Chapter 544: Chapter 9: Childhood Calamity, Celestial Emperor Fu Xi
He opened his eyes to a bedroom from a distant memory. From outside the door came a familiar yet strange call.
"Xiaoxuan, hurry and eat your breakfast, it’s time to go!"
Li Nianhua knocked on the door. After waiting a moment, she pushed it open and said with a smile:
"School starts today! My baby is going into the third grade. Third graders are big kids now, so no more sleeping in. Get up, quickly!"
In the warmth of his blanket, Lu Xuan, who was just over eight years old, sat up straight. His childish voice was a little hoarse as he called out softly:
"Mom."
"Alright now, hurry and get up. Your dad can drop you off at school on his way to work!"
After a pause, Li Nianhua added:
"When you’re washing up, remember to brush your teeth a little longer. This is when you’re most likely to get cavities. If you don’t brush properly now, all your teeth will fall out by the time you’re in your twenties or thirties!"
"Okay!"
Lu Xuan nodded vigorously, got out of bed, and washed up diligently. He had breakfast with his adoptive father, Lu Chengping, and his adoptive mother, Li Nianhua, then slung his small backpack over his shoulders and left the house with Lu Chengping.
"Have a safe trip!" Li Nianhua called out loudly. "Xiaoxuan, I’ll make your favorite sweet and sour pork ribs tonight. Be sure to listen to your teachers at school!"
Before Little Lu Xuan could say a word, Lu Chengping turned back and laughed.
"You say that every single day. Xiaoxuan’s going to get tired of your nagging... Alright, we’re heading out now."
He drove Lu Xuan to school. Before Lu Xuan got out of the car, he stuffed twenty yuan into his pocket and said with a smile:
"It’s been a while since you’ve seen your friends, hasn’t it? Be generous since it’s the start of the school year. Treat them to some spicy sticks and sweet drinks..."
"I know, Dad." Little Lu Xuan nodded lightly, his eyes clear and bright. "Have a safe... trip."
"Alright, are you starting to sound like your mom now?"
Lu Chengping chided him with a laugh, nagged for another moment, then waved and slowly drove away.
Lu Xuan stood in place, watching the car disappear down the street. He glanced up at the dark clouds gathering in the sky.
Today was the day Qianlong City would be sacrificed.
He didn’t know if he should interfere, if he should change things...
The True Spirits of his parents had long since reincarnated. Lu Xuan had gone to see them. They were in an Ancient Realm, both very happy, and both had families.
’Should I change it?’
He hesitated.
After a long while, Lu Xuan sighed softly. He didn’t make any move unbefitting his age. Just as he had in his childhood, he walked into the classroom, received his new textbooks, and chatted with his classmates about the holidays...
Until school let out at four in the afternoon, he showed no signs of anything unusual, just like a truly ordinary child.
Silently experiencing the mundane life of the Human World he once knew, Lu Xuan felt a stir in his heart, but the feeling was indistinct.
Following the stream of people out of the school gates, he saw Li Nianhua already waiting outside. It was just like it always was: his dad took him to school, and his mom picked him up to go home.
"Xiaoxuan! Over here, over here...!"
Li Nianhua waved her hands, but before she could finish, a sudden clap of thunder echoed from the sky.
CRACK!!
The thunder boomed—not just one clap, but thousands of furious bolts flashing in unison within the heavy, dark clouds. Many children were scared to tears, and the entrance to Qianlong No. 1 Primary School descended into chaos.
The next moment, a strange chanting sound arose. Rain began to fall from the Celestial Vault, and a pair of enormous eyes appeared, floating among the dark clouds, looking down upon all of Qianlong City!
Li Nianhua panicked. She pushed her way through the crowd, ran over, and held Lu Xuan tightly in her arms, shielding him from the rain and murmuring:
"Don’t be afraid, Xiaoxuan, don’t be afraid..."
As she spoke, she looked up in terror at the giant eyes in the Celestial Vault. A chill ran down her spine, and she held Lu Xuan even tighter.
The strange chanting grew louder and the rain fell harder. The screech of tires filled the air as Lu Chengping leaped from his car and ran toward the mother and son.
"Let’s go, we need to get out of the city! My phone has no signal at all, something feels very wrong..."
A sharp blade plunged into Lu Chengping’s chest.
Figures in black hoods appeared one by one, slaughtering people wantonly on the long street. The owner of the giant eyes in the sky seemed to be laughing.
Li Nianhua let out a hysterical, mournful cry. Tears streamed down her face, but she didn’t dare stop, stumbling through the downpour as she fled with Lu Xuan in her arms.
