Chapter 325 - 8: Entering Under the Stele, Meeting the Great Dao Fruit Corpse
"I’m going to take care of something." Lu Xuan ruffled Xiaoyan’s hair and said with a smile, "You wait here for me. I’ll bring you back some tasty treats!"
"No." Xiaoyan pouted and whispered softly, "Xiaolu, Xiaolu, you’re going near Gouxian Town, right? Just drop me off in town."
As she spoke, her eyes shone brightly.
"I’ll go buy my own tasty treats... I’ll bring some back for you!"
Lu Xuan smiled gently.
"Alright!"
With that, he rose gracefully. He looked at the few Ancient Immortals beside him, whose expressions were strange, and said unflinchingly,
"Let’s go. To Gouxian Town, to meet the one beneath the Stone Stele."
"Martial Uncle," Nezha asked curiously, "can’t you leave the Daoist Temple? To go beneath that stele, you would definitely have to leave... That place is a Forbidden Land where heaven and earth are severed. Even the attribute of being ’Everywhere’ cannot penetrate it."
Li Changgeng also smiled.
"Yes, Supreme Venerable. Why not wait until the world’s upper limits have been raised? There’s no rush. And honestly, it’s not even certain you’ll be able to see that person, after all..."
Lu Xuan smiled serenely.
"I have already learned One Qi Transforms into the Three Pristine Ones."
"Oh, so you’ve learned it, but... what?!" Li Changgeng’s smile froze. The other Ancient Immortals shot to their feet, their expressions ones of utter disbelief.
’This man has been sitting here the whole time. He just closed his eyes for a single breath, and now he knows One Qi Transforms into the Three Pristine Ones?!’
’This has to be a joke!!’
Lu Xuan didn’t explain. He couldn’t very well tell them that he had just made a trip back to Ancient Times and met his master, could he?
He formed a profound mudra with his hand, silently recited the principles of the Dharma scripture in his mind, and visualized the three aspects of Heaven, Earth, and Man, comprehending the Three Powers.
Then, Lu Xuan pointed a finger and chuckled.
"Condense."
The void trembled. Before the astonished eyes of the Ancient Immortals, the air condensed and intertwined, and amidst an indescribably terrifying, profound light, an immortal body materialized.
Xiaoyan’s eyes went wide.
"T-Two Lu Xuans?"
"Not quite," the two Lu Xuans chuckled, speaking in unison. "I have only grasped the surface of the ’One Qi Transforms into the Three Pristine Ones’ technique. For now, I cannot use Creation to produce another true self."
After a pause, the two Lu Xuans spoke in unison again.
"But it is enough to use Creation to form a false self, one to serve as a vessel for the ’Human Saint’ title!"
As their voices faded, the two Lu Xuans merged and then separated. One of them walked over to the cattail cushion and sat down. His form suddenly became illusory, but it was wreathed in the profound, incomprehensible principles of heaven and earth!
Lu Xuan stretched, experiencing this wondrous sensation with shining eyes.
With the ’Human Saint’ title entrusted to the illusory self, he could now walk freely in the outside world as long as he didn’t call upon the Human Saint’s power.
But if he encountered danger, he could still access the Human Saint’s power at any time!
This illusory self was like a temporary vessel, bearing the great title of Human Saint, but in the end, it was still Lu Xuan himself.
Under the dumbfounded gazes of the Ancient Immortals, Lu Xuan stretched again and said with a smile,
"Let’s go, let’s go."
The Ancient Immortals exchanged glances, a great chill running down their spines as their minds reeled in shock.
A terrifying guess surfaced in Li Changgeng’s mind. ’In that one breath... don’t tell me this man actually made a trip to Douluo Palace?!’
He swallowed hard and began to feel dizzy.
...
Gouxian Town was as peaceful as ever, retaining its ancient charm without a single trace of the technological era.
Outside the town, green mountains stood majestically, lush with vegetation. Countless beasts and birds roamed, and the area was rarely trodden by humans.
"Just a little more effort! We’ve got about two kilometers left, and then we’ll reach the summit!"
A mountaineering team was making its way through the mountain forest. The captain wiped away his sweat and said with a laugh,
"This is the highest mountain on the edge of the Kongtong Mountain Range, but very few people come here. We might just be the first team to climb it."
Beside him, a pretty girl was panting.
"I can’t... I’m about to die from exhaustion..."
"Almost there! We can take a good long rest when we get to the summit!"
After drinking some water and refueling with energy bars, the group set off toward the summit again. Although the Great Sun blazed overhead, it was thankfully spring, and the lush Ancient Trees of the forest blocked most of the harsh sunlight.
After walking for a long time, they finally reached the peak of the green mountain. Several of the novice climbers let out a long breath and collapsed onto the ground, drenched in sweat.
"Alright, we’re at the top! Take pictures if you want, rest if you need to. We’ll head down later!"
