Chapter 709 - 24: The Old Daoist Who Survived the End of Dharma Era, Severing the Shackles

The mountain range was majestic. A Daoist, shrouded in mist, stood silently amidst withered branches and fallen leaves. He seemed entirely out of place in the world, like a perfectly ordinary outsider.

Above him, an Immortal stood upon a great crane, wreathed in Qingyun. He looked down with an indifferent gaze, as if issuing a great decree, as if commanding heaven and earth:

"To have met me is a matter of fate. I shall grant you an opportunity. What say you?"

Guangcheng Zi's thoughts were simple.

He wished to emulate his master and two senior uncles, bestowing opportunities far and wide to seek Creation in preparation for his future attempt at attaining the Daluo realm.

Encountering Lu Xuan now, he merely thought him a nameless Daoist with powerful Magical Power. He wasn't contemptuous, but he didn't pay him much mind either.

Lu Xuan looked up, hesitated for a moment, and gave a slight nod.

The instant he agreed, a sharp pain erupted in his back. A great, crisscrossing wound appeared, tearing across it.

'This counts as interference, too?'

Lu Xuan thought to himself, unconcerned and without regret. This was something Daoist Qing Xuan had done, so it was naturally the correct choice.

To complete himself, he needed to "merge" with this world. He couldn't remain an outsider forever, so he naturally needed a suitable identity.

This identity couldn't be too high, or he'd easily become a focal point and risk wasting his chance to interfere. But it couldn't be too low, either. The Master of Guangcheng Palace... was just right.

From now on, as long as he did nothing that exceeded the bounds of his identity as the "Master of Guangcheng Palace," the Great Era would not judge his actions as [Interference].

'One act of interference in exchange for a chance to enter the game. A worthy trade.'

Guangcheng Zi brought Lu Xuan back to Kongtong Mountain, back to Guangcheng Palace. Facing the statue of the Primordial Celestial Venerable, Lu Xuan performed the rites of a junior and immediately bowed.

Guangcheng Zi nodded faintly.

"Since you have bowed to my Jade Void Ancestor, you have accepted this one's Cause and Effect. I will permit you to serve as one generation's Master of Guangcheng Palace. This opportunity I grant to you. This vast world, this fateful encounter, this blessing..."

Before he could finish, he realized something was wrong. The statue of the Primordial Celestial Venerable was trembling. Then... it came to life!

Guangcheng Zi was aghast and immediately prostrated himself.

"Greetings, Master!"

'Why has Master suddenly descended?' he wondered.

The thought had barely formed when he saw his master gazing at the fated person he had just taken in. And then...

He bowed.

"Fellow Daoist Qing Xuan, for you to bow to me... surely this would bring me ill fortune?" the Primordial Great Celestial Venerable said, his eyes narrowing slightly.

His light words landed like a colossal hammer, making Guangcheng Zi's head buzz and his vision swim.

'Qing Xuan... Fellow Daoist?!'

A look of utter confusion appeared on Guangcheng Zi's face.

「At this moment.」

Lu Xuan peered through the hazy mist, gazing at his second master. A thousand words ultimately dissolved into a single sigh as he gave a light bow.

"Since I have entered the Jade Void Sect, it is only right and proper that I bow to the Jade Void Ancestor."

The Primordial Great Celestial Venerable's expression was grave, unable to fathom what this Fellow Daoist Qing Xuan was thinking. In the end, however, he said nothing more and turned to leave, assuming he merely wished to amuse himself in the Human World...

And so, Lu Xuan became the Palace Master of Guangcheng Palace.

Time flowed like the tide, its waves washing away heroes. The Spring and Autumn Period waned, the Warring States descended into chaos, and the Qin swept through the six states to build an everlasting dynasty. Then came the Late Qin Dynasty and the contention between Chu and Han.

Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion. The grand progression of Years and the Great Era moved steadily forward.

This was an Era without [Lu Xuan]. The Qin and Han never warred against the heavens, there was no Daluo Dao War in the Late Eastern Han Dynasty, and Cao Mengde, Sun Jian, Liu Bei, and Yuan Shao never became sworn brothers.

Sun Jian died young. Liu Bei died in Baidi City. The old Prime Minister lit seven Mortal Lamps to borrow life from the heavens, but he angered an Immortal and was struck down by a great punishment, his star falling at Wuzhangyuan.

The Three Kingdoms united to become the Jin. There was no so-called Dao Dynasty. Another thirty thousand years passed, leading to the Golden Tang Dynasty. The Journey to the West began, the Journey to the West ended, and heaven and earth changed.

「On this day.」

The Master of Guangcheng Palace endured the pain of the great wound on his back, walking wearily out of Guangcheng Palace. 'The rejection... it's getting more and more severe...'

Although the [Era Essence] had allowed him to descend into this [True Past]—a period that even encompassed the Dao Fruit—

with each day he remained, the rejection from this Era's Years grew stronger. And with every increase in rejection, he became a bit more weathered, a bit more aged.

Lu Xuan, as if carrying an Infinite Divine Mountain on his back, hunched over and coughed softly. He stood before the gate of the Guangcheng Daoist Palace and looked up at the sky.

In the heavens, a chaotic war raged among the Immortals. Haotian was hunted down, the Celestial Emperor fell, and the Celestial Court lost its master.

He saw two familiar figures, one was the Lady and the other the Demon Ancestor, battling each other in the River of Time. They fought until the Great Heaven and Earth itself began to decay, until the End of Dharma Era descended, and the River of Time fractured, leaving behind a boundless, gaping chasm in time!

Thirty thousand years after the end of the Journey to the West, the Celestial Court lost its master, Spirit Mountain withered, the Immortal Gods waged war, and the heavens collapsed and the earth sundered.

Fifty thousand years after the end of the Journey to the West, the Demon Ancestor, the Buddha Mother, Bodhi, Amitabha, and Houtu each manifested a single character that formed a Celestial Stele, suppressing the Goddess beneath it.

Sixty thousand years after the end of the Journey to the West, the End of Dharma Era arrived. The Great Heaven and Earth collapsed countless billions of times over, transforming into a vast Cosmos. The Earth was torn asunder, and the origin of heaven and earth condensed into an Ancestor Star, suspended in the cosmos.

Seventy thousand years after the end of the Journey to the West, the Goddess sat beneath the Stone Stele on the Ancestor Star. She used the power of the End of Dharma Era to expel the Immortal Gods. Even those who had attained the Dao Fruit could no longer enter the Great Heaven and Earth; they were even blocked from peeking in.

Myth vanished, the supernatural era came to a close, and Immortals disappeared without a trace.

Seventy-one thousand years after the end of the Journey to the West, the Industrial Revolution erupted on the Ancestor Star.

Another two hundred-odd years later, humanity fully entered an age of explosive technological advancement, with new innovations every year and sweeping changes every decade.

「2056 A.D.」

"The opportunity... it's getting closer..."

Lu Xuan muttered to himself. He could clearly feel that, in the unseen currents of fate, the chance to sever his connection with Taiyi was drawing ever nearer.

'Shatter the shackles, break the connection, and solidify my Self... It won't be long now.'

"Hey, what'd you say?"

The little girl selling vegetables looked curious as she handed over a bag of cabbage.