Yellow Court Daoist-Chapter 786 - 706: The Collapse of Time and Space, Illusion or Reality! [Vote for Monthly Tickets!]

"Zhu Zi, what kind of major event has happened?"

Six-Eared blinked curiously as he asked.

Lu Qingfeng looked at Six-Eared and sighed, "I have urgent matters and must leave soon. From now on, you will cultivate by yourself. Ponder every action carefully and be prudent."

Upon hearing this, Six-Eared felt a mix of confusion and panic.

He quickly said, "Zhu Zi, where are you going? I'll come with you."

Lu Qingfeng shook his head and said, "No need. Cultivate in peace and aspire to achieve the Da Luo Dao Fruit early. Perhaps then, there may come a day when we meet again."

At present in the Primordial era, Six-Eared had long since died.

Should Lu Qingfeng return, the only possibility for a reunion would be either during the Western Tour space-time or if one day Lu Qingfeng achieves the Dao of Primordial Chaos and resurrects him from the endless reaches of space-time.

Otherwise, it's feared that a reunion would be difficult to come by.

Their meeting and knowing each other in this space-time ended up being in vain, stirring many sighs in Lu Qingfeng.

Magical treasures are empty.

People are also empty.

Illusions, in the end, are merely illusions; the past has inevitably become the past.

"Zhu Zi!"

"Zhu Zi, I'm a Golden Immortal, I can help you!"

Six-Eared looked at Lu Qingfeng.

Although he was a Golden Immortal, ever since he began his quest for the Immortal Dao, he had always been inseparable from Lu Qingfeng.

From the initial wandering in search of immortals and cultivation, to giving up the chance to join the Bodhi Sect in the Western Continent to cultivate with Lu Qingfeng, to the centuries spent cultivating in the Earth Realm of Cang Mang Mountain's Heavenly Gate, to the Immortal Peach Orchard and the Old Lord Hall, and now to the Northern Continent.

Over seven hundred years, they had never been apart.

Lu Qingfeng's sudden departure left Six-Eared somewhat at a loss.

Even a Golden Immortal can feel emotions. Six-Eared, who was instinctively pure and genuine, placed even greater emphasis on their friendship.

"Ah!"

Lu Qingfeng also felt sorrow, but he knew that staying would not be beneficial to Six-Eared. On the contrary, returning to the present might offer the chance for a future reunion.

"My mind is set on leaving. When you achieve Da Luo, that will be the time for our reunion," Lu Qingfeng said.

Having spoken, Lu Qingfeng utilized the Xuan Light, stepping into the void to depart.

"Zhu Zi!"

In a frantic haste, Six-Eared also used the Cloud Apex Step following behind. But this Divine Skill was, after all, perfected by Lu Qingfeng. Intent on leaving, Six-Eared couldn't catch up.

From a distance.

"Zhu Zi!"

"Zhu Zi!"

Lu Qingfeng heard Six-Eared's call and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Yet he did not stay.

He headed straight to Huaguo Mountain.

He asked Wukong Daoist to take good care of Six-Eared, and then swiftly left Huaguo Mountain and this space-time.

...

Guangyuan Realm.

Immortal Qin and Star Sea merged.

Immortal Qin had nine great continents, and the Star Sea had nine Heavenly Domains. After the merger, with the heavens vast and the earth expansive, Guangyuan Immortal Court ruled over everything, with over a hundred Earth Immortals and no power could contend with them.

On this day.

In the vastness of space, Lu Qingfeng woke up.

Upon opening his eyes, he saw Ao Le sitting in meditation, contemplating the East Emperor Bell amidst the stars.

After seven hundred years apart.

At first glance, his heart felt at ease.

Lu Qingfeng immediately smiled, lightening the melancholy of separation.

"Husband."

Ao Le too realized Lu Qingfeng's return and was overjoyed.

Standing up, she stepped forward to Qingfeng's side, standing prettily and spoke with a soft voice, "Husband, you've been gone for two thousand years, are you well?"

Her eyes fixated on Lu Qingfeng's handsome face.

"Two thousand years?"

Lu Qingfeng had just returned and had yet to get his bearings when he heard these words. Hastily utilizing the Xuan Technique, he sensed the truth.

Indeed.

Seven hundred years had passed in the Western Tour space-time, but now two thousand and eighty-six years had passed in the current space-time.

Space-time is indeed mysterious.

Lu Qingfeng once spent a hundred years in the Killer Tribulation space-time, but upon returning to the present, only a few days had passed. This time, after venturing into the Western Tour space-time, two thousand years had flown by.

