pressed on, "Are you afraid that he will know that I am Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun and I will kill him? That's why you deliberately led him to think wrongly. Even if you are killed, he still has a chance to survive."

Tianming sat cross-legged, looking at the Shangqing treasure gourd in his hand, smiling bitterly. Everything was guessed right, so he could only admit it.

"I can go find you, because we know nothing, at least you think we know nothing."

"But...if you come here, it means you have seen clearly and want to settle accounts with us."

Tianming continued, "Brother Bajie and I hid our strengths, thinking that we could use them as a life-or-death trump card, but I didn't expect you to see through it clearly."

He let out a long sigh, his eyes determined: "Forget it, since I can't pretend to be confused anymore... let's do it."

"You should know very well that I will not help any of you."

Lingbao Tianzun looked at Tianming and said threateningly, "This road is not easy to walk on. What if you fall on the road?"

Tianming put away his previous cynicism, stood up, and radiated extraordinary magical powers. The magical powers spread in all directions like a surging tide, and the stone statues in the side hall collapsed and shattered under the impact of this powerful force.

He held the stick tightly and said resolutely: "I will not regret it even if I die!"

Lingbao Tianzun frowned: "Niu Mowang accepted his fate, but someone else doesn't want to. Even a judge can't judge family affairs, so why should you and I intervene?"

Tianming's eyes were full of hostility as he stared at Lingbao Tianzun.

"If you want to fight, then fight. We were just pretending that day in the pagoda, but not today!"

"Either you let me go, or try to keep me here forever!"

The atmosphere suddenly froze as if in death, and the crisis was about to break out at any time!

Lingbao Tianzun stood up, his tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed, he walked slowly towards the door with his hands behind his back, his laughter echoing in the side hall.

"Hahaha! Great, great! I knew I would be fooled by you once, but I'm afraid I can't escape it today!"

In the blink of an eye, his figure disappeared without a trace.

The crisis was resolved for no reason?!

There was still a drop of sweat on Tianming's forehead. After he left, he took out a reed insect from his sleeve, which was given to him by Zhu Bajie earlier.

The next moment, the蟭liao insect turned back into Zhu Bajie. It turned out that Zhu Bajie was not patrolling the mountain, but turned into this insect and hid on Tianming.

His face was as pale as paper and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

"My dear nephew, you are so patient. I almost couldn't hold back just now."

Zhu Bajie's voice trembled a little as he recalled what had happened before. They had known that Yuan Shoucheng was Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun the last time they met him. The other party wore his identity clearly on his body and did not intend to hide it at all.

Tianming even engraved the Shangqing Palace pattern on Yuan Shoucheng's clothes on the Flying Dragon Scepter to enhance its power.

But they knew very well that the Heavenly Palace and Lingshan were closely watching the every move of the people with destiny.

This uncontrollable powerful force is like a popular commodity, and all parties want to win it over.

In this dispute, the ruling faction in Heaven headed by Taishang Laojun and the ruling faction in Lingshan headed by Tathagata Buddha and the ancient Buddha fought endlessly.

Under these two major forces, their successors or "second-in-commands" also tried to gain benefits from them.

Therefore, Lingbao Tianzun secretly allied with Maitreya Buddha.

Their goal is not to have one side win the war, but to make the war never end.

No matter who wins or loses between Heaven and Lingshan, it will not benefit them. As long as the fight continues, they can reap the benefits and become the most brutal and greedy oriole hiding behind the scenes!

Tianming and Zhu Bajie saw this clearly, so they deliberately put on a show.

As long as they hide their strength, the people above them will fall into internal strife first. After all, one must first stabilize the country before fighting against foreign enemies.

As long as Lingbao Tianzun finds out that they have the will to destroy gods and Buddhas and the determination to never give up, he will continue to help them.

But Lingbao Tianzun is a saint after all, and their little tricks can't always be hidden from him.

Lingbao Tianzun transformed into Yuan Shoucheng and repeatedly recited Tao Yuanming's poems, deliberately hinting at his identity.

In the "Diagram of the True Spiritual Positions" compiled by Tao Hongjing, Lingbao Tianzun is in the middle of the second rank of gods, above Taishang Laojun and second only to Yuanshi Tianzun.

Although they are all three saints, the order is crucial: who is higher and who is lower, who is respected and who is humble!

The poem is simply saying: I know you know my identity, and I also know that you understand that I know everything and everything is under control.

So as long as they don't completely fall out and Tianming makes it clear that he doesn't stand on either side, the drama can go on.

Even if the destined person survives by chance, he is just a crippled ant and cannot compete with the hunter who has just harvested the prey.

Listening to Zhu Bajie's words, Tianming sneered and replied: "This world is already rotten. Those gods are like a terminal disease in my previous world. Their power is constantly exchanged internally, but it is only transmitted from mother to child, blood, and sex. In the end, they will all go to destruction."

“Even if he knows everything and is immortal, I will make him understand that even the Heavenly Master can bleed!”