Chapter 713 - 26: All Moves Have Been Made, It Is Time to Complete the Self and Attain Enlightenment

Time flowed on, and all was calm.

Everything unfolded according to its natural order, slowly and deliberately.

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

"This is my Senior Brother, Qing Xuan."

"Greetings, Senior Qing Xuan."

A mere sixteen or seventeen years old, Lu Xuan bowed solemnly.

"If Senior Qing Xuan hadn't intervened, I'm afraid I would have already died at the hands of the True Immortal from Sakata Heavy Industries..."

As he spoke, Lu Xuan, who was only at the Celestial Human Level, curiously sized up the Daoist before him. The Daoist was shrouded in a mist of Chaos, making him impossible to see clearly.

"It was nothing."

The Mist Daoist spoke calmly, his gaze growing a little distant as he looked at the fledgling Little Lu Xuan.

He shook his head and said no more. After leading Lu Xuan into a quiet room and setting down the Jade Void Glazed Lamp, he departed without a sound.

Everything that followed proceeded as usual. The Primordial Great Celestial Venerable appeared in the flame of the Jade Void Glazed Lamp and brazenly poached a disciple from right under Supreme's nose.

However, unlike before, the Primordial Great Celestial Venerable asked a question just as he was about to dissipate.

"Xiaoxuan, have you met Qing Xuan?"

"Daoist Qing Xuan? Of course I've met him."

"What do you think of him?"

"I haven't interacted with him much... Second Master, is something wrong?"

The Primordial Great Celestial Venerable's brows were knitted tightly. After a long moment, he still said nothing. He simply gave Lu Xuan a gentle smile before dissipating into the flames.

「Meanwhile, outside the Great Cosmos, above the Years.」

"Supreme..."

The Blind Daoist walked into Douluo Palace and asked softly,

"Do you still remember that Qing Xuan?"

"Qing Xuan? Of course I remember him." Supreme's expression grew serious. "What has happened?"

"Nothing. It's just..."

The Blind Daoist frowned slightly.

"That Qing Xuan Daoist has remained in the Current World. He's very mysterious, and I don't know what he's plotting... What level of being is he, exactly?"

"It's hard to say."

Supreme shook his head. After pondering for a moment, he finally spoke.

"The first time I met Qing Xuan, the grand progression of the Years had only reached the Spring and Autumn Period. The Era was at its zenith, as was I. Even back then, I sensed that if we were to fight to the death, the odds would be sixty-forty in my favor."

After a pause, the old man continued.

"But now, after the battle between the Demon Ancestor and the Goddess, the final calamity shows signs of arriving ahead of schedule. I, too, have begun to weaken. If my Supreme True Form were to emerge now to fight Qing Xuan, the odds would likely be an even fifty-fifty."

"Fifty-fifty?"

The Blind Daoist's expression became incredibly grim. Others might not understand, but he knew the terrifying power of the Supreme True Form. Even in a weakened state, it was powerful enough to easily sweep aside all the Dao Fruit Cultivators!

'Qing Xuan, Qing Xuan...'

'Who on earth are you? And what is it you're trying to do?'

...

Time continued to pass.

"The fog is rising..."

Within Guangcheng Palace, the Mist Daoist raised his head slightly, gazing upon the vast River of Time. He observed an additional, illusory history that had appeared, as hazy and indistinct as mist.

He smiled faintly, his gaze deepening. 'By my calculations, it must be about time for Lu Xuan to enter the sights of all the Immortals and Buddhas.'

'Fu Xi, oh Fu Xi, are you still not going to make a move?'

'That's not like you.'

「Another month passed.」

In Langya City, Sanqing Temple appeared.

A few days later, a Daoist proclamation echoed across the East Continent, calling the world to arms against Sakata Heavy Industries.

On this very day, at this very moment, the Mist Daoist muttered to himself in confusion,

"Still no sign of Fu Xi? Strange, very strange. When on earth are you going to show up?"

Time flew, and the years continued to pass. The young man from East Sea City had already become a world-shaking figure, and the Current World was slowly beginning to recover.

「On this day.」

"I'm getting married next month. Daoist Qing Xuan, will you be able to attend?"

