Chapter 716 - 28: Enlightenment, the State of Near Transcendence, an Inescapable Death Loop?

The Mist Daoist did not choose to perfect the final Dao, nor did he immediately seek out Bodhi.

He followed the premonition of his heart, the guidance of his Innate Spiritual Light, and arrived in a certain span of years, where he waited quietly.

"Before Enlightenment, I must know who I am."

Qing Xuan murmured to himself.

He had been lost for countless years, forgetting who he was and what he had done in his past...

He traveled to a time in the past, where he sat quietly in Guangcheng Palace, waiting.

His Innate Spiritual Light had shown him that the key to understanding everything would be found here and now.

Suddenly, "They're here."

Qing Xuan Daoist raised his eyelids. He listened to the grand symphony that seemed to ring out from The Beginning of Ancient Times, to the cry of the True Phoenix and the roar of the True Dragon.

He watched as the Primordial Qingyun filled the sky and an Agarwood Chariot arrived in all its splendor. A middle-aged Daoist approached, lotuses blooming with his every step.

The middle-aged Daoist held the Three-Bejeweled Ruyi. A profound darkness surrounded him, as if infinite universes swirled within it. All cause and effect intertwined in his eyes.

"I am Qing Xuan," the Mist Daoist said evenly, offering a calm salute. He was neither servile nor overbearing.

"I greet the Yuqing Fu Sheng Heavenly Venerate."

The middle-aged Daoist nodded slightly and asked solemnly,

"Qing Xuan... who are you, really?"

"Me?"

The Mist Daoist smiled and performed another salute.

"I am Qing Xuan."

The middle-aged Daoist frowned for a long moment before asking again,

"Then, Qing Xuan, what is your name?"

"I am Nameless."

"Your name?"

"I have forgotten. I believe I gave it to an infant."

The two Supreme Beings conversed. Qing Xuan remained calm, but the Yuqing Fu Sheng Heavenly Venerate—the form taken by Lu Xuan—grew increasingly alarmed. He tried to peer into Qing Xuan's nature and finally found a clue.

He traced the past and saw that for a time, Fu Xi had acted in Daoist Qing Xuan's stead. And those actions were precisely...

The middle-aged Daoist shot to his feet, exclaiming in shock,

"So, you are... Lu Xuan?"

Qing Xuan Daoist froze.

"Lu Xuan, Lu Xuan..."

He mulled over the name, and suddenly, it all came back to him. The past he had severed from his Self surfaced in his mind. His nascent Dao heart burgeoned once more, becoming whole bit by bit.

"I see, I see... I understand now."

Qing Xuan smiled, having reached a great epiphany. He did not let it show, however, appearing as calm as ever as he said,

"Great Celestial Venerable, you may rest assured. I am not that Lord of the Dao Dynasty. We merely shared the same name."

He denied Lu Xuan's guess to avoid re-establishing his connection to Taiyi. The time was not yet right.

Qing Xuan rose gracefully and parted a sliver of the chaotic mist around him. He revealed his empty eye sockets, and within them, the Innate Root Sun and the Innate Root Taiyin, in an attempt to awaken Lu Xuan's understanding.

As he did this, he said serenely,

"Thank you, Great Celestial Venerable, for awakening me today. I knew that Fu Xi had acted in my place for a period of my life, but I never knew which one. After dreaming for countless years, today I have finally, truly awakened..."

After a pause, Qing Xuan lowered his gaze.

"As for who I truly am, you need not investigate further, Great Celestial Venerable. If we are fated to meet again, you will know in due time. However..."

"I would rather hope that you never find out."

As he spoke, Qing Xuan sighed softly.

If this Lu Xuan still discovered who Qing Xuan was, it would mean he had failed to break the deadlock and would have to pass the burden to the next Lu Xuan to continue the Cycle.

It would also mean that the next Lu Xuan would once again have to endure the loneliness of walking this path alone, watching the endless ebb and flow of all things, powerless to do anything but observe.

The middle-aged Daoist did not seem to understand his words. He stood there for a long time before finally departing.

"I'm growing more and more curious about who you are."

