# Chapter 1461: Laozi's Origin
The Bodhi tree swayed, rustling loudly. They had already changed locations, everyone sitting cross-legged beneath the precious tree. Pang Bo, Dragon Horse, Ji Haoyue, and the others were focused on healing their injuries.
Ye Fan also stood motionless beneath the tree, savoring the various insights from earlier, consolidating his own Dao fruit.
The Bodhi tree's roots were like dragons, deeply embedded in the ground. The full canopy of leaves rustled, sounding like great bells and massive drums resonating. Ye Fan, Ji Ziyue, Little Nannan, and the others found peace in their hearts—those comprehending the Dao did so, those healing their injuries did so, their essence, energy, and spirit unified, approaching a state of natural harmony.
No one knew how long had passed when the Bodhi tree began to turn its pages like a scripture, transmitting the sound of sutra chanting, revealing one strange and marvelous image after another, leaving people astonished.
Upon careful observation, one could discern that this began from the modern era, gradually progressing toward ancient times. Several figures appeared successively, each with a different temperament.
Ji Haoyue, Dragon Horse, Gu Jinpeng, and others all awakened one after another, staring blankly at all of this.
"Could it be Shakyamuni?!" Pang Bo cried out in surprise. The first person to appear closely resembled the Buddha statues enshrined in temples on Earth. This caused a moment of doubt—was it a brand left behind by an ancient supreme being? Did it have some significance, or was there some unknown danger?
The shadow flickered again, and another blurry Buddha image appeared, carrying an ancient, weathered aura, like an era or a piece of history flowing from the past.
"This is... Amitabha!" Ji Ziyue and her elder brother both changed color. The second person to appear resembled the Buddha statue enshrined in the Great Thunderclap Monastery of the Western Desert, both equally blurry.
With two Buddhas appearing in succession, everyone felt a resonance, as if suddenly enlightened. Through a special path, they seemed on the verge of comprehending truth, reaching a transcendent realm.
Ye Fan was the first to awaken. He examined everyone's expressions and found they were not being deceived—it was merely a state of mind recorded by the Enlightenment Tree, evoking feelings in people. Only then did he relax.
It was related to the Buddha, but there was no need to reject it. The world contains ten thousand methods; one can observe them all without necessarily walking the same path.
A grand aura naturally arose, as if two Buddhas from ancient times were preaching. A spirit of magnanimity, great compassion, discerning good from evil, and awakening to truth permeated the air.
The others also awakened, silently savoring the experience, cross-referencing it, and gaining clarity on their own methods and Dao.
With a rumble, the two Buddha statues suddenly radiated brilliant light. They paced in four directions beneath the Bodhi tree—seven steps east, south, west, and north respectively, forty-nine steps in total. Strange flowers bloomed in their footprints, emitting extraordinary radiance.
"The Bodhi tree is extraordinary. It has recorded a great realm of the Buddhist path—supreme and unparalleled. For Buddhist disciples, this might be a great fortune," Ji Haoyue sighed softly.
Suddenly, the entire canopy of leaves rustled, and another image appeared. This was an old man with white hair and beard, a broad forehead, and wise eyes. He clearly possessed great wisdom, an ancient man with a temperament of purity and non-action.
Of course, an even more ancient aura rushed forth, as if piercing through the entire history of the human race, extremely distant.
"I feel like this is a scene transmitted from the end of heaven and earth."
"This might be a figure from the mythological era, after all, the Bodhi tree once belonged to different Heavenly Venerables and Great Emperors."
Pang Bo and Dragon Horse discussed. This person was undoubtedly incomparably ancient. The sediment of time had blown away the fog from antiquity, allowing him to manifest here.
In fact, that was exactly the case. From Shakyamuni to Amitabha to this person—this was a process of moving backward against the river of time, step by step.
"Why does he look somewhat familiar?" Ji Ziyue said, confused.
Ji Haoyue's body trembled upon hearing this, as if he had remembered something, revealing an expression of disbelief as he looked at his sister.
"Brother Haoyue, have you noticed something?" Pang Bo pressed.
