The Eternal Calamity of the Heaven-shading

Chapter 291 Another Future

Forty thousand years have passed in a flash, yet the bronze palace remains unchanged.

Suspended beneath the sky, it gleams with a deep blue light, as if it had just been salvaged from the river of time. It is covered with mottled copper rust, and every corner of the eaves bears the marks of vicissitudes spanning eras.

"You've come..." Chen Wu's expression was calm, his eyes deep.

"Yes, Eternal Lord, I've come again."

Chu Xiaoyao smiled bitterly, "You are right. The power of time stirred up by the Xingzi Secret cannot affect me. No matter how I try, I cannot slow down the aging process."

After saying this, he bowed respectfully to Chen Wu.

Even if you master the world's fastest speed, you can't outrun time.

Forty thousand years have passed, and the once spirited and radiant Celestial Venerable has become an old man in his twilight years.

However, the Eternal Calamity Celestial Venerable opposite him was still young, his figure blurred, as if he had broken free from the shackles of time and was no longer in the myriad realms.

Seeing this, Chu Xiaoyao was filled with emotion and began to laugh at himself.

“I have been to the Immortal Mausoleum, Kunlun Immortal Mountain, the Burial Ground, and the burial site of Lingbao Tianzun. I thought I could easily surpass those fellow Daoists and even catch a glimpse of the back of Senior Yongjie.”

"But as it turns out, my path was wrong. The Secret of Travel was useless. Only with the help of the Elixir of Immortality could I barely live for two lifetimes. Compared to Fellow Daoist Lingbao, he has dominated the universe for 100,000 years with his complete victory, while I have stopped here. I am truly ashamed!"

Time is fair; it will give every self-important cultivator a resounding slap in the face. Before it, you either succeed or you fail.

Clearly, after all these years, Chu Xiaoyao has finally accepted reality: attempting to gain immortality through the laws of time is futile, at least not with his Xingzi Secret Technique.

Chen Wu had already pointed this out and personally demonstrated the profound mystery of the Transformation Technique. But for Chu Xiaoyao, unless he verified it himself, he would never easily give up his beliefs.

Therefore, he has devoted all his energy to exploring the secrets of the character "行".

Of course, Chen Wu had anticipated this and was not surprised at all.

In fact, this applies not only to Chu Xiaoyao, but also to every Celestial Venerable, Ancient Emperor, and Great Emperor.

As the saying goes, "One man's success is built on the bones of ten thousand." If you want to attain enlightenment, you must first defeat all your competitors and then accept the tests from all the myriad paths of heaven and earth.

After going through this process, their Daoist resolve is often tempered into unwavering strength.

Therefore, among all those who attain enlightenment, there may be those who are relatively "weak," but there are absolutely none who lack self-confidence.

Future generations might use phrases like "stubborn," "unyielding until hitting a wall," or "Puxin" to make fun of them, but if they were so easily swayed, they wouldn't have reached that level.

"There was a time when I naively thought I could overcome the years, so I didn't take life and death seriously. But later, I could only watch helplessly as my master and the people around me grew old. It wasn't until I began to experience the feeling of life gradually slipping away that I understood what it meant to be powerless."

Chu Xiaoyao shook his head, his eyes filled with endless sorrow. "From this point of view, I am far inferior to Fellow Daoist Lingbao, and I have also failed to live up to Senior Dujie's expectations."

“Your situation is different from Lingbao’s. The Corpse Calamity brought him pain, leading to the death of his beloved and the collapse of his sect; but from another perspective, the Corpse Calamity also shaped him. Without those hardships, Lingbao might not have achieved what he has today.”

As he spoke, Chen Wu sighed softly, "As for those who have transcended tribulations, they possess great perseverance and wisdom, and have an extraordinary background. They are destined to become immortals and ancestors in the future."

"Become an immortal?" Chu Xiaoyao was taken aback.

"Yes, to become an immortal!"

Chen Wu was very composed, his whole demeanor carrying a sense of vicissitude. Having lived for more than 500,000 years and even reversed the passage of time, he had witnessed far too much. By now, he had long since seen through the affairs of the mortal world, and all the joys and sorrows would not affect his heart in seeking the Dao.

Fortunately, it was precisely because he saw through it all that he cherished it even more. Long ago, he sealed Xuanhuang and the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass in the Immortal Source, leaving himself to walk alone through the years.

“Senior Yongjie, I am willing to go to that realm to lend Fellow Daoist Cangxuan a hand.”

Chu Xiaoyao decided not to delve into the secrets of the Tribulation-Crossing Celestial Venerable, but instead brought up the strange world, which was the real purpose of his trip.

Forty thousand years ago, he communicated with Cangxuan Heavenly Venerable Qingsongzi through the Gate of Two Realms and learned about the situation there.

Although Chu Xiaoyao was shocked at the time, he still did not give up his idea of ​​researching immortality in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, and Chen Wu readily granted his request.

Now that the dream has been shattered, it's time to fulfill the promise.

"No rush, have all the funeral arrangements been made?" Chen Wu asked casually.

"Ok!"

Chu Xiaoyao nodded solemnly, "The Secret of the Word 'Xing' has already been passed on. I don't ask for much faith, I only hope it can bring benefits to all living beings. As for the Free and Unfettered Heavenly Skill, I left it in the Free and Unfettered Path, along with many insights into life and death. If future generations have the opportunity, they will naturally benefit from it."

"Aren't you planning to build up your resources? Look at Qing Songzi, his Cangxuan Sect has grown to the point where it's practically the only one who can do what's right on Ziwei Star." Chen Wu asked again.

"No, it's no use leaving too much behind. It will only cause trouble. I originally thought of arranging for my master to stay in the Xiaoyao Dao, but he had enough of being secluded and was willing to pass away peacefully. And I didn't leave any descendants, so let them go."

"That's good!" Chen Wu said with a smile, "However, you seem a little unwilling. Are you regretting that you went down the wrong path?"

Faced with this question, Chu Xiaoyao fell silent, a rare occurrence for him.

After a moment, he slowly said, "There's nothing to regret about eliminating a wrong path. Once I reach the other world, I can devote myself to researching the Reverse Transformation."

"Is it like this?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Wu flicked his fingers lightly in the air and said, "Before I leave, I'll give you one last stroke of good fortune."

The moment the words fell, a strange wave arose out of nowhere, surging and boiling, containing the Daoist principles of time, space, and reincarnation, boundless and limitless.

"Xingzi secret?"

Chu Xiaoyao's pupils suddenly dilated, and he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

He saw a river of time flowing quietly through Chen Wu's fingertips, blurring the concepts of reality and illusion.

In a daze, a real universe appeared, rising and falling on the surface of the river of time, resembling the nine heavens and ten earths.

Rumble!
It felt like a fleeting moment had passed, yet also like an eternity had stood still.

Time, space, reincarnation, creation... all the laws of nature evolve in turn, condensing into a ring of amber that fills that real universe.

"Fellow Daoist Xiaoyao, would you like to see another version of yourself from the future?"

Chen Wu's soft words immediately attracted Chu Xiaoyao's attention.

(End of this chapter)