Chapter 180 The Past and Present

In this dreamlike realm, a white-robed youth and a gray-robed man sat by the shore.

Wei Yuan sat cross-legged beside them. Xuanyuan and Xing Tian stared intently at the battle ahead, while Chi You murmured, "...I can sense it, the aura of conflict." Xing Tian and Xuanyuan were simply happy that someone else had arrived.

One of them was already dead, and the other's main body was asleep, so neither could leave.

It was rare for someone to come.

They were already prepared for a warm welcome.

Moreover, both had a secret calculation in their hearts. The more people who failed in front of Zhu Jiuyin, the less attention they would attract! Welcome, welcome, a warm welcome to a new member of the Ancient Failing Club!

Xuanyuan pondered, "How should we comfort this kid later?"

Xing Tian pondered, "Should I teach him how to write poetry?"

The gray-robed man's eyes were ancient. He said slowly, "There's no need to pay attention to them. I'm curious, are you truly the one I need?"

"Finally, we meet."

The young strategist took a sip of tea and asked, "Pu'er?"

"Yes."

The youth smiled slightly and said, "Speaking of which, I invented this type of tea back then."

Zhu Jiuyin's lips curved slightly:

"Indeed, the people of the Central Plains revere Shennong as the ancestor of tea, while the tea ancestor of Yun Dian is you. The Mangzhi and Geden tribes there once swore an oath before your statue, never to fight again. That mountain is named after you, Mount Kongming, and its altitude..."

"Is even higher than Mount Heng of the Five Peaks."

Xuanyuan: "............"

Xing Tian: "............"

Xuanyuan keenly sensed that something was wrong.

"Brainless, I think something's not quite right here."

Xing Tian also noticed the difference.

"Single-headed, I also think something's not quite right."

Only Shennong, who also had the title of tea ancestor, had an increased level of goodwill towards the youth.

The gray-robed man said indifferently, "However, I've finally met you."

The white-robed youth smiled to himself.

"Zhu Long?"

The gray-robed man asked, "What's wrong with that?"

The youth lightly waved his feather fan: "Wrong. The one Liang is looking for in this tribulation of the human race is not the celestial god Zhu Jiuyin, not this name, not this identity..."

"But rather, the founder of the Wu Temple, the master of extraordinary strategies."

"Yuan Tiangang."

"Planning for a thousand years, Liang admires you."

"Yes, he is very clev..."

"?!!!!!"

Shennong's pupils constricted.

Chi You suddenly looked up.

Even Da Yi's face showed a hint of astonishment.

In that instant, the atmosphere here was terribly oppressive.

Then they looked at Wei Yuan, who also shook his head stiffly. A-Liang had only just returned, even if he played on the computer, he couldn't have noticed too much.

Xuanyuan: "..."

Xing Tian: "..."

Brain CPU overloading.

The young strategist gently waved his feather fan, his voice gentle:

"The nature of dragons is to travel through clouds and spread rain; 'yun' (云) connects with yuan (元) radical, 'yu' (雨) connects with yuan cut (元切), thus Yuan (袁)."

"Heaven tilts to the northwest, Zhu illuminates the nine幽 (you, netherworlds), stepping across the earth's network, revolving around the heavenly net."

"Perhaps, your name was originally the 'gang' (纲, main rope) of 'gangmu' (纲目, outline), you are Yuan Tiangang, aren't you?"

The gray-robed man's tone was calm: "It's just a name."

He looked at the youth before him and said, "However."

"With a hundred transformations of wit and skill, adept at ingenuity, you are indeed worthy of being the only Mojia (Mohist) Juzi (钜子, leader) of later generations."

"The Wudang Flying Army, was it created by imitating the style of Mojia wandering knights?"

Wei Yuan: "?!!!"

The white-robed youth smiled: "Wise men always hope to challenge, wise men always love order rather than chaos, seeing the small and knowing the great, there is reason for it. Did you leave traces in your name as a test?"

The gray-robed man said indifferently, "Then why isn't it a trap?"

