Summoning the Peak of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 2983 Hongjun's Fall, Zhuang Zhou's Butterfly Dream?
Chapter 2980 Hongjun's Fall, Zhuang Zhou's Butterfly Dream?

While Taiqing was shocked, he also felt a secret joy. After all, the Chosen One was born into his own family. Did that mean that the Li family would replace the Liu family and become the new supreme ruler of the Divine Land?
Taiqing dared not think any further, because such a future was too tempting and too wonderful. He feared that indulging in it would cause cracks in his Dao heart, thus neglecting his cultivation.

"Li Shimin? I'll remember that, disciple."

Taiqing nodded heavily, while Hongjun continued, "Remember, no matter what, you must protect him. Even if it costs you your blood and your soul, you must ensure that Li Shimin does not die."

Hongjun's aura grew weaker and weaker, yet every word carried immense weight, like a final brand etched into Taiqing's mind.

"Remember, this child is favored by the heavens and earth, bearing the heavy responsibility of maintaining the order of heaven and all living beings, and is also the key to carrying on the legacy of the past and ushering in the future."

At this point, Hongjun's lower body had become completely transparent, while his upper body was visibly fading away.

Upon seeing this, the Taoist Taiqing wept, and with the utmost piety and solemnity, he kowtowed to the ground, his forehead pressed against the cold jade brick. His voice was resolute, carrying the determination and supreme loyalty of a martyr:

“Disciple Taiqing will respectfully obey Master’s decree and will protect the chosen one Li Shimin with his life. Even if his body turns to ashes and his soul is forever lost, he will not hesitate. Please rest assured, Master.”

With this promise made, an invisible and heavy thread of cause and effect has already crossed time and space, firmly binding Taiqing Daoist and the yet-to-be-born Li Shimin.

After hearing his beloved disciple's promise, Hongjun finally let go of his last lingering concern.

Still standing atop the Azure Lotus Dharma Image, Hongjun, with only his head remaining, not yet completely fading into nothingness, gently closed his eyes. The spiritual light that carried boundless wisdom and vicissitudes finally extinguished completely. Even his last head transformed into specks of clear light, merging into the vast, cold, and ceaselessly flowing torrent of the Heavenly Dao.

At this point, there was no more Hongjun Daoist in the world. Only the Heavenly Dao Hongjun, who maintained the operation of heaven and earth and was supremely impartial and holy, and a few jade disc fragments that had completely lost their luster, quietly fell from mid-air and disappeared into the dust.

Inside the Kunlun Jade Void Palace, the heavily injured Taoist Yang Mei seemed to sense something and suddenly awoke from his unconsciousness.

He pushed aside the boy who was helping him, stumbled to the window, and saw that on the gnarled branches of an old plum tree that had been dead for many years, three jade-like lotus flowers suddenly bloomed in late autumn, filling the room with fragrance.

The illusory blue lotus supporting him emitted a clear, satisfied tremor, and the lotus petals scattered, transforming into countless points of light shimmering with blue-gold Daoist charm, like the gentlest drizzle, falling gently onto the land of Kunlun.

Upon witnessing this scene, Yang Mei burst into tears, bowed deeply in the direction where the green lotus had vanished, and said hoarsely, "Fellow Daoist... farewell..."

The Dao Ancestor Hongjun ultimately departed completely, leaving behind only a name concerning the future, and a destiny trajectory full of variables, obscured by well-intentioned lies.

After Hongjun's death, the Taoist community, grateful for his merit in saving the world, under the leadership of his three disciples, Taiqing, Yuqing, and Shangqing, bestowed upon him the title of "Tao Ancestor," making Hongjun the second Taoist Ancestor after the founder of Taoism, and his name was worshipped and passed down for eternity.

Hongjun already knew this before he merged with the Dao, but what he didn't know was that his good intentions—to help the future chosen one—would instead completely change the fate of his disciple Taiqing.

Given Taiqing Daoren's purity and inaction, he would not have been able to actively intervene in the chaotic world. However, it was his master's dying entrustment and the promise Taiqing made that made Taiqing Daoren firmly believe that the chosen one of Heaven was Li Shimin, and could only be Li Shimin.

Therefore, in the chaos of the late Han Dynasty, when the chosen one named "Li Shimin" emerged in Longxi and displayed extraordinary fortune and kingly demeanor, the Taoist Taiqing became his most loyal and powerful protector.

