"Child, you might not grasp the full aning of what I’m saying just by hearing it... But if you think carefully, you’ll understand."
He spread his hand, beckoning the River of Ti, which manifested before Lu Xuan’s eyes.
"The past is uncertain, but the future is already decided. Normally, a person’s future is a path they forge themselves. But The Three Pristine Ones feared your aptitude, yet couldn’t bear to waste it, so they laid out your future path in advance."
The indignation in Chu Tai’s voice grew stronger.
"They... gave you a miserable future, putting a hard limit on the heights you could reach, ensuring you could never surpass them!"
As he spoke, the River of Ti roiled, revealing scene after scene.
One scene showed Senior Brother Zhang, in the guise of the Ghost Valley Master, at Lu Xuan’s side. He faced the Immortal Gods in the heavens with his sword drawn. Ultimately, Senior Brother Zhang was captured. In the Celestial Court, he was subjected to all manner of torture and died in excruciating pain.
There was Lu Xuan standing before the Celestial Court, weeping alone over a dilapidated wooden chessboard. Below him was war and fire, the wails of countless common people, and innurable soldiers charging the Immortal Gods, only to be reduced to corpses!
There was also the scene of Lu Xuan falling from the clouds, the aura on his body extinguished into Nirvana, having beco a dead man. Amidst countless cries of grief, he was buried, laid to rest in Lu Xuan’s Tomb.
Scene after scene drifted in the currents of ti, and all of them were the future.
"Look!"
Chu Tai’s voice suddenly rose.
"The Three Pristine Ones have woven a tragedy for you! They did it to extinguish your desire to bring World Clarity, to make you their obedient disciple, forever and ever subservient to them!"
After a pause, he continued, "If that weren’t the case, why would Primordial and Spirit Treasure go to the trouble of weaving a special tiline for you to cover the original one?"
Lu Xuan stared blankly at the tragic scenes in the River of Ti and asked softly,
"Are these... the events of Ancient Tis? Is this my future?"
"Yes!" Chu Tai’s voice was loud, but it imdiately softened. He said gently, "However, this is the future that would have unfolded without your grandpa’s interference, without my help."
Pausing, he pointed at the frozen Zhang Ling nearby and smiled.
"Take him, for example. In this life, he was supposed to die a miserable death, his Three Souls and Seven Spirits nearly severed by the Celestial Blade. In his next life, he would have beco a puppet of the Daoist Sect, toiling away for their so-called glory. But now, things are different."
As he spoke, he opened his palm. A mask materialized in his hand, and he placed it on Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan didn’t resist, allowing the mask to be placed on his face. The mont it was on, he could feel things like fate and celestial secrets blur and beco obscured in an Instant. The mask’s aura felt very familiar, identical to the Origin’s, shielding him from all prying eyes.
"And now, you and I have reversed the miserable future that was originally destined for your senior brother!"
As he spoke, Chu Tai took Lu Xuan’s hand and stepped into the River of Ti. They crossed the chasm that stretched across ti, traveling all the way back to the Spring and Autumn Period.
When they stepped out of the river, a profound and mysterious radiance of the fundantal Great Dao blood from Chu Tai’s body, turning into Chaos that enveloped them both. This, combined with the mask, truly isolated them from everything.
Lu Xuan said nothing, rely following quietly behind Chu Tai. They walked from the Little World of the Current World to the Spring and Autumn Period, to the Chu Region of Ancient Tis.
He saw a thirty-seven-year-old Ghost Valley Master, lecturing his disciples on the Dao, his tone rhythmic and asured.
The Ghost Valley Master sat cross-legged in a deep mountain forest. Virtue suffused his body as he spoke the sounds of the Dao:
"This is my Dao, but it is not your Dao. I can point out a path forward for you, but how you walk it is up to you, not ."
In the Spring and Autumn Ancient Tis, the Ghost Valley Master didn’t notice the two gazes quietly looking down on him from the void. He continued speaking:
"I can foresee that the Spring and Autumn Period will descend into chaos, the Zhou Dynasty will fall, and the lands will crumble... Go. Go and save the world."
At this, a disciple asked a question:
"Teacher, should we tell the Hundred Schools about this? If we have their help, perhaps we can restore Taiping to the world?"
"The Hundred Schools?" The Ghost Valley Master shook his head. "Aside from Lu Zi, none of them are any good."
"You... know Lu Zi?"
"Naturally."
The Ghost Valley Master laughed heartily.
"Everyone says I was born around the ti Lu Zi was Invading Qi, but they don’t know that I am also Lu Zi’s senior brother... That kid used to follow around all the ti. When he was little, and sotis disobedient, I would even spank him..."
The disciples gasped in amazent. In the void, the corner of Lu Xuan’s eye twitched.
