My Dreams Connect to Ancient Times

In the very heart of the West Pole Celestial Palace, within the Gouchen Emperor’s Palace.

Over a hundred years had passed, yet the majestic figure remained covered in wounds. For a being of his stature, for such an Existence, a century was little more than the blink of an eye.

But now, this wounded, majestic figure, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them. A dark light flared within his pupils, and a divine radiance washed out, seeming to encompass and judge countless worlds.

He rose abruptly, bowed respectfully, and asked, "Daoist Monarch Lu Ya, what brings you here?"

The staunch, powerfully-built Daoist lowered his gaze slightly and replied indifferently, "I come to deliver a Decree from Maitreya."

"Is that the Future Buddha Maitreya, or the current Buddha Mother Maitreya?"

"The Maitreya Buddha has already entered nirvana. Naturally, only the Buddha Mother Maitreya remains."

A grave expression appeared on the majestic figure’s face. He bowed once more. "I shall receive the Decree of the Buddha Mother Maitreya."

The staunch Daoist known as Lu Ya gave a slight nod. A Treasure Gourd materialized in his palm, its mouth spewing forth Immortal Light that shrouded the entire area.

Then, Lu Ya spoke coolly, "By the Decree of the current Buddha Mother Maitreya, you, Gouchen, are to shatter Lu Xuan’s Dao heart here."

The majestic figure’s expression changed drastically. He shook his head and refused. "During this era, Douluo Palace still holds sway over all!"

"It is of no concern."

Daoist Monarch Lu Ya spoke slowly. "You are to shatter his Dao heart, not take his life. The one in Douluo Palace forbids Immortals and Buddhas from using their greater power to bully the weak. However, if you challenge his Dao and shatter his Dao heart, it simply means Lu Xuan’s cultivation is lacking. No one else is to blame. The one in Douluo Palace will not punish you."

"And what if he does?" the majestic figure asked in a low voice. "In that great war, I was already on the verge of death. I had barely recovered a fraction of my strength before I was grievously wounded by the one from Douluo Palace... If it happens again, I fear I will truly perish!"

"You can rest assured." Daoist Monarch Lu Ya lifted his head, the Treasure Gourd bobbing up and down in his hand. "If the one from Douluo Palace is truly so shameless as to attack you over a mere contest of Dao, the Buddha Mother Maitreya will personally block the calamity for you."

"Can she stop him?" Gouchen asked doubtfully. "The gap between an Ancient One and an Enlightened One is not small, is it?"

"After that great cataclysm that severed the Years, do you really think The Three Pristine Ones are unscathed? The one from Jade Void Palace is blind, the one from Biyou Palace is crippled, and as for Douluo Palace..."

Daoist Monarch Lu Ya gave a silent smile. "Though the one in Douluo Palace is stronger than the other two, he is no longer in a perfect state. He symbolizes Existence, yet the Current World is so fragile it cannot even bear Immortality!"

Gouchen still hesitated.

Seeing this, Daoist Monarch Lu Ya added, "Whether you succeed or not, as long as you make the attempt, the Buddha Mother Maitreya promises to help you contend for the remaining Dao Fruit Position."

Gouchen’s eyes twitched slightly, then a cold sneer appeared on his face. "That’s what you all told me last time... In the end, you and the other Four Celestial Lords all fed me the same damn lies!"

Daoist Monarch Lu Ya coughed lightly, his gaze fixed straight ahead. "But the outcome was good, wasn’t it? Look, didn’t the Celestial Emperor die? His status plummeted from an Enlightened One occupying a Complete Dao Fruit to an Ancient One occupying half a Dao Fruit, freeing up half a great Dao Fruit Position..."

Gouchen’s face darkened. He fell silent for a moment before speaking again. "I can attempt to shatter that Lu Xuan’s Dao heart. I don’t know if I’ll succeed, but I have one more demand."

"Please, speak," Lu Ya said with a grin.

Gouchen took a shallow breath and said, "I want to know, right now, exactly how many Dao Fruit Positions are left?"

"I don’t know."

Lu Ya shrugged, a grin still on his face. "I can only tell you that The Three Pristine Ones, the two Buddhas, and the one in charge of Reincarnation each occupy a Complete Dao Fruit Position. The dead Celestial Emperor occupies half, Buddha Mother Maitreya has half, and the one on Spirit Mountain has half... Theoretically, there should be one and a half left, enough for three more Ancient Ones to emerge."

Gouchen narrowed his eyes dangerously. After a long silence, he nodded. "Fine. I will shatter that Profound Clarity’s Dao heart for you all."

