Chapter 721 - 32: Fu Xi Opens the Heavens, Pangu Cleaves the Earth, Taiyi Gives Birth to Water (Grand Finale, Part 1)

After countless Years,

He had reshaped all the realms and established the foundations for eight Great Realms. With the full support of his three masters and the Lady, he had experienced nine Cycles and laid countless hidden plans...

Finally.

Finally, today was the day.

At the same time, the entire Great Era began to RUMBLE. The overall procession of the Years had reached its [End], and the entire Great Era was sliding toward that [End].

In other words, the Era was [Ending].

"Xiaolu..."

On Jade Capital Mountain, the young woman spoke softly. Lu Xuan glanced to the side and gave her a gentle smile.

"Xiaoyan, wait for me... It won't be long."

"Mhm!"

Xiaoyan nodded firmly, just as she always had.

Lu Xuan calmed his heart. He didn't immediately push open the Door of Transcendence. He had no idea what sight awaited him after Transcendence. Before he transcended, he needed to...

Reshape everything.

In fact, for the current Lu Xuan, whether he pushed open the Door of Transcendence or not was no longer of great significance. He had long since surpassed the limits of a [Dao Fruit]. After assimilating Taiyi, cutting down a [Near Transcender] would be as easy as slaughtering pigs and dogs.

If he were to return to the past,

A Daluo looking at him would be like a beast in the forest gazing at a towering peak;

A Dao Fruit looking at him would be like a tiny firefly trying to glimpse the brilliant Great Sun above its head;

And a Near Transcender looking at him would be no different from an ant in the dust trying to steal a glance at the vast Cyan Celestial Realm.

None could see his [Entirety]. None could see the [Entirety] of Lu Xuan.

His Daoist Ancestor Fruit Position thrummed. He was on the same level as the [Era] itself. Or rather, he had one foot in the realm of Transcendence and the other in the Era.

After a long while, Lu Xuan rose leisurely and stretched. He gazed at the magnificent spectacle of the Great Era's collapse, listening to the RUMBLING of all things being destroyed.

He extended a hand and, with a gentle grasp, held the entirety of The Beginning of Ancient Times in his palm.

At that same moment, the Great Era came to a complete end. Chaos dissipated, Hongmeng blurred. Time, space, the various Daos—all lost their meaning. All things lost their concepts...

Only Lu Xuan remained, standing alone in absolute [Nothingness], holding The Beginning of Ancient Times in his hand.

He was just about to recreate everything when his expression suddenly changed. The Door of Transcendence above his head began to vibrate violently, opening on its own, but Lu Xuan slammed his hand down, forcing it shut.

Lu Xuan did not want to transcend yet.

At least, not at this moment.

He used all his strength to hold down the Door of Transcendence, leaving him with no energy for anything else.

After pondering for a moment, Lu Xuan smiled.

"A person can't forget their roots."

He silently activated [Body Transformation], reclaiming a lost identity of his—the one called [Qing Xuan]. At the same time, he also brought back [Fu Xi].

This time, however, Lu Xuan was not Fu Xi, but Fu Xi was Lu Xuan.

In other words, the current Fu Xi was one of his incarnations.

"Go on."

Lu Xuan smiled and nodded. Fu Xi, also standing in the absolute [Nothingness], slowly nodded back.

He looked back, gazing at the gradually dispersing Era Remnants of the Second Era.

He then silently opened his hand. A scroll unfurled—it was the River Map and Luo Book. The moment it appeared, it emitted the first ray of light in this absolute [Nothingness].

Fu Xi intended to open the heavens with a single stroke.

However, the moment that sliver of light appeared, it was extremely unstable and quickly collapsed. The [Heaven Opening] had failed.

Lu Xuan frowned. He was using most of his power to hold down the Door of Transcendence and couldn't spare much for the [Heaven Opening].

And this [Heaven Opening] was not the same as the others. Whether it was his second master's Heaven Opening in the past, or his own reenactment of it after taking the seat of Yuqing,

they were all, in essence, the Creation of Heaven and Earth from a foothold at the beginning of an Era, within Hongmeng.

But now, the Second Era had completely ended. The current [Heaven Opening] was, in reality...

Opening an [Era].

Fu Xi was not enough.

With a thought from Lu Xuan, a figure walked out from his Physique. It was Pangu.

Pangu Daoist held a giant axe and stood beside Fu Xi. Fu Xi opened the heavens with his painting, and Pangu sundered the earth with his axe, but they still failed.

"Again."

Lu Xuan held The Beginning of Ancient Times in one hand and pressed down the Door of Transcendence with the other. He muttered solemnly, and a third figure walked out from his Physique. It was Taiyi, who had already merged with him and become a part of him.

Fu Xi, Pangu, and Taiyi stood side by side.

For the third time, Fu Xi unfurled the scroll. A ray of light emerged, illuminating the absolute [Nothingness], its clear brilliance flickering in and out of existence.

Pangu Daoist raised his axe high, his eyes wide with fury, and chopped down. The axe split a crack in the absolute [Nothingness], and something thick and heavy began to flow within it.

