Chapter 67: This is the way to find him.
Yan Jingyu began to focus on comprehending the Dao.
When he shifted his attention away from Liao Chen, he found that the other had begun to appear from time to time.
When he was meditating, just as he had finished circulating the heavenly cycle and opened his eyes, he would find Liao Chen supporting his chin with one hand, gazing at him with full concentration. But before he could even finish revealing a smile, the other would quickly dissipate.
This kind of thing didn’t just happen during meditation. When he was lying under the begonia tree, on the top of the wall, and letting his imagination run wild like he did in his youth, he would find that a person had unconsciously appeared beside him. But each time, before his gaze could even turn over, everything would vanish into thin air.
Liao Chen had never said a word. He guessed that the other should have, but he just couldn’t hear it.
His spiritual sense had lost contact with him after being sent into that space. Yan Jingyu guessed that this was because the space of hiding was different from the world he was in. His spiritual sense was likely to quickly scatter there, and he didn’t know if the other could hear it…
The summer night was slightly dry. He was lying on the bed, half-asleep, when he vaguely felt someone sitting beside him. He subconsciously reached out his hand, and that person also reached out his hand to touch his fingers.
Unfortunately, his mind was too fast. He again realized that this person was the already disappeared Liao Chen. So, before his fingers could completely touch, the other had dissipated in front of his bed.
Yan Jingyu opened his eyes and subconsciously moved his fingers to hook the air between his fingers, as if this way he could completely touch him in his own imagery.
He slightly curled his fingers, slowly closed his eyes, and a hint of wetness appeared at the corner of his eye.
Clearly so close, yet separated by the ends of the earth.
He curled up his fingers and placed them on his lips.
Even though his index finger was empty, he knew very well that there was a ring that the other had personally put on for him. He had also said that even if he were a mortal, he could still take out the objects inside.
Liao Chen… he didn’t dare to think of him, yet he couldn’t stop thinking of him. He clearly wanted to think of him to death, but his every thought would only bring darkness to the other…
Just for a little while, just think for a little while, just a little while is fine.
I’m sorry…
He pulled the quilt up high in the darkness and curled up his body.
Tears condensed on his eyelashes.
But he still forced himself to sleep. When he woke up in a daze, his brain was a little chaotic, and also a little numb. In a daze, he suddenly saw a blooming peony on the small square table by the bed, carefully inserted in a transparent crystal vase. The entire room was filled with a dense and rich fragrance.
Yan Jingyu stared blankly. “A peony…”
“A peony?” The jade slip unfolded. Wen Renying slowly stretched on it and habitually spoke in verse: “You throw the parting grass, I pick the flower of love. You turn and the wind blows your sleeve, from then on, we are at different ends of the earth. Such a heartless and light vow, what face do you have to face the sunset glow?”
Yan Jingyu suddenly turned to him.
Wen Renying reacted for a moment, a little more energetic. “No, it can’t be that you received a peony, right?”
Yan Jingyu’s breathing was ragged. His gaze once again looked at the square table. Above, not even half a shadow of the peony could be seen.
His face was extremely pale. He raised his finger and pointed at the square table. “Just now, did you also see it?”
Wen Renying immediately went to look. He stared for a long time before he shook his head. “No, there’s nothing…”
“There was a peony there… parting… why did he send me parting? What happened to him…”
He turned over and got out of bed, his hair disheveled, his expression flustered. He stood by the window, the sound of cicadas in his ears. He tried hard to close his eyes, forcing himself to calm down.
I can’t feel Liao Chen… He felt that he had already stopped thinking of the other, but he couldn’t feel him…
What have the thirty-six rules done now?
His figure instantly leaped onto the roof. He looked up at the cloudless sky, but his gaze was extremely sharp, piercing through the thin clouds and the vast sky, looking straight at the thirty-six rule thrones at the highest point.
Rumble—
Qi Mufang and Ming Zelin rushed out of the room at the same time. The sky, which had been clear just now, was suddenly covered with dark clouds in an instant. But soon, a beam of golden light pierced through the dark clouds, and the surroundings were filled with golden thunder.
