Chapter 425: Chapter 65: Dao Born of Xuan Sheng, Dao Born of the Self, Return
The Blind Daoist sighed, his expression complicated.
"A Dao Fruit Cultivator inverts Cause and Effect, defies common sense, and discards logic. This era of Years is the same! It’s clearly at the dawn of Heaven Opening, yet it is more ancient than the time before the Creation of Heaven and Earth. And that’s not all..."
His expression grew solemn.
"The Beginning of Ancient Times appears after the Heaven Opening, yet it is the true Source of everything. Even I was born in The Beginning of Ancient Times, only to then initiate the Creation of Heaven and Earth, and only after that did The Beginning of Ancient Times appear!"
"Huh???"
Three question marks seemed to pop up over Lu Xuan’s head as he jumped in shock.
He said, stunned,
"You were born in The Beginning of Ancient Times, The Beginning of Ancient Times was born after the Creation of Heaven and Earth, and you initiated the Creation of Heaven and Earth only after you were born... Th-that logic is all wrong..."
As he muttered to himself, understanding dawned on Lu Xuan.
"This is the inversion of Cause and Effect? This is what it means to discard logic?"
"Indeed!" The Blind Daoist nodded. "This is also the greatest difference between a Dao Fruit and a Daluo. While a Daluo can reverse the flow of Years, they must ultimately abide by logic and common sense. A Dao Fruit, however, is a paradox in itself."
With that, the Daoist gestured at the world around them.
"Similarly, this era of Years is itself a paradox. The Beginning of Ancient Times is the true Source of everything. One of my duties is to watch over this era. Here, even if all the Dao Fruit Cultivators attacked at once, I could suppress them with a single hand."
Lu Xuan was dumbfounded. Then, realization struck, and he asked in astonishment,
"Then if I become the Daoist Ancestor of this era of Years..."
"Then it’s not just the Barbaric Creatures you’ll be cultivating, but also me, your master!"
As he spoke, the Blind Daoist felt a bit disgruntled. Unable to resist, he rapped Lu Xuan hard on the head. The latter yelped in pain, clutching his head and mimicking his Senior Brother Zhang by putting on a teary-eyed expression.
The sight made the Blind Daoist’s teeth ache. He said irritably,
"It’s all a massive coincidence. Normally, even if a Dao Fruit Cultivator were to provide Cultivation here, they couldn’t become the Daoist Ancestor. But you’re different..."
"You bear the Cause and Effect of The Three Pristine Ones, and The Three Pristine Ones are everything. They are the beginning, Existence, and the End..."
"You little rascal, you’ve broken a great taboo!"
Lu Xuan shrank back and chuckled sheepishly.
"Didn’t you say I’ve only formed a prototype...?"
"What, you want to give up such a heaven-sent opportunity??" The Blind Daoist grew even angrier. He stood up menacingly and began to roll up his sleeves. Lu Xuan immediately covered his head.
After a moment, the Daoist couldn’t bring himself to hit him after all. He sighed.
"Though you haven’t truly become the Daoist Ancestor yet, you have already committed a great transgression. This matter must never be revealed. Otherwise, every Dao Fruit Cultivator under the heavens will come to kill you!"
Lu Xuan’s expression flickered.
"It’s just a title. Why would it go this far?"
"It’s not just the ’Name of Cultivation.’ If you truly succeed, you will have the ’Substance of Cultivation’ and will stand above all Dao Fruit Cultivators.
To become the Daoist Ancestor in The Beginning of Ancient Times, this ultimate land, is equivalent to ’the Dao is born from you’!"
As he spoke, the Blind Daoist’s expression became incredibly solemn.
"Furthermore, I once discussed with your first and third masters that for a Dao Fruit Cultivator, life and death are one and the same. However, there seems to be a way to make a Dao Fruit Cultivator fall from their lofty position: to be punished by the ’Daoist Ancestor’."
Lu Xuan’s face truly changed this time. If his second master’s theory was true, then the position of ’Daoist Ancestor’ was probably a hot potato. To be able to punish a Dao Fruit Cultivator and cast them from their lofty position... this...
"I will cover for you," the Blind Daoist said, waving his hand wearily. "However, if your third master isn’t a complete fool, he should be able to guess it’s you."
He paused for a moment before continuing,
"But that doesn’t matter. Besides me and your third master, no one else should know you’re the shared disciple of The Three Pristine Ones, right?"
Lu Xuan fell silent.
After a long moment, he said sullenly,
"Lady Nuwa knows too."
The Blind Daoist’s brow furrowed.
"You mean the Goddess? That’s fine..."
"His Majesty the Celestial Emperor and Lamp Buddha also know."
The Blind Daoist’s eyelid twitched. He took a deep breath.
"That’s still okay. Those two won’t reveal that you are the shared disciple of The Three Pristine Ones. Besides, that Haotian only possesses half a Dao Fruit, so he won’t know about the ’Daoist Ancestor’ matter."
"Uh, Yang Jian, Nezha, and Zhu Bajie also know..."
The Blind Daoist felt a wave of dizziness and gritted his teeth.
"I’ll go kill them!"
Lu Xuan’s face went pale with fright.
After a long silence, the Blind Daoist finally caught his breath and said sullenly,
"Fine. I know you’re a kind-hearted little fellow. I won’t kill them. I’ll just place a small Cause and Effect restriction on them so they can’t speak of it. It’ll be fine as long as no Enlightened One who possesses a Complete Dao Fruit finds out."
Lu Xuan didn’t dare to speak.
After another long pause, the Blind Daoist waved his hand listlessly.
"You must hide this great secret well. Don’t let it be exposed again before you become a Daluo, or even before you ascend to the Dao Fruit stage..."
With that, he heaved a heavy sigh, sensing endless trouble to come. That second Buddha and Houtu would probably start getting serious.
’Hmph. Who’s afraid of whom?’ he thought. At this, the Blind Daoist’s gaze sharpened.
’Worst case, I’ll just confess to the Supreme and take a good beating!’
As he pondered, the Blind Daoist scanned the Barbaric Creatures around Jade Capital Mountain. He let out a sound of surprise and looked toward the Primordial Fire.
"It’s him?"
Lu Xuan followed his second master’s gaze and blinked.
"That guy... what’s wrong with him?"
The Blind Daoist narrowed his eyes. He didn’t answer, but instead asked,
"I heard from your third master that Taiyi seems to be plotting against you?"
"That’s true."
"Good."
The Blind Daoist nodded and pointed to the Primordial Fire.
"This fire was originally destined to perish young. It has already died in all other timelines of the Years. It’s only because The Beginning of Ancient Times is special—an ultimate land—that a remnant of it still exists. Do you know who he is?"
"Who?" Lu Xuan’s heart stirred. "Is he related to Taiyi?"
"More than just related. The Cause and Effect between them is immense!"
The Blind Daoist began to speak slowly.
"Across the great expanse of Years, there have been three Celestial Emperors in succession. The last was Haotian, the one in the middle was Taiyi, and the very first... was this fire."