The white-robed youth's feather fan paused slightly, as if lost in thought: "Using the name as bait?"

"Who are you trying to lure?"

"Then do you think Yuan has already caught the fish he wanted?"

"Heh... Words are not necessarily sincere, and language is nothing more than tactics and weapons used for guidance. Then, Zhu Jiuyin, what do you think Liang will judge? And how will I tell you?"

Xuanyuan raised his left and right hands, interlaced his fingers, and rested his chin, feigning a thoughtful realization.

Xing Tian was silent, raising his left and right hands, making a gesture to pull his head out.

His left hand suddenly resisted, grabbing his wrist, veins bulging.

The face on his chest and abdomen suddenly opened, making an angry expression.

Don't pass the buck, you bastard!

md, think for yourself!

Wei Yuan: "............"

At this time, I must work hard and stimulate my brain!

The accumulation of five thousand years, awaken, I need you!!!

After a moment of silence, he raised his left and right hands, interlaced his fingers, and copied Xuanyuan Emperor's movements.

Damn it!

My brain... is useless.

Xuanyuan gave him an encouraging look.

And Wei Yuan finally understood the reason for Xuanyuan Emperor's movement—

This way, I won't understand.

But at least it can maintain the last bit of face and dignity.

At least, it looks like I understand.

Just like a student who clearly can't solve the problem but still fills out the test paper.

Like a man covering his lower body when forced to run naked.

This is my last stubbornness!

The young strategist slowly waved the feather fan in his hand, and after pondering, suddenly asked: "A-Yuan, when you were in the Tang Dynasty, did you have a good relationship with Yuan Tiangang and that Li Chunfeng?"

Wei Yuan was stunned.

The white-robed youth's expression was serene:

"Did they give you something for you to retrieve in later generations?"

Wei Yuan's heart surged.

The youth seemed to have witnessed this scene with his own eyes, saying calmly:

"And when you were looking for the things they left behind in this life."

"You only found Yuan Tiangang's, but not Li Chunfeng's, right? If I'm not mistaken, even Li Chunfeng's corpse doesn't exist."

Wei Yuan suddenly stood up, thinking of the empty tomb of Li Chunfeng.

His expression changed drastically.

The white-robed strategist looked at the gray-robed man before him, clapping his hands and sighing: "What a good plan to use oneself as bait to fish, illuminating the nine幽 (you, netherworlds), revolving around the heavenly net, well-deserved. If Yuan Tiangang is Zhu Jiuyin, then that Li Chunfeng, I'm afraid, is a wisp of divine thought reincarnated from the Kunlun Kai Ming Beast?"

"The two of you have already fought each other more than a thousand years ago."

Wei Yuan's heart surged, he said, "A-Liang, you..."

"Want to ask why I know?"

"I just used the computer to check the records of the Wu Temple, and I also browsed the history of that era. Although Liang is not talented, I still have the ability to remember everything I see, so I discovered some interesting things."

"As for why I checked these materials first, it's of course related to my revival."

The young strategist calmly looked at the gray-robed man in front of him.

"The tribulation began more than a thousand years ago, and the Kai Ming Beast made its move in that era."

"Zhu Jiuyin came to the human world, not just for appetite, the mortal world."

"In order to prevent being noticed by the other party, he must have sealed most of his memories, but left traps in his subconscious. On the other hand, the Kai Ming Beast, noticing Zhu Jiuyin's movements, would inevitably take action. The two entangled and clashed in the human world."

"As Liang guessed, both Kai Ming and Zhu Jiuyin were restricted during that period."

"And if Kai Ming is the main attacker, in order to achieve his goals, he will inevitably do some things to prevent the exposure of his soul reincarnation. When doing these things, he will use those pawns that will never make people associate him with Kai Ming."

The twelve... Yuanchen (元辰, a deity in Taoism).

Kunlun besieged Geng Chen.

Wei Yuan murmured, "But, Li Chunfeng, doesn't that mean that all the plans have been exposed?"