Qi Mufang immediately raised his hand to protect the surroundings, his expression astonished. “Master said two days ago that he would not ascend to immortality first. Why suddenly…”
Thunder rolled above Hutian. Countless cultivators flew out of their residences and landed on the celestial walkway that crossed Hutian City like a ribbon. The sky was also soon filled.
All the cultivators in all directions looked in one direction.
“Yaoguang Valley… that’s Yaoguang Valley!”
“Nine Yang Divine Thunder… it’s the Nine Yang Divine Thunder! That’s the immortal ascension thunder!! Immortal Lord Dufang is finally going to ascend to immortality!”
The divine thunder rolled. Ling Dannan also turned her head to look, her expression stunned.
Zeng Huacai helped Qin Zhongyou up. Qin Zixuan knocked over the teacup he was about to hand over. The various shopkeepers in Hutian City also quickly rushed out of their doors.
The streets of Hutian City were empty.
“A thousand years…” The Grand Ancestor of Hutian looked up from the Forgetfulness Platform, looking straight at the boundless golden light above the daylight. “Are you really the one chosen by fate?”
The thunder rolled in layers. Yan Jingyu’s figure slowly floated up from the roof.
He knew he was being very impulsive, but the moment he saw the parting grass, he was sure he could not endure it any longer.
One hundred and thirty-three years, he could not cultivate, could not break through, could not blame, and could not even suffer… Fate, what is fate?
Ever since his entire clan was annihilated and his cultivation was destroyed, he no longer knew what true fate was.
If fearlessness was fate, why was his fearlessness suppressed time and time again, and his cultivation never improved an inch? If struggle was fate, why was his struggle always painless and itchless, neither losing to a complete defeat, nor winning a full pot? If kindness was fate, why was it that after doing countless good deeds back then, he ended up with all the people he cherished being taken away, leaving him alone in the world?
If this Lord is fate, why do I still have to suffer the humiliation of these rules today, racking my brains for a way to break the situation, and watching my beloved being trapped, yet being powerless?!
This is fate? This is also worthy of being called fate?!
The golden thunder rolled, endlessly. Du Fang condensed at his hand and was held tightly by one of his hands.
He had white clothes and dark hair, his face as beautiful as the moon. But his glabella slowly cracked open, and the Vermilion Bird’s divinity was engraved between his eyebrows. In that instant, the power of the fire element’s authority made the anger that had been suppressed by absolute reason in his heart erupt—
A black shadow suddenly seemed to appear at his side, looking up at the vast sky with him.
The rule thrones constantly trembled, and the pillar of the Heavenly Dao slowly lowered. Accompanied by the lingering sound of Sanskrit, the runes flickered, as if they were welcoming his return.
In that instant, he was suddenly enlightened.
“Fate is to follow nature, to let the angry be angry, to let the strong be strong, to let the most affectionate be most true to their nature, to let the most courageous be most firm, to let the wise see through the dark light, to let the king look down on all directions…”
He had been rational for more than a hundred years, had observed for more than a hundred years, had never blamed, never resented, never hated. Because he could always understand, even if it was not excusable, it was also human nature. But he was not a symbol on the pillar of the Heavenly Mandate. He was Yan Jingyu, he was a person. A god could not comprehend the Dao. If a person had a divine nature, then he also did not need to comprehend the Dao.
It turned out that it wasn’t that he had taken the wrong path, but that he had walked too fast, so fast that even the Heavenly Dao couldn’t keep up with his steps. He was clearly still a person, yet he had become a rune on the pillar of the Heavenly Mandate one step ahead of time.
How can a person not be angry! How can they not resent! How can they not hate! How can they not blame?!
“How is that possible…” The chains of the rules constantly swayed. They gazed at the person rushing straight down, and also watched as the thirty-six rule thrones constantly lowered with the pillar of the Heavenly Dao. At this moment, it was not Yan Jingyu who was desperately trying to get close to the pillar, but the pillar that was willingly bowing to him.
That hidden space once again revealed its light.
Yan Jingyu’s eyes flickered with golden light, accompanied by rolling tears, as if he wanted to vent all his grievances and anger.