GLUG GLUG GLUG!
The girl chugged a large mouthful of water and complained,
"It’s supposed to be spring, so why is the sun so vicious?"
"We’re high up on a mountain, closer to the sky, and there isn’t much shade on the summit..."
The captain said teasingly,
"You’ll be fine after a little rest. You guys really need to exercise more."
"We have to work all the time. Where would we find the time to exercise?"
The girl said, wiping her sweat and pouting,
"Couldn’t a few thick clouds just show up and block the sun for a bit?"
"The weather’s great today, where would clouds come from—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the sky suddenly darkened. Massive shadows fell over the group.
The girl subconsciously looked up.
"See? Here come the clouds..."
Her voice died in her throat. Her eyes went wide, an icy chill exploded down her back, and she screamed,
"S-s-s-sky... What is that in the sky?!"
No one spoke. They all stared blankly at the Celestial Vault above. A massive Daoist Temple stretched across it, dark and mysterious, Covering the Sky and Sun. It was surrounded by floating Qingyun, auspicious omens, and other phenomena, all profound beyond comprehension!
Before their terrified eyes, the Daoist Temple slowly descended. It landed perfectly, right on the mountaintop—right in front of them!
The mountain shook and the earth quaked.
The team captain lost his footing, stumbled, and fell to the ground. He stared in terror at the enormous Daoist School before him, his heart pounding.
The girl, meanwhile, swallowed hard and stammered in shock,
"T-This is..."
The gates of the Daoist Temple suddenly swung open, revealing a deep, hazy darkness. Chaos Qi flowed within the portal, making it impossible to see clearly.
The girl’s eyes widened. She waited quietly, and then she saw a young man walk out from within. The young man was dressed in ancient, dark-black robes, Chaos Qi flowing around him, making him seem ancient and timeworn!
Following him were a breathtakingly beautiful girl, the Big Black Bull, and a fat old man...
Under the terrified watch of the mountaineering team,
the leading young man in the ancient, dark-black robes stomped on the ground beneath his feet, then turned to the side and spoke with the beautiful girl for a moment.
Then, they watched as the beautiful girl soared into the air, blazing like a Great Sun, before disappearing into the clouds.
’A... A Celestial Human?’
The members of the mountaineering team all swallowed hard. They snapped back to their senses and immediately kowtowed, prostrating themselves on the ground, not daring to show any disrespect.
Lu Xuan glanced over at them and said with a light chuckle,
"This mountain is about to undergo a change. Would you all please descend?"
The captain trembled.
"Great Lord, we’ll go down the mountain right now, right now..."
"Good."
Lu Xuan pointed a finger lightly. The world suddenly blurred before the eyes of the mountaineering team. When their vision cleared, they found themselves in the distant Wutong City!
"This..." The girl had a dazed expression as she looked at the tall buildings, as if in a dream. "A real Immortal..."
Beside her, the captain was even more stunned and dazed, muttering to himself as if sleep-talking,
"An Immortal... I don’t think even Immortals have this kind of power, do they?"
They exchanged glances, hearts pounding wildly, their backs drenched in cold sweat.
Meanwhile, on the green mountain, Lu Xuan looked down, gazing at the Heaven-Reaching Stele beneath his feet, and asked faintly,
"How do I get in?"
"Martial Uncle, please follow me." Yang Erlang’s expression grew solemn. The group began Soaring Clouds and Mist, slowly making their way to the very bottom of the Stone Stele.
Lu Xuan looked up. Before his eyes, the scene flickered between a lush green mountain and the image of the Heaven-Reaching Stele.
The stele was engraved with five large words, their Dao Rhyme terrifyingly potent: "To Forever Guard This Land."
After staring at these five words for a moment, Lu Xuan saw Yang Erlang manipulate some arcane patterns. The magnificent scene before his eyes began to flash rapidly between the green mountain and the Stone Stele, until it reached a critical point!
It was the green mountain, and it was also the Stone Stele. They existed simultaneously, overlapping one another.
"Martial Uncle, you can enter now. You might not be able to see that person... We will wait out here. We can’t go in."
Lu Xuan nodded thoughtfully.
"The green mountain is real, the Stone Stele is illusory. The method of entry is to overlap reality and illusion?"
As he spoke, he took a step forward and entered the green mountain, passing beneath the Stone Stele.
Stepping inside, Lu Xuan looked around and saw a sea of fire scorching the sky.
He was a little puzzled. He followed the sea of fire forward, and after passing through the raging flames, he froze in place.
"You’ve come."
A heavy, resonant voice shook the world. A corpse lifted its head, its chains rattling violently, and the heavens and earth seemed to collapse.
A peerlessly beautiful woman was sitting there, pinned in place by three thousand chains. Yet no blood flowed, for she was already a corpse.
"My name is Nuwa."