Just then, Chu Tai spoke with compassion:
"If I hadn’t brought you here to interfere, your Senior Brother Zhang’s future would be to suffer death by a thousand cuts at the hands of the Celestial Court. Could you bear that?"
Lu Xuan didn’t answer.
Chu Tai paid it no mind, assuming Lu Xuan was simply shaken and overwheld by it all. He just led Lu Xuan out from the void.
"Who are you?" The Ghost Valley Master, who had been smiling calmly while recounting Lu Zi’s embarrassing stories, had a slight change in expression. A look of apprehension appeared on his face.
"My na is Chu Tai."
Chu Tai pointed casually, peeling away the world located over by the Ten Thousand Mountains. Then, a Bronze Fragnt Lu Xuan had never seen before appeared in his hand and landed in the hands of the completely baffled Ghost Valley Master.
Then, he glanced sideways at Lu Xuan.
"You do it."
Lu Xuan nodded. He reached out and seized the baffled Senior Brother Zhang. With the mask empowering him, his strength at this mont surpassed even that of an ordinary Grand Grade.
"My na..." Lu Xuan thought for a mont, then sighed softly. "My na is Supre Emperor Profound Yellow."
As he spoke, he threw the Ghost Valley Master toward that separated world. As he did, he recalled what Senior Brother Zhang had just said. Lu Xuan couldn’t resist. ’He used to spank often when I was a kid...’
He couldn’t help himself. He gave the Ghost Valley Master a slap on the butt. He used a clever trick with his force so as not to injure him, but the intense pain shot straight to his soul, making the Ghost Valley Master grimace.
"Do you people know..." Before falling into the Little World, the Ghost Valley Master’s roar was like thunder. But then, Lu Xuan suddenly rembered what Senior Brother Zhang had said inside the Little World.
"That Supre Emperor Profound Yellow slapped for no reason! Son of a bitch!"
Imdiately, Lu Xuan put on a look of dissatisfaction and gave the Ghost Valley Master’s butt another slap.
In excruciating pain, Zhang Ling howled, losing all his initial calm and composure as he fell completely into that Little World.
After all this was done, Chu Tai led Lu Xuan away, leaving the crowd of Ghost Valley disciples to stare at each other in bewildernt.
Returning to the Little World in the Current World, back inside the Hall of the Hundred Schools, the two sat down again.
Chu Tai said softly:
"Child, do you understand now? The Three Pristine Ones... are thieves!"
Lu Xuan savored the mory of the two hard slaps he’d given Senior Brother Zhang, raised his head slightly, and asked coolly,
"Then, Grandpa Chu, what would you have do?"
"Continue on your original path, but I will help you reverse the tragic outco. When the ti is right, you and I will overturn this world together and be revered by all!"
He said softly:
"So long as the Saints do not die, the great thieves will not cease. The Three Pristine Ones are the Saints, and therefore the thieves. In fact, they are an unavoidable part of your quest for World Clarity. I will co again, and at that ti, I will tell you what you must do..."
After speaking, Chu Tai’s figure slowly dissipated, and along with him, the old tables and chairs also vanished into thin air.
As he left, he did not take the mask from Lu Xuan’s face. He also returned the three Bronze Fragnts to him, instructing:
"The road ahead is covered in thorns, but I will teach you how to walk it!"
With his words fading, Chu Tai vanished completely. After Lu Xuan silently put away the mask and the Bronze Fragnts, Ti began to flow again.
"Xiaoxuan?" Zhang Ling’s voice rang out at the perfect mont. "When did you co down?"
Lu Xuan glanced to the side, looking at his extrely aged Senior Brother Zhang, and suddenly asked:
"Senior Brother Zhang."
"Hm? I’m here. What’s wrong?" Zhang Ling asked softly.
"Do you rember how you were thrown in here in the first place?"
"This... Didn’t I just tell you?"
Zhang Ling was a bit confused, but he answered anyway:
"A guy nad Chu Tai stuffed a Supre Treasure into my hands, and then another bastard wearing a mask, who called himself Supre Emperor Profound Yellow, threw in here!"
After a pause, an indignant look appeared on his face.
"That bastard even gave two slaps! Two slaps!"
"Is that so?"
But Lu Xuan broke into a brilliant smile.
"I thought it was only one slap."
"No, it was two slaps! Son of a bitch! Son of a bitch!"
"Yes. Son of a bitch." Lu Xuan’s gaze grew profound. ’Grandpa Chu... is a very big problem.’
’When in doubt... it’s ti to tell the grown-ups.’
「anwhile, above All Realms and the Celestial Realms.」
Supre frowned, Primordial opened his eyes, and Spirit Treasure looked up.
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