Free Web NovelChapter 499: Chapter 1: The Dilapidated Sanqing Temple
Run! Run! Run!!
Though only twenty-six, Zhou Xiaotong’s temples were already flecked with gray. Panting for breath, she fled through the mountain forest with Chong Shanhu on her back.
Barely fourteen or fifteen, Lin Yiyi and Chen Lide were also pale-faced, crouching as low as they could to hide themselves in the dense thicket.
"The Shadow Concealing Jade can last for another twelve hours. For these twelve hours, Divine Thought and Spiritual Consciousness won’t be able to detect us..."
Zhou Xiaotong wiped away her sweat, her face etched with exhaustion.
"Stay close. We have to leave this area as soon as possible!"
The two youths nodded in panic and followed behind Zhou Xiaotong, their bodies stooped as they hurried along. They didn’t dare circulate too much Primordial Qi for fear of being detected, so they could only rely on their most basic physical energy...
As they fled, Lin Yiyi’s lips turned white, her pretty features filled with terror. She couldn’t help but ask:
"Aunt Zhou, how did they find us...?"
"I don’t know." Zhou Xiaotong shook her head and gritted her teeth. "The one who came this time is the Crimson Ridge Celestial Venerable..."
The two youths fell silent, the uncertainty on their faces deepening. ’A Celestial Venerable...’
Zhou Xiaotong tightened her grip on the unconscious Chong Shanhu on her back and took a deep breath.
"See that giant mountain ahead? We have to get there to rest before sunset. This place is already near the North Netherworld. Once night falls, there might be Ghosts on patrol and Shadow Soldiers crossing the border..."
The three of them quickened their pace.
.........
On the mountainside of a certain giant peak, the vegetation grew wild. A casual tree could be dozens or even a hundred meters tall, and some weeds were as tall as a person.
Within this mountain forest, one couldn’t see the sun. The only thing visible was a deep, gloomy darkness.
Deep within the woods, enveloped by countless weeds and giant trees, the faint sound of waves suddenly echoed from a collapsed Daoist temple.
KRA-CHA!
The void inside the Daoist Temple tore open. A phantom of the River of Time ebbed and flowed as an injured being staggered out, step by painful step, slowly returning home.
An old man in a tattered Emperor’s Robe landed on the ground, looking disheveled and dejected.
"Without the Bronze Fragment, forcing my way across that chasm in time is still too difficult..."
He coughed up a mouthful of blood. The brilliant gold liquid struck the collapsed Daoist Temple, causing it and the entire mountain to tremble violently.
The old man looked exhausted. With his feet planted on the ground, he frowned and said:
"The power of the land hasn’t recovered to the level of the Ancient Times, so it can’t replenish my body in an instant... No, that’s not right. It’s also because my mastery of the Emperor Earth Deity position is still insufficient."
Lu Xuan sat down cross-legged. Unshaven and disheveled, he began to regulate the chaotic Primordial Qi and vital energy within him, sighing to himself.
"How have the Heavenly workings of the Current World fallen into such chaos? Even I can’t see clearly. The Primordial Qi, on the other hand, is excessively abundant. The world’s upper limit can already accommodate titans of the Celestial Realms... It seems I’ll have to first attain the Celestial Realms soon."
"I wonder where that little one, Cui Yin, ended up. Still, she’s a Great Grade Immortal. She shouldn’t run into any real trouble."
After becoming a symbol of the Path of the Great Jun,
Lu Xuan had immediately used the Path of the Great Jun to equalize itself into the Path of Time.
Then, aided by Houtu’s time-tearing Magic Technique, he relied on his Immortal body to forcibly carry Cui Yin across the River of Time.
But he had been a bit too careless. The River of Time was a place only Daluo could roam freely. Ordinary peak titans had to be cautious with every step.
Without the Bronze Fragment, even with the blessing of the Great Jun which could equalize all paths,
his fusion with that Great Dao was still too shallow, and that chasm in time was something even ordinary Daluo could not cross...
By forcing his way across, Lu Xuan himself was gravely injured, his physical shell depleted. As he neared the Current World, his state was already highly unstable, so he had no choice but to toss Cui Yin out randomly, with no idea where she would land.
It was just that...
He assessed his own condition. It was extremely poor!
All three hundred and sixty-five of his Innate Realms had been damaged while crossing the chasm in time, many of them shattered. His great Innate Divine Demon body was also on the verge of depletion.
