Story Time With Grampa Ming~ The Old Fire God

『If I tell you a story will you promise to go to sleep?』

Baiyue without hesitation rapidly nodded her head up and down almost as if she were afraid he would change his mind if she was too slow. Seeing this Mingtian was pleased and no longer felt as reluctant as he once was in regards to the idea.

『Good. Remember if you break your word lightning will come down and strike you.』

This was of course a lie meant to scare children into being obedient but there was nonetheless some truth to it. If a cultivator swore something on the heavens and then went back on their word a tribulation lightning would fall upon them easily ending their life.

Such was the case that parents would tell things to their children in the form of tales and stories often not realising these things contained various truths and secrets buried in the long river of time. It was in keeping with this tradition that Mingtian decided which story he would tell today.

『You know Little Yue when I was a boy my own mother would tell me stories as well.』

『Really?』

Seeing the doubtful look in her eyes Mingtian did not know whether to laugh or cry.

『Yes really. No one is born old you know; well almost no one that is.』

『Grampa Ming, what do you mean almost no one?』

『Hehe~ Want to know?』

Leaning further into her bed Baiyue’s head blurred from her rapid nodding.

『Good then listen to the story.』

With a “tsk” and a whisper of “Cheapskate” Baiyue lied back down in a more comfortable position to do as she was told.

『Now let’s see here how did it go again? Oh that’s right I remember now. Long, long, long ago no wait it was even longer than that anyway a very long time ago there was a mighty true god who ruled over fire.』

Sneaking a peak at his enraptured audience as he spoke the pheasant was unsurprised to see her confusion at the term “true god”.

『You see Little Yue when one breaks through beyond the Apotheosis Realm they can be called a “god” but they would be considered an ascended god. A true god is someone who was born a god and do you know the one thing they all have in common?』

Shaking her head to say she had no idea Baiyue waited for Mingtian’s answer.

『They’re born old! Hahaha~』

Shaking her head in disappointment Baiyue critiqued his storytelling mercilessly.

『Grampa Ming your jokes are worse than my father’s and he is dead you truly need some practice.』

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Clearing his throat Mingtian glossed over his small failure and continued the story acting as if nothing just happened.

『Continuing on, the true god was so very old and so very strong many of the other gods were afraid of him not daring to even speak to him and it was after a long while they forgot about him entirely name and all. One day a young and fearless ascended god saw how the old fire god was very wealthy, noting his frail appearance he began having thoughts of robbing him. The young god asked around checking with all his friends and acquaintances to see if the god was very strong. As expected however no one had heard of him so the young god fearless as he was attacked the fire god in the dead of night to claim his wealth for himself. The old fire god said to the young god “Do you not know who I am? I am Ilios does this name mean nothing to you?” Much to the old fire god’s dismay though the young god replied, “Never heard of you.” Seeing the old god distracted in his shock the young god wasted no time and unleashed his power, coincidentally it seemed the young god was a fire god as well. The old fire god watched as the flames which burned with the power of an entire star flew towards him; before he eventually sighed.』

With a cheeky look Mingtian turned towards Baiyue.

『Little Yue can you guess what happened next?』

With absolute confidence in her guess the girl responded.

『The old god returned an attack just as strong and then the two had a very fierce battle!』

With a snort and a laugh Mingtian mercilessly rejected her theory.

『Wrong! What happened next was as the flame approached, the old god’s sigh extinguished the attack with the ease of a mortal blowing out a candle.』

『Huh?! No way he can’t be that much stronger right?』

With a chuckle Mingtian elaborated.

『Little Yue I am particularly fond of this story because it contains many useful pieces of advice. For example just because no one had heard of Ilios did not mean he was not strong he was just low key. The young god also put too much faith in appearance choosing his target to rob because he looked old thus he kicked an iron sheet.』

Looking at his young disciple he wondered if she had realised anything else.

『Little Yue can you tell me why Ilios could not stop the young god from attacking him?』

『Because no one knew who he was!』

『Excellent yes this is another cautionary advice others will not listen to you if you have no reputation no matter how powerful you are personally they will not believe it until they see it themselves. People will try to take advantage of you if they do not fear or respect you thus having a strong reputation is another way to protect yourself.』

Curious to what else the girl could come up with Mingtian kept on with his enquiry.

『Notice anything else?』

Hand on her chin Baiyue thought hard for a while before answering in uncertainty.

『The fight didn’t go like I thought it would.』

Nodding his head with approval he confirmed her observation.

『Yes this is probably one of the most important morals of this story. While they were both gods the difference in power was truly enough to make one gape in disbelief but this is definitely a good representation of reality. While you are young you believe as long as you try hard enough any gap in strength can be overcome with superior skill and for the most monstrous of geniuses this can be true but that is the exception among exceptions. In truth if two people are not of the same realm the fight will almost always be a one sided joke. Because of this, one little mistake like picking a fight with the wrong person is enough to end you no matter how talented you might be.』

Flapping over towards the bedside candle Mingtian did not forget to add the humorous twist his mother always used to add herself when she told this story.

『By the way after his attack was put out like nothing the young god pissed himself and ran away crying forevermore called the God of Piss, legend says even to this day.』

This was enough to earn a childish laugh from the young Baiyue. Blowing out the candle as the girl closed her eyes Mingtian told the conclusion to the story.

『It was upon seeing his miserable appearance Ilios decided to spare him for he remembered a time when he was young and reckless and offended someone beyond his means. Yes even the mightiest god of fire Ilios the Star Maker knew that there were heavens beyond heavens and he and the young god were really not so different from one another after all … The end.』

Looking down at the sleeping girl no longer scared to close her eyes Mingtian found a comfortable spot on the chair next to her bed and followed her soon into the world of dreams.