Even though Ying Hao had already displayed the demeanor of a sage emperor and the posture of unification, Taiqing still stubbornly believed that Ying Hao was not the chosen one of heaven as his master had said, but merely a pioneer for the king, and that he would inevitably be replaced by Li Shimin sooner or later.

This was both to fulfill a promise to his revered teacher and to fulfill Taiqing's own deep-seated conviction.

However, as Ying Hao's power grew stronger and he became more and more domineering, even his late-stage Taiqing Half-Profound cultivation level could not restrain him, and the fall of the Li Tang dynasty seemed inevitable.

Taiqing Daoist knew he couldn't prevent the fall of the Tang Dynasty, but he had sworn an oath to his master, so he had to at least save Li Shimin's life. Perhaps Li Shimin would have another chance in the future?

Therefore, the Taoist Taiqing sought connections and subtly conveyed his attitude to Ying Hao, hoping that Ying Hao would spare Li Shimin's life.

Ying Hao outwardly agreed, but on one condition: that Li Shimin should be mindful of the bigger picture and not court death.

As it turned out, Li Shimin was courting death. Even with Taiqing's protection and Ying Hao's willingness to spare his life, he refused to accept charity and ultimately committed suicide on the battlefield.

Li Shimin committed suicide, so logically, the blame shouldn't fall on Ying Hao.

But for Taiqing, Li Shimin's death was not only his own failure, but also a desecration of his master's and the promise made to Heaven.

He, the Taoist Taiqing, the chief disciple of Hongjun, once promised before his dying master that he would risk his life and the annihilation of his cultivation to protect the chosen one, Li Shimin.

But... what was the result?

The chosen one he swore to protect, the chosen one personally certified by his master, the key person concerning the future, was ruthlessly killed by Ying Hao.

Even though he tried his best and used every means at his disposal, he could not stop it.

"I... have failed my master..."

The Taoist Taiqing trembled violently, not from weakness, but from an indescribable sense of guilt and self-reproach deep within his heart. Taiqing hadn't been without doubt that if Li Shimin was dead, it meant he wasn't the chosen one at all.
However, Master Hongjun's dying instructions were derived from a vision of the future that transcends the river of time and space, and could not possibly be wrong.

Surely Master wouldn't fabricate a fake chosen one of heaven to deceive him before he dies, would he?
However, the cruel reality was that Li Shimin, the chosen one, died at the hands of the extraordinary Ying Hao.

Taiqing Daoist would not doubt his master Hongjun; on the contrary, he felt that it was his own problem.

Could it be that I haven't provided enough support to Li Shimin?
Or perhaps it was because he was lazy and let Ying Hao grow unchecked, failing to nip him in the bud before he rose to power, which ultimately led to this catastrophic disaster?

Thinking of his master's dying wish to entrust him with such an important mission, and how he had sworn to keep it, he realized that he had not only failed to protect the Tang Dynasty, but also failed to protect Li Shimin.

This filled Taiqing with immense guilt and self-reproach, and also fueled an unprecedented hatred for Ying Hao, making him unable to uphold his Dao of Purity and Nothingness any longer.

His path has collapsed.

Ying Hao, it's all because of Ying Hao.

It was this unpredictable event that defied fate, this emperor who dared to kill destiny and trample on the future, who brazenly obliterated the chosen one who should have led the future, and made Taiqing a sinner who betrayed his master's orders and broke his oath.

Li Shimin's death became the last straw that broke the back of the Taiqing Dynasty, burdening him with the heavy shackles of "betraying his master's orders."

Endless hatred and overwhelming guilt intertwined and burned wildly in Taiqing's mind, causing him to completely lose his mind and decide to go find Ying Hao to settle the score.

He wanted to see just how extraordinary Ying Hao was, that he could defeat the chosen one appointed by his master. But Taiqing had clearly overestimated himself and underestimated Ying Hao.

Even though he was the only one in the late stage of the Half-Profound Realm in the world, he still couldn't kill Ying Hao, who had already gained the upper hand. Instead, he died in the encirclement and killing by a group of experts led by Yuqing, Shangqing, and Taiyi.

Did Ke Taiqing really die so easily?
It should be noted that even if a Luo Hou who has reached the Great Perfection of the Half-Profound Realm has his physical body destroyed, he can still exist in the world as a soul.