“Since this Lord is fate, how can I talk about making concessions to the rules?!” He suddenly moved forward, and fiercely moved closer to the pillar again. The rules were in a fluster. Someone roared, “Reincarnation!! Silence!!!”
Yan Jingyu’s figure was rapidly shuttling. The pillar of the Heavenly Dao was close at hand, yet it was as far as the ends of the earth.
Liao Chen stood up from below. The lotus spirit murmured, “As expected, reincarnation has acted, and also silence. He should not be able to hear anything now. He can’t even hear his own inner voice… this is even more terrible than being hidden…”
Yan Jingyu’s figure was still shuttling, but it gradually stopped. He was trapped at the moment of contact with the pillar, and at the same time, he had lost all his thoughts.
He had forgotten what he was doing.
“Beat him down!!” The rules acted again, and a divine tribulation condensed. Yan Jingyu looked up blankly. A purple thunder rushed towards his face. His figure suddenly fell from above. At the same time, someone else shouted, “Time—!”
The throne spun clockwise. A figure raised his hand and formed a seal. The chains clattered. Yan Jingyu’s figure, in the midst of falling, was suddenly swallowed by a time-space tunnel.
The Sanskrit sound of the pillar of the Heavenly Mandate also suddenly changed, wailing as it returned upwards.
The lotus spirit raised its hand and covered its face, murmuring, “He has been silenced, reincarnated, and trapped by time. He will become a walking corpse…”
Below Hutian, everyone held their breath and looked at the sky, watching as Yan Jingyu’s figure fell from the sky and then disappeared. Everyone showed an incredible expression.
“Immortal Lord Dufang… has fallen…”
Liao Chen’s face was also pale, but his eyes were still firm. “It’s not over yet.”
Yan Jingyu opened his dazed eyes. His figure was slowly swallowed by a lustrous tunnel. The surroundings were all afterimages of time and space, like a white steed flashing past a crack. He had forgotten who he was, forgotten what he was doing, and also forgotten why he was here. He had no motivation to leave, nor the consciousness to dominate his own body.
Dozens of pairs of eyes opened in the time-space tunnel. The rules were carefully examining his state.
“…Success?”
“Annihilation, now, it’s your turn to act.” A voice spoke. “Melt everything of his into time and space, so that he and these fragments can never be condensed again.”
A pair of eyes enlarged at his side, seeming to be approaching him.
But Yan Jingyu’s figure suddenly disappeared. The next instant, that pair of eyes suddenly widened and slowly lowered. Yan Jingyu had appeared behind him at some point, and the Du Fang Sword had directly pierced his back. He quickly turned into a stream of light and flew back to the throne, in disbelief. “He touched me—”
Yan Jingyu’s gaze was on the end of the time-space tunnel, his eyes cold, the Vermilion Bird god on his glabella dazzlingly red.
“This Lord is not dead yet.”
At this moment, in the outside world, where Yan Jingyu had just disappeared, a fiery wind blade suddenly spun slowly. All the people who were mourning for him raised their heads again.
The fiery wind blade spun, faster and faster, larger and larger, and suddenly shredded time and space, forming a huge time-space storm.
A crimson great bird poked its head out from the storm.
The lotus spirit immediately reacted. “It’s the divinity you left for him at that time! The Nanming Li Fire can break the restrictions of time and reincarnation!!!”
Beside the crimson bird, a white figure escaped from time and space with it. His eyes were slightly closed, the Du Fang longsword on his back. He did not listen, did not look, did not think, did not move, until the pillar of the Heavenly Mandate slowly lowered again, and the sound of Sanskrit appeared in his ears.
The thirty-six rules formed a semicircle at his side. The people on the thrones could not be seen, but they could still feel an endless and cold divine might flowing, making the space next to the entire pillar become mysterious and unpredictable.
The people of Hutian could not see the pillar of the Heavenly Dao, only seeing him standing quietly where he had just disappeared, like an inscription carved on a stone, absolutely calm, absolutely rational, absolutely bright, but also absolutely majestic, absolutely inviolable.
He had been completely enlightened. The heavenly mandate was himself, the laws were himself. At this moment, he did not need to ascend to immortality. The Heavenly Dao had already come to him.
