Chapter 4236: Luo Hou, He Luo
From Ji Fanxin’s earlier account of the Time-Space Divine Martial Mark, the origin of the Heavenly Dao, and her statement that “in ancient times, the Heavenly Dao had no consciousness,” Zhang Ruochen had already vaguely guessed some things.
Ji Fanxin continued, “The Heavenly Dao of this universe originally had no consciousness. It was only when you were born that it conceived awareness.”
“The Heavenly Dao born from a human?”
Zhang Ruochen gazed up at the sky.
“If the Heavenly Dao were born from the heavens, it would have no good or evil, no emotion. Only if the Heavenly Dao is born from a human can that person make the grand vow to embrace all rivers and seas, to encompass all things.”
“That’s not so strange!”
Ji Fanxin went on, “Just like the World Spirit of a great world—it must be born within that world, whether as a tree, a blade of grass, a stone, or a drop of water.”
“Any material particle in this universe could be the vessel for the birth of Heavenly Dao consciousness.”
“You said that on the River of Time, some wanted to kill you, and some protected your journey. In truth, they didn’t know who you were. Their actions were merely following the Heavenly Dao or opposing it.”
“Haven’t you always wanted to know the causal relationship behind the Time-Space Divine Martial Mark? Now, it’s very clear!”
“If my speculation is correct, it should be like this. In the ancient era, the Human Ancestor discovered that the Heavenly Dao would later give birth to consciousness, and that point in time was when you were born.”
“So the Human Ancestor crossed the River of Time, leading you to the Primordial Beginning, to the singularity of creation, to cultivate the First-Rank Sacred Intent. Because only you—the consciousness born from the Heavenly Dao—could traverse one Great Calamity after another to reach that singularity.”
“The so-called First-Rank Sacred Intent is actually the origin of the Heavenly Dao.”
“Only after you cultivated the First-Rank Sacred Intent and gave the Heavenly Dao origin a tangible mark could he, in the ancient era, capture that origin, thereby holding the Heavenly Dao hostage to command all beings. Then, using the Heavenly Dao origin, he created the Divine Martial Mark.”
Zhang Ruochen recalled the words the Time-Space Human Ancestor had spoken earlier and nodded lightly. “Since he already captured the Heavenly Dao origin, why didn’t he also capture my consciousness in the ancient era?”
“The Human Ancestor had no need for the Heavenly Dao’s consciousness, but it’s strange that he didn’t extinguish your consciousness back then.” Ji Fanxin then asked, “With your cultivation at the Great Saint level back then, after enduring the impact of the singularity, you could still reassemble your consciousness, soul, and physical body?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “I used the Heart of Truth to condense it… I understand now! In the ancient era, the Human Ancestor couldn’t cover the sky with one hand. Perhaps even then, the Witch Ancestor detected his existence and clashed with him. My reassembly of consciousness, soul, and body was likely aided by the Truth Great Emperor, and perhaps other Witch Ancestors were involved. This was a battle of wits spanning countless ages!”
“As for why he didn’t kill me in this era, it’s probably because he thought he could control me. He wanted to use me to deal with the Nether Ancestor. No matter how strong the Nether Ancestor is, she is still within the Heavenly Dao, and the Heavenly Dao can surely kill her.”
“Or perhaps I am the most important great medicine he has nurtured. But this medicine is now out of control.”
Ji Fanxin said, “I suspect the Witch Ancestors never believed anyone could capture the Heavenly Dao origin and wield it. But protecting the Heavenly Dao was likely their unanimous decision.”
“Even the Nether Ancestor always said that when she observed the Heavenly Dao from the River of Time, the Heavenly Dao never showed mercy to the world.”
“That’s why she harbored such malice toward the Heavenly Dao, believing all beings were part of its nurturing and inherently evil. Yet she didn’t know the Heavenly Dao origin had long been captured.”
Zhang Ruochen thought of something and said, “Back then in the Gray Sea, Gandharva said that when you left Biluo Pass, you told her one and a half strange sentences.”
“The first sentence: you asked her what the mortal world was really like, and whether all beings were truly unworthy of pity?”