An evil cultist passed by and swung his blade. Li Nianhua forcefully threw Lu Xuan away, screaming:
"Run, run!"
She turned and threw herself onto the blade, letting it pierce her organs. Then she lunged forward, clinging tightly to the evil cultist.
"Run... run..."
Lu Xuan stood quietly in the rain.
"Allow me to be selfish this one time."
He sighed softly, lowering his eyelids to hide the redness in his eyes, and then snapped his fingers.
The raindrops froze in mid-air. The entire world stood still, except for the True Immortal in the sky.
The True Immortal looked around in confusion, gazing down at a Qianlong City that seemed to have been paused. Then, to its horror, it discovered that the rain was flowing backward, and time was reversing!
Everything returned to the moment before the cultists appeared, and the chanting stopped abruptly.
A chill ran down the True Immortal’s spine. It couldn’t comprehend what was happening. It turned to flee in a panic, but it too froze, then exploded into countless fragments.
At that moment, Little Lu Xuan was back at the school gate. Li Nianhua picked him up and said with a gentle smile:
"Let’s go, Xiaoxuan, let’s go home... I made two big bowls of sweet and sour pork ribs for you today!"
"Okay!"
Little Lu Xuan kissed Li Nianhua on the cheek and let out a breath of relief, his thoughts clear and unimpeded.
"So be it."
He smiled and whispered this, but then his brow furrowed. He glanced to the side and saw a figure flash past and disappear.
Lu Xuan narrowed his eyes. He froze time again, reversing the years, but the figure from just a moment ago did not reappear in the rewind, as if it was unaffected by the manipulation of time.
’That person is...’
’The person I saw when I was born, the first time I opened my eyes.’
Lu Xuan’s gaze sharpened abruptly. With a light wave of his hand, he drew all of Qianlong City into his Acupoints. Inside an Acupoint, he replicated the Great Heaven and Earth, creating a planet, a cosmos.
Immediately after, he faked the now-empty land into a scene of dilapidated ruins, creating many corpses out of thin air, making it seem as if the massacre had still occurred to ensure his own past did not change significantly!
According to Buddha’s memories, the prerequisite for becoming a Supreme Daluo is ensuring that one’s own experiences and past form a single, logical timeline.
If Qianlong City still existed, the eight-and-a-half-year-old Lu Xuan would have no reason to flee to East Sea City.
After closing the spacetime loop, his thoughts moved again. He crossed through time, returning to the imprint of himself as an infant.
This time when he opened his eyes, he saw a young man standing in the void, calmly meeting the infant’s gaze.
"Who might you be?"
The infant lay in the young man’s arms and asked faintly. Around them, phenomena such as a sea of blood, the sound of thunder, and a dark cosmos appeared. The phantoms of the Heaven-Opening Banner and the Four Immortal Slaying Swords were also faintly visible!
The young man looked down, gazing at the infant in his arms, and said calmly:
"The one who gave you life."
"Who exactly are you?"
Lu Xuan asked again. The sea of blood surged forward, and the Four Immortal Slaying Swords formed a Sword Array to ensure the man could not escape. The Heaven-Opening Banner also swayed gently, sending out a divine wind!
He found the young man somewhat familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before, but when he tried to recall, his thoughts were thrown into disarray, interfered with, making it impossible to remember!
The young man smiled.
"Lu Xuan, I am the one who gave you life."
As he spoke, he raised his palm, shattering the sea of blood and blocking the Immortal Slaying Sword Array. His jade-like hand cracked and broke, dripping with blood.
’Not a Dao Fruit, but a Daluo.’
Lu Xuan came to a conclusion and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"A Daluo of the Supreme Level?"
He remained in the young man’s arms, controlling his own power to unleash strength at the level of a ’Near-Daluo’. He commanded the Immortal Slaying Sword Array to crush down and the Heaven-Opening Banner to cleave with Chaos Sword Qi. In that instant, heaven and earth fell into Nirvana!
"Why must it be like this? I gave you life, granted you Creation. Why do you turn your blade against me?"
The young man smiled, using his Great Divine Techniques to barely resist the Immortal Slaying Sword Array and the Heaven-Opening Banner. He bled and his body cracked.
He held the infant in his arms and coaxed:
"Be good. Who I am isn’t important. Why bother investigating?"
"You don’t have to say."
Lu Xuan spoke calmly.
"Next time, I will bring my master here in person."
The young man’s expression froze. He gazed at the infant in his arms and sighed softly.
"To possess the characteristic of Eternal Proof without yet having attained Daluo... how troublesome. Lu Xuan, why must you do this?"
"So, who might you be?"