Finally, there was Taiyi.

Taiyi stood quietly in the [Nothingness] alongside Fu Xi and Pangu. He crossed his arms, and in his embrace, a drop of profound and mysterious water was born. The water fell, completely shattering the [Nothingness] that had been illuminated by the ray of light and split by the axe!

A stretch of sky appeared, and a stretch of earth appeared.

The sky was above, the earth below. The sky became Hongmeng, and the earth became Chaos.

[Fu Xi, with one stroke, opened the heavens. Yin Yang came to be, the Eight Trigrams were born, and all things were established.]

[Pangu, with one axe, sundered the earth. The turbid qi sank, black and white separated, and all things took form.]

[Taiyi gave birth to water. Water, in turn, supported Taiyi, thus forming the heavens. The heavens, in turn, supported Taiyi, thus forming the earth.]

Lu Xuan's three incarnations worked together, each using their strengths, bringing about the initial separation of Hongmeng.

"Continue, continue."

The nascent form of the third Great Era coalesced. Unlike the Second Era, where Hongmeng preceded Chaos, in this Era, Hongmeng was above and Chaos was below.

Fu Xi once again raised the Yin Yang Eight Trigrams, tearing a line between Hongmeng above and Chaos below.

Pangu walked into that line, pushed up with his hands, and stomped down with his feet. With a shout like thunder, he forcibly propped open the line.

Afterward, this line transformed into the [Great Heaven and Earth]. Pangu then fell prone within it, his four limbs becoming the Four Extremes and his torso becoming the Celestial Pillar that held up the sky.

Finally, there was Taiyi. Still holding a drop of water, he nourished the world, and only then did the [concept] of Existence emerge.

"Henceforth, Fu Xi shall govern Hongmeng, Taiyi shall control Chaos, and Pangu shall reside within the heavens and earth, holding up the sky, supporting the earth, and stabilizing the Four Extremes."

Lu Xuan issued a Celestial Decree. He plucked out the Innate Root Sun and Innate Root Taiyin from his eyes, casting them into the Great Heaven and Earth to become Yin and Yang!

Xiaohuo'Er gestated within the Innate Root Sun, and Little Xi He slumbered peacefully within the Innate Root Taiyin.

Lu Xuan's expression grew solemn. This was the final step.

He extended his left hand and slowly, deliberately, placed The Beginning of Ancient Times below Hongmeng, above Chaos, and within the heaven and earth.

The very instant The Beginning of Ancient Times was set down, time came into being.

An inch of time was born, then gradually expanded, finally becoming a vast river that flowed from beginning to end.

The Beginning of Ancient Times, which had been destroyed by Taiyi, now lay peacefully, floating at the headwaters of the River of Time. The Great Sun fell into it, and the Taiyin plunged into it, and thus the sun and moon were formed.

Lu Xuan waved his hand again. Eighty-four thousand Daos that had fallen into Nirvana were sent into The Beginning of Ancient Times. Everything in existence began to truly emerge, no longer just [concepts].

In the first shadow, Emperor Fengdu sat up straight.

The first clod of earth tumbled, and Zhenyuan Zi lifted his head from within it, looking dazed.

As the first breeze blew past, Kunpeng yawned as if waking from a long dream.

In the first drop of water, the Ancestral Dragon groggily opened its eyes and looked around in confusion, searching for traces of old friends.

Within the Celestial Vault, Haotian, who had achieved Integration Dao, peeled himself away, his aura gentle.

Beneath the Earth, Houtu recovered her senses and looked from side to side.

A peculiar tree grew from the soil. The tree had seven branches, upon which grew Bodhi Fruits. From one of the fruits, a Bodhi emerged.

When the concept of [Buddha] was born, a great monk named Amitabha also leaped out from this concept.

A peacock appeared on the earth. It was leaning against the Seven Treasures Miaoshu, preening its feathers in the radiance of Buddhist light, and transformed into the Buddha Mother.

And in the Hongmeng above the Great Heaven and Earth, an old man yawned. In The Beginning of Ancient Times within the Great Heaven and Earth, a middle-aged man who had slept for many years stretched. And in the dim Chaos below the Great Heaven and Earth, a young man rubbed his nose and rose with a smile.

On top of Jade Capital Mountain, next to Xiaoyan, a stunningly beautiful woman appeared from nowhere. Unlike the others, she seemed to have lost her memory. She just looked around blankly, her small hand against her lips, and muttered to herself:

'Who am I?'

'I should be called... Wa?'

The woman nodded firmly, her gaze clear.

"Yes, my name is Wa! My name is Wa!"

She began to dance with joy.

With that, the new Era was finally complete, and old friends emerged one after another.

Lu Xuan watched all of this quietly, a gentle smile appearing on his face, though it was tinged with exhaustion. He glanced at the Door of Transcendence, and, unable to resist any longer, he gently released his hand.

The Door of Transcendence slowly swung open.

"So, that's how it is."

He sighed deeply.

(The next chapter is the finale. If I write quickly, it should be out around midnight!)