He walked to Zhao Zheng's side and, smiling, tapped him on the head three tis. The young man startled awake and glanced at the elders, who were still ditating with their eyes closed and smiles on their faces. Fearing he might disturb them, he dared not make a sound and simply bowed to Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan nodded, then walked over to the Cyan Bull and mounted it. A divine radiance, smooth as silk, poured from his hand, lifting up the Eighty-One Armors who were also imrsed in the principles of the Dao. He then began to slowly ride out of the city, not disturbing a single soul.
Zhao Zheng, having just been roused by him, did not hesitate. He bowed once more with the deference of a junior, then silently followed.
As he left Yong City, Zhao Zheng's heart shook as he saw the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish in the water all prostrate on the ground. Even the grass, trees, and flowers were bowed low.
After following behind the Cyan Bull for a hundred li, Zhao Zheng finally dared to speak:
"I, Zheng, beseech you, Adoptive Grandfather, to let accompany you across the land."
"You may," Lu Xuan said with a laugh. "You can lead the bull."
The Cyan Bull pawed its hoof and glanced at Zhao Zheng, but didn't object. Suppressing his surging excitent, Zhao Zheng walked to the front, took the reins, and began to lead the Cyan Bull forward.
"Adoptive Grandfather, where are we heading next?"
"There are eighty Dukes States. I have already spread the Dao in Qin. After we have journeyed through the remaining seventy-nine, we will head west. Once I have delivered the final sermon, you will return to the Qin Region by yourself."
Zhao Zheng nodded respectfully, only half-understanding, and quietly asked another question:
"Adoptive Grandfather, after you head west, are you really going to ascend to the West Pole Celestial Court to demand accountability and te out punishnt?"
"Of course." The old Daoist's head was lowered and his eyelids drooped, but the smile on his face widened, tinged with a chilling cold. "Stripping the Celestial Court of its authority was a chastisent, not the full punishnt. I still must personally visit that celestial domain and punish Gouchen."
A chill shot through Zhao Zheng. 'Punish Gouchen...'
Gouchen was a sovereign, once the lord of his own Celestial Court, revered and worshipped by all living things. His na was known far and wide.
Zhao Zheng lowered his head.
"Then... after you leave, Adoptive Grandfather, will you... will you ever co back?"
"I will return, of course." Lu Xuan's gaze grew profound. "Xiaozheng, let ask you. If, one day, you were to unite all the lands under heaven, what would you do?"
Though he didn't understand the reason for the old Daoist's sudden question, Zhao Zheng considered it carefully for a mont before replying:
"Adoptive Grandfather, I do not know."
He was being honest. What he knew, he knew; what he didn't, he didn't. He had no desire, nor the courage, to try and deceive the old Daoist with empty, grandiose words.
Lu Xuan gave a gentle nod and simply said:
"The road ahead is long. There's no hurry. Keep thinking on it."
"Yes, Adoptive Grandfather."
As they spoke, Zhao Zheng led the Cyan Bull, which carried the old man. They traveled in silence through mountains and beside rivers, with the now-awakened Eighty-One Armors following quietly. After hearing the Great Dao, the cultivation of every one of the Eighty-One Armors had advanced, each reaching the Celestial Human Peak.
Aboard the Cyan Bull, Lu Xuan silently contemplated the Dao he had just gained. The Three Calamities that had lood over his head—War, Pestilence, and Famine—had already dispersed on their own.
He had obtained three Divine Techniques, all of them Celestial Spirit's Skillful thods.
The foremost of these Divine Techniques was Moving Stars and Changing Dipper. At Great Success, this skill could shift the celestial houses of everything in the cosmos, altering their positions. Those moved into an opposing alignnt could be slain in body and their very essence extinguished. Those moved into a harmonious alignnt would see their fortune and power grow. Furthermore, it allowed one to manipulate the great stars of the celestial Circulation, twist the sun and moon until day and night were reversed, and seize control over the sequence of ti.
The second was Parting Rivers to Create Land, a display of Great Magical Power. At Great Success, it too contained a sliver of the marvel of Creation, but it was far inferior to the diation of Creation, rendering it sowhat of a disappointnt.
The last was Lashing Mountains and Moving Boulders. At Great Success, one could command the shifts of the earth's ley lines, grant titles to terrestrial deities and spirits, and alter the flows of feng shui and fortune within the land.
Having overco three of the Nine Tribulations and gained three Divine Techniques, Lu Xuan now stood at the very apex of the Nine Tribulations of the Earth Immortal. He could beco a True Immortal whenever he wished.
'It is not yet ti.'
Lu Xuan thought to himself, his gaze impossibly deep. 'I have not yet reached the absolute limit of this realm.'
With this thought, he looked up and gazed ahead. His vision filled with the roiling Red Dust of the mortal world.
anwhile, Yong City behind him remained shrouded in silence. Not a human voice, nor the cry of a bird or beast could be heard. All remained imrsed in the Dao.
.........
"Is this a disciple of the Supre?"
In a deep void, radiant with the light of the Buddha, a Supre Venerable spoke in puzzlent:
"When did the Supre take on a disciple like this?"
