Nuwa, the goddess of immortality, said that cultivating immortality does not require spiritual energ

With a slight thought, Qin Le drew out a warm and ancient orange-red flame from the depths of his Qi Sea, which quietly hovered above his palm—it was the original fire given to him by Suirenshi.

He carried the flame, a symbol of the origin and inheritance of civilization, toward the nearest extinguished bronze lamp.

The lamp was silent, its wick charred black, as if it had been silent for countless ages.

Qin Le reached out and carefully brought the embers in his palm close to the withered wick.

Nuwa and Houtu remained silent, simply watching quietly.

At first, the wick did not react at all, as if it were just a dead object.

However, Qin Le could clearly feel that the power of the Great Dao in his Qi Sea, as well as his own mental and spiritual thoughts, were being frantically absorbed and consumed by the seemingly calm lamp, just like a flood that had been released from its dam.

This is not a wasted effort.

As Qin Le continued to exert his strength and mental focus, his vision gradually blurred, and the surrounding scenery rippled and faded like water.

When he looked again, he found himself on a vast, boundless grassland.

The sky is high and the earth is vast, the wind blows the grass low, and the wind carrying the breath of antiquity brushes against my cheek.

"Where...is this place?" Qin Le wondered.

In the air ahead, light and shadow slowly coalesced, eventually transforming into a man dressed in a light green robe.

He had a handsome face and calm eyes, like an ancient well, as he silently gazed at Qin Le without saying a word.

Feeling somewhat uncomfortable under his silent gaze, Qin Le broke the silence by speaking first: "Senior, may I ask who you are?"

Upon hearing this, the man in green did not answer directly, but instead sighed deeply, as if carrying the weight of countless ages: "My name... is no longer important."

"Then why are you here in front of me? And where is this place?" Qin Le continued to ask, still completely confused.

The man in green didn't answer his question. Instead, he asked in a calm, unwavering tone, "Why... do you want to revive my race?"

"..."

Qin Le fell silent for a moment.

In order to pass the test of the Goddess Houtu?

He couldn't bring himself to say the answer, because it wasn't his truest motivation.

He pondered for a moment, then said clearly, word by word, "For...atonement."

After learning more details about the ancient war, he fully understood why Li Jiuyuan and other ancestors made that choice.

If it were him, he probably would have done the same thing.

But that war had too wide an impact and caused too much bloodshed, resulting in the annihilation of countless innocent lives.

Qin Le was enjoying the status and peace that his ancestors had fought for for the human race, so he believed that he should also share and bear that heavy burden of bloodshed.

Upon hearing the word "atonement," the man in green revealed a faint, enigmatic smile: "Have you ever personally harmed any member of my Spirit Clan?"

"No." Qin Le shook his head: "In fact, this is the first time I've heard the term 'Spirit Race' today."

"So, can you change the past and undo the established history?" the man in green continued to ask, his smile seemingly deepening slightly.

Qin Le shook his head again: "No."

Having comprehended the Great Dao of Time and Space, he understood better than anyone what changing the past meant.

In this world, time flows like a single river, with no parallel branches.

Forcibly reversing the past would come at the cost of the collapse of the entire Heavenly Order, and everything in the present would cease to exist.

Even if he becomes powerful enough to attempt it in the future, he will have to pay an unimaginable price and carefully maintain the immortality of the Heavenly Dao and correct cause and effect, which is by no means an easy task.

"Since you have neither harmed the Spirit Race nor can you change the established past, then..." the green-clad man asked softly, a hint of inquiry in his eyes, "what is this talk of 'atonement'?"

"Letting the Spirit Race reappear in the world is my way of atoneing for my sins," Qin Le answered frankly, even with a hint of self-mockery. "Perhaps you can also interpret this as just my personal... self-pity."

Atonement itself is something that can never be truly accomplished.

To persist in doing something that may never achieve its goal might seem foolish to many. But Qin Le is willing to be that fool, and willing to pay the price and take the action for it.

Even if it was ultimately just his own self-indulgence.

"Self-righteous sentimentality?" The man in green chewed on the word, then asked, "What does the bloodshed committed by our predecessors have to do with you, a descendant separated by countless years?"

"Passing on the torch." Qin Le slowly uttered these four words, his eyes becoming firm: "I enjoy the status and peace that my ancestors bought with blood and fire, so naturally I should also inherit all the weight they left behind... including the sins they committed."

"Passing on the torch..." Upon hearing this, the man in green was slightly taken aback, then a faint, knowing smile appeared on his face: "It seems that no matter how many years have passed, you humans... are still so peculiar, and still so self-contradictory."

"Well?" Qin Le smiled, her tone becoming more relaxed. "You'll have to ask Goddess Nuwa. Actually, I'm quite curious about what she was thinking when she designed us."

Upon hearing this, the man in green smiled and shook his head: "Never mind. The human race did indeed harm my spirit race in the past, but they also offered assistance. You... don't need to bear any burden because of this."

"So that's how it all started..." Qin Le mused, then asked curiously, "Senior, could you tell me about the Spirit Race? I know nothing about it."

The man in green nodded slightly: "Do you know about 'Heavenly Spiritual Objects'?"

"I know," Qin Le nodded. "I have two at home."

He thought of the Spirit Ginseng Qingyan and the Nine Netherworld Plant that lingered beside him, using the power of creation to heal its wounds.

"My Spirit Race shares similarities with the spiritual creatures of heaven and earth; we are all races born with a sliver of favor from the Heavenly Dao." The green-robed man spoke calmly, with a touch of reminiscence: "The difference lies in the fact that when the Spirit Race is first born, it is far weaker than most spiritual creatures of heaven and earth. But we possess what they lack... the potential for growth and the ability to reproduce."

"Heaven's favor?" Qin Le caught the key phrase and pressed, "Then, will harming the Spirit Race also incur divine retribution, just like harming rare and precious creatures of heaven and earth?"

The spirits of heaven and earth are the darlings of the heavens; to harm them will inevitably result in backlash, and no being below the level of a saint can withstand it.

"This is yet another difference between my race and the spirits of heaven and earth." The green-clad man's smile carried a hint of bitterness: "The Heavenly Dao... did not bestow upon my race such meticulous 'pampering'."

Qin Le understood.

The rare and precious creatures of heaven and earth are few in number and cannot reproduce on their own, making them truly rare treasures of heaven and earth. It is understandable that they are specially protected by the Dao of Heaven.

As a race capable of multiplying and growing, the number of Spirit Race members must far exceed that of Spirit Objects. The Heavenly Dao emphasizes balance, so it is impossible to grant every member the same immunity from death.

After a moment of silence, Qin Le steered the conversation back to the beginning: "Senior, then...would you be willing to let the flame of the Spirit Race be rekindled in this world?"

Although it was unclear whether the green-clad man before him was a remnant of the collective consciousness of the Spirit Race or the lingering will of an ancestor, Qin Le's intuition told him that the key to igniting the flame of their race lay with this man.

The man in green's smile vanished, his expression becoming extremely solemn: "Young man, do you know the immense karmic consequences one must bear to personally revive a long-extinct race?"

However, Qin Le's answer was unusually relaxed, even a little teasing: "Senior, your question... is a bit redundant. You should be able to sense that what I hold in my hand is the 'Original Flame'. Moreover, to be honest, I am also a direct disciple of the Goddess Nuwa."

He paused, then his smile widened, radiating an almost self-assured confidence: "With these big shots backing me up, do you think... I'd be afraid of that little bit of karma?"

"..."

Looking at Qin Le's confident expression, the man in green was momentarily at a loss for words.