Azure Emperor? Lu Ya actually wanted to seek the Azure Emperor! Meng Qi hadn’t expected this person-seeking mission to involve the Azure Emperor Dongwanggong, and was momentarily shaken.
Among the Five Emperors of Antiquity, the Celestial Emperor dominated an era, possessing the highest status and might; the Fire Emperor came from the Primordial Epoch, embodying the Five Virtues, thus having the deepest foundation; the Black Emperor was the Dao Sect’s venerable child, straddling both Heaven Court and Daoism, known as the True Martial Great Emperor and the Demon-subduing Heavenly Venerable, having the strongest background and widest connections; the Golden Empress was the foremost female immortal, having severed all past ties before and after Heaven Court’s fall, leaving behind the fewest legends and deeds; while the Azure Emperor was the most mysterious.
He was suspected of having severed Dao Sect’s body “Taiyi Heavenly Venerable” and the Buddhist body “Bhaisajyaguru Tathagata,” becoming one of the Dao Sect’s Nine Venerables and one of the Three World Honored Ones, respectively. The Eastern Pure Land of Lapis Lazuli was among the major Buddhist Pure Lands. As for his original body, being a naturally-born deity and one of the Five Emperors, no elaboration was needed. In short, he was an enigmatic great being.
It was said that the Azure Emperor entered Nirvana at the end of Antiquity, while Bhaisajyaguru Tathagata passed away during the Middle Ages. Only Taiyi Heavenly Venerable had no such rumors, seemingly gradually fading into oblivion. Therefore, those who knew about the three bodies suspected that the Azure Emperor had not truly perished, just like Lu Ya here, who specifically mentioned Taiyi Heavenly Venerable rather than Bhaisajyaguru Tathagata after referring to the Azure Emperor.
These thoughts flashed through Meng Qi’s mind in an instant. He deliberately furrowed his brow and said, “The Azure Emperor is one of the Five Emperors of Antiquity, and Taiyi Heavenly Venerable is one of the Dao Sect’s Nine Venerables—both are top-tier great beings. Do you think someone like me can just find them whenever I want?”
“And who knows, perhaps the Azure Emperor, Taiyi Heavenly Venerable, and even Bhaisajyaguru Tathagata have all truly perished?”
Meng Qi himself did not believe this, especially since the destinies of the “Taiyi Heavenly Venerable” from the Immortal Traces and the mythological title “Lord of the East” seemed to suggest that this enigmatic and mighty being was still alive!
Lu Ya’s expression became solemn, whether intentionally displayed for Meng Qi or not, he smiled and said, “It’s precisely because there are rumors of traces of either the Azure Emperor or Taiyi Heavenly Venerable that I ask you, my young friend, for help in pursuing them. If there were no clues at all, why would I bother with this effort?”
“What clues?” Regaining his composure, Meng Qi no longer doubted Lu Ya’s intention to seek the Azure Emperor, as this was consistent with the prior acquisition of the core fragment of the Heavenly Mirror.
Lu Ya was the son of the ancient Heavenly Emperor, while the Azure Emperor was the great being who obtained the residual fragment of the Heavenly Mirror in this aeon and reforged the mirror body. There might be some connection between them.
Lu Ya glanced around, and suddenly the surrounding space became isolated, as if sinking into the depths of the River of Time: “Within the Real World, someone once witnessed a strangely eccentric man. Sometimes he dressed as a Daoist priest, wearing a water-blue robe and a bamboo hat, tall and thin, with ordinary features and eyes that liked to squint into lines, exuding a carefree charm; at other times, he wore a strange green robe, with loose hair, looking refined and otherworldly.”
“Are you describing two people here?” Meng Qi seemed to recall something and deliberately asked again.
“No,” Lu Ya replied. “The former is the usual appearance of Taiyi Heavenly Venerable, while the latter, aside from the loose hair, seems to describe the Azure Emperor. And they share one commonality—they both mutter to themselves, ‘Who am I? Whose am I?'”
Meng Qi was suddenly startled. It was that strange Daoist priest he had met!