He left with those words. The Mist Daoist only smiled and repeated,

"It is better that you do not know who I am, Great Celestial Venerable."

Watching Lu Xuan depart,

the Mist Daoist stood stunned for a long time. Then, his consciousness returned to his true body. He slowly raised his head and gazed at a vast, hazy Great Dao.

"The time has come."

Qing Xuan murmured to himself and stepped into the magnificent Great Dao. Without a word, he extended a finger and suppressed Bodhi, who was undergoing Integration Dao within. The latter immediately submitted, prostrating on the ground and kowtowing in deference.

"Come, discuss the Dao with me."

So said Qing Xuan.

Their discussion of the Dao lasted for seventeen thousand years.

In those seventeen thousand years, he comprehended the Dao of Bodhi within the first three thousand. By now, the Daos of Haotian, Bodhi, the Buddha Mother, and Houtu,

in addition to the Dao of The Three Pristine Ones that he carried, the Dao of Amitabha that he understood through the Western Pure Land, and the hazy Daos of Emperor Jun and Xi He reflected in his eyes...

He had comprehended all the Dao Fruits of ancient times.

Thus, for the remaining fourteen thousand years of the discussion, Qing Xuan was *comprehending*, *integrating*, and *illuminating* his Self.

108,000 Daos converged within him, clarifying the paths of all ancient Dao Fruits. His End-Tribulation Body trembled faintly. He witnessed the Creation of Heaven and Earth, gazed upon the flourishing of the great world, watched the graceful dance of all spirits, and saw the All Realms rise and fall.

As for the End-Tribulation?

He *was* the End-Tribulation.

"I see... but..."

"Something is still missing."

The Mist Daoist murmured to himself, waiting quietly for that final opportunity.

Time flowed on. He saw Supreme Beings battling within the Chaos, saw Lu Xuan being devoured, and saw the great tide of the final tribulation surging forth, carrying the Era Remnants with it...

The opportunity had arrived.

Qing Xuan did not look at the two newly born Near Transcenders. He did not save the collapsing All Realms, nor did he shelter the living beings facing extinction.

He simply returned to Kongtong Mountain, to Guangcheng Palace. He sealed the doors of the Daoist Palace and sat within in silent meditation.

The entire Guangcheng Daoist Palace and Ancient Kongtong Mountain withered along with the decaying great world, growing ever more dilapidated, on the verge of fading away completely.

'Enlightenment, Enlightenment...'

As the great tide of the final tribulation washed over the Great Heaven and Earth.

When the Current World ushered in the true end of the Dharma, when the age of immortals concluded and the extraordinary receded like the tide.

The Master of Guangcheng Palace gazed at the chaos in the Current World. He watched the Eighty-One Armors emerge from the great tomb to maintain the last vestiges of order, and watched the Coffin and Casket on Taishan tremble as if a living being was about to step out.

He closed his eyes, feeling the 108,000 Daos slowly wither and die out in the great tide of the final tribulation...

'Without destruction, there can be no creation. One must build upon the ruins...'

'I see.'

Just as the two Near Transcenders were locked in a battle to the death, just as the 108,000 Daos had withered to their absolute limit,

inside the dilapidated Guangcheng Daoist Palace, Qing Xuan Daoist opened his arms.

"All Daos will fall silent..."

"Then, I shall become all Daos."

He said it, and so he did it. His form blurred and merged with the 108,000 Daos, becoming inseparably entangled, as if he were about to achieve Integration Dao.

However,

this time, his was not an act of *integration* with the Dao, but rather...

one of *Enlightenment*.

Silently, the charred Ancient Kongtong Mountain began to radiate the sole life force in all the realms. Peach blossoms bloomed one after another, their fragrance filling the air.

The dilapidated Daoist Palace was restored to its former glory, and even...

...surpassed it.

'Is this Enlightenment?'

Qing Xuan Daoist murmured calmly to himself, his expression serene, neither shocked nor flustered.

There were no heaven-shattering phenomena, no earth-shaking changes—only a mountain of blooming peach blossoms, only a touch of vibrant life.

