Free Web NovelChapter 527: Chapter 20: All Affairs Concluded, Arriving in the Spring and Autumn Period, Exiting Hangu Pass Again
"So that’s how it is."
In the quiet room, three lamps hung side-by-side in the air. Within their three flames, scenes of the Celestial Realms, the great world’s mountains and rivers, and the sun, moon, and stars rose and fell.
Wisps of profound and wondrous Dao Rhyme intertwined, outlining a true Great Heaven and Earth so vast it was boundless!
A broad smile filled Lu Xuan’s face.
At first, he had been vexed about how to attempt to replace a portion of the Heavenly Dao and Earthly Virtue during the Late Han Dynasty.
Because since The Beginning of Ancient Times, everything had become perfected. Heaven was majestic, and the Earth was vast. Relying solely on a wisp of Celestial Intent Dao Rhyme made it difficult to find a starting point.
But now...
The Profound Mysteries manifested by the convergence of the Three Lamps before him was, shockingly, the Great Heaven and Earth itself!
’Are the three lamps of Heaven, Earth, and Man a manifestation of the Celestial Realm, the Nine Nether, and the Human World?’
Gently stroking the flames of the Three Lamps, Lu Xuan came to a realization.
’No wonder the formation based on these Three Lamps could briefly grant that Zhuge Prime Minister the power to strike in all directions and repel a Dao Fruit...’
’If I’m not mistaken, he must have briefly wielded the Heavenly Dao and Earthly Virtue, commanding the Great Will of Heaven and Earth.’
As he murmured to himself, Lu Xuan released his hand, allowing the Cyan Lamp, the Azure Lamp, and the Gloomy Lamp to circle at his side, quietly floating.
Surrounded by the Three Lamps, his aura seemed to grow even more profound and vast. His Primordial Dharma Form glowed faintly, reflecting countless, endless cosmoses!
"Everything is ready."
Surrounded by the three great lamps, Lu Xuan strode out of the quiet room. Outside, Zhuge Shang stood with his head bowed respectfully.
"Lu Zi..."
"I will be leaving for some time, though I don’t know for exactly how long. The Demon Country has been annihilated, I have shattered the Buddha Land, and I have also purged the Immortal Court. There shouldn’t be any major disturbances for a while."
After a pause, Lu Xuan continued,
"As for the Northern Continent..."
He pondered for a moment, then smiled.
"I will issue a warning. The Human World will welcome a brief period of peace. You should unite with the other factions, open your gates to new disciples, and widely spread the path of the Dharma."
"Yes, Lu Zi." Zhuge Shang’s heart trembled. He bowed again, but when he finished his obeisance and looked up, Lu Xuan’s figure was gone.
"The Three Lamps have gathered..." Zhuge Shang was in something of a daze.
「Meanwhile, in a city not too far from Taishan.」
"The world is at peace. Let’s rest and recuperate here for a while."
Chong Shanhu said with a light chuckle,
"I’ve taken over a large courtyard and plan to open a martial arts hall, teach some students, and help them build a solid foundation."
Zhou Xiaotong, his temples graying, smiled and nodded. Beside him, Lin Yiyi and Chen Lide couldn’t help but crane their necks forward.
The former grinned and said cheerfully,
"Uncle Chong, then we have to be the first students!"
"Why be students...?"
Chong Shanhu shook his head with a smile.
"Back when your Aunt Zhou and I were trapped in a perilous situation, you two little ones were bold enough to take care of our every need..."
The smiles on the young boy and girl’s faces froze. A guess formed in their minds, and they immediately grew excited.
But Chong Shanhu continued,
"In my master’s lineage, to be considered for the Direct Lineage, one must undergo countless trials and tribulations, so let’s not discuss that for now. But if I were to take you as my nominal students, would you be willing?"
Lin Yiyi and Chen Lide exchanged an ecstatic glance, nodding their heads furiously.
"We’re willing! We’re willing!!"
"Good." Chong Shanhu laughed heartily and teased, "Then once the martial hall opens, you’ll be the Eldest Senior Brother and Eldest Senior Sister..."
After a pause, his expression turned serious.
"Although you are only nominal students and have not yet been formally initiated, you must know the single greatest and most important rule of our lineage."
The two of them, Lin Yiyi and Chen Lide, became reverent and performed a proper, formal bow.
"Please enlighten us, Teacher!"
"The Taishang Lineage: when faced with a tribulation, one enters it; when faced with calamity, one does not flee. If you can endure three thousand tribulations and three thousand calamities, then pass ten trials, you may be accepted into the Direct Lineage."
As he spoke, a smile appeared on Chong Shanhu’s face, as if he was recalling a scene from long ago, but then he sighed softly and warned,
"And do not underestimate this rule. Back in the day..."
He shook his head slightly, thinking of Zhuge Ke.
