Chapter 707 - 22: This Humble Daoist, Qing Xuan

"Go on. Go."

His voice boomed out a final time:

"On this path, for every deed performed, you will gain a wound. A great wound of Transcendence—ineradicable, incurable, with pain that never subsides. Nine is the limit. Should you suffer a tenth wound, your body will perish and your Dao will scatter. There will be no salvation... Whether you can break this deadlock is uncertain, but this... is the only chance."

'So if I truly enter the great conflict of Years, I'll suffer one wound for one deed... and with the tenth, my body and Dao will perish?'

Lu Xuan nodded thoughtfully and bowed to Qing Xuan Daoist. Qing Xuan Daoist bowed back to him.

The two of them bowed to each other across the vast length of Guangcheng Palace, their forms perfectly aligned.

The scene remained frozen for a long while. By the time Qing Xuan Daoist raised his head again, Lu Xuan was already leaning on the Qing Ping Sword, staggering toward the dawn of the Years, toward The Beginning of Ancient Times.

'Breaking the deadlock...'

Qing Xuan Daoist suddenly coughed violently, and the mist of Chaos shrouding him thinned slightly. For a fleeting moment, his physical form was visible.

In that brief flash, eight great wounds could be seen, each one deep enough to reveal bone. The injuries were not merely on his Physique, but also on his True Spirit, on his very essence, and even upon his [Dao].

Every wound came from [Transcendence]—true [Transcendence].

The eight great wounds intertwined, pulsating with Nirvana. And then suddenly, at this very time, at this very moment, right now...

...another wound appeared.

There were nine.

One deed, one wound. If the wounds reach ten, the body will perish and the Dao will scatter. There will be no salvation.

...

In the guise of the Lame Daoist, he struggled against the aftershocks of the [Near Transcenders] and walked into The Beginning of Ancient Times.

He leaned on the Qing Ping Sword, staggering through the Barbaric Wilderness. He smelled the wafting fragrance of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and listened to the ceaseless cries of Barbaric Creatures, taking one step after another.

In all of The Beginning of Ancient Times, there were no Dao Fruits.

He didn't know how long he had walked before he stopped at the foot of a mountain. He began a slow ascent. When he reached halfway up the slope, the door to a thatched hut was pushed open, and a young woman asked curiously:

"You are..."

She trailed off. Looking at the Lame Daoist's appearance, Yan Jiangxue seemed to recall someone and continued, her voice tentative, "You're..."

"You're... Elder Shangqing?"

Lu Xuan gave a silent smile. He didn't explain, only nodding slightly before asking in a raspy voice:

"Are you settling in alright here?"

"It's alright, Elder Shangqing." Yan Jiangxue gave a sweet smile, but then sighed softly.

"It's just... I'm still not quite used to it. My mother isn't here, and neither is Xiaolu..."

Lu Xuan nodded slightly.

"It won't be much longer. Just hold on for a little while."

"I will!"

Xiaoyan nodded firmly and bowed respectfully.

Lu Xuan caught the familiar scent of peaches on Xiaoyan and was momentarily lost in a daze. He quickly came to his senses, gave her a slight nod, and continued on his way up the mountain.

Just before the summit, he stopped. His feet felt as if they grew heavier with each step, until at last, he could move no more.

"Master."

[Emperor Jun], who had long been waiting at the summit, spoke softly.

"You're finally here."

Lu Xuan's grip on the Qing Ping Sword tightened involuntarily, his knuckles turning white. He wanted to say something, but words failed him. In the end, all that escaped was a long sigh.

He said softly,

"I have failed you."

"If not for you, Master, Xiaoxi and I would have long since been devoured by Taiyi."

[Emperor Jun], leading [Xi He], slowly approached, a brilliant smile on his face. Together, they knelt and bowed deeply, their foreheads touching the ground.

Leaning on his Qing Ping Sword, Lu Xuan struggled to speak.

"Rest assured, I will remake everything... If I fail, I can give my life for yours, ensuring you will endure in the new Era."

[Emperor Jun] scratched his head and chuckled.

"Master, you're not being fair... To be honest, I'm only now feeling regret. If I had been more diligent in my Cultivation back when I was with you, perhaps things wouldn't have turned out this way..."