"Of course. However, I cannot leave Guangcheng Palace, so I have a request..."

The Mist Daoist looked at Lu Xuan and said softly,

"Could the wedding ceremony be held here, in Guangcheng Palace?"

"Of course it can."

Lu Xuan was a little surprised, but he agreed readily, saying with a smile,

"I'll go make preparations. My teacher may be attending, so there is no room for error."

"Go on, then."

Daoist Qing Xuan watched Lu Xuan depart, looking somewhat lost in thought and feeling a wave of emotion. 'A wedding...'

His gaze suddenly sharpened. 'Second Master will be coming too. Perhaps it's time to reveal a few things.'

As he considered this, Qing Xuan's heart trembled. For over a hundred thousand years, he had been all alone. His old friends were clearly present, yet he couldn't get close to a single one of them.

Old affairs, old belongings, old acquaintances—they were often right before his eyes, yet as distant as the edge of the sky.

On top of that were the countless times he had betrayed his own conscience, watching people die without offering aid, allowing Demons to run rampant, and permitting the Immortal Gods to wreak havoc...

Qing Xuan's Dao heart was in a constant state of torment.

"Hm?"

As he was thinking, he suddenly sensed something. He looked up abruptly, his gaze sharp and a smile on his face.

"He's here."

He muttered to himself as his form suddenly blurred. Stepping into the River of Time, he traveled a short way back into the past, arriving at the year 6807 of the New Calendar: the day of Lu Xuan's birth.

The Mist Daoist, hidden within the void, stared at the familiar figure that had suddenly appeared, watching as lotuses bloomed with Fu Xi's every step.

He forcefully suppressed the urge to kill Fu Xi, even though it would have been effortless for his current self to completely obliterate him.

But even if he did kill him, it would be utterly useless.

The Fu Xi of the True Node is a Near Transcender who wields the Era Essence; major deviations in the Era cannot affect him in the slightest.

In fact, it might even empower him further...

Qing Xuan suppressed the killing intent in his heart and watched in silence as Fu Xi appeared behind his own historical imprint. Fu Xi reached out a hand, seemingly intending to replace him.

"How can this be?!"

Fu Xi let out a soft cry of surprise. Visibly stunned and alarmed, he immediately retreated into the void, muttering to himself,

"Something's wrong. Who is this person? Body Transformation is completely incapable of supplanting him. This person seems... to be above an ordinary Dao Fruit Cultivator?!"

He grew pensive. This scene was beyond his imagination. All Dao Fruits had owners, so this Mist Daoist definitely couldn't be a Dao Fruit Cultivator.

Yet, upon careful sensing, he could detect a celestial might that surpassed that of a Dao Fruit Cultivator!

"Should I give up? No, I can't. This is a disciple shared by The Three Pristine Ones..."

Fu Xi then tried to supplant the infant instead, but he failed again. He even suffered a backlash from the attempt and was injured!

He was utterly shocked. For his Body Transformation to be thwarted twice in a row was preposterous; it went against all his prior understanding!

After pondering for a long time,

Fu Xi's expression was conflicted, but he finally made a decision. Pouring all his power into activating his Infinite True Spirit and Body Transformation, he locked onto the Mist Daoist.

This time, however, he wasn't trying to "replace" the Mist Daoist, but merely to "peel off" this specific action from the Daoist's history and graft it onto his own...

This was another ingenious application of Body Transformation: it could directly supplant beings beneath the level of a Dao Fruit Cultivator, but it could also supplant a specific action or segment of history from a Dao Fruit Cultivator's past.

Silently, the Mist Daoist's historical imprint began to dissipate, bit by bit. The one who had transformed the Blood and Tears Clay Figure into an infant was now Fu Xi.

From the void, Qing Xuan stared at this scene, his head threatening to split apart. His own memories began to skew. He was starting to forget this segment of history, to grow muddled...

In the final moment, just before he forgot completely,

Qing Xuan used everything he had. Risking a fourth major wound appearing on his body, he poured out all his strength, not even hesitating to use the Creation Jade Disc and activate the Era Essence...

Finally.

He succeeded. In that segment of history that was being assimilated and supplanted, he left behind an imperceptible 'imprint.'