His divine will was faint, his mind damaged, and his physical body was like a tattered cloth sack, leaking from every direction!
With a single punch, he could probably only muster enough strength to barely suppress an ordinary Immortal or Buddha titan of the Celestial Realms!
One must know that at his peak, he could annihilate a top-tier titan along with all of their infinite other selves!
"How can I speed up the fusion process with the Path of the Great Jun? The path ahead seems a bit hazy..."
Lu Xuan mused to himself. He had a premonition that once he had completely assimilated the Path of the Great Jun, the Dao Fruit... would come naturally.
It would be just like his Three Masters: he would directly obtain half a True Dao Fruit, and the remaining half would either have to be cultivated through his own Great Magical Power, or obtained through external forces, like Houtu did.
What is gained through external force is ultimately illusory and not something he would consider.
"The Path of the Great Jun..."
After pondering for a good while,
Lu Xuan frowned and looked around.
"The last time I returned from the Ancient Times, I was in the Sanqing Temple. Logically, I should have returned to the Sanqing Temple this time as well... Where is my original physical body?"
Previously, when he used the Bronze Fragment to travel back in time, he would enter the Ancient Times in the form of a dream, with his physical body remaining in the Current World while also appearing in the Ancient Times.
But now that he was back, he couldn’t sense the aura of his other body. In fact...
"Hm?"
Scanning the collapsed Daoist Temple, Lu Xuan’s brow twitched. ’Why is there a hint of familiarity?’
As he drew upon the power of the land to restore his damaged Essence, Qi, and Spirit, he activated Dao Generating One. Mysterious and intricate starlines appeared in his eyes.
However, the heavenly workings and Cause and Effect of the Current World were a tangled mess. Everything he tried to look at was blurry and dim!
After a moment’s thought, Lu Xuan flipped his aged palm, and a Cyan Lamp materialized.
He placed the Jade Void Glazed Lamp on the dust-covered Daoist altar behind him. Aided by the Glazed Candle Fire, he once again tried to perceive the threads of Cause and Effect.
"This is... the Sanqing Temple??"
Lu Xuan was stunned and a little horrified. ’How did the Sanqing Temple end up like this??’
’And why are Cause and Effect, the heavenly workings, and so on in the Current World in such a chaotic state??’
At this thought, Lu Xuan passed his palm over the candlelight again. Above his head, the Primordial Dharma Aspect appeared, dark and profound, as if seated on the highest throne.
Scenes from the past appeared before his eyes, and he saw the source of the great world’s chaos.
"So that’s how it is."
Lu Xuan smiled bitterly. It turned out he wasn’t blameless in this matter. As the Immortals and Buddhas successively returned to the Current World,
the illusory history woven by his two masters had collided with true history...
"But it still shouldn’t be this chaotic, right?"
Frowning slightly, Lu Xuan continued to channel his Primordial Dharma Aspect and the Jade Void Glazed Lamp, his eyes reflecting numerous grand scenes as he sought the fundamental cause.
And then... he saw it.
A jet-black long spear, falling from countless spacetimes, thrusting down to kill!
The same was true for the Current World!
As he looked at the long spear and traced its Cause and Effect, Lu Xuan’s expression changed. He saw an incredibly majestic female figure.
Beside that figure sat the Buddha Mother, and before her were two Great Buddhas whose power reached from heaven to earth!
"Hm?"
The female figure glanced over and spoke coolly:
"Who is watching?"
Her light words were like a great tide, smashing Lu Xuan’s line of sight back. His eyes stung, and the aura within him fell into disarray.
He immediately sat down cross-legged again to stabilize his Physique!
"It’s the Demon Ancestor."
Lu Xuan’s eyes were tightly shut, his expression incredibly solemn.
"The Buddha Mother was by her side. Who was speaking with the Demon Ancestor? Two Great Buddhas... could it be..."
His heart sank. ’Two Dao Fruit holders?’
After barely managing to stabilize himself and stop his Physique from collapsing further, Lu Xuan struggled to open his eyes. His vision was a blur of crimson.
"I can’t see clearly anymore..."
"What on earth happened to the Sanqing Temple?"
Peering through the crimson haze, he once again traced the source of Cause and Effect. Lu Xuan came to a sudden realization.
He closed his weary eyes again and sighed softly.