If it weren't for bad luck in encountering Hongjun, who was empowered by the power of the Heavenly Dao, and using that power to erase his soul as well, Luo Hou would very likely have survived.

Although Taiqing Daoist was not at the Great Perfection of the Half-Profound Realm, his cultivation had reached the late stage of the Half-Profound Realm, only half a step away from the Great Perfection of the Half-Profound Realm. His strength was not much weaker than that of Hongjun Daoist before he broke through to the Great Perfection of the Half-Profound Realm.

In addition, Taiqing was also Hongjun's successor. He not only inherited most of Hongjun's unique skills, but also the secret "Creation Youth Scripture" Qinglian Chapter, which was not passed down to others. It was this senior disciple and the leader of Taoism who inherited it.

It's important to understand that the Azure Lotus Chapter focuses precisely on the realm of the soul.

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August 15th, the fourth year of Shenwu (199 AD)
Inside the meditation room of Sanqing Temple, Qingyun Gate, Tongtian Peak, in Yizhou, southern Sichuan.
The sandalwood incense wafted gently, its aroma as deep and resonant as an ancient well. Zhuang Zhou, the leader of the split Taoist Heavenly Sect, sat cross-legged on a futon, his eyes slightly closed, his breathing long and shallow.

He wore a faded blue Taoist robe, his face was thin and his expression was serene, as if he had become one with the clouds, pines and rocks in the mountains, and had reached the state of "sitting in oblivion".

At this moment, Zhuang Zhou was practicing his unparalleled "Dream of the Butterfly" method. This method was extremely mysterious. It was not an ordinary meditation, but rather a method that used the spirit as a guide to enter the vast dream world, to comprehend the truth amidst the illusion, and to perceive the Way of Heaven amidst the confusion.

In his dream, Zhuangzi's consciousness would be like a butterfly that has broken free from the constraints of its body, fluttering gracefully in a bizarre, magnificent, and wondrous sea of ​​dreams.

Here, he will transform into a Kunpeng, striking the water and soaring through the sky for 30,000 miles. The gathering and dispersing of clouds, the birth and death of all things, all flow according to his will. This is the supreme place where he comprehends the true meaning of "equality of all things" and "freedom".

It was precisely because of this "Dream Butterfly" secret technique that Zhuang Zhou was able to surpass others and become the leader of Taoism after being stuck at the Grandmaster stage for twenty years due to absorbing too much foreign internal energy while practicing the "Northern Darkness Divine Art" and ultimately having to abandon his own power.

Zhuang Zhou had dreamt of transforming into a Kunpeng many times, but with the passing of his uncle, the Taoist Taiqing, his dreams were undergoing subtle and imperceptible changes.

At first, there were only a few scattered, unfamiliar "dust particles," as fine as mustard seeds, yet they carried a heaviness and vicissitude that was quite different from Zhuangzi's carefree state of mind, and they mixed into his pure space of thought.

At first, Zhuang Zhou naturally didn't pay attention to it, taking it as a random thought that naturally came into contact with him during his cultivation. He tried to brush it away as soon as his mind stirred.

But to Zhuangzi's surprise, these "distractions" were exceptionally stubborn. Despite his deliberate attempts to expel them, they not only failed to dissipate but also seemed to possess life, actively attracting and entwining Zhuangzi's freely fluttering "spiritual butterfly."

A cold, ancient aura, imbued with supreme majesty and containing endless sorrow, seeped in quietly through the connection of divine thoughts, like a maggot clinging to the bone.

Zhuangzi's dream also began to gradually distort. He found that the butterfly he had transformed into was flying around, and the carefree scenery around him was losing its color, replaced by a vast, boundless, cold and desolate chaotic void.

In the void, the Purple Cloud Palace, exuding an aura of vicissitudes, appeared and disappeared. He (the butterfly) was involuntarily drawn by a force and flew into the palace. Deep within the palace, he saw a blurry figure sitting high on a cloud bed.

The figure was surrounded by celestial energy, as if it were the center of the entire universe and the source of all paths. A sense of awe and submission, stemming from the instinct of life, instantly seized Zhuang Zhou's soul, almost making him prostrate on the ground.

An unfamiliar name exploded in his mind like a thunderclap, both familiar and so strange.

Daozu Hongjun?