The next instant, the Mist Daoist forgot everything related to it. A clear gap appeared in his own past, leaving him with a severe sense of fragmentation.

He dazedly walked back to the Current World, back into Guangcheng Palace, muttering to himself,

"Who am I?"

"I am Qing Xuan..."

"I think my name used to be Lu Xuan, but I gave the name 'Lu Xuan' away."

"Who did I give it to?"

"When did I give it away?"

He clutched his head, letting out a series of hoarse cries. Having a segment of his actions supplanted shouldn't have been a major issue, but he had actively condensed his own past into an imprint, secretly leaving it within the supplanted record for Fu Xi.

This directly caused a fracture in Daoist Qing Xuan's past. He didn't know why he was here, where he came from, or where he was meant to go.

He was simply lost.

"I am Qing Xuan, Lord of Guangcheng Palace..."

"I once left half of my True Spirit within a little girl. Why?"

"I am Qing Xuan. Have I always been Qing Xuan?"

"Yes, yes, I always have been... I always have been..."

As he murmured, the half of his True Spirit left deep within Yan Jiangxue's consciousness began to hum. A dense stream of information flowed silently back to Qing Xuan's true self.

He snapped back to his senses.

"I am Qing Xuan. I came here to make myself whole."

"Make myself whole... make myself whole..."

Qing Xuan patted his head, his expression somewhat listless. The missing pieces of his past were mostly filled in, and he remembered most of the events and things from it.

He knew who he was, where he came from, and where he was going.

The one thing he didn't know was who he had given his name to.

"Who did I give it to, I wonder?"

The Mist Daoist found it baffling. He let out a soft sigh. One misstep, and he had ultimately failed. He had not managed to...

...forget his past.

Or, to be more precise, he had failed to sever ties with his past.

What he sought was to sever his own past, to make it so he no longer recognized his old friends. Only then could his Dao heart recover. Otherwise, constantly seeing old friends who did not recognize him, his Dao heart could never be made whole.

「Meanwhile, on the other side.」

"I didn't expect... an added bonus?"

Fu Xi, who had supplanted a segment of the Mist Daoist's history, muttered in surprise. He placed the infant Little Lu Xuan on the doorstep of a random house and took his leave.

He smiled as he walked away. This casual move in his grand game had given him a huge, startling revelation!

"Although I couldn't supplant that Mist Daoist directly, it seems I managed to plant a seed. As time goes on, he will eventually..."

"...become me."

Fu Xi smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. Although the Mist Daoist was absurdly powerful, he wasn't a Dao Fruit Cultivator in the end. And this time, by supplanting his action, Fu Xi had successfully obtained a Fundamental Seal!

All he needed to do now was wait until he had naturally digested that Fundamental Seal.

And then...

And then, he would gain an additional incarnation, one that surpassed ordinary Dao Fruit Cultivators and even stood above the Enlightened Ones!!

With this, the task of collecting all the Transcendent Traits would be as good as done.

The smile on Fu Xi's face grew even brighter. He departed at a leisurely pace, smiling as he muttered to himself,

"Everything..."

"Everything is within my grasp."

...

A month later, the wedding day arrived, and old acquaintances gathered at Kongtong Mountain.

Pangu Daoist walked into Guangcheng Palace and looked at the figure he had been wary of for many years. As always, he used the Cause of All Fruits to trace him back to his source.

He did this despite knowing it would be useless.

But this time...

The mist of Chaos opened, revealing a gap. Through the crack, Pangu Daoist clearly saw the face of the Lame Daoist. He was stunned, but at the same time, he perceived faint traces of something, and it was as if he'd had an epiphany.

"So that's how it is..."

Pangu Daoist felt a sting in his nose. After a long silence, under Lu Xuan's bewildered gaze, he spoke softly to the Mist Daoist.

"All these years... you've suffered."

The Mist Daoist simply smiled—a smile of profound relief. He spoke, his voice tinged with exhaustion,

"I'm alright."

He lowered his eyes. The void in his Dao heart had been filled in, just a little.

'It is time to begin making my Self whole again. Time to prepare to enter the realm of Enlightenment.'