Free Web NovelChapter 506: Chapter 4: Today, Greatly Auspicious
Sanqing Temple.
’So, this is Sanqing Temple...’ Lin Yiyi murmured to herself. Then, a bolt of lightning flashed through her mind!
Sanqing Temple... Sanqing Temple!!
She gasped. Memories from when she was just three or four years old swept over her, and the image of that Daoist Temple—the one that had once loomed over the Celestial Vault, existing Everywhere—materialized in her mind.
Zhou Xiaotong was also trembling slightly, her lips quivering as she stiffly turned her head to the side.
"You, you..."
Lu Xuan gave a placid smile and said calmly,
"Yang Erlang calls me Martial Uncle. You should call me Martial Grand-uncle."
Zhou Xiaotong froze on the spot. Her eyes instantly reddened and her chest heaved. Then, she dropped into a deep bow.
She said with a sob,
"This junior, Zhou Xiaotong, pays her respects to Martial Grand-uncle!"
"Good." Lu Xuan smiled and nodded.
Meanwhile, Lin Yiyi and Chen Lide were completely dumbfounded. ’Uncle Chong’s master is Aunt Zhou’s Martial Grand-uncle?’
They both swallowed hard.
A short while later, a Qingyun descended. It lifted the group, their minds a whirlwind of complex emotions, and carried them toward the East.
Wherever they passed, it seemed as though the heavens and the earth themselves played Immortal Music, its lingering melody resonating for Nine Suns.
As they approached the Immortal Court, the withered old man smiled.
"Today shall be a day of great fortune."
The words had barely left his lips when endless Qingyun began to gather and auspicious omens rained down from the heavens. The phenomenon began where they were and spread until it encompassed the entire world!
The chaotic threads of fate, Cause and Effect, and more all converged at this moment, presenting a single aspect.
[Auspicious].
[Greatly Auspicious].
But it didn’t stop there.
Above the flow of Years, within the Daoist Palace, an old man suddenly opened his eyes and said with a smile,
"Not enough."
As his words fell, the phenomenon spread from the Current World to the very end of Years, and then even further, into the Great Chaos.
[Supremely Auspicious].
This was the third [Supremely Auspicious] event in all of history. The first was in the primeval era, when Xuandu became a disciple. The second was during the Spring and Autumn Years, when Lu Xuan delivered a formal notice.
And the third was today, at this very moment.
......
Taishan.
After the entire Ancestor Star underwent two great upgrades, expanding and unfurling into a realm of a round heaven and a square earth, the landmass that had once constituted the Ancestor Star became but a minuscule patch at the very center of this new realm.
Taishan, too, had shifted to a position just west of the center, its location now the exact opposite of where it had been in Ancient Times.
At this very moment, halfway up the slopes of Taishan, a sprawling complex of palaces had been erected. It was a vast and magnificent cluster of structures that rose and fell with the terrain.
Within the largest and highest Great Palace on the mountainside, the Lord of the Taishan Holy Land and Patriarch of the Zhuge Family opened his eyes slightly.
"How are the preparations coming along?"
Below him, the Grand Elder bowed his head respectfully.
"Ancient Ancestor, the ceremony is prepared and can be performed at any time. We could begin communicating with Emperor Dongyue inside the mountain’s core and the one in the Copper Hall at the summit."
"Mm."
The old man gave a faint nod. His fingers traced the patterns of fate in the air as he performed a Divination, and he said with a frown,
"Today is not an auspicious day. It shows signs of great misfortune. Postpone it... Keep an eye on the West. Today is perilous; an Ancient Buddha from the Buddha Land may arrive in person."
The expressions of the elders present grew solemn. They bowed in unison and voiced their assent.
Then, the Grand Elder asked with concern,
"Ancient Ancestor, you must not divine the workings of fate any longer. Fate is in chaos right now, and we of the Zhuge Lineage are cursed to live no more than three thousand years. By forcibly prying into fate, you risk shortening your life even further..."
The old man laughed freely.
"There are always two sides to every coin. The Zhuge Lineage cannot live past three thousand years. Once that limit is reached, be they Immortal or True Immortal, their lives end."
"But is there any member of the Zhuge Direct Lineage who is not a figure of peerless talent? Among the three existing Holy Lands, only our Zhuge Lineage has the most Immortals."
He paused, then sighed softly.
"In truth, my life should have ended long ago. Ninety thousand years ago, my grandfather personally sealed me away and buried me underground. I have only just awakened in this era. To be able to witness the world ninety thousand years later is a great blessing in itself."
The elders fell silent, their eyes filled with yearning and awe.
’To seal the flow of Time for ninety thousand years, surviving even the End of Dharma Era and the perilous chasm in the Years...’
’Just how astonishingly brilliant was that Ancient Ancestor?’