The strange Daoist priest who guarded the entrance at the Valley of Immortality, who sailed leisurely on the Eastern Sea, who had met Meng Qi by chance!
Moreover, Meng Qi had always focused on the key phrase “Who am I? Whose am I?” each time he encountered this priest, yet overlooked the differences in appearance. The gatekeeper at the Valley of Immortality described him as wearing a water-blue robe, a bamboo hat, with ordinary features and eyes that liked to squint into lines, while Meng Qi himself encountered someone wearing a strange green robe, with loose hair, refined and otherworldly. Now that Lu Ya had mentioned it, Meng Qi suddenly realized—if it weren’t for the repeated phrase “Who am I? Whose am I?” he would never have considered these two different appearances as belonging to the same person!
Could that strange Daoist priest truly be the Azure Emperor Dongwanggong, Taiyi Savior of the Afflicted, or even possibly the Dongyang Divine Monarch?
If that were true, then he would be the only great being still walking the world in his true form, at least a figure of supreme attainment in Creation!
“I know you’ve heard of this matter, and even possess Dongyang Divine Monarch’s calligraphy,” Lu Ya continued, seeing Meng Qi’s realization. “Follow this clue and search further. In short, once you find the Azure Emperor or Taiyi Heavenly Venerable, you only need to say to him, ‘The highest level of the Nine Heavens,’ and your task will be complete, allowing a friend of yours to be removed from the God-Enthronement List.”
“The highest level of the Nine Heavens?” Meng Qi’s thoughts churned. What secret did these six words conceal? He knew Lu Ya would never explain, so he restrained his urge to ask.
Another question he held back concerned the strange blood peach hidden within him.
After the Tree of the Dao once again demonstrated its immense power, Meng Qi was deeply perplexed by this ancient evil entity. Lu Ya, a renowned figure from antiquity, might possess some knowledge about it. However, who could say whether this would draw envious gazes and invite fatal danger?
Lu Ya waved his hand, and the brilliant golden words “Jiang Zhiwei” on the God-Enthronement List suddenly stood out, then shattered, as if something had broken free from its bindings and plunged into the void.
At that very moment! Meng Qi acted immediately, seizing the “something’s” trail, igniting the “Dao Yi Glazed Lamp,” and activating the Overlord’s Blade, following its trail.
Breaking through layers of barriers, darkness flying past, Meng Qi suddenly found himself in a brightened scene, having followed the trail back to the Real World, entering the Sword-Cleansing Pavilion, arriving outside the meditation chamber where Jiang Zhiwei sat with eyes closed.
At this moment, the world was calm, and the Sword-Cleansing Pavilion’s formation wasn’t fully activated, so it naturally couldn’t stop Meng Qi.
Su Wuming, who had already returned to the sect, grasped his sword hilt with his right hand but relaxed his fingers upon recognizing Meng Qi.
Crackling with purple lightning, Meng Qi appeared with ancient lamps glowing in his eyes, emitting a hazy black-and-white radiance that illuminated the meditation chamber’s door, revealing a world of illusory yet real karmic connections.
The tiny “true soul” darted into Jiang Zhiwei’s forehead, causing her eyes to snap open, feeling unprecedented completeness, and she saw Meng Qi.
Without hesitation, already trusting him, she deactivated the chamber’s formation.
Meng Qi swung the Overlord’s Blade, and the sky turned completely dark, as if everything had vanished. Then, bright purplish lightning surged forth, severing countless illusory karmic threads, making Jiang Zhiwei feel suddenly unburdened, as if she had grasped the opportunity to achieve the Dharma Body. But she forcibly restrained herself, knowing her cultivation and foundation were insufficient. This so-called opportunity was merely an illusionary temptation from external demons; if she attempted it, she might fail, leading to death and the dissolution of her Dao.
With a clang, Meng Qi withdrew the Overlord’s Blade, smiling at Jiang Zhiwei and solemnly declaring, “From this moment on, you are no longer a Reincarnator.”
Jiang Zhiwei closed her eyes briefly, seemingly overwhelmed with emotion. After a long while, she opened them again, her bright eyes veiled with a radiant glow: “Thankfully, there was reincarnation, and thankfully, I can now escape it.”