Beside them, Ji Ziyue was also startled. Her beautiful eyes shot out astonishing light. "It's him! He came to our Ji Family. Our clan's elder uncles and others have all seen him."
"What? You've seen this person? He visited your Ji Family?" Even Ye Fan was shocked.
Ji Ziyue nodded, her bright eyes and white teeth revealing surprise on her face. "That's right. Over two thousand years ago, an old man riding an ox visited our home. Some elders in the clan saw him, painted his portrait, and stored it in the library pavilion. My brother and I happened to see it."
Laozi!
Back then, this wise ancient man had crossed the stars, descended on the Big Dipper, and once visited the Ji Family. Ye Fan had heard the siblings mention this before.
"How is this possible? Laozi... an ancient man from the mythological era, never died!?" Pang Bo felt his mind reeling. This was truly shocking.
Ye Fan was stunned. He thought of some legends from the other shore of the starry sky, lost in thought. Carefully considering it, perhaps it could explain some issues.
According to legend, Lady Li was washing clothes by the river at the village head when she picked up a yellow plum, thus conceiving a child. But from birth, the child had white eyebrows and white hair, along with a fluffy white beard, so he was named Laozi.
To later generations, this was clearly too absurd, considered nonsense, but now it seemed there might be hidden circumstances.
"Can such things be believed? They were just fabricated to deify ancient people," Ji Haoyue frowned.
"No, this is a folk legend from our homeland. Little Leaf, have you thought of something?" Pang Bo asked.
Ye Fan nodded and shared some speculations.
According to historical records, Laozi was born in Kuxian County of the Chu State, which is present-day Woyang County in Anhui. During the Spring and Autumn period over 2,500 years ago, the Chu region experienced frequent mountain floods.
The mountain floods in Chu were severe, causing landslides and ground collapses, revealing bone books, stone tablets, and even skeletons that drifted with the water.
"How could a person be born looking like an old man, with white hair and white beard..."
Ye Fan speculated that Laozi was an ancient venerable with a Reincarnation Seal formed inside his body. When the mountain flood erupted, he was washed out from the mountain's belly by the great waters. As the water slowed, he drifted downstream and was discovered by Lady Li, who pulled him ashore.
"Clearly, he has an extraordinary origin. He was a Heavenly Venerable from the mythological era, with a Reincarnation Seal inside him. In ancient times, his primordial spirit had died, but his physical body remained immortal, giving birth to new spiritual wisdom—this is the present-day Laozi."
Pang Bo listened with his mouth agape, then sighed, "Little Leaf, this is only on this shore of the starry sky. If you said this on Earth, people would tear you apart."
"I think it's possible," Dragon Horse didn't care about anything else. He believed that the so-called Laozi was a Heavenly Venerable from the mythological era who, after the mountain flood, saw the light of day again.
The Bodhi tree was emerald green. Here they comprehended the Dao, discussed methods, pondered the ancient Dao traditions, and debated the possibility of longevity. For a moment, they were filled with emotion.
"Ye Fan..." Suddenly, a loud shout came from outside, a roar that shook the heavens, like a divine god bellowing, causing people's blood and qi to surge.
The ten saint-level experts, Gu Jinpeng, and others were all terrified. Who was this person, with such powerful strength that they could penetrate the densely laid array patterns and transmit their voice inside?
Ye Fan, Pang Bo, Ji Ziyue, and the others were all stunned upon hearing the roar. Then they revealed expressions of shock and great joy in their hearts. This was truly unexpected—it was an old friend.
"Is it him?"
"That's right, it's Brother Monkey."
They never imagined hearing the voice of the Holy Prince. They quickly dismantled the array patterns, walked out from the great formation, and saw a thunder-mouthed, golden-eyed Battle Saint Ape, his entire body shining with golden brilliance.
"No wonder he's so powerful—it's the legendary Battle Saint Ape!" Black Bear Saint and the others were startled, seeing one of the most terrifying bloodlines.
"Brother Monkey!" Pang Bo laughed.
Ye Fan, Ji Haoyue, and the others all went forward to greet him. This was truly unexpected—the Holy Prince had also appeared on the other shore, beyond everyone's expectations.