"So that’s how it is."
The Sanqing Temple fell eleven and a half years ago. The reason was also very simple.
At that time, he had been in the Ancient Times, warring against Heaven. He was utterly defeated by Lu Ya, and his three True Self Incarnations—Nine Nether, Profound Clarity, and Profound Origin Fusheng—were all destroyed.
The Sanqing Temple was implicated and fell, collapsing into its current state!
Although he had reconstructed Supreme Profound Clarity and Nine Nether after recovering from his downfall, he was still in the Ancient Times and naturally couldn’t manage the affairs of the Current World...
"After I’ve recovered a bit, I have to hurry up and attain the Celestial Realms. Then I can reconstruct Profound Origin Fusheng and the Sanqing Temple."
"It’s just... this time, have twelve years already passed in the Current World?"
"How are Xiaoyan and the others? What about Lady? And..."
Lu Xuan’s thoughts grew complicated. ’My child... should have been born by now...’
Shaking his head, he reined in his thoughts. The most urgent task was to report the great scene he had witnessed to his Three Masters!
Immediately, Lu Xuan sat quietly in the Sanqing Temple. Behind him, the candlelight of the Cyan Lamp flickered gently. In the cobwebs scattered throughout the Daoist Temple, a spider sat silently, waiting for its prey.
His mind sank into the mark left on his left hand by his Three Masters, and he entered the Origin with his Divine Thought.
His vision suddenly went dark.
.........
"Almost there, we’re almost there."
Zhou Xiaotong was utterly exhausted. Ever since her Dao Foundation was severed, she had been growing weaker by the day...
"We can’t stay at the foot of the mountain."
Zhou Xiaotong wiped her sweat. Still carrying Chong Shanhu, she turned her head and warned:
"It’s too easy to be spotted at the foot. Let’s go to the mountainside. The trees are towering there, and the weeds will provide cover. Our pursuers won’t be able to see us directly."
Lin Yiyi and Chen Lide nodded quickly. Flanking her on the left and right, they helped support Zhou Xiaotong as they climbed toward the mountainside of the giant peak.
"If only Elder Wu were here..." Lin Yiyi couldn’t help but sigh.
Zhou Xiaotong replied wearily:
"This was just bad luck. Uncle Wu happened to be away at the Dragon Tiger Holy Land... We just need to hide for a while. Once Uncle Wu returns from the Dragon Tiger Holy Land,
and once the True Martial Emperor’s Son from the Wudang Holy Land arrives, we’ll be safe."
After a pause, she shook her dizzy head.
"The Four Directions Holy Land... if the Kongtong Holy Land hadn’t suddenly vanished, we wouldn’t be in this mess..."
Beside her, Lin Yiyi supported Zhou Xiaotong and asked softly:
"Aunt Zhou, I heard that in the Kongtong Holy Land, there were many super-powerful figures who surpassed even Celestial Venerables and Buddhas. Is that true?"
"How could it be fake?"
A nostalgic look appeared on Zhou Xiaotong’s face.
"Uncle Ox Demon, Sister True Phoenix, Uncle Xuanzang... You have no idea what a glorious sight it once was."
She suddenly thought of the Heaven-Barking Dog, and a sad look crossed her face. She picked up her pace slightly.
"Let’s all walk faster. The sky... it’s getting dark."
The three of them traveled in silence. As the Great Sun sank in the west, they finally reached the mountainside of the giant peak.
"Huh?"
The sharp-eyed Lin Yiyi’s face lit up with pleasant surprise.
"Aunt Zhou, there’s a dilapidated Daoist temple up ahead! At least we’ll have a place to spend the night!"
Zhou Xiaotong and Chen Lide followed her gaze and indeed saw a dilapidated, collapsed Daoist temple, hidden among the weeds and giant trees.
There seemed to be a plaque above the temple gate, but it was torn horizontally and vertically, making the words on it illegible.
Smiles appeared on their faces as well.
Zhou Xiaotong glanced at the sky and said:
"Come on. Let’s go to the Daoist temple first and get your Uncle Chong settled. Then we’ll see if there are any Great Medicines or anything like that nearby."
With that, the three of them walked toward the collapsed Daoist Temple. After glancing at the shattered plaque on the gate, Zhou Xiaotong pushed the doors open.
CREAK!
Clusters of dust rained down.