During a lull in their conflict with The Three Pristine Ones, three supre existences who had transcended ti itself finally took notice of the young man erging in the River of Ti.
The woman who shouldered the Six Paths and held Reincarnation in her palm frowned and spoke:
"I have observed his destiny. Though every detail is accounted for, it is shrouded in a sense of unreality... His fate has been fabricated, predetermined and false. Why would the Supre do such a thing?"
In the palm of one Great Buddha rested the Western Pure Land, where eight hundred Buddhas and one hundred thousand more sat, chanting scriptures.
He spoke:
"Sothing isn't right... not right at all. Previously, The Three Pristine Ones took back their move and replayed the past, seemingly for the sake of this boy. Why, then, would they fabricate a destiny for him? Soone with a fabricated destiny can never achieve a Dao Fruit..."
After a pause, the Great Buddha cradling the Western Pure Land added:
"Moreover, this boy travels unpredictably between the upper and lower reaches of the River of Ti. He has even altered Ancient History in the upper reaches, striking Gouchen down from his position as Lord of the Celestial Court... Soone with a fabricated destiny could never accomplish such a thing!"
"Oh?" another Great Buddha, wreathed in Infinite Pure Light, mused aloud. "Could it be... that this boy is a 'Variable'?"
The woman started slightly at his words. She pondered for a mont, her gaze sweeping through all of ti, from antiquity to the present, overlooking all of Ancient History. At last, she sighed softly and said:
"It does seem so. The Supre has really found himself a treasure... This is going to be trouble. We and The Three Pristine Ones agreed not to take back any more moves, no more replaying the past. But with a 'Variable' in play..."
The three Supre Venerables exchanged glances, each feeling a headache coming on.
After a mont, the eyes of the Great Buddha, whose body shone with the brilliant radiance of Infinite Pure Light, glinted as he said:
"I observe that this boy has an affinity with ..."
"Absolutely not."
"Banish that thought!"
The Great Buddha holding the Western Pure Land and the woman who controlled the Six Paths of Reincarnation both spoke at once, cutting him off.
The forr warned:
"The Supre has already gifted the boy his own robes. He clearly cherishes him. And didn't the Supre just give Yuqing and Shangqing a sound thrashing not long ago? It was baffling at the ti, but now I suspect it had sothing to do with this boy."
The woman nodded in agreent, adding her own warning:
"Exactly. If you truly try to convert this boy... don't forget, while we contend with The Three Pristine Ones, it's rely a contest of supremacy. They, however, have the power to flip the entire board. The last ti that Spirit Treasure fellow inexplicably went berserk, a few swings of his sword nearly wiped out the Celestial Realms and all other worlds and planes of existence!"
She paused, then continued her warning:
"If you truly insist on this course of action, then our pact is void. I will return to the Nine Nether and cease this contest against The Three Pristine Ones. I shall simply wait for the next kalpa."
Hearing this, the Great Buddha wreathed in Infinite Pure Light lowered his eyelids and said languidly:
"I was rely making a suggestion... But we cannot simply let this 'Variable' run rampant. It may throw our plans into such disarray that we no longer know how to make our moves. How then could we continue our ga against The Three Pristine Ones?"
As his words faded, the three Supre Venerables fell into contemplation. He had a point...
The woman mulled it over for a mont, her brow furrowed.
"What if we redirect this trouble elsewhere?"
"Fellow Daoist, you an to say..."
The two Great Buddhas exchanged a thoughtful glance.
The Great Buddha cradling the Western Pure Land placed a piece near the downstream end of the River of Ti:
"What of Taiyi? He lost the Celestial Court, is no longer at the stage of Perfection, and has only half a Dao Fruit remaining."
The other Great Buddha, bathed in Infinite Pure Light, also placed a piece within the Spring and Autumn Years:
"And Maitreya? He betrayed the Buddha and abandoned the Dao."
The woman pondered for a mont before silently placing her own piece at the very beginning of the River of Ti.
"It is worth a try."
A smile appeared on the faces of all three Supre Venerables. Like The Three Pristine Ones, each of them possessed a Complete Dao Fruit and had transcended all of creation.
A Dao Fruit defies common sense, abides by no logic, and inverts Cause and Effect.
By the sa token, not all Dao Fruits are equal. Under certain circumstances, even an Ancient One with half a Dao Fruit can beco a pawn for an Enlightened One who possesses a Complete Dao Fruit.
「anwhile, in Douluo Palace.」
A broad smile graced the Supre's face. His two Child attendants, unaware of the events in the Human World, were filled with curiosity but dared not ask.
In the surrounding gloom, the more this elder—the very embodint of Daoist Virtue—thought about it, the more delighted he beca. At the peak of his mirth, he laughed aloud, pushed open the great doors of the Daoist Palace, and strode into the dim Chaos.
The Chaos, once raging and turbulent, beca docile and ta as it eddied around the Supre's body.
He reached out his hands. With his left, he snatched Biyou Palace, and with his right, he seized Jade Void Palace.
The two Daoist Palaces were dragged out from the depths of Chaos. Their violent collision stirred up a massive tempest, throwing this entire region of Chaos into turmoil.
The two Great Celestial Venerables within the Daoist Palaces snapped their eyes open.
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