Without reincarnation, she and Meng Qi might never have formed more than a nodding acquaintance. Without reincarnation, she would never have encountered so many exquisite and wondrous sword techniques. Without reincarnation, she could never have experienced more than most martial artists. Thus, she was grateful for reincarnation. Yet, if she couldn’t escape its chains, she would always be forced to do things she didn’t truly want, feeling increasingly weary, and eventually facing the hardest choice: a life of humiliation or a death standing tall. Therefore, she was grateful to Meng Qi for helping her escape the cycle.
Meng Qi casually sat down opposite her and whispered to her the details of his deal with Lu Ya. Previously, he had refrained from sharing this due to fears that other “Six Paths Reincarnation Lords” might detect it.
“Lu Ya may not necessarily keep his promise. We must be increasingly cautious in the next two instances,” Jiang Zhiwei said, her expression showing both joy and concern upon hearing that Ruan Yushu and others might be rescued. “Yes, I’ll help search for the traces of the Azure Emperor or Taiyi Heavenly Venerable. The fragments of the Heavenly Mirror can aid my astral projection across myriad worlds and the search for Chrono-Fragments, perhaps revealing more clues.”
Meng Qi isolated the area and whispered, “I once saw someone resembling the Azure Emperor entering a certain sea eye in the Eastern Sea. Once I forge or obtain a divine sword, I will pursue him. In the meantime, while you astrally project across worlds, check if there’s any news about this sea eye.”
Jiang Zhiwei nodded gently, suddenly recalling something: “Little Monk, just now while I was astrally projecting through the Chrono-Fragments searching for ‘Other Me,’ I felt a sudden emergence of a new ‘Other Me.'”
“A sudden emergence of a new ‘Other Me’? Could it be that a new Chrono-Fragment has been born…” Meng Qi speculated, feeling fresh and curious about astral projection, so he said, “Shall we pursue this?”
“Alright,” Jiang Zhiwei, eager to resolve her doubts, immediately grasped the Heavenly Mirror fragment with one hand and Meng Qi’s arm with the other.
Meng Qi extended his spiritual consciousness, joining her in astral projection. The surrounding scenes changed; the meditation chamber and sect blurred into vague illusions, floating amidst darkness with faintly visible chains and patterns of laws, entirely different from the everyday world, as if swimming in an ocean, occasionally encountering fish and islets.
The two projected further outward, ascending higher and higher, until suddenly the scene brightened. They saw a world shimmering with lapis lazuli luster, within which were high mountains covered with lush greenery, winding paths leading into deep clouds, and at the end of the path stood an ancient gray temple, old and weathered, with Bodhi trees growing around it. The entire world was embedded within the laws, seemingly part of them, maintaining the operation of the world, omnipresent.
“The Pure Land of Lanke Temple,” Meng Qi sighed, truly “seeing” Lanke Temple for the first time today, even though he had entered it several times before.
This was the essential difference between a Dharma Body and an Exoteric cultivator.
Jiang Zhiwei smiled: “In recent days, using the Heavenly Mirror fragment for astral projection, I even visited the temple for a cup of tea.”
Passing beyond Lanke Temple’s Pure Land, Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei continued their journey through the darkness, grasping the subtle connection, searching accordingly.
Occasionally, they saw a world within the darkness—some large, some small, some full of vitality, others ruined. Some were Chrono-Fragments, others were destroyed Pure Lands or Paradises. Along the way, only Lanke Temple’s Pure Land was intact.
Suddenly, Meng Qi had an intuition. Following the subtle connection from Jiang Zhiwei, he located the Chrono-Fragment.
“Left!” They flew leftward, continuing deeper. Not knowing how long had passed, nearly losing their sense of direction, they finally saw a vast world, hundreds or even thousands of times larger than any Chrono-Fragment they had encountered before!
Looking down from above, Meng Qi could see land surrounded by vast oceans, hidden behind layers of gales.
With his spiritual consciousness, Meng Qi directly pulled both himself and Jiang Zhiwei’s physical bodies to this location, descending upon the Chrono-Fragment in the most complete state possible.
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