.........

Near Hangu Pass, an old farmer led his bull, walking slowly.

Lu Jianxue walked with her hands behind her back, humming a tune she had made up, her little head bobbing from side to side.

Just as the old farmer had said, a hundred years had passed, yet she had not entered the Red Dust nor been tainted by the mortal world. She still looked the same as she did at the very beginning, her heart bright and clear, unstained by dust. Her disposition was still like that of a small child, but a closer look revealed some differences.

For instance, the tune Little Jianxue hummed would stir a resonance between heaven and earth. Wherever her song reached, Dao and principle would intertwine, and profound skills would rise and fall within it.

This was also why Lu Xuan didn’t dare let Little Jianxue wander the Human World on her own.

Lu Jianxue had listened to the Tao Te Ching for over a hundred years. During this time, she had grown very close to the old farmer, who would occasionally offer her a word or two of guidance...

As time went on, although she had not cultivated and her temperament was still that of a child, the principles woven into her very being were heavy enough to crush an Immortal!

At that moment, atop the Cyan Bull, Lu Xuan had his head lowered, conversing with the old farmer.

"Old Li, how many Dao Fruits do you think there are in this world?"

The old farmer smiled, his face a web of deep wrinkles. When he spoke, his voice was still full of simple honesty. "There are Nine Directions Dao Fruit positions, which can seat a maximum of eighteen living beings... And now, of the nine positions, eight are already taken."

Lu Xuan was lost in thought. ’Eight of nine are taken... does that mean there is one great Dao Fruit position left, which could seat one Enlightened One or two Ancient Ones?’

’I just don’t know who specifically holds these Dao Fruits...’

The two of them were discussing great secrets, but Zhao Zheng and Lu Jianxue, who were walking alongside, showed no reaction, as if they hadn’t heard a thing. In their eyes, the old farmer was just an old farmer.

Utterly ordinary and unremarkable. Even if his words or actions were out of the ordinary, they would naturally overlook it.

Lu Xuan’s gaze deepened slightly. He turned to Zhao Zheng beside him and asked, "Zheng’Er, over a hundred years ago, I asked what you would do after unifying the world. The first time, you said you didn’t know. The second time, you said you would kill Immortals and Buddhas. Now I ask you again, have you had any new thoughts?"

Zhao Zheng looked up, his eyes shining with the brilliant light of profound principles, but he still shook his head and said softly, "In reply to Adoptive Father-Grandfather, after a hundred years of time, a hundred years of walking, I vaguely have a new idea, but it’s very unclear, very indefinite."

"Mm," the old Daoist on the bull’s back nodded slightly. "Then keep thinking... After we pass through Hangu Pass and ascend to the Celestial Palace, I may have to depart. Give me your answer before then, if you can."

Zhao Zheng’s expression shifted slightly. ’Grandfather is leaving?’

Beside them, Lu Jianxue asked curiously, "Grandpa Lu, where are you going? Can I come?"

"You can’t go." Lu Xuan smiled gently. "I’m going to a very distant place... To be honest, you’re the one I’m most worried about. You have a simple, pure nature, but you’re also favored by the Great Dao. Your every word and action carries the might of a Great Virtue..."

The old farmer leading the bull suddenly spoke up. "The child can stay with me."

Lu Xuan was startled for a moment, then sighed with sincere feeling. "That would be good. That would be for the best..."

Lu Jianxue, however, made a face. "Old Li, Old Li, you want me to go farm with you? No way..."

Zhao Zheng also chuckled. "That’s right, Old Li. If Little Jianxue went farming with you, I’m afraid one swing of her hoe could dig up a patch of immortal land."

The old farmer just smiled without replying, while Lu Xuan’s eyelid twitched, his expression one of resignation.

As they conversed, Hangu Pass drew near.

On the walls of Hangu Pass, soldiers of the Zhou Dynasty stood tall. In the center of the wall stood a general, radiating an aura of great authority.

The general looked up into the distance, his gaze fixed on the nine thousand Essence spirits at the Earth Immortal Level and the Eighty-One Armors whose steps boomed like thunder. A look of alarm flashed across his face.

Then, the general announced in a loud voice, "Open the gate and welcome Saint Lu!"

The soldiers on the pass roared in unison, "Open the gate and welcome Saint Lu!!"

Below Hangu Pass, the city gates swung wide open. The general rode out first, kicking up a cloud of dust, his expression filled with excitement.

He galloped forward, stopping before the Cyan Bull, and bowed deeply. "Yin Xi of Hangu Pass has come to greet Saint Lu!"