That girl’s talent was extraordinary. Her gift for the art of Divination was said to be on par with that of the Ancient Ancestor of the Zhuge Lineage.
Unfortunately, she was ultimately a bit too timid. She refused to enter tribulations and fled from calamities, and in the end, she was expelled from the sect by our Master...
While Chong Shanhu was lost in his thoughts, Lin Yiyi and Chen Lide nodded solemnly and performed another bow.
After the two had completed their bow, a calm voice suddenly sounded out.
"Since Shan Hu has registered your names, you can now be considered part of the Taishang Lineage."
The four of them were startled and instinctively glanced to the side, where they saw a middle-aged Daoist slowly emerging, three great lamps circling his body.
One was cyan, one was azure, and one was gloomy.
"Master!"
"Senior!"
The four of them, both shocked and overjoyed, hastily performed a grand obeisance. Lin Yiyi peeked up, and as she gazed upon this serene, middle-aged man, her spirit couldn’t help but tremble.
The Immortal Court had fallen, the Buddha Land had been shattered, and now there were rumors that the entire Demon Country had been slaughtered!
Lu Xuan smiled and nodded, then gave a casual wave of his hand.
"Since you are now part of the Taishang Lineage, you should cultivate this Dharma. If one day you endure all tribulations and are accepted into the Direct Lineage, I will then bestow a wondrous treasure upon you."
As his voice fell, an Ancient Scripture materialized in the air.
[Supreme Chapter].
The scripture was divided into four sections, which were none other than the four Dharmas the Supreme had taught Lu Xuan, corresponding to the four realms from Jade Tower to Heaven-Facing Palace.
Chong Shanhu bowed again, accepted the Ancient Scripture, and when he looked up, his Master was already heading North.
"The fate of the great world is not yet sealed, but there should be no turmoil for a time. Seize this period of peace."
The four performed another grand obeisance.
By the time they finished, the Daoist had already arrived in the Northern Continent.
He simply stood silently upon the clouds, and without him making a single move, great waves of turmoil already swept through the Northern Continent.
The Five Ghost Emperors, their faces still pale, and the Ten Halls Yama all emerged together, their expressions a mixture of shock and terror. They were all trembling in fear.
"We... we greet Daoist Monarch Profound Clarity!"
The Five Ghost Emperors bowed, their hearts pounding with terror.
It was no wonder they were like this. One only had to look at the fates of the Immortal Court, the Buddha Land, and the Demon Country...
Lu Xuan gazed at the Five Ghost Emperors and the Ten Halls Yama and spoke indifferently,
"All you ghosts of the Northern Continent must remain isolated from the world. Do not leave this land. Can you do this?"
The Five Ghost Emperors hurriedly performed a grand obeisance.
"We will obey the Daoist Monarch’s command!"
Lu Xuan nodded slightly, then glanced at the Ten Halls Yama and asked calmly,
"After Fengdu abdicated his position and was grievously wounded, where is he now?"
"In response to the Daoist Monarch’s question... we do not know either!"
Lu Xuan frowned but didn’t press the matter further.
He knew the current situation was the result of a collision between false history and the true flow of time; it was not yet a fixed outcome.
The struggle for the Dao Fruit recurring in the Late Han Dynasty, the collapse of the Underworld in the Late Han Dynasty—these were ultimately just possibilities, not destiny.
This was also the reason he had spared the lives of the Ten Halls Yama...
From the perspective of Cause and Effect, these ten fellows were fiercely loyal to the Little Peach Spirit.
After a moment of thought, Lu Xuan slowly pressed a palm downward and said softly,
"For the time being, the Ten Halls Yama will govern the Northern Continent. If there is any chaos during this period, you will be utterly annihilated."
As he spoke, the Daoist’s great palm blotted out the sky, absorbing the Infinite Realms of the ten directions and transforming into a Five Finger Mountain that bore down on the Five Ghost Emperors!
The faces of these five beings, who were "close to the Daluo realm," changed drastically. They instinctively tried to resist, but after exhausting all their methods, they realized with horror that they couldn’t budge the Divine Mountain in the slightest!
BOOM!!
With a tremendous crash, the Five Finger Mountain crushed the Five Ghost Emperors and slammed into the ground. A great power and rhyme emerged upon it, forming a world-engulfing formation that sealed the area and suppressed all Five Ghost Emperors!
Fittingly, it was one finger per emperor.
The Ten Halls Yama lowered their heads, a collective chill running down their spines.
And so, less than two years after the four continents had been born, just as they began to gather momentum, all of them fell into decline within a single month.
"What belongs to the Human World will, in the end, return to the Human World."
Lu Xuan looked up and let out a soft exclamation toward the heavens beyond. His gaze crossed the Celestial Vault, pierced the starry sky, and landed upon the Cosmic Edge Wilderness.
Staring at the hazy figures beyond the wilderness, he issued a warning:
"Immortals and Buddhas may return, but should you cause chaos, I will slay you all. Do not say you were not warned."