’And how did he perform a Divination that predicted the great calamity of the Human Race, ninety thousand years in the future?’
Seated in the highest position, Zhuge Shang waved his hand wearily.
"Enough. Let’s not speak of these things for now. The next most auspicious day will be in ten days’ time. Make all the preparations..."
His voice suddenly stopped.
He and the assembled higher-ups of the Holy Land and the Zhuge Family all turned to look outside the Great Palace. They saw the horizon erupt in a magnificent, seven-colored splendor.
A dense blanket of Qingyun and auspicious omens filled the sky, accompanied by the ethereal figures of True Dragons, Divine Phoenixes, and Qilins!
"This..."
Alarmed, Zhuge Shang shot to his feet in disbelief and hurried outside the Great Palace to gaze upon the scene.
Across the entirety of Taishan, all life was bursting with vitality. Withered grass turned green as if it were spring, and old trees burst into bloom!
’No, it’s not just Taishan,’ he realized. ’It’s the entire world!’
Zhuge Shang’s expression changed dramatically. He stared at the Qingyun and auspicious omens overhead, which had nearly converged into a canopy that blotted out the sky.
He performed another Divination, probing the secrets of the heavens once more, and was left utterly dumbfounded.
"Today..."
Zhuge Shang murmured,
"Today... is the second day of supreme fortune in the last three hundred thousand Years..."
"The second most auspicious day in three hundred thousand years!"
He stood there, lost in a daze for a long time, frantically manipulating the divinatory trigrams. A deep and boundless spectacle appeared within his eyes as he peered into the secrets of the heavens!
But all he saw was a withered old man, looking as if he were at death’s door, standing beside the Immortal Court. He held a Celestial Decree in his mouth, his single utterance defining the Dharma!
"Today shall be a day of great fortune."
So spoke the withered old man.
And after that, the world truly did become a place of great fortune.
All Weapons in the Human World fell silent. Thousands of birds and ten thousand beasts prostrated themselves on the ground. Every creature born on this day received a blessing from the Celestial Realm!
’Such a grand gesture... but for what purpose?’
A chill went down Zhuge Shang’s spine. This scene was too terrifying, a rarity even in ancient times. A day of great misfortune had been twisted into one of great fortune!
’The last recorded event of this magnitude... wasn’t that back in the Spring and Autumn Period?’
The Immortal Court trembled. From the Netherworld, the Five Emperors emerged. Within the Buddha Land, Ancient Buddhas revealed looks of shock. And in the far south, within the Demon Country, a graceful woman opened her eyes slightly and whispered,
"Interesting."
Meanwhile, in a certain sea of nothingness, at the very moment of supreme fortune, a burst of Immortal Light erupted, allowing it to briefly intersect and overlap with reality.
An exquisite little toddler, acting furtively, took advantage of this brief overlap between the illusory and the real. She hopped and skipped her way out, then dashed toward the Human World like a flash.
On the sole continent within the sea of nothingness, all hell broke loose.
"The Young Miss is gone!!"
A Giant Bull cried out in terror. A True Phoenix trembled. The Pure Ancient Buddha shot to his feet in shock. And a stunningly beautiful woman was stomping her foot in frustration.
"Lu! Nian!!"
The woman, chewing on sugar-roasted chestnuts, said furiously,
"That girl, she’s always trying to run off... Kongtong is not supposed to touch the Human World unless it is a day of supreme fortune! Which bastard went and meddled with the heavens?"
Nearby, the Giant Bull, who was coiled on Flame Mountain, added a reminder,
"The Young Miss also made off with Kongtong’s entire reserve of Innate Chestnuts!"
The woman gasped, trembling with rage. She immediately switched from gobbling down large handfuls of chestnuts to slowly savoring them one tiny piece at a time.
As she ate, she muttered curses at the person who had altered the heavens, cursing them from head to toe.
Back at the edge of the Immortal Court, high above the clouds, the withered old man’s nose suddenly began to itch.
He let out a sneeze. An Innate Wind Calamity erupted, its gales so powerful they nearly toppled the Immortal Court, causing it to shake violently.
Lu Xuan was a bit stunned. ’I was planning to sneeze, but not right now...’
’Why did I suddenly get the urge?’
’Is someone with a high Cultivation level cursing me out?’
After a moment of silence, he looked at the dazed Chong Shanhu and the others and said in a heartfelt tone,
"Shan Hu, in our lineage, Cause and Effect resolves on its own, and calamities must be faced alone. Masters do not shield their disciples, and the younger generation must settle their own scores..."
"This sneeze was absolutely not on your behalf,"
he said with a serious expression.
Chong Shanhu looked at the towering, enraged figures rising from within the Immortal Court and nodded blankly, at a complete loss.