The young man was silent for a moment, then snapped his fingers. The ’veil’ obscuring Lu Xuan’s vision dissipated, and he simultaneously remembered when he had seen this person before.
It was during the Three Emperors Era. Shakyamuni, under the Bodhi Tree, had met this young man’s gaze.
The first of the Three Emperors, Fu Xi.
"You are... Fu Xi?"
"You’ve seen me?" The young man was puzzled. "Your footsteps have never reached the years of my reign. How could you have seen me? Or... have you already quietly achieved the rank of Daluo?"
Lu Xuan’s heart sank. ’This person is far too perceptive!’
He said faintly:
"How I know of you is no concern of yours. Celestial Emperor Fu Xi, I have long wished to pay you a visit, but it was difficult to find any trace of you. I never expected to have already met you at my birth."
A divine light appeared in Lu Xuan’s eyes.
"As you said, my soul originated from you. But... why did you perform the Mediation of Creation to grant me a spirit?"
His thoughts raced, and he was exceptionally sharp.
"After you granted me a spirit, I was targeted by Taiyi. What is your relationship with Taiyi? Are you allies?"
Celestial Emperor Fu Xi shook his head slightly.
"Taiyi targeting you was beyond my expectations. I mean you no harm. Do you believe me?"
"Nothing in this world happens without a reason."
Lying in Fu Xi’s arms, Lu Xuan said faintly:
"You must have a plan. Why not have a proper talk with me?"
"Why must you? Why?"
Celestial Emperor Fu Xi sighed lightly.
"You were a clay figure kneaded by the Goddess from soil mixed with her blood and tears. I found you back then and, on a whim, performed the Mediation of Creation to give birth to your soul."
After a pause, he continued:
"It was merely a casual act. I never imagined you could grow to this level. Supreme Profound Clarity..."
Lu Xuan stared into the young man’s eyes.
"Just on a whim?"
"Indeed."
Celestial Emperor Fu Xi smiled.
"I have lingered at the level of Supreme Daluo for too long. I am clearly so close to the Dao Fruit, yet I cannot seem to pierce that thin membrane. Therefore, I often bestow opportunities across various places and times, hoping that one day, a chance I casually gave away might repay me in turn, becoming the aid I need to reach the Dao Fruit. That is all."
Lu Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly.
Celestial Emperor Fu Xi then continued:
"Never mind. Whether you believe it or not, that is the truth. I hope that in the future, you will remember this kindness and help me achieve the Dao Fruit... We will meet again."
His figure gradually faded, becoming somewhat illusory and appearing very stiff. His main consciousness had clearly withdrawn, leaving behind only an imprint to maintain the course of history.
Lu Xuan frowned, and his consciousness also slowly withdrew, returning to the Late Han Dynasty.
Sitting upright in the Daoist Temple, his gaze was ice-cold.
"Fu Xi... something isn’t right."
"The Path of Great Balance had no effect on him."
’The Path of Great Balance... it should never fail against a mere Daluo...’
But the problem was, the number of Dao Fruit bearers was fixed. Three masters, two Buddha Lords—a total of five Enlightened Ones. Add to that the Ancient Ones Houtu, Taiyi, the Buddha Mother, and Buddha, plus Elder Haotian...
Of the Nine Directions Dao Fruit positions, seven and a half were occupied. The numbers added up.
Celestial Emperor Fu Xi...
This was the second time the Path of Great Balance had failed. The first was against Elder Haotian, who was an Ancient One. The second was this Celestial Emperor Fu Xi...
’There’s a huge problem here. It seems I must accelerate the matter of Human Dao Dominating the Celestial Realm and strengthen the Path of Great Balance...’
As Lu Xuan was deep in thought, the void within the Daoist Temple rippled. He frowned and glanced to the side as the Haotian Daoist emerged.
"I’ve found Fu Xi."
Haotian’s expression was solemn.
"Something’s not right with him. I... couldn’t hold him."
As he spoke, an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
"Also, before he escaped, he told me that the Demon Ancestor, Taiyi, and the others plan to use the Human Dao Trend to break the suppression of the Qing Ping Sword."
"He told me to tell you that if you wish for your Reincarnation to remain intact, you cannot let the great dynasty of the Human World fall into their hands... Oh, right. He also said that the White Lotus Sect’s first major move is today."
Lu Xuan’s expression turned grim. ’Today?’
’What is going on with this Celestial Emperor Fu Xi? And what is the White Lotus Sect planning?’
’Today...’
He suddenly recalled what Lu Nian had said before leaving. Today, the Dukes were gathering for the campaign against Dong Zhuo.
Lu Xuan rose gracefully to his feet.
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