"See that? That monkey is my little brother. Back in the day, we killed the Celestial Prince together," Dragon Horse bragged shamelessly behind them, boasting to Golden Lion, Azure Luan, and others.
A group of people rolled their eyes, all despising him.
The Holy Prince's bearing was even more impressive than before. His fiery golden eyes, brilliant fur, and essence-energy-spirit burned like flames, radiating intimidating power.
"Weng Long"
He immediately struck Ye Fan with a palm, fierce and domineering, causing the entire Divine Demon Burial Ground to tremble, splitting heaven and earth!
Everyone changed color. This palm strike was too violent. How could an ordinary person withstand it? His blood energy was like an ocean.
Seeing this, Ye Fan calmly threw a punch. The two collided, rumbling and roaring, terrifying and boundless.
"Not bad. The rumors are true—you single-handedly killed all the strongest beings in this starry sky!" The Holy Prince laughed heartily, stopping his attack and meeting with everyone.
It turned out that as soon as he descended on this ancient star, he heard about Ye Fan's massacre and bloodbath in the Divine Demon Burial Ground. He rushed over immediately, afraid they might encounter trouble.
"Chirp chirp..." Little Nannan came forward, squeezing through the crowd, rubbing her head against the Holy Prince's large hand.
"This is... the Lightning Phoenix Bird divine egg from back then?!" The monkey was also very surprised.
Meeting again in this place, everyone felt a sense of unreality. Naturally, they had to celebrate, so they headed out of the Divine Demon Ridge together.
Over the years, many Great Saints had breached the pass, and divine elders had attacked with slaughter formation diagrams, already carving out a safe passage for entering and leaving this forbidden land.
"Brother Monkey, how did you get here?" Pang Bo asked.
"I've been roaming the starry sky. Over these decades, I kept hearing rumors—something about an imperial coffin, a Tree of Life, and so on. I followed the trail, crossed many ancient domains, and finally arrived here," the Holy Prince said.
Back then, under the guidance of the Battle Victory Buddha, the Holy Prince had entered his father's burial ground—the ancestral mountain of the Saint Ape lineage—and discovered a domain gate leading into the starry sky, which took him straight back to their ancestral star.
"Brother Monkey, has that bastard Duan De woken up? Be careful, don't let him discover the Old Saint Emperor's burial site," Dragon Horse said with a smirk.
"Get lost!"
When the Holy Prince returned to his ancestral star, he found it desolate, without a single clansman. Even at its peak, the ancestral star of this lineage had few people, and now it was completely extinct.
There he found a domain gate and traveled through various ancient domains, always wandering, tempering himself, carving out an invincible path.
"By the way, are you really Brother Monkey? You're not that Six-Eared Macaque, are you?" As they walked, Pang Bo suddenly blurted out.
Everyone was startled, but quickly relaxed. The monkey had recounted many secrets of the Big Dipper, which the Six-Eared Macaque certainly wouldn't know.
"You say there's a divine ape similar to me?" The Holy Prince's eyes shot up.
"That monkey is no simple character. You must be careful," Ye Fan said.
"Over the years in the starry sky, what haven't I encountered? I fear him not!" the monkey said, recounting many experiences.
He especially mentioned encountering a strange green ox that insisted on becoming sworn brothers with him, calling itself the Peng King.
"Laozi's ox!" Ye Fan was greatly shocked. He had seen the imprint of the Peng King back in the Ziwei Ancient Star Domain.
"How do you know?" The Holy Prince was surprised.
"Where did they go? Did you see Laozi?" Pang Bo asked. Having just seen Laozi's past life form beneath the Bodhi tree and then learning of his whereabouts from the monkey, he was naturally startled.
"The Peng King invited me to travel with him, saying they were going to an extremely important ancient place, but I refused," the Holy Prince answered.
"Why did you refuse?!" Everyone was both regretful and excited, knowing that Laozi's identity was far too extraordinary, and the ancient place he sought was absolutely not ordinary.
"It's someone else's mount. Walking with it would only bring me trouble and subject me to restraint," the Holy Prince said, rolling his eyes.