Chapter 706 - 22: Taoist Master Qing Xuan

"Do we have a guest?"

A gentle voice echoed within the Daoist Palace. The Daoist spoke with a smile:

"You two, go open the door and welcome our guest."

Lu Xuan 'heard' Xiaohuo'Er and Little Xi He slowly open the great gates of the Daoist Palace.

"Ah!"

Xiaohuo'Er cried out in alarm, their eyes wide:

"Third Grandmaster, your eyes..."

Lu Xuan, in the guise of the Lame Daoist, glanced to the side. His eye sockets were empty, containing nothing but stillness and darkness.

He managed a difficult smile.

"You're still alive... That's good. That's good."

As he spoke, a look of desolation came over Lu Xuan. Using the Qing Ping Sword as a walking stick, he struggled into Guangcheng Palace, making his way to the very depths of the Daoist Palace.

He sat cross-legged before Qing Xuan Daoist, his empty sockets aimed at Qing Xuan as he spoke softly:

"Daoist Qing Xuan, my path has come to an end. I... am out of options."

The Daoist, shrouded in the mists of Chaos, spoke softly:

"To be out of options, for your path to have reached its end—that is precisely the correct way... One must destroy to rebuild."

Lu Xuan fell silent for a moment.

"Please, Daoist, enlighten me."

There was only emptiness before his eyes, but he could hear and smell the indistinct form of Qing Xuan Daoist. Perhaps it was because he had lost his eyes, or perhaps it was because he had acquired Wa Huang's God and inherited the Three Masters' End-Tribulation Body.

What Lu Xuan heard and smelled was clearer than ever before. He could even discern Qing Xuan Daoist's state: at times a young man, at others a middle-aged one, and sometimes a decrepit elder...

It was very strange.

At this moment, Qing Xuan Daoist spoke gently:

"Lu Xuan, do you truly not know the way forward?"

Lu Xuan was taken aback.

Qing Xuan continued,

"Let me ask you this first: to break this deadlock, how many steps must you take?"

Lu Xuan gathered his thoughts, sinking into quiet contemplation. After a long while, he finally spoke:

"Three."

"And what are those three steps?"

"First, I must sever my connection to Taiyi. Second, I must step into the Realm of Enlightenment and become the progenitor of the Transformation Dao Fruit at The Beginning of Ancient Times. Third, I must suppress everything."

Qing Xuan nodded gently.

"See? You know the way. Why then do you say your path is blocked?"

Lu Xuan sighed softly.

"Taiyi has already become a Near Transcender. How can I possibly sever my connection to him? This first step alone is an impassable gate."

Qing Xuan looked up and smiled.

"I happen to have a method. It's not guaranteed to work, but it is a path. It will require you to cast aside a great deal. Can you do it?"

"Such as?"

"For instance, you must cast aside your sense of righteousness and fail your disciple once more."

Lu Xuan was speechless.

He listened to the sound of the Great Heaven and Earth's annihilation, to the echoes of all things shattering, wailing, and being driven to extinction.

After a long while, he finally gave a slight nod.

"My Dao heart was shattered long ago. Let all sins fall upon me."

With that, Lu Xuan closed his eyes.

Qing Xuan nodded and said softly,

"To bring about World Clarity, one must first be the Only I Am Venerable. To be the Only I Am Venerable, there will be mountains of bones beyond counting. The road to success is always the most arduous, but it is a road that must be walked... Since you understand this, you have thoroughly grasped the principle: without destruction, there can be no creation."

He rose to his feet, his voice suddenly swelling with power:

"For someone like you, who is already immortal and undying, you could simply watch this Era shatter and endure long into the future. 'Without destruction, there can be no creation.' What must be destroyed is your Dao heart! First, shatter your Dao heart, then rebuild it! First, shatter the rules, then establish new ones!"

Lu Xuan's eyes remained closed. He opened them only after a long while, staring forth from his empty sockets:

"Please, teach me."

"It is the Era Essence."

So said Qing Xuan Daoist.

"First, go to The Beginning of Ancient Times. This is the final tribulation, and all of creation awaits its own destruction and rebirth. Nothing is exempt. The moment you regain your sight will be when you align with this Dao of destruction and rebirth."

He paused, then continued,

"And in the instant you open your eyes again, in that moment of destruction and rebirth, you will have a single breath of Time. In that breath, you will achieve a state of perfect, harmonious Yuanrong. It may allow you to forcefully and completely activate the Era Essence one time... to take a trip to the past."

"A trip to the past?"

Lu Xuan was puzzled.

"The River of Time is right here. I can return to any point in the past whenever I wish. I..."

His words caught in his throat. A bolt of lightning flashed through his mind, followed by the roar of thunder. It was an explosion like the very Creation of Heaven and Earth, and with it came a moment of profound enlightenment!

After a long, long time,

Lu Xuan spoke, almost as if in a dream:

"I understand now. The Era Essence once caused the Great Conflict of Years, encompassing all Dao Fruits within Time. The Great Conflict of Years... May I ask, Daoist Qing Xuan, when did the last Great Conflict of Years—the one that allowed Xiaohuo'Er to glimpse the future—erupt?"

Qing Xuan replied,

"To be precise, there has only ever been one Great Conflict of Years. And that one time is..."

"Soon."

Lu Xuan's head snapped up.

'The last—and only—Great Conflict of Years... is going to happen in the near future?'

'The "past" Great Conflict of Years erupts in the "future"?'

He was silent for a long time before understanding dawned. He nodded slowly.

"I see."

Qing Xuan Daoist waved his hand.

"Go on, go... And remember one thing. During the Great Conflict of Years, the past of a Dao Fruit can be altered, its entire history replaced. But this is a great taboo, so..."

"You can only watch."

Lu Xuan seemed to be in a trance for a moment.

"To watch suffering unfold again with my own eyes, to walk past my friends and loved ones, and yet... I can only watch?"

"Yes," Qing Xuan said, his voice tinged with loneliness. "At that time, you will be the most solitary being in all of heaven and earth. Everything will be connected to you, and yet... everything will also have nothing to do with you. It will be a bitter existence."

"I have never feared suffering, but..." Lu Xuan aimed his empty sockets toward Qing Xuan Daoist and sighed. "It has been hard on you all these years."

"And what of it?" Qing Xuan boomed with laughter, clasping his hands behind his back as he returned to the depths of Guangcheng Palace.