And so, just like that, perfectly naturally,

He... achieved Enlightenment.

As if it were only right and proper. As if it had always been this way.

Bearing eight great wounds, Qing Xuan quietly comprehended his own immense power. At this moment, he was both the one and the all, both nothingness and Existence, both the past and the present...

After Transformation Dao is Integration Dao, and after Integration Dao is Enlightenment.

A Daoist... can also be called...

a Near Transcender.

'Is this the great power that Taiyi and Fu Xi command?'

Qing Xuan sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, murmuring to himself. With a casual wave, he saved Xiaohuo'Er and Little Xi He from the great world's final demise, then sank quietly into thought.

'If this is all there is, how can I possibly defeat Fu Xi and Taiyi? At best, I am their equal. This is not the way to break the deadlock. Hunted by them, it will be difficult for me to become a Hua Dao Ancestor.'

Qing Xuan frowned. '

'Could it be that I need to wait for another Cycle?'

'No, that's not right. What's not right? What have I overlooked?'

A sudden, heavy vexation weighed on his mind. He felt as if a single, thin thread was dangling just before his eyes, yet he could neither see nor grasp it. He was always missing it by the barest of margins...

Qing Xuan sat peacefully, cross-legged. As he felt out his newfound abilities, he quietly turned his gaze to the two Near Transcenders in the Chaos, attempting to Jun Fu Xi's Wa Huang's Qi.

At the same time, he was trying to comprehend that untouchable 'thin thread'.

The process of copying Wa Huang's Qi was extremely slow. Instead, he first grasped the fundamental issue.

'I see, I see...'

As a Near Transcender, Qing Xuan could see all, perceive all, and comprehend all. And then, he finally understood.

'From Lu Xuan becoming Qing Xuan, and then from Qing Xuan creating Lu Xuan—it is a cycle, an O. But it shouldn't be. If it remains an O, I'll never be able to break the deadlock!'

'To be precise, this shouldn't be a cyclical O, but a 6—a shape that allows one to exit the cycle at a specific point.'

'While completing the cycle, one must step into the next, unknown layer at a specific point. There lies the possibility of breaking the deadlock, but also the possibility of utter annihilation.'

'But what is this specific point?'

'Is it when I send Lu Xuan into the entire past of the Great Era, enabling him to become Qing Xuan?'

'No, doing that would only start a new cycle. It would still be an O, not a 6. I wouldn't be able to escape the loop!'

Qing Xuan sank into contemplation, his head throbbing as if it would split. 'Where is the point to exit the cycle?'

'And now, which cycle is this?' 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

'The path ahead is chaotic and indistinct, blurry and unclear...'

He let out a sharp cry. The Innate Root Sun and Innate Root Taiyin in his eyes trembled violently, trying desperately to find that special point—the one that would turn the O into a 6 and end the Cycle!

Failure. Failure. And still, failure.

Even having achieved Enlightenment, he still could not find that point.

As his thoughts raced,

a flash of insight struck Qing Xuan.

'The previous Qing Xuan... where did he go?'

'Right, and the one before that? Where did he go?'

The Birth and Death of the All Realms flickered in Qing Xuan's eyes. All of existence and non-existence, truth and falsehood, illusion and reality, were laid bare before him. The very Era Essence trembled as he frantically searched for any trace of the other Qing Xuans, but he found nothing!

He sank deeper and deeper...

Suddenly,

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

A knock sounded at the door, followed by the creak of it opening as Xiaohuo'Er answered.

"Third Grand-Master, you..."

Qing Xuan snapped out of his trance, his heart pounding violently.

'Where did the previous Qing Xuan go? Let me... see for myself!'

He regained his composure and sat down, quietly watching as Lu Xuan, in the guise of the Lame Daoist, approached step by step.

The Lame Daoist faced Qing Xuan with his empty sockets and said softly,

"Daoist Qing Xuan, I have reached the end of my path. I... have no recourse left."

*(The final countdown has begun! The O and 6 are a bit abstract, just think of them as images. I'll be honest, I copied that from a book review O.o)*