Chapter 342 - 18: Heralding 3 Calamities, Decreeing 5 Decays, Immortals Fall
Inside the Celestial Master’s Mansion.
"Outside... so many Celestial Venerables and Buddhas! Five or six of them, fighting to the death!"
Ben Bo’Erba was terrified:
"Didn’t they say this world has already fallen into decline? Why are there so many Celestial Venerables and Buddhas? It’s like they all rose up after the apocalypse!"
As he spoke, he cautiously looked around, only to see that the great figures from Ancient Times were completely unperturbed, their expressions unchanging.
Grandpa Pig, on the other hand, was deeply worried, his expression grave:
"That Celestial Master is impressive, but five Immortals have descended upon the world... Although Lu Zi has attained the status of Human Saint and possesses that Daoist Temple with the characteristics of the Celestial Realms, he ultimately hasn’t recovered to his peak. He’s only at the Grand Grade Level. I’m afraid..."
He gripped the Nail Rake in his hand and added:
"I’m afraid Lu Zi is in great danger!"
Although Ben Bo’Erba didn’t know what a Human Saint was, he nodded in agreement. He could vaguely sense that the aura of the Ancient Lu Zi was indeed only that of a Grand Grade Immortal, no different from his own.
However, Yang Erlang, Li Changgeng, Nezha, and even the Big Black Bull standing to the side all looked at Zhu Wuneng and Ben Bo’Erba as if they were fools.
After a long moment, Li Changgeng stroked his long beard and spoke grimly:
"Old Pig, you never experienced the Spring and Autumn Years, so it’s normal that you don’t understand."
"What?" Zhu Wuneng was taken aback. "I know Lu Zi’s origins. I know he is Xuan..."
After glancing at Ben Bo’Erba, Zhu Wuneng corrected himself:
"I know Lu Zi’s background. The problem is, he hasn’t recovered! His cultivation isn’t even at the Immortal level!"
"Heh heh..."
Li Changgeng gave a cryptic smile, his gaze profound:
"But do you know what Lu Zi’s cultivation was when he walked the world during the Spring and Autumn Period?"
"What was it?" Zhu Wuneng asked curiously.
"Earth Immortal."
Li Changgeng spoke grimly:
"With the body of an Earth Immortal, he slew the Drought Demon and dismantled one of the Four Directions Celestial Courts. He took up an artifact to whip Emperor Gouchen nine thousand times, sentenced him to the Underworld to suffer for eighteen thousand years, and then forced him to reincarnate for a hundred lifetimes..."
Zhu Wuneng’s eyes widened, and he blurted out instinctively:
"Impossible!!"
Ben Bo’Erba, standing beside them, was dumbfounded. He thought he must be hallucinating, that he’d misheard.
’The body of an Earth Immortal, deposing one of the Celestial Courts, punishing a supreme Emperor...’
He began to tremble.
Nezha, who had been silent all this time, spoke in a daze:
"It’s bizarre, isn’t it? But it’s the truth. All the Immortals and Buddhas in the heavens witnessed it. We all saw it with our own eyes... After the Spring and Autumn Period, no one dared to speak of it again."
Zhu Wuneng was speechless. He knew that Lu Xuan was the one behind the great calamity of the Spring and Autumn Period, the one who dismantled one of the Four Directions Celestial Courts.
But he racked his brains and still couldn’t understand how it was possible. How could someone accomplish such a feat with only the body of an Earth Immortal, even with the title of Human Saint added on?
’It doesn’t make sense. It just doesn’t make sense...’
Zhu Wuneng trembled in a daze. Ben Bo’Erba curled up obediently on the ground, shivering uncontrollably. Meanwhile, Yang Erlang and the others stood on high alert, carefully protecting the unconscious girl and guarding against the potential aftershocks of the battle.
As for the exquisitely beautiful girl, she lay quietly suspended in the void, her long eyelashes trembling silently.
As if in a dream.
...
The current limit of the world is the Grand Grade. If anyone above the Grand Grade enters the mortal world, they will exceed the limit of what the Great Heaven and Earth can bear, and the world will begin to collapse.
Likewise, the Immortals themselves would die along with the world’s collapse. After all, only their lifespans are immortal; Celestial Venerables and Buddhas still exist within the confines of heaven and earth.
Therefore, for an Immortal to walk the current world, they can only rely on palaces, temples, and towers that exist outside of heaven and earth, such as the Sanqing Temple, the Upper Palace, the Earth Palace, and the Life and Death Second Floors.
They must reside within these places to move through the Human World. There is no other way.
A profound and majestic Daoist Temple emerged from the void. Before the stunned gazes of the Immortals, it smashed into and destroyed the armored man’s vessel for walking the world—it smashed the Upper Palace.
Fragments of the palace fell from the sky, crashing onto Dragon Tiger Mountain and kicking up towering clouds of dust and a hazy mist.
In the midst of the dust.
A young man in ancient black robes slowly strode out, walked to the top of the Daoist Temple, and sat down cross-legged. He swept his gaze over the Immortals and said calmly:
"Come, fight me."
His clear voice echoed across the Celestial Vault, like the roar of a great bell, like the beat of a heavy drum, deafening and resounding.
Two lamps appeared at his side. A Cyan Lamp on his right, its flame illuminating All Realms and all worlds. A Gloomy Lamp on his left, its flame illuminating all living beings.
Then, a longsword appeared, identical to the one wielded by the Old Celestial Master, and lay quietly across the young man’s knees.
"Lu... Lu Xuan!"
Far away, Li Xiaosang’s heart pounded as she blankly uttered the name.
Zhang Jifeng, Wang Zhiyao, and the others all had their expressions change drastically. They stared intently at the towering Daoist Temple where the young man was seated.
The former was both shocked and shaken:
"Is that... the Sanqing Temple??"
Everyone looked at each other in dismay. The vast majority of those present were core figures from various major powers, and they were all aware of the recent events in Shengjing.
Zhang Huatian was bewildered:
"Lu Zi... Sanqing Temple... Could it be that Lu Zi is the Sanqing Temple Master? The one who suppressed and killed three Grand Grade experts above Shengjing, whose single word became a decree?"
No one answered.
After a long pause,
Guan Tong, dressed in white, swallowed hard:
"You old coot, did you ever foresee this scene?"
"Never."
Zhuge Suan’s expression was grim, a flash of astonishment in his eyes:
"This involves Immortals and one of the Ancient Sons. It was already outrageously bold of me to take even a single glimpse. How could I dare look further?"
He paused, then took a deep breath:
"But... if what Patriarch Kong said is true, and the ancient records are accurate, then the outcome of today’s events is difficult to predict!"
"It is true," Kong Ru said with conviction, the fervent zeal in his eyes growing even stronger. "It all makes sense now. It all makes sense!"