Ji Fanxin smiled faintly. “I was imprisoned in Biluo Pass since birth. Everything I knew came from the Nether Ancestor. She said the mortal world was filthy, full of falsehood, ugliness, hypocrisy, cruelty, greed, and bloodlust—that all beings were unworthy of pity. She urged me many times to join her in launching a Minor Calamity.”
“But I didn’t believe her. So after leaving the Gray Sea, I decided I had to walk through the mortal world myself, experience it truly, and then make my judgment. That’s how you had the chance to meet the Flower Fairy of that year!”
Zhang Ruochen asked, “And the second half of the sentence? You said you made a bet with the Nether Ancestor. Was that bet about whether all beings are worthy of pity?”
“No! That bet had nothing to do with all beings. It was about the good and evil of the Heavenly Dao.”
Ji Fanxin stared intently into Zhang Ruochen’s eyes. “If the Heavenly Dao is good, then humans are born good by nature. If the Heavenly Dao is evil, then all beings are born evil by nature. Zhang Ruochen, in your life, how many betrayals, insults, slanders, and humiliations have you suffered? Have you ever abandoned the goodness in your heart? If the Heavenly Dao can embrace all rivers and seas and encompass all things, how could I not walk alongside it?”
“I know very well that you still find it hard to accept this speculation.”
“But have you considered this? From the moment you entered the singularity and accompanied it in creating heaven and earth, even if you weren’t the consciousness born from the Heavenly Dao, you are no different from it.”
“Because your consciousness was born together with heaven and earth.”
“Would it also perish together with heaven and earth?” As Zhang Ruochen spoke these words, flames ignited in his pupils.
Ji Fanxin certainly didn’t think Zhang Ruochen asked this out of fear of death.
She said, “You don’t plan to go to the Divine Realm? You don’t plan to abandon this universe? In truth, you have long transcended the Five Elements and exist outside the Three Realms. The birth and destruction of this universe cannot affect you.”
Zhang Ruochen made his own judgment. “But the Time-Space Human Ancestor can mobilize the power of the Heavenly Dao origin. That power, neither you nor I can withstand. Fighting him in the Divine Realm, we will surely lose, and everyone will die there. So I cannot follow his plan. I must lure him to this universe—or rather, force him to fight me here.”
“Now the Human Ancestor holds the upper hand and can reap the rewards without effort. There’s only one way to force him here.” Ji Fanxin said.
“It’s the method you’re thinking of!”
Zhang Ruochen’s aura erupted to its peak. His long hair moved without wind, and his pupils were filled with the bright light of sacrificial calamity. “In this chess game, the Human Ancestor made the first move. As the one breaking the game, I couldn’t see his subsequent moves before, didn’t know his weaknesses and secrets. So no matter how I placed my pieces, I was bound to lose.”
“But now I know how he will play next, and I know his weaknesses and secrets. If we start over, the odds of victory and defeat are no longer certain.”
“If I truly am the Heavenly Dao itself, then I set the rules of this game.”
“Now, I want to take back my move…”
“Whoosh!”
Zhang Ruochen waved his hand, and the time rules in the universe surged wildly. The surging River of Time manifested concretely.
He said, “If I return to the past and rewrite the future, Fanxin, will you support me?”
Ji Fanxin had long guessed that Zhang Ruochen hadn’t let go of the cultivators in the Sword Realm Star Domain. His thoughts and choices were certainly influenced.
But if Zhang Ruochen could remain completely indifferent and act with absolute rationality, he wouldn’t be Zhang Ruochen anymore.
Ji Fanxin said, “Have you considered one question? The Human Ancestor long anticipated that you would recklessly return through the River of Time to reverse the future because of the deaths of the Sword Realm cultivators?”
“He is likely waiting for us on the River of Time right now.”
“If we fight across the River of Time, we will suffer time backlash and our combat power will be greatly diminished. How can we be his match? The River of Time will be our burial ground.”
“Back then, several Witch Ancestors crossed the River of Time and still suffered a crushing defeat.”
“Even if we return to the past, do you know the immense causal backlash you would have to bear to change the past and thus alter the future? You can’t withstand it. You will die under the order constructed by the Heavenly Dao origin, even if you are the Heavenly Dao itself.”