The rules held their breath, watching as the pillar of the Heavenly Dao descended lower and lower. The pure-colored throne of fate was already covered with runes, placed squarely at his side, steadily parallel to him.
He slowly turned around, his long, lowered eyelashes lifting again.
At this moment, everything was settled. Everyone’s minds were racing. Annihilation was the first to speak. “We welcome the return of the Lord of Fate.”
The thirty-six chains clanged at the same time. In a place that mortals could not see, in the mid-air of Hutian, a respectful voice spoke. “We welcome the return of the laws of the Heavenly Mandate. Heavenly Lord, immeasurable.”
The thirty-six figures knelt down on the thrones that were chained. They bowed their heads, their gazes falling on his clean shoes, trying to appease his anger with their submission.
They believed that no one in this world could resist the temptation of the throne of fate. After all, just the thirty-six rules, each one was enough to make one give up everything, and the throne of fate represented the absolute control over the thirty-six rules.
…The Heavenly Dao was ruthless, and the heavenly mandate was the enforcer of the Heavenly Dao. Who could resist this supreme authority that was so close to the Heavenly Dao?
“Clang… boom!!” Just now, the throne of fate, which had finally been completed, disintegrated in an instant, shattering into a sky full of dust, its golden light scattering.
The rules all looked up at the same time, looking at the face they were no longer qualified to discern, in disbelief.
“You…”
That was the throne of fate, an existence that countless people could not even dream of. They had gone to great lengths to ensure that the throne of fate would always be empty. But for so many years, the only person who had come before it, who could sit on it and look down on all living beings, had actually destroyed it without hesitation.
Did he even know what he was doing?! The rule thrones cracked slightly, and everyone’s Dao hearts were briefly impacted.
They looked at Yan Jingyu’s still indifferent face. Someone suddenly spoke. “You have spied on fate for many years. Since you are fate, you should understand that we can connect with the Heavenly Dao, which is also in accordance with the will of heaven. If you impose your own high-mindedness on us, are you not also defying the will of heaven?”
“The fact that we have come to this point is also because we are uniquely endowed. You have no right to dispose of us!!!”
“Since you don’t want the throne of fate, then go back to your Forgetfulness Platform…”
All the voices suddenly paused. The throne of fate, which had just turned to dust, its scattered runes were slowly manifesting from his physical body, densely weaving into the robes on his body.
He did not need the throne of fate, because he was already the throne itself.
“This Lord has comprehended the Heavenly Dao today and knows that everyone has their own fate. The heavenly mandate is not to abandon evil and protect good, nor should it arbitrarily determine right and wrong.” Yan Jingyu looked at them, his expression indifferent. “But this Lord was also once a mortal. The laws are impartial, but I have hatred.”
“Therefore, today, I am your fate.”
“Clap, clap, clap—” The chains connecting to the Heavenly Dao broke one after another. The Nanming Li Fire rose from all the rule thrones. The Li Fire burned, more and more fiercely, burning away the shadow of the rules that had been hanging over the heads of mortals for years, and at the same time, restoring the cognition in the hearts of all cultivators.
Wen Renying stroked his chin and observed his own sea of consciousness. He was dazed to find that some books about law-grade artifacts had actually appeared inside. The existences that were previously not allowed to usurp were all no longer a secret.
It was just that these matters were still not widely spread. In Wen Renying’s words, knowledge needed to be explored by people.
But Yan Jingyu still had not found Liao Chen’s figure.
He sat beside the pillar of the Heavenly Mandate, carefully stripping the Vermilion Bird’s divinity from his spiritual platform, holding it in his palm, his expression dazed.
Here, even when he deliberately thought of other things, Liao Chen did not appear again.
He was hidden… it was not the rules that did it…
He looked up, looked at the runes on the pillar of the Heavenly Dao, a touch of sorrow in his heart.
This was the price Liao Chen had paid to save him… he had used the Vermilion Bird’s divinity to save him, and the price was to disappear forever.
Yan Jingyu was suspended in the air, came to the side of the pillar, and murmured, “Is it because I have become fate, so I can no longer have private feelings, and thus cannot see him?”
