Chapter 1810: Great Expansion (II)
Chapter 1810: Great Expansion (II)
Qingyu Qian smiled. "Favored by the Plain Scripture... his future is beyond measure!"
Li Zhouwei raised an eyebrow. "The Plain Scripture?"
The fox demon rose to his feet, reverence showing on his face. "The [Great Expansion Heavenly Plain Scripture], a [Heaven-Governing] Order!"
The demonic creature was a great fox demon, after all. As his smile faded, his beautiful face suddenly took on a stern cast and an air of extraordinary dignity.
"From the Primordial Two Rites came the Great Daos of the Three Profundities. The distant and otherworldly Qingxuan Dao was too lofty for most to follow. Tongxuan established palaces and took many disciples, but they often remained in the Intercalary and Surplus. Only Douxuan... had three lords and five immortals, whose immortal might reached far and wide.
"[Heaven-Governing] first arose under Douxuan. The lord of the Three Profundities had already taken disciples into his school before he spread his teachings throughout the world. The Lord of Douxuan had a disciple named Chunyu Zhao, who attained the Dao through [Heaven-Governing]. He was known as [Qingyi] and rose to the rank of Immortal Lord."
He paused briefly, then continued, "Immortal Lord Huan Xuan, who established the Divine Thunder of the Northern Palace, was his senior fellow disciple. Huan Xuan remained to protect the Dao lineage, only attaining the Dao and departing later. With the Thunder Palace's renown, he became the better-known figure. As for Master Canyan, whom the Seven Dharma Forms revere as their founding master, he was merely a nominal disciple of Immortal Lord Qingyi..."
He seemed both resigned and relieved. At last, he added, "Buddhist cultivators call him [Great Supreme Chan Tian Canyan]. If we're being precise, his achievements were no less than an Immortal Lord's... He also had a disciple of even greater renown, [Heavenly Awakening Suxikong], who laid the foundations of the Buddhist Dao as it exists today."
He opened his mouth, then thought better of it. Li Zhouwei was somewhat stunned. "I knew Douxuan was formidable, but I never imagined it was formidable to this extent!"
"That's only the beginning!" Qingyu Qian shook his head and sighed. "At its height, Douxuan's might shook every quarter, and it looked down upon all nine provinces... Even the mighty, arrogant Great Sage of Quail Fire, the Bin Crow, sent his second son to seek the Dao there. Just look at how powerful Merging Fire and Converging Water are today, and you can imagine how unrestrained that Great Sage was in his time."
Li Zhouwei nodded, then asked, "If so, surely the even mightier [Heaven-Governing] should have held sway over everything!"
Qingyu Qian paused, then shook his head. "It doesn't work that way. Some had gained the Dao; some had attained it through their own enlightenments; and others were still seeking it. In ancient times, those distinctions were clear. Great Sages were born and nurtured by heaven and earth as embodiments of their Fruition Attainments. They rose or fell together with them. Immortal Lords were different; their karma rested with themselves. The Immortal Lords of old respected heaven and earth, and disliked swaying the fortunes of a Fruition Position through their personal actions. They chose not to do so. Great Sages had no such choice."
Li Zhouwei's understanding of the Dao was already deep. He grasped the point at once and nodded.
Qingyu Qian went on, "An Order can be thought of as a special kind of dharma relic. It usually comes into being alongside a True Monarch and dissipates when that True Monarch falls. An Order was a Great Dao to true immortality first understood by Douxuan. What Immortal Lord Qingyi held was actually [My Dao's Heaven-Governing Gate], not the [Great Expansion Heavenly Plain Scripture]."
"When Immortal Lord Qingyi had cultivated as far as he could and could advance no further, he prepared to sacrifice his body in pursuit of the Dao. But he worried about his Dao lineage. He met with the Lord of the Three Profundities, and learned how to separate an Order. He also feared that [My Dao's Heaven-Governing Gate] was too powerful and, without its master to restrain it, would harm the world.
“That was how the [Great Expansion Heavenly Plain Scripture] came to be. For a long time, [Heaven-Governing] appeared and disappeared, but this scripture remained sealed within a dharma relic of Douxuan's Immortal Court, where it was used to divine the affairs of the world...
"Later, the Thunder Palace relied on it to calculate cause and effect when deploying divine thunder, ensuring that every strike fell where it should..."
A trace of melancholy crossed Qingyu Qian's face. He shook his head. "And in the end, this scripture was sealed within Wanlin Heaven!"
The golden-eyed young man nodded slightly. He had already guessed much of the story, though one detail troubled him. The timing doesn't fit... Could it have seized a body partway through?
Sure enough, Qingyu Qian gave a cold laugh. "I heard that immortals gathered and worked together to transfer the entire scripture into the Underworld, lest it plunge the world into chaos. But several threads of opportunity escaped and scattered across the world. This junior of yours received one of them!"
He looked at ease, but his eyes were fixed on every flicker in the golden-eyed young man's expression. After a long moment of thought, Li Zhouwei replied, "Senior, your knowledge truly spans the ages."
Qingyu Qian smiled. "The Thunder Palace fell, and Great Zhou arose. Wei came only after Zhou. The history recorded by your human kind goes back no further than Great Wei, so naturally these events mean little to you."
Li Zhouwei probed, "What kind of opportunity was it?"
Qingyu Qian considered for a moment before answering, "Knowing what will happen without divination, perceiving it before anyone else!"
Li Zhouwei's expression sharpened. So that's what it was!
He remained silent for a long while, deep in thought. Could that silver light have been the Immortal Mirror warning me about the [Great Expansion Heavenly Plain Scripture]? If it is a supreme treasure left by an Immortal Lord, it would hardly be surprising for an Immortal Artifact to take notice of it... Could Chi Buzi have received the same opportunity?
He had come for answers, and now he had one that seemed to account for everything without leaving a gap.
After pondering for a moment, Li Zhouwei followed that line of thought and asked, "In that case... senior, do you know anyone else in the world who received such an opportunity?"
Qingyu Qian laughed. "I never leave this mountain, so I wouldn't know much about the world's rising talents. But one of them happened to come here once. He threw the balance of power across Jiangnan into chaos and had several Purple Mansion Realm cultivators in an uproar!"
Li Zhouwei raised his eyebrows as understanding dawned. The demonic king smiled and said, "That was none other than your family's friend, Liu Changdie! He once had the good fortune to gain the favor of the [Great Expansion Heavenly Plain Scripture], just like those people today!"
Li Zhouwei sprang to his feet as the pieces fell into place. So that's it! Now it makes sense! Senior Liu helped my family time and again for no apparent reason. This was why he forged a friendship with us!
He said nothing, for another realization had struck him, If everything he says is true, the shifting colors seen through the Immortal Mirror cannot simply be the mark of the [Great Expansion Heavenly Plain Scripture]'s favor. Otherwise, my elders would have noticed!
Even if his elders had never examined Liu Changdie closely, he had been on the same island as Fuxun. Since Li Ximing had detected Fuxun back then, he could not possibly have failed to notice Liu Changdie!
There must be some hidden design of the powers above at work in Suining. This supposed favor from the [Great Expansion Heavenly Plain Scripture] is only a cover!
He looked up, his eyes bright, and met Qingyu Qian's gaze. The demonic king studied him for a long while, seemingly trying to judge something himself.
Finally, he said softly, "That opportunity... should have been meant for the King of Wei!"