The Time-Space Human Ancestor’s mastery of the Way of Time was clearly beyond Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin’s reach. Luring them to fight on the River of Time would give him every advantage of time and place, giving him a chance to kill them both.
Zhang Ruochen said, “Going to the Divine Realm means certain defeat. On the River of Time, I have a chance to die together with him. Fanxin, I’m not asking you to fight alongside me. I’m asking you to stop the Doomsday Sacrifice when the time comes. If you can’t, lead the beings of heaven and earth to the Divine Realm to build a new home.”
Facing Zhang Ruochen’s blazing gaze, Ji Fanxin was deeply pained. After hesitating for a long time, she said, “With your current realm of having a beginning and an end, you can’t achieve mutual destruction with the Human Ancestor. And I won’t allow you to keep talking about dying together. I have a method we can try. But you must break through to the realm of constancy!”
Ji Fanxin looked toward the southern starry sky, where figures flew like meteors. “They’re here! The choice is yours.”
At the forefront flew the twelve Five-Colored Clay Figures led by Feng Yan.
Each carried a heavy burden of Five-Colored Merit Power, surrounded by Five-Colored star clouds. They were not in human form but in clay figure states.
All the Merit Power accumulated by the Merit Divine Temple over the years was borne by these twelve Five-Colored Clay Figures.
From afar, Feng Yan was the first to speak: “Big Brother, please break through. We will mend the heavens for you.”
The second Five-Colored Clay Figure, Feng Xi, said, “All under heaven may perish, but the Heavenly Dao must not.”
The third clay figure, Han Qiu, said, “I no longer hope to be the Crown Princess, but the Imperial Dust gave me a second life. How dare Han Qiu not repay it with death?”
The fourth clay figure, Xuanji Sword God, merely smiled faintly. “Ruochen, you will always be my most proud disciple. I hope this pride can continue. Don’t hesitate anymore. Our sacrifice is nothing. If we can win a glimmer of hope for the future, we will surely smile in the underworld.”
Their voices grew closer.
Each clay figure was covered in countless cracks, barely bearing the Five-Colored Merit Power.
Clearly, none of them planned to return alive.
Zhang Ruochen looked at Ji Fanxin.
Without a doubt, she had used her spiritual power to inform everyone of their earlier conversation.
“And us!”
Several divine voices overlapped.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Six spatial rifts opened one after another.
“By the Dragon Lord’s command, I bring the Dragon Nest to aid the Imperial Dust in mending the heavens with the power of the Ancestral Dragon.”
The Five Dragon God Emperor descended, stepping on the Dragon Nest.
“By Feng Tian’s command, I bring the Demon Ancestor Ridge to aid the Imperial Dust in mending the heavens with the power of the Demon Ancestor.”
Hai Shang Youruo stood atop the Demon Ancestor Ridge, slowly emerging from the spatial rift.
“I have brought the Buddha’s Saha World and golden body skeleton of the Gautama Buddha!”
“The Witch Ancestor Chi’s Ancestor Realm is offered for the Imperial Dust to break through.”
Compassionate Venerable and Shang Tian arrived, one after the other.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
Xuan Yuan Lian carried Buzhou Mountain on his back, struggling step by step out of the spatial rift. “This… this Buzhou Mountain contains the Dao of Witch Ancestor Bai Yuan and the Primordial Black Dragon… Please, Imperial Dust, break through!”
Xiang Chunan arrived last, carrying the Nuwa Palace. “Xiang Chunan brings the power of Witch Ancestor Nuwa. Please, Imperial Dust, break through! Big Brother… Second Brother said that if three brothers are to die, we must die together on the battlefield…”
Feng Yan scolded coldly, “Don’t talk nonsense! I said you must live. Someone has to bury us.”
“Don’t interrupt me! I’m not finished!” Xiang Chunan, red-eyed, shouted at Feng Yan. Then he continued, “Big Brother, we enjoyed glory and wealth together. When calamity comes, we must face it together.”
Zhang Ruochen looked around at everyone. “Are you forcing my hand?”
“Please, Imperial Dust, mend the heavens and break through!”
One by one, the figures knelt on one knee, their voices shaking the Three Realms.
They weren’t afraid of being heard by the Time-Space Human Ancestor, the Second Confucian Ancestor, or the Murong Overlord.