The old farmer paused, and the Cyan Bull stopped as well. The Daoist on its back spoke with a smile, "Yin Xi, it’s been a long time... It must be two hundred years, wouldn’t you say?"

Back when he was the Keeper of the Records in the Guardian Storage Room, Yin Xi had served by his side for a time before being reassigned to Hangu Pass by the Celestial Son of Zhou.

The excitement on Yin Xi’s face grew. He took a deep breath and said, "To be precise, it has been one hundred and ninety-four years since we parted in Luoyang City."

"Good, good."

The Daoist nodded, opened the Tao Te Ching in his hands to the last page, and said softly, "Then let this final Chapter be recited here, and concluded here."

Yin Xi’s expression was one of profound shock.

Then, the Daoist once again proclaimed the Great Dao. The final Chapter of the Tao Te Ching echoed over Hangu Pass as ethereal Immortal Light spilled forth. The phenomenon reappeared, and for a hundred thousand li in every direction, all living things listened to the sermon.

Chapter eighty-one of the Tao Te Ching has few words and sentences, yet every word, every sentence, did its utmost to expound upon the Profound Principles of the Great Dao.

For one hundred and sixty-three years, Lu Xuan had walked through countless Dukes States, crossed mountains and seas, traversed perilous Forbidden Lands, and witnessed all the vicissitudes of the Human World.

The Dao he described and the principles he taught had caused peach blossoms to bloom throughout the entire Human World!

And now, at this very moment, the scroll of Daoist Virtue was finally fully bestowed upon the world, achieving Perfection!

Amid the sound of the Dharma talk, the old farmer smiled and nodded. The nine thousand Essence spirits, immersed in the Dao, all broke through their tribulations and hardships. Borne on the echoes of the Dao’s voice, they all entered the True Immortal Realm.

The Eighty-One Armors also made great progress, their auras growing even more extraordinary, almost possessing the might to reach the heavens and pierce the earth!

Zhao Zheng’s eyes were tightly shut, a smile on his face. Lu Jianxue was lost in the sound of the Dao, humming a song and dancing gracefully to the rhythm of the world.

As for Yin Xi, he was prostrated on the ground, utterly entranced.

"The Dao of heaven is to benefit and not to harm;"

"The Dao of the Saint is to act and not to contend."

As the final word fell, a ninety-thousand-li wave of purple energy surged forth, carrying the Great Dao and bearing great fortune, dyeing the entire ninety-thousand-li Celestial Vault purple.

When the nine thousand Essence spirits and the Eighty-One Armors opened their eyes again, the old farmer leading the bull, the young man and woman in attendance, and the Daoist on the bull’s back were all gone, having already passed through Hangu Pass.

The Eighty-One Armors and the nine thousand Essence spirits tried to give chase, but they all heard a laughing voice echo by their ears: "I am heading to the Celestial Palace. There is no need for you to follow me any longer."

"Go, all of you. You may roam the world freely or choose to protect a region. Do as you please, live as you please, but remember this: you must not commit evil."

The noses of the Eighty-One Armors tingled in unison. They all recalled the scene of their first meeting with Saint Lu two hundred years ago and prostrated themselves on the ground.

The nine thousand Essence spirits were silent at first, but then they followed the Eighty-One Armors, prostrating themselves on the ground and calling out in a clear, unified voice.

"We shall await Saint Lu’s return!"

The sound shook the heavens, startling Yin Xi from his immersion in the profound truths of the Dao. He opened his eyes, spun around, and looked toward the distant Cyan Bull.

Yin Xi was just about to call out when a laugh suddenly rang in his ears.

"I proclaimed the first Chapter of the Tao Te Ching in Luoyang City and the last Chapter at Hangu Pass. I met you in Luoyang and see you again at Hangu Pass. This is fate."

"This scroll of the Daoist Virtue, I gift to you. I hope that you will use it to pass down to later generations and bless those who come after."

Yin Xi froze, shocked to find a heavy roll of bamboo slips in his hands. He trembled slightly, then bowed toward the West, toward the Daoist seated on the Cyan Bull.

"Your disciple, Yin Xi, will surely spread this scripture throughout the world for all posterity!"

"Good."

Outside Hangu Pass, the Daoist smiled.

When Yin Xi raised his head again, the Daoist riding the bull had already left Hangu Pass far behind, traveling ever West until his figure blurred and vanished completely.

Only the ninety-thousand-li expanse of purple energy in the sky remained, rolling, surging, and vast, stretching from the East to the West across the entire Human World.