Someone on Yueyiâs level counted as one of the strongest existences in the new epoch. She suppressed the darkness from Mount Astronomia, safeguarded order, and held fast to her ideals. In the current age, she was infinitely close to dao.
There was very little in the known expanses that could avoid her all-knowing gaze. Apart from maintaining order and keeping the darkness at bay, she also possessed her own aspirations toward dao.
But when she touched upon the core of the world and began to analyze, to understand it, confusion and doubt of herself and her dao set in.
The stronger one was, the more intensely this happened.
She was now completely uncertain whether she strove so hard for the sake of the truth of this world, or an overlooked hole outside this truth.
âLet me tell you a story,â Lu Yun smiled at her. âBut this isnât the place to talk, take me into the mountain.â
âWill do.â Yueyi nodded and composed herself, silently bringing him into Mount Astronomia.
Being the Luminaries headquarters, there was a large sum of mighty Nihil World Sovereigns in residence. Their sole purpose was to protect the mountain and constantly beat back the darkness.
The Great Brahmaâs death had made Lu Yun public enemy number one because in these world sovereignsâ eyes, the Great Brahmaâs merits for suppressing the darkness outweighed his crimes. He shouldnât have been executed, but they couldnât question the Sun Sovereign King or Bai Hongtian. They could only assign blame to Lu Yun.
Yueyi lived in a humble residence. There was nothing else apart from a seat cushion, a bookcase, and a vanity with a bronze mirror. Despite that, any of these furnishings would incite an instant riot if they appeared in the outside world. These were treasures refined by a sequence expert!
The helpless and lost look had faded from her eyes. Everything was buried back in the depths of her heart.
âWhat story is martial grandfather going to tell me?â She waved another seat cushion into existence and sat down in front of Lu Yun. She knew that whatever he said would be relevant to the blank sheet of paper and black holes that sheâd brought up earlier.
âItâs not really a story, but my life experiences.â Lu Yun sprawled onto his cushion. âCome now, be at ease.â
Yueyi grinned ruefully and imitated his posture.
âI cultivated the mistressâ method of three lives,â Lu Yun began solemnly.
Yueyi nodded and elaborated for him, âThe mistress traveled through space and time from the original Hongmeng, not because she was afraid of death, but because she was searching for a way to suppress order. That the original Hongmeng had fallen was fact, there was no point to her remaining further.
âMartial grandfather, youâre not going to tell me that sheâs not from the original Hongmeng, are you? That her being from an even more expansive world will encourage me?â Yueyi finished with a chuckle.
Lu Yun shook his head. âI donât know where she comes from or where she wants to go, but I do know that she died thirty-three times for me.â
âWhat?â Yueyiâs eyes widened.
âIn practicing the method of three lives, I coalesced dao fruit selves of the past, present, and future. My future self went to the end of the future, the time of the great devastation.
âHe adapted to the situation and knew that the river of time was available in the past, present, and future. He traveled up the river, following it to the start of timeâŚâ
Lu Yun described his encounters of the thirty-three loops and how heâd verified through the Imperial Seal that the so-called thirty-three reincarnation cycles and great devastations were simple repeats of the same cycle.
âUmâŚâ Yueyi rocked back on her heels with shock, not knowing what to say.
âSomeone succeeded in suppressing order during those loops, fixing the orders of the vast fourth realm into one place. Unfortunately, the great devastation still arrived,â Lu Yun smiled at her.
Yueyi knew about the great devastationâmany powerhouses of the original Hongmeng had foretold it. It would be the end of their time, the end of all order, rules, and laws. Everything would start over from the beginning.
But a repeat of thirty-three loops was a harsh blow to Yueyiâs understanding of the world.
âThus, is it that important whether we live in the paper or the holes?â Lu Yun rose to his feet. âI donât care about either of them. I just want to break free of destiny and shake off these endless cycles.â
Everything about existence had been decided beforehand. All things would proceed as predetermined, without end, without rest. Such was destiny.
Ah Zhi had entered the primordial past through her Dream Sutra and seen the fates of all beings. In reality, what sheâd seen were traces of those inexhaustible reincarnation cycles. That was the nebulous destiny.
âIf you understand, you will understand. if you donât, it will be up to you whether you lose yourself in the paper and holes or drift sluggishly through reincarnation.â Lu Yun smiled gently at his martial disciple.
âMartial grandfather, did you see me? What about my ending?â After staring off into space for a long time, Yueyi suddenly felt like an enormous burden had been lifted off her shoulders.
She didnât doubt Lu Yunâs word and also understood why heâd told her this. Whether it was the paper or holes, or the reincarnation that her martial grandfather had endured, none of that should be what she focused on. She should be looking to her own heart.
âYou were too big for me to see,â Lu Yun shook his head smilingly. âI could only see people and things that had formed karmic relationships with me. But I believe that no matter what your destiny was before, itâs already changed now.â
In the thirty-three loops, Lu Yun had been preoccupied with fighting the potentates of the Hongmeng and the Curse Kingâs replica. When did he ever have the chance to travel to the fourth realm and form karmic ties with Yueyi? Once sheâd recovered herself with help from the Dragonquake Scripture, sheâd naturally returned to Mount Astronomia and continued to be the Moon Sovereign King.
As for what would happen to the mountain and sovereign kingâLu Yun had no idea. His future self had been so tiny that he hadnât been able to see many things. Such were the restrictions heâd operated within.
âWas there formula dao in the thirty-three loops?â Yueyi asked.
âYes⌠but it never reached the fourth realm.â Lu Yun understood what she meant. Formula dao had been a small dao in those loops. As marvelous as it was, no fourth realm experts had contributed to its development and Lu Yun had never comprehended basic and advanced formulasâŚ
So that made formula dao another aberration.
âThen I would request martial grandfather to hold classes on the mountain and explain formula dao to those of the Luminaries!â Yueyi bowed the proper gesture of a disciple to a teacher.
âI can do that,â Lu Yun smiled. âBut I think this isnât the best name for the faction⌠Perhaps you can change it to Allpeople in the future.â
Yueyi blinked; though she didnât understand what he meant, she still nodded.
âCan I meet the Sky Sovereign King?â Lu Yun asked. Heâd suddenly thought of the tremendous heavyweight whoâd accessed nine levels of sequence.
âThe Sky Sovereign King⌠has become one with the mountain,â Yueyi sighed. âIf not for that, we would not be able to hold the darkness back.â
<blockquote><b>Translator's Thoughts</b>Lu Yun... really pulled a IYKYK on his martial grand disciple...