Ji Fanxin no longer interfered with Zhang Ruochen’s choice. Instead, she spread her hands, and a Divine Illumination Lotus radiating light for billions of miles appeared, flying onto the River of Time.
On one petal of the Divine Illumination Lotus lay a corpse.
When the corpse fell onto the River of Time, it immediately transformed into a world as vast as a great world, steaming with demonic qi, inhabited by many Rakshasa cultivators.
It was the Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm, which had been swallowed by an unknown powerful being years ago.
The Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm was said to be a great world formed from the corpse of the Demon Ancestor Luo Hou, the foremost forbidden land of the Rakshasa Clan.
Who would have thought that Ji Fanxin had taken it?
Emperor Luo Yan stood on a wasteland of the Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm, looking up. “Nether Ancestor, the Time Ladder has been built. When will you release us?”
“Today, if you wish to leave, I will not stop you,” Ji Fanxin said.
Emperor Luo Yan observed his surroundings and saw Zhang Ruochen and the others standing in the void outside the Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm.
All cultivators’ gazes were drawn to the Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm on the River of Time.
At the “head” of the Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm, a ladder had been built, stretching straight toward a blood moon.
No one had ever reached the blood moon above the Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm, and no one knew what great secret it held.
Now, Zhang Ruochen used his Ancestor Divine Eye to see through it. He murmured, “So that’s it. So that’s how it is. The spatial dimension of this blood moon actually connects to the He Luo Sea!”
The He Luo Sea of the Ancient Divine Nest was a circular blood-red ocean, the birthplace of the He Luo fish.
Ji Fanxin said, “The first He Luo fish was born in the waters near the Divine Illumination Lotus, and the two share a symbiotic relationship. And the first He Luo fish was the Demon Ancestor Luo Hou. Luo Hou, Luo Hou—reversed, it becomes He Luo.”
“Luo Hou cultivated into human form, and later, the Rakshasa Clan came into being.”
“Zhang Ruochen, this is the time vessel I prepared for you. It can travel to the past and return within a single day. But this journey is not about changing the past—that causal burden, neither you nor I can bear.”
“Instead, within a certain spatial range, we will make time flow backward for a period, back to the moment before the Doomsday Sacrifice can be rewritten.”
“That way, there will be no time backlash or causal backlash!”
Zhang Ruochen realized that Ji Fanxin had planned everything long ago. Even with his steady mind, he was shocked by her bold idea.
He said, “Make time flow backward? How is that possible? To reverse time, you must withstand the torrent of time’s endless ages. Have you ever seen a surging river flow backward? Even if it’s just a small section?”
“You’re wrong!”
Ji Fanxin shook her head. “If the River of Time had not been severed, we would have to resist the torrent of endless ages. But the River of Time was severed hundreds of thousands of years ago. It is no longer a river but a lake.”
“A hurricane can stir waves in a lake. Local time, like local lake water, can briefly recede with the waves. Whether you can seize this brief opportunity depends on your ability.”
“We don’t need to reverse the time of the entire universe—only the time of the Sword Realm Star Domain.”
“I will stir the hurricane. I will sever the time connection between the Sword Realm Star Domain and the Heavenly Court Universe. You ride this great wave to the past. Whether you can pass the Human Ancestor’s trial is entirely up to you.”
“Don’t rush to decide. You still have most of a day to think. The Hell Realm and the Heavenly Court Universe also need time to attack the Divine Realm. If they can destroy the main altar and release the power of the Heavenly Dao origin, perhaps your cultivation can ascend in one step, and your chances of victory will be much greater!”
Ji Fanxin pointed at the blood moon above the Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm. Ripples spread across the blood moon.
Space trembled.
A school of He Luo fish and a blood-red waterfall poured down from the blood moon, flowing along the Time Ladder into the River of Time, swimming around the Luozu Cloud Mountain Realm.
I know everyone is very clever. Among hundreds of thousands of readers, there are at least dozens of guesses about the plot.
But you must believe that Feitian Yu will never let you guess the plot—that would be no fun. In fact, many details you overlooked earlier were foreshadowing, all set up to fill in the gaps for the finale.
Guess again who the Murong Overlord is? He has appeared before but is easy to overlook.