“…Then what is the use of me becoming a god?”
“Actually, even if he didn’t save me, fate could still become a god…”
It was just that fate was not Yan Jingyu. Fate did not have as many selfish thoughts as Yan Jingyu. He would become a ruthless symbol on the pillar of the Heavenly Mandate.
He curled up his body and merged himself into the pillar. He first saw a vast starry sky and a sky full of runes, each one so ancient and mysterious. But when he tried to drive himself to get close to the other, he was suddenly squeezed out of the pillar.
Yan Jingyu did not give up. He believed that if there was still a way to save Liao Chen, then this way must be hidden in the pillar. He once again turned into a rune and merged into it. This time, he did not try to move, but just observed silently.
Which was the hidden rune…
His consciousness swept over all the runes, but not long after, he was squeezed out of the pillar again and re-condensed into a human form.
It has nothing to do with whether I move or not? Could it be because of the Vermilion Bird’s divinity? The Vermilion Bird is one of the four celestial symbols of heaven and earth, not a simple law authority… Yan Jingyu threw the divinity aside and once again turned into a rune and merged into the pillar.
If I can’t find Liao Chen… there’s no point in me being a human. I might as well just stay here… this pillar is quite comfortable to stay in.
Suddenly, a rune flashed gently, as if it wanted to say something but didn’t.
Then, he was squeezed out for the third time.
Yan Jingyu’s expression was extremely dazed. He really couldn’t understand why, when he wanted to return, the Heavenly Dao would not allow him…
Am I not also one of the laws? Why don’t you want me…
He didn’t believe in evil. Just as he was about to turn into a rune again, the Vermilion Bird’s divinity suddenly moved on its own without being prompted, and a crimson fire blade spun out in front of him, shredding space, shredding time and space. Yan Jingyu was slightly stunned. Before he could turn his face again, his figure had been gently pushed out by a force and plunged headfirst into a time-space tunnel.
In an instant, he opened his eyes.
The laws of the Heavenly Mandate turned everything in front of him into a tributary, which he could easily control and stir the long river of fate at any time. Yan Jingyu hid his authority, looked around, and found that this place was full of peaks and ridges, with glaciers crisscrossing. Many trees were clearly still green, but had been frozen into ice towers.
This is… Yan Jingyu analyzed the landform features, and suddenly heard a voice: “Bold phoenix demon, you dare to steal the Kunlun Spirit-Nurturing Jade… stop right there!!!”
Yan Jingyu suddenly looked ahead. A woman with an exceptionally beautiful face was speeding through the ice-covered ice tower forest, her expression flustered as she fled in this direction. Besides the mountain-guarding god chasing her from behind, he could also see many other cultivators not far away, clearly also squatting and waiting to snatch the Spirit-Nurturing Jade.
Yan Jingyu’s gaze fell on her slightly gathered abdomen, and his mind suddenly went blank.
This is the way to find him…
Because his understanding of Liao Chen was not enough. He had only met Liao Chen when he was fourteen, and he knew nothing about Liao Chen’s past. This meant that even if someone in the world remembered him, it would be an incomplete him! So Liao Chen could not return from the hidden space.
There must be someone in the present who remembered all his past, knew what kind of person he was, and knew what he had been through. Only in this way could his existence leave a trace in history again, and only in this way could he return to the world.
Yan Jingyu’s expression was pleasantly surprised, and also a little embarrassed…
Then this woman, isn’t she, Liao Chen’s mother?
“Swoosh—” A hidden weapon shot towards her. Yan Jingyu timely came back to his senses, flicked his finger to block it. The woman suddenly turned her head to look at him. The next instant, she suddenly spoke. “Brother! Save me!!!”
Before Yan Jingyu could react, all the other cultivators, including the mountain-guarding god of Kunlun, had suddenly cast their gazes at him.
Liao Chen’s mother immediately threw out an earth escape talisman and disappeared without a trace in an instant.
And around Yan Jingyu, figures of various forces appeared, surrounding him.
Yan Jingyu: “…”
How come Liao Chen didn’t learn even a little bit of your cleverness?