The white-robed strategist shook his feather fan and said, "Yes, and no."

He looked at the gray-robed man.

The gray-robed man's eyes were ancient, as if waiting for his answer.

The youth said: "The other party attempts to use the Hetu Luoshu (河图洛书) to deduce the tribulation that will destroy the human world. How can we truly destroy him?"

Wei Yuan subconsciously said: "Seize the Hetu Luoshu..."

"Wrong."

The white-robed strategist and the gray-robed celestial god spoke in unison.

In an instant, Wei Yuan felt that there was no difference between having his brain and not having it.

The white-robed youth said lightly: "That's just moving along with the other party."

"Only by having the initiative can one be invincible."

"The real way is to hand the fake celestial Hetu Luoshu into the other party's hands."

"And, it's best to have nine truths and one falsehood."

?!!

As if a bolt of lightning struck, Wei Yuan's pupils constricted, and his heart shook.

Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang, jointly deduced the *Tui Bei Tu* (推背图, Pushing Back Chart) from the Hetu Luoshu.

Li Chunfeng's tomb was empty.

The original *Tui Bei Tu* disappeared without a trace.

Everything suddenly became clear.

The Kai Ming Beast took action.

Zhu Jiuyin entered the human world and made his move, using his name as bait, and the Kai Ming Beast reincarnated.

The Kai Ming Beast used the tribulation to bewitch Ying Long, separating Xi Wangmu.

And used the twelve Yuanchen as pawns to strangle Ying Long, to conceal himself and promote the next step.

Chen Yuan took the Hetu Luoshu down the mountain.

Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng made the *Tui Bei Tu* from the Hetu Luoshu.

Because Li Chunfeng participated personally, they believed it.

But Zhu Jiuyin tampered with it.

In fact, nine truths and one falsehood, successfully pushed the time of the tribulation backward.

After the matter was completed, the two died one after another.

The Kai Ming Beast drove the still-alive Yuanchen to open his tomb.

The affairs of the Tang Dynasty ended.

This time, Kai Ming's decision back then, calculated for thousands of years, playing the gods in the palm of his hand.

Personally created the birth of the tribulation, causing at least two of the gods to fall into a slumber, leaving only himself among the three Kunlun gods, causing Zhurong to be backlashed and Guixu to be born, and Gonggong to be unsealed to cause chaos in the world, sitting alone in Kunlun, to observe the three realms.

Zhu Jiuyin personally entered the human world, using himself as bait, inviting the Kai Ming Beast to clash in the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty. In the end, Zhu Jiuyin used a small advantage to win half a piece. All were passionate and thought-provoking means, but now, the young strategist, with a feather fan and a turban, casually replayed the strategies of that year, which was no less impressive.

In the entire lucid dream, there was a simultaneous aroma of wit and a deficiency of intelligence.

Xuanyuan was silent, looking at the Shennong next to him: "Uncle Jiang, did you understand?"

"Heh..."

Shennong was silent, slowly raising his left and right hands, interlacing his fingers, and copying Xuanyuan's movements.

Ji Xuanyuan and Xing Tian nodded together: "Understood."

Copy and paste the action, interlace the fingers, with the palms against the chin, feigning a dazed and thoughtful expression.

The young strategist waved his feather fan, smiling slightly, and pressed down with his eyes, looking at the gray-robed man in front of him: "However, in any case, Zhu Jiuyin, you are still using A-Yuan as a pawn. How can Liang now trust that you won't do something similar a second time?"

The white-robed strategist asked sharply and without hesitation, pointing directly at the core.

In this lucid dream, the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

ps: Today's first update... three thousand two hundred words, thank you to Alliance Master Lin0099, thank you~

Yuan (袁) - Xia Niu, Yuan Bu; Yun Niu, Yuan Yun, Yu Yuan Cut "Zi Yuan" (字源, Etymological Dictionary of Chinese Characters)

Yuan Tiangang's real name was indeed Yuan Tiangang.