Even Lu Qingfeng, who studied the Space-Time Dao, couldn't fully grasp its intricacies.

Without rushing to understand the mysteries within, Lu Qingfeng smiled and said to Ao Le, "All is well, and I've become a Golden Immortal."

"Golden Immortal?!"

"An Earth Immortal lives long, a Golden Immortal never dies."

Ao Le was shocked at first, then immediately overjoyed, "Congratulations, husband!"

"Immortality of a Golden Immortal?"

Lu Qingfeng shook his head and said, "My Golden Immortal cultivation is like your East Emperor Bell; it's like the flower seen in a mirror and the moon reflected on the water's surface. Once the mirror is shattered and the water dries up, the flower and moon vanish."

Becoming a Golden Immortal, Lu Qingfeng had even deeper insights.

Illusions.

The past.

Magical treasures are empty, people are also empty, and naturally, so too is cultivation.

"In the infinite space-time, there lie countless possibilities."

"But whether it's the past or the future, all are like a solitary leaf-like boat upon the river of time. When the river whips up waves, the small boat is destined to be overturned and broken apart."

"In an instant."

"In that moment, billions of past and future space-times are destroyed."

"Cultivation gained from those destroyed space-times, as they fall into ruin, naturally dissipate as well."

With his Golden Immortal attainment during his time in the Western Tour space-time and his two ventures into the past, he grew to understand space-time, illusion, and reality with increasing clarity.

He finally understood why those Golden Immortal characters in the world tend to cultivate in the present and avoid delving into space-time.

Aside from karma,

it's probably also because they have already glimpsed the mystery within and are unwilling to pursue false achievements.

"Moreover,"

...

"Cultivating to the realm of a Golden Immortal and then aiming to ascend further is largely the same challenge, be it in the current era or if one were to travel back to the ancient or primordial timelines."

"There's no need for reckless floundering."

Lu Qingfeng was well aware of this.

It was particularly striking in his case; originally at the level of an Earth Immortal, he rapidly ascended to the Golden Immortal realm after consecutive travels through two distinct realms of time and space, showcasing the formidable nature of this dream-walking method of cultivation.

In reality—

An ordinary Earth Immortal or Heavenly Immortal, without the aid of a gourd avatar, with little mastery over the Space-Time Dao, and lacking the Great Divine Power of 'Carefree Dream Road' that enables one to chase the echoes of time within dreams—it's exceedingly challenging to emulate Lu Qingfeng's method of cultivation.

As for Golden Immortals,

With myriad cultivation methods at their disposal, they hardly regard this particular Magic Gate with high esteem.

Of course,

Pathways like the 'Enlightenment in Dreams' taught by the Western Teaching's Sect Hierarch are not taken lightly even by Golden Immortals, who would rejoice at the chance to learn it.

But that's another matter entirely.

As Lu Qingfeng talked about flowers and moons, Ao Le felt utterly lost in the fog.

Suddenly,

"Eh?"

Ao Le uttered an expression of surprise and alarm, "My mana—"

Lu Qingfeng turned his gaze toward Ao Le.

She had spent nearly two hundred years cultivating in a timeline fraught with death, and had already overcome the Seventh Level Great Heavenly Tribulation, earning the standing of Earth Immortal Third Realm upon returning to the present timeline.

But now, it was as if an avalanche had begun.

A rapid backslide.

In an instant, Ao Le plummeted from Earth Immortal Third Realm to Earth Immortal First Realm.

This was her original level of cultivation.

"Husband, I—"

The dissipation of her mana was more than half, and the Dao ability she thought she had grasped was slipping away into obscurity, leaving her dazed and unable to regain that clarity—like old acquaintances who fail to recognize each other.

The rapid shift was truly disconcerting.

Lu Qingfeng held Ao Le's hand and smiled, "There's no need to panic. It's simply that the deadly timeline we visited has crumbled, and thus the cultivation we acquired from that place has also vanished into the boundless timelines."

He hadn't anticipated such a coincidence.

They had just emerged from the Western Tour timeline when the prior one disintegrated. Yet, given that countless timelines rise and fall in the blink of an eye, it wasn't all that surprising.

"Look."

Lu Qingfeng pointed at the starry sky.

"The crumbling of time and space?"

"The vanishing of cultivation?"

Seeing Lu Qingfeng's smile, Ao Le's heart steadied, and she followed the direction of his gesture.

Instantly, she saw the East Emperor Bell, which she had refined to suppress the Star Sea, dissipating in the blink of an eye without a trace of escape—an outright annihilation in place.

"This—"

Ao Le then cast her eyes toward the earth.

