My Dreams Connect to Ancient Times

The gates of the Emperor’s Palace were not closed, and every single word spoken within carried outside.

Outside the gates, Lu Jianxue listened in confusion, while Zhao Zheng clenched his fists ever tighter, gritting his teeth.

’The Celestial Dao prizes life—so the Human Dao doesn’t?’

’Are immortals destined to be superior to mortals and to rule over them?’

’What kind of bullshit reasoning is that!’

As Zhao Zheng listened to the debate inside the Emperor’s Palace, a look of confusion and rage flashed across his face, and his heart pounded in his chest.

The faint sound of a dragon’s roar began to emanate from his body in waves, as if he’d had a realization.

Zhao Zheng suddenly understood what he had to do.

’If I were to unite the lands of the Human World...’

He whispered in a voice only he could hear:

"...then I shall use the Human Dao to assail the Celestial Realm, slay evil immortals, establish laws for their kind, command all Immortals, issue decrees to every buddha, order all gods, and command every ghost..."

Meanwhile, the Immortal Officials and Divine Officials watching from several celestial vaults away were all shaking their heads and sighing.

Venus’s eyes glinted as he stroked his long beard and murmured:

"It seems Saint Lu’s Dao Heart is likely..."

Li Jing, caressing the Treasure Pagoda in his hand, added:

"But he is, after all, the first Human Saint from the Human World, a successor of the Taishang Lineage... a direct one! Will the one in Douluo Palace really just sit by and watch Saint Lu’s Dao Heart collapse?"

"Impossible. He won’t get involved." Venus shook his head. "This is just a debate on the Dao. If one loses, one has only themself to blame. The master of Douluo Palace would never be so protective..."

He hadn’t even finished speaking when a voice brimming with amusement rang out from the contentious Gouchen Emperor’s Palace.

"I was waiting for you to say that."

Huh?

Venus froze for a moment. ’That voice... it sounds familiar.’

The gazes of all the Great Immortal Officials traveled across the void, through the open gates of the Gouchen Emperor’s Palace, and fixed upon the scene within.

And there they saw him: the plain, ordinary, and completely unremarkable old farmer, who was now raising his head, his back hunched as if in a cough.

What??

The crowd of immortals and gods was horrified. ’When did that mortal get inside?’

’Oh, right. He was in there the whole time...’

’Why do I have no memory of him?’

Venus was completely bewildered.

"I’ve only just now noticed there’s an old farmer in the Emperor’s Palace. How strange. For a mere mortal to dare interrupt a debate between the Emperor and the Human Saint... you have to realize..."

His voice came to an abrupt halt.

’If he were really an ordinary old farmer, how could his voice have resounded throughout the Thirty-Three Celestial Realms?’

’If he were really an ordinary old farmer, how could I only be discovering his presence now, only seeing him for the first time?’

’If he were really an ordinary old farmer, how could he have led a Cyan Bull on a hundred-year journey to the celestial vault of the West Pole??’

Venus’s scalp went numb with shock. Beside him, Li Jing had obviously figured it out as well, and had even guessed the old farmer’s identity.

He felt a tremor run from his spine to the tips of his hair. Forcing himself to swallow, he spoke with a trembling voice:

"Taibai... I think... I think you’ve guessed wrong."

The two Great Immortal Officials stared at each other, neither daring to speak. They could only watch as the hunched-over old farmer inside the Emperor’s Palace casually pulled the great gates closed, blocking their view entirely.

"Gouchen is done for," Venus muttered.

...

「Gouchen Emperor’s Palace」

The old farmer, back bent, shuffled laboriously to the gates of the Emperor’s Palace. Then, with his two hands, he pulled the portals, which weighed as much as an entire world, shut.

CREAK—BOOM!!

With the tremendous sound of the gates closing, the entire Emperor’s Palace trembled.

Then, as the majestic figure watched in horror, the old farmer slowly turned around. He came to a stop beside the Cyan Bull and offered a peaceful, warm smile.

"You said the strong are superior, making them more worthy, and that they can manipulate the weak as they wish. Is that right?"

As he spoke, the old farmer gently patted Lu Xuan, who was still coughing up blood. At his touch, Lu Xuan’s crumbling Dao Heart began to stabilize.

Before the Emperor’s Throne, cold sweat trickled down Emperor Gouchen’s brow. He managed a strained smile and spoke, his voice hoarse.

"Greetings... Greetings, Taiqing the Great Venerable."

With those words, the majestic figure who, just moments ago, had been high and mighty, casually playing with overlapping cosmoses, now bent at the waist and bowed with the utmost reverence.

The old farmer ignored him, turning instead to the Daoist at his side. He smiled and said:

"Xiaoxuan."

Lu Xuan snapped back to his senses. He vaulted off the Cyan Bull, calmed his roiling emotions, and said respectfully:

"Teacher, I am here."

The old farmer spoke again with a smile:

"Beat him up."

Even more sweat broke out on the majestic figure’s forehead.

Lu Xuan gave an honest salute, feeling a sense of relief. ’I’ve been calling my teacher Old Li for over a hundred years,’ he thought. ’Even though I got used to it, the mental pressure...’

He said with a wry smile:

"Teacher, I can’t beat him."

GULP.

At that moment, the majestic figure above swallowed hard and spoke, his voice hoarse:

"Great Celestial Venerable, Saint Lu and I were only debating the Dao. It was just an argument. I did not use my power to bully one weaker than myself..."

The old farmer glanced at him airily.

"Didn’t you say that those who are stronger can do as they please?"

He yawned, then turned back to Lu Xuan with a wide grin and said:

"It’s fine if you can’t beat him. Teacher will just make him a bit weaker, then you’ll be fine."

As his words fell, the old farmer slowly extended a palm. The hair on the back of the Emperor of the Upper Palace of Gouchen stood on end. He wanted to dodge...

But that single palm strike encompassed all the Celestial Realms and all the worlds, every timeline and every point in time. It was a "predestined" event within the fabric of Cause and Effect, making it utterly impossible to evade.

The instant the palm was thrown, it had already struck.

BAM!!

Emperor Gouchen was sent sprawling to the ground. His body, which had only just started to heal, instantly shattered again, the injury tearing through the annals of time.

He coughed up a mouthful of Emperor’s Blood, which swirled with flawless divine splendor. He had just opened his mouth to beg for mercy when another palm slapped down.

BAM!!

The second palm struck his Divine Soul.

Then came the third, striking his Dao Foundation.

One palm to shatter the Great Emperor’s true body. One palm to break his flawless True Spirit. And one palm to smash his Heaven-Reaching Dao Foundation!