He too was lost in reverie, remembering the past. He had followed his master but never took his Cultivation seriously, preferring to play. He had repeatedly snuck into the mortal world and slipped quietly into the river of Years...

[Emperor Jun] smiled and exchanged a glance with [Xi He]. The man and woman walked toward Lu Xuan, their expressions serene.

"Master, I have always been proud. Proud that my teacher is the Daoist Ancestor of this age."

As his words faded, [Emperor Jun] revealed his true Form, transforming into an [Innate Root Sun]. [Xi He] likewise transformed, becoming an [Innate Root Taiyin].

As one, they moved forward, one from the left and one from the right, each flying into one of Lu Xuan's empty eye sockets.

In the Instant before entering his eye sockets, Emperor Jun and Xi He both chose to initiate... Integration Dao.

One integrated with the Dao of the Great Sun, the other with the Dao of the Taiyin.

[Emperor Jun]'s final words drifted down:

"My teacher is the Daoist Ancestor. So, Integration Dao... just means integrating with my teacher. It's actually a pretty good deal, you know."

Lu Xuan remained silent, his eyes squeezed shut. A tearing pain bloomed in his chest as he allowed the Innate Root Sun and Innate Root Taiyin to sear his eye sockets.

He stood thus on Jade Capital Peak for nine days before he finally activated [Body Transformation] and assimilated the Great Sun and Taiyin.

The instant the assimilation was complete,

the Daoist opened his eyes. His left eye blazed with a Great Sun, his right with a Taiyin. He had broken free from the state of [Absolute Vision] and could once again see the vast world.

It was a rebirth from destruction.

The [Era Essence] trembled. A mist of Chaos emerged and enveloped Lu Xuan, but a vibration of this level was not enough to trigger the great clash of Years.

Immediately, Lu Xuan opened his eyes of the Great Sun and Taiyin and gazed at the [Near Transcenders] warring above the flow of Years.

He gave a silent smile, quietly extended a hand, and sighed softly.

"Alas, what a pity."

High above the river of Years, the warring Taiyi and Fu Xi simultaneously paused. Feeling a disquieting palpitation within themselves, they roared in fury:

"Who is it?!"

They looked over and saw a Daoist standing in The Beginning of Ancient Times. The figure was shrouded in a mist of Chaos, its features indistinct.

"What upstart dares?!" Taiyi's voice was grave. He could clearly feel that the various Transcendent Traits he possessed had just been stirred!

Lu Xuan did not answer. He was using the part of Lu Xuan that Taiyi had devoured and the Xuan Sheng that Fu Xi had consumed—leveraging that subtle connection to forcibly activate the [Era Essence] within Taiyi's and Fu Xi's bodies.

This was the final gambit he had prepared when all other paths were closed. By having Taiyi devour Lu Xuan and Fu Xi consume Xuan Sheng, he had pitted the two against each other like the proverbial snipe and clam, leaving himself a contingency that he hoped he would never need to use.

Fortunately, the time had come.

The three [Era Essences] resonated, and for a brief Instant, they seemed to collide.

The Great Era twisted.

"What is this?" Fu Xi was stunned. This event was beyond his control. He instinctively asked again:

"Who are you?"

As he spoke, he and Taiyi struck out with their palms simultaneously, reaching for the Daoist in The Beginning of Ancient Times. Their attack was meant to envelop all existence and sever all possibilities!

With two [Near Transcenders] attacking in unison, the outcome was already determined across all of time and space, across all possibilities and probabilities, across the entire past and future. The Daoist on Jade Capital Mountain was doomed to die!

They had only just struck, yet their massive palms had already landed.

But.

Lu Xuan stood within the Chaos mist, at the center of the three colliding [Era Essences], at the focal point of the Great Era's distortion. His form grew more and more illusory,

and both Taiyi's strike and Fu Xi's assault passed right through him, finding no target.

In the final Instant, Lu Xuan's voice echoed faintly:

"I..."

"I am Qing Xuan."

With those words, he vanished. The distortion in the Great Era slowly began to settle.

(PS: Barring any surprises, there are probably another twenty or thirty chapters until the novel is finished. I'll do my best to give it a good ending! QAQ)