The Prophecy and the Old Man

“……”

Uh…

Zhuang Xun felt as if he was being publicly executed, but he didn’t dare comment further.

He was just grateful that he had used some small tricks to hide his identity back then. Otherwise, he’d be running all over the heavens being chased right now.

“Indeed, you can know a person’s face but not their heart…”

“This person is simply inhumane, a beast!”

“By the way, what happened to those celestial maidens he ruined?”

After his journey on the Ascension Path, Zhuang Xun had passed out from the repeated tearing of his physical body…

The Heavenly Dao’s daughter had placed him in a special extra-dimensional forbidden zone, Mount Kunlun, to recuperate. He slept for three thousand years.

When he woke up, the seas had changed to mulberry fields, and all that remained was a world transformed.

Then he was put under a seal and told he could no longer squander his power recklessly.

Although he was not one to obey orders, after several agonizing experiences of being torn apart and dying, he learned to behave.

Better not to use it if he could avoid it.

When necessary, he could just grit his teeth and endure.

It’s just…

Those romantic affairs from the past…

Young and reckless, open-minded…

Plus, he was no sage who severed all emotions and pursued only the Great Dao.

Unrestrained, free and unfettered.

He always wanted to drink a fine wine, compose poetry and paint, and stroll through the wind, flowers, snow, and moon with a beauty, admiring the splendor.

Besides, he had never taken anything from them; rather, he had given some things away.

Naturally, he didn’t feel he owed much.

Moreover, the names they remembered were all fake; they had never seen his true face…

Time would dilute everything.

Until they met again like strangers…

But people still have a bit of curiosity. He only wanted to know their general situation.

“I’m not from the Lonely Star Pavilion; how would I know what happened to those women?”

“I can only say that fortunately I wasn’t blind back then, and escaped his harm.”

“……”

Zhuang Xun’s mouth twitched. He turned his head slightly and did not continue the conversation.

Back then, it was purely because this girl was too innocent and straightforward…

And she carried a bug-level Dao artifact like the Wangchuan Ancient Mystic Realm, which involved the Great Dao of causality.

He never dared to flirt with her, afraid that she would trace his IP address and block his doorstep.

He could only borrow the luck on her to fish out something else.

Now it seemed that his choice back then had been absolutely correct.

……

About an hour later.

Ziyin saw a light spot the size of a bean appearing in the void darkness. She patted Zhuang Xun, who was dozing on the spirit boat…

“Alright, stop sleeping. We’re almost at the entrance to the small world.”

“…..”

“Ha~”

Zhuang Xun opened his eyes groggily and said slowly, “Didn’t you say that without Lingxu Zhenren’s consent, we can’t enter his small world?”

“If Master didn’t agree, I wouldn’t even be able to see the entrance,” Ziyin said, quite confident in her master’s mastery of spatial Dao.

“I see…”

As they spoke, the bean-sized light spot gradually expanded…

Gradually becoming the size of a cave entrance…

Finally, as if swallowing the spirit boat, it encompassed both of them…

…

A single thought encompasses heaven and earth; a single thought governs creation and destruction.

After entering that light spot, the two stepped into a brand-new world…

An endless expanse of lush wilderness under a sky of uniform blue.

It was like being on a vast grassland.

And there, an old man in a neat gray Daoist robe sat cross-legged on the grass where heaven and earth met.

His eyes were slightly closed, his white hair neatly covering his ears, not disheveled, as if deliberately combed by a meticulous woman.

“It seems the senior sister has been here… No wonder we could enter smoothly.” Ziyin sensed a familiar spiritual energy drifting in the void around her. She raised an eyebrow and immediately understood.

“Let’s go… Cheer up.”

Ziyin pushed Zhuang Xun forward, making him look utterly unwilling and speechless.

Truly, as the saying goes, a leopard cannot change its spots.

“…..”

The old man kept his eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to the visitors, as if in a special meditative state.

“Master, your disciple Ziyin has something to report.” Ziyin walked before him and bowed slightly.

“…..”

Seeing no response, Ziyin began to recount the prophecy from the Dao artifact.

“Yesterday, I used my accompanying Dao artifact to calculate someone’s karma and obtained an eight-character prophecy…”

“‘Demon seed appears, Great Dao erased.'”

“I have pondered it but cannot understand. I hope Master can enlighten me.”

Standing by, Zhuang Xun expressed envy at the harmonious teacher-student relationship.

Truly, comparison is the thief of joy.

“…..”

The old man’s eyelids twitched, as if reacting.

Seeing this, Ziyin was pleased and continued, “Moreover, I have brought the key figure in this prophecy.”

“…..”

[Zhuang Xun, say something! Why aren’t you speaking?]

Receiving Ziyin’s divine sense transmission, Zhuang Xun clasped his fists and said, “I am Zhuang Xun, a nobody. Greetings, Lingxu Zhenren.”

“!”

The old man suddenly opened his bloodshot eyes and shouted, “It’s the Heavenly Dao Seal!”

“…..”

“…..”

Both were caught off guard by his shout.

Especially Zhuang Xun, who had already started to step back with one foot.

This old man seemed to have a bit of a temper, someone not to be trifled with.

But as he leaned back, Ziyin’s hand twisted the flesh on his waist…

“Sss~”

[Don’t even think about running… Otherwise, I’ll tell Luoshui that you touched my body…]

[And you want to slip out of the sect.]

This little girl fights dirty…

Threatening me with such words…

Fine…

I concede, alright?

Zhuang Xun wasn’t cowardly; he was just yielding to his disciple’s oppression.

“Ziyin…” The old man’s voice carried a hint of weakness.

“I’m here, Master.”

“What was the prophecy you just mentioned?”

“‘Demon seed appears, Great Dao erased.'”

“…..”

The old man’s figure swayed; his parched lips parted slightly: “Demon seed… Great Dao…”

“Demon seed… Great Dao…”

Boom!

Suddenly, a surge of spiritual power burst from the old man, shooting straight into the clouds, its shockwaves shaking the sky for thousands of miles…

Gradually…

Everything returned to silence…

Like a surging river flowing into the sea, without stirring a single ripple on the surface.

“Master…”

“Are you alright?”

“Leave.” The old man spoke calmly.

“…..”

Ziyin said nothing, only motioned to Zhuang Xun: “Let’s go.”

“I only told you to leave alone.”

“This…”

Ziyin bit her lower lip, unwilling, but she respected her master’s wishes: “Your disciple obeys.”

Then, she lightly stepped into the air and summoned the spirit boat.

After taking a deep look at Zhuang Xun, she sailed away…

“…..”

“…..”

After a moment of peace.

Zhuang Xun broke the silence first, saying, “Senior, may I ask why you keep me here alone?”

“Sit.” Lingxu Zhenren replied.

“…..”

Hearing this, Zhuang Xun did not delay and sat cross-legged on the ground.

It resembled the posture of ancients discussing matters or sitting and debating the Dao.

“You… entered the Dao with a mortal body.”

“Yes.”

“Your full spiritual roots were not innate but implanted later.”

“Senior has keen eyes; I am in awe.”

“Not born with the Great Dao body, yet able to wield the power of the Great Dao—a prodigy.”

“Just a fortunate coincidence.”

Lingxu Zhenren nodded slightly, seeing Zhuang Xun’s calm and composed responses:

“A mind as still as water, neither humble nor arrogant, able to reach instantaneous clarity… achieving perfect stillness—very good.”

……..