There, like the East Emperor Bell before, the twelve Du Tian Netherworld King Flags also vanished without a trace.

Lu Qingfeng flipped his palm and drew forth the Immortal Slaying Flying Saber and the Quiet Bamboo Stick.

Before his eyes,

the gourd disintegrated, and the Quiet Bamboo Stick flashed with a burst of light then dulled. The Heavenly Centipede Bamboo Stick which Lu Qingfeng had refined into the cane, too, had disappeared.

Furthermore,

Five sharp swords materialized behind Lu Qingfeng, the essence of the Five-Colored Divine Light.

Just as they appeared, they were wiped out by the dissolving time-space.

"Isn't this all a waste of effort?"

Ao Le watched as one after another, supreme treasures faded into nothingness, and she truly felt heartbroken, her face wrinkling up.

Even if the treasures did not dissipate now, in seven to eight hundred years, when three thousand years were full, they would still have to return to their original time-space.

But when that moment truly came.

And even occurring some years in advance, she still didn't want to let go: "The East Emperor Bell contains infinite mysteries. I haven't even grasped a ten-millionth of it, and now it's gone!"

Lu Qingfeng looked at Ao Le's miserly concern and couldn't help but laugh.

"Either way, they would disappear. Why feel so heartache?"

"Moreover, while the mana dissipates and the Dao ability regresses, there are still traces left behind, which will add to your foundation for future cultivation. If you're willing to spend time and effort, accumulated across countless time-spaces, even if all those time-spaces disappear, in reality, it could easily boost your cultivation and Dao ability to the Golden Immortal Realm."

However.

Such accumulation across time-spaces takes a lot of time in reality. Maybe a thousand years, perhaps even a million or ten million years.

It's a method.

But filled with uncertainties.

Lu Qingfeng opened his mouth, and out popped two children. One dressed in blue, the other in purple. As soon as they emerged, they transformed into two treasured gourds, falling into his hands.

"These gourds of mine are also precious treasures, second to none of those ephemeral supreme treasures."

Lu Qingfeng handed a treasured gourd to Ao Le.

"This treasured gourd—"

Ao Le took it, her expression strange, rebuking Lu Qingfeng: "My husband's split forms are quite peculiar. If Xiao'er and Yao'er see them, they'll think we secretly had a bunch of little brothers for them!"

"..."

Hearing this, Lu Qingfeng couldn't help but laugh.

It was just a split form after all.

And it was the split form of the Seven Treasures Gourd, which is a Spiritual Treasure of high caliber, envied by countless Heavenly Immortals and even Golden Immortals. How could Ao Le belittle it to such an extent?

He was simultaneously relieved. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Fortunately, when he found Ao Le, he had already grown up. Otherwise, had she seen his original transformation, wouldn't she laugh at him for a lifetime?!

He had become an Earth Immortal; this life was indeed long!

Ignoring Ao Le's teasing, Lu Qingfeng spoke seriously: "This treasured gourd might look odd, but it's quite powerful in use. If you encounter a formidable enemy, just throw the gourd out, and it can fend off even the most ordinary Heavenly Immortals. If that's still not enough, it can protect you and escape into time-space, hiding in the Wujian, undetectable to any below the Golden Immortal Realm."

The split forms of the treasured gourd cultivated with Lu Qingfeng in two different time-spaces.

In them,

The cultivation gained in the first time-space of Slaying Tribulation disappeared along with its collapse.

In the Second Time-space of the Western Tour, they found their places to cultivate and, along with Lu Qingfeng, Six-Eared, and Wukong, devoured Immortal Peaches and Golden Cores. Although they didn't achieve Golden Immortal status, they were at the peak of Heavenly Immortals.

Still, this was cultivation obtained from the Western Tour Time-space.

Nobody knew when it would vanish with the collapse of that time-space. That's why Lu Qingfeng talked about the original strength of the treasured gourd split forms—

Capable of fighting the most ordinary Heavenly Immortals.

Able to avoid the most superior Heavenly Immortals.

As a defense, indeed, they were no less than those supreme treasures.

Ao Le was listening to Lu Qingfeng, but her attention drifted away from the treasured gourd, her eyes fixed on him: "My husband, are you going on a journey again?"

Entrusting the treasured gourd to her for self-defense.

His words sounded like he was entrusting her with something.

The wife knows best.

Ao Le knew that if he wasn't leaving, even if they faced a powerful enemy, Lu Qingfeng himself would protect her, and there would be no need to give her the treasured gourd.

"Yes."

"There's some trouble with my elder brother, and I need to go back and see what's happening."

Lu Qingfeng didn't intend to hide it and nodded.