The great voice rose from the Human World, swept across the entire starry sky, passed through the long, ancient stellar roads, and penetrated the Cosmic Edge Wilderness.
Finally, it echoed beyond the Great Heaven and Earth, shaking the Chaos.
The Ancient Immortals and Ancient Buddhas, who had been locked in deadly combat, all paused briefly and looked over in silence, their eyes filled with expressions of gravity, terror, or joy.
"Junior Brother..." Duobao Daoist said with a smile, smashing an Ancient Buddha to pieces with one blow. The Three-Eyed Celestial God shed a tear, as if recalling something, and sighed softly,
"Martial Uncle..."
He brandished his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade as his third eye shot forth a clear light, felling a swath of Immortals and Buddhas.
And the words, "Do not say you were not warned," still echoed through the Chaos with absolute authority.
Not a single Immortal or Buddha dared to question it.
For Supreme Profound Clarity could slay a Daluo with a flick of his wrist.
........
「Three Months Later.」
In the collapsed Daoist Temple.
Bathed in the glow of the three brilliant lamps, the middle-aged Daoist stretched lazily. He had secretly watched over the Human World for three months without any turmoil. It seemed everything would be fine.
Glancing at the Heaven-Opening Banner and gazing at the Demon Ancestor Incarnation suppressed within, Lu Xuan frowned.
’This one seems a bit off...’
He had spent these past few days observing and studying this Demon Ancestor Incarnation, and the more he learned, the more alarmed he became.
Her boundless, vast Cultivation was far beyond his own, yet she was merely an incarnation at the level of the Celestial Realms?
And not only that, Lu Xuan seriously doubted whether the Heaven-Opening Banner could truly suppress this Demon Ancestor Incarnation.
After all, her Cultivation far surpassed his own.
But ever since being suppressed within the Heaven-Opening Banner, the Demon Ancestor Incarnation had made no move, nor had she ever tried to break free of her bonds.
By contrast, the Demonic Fox suppressed on the other side had tried to break out time and time again!
Something was not right.
Lu Xuan narrowed his eyes and murmured to himself,
"If the Demon Ancestor was truly formed from the ’Qi’ abandoned by Wa Huang, then her Transcendent Traits must be among the most potent, comparable to the Lady herself..."
According to the one who called herself Wa Huang,
she had abandoned her own Essence, Qi, and Spirit, as well as her merit, Virtue, Cause and Effect, and Dao Rhyme. Each of these had given rise to partial Transcendent Traits.
But when it came down to it,
the Transcendent Traits contained in all the other abandoned parts combined were likely not as potent or terrifying as those of the Lady or the Demon Ancestor.
These two were both capable of challenging an Enlightened One.
Gazing at the Demon Ancestor Incarnation seated within the Heaven-Opening Banner, Lu Xuan was in a difficult position.
He was almost certain this incarnation had ill intentions and could, in all likelihood, break through the suppression at any moment.
But he couldn’t possibly release her. If he did, the Human World might descend into chaos again. Yet, carrying this time bomb around with him didn’t seem like a solution either...
After a long period of contemplation,
Lu Xuan made a decision and murmured to himself,
"When in doubt, I should ask my Teacher."
He smiled, rose gracefully from within the collapsed Daoist Temple, and walked out. He gazed out over the vast Human World, taking it all in with a single glance.
Many old acquaintances, such as Uncle Zheng, Uncle Wu, and Xiaoxu, were nowhere to be found. They were likely all within the Kongtong Immortal Realm.
The chaos in the Human World today had not yet completely subsided, but things were much better.
It was just that...
this might be the last moment of peace before the storm.
"I must be off."
Leaving behind these ethereal words, the collapsed Daoist Temple once again stood tall and imposing. Profound Origin Fusheng walked out from within it and gave a slight bow.
With a casual gesture, he tore open the River of Time and stepped inside.
Kaleidoscopic scenes flashed past as all the events of Ancient History played out before his eyes.
When the scene before Lu Xuan’s eyes settled again,
he was in the Spring and Autumn Years.
He was riding an old Cyan Bull, and beside him were a steady young man and a lively little girl. Leading the bull was the wizened Old Nong, who was in the middle of a yawn.
And behind them stood the magnificent Hangu Pass.
Yin Xi was still standing atop the pass, leading his soldiers in a chanted farewell:
"We respectfully send off Lu Zi!"
"We respectfully send off Lu Zi!!"
Everything was just as it had been in the past.
The old Daoist on the back of the Cyan Bull waved his hand and laughed heartily.
"If you see a Buddha again, perhaps it is me you see."
The soldiers atop Hangu Pass did not understand, the nine thousand spirits circling in the sky were bewildered, and the Eighty-One Armors stood in silent watch.
But then they all bowed once more.
"We accept Lu Zi’s command!"
