My Dreams Connect to Ancient Times

Chapter 563: Chapter 24: Above the Three Pure Ones is Purple Cloud

Within the Daoist Palace, looks of sudden enlightenment appeared on the faces of the three thousand members of the Human Race. Shennong and Xuanyuan wore expressions of compassion as the radiance of Years materialized around them.

A subtle thread wove their past and future together, their figures now present in every single Instant of the River of Time.

They had shockingly reached the Supreme level!

Then there was Daoist Monarch Xuandu, who sat there calmly as his countless past selves all transformed into historical imprints.

What is proven once is proven for eternity; what is gained once is gained for eternity. The Daluo Realm—achieved!

Every being there made a breakthrough, to one degree or another, from their original level. Everyone benefited from Celestial Book Volume One!

All kinds of wondrous visions and auspicious omens signifying cultivation breakthroughs rose and fell one after another inside the Purple Cloud Palace.

There were grand phenomena, such as torrents of Years, overlapping Cosmoses, the convergence of Yin and Yang, and the first division of Chaos.

There were also minor phenomena: vast fields of blooming flowers, trees cycling through life and death, mountains and rivers shifting position, and nations finding eternal peace.

Amidst this interweaving tapestry of phenomena, the Purple Cloud Palace Master smiled, one hand held in a flower-plucking gesture. His other hand was pressed firmly on the crown of the Buddha Mother’s head, forcing him into a kowtow, completely immobilized.

The moment was serene. The blooming phenomena formed a living tapestry.

Out in the Chaos, the Dao Fruit cultivators who quietly observed this scene were all stunned. The Daluo who spied on this place were so terrified their very Souls trembled.

"Impossible."

Amitabha Buddha spoke gravely, "The number of Dao Fruits in the world is fixed: five Enlightened Ones, five Ancient Ones... All those beneath the Dao Fruit level are mere ants. It is absolutely impossible for one to contend with a Dao Fruit cultivator!"

Ancient Bodhi Buddha also shot to his feet, his chest heaving as he speculated aloud, "Could he be a being like the Goddess or the Demon Ancestor? Though not a Dao Fruit, their Profound Mysteries surpass those of Dao Fruits, so perhaps..."

"That can’t be it!"

The Demon Ancestor shook his head and stated flatly, "There are many Transcendent Traits, but the ones that allow a non-Dao Fruit to contend with a Dao Fruit number three at most, and all are accounted for. This Purple Cloud Palace Master is absolutely not one of them!"

’Three?’ Taiyi mused, connecting this to the words of the so-called Wa Huang. He had a faint guess.

’The Transcendent Traits that can directly contend with Dao Fruit cultivators... are they perhaps the Essence, Qi, and Spirit that Wa Huang abandoned?’

Keeping this thought to himself, Taiyi said impassively, "If he’s not a Dao Fruit, and doesn’t possess one of the Transcendent Traits that can rival a Dao Fruit, then what exactly is this Purple Cloud Palace Master? Something like this is unheard of..."

"Taiyi, you go and knock on the Daoist Palace’s gate! Probe them again and find out the truth!" Ancient Bodhi Buddha suddenly commanded.

However, Taiyi just sneered, "I am no subordinate of yours. Keep those thoughts to yourself. Though I may have fallen from the ranks of the Enlightened Ones, I am still not someone you can command."

Ancient Bodhi Buddha’s expression darkened for a moment, but he quickly returned to normal and said apologetically, "I was simply too shocked and spoke out of turn. Venerable Taiyi, please don’t take offense... In any case, let us ask the Buddha Mother directly what happened!"

With that, the group sought out the Buddha Mother from other points in time, only to be stunned to find that the Buddha Mothers from other Years had absolutely no memory of what had transpired in the Purple Cloud Palace!

This...

The Demon Ancestor frowned, speculating, "Does that Daoist Palace have the power to sever the connection between past and future, or does that Purple Cloud Palace Master possess a trait similar to the Primordial?"

The Primordial Great Celestial Venerable, who reigns over The Beginning of Ancient Times, is the only Existence with the power to prevent Daluo—and even Dao Fruit cultivators—from communicating across the flow of Time.

For example, if he so wishes, then whether they are Daluo or Dao Fruit, their consciousnesses existing outside The Beginning of Ancient Times cannot perceive what happens within it.

This is true even if the true self of that Daluo or Dao Fruit is sitting right there within The Beginning of Ancient Times!

Amitabha Buddha stroked a representation of the Western Pure Land, his brow furrowed as he spoke, "Either possibility means this Purple Cloud Palace Master is absurdly powerful. I even suspect he might be a True Self Incarnation of the Primordial."

While All Daoist Fruits were discussing this, the three thousand guests in the Purple Cloud Palace returned to their own proper times. The lecture was finished, and the Buddha Mother was unceremoniously thrown out of the Daoist Palace!

Immediately after, the great gate of the Daoist Palace slammed shut. The entire Purple Cloud Palace vanished, and not even the Dao Fruit cultivators could discern where it had gone.

"Maitreya!"

Ancient Bodhi Buddha grabbed the disheveled Maitreya Buddha Mother and dragged him over, demanding hastily, "What in the world happened? When the palace gates opened, why were you kowtowing?"

Maitreya Buddha Mother’s face was somewhat pale. Although for a Dao Fruit cultivator the distinction between life and death is meaningless, an injury is still an injury.

It is better to be alive than dead, and better to be whole than injured...

He coughed up shimmering golden Buddha Blood. His expression was listless, and his eyes swam with confusion and utter disbelief as he struggled to speak.

"It’s very strange... very bizarre. That Purple Cloud Palace Master exhibits many traits of a Dao Fruit cultivator. When he pressed his palm down, he was like the one from Jade Void Palace—he sealed off all other possibilities, leaving only a single beginning and a fated outcome. He reversed Cause and Effect!"

"And?" the Demon Ancestor pressed. "Why did you remain kowtowing for so long without rising?"

Maitreya Buddha Mother’s face cycled through shades of livid and pale. He knew he had lost face spectacularly this time, suppressed by a non-Dao Fruit and forced to kowtow for a hundred days!

Among All Daoist Fruits, his status was already extremely low. He was subservient to the Demon Ancestor and ordered about at will by the two Buddha Lords...

He took a deep breath.

Maitreya Buddha Mother chose to embellish his account slightly.

"Though that Purple Cloud Palace Master is not a Dao Fruit cultivator, he is likely stronger than an ordinary one. When his palm descended, the weight of the entire River of Time pressed down on my shoulders!"

Bodhi frowned. "You may be weak, but you are a Dao Fruit cultivator nonetheless. Shouldering the weight of Years and Time should not be difficult for you."

"It isn’t, but..."

Maitreya Buddha Mother gave a bitter smile, still visibly shaken. "There was also the weight of all Cause and Effect, of all things in Existence, of Heaven, Earth, and Nature, of all the emperors of antiquity, and of the entire Human Race pressing down on me! The terror of Birth and Death itself settled upon my heart!"

"Furthermore, there was a power, profound beyond all Profound Mysteries and impossible to describe, that sealed away my divine abilities, nullifying seventy to eighty percent of my Dao Fruit’s might!"

His words left all the Supreme Beings staring at one another in blank dismay. The Demon Ancestor was aghast, Bodhi trembled, and Amitabha Buddha’s eyes went wide.