Chapter 154 A Name

Layer upon layer of cause and effect converged, surging like a turbulent sea. Within this profound realm, they ceaselessly roiled and roared. In this causal realm, where the spiritual lights of all beings from myriad worlds gathered, the scholar in green robes was deeply shaken as he gazed upon the black-haired Daoist who had awakened before him, now real and unfeigned.

The tremors in his heart were far more intense than he had imagined, especially when he beheld the black-haired Daoist before him. His features were clear, his expression gentle, giving the impression that all things in the world revolved around him. Yet, that feeling quickly faded, as if it were merely an illusion. However, the impact of this scene was too great, and the scholar in green robes was frightened, unwilling to believe it. He hypnotized himself into thinking it was just an illusion.

After a long daze, his voice trembled slightly as he said, "…You, you're awake?"

The black-haired Daoist replied in a gentle tone, "I was never asleep. What is there to say about waking or not waking?"

The myriad things of the world, the true spirits of one hundred and eight thousand worlds, are in my dream. Since the grand epoch is but a phantasm, what difference does it make whether I am awake or not?

The scholar in green robes gave a wry smile.

Looking at the composed black-haired Daoist before him, it was as if the millennia-long dream had not had the slightest impact on his true spirit. His true spirit did not show any signs of sluggishness or dimming. After a long while, a hint of envy appeared in his eyes as he said, "You… have you transcended?"

The black-haired Daoist shook his head. "No."

Then, gazing at the changes in cause and effect in the void, he leisurely added, under the scholar in green robes' momentary disappointed gaze, "However, it seems I'm close…"

"Within this event, I may glimpse a chance."

The scholar in green robes was stunned.

Wei Yuan lowered his eyes, as if sensing the changes in the myriad causalities. Then, he casually asked, "How long until the time I mentioned to you before creating this dream realm?"

Before falling asleep, he had given the scholar in green robes a bottom line for the deadline, which was the date for the engagement with Tu Shan. He had repeatedly instructed that he must be awakened by that time. Now, the scholar in green robes, *Destiny*, calculated slightly and lamented, "Time changes, years fly by."

"Before I grasped cause and effect, there were still about thirty days until that day."

"And from within the endless cause and effect, I glimpsed the future, and then you awakened. It seems short, but in reality, more than twenty days have passed in the blink of an eye."

"There are only a few days left until that day."

As the scholar in green robes divined, he already sensed that, in the dark, the vast fortunes of the entire world, both the pure and the turbid, from the one hundred and eight thousand worlds, had begun to surge and flow, and then converge upon one place, upon Tu Shan.

Although it had not yet been accomplished, the signs of dragons coiling and flames surging were already present.

The scholar in green robes was slightly taken aback, and then he understood.

Such intense involvement of Qi would attract even top experts who knew nothing about that day, or had no interest in the matter, due to the unseen Qi connection. The gathering of these experts would push the Qi and aura to their limits, giving the strongest among them the chance to ride the momentum and transcend!

"That day…"

"On that day, in Tu Shan, a transcender will appear." "Is it you, the Heavenly Emperor, or the Great Venerable of the Turbid World?"

*Destiny* murmured to himself, as if he could already see the turbulent waves of that day.

He could only glimpse the chance of transcendence, but he couldn't see clearly who would transcend or who would succeed. The only thing he could confirm was that this transcender would not be himself. For a moment, he felt both dismay and regret.

Hearing this, Wei Yuan suddenly smiled and said, "Don't think like that."

The scholar in green robes was taken aback, and almost thought that the Daoist before him would comfort him.

That the Great Dao had not been achieved, but there would be a time, and perhaps it would be him, and so on.

But unexpectedly, he only smiled gently and said, "Perhaps Hun Tian hasn't completely died. How about coming to see me in seven days and having a drink?"

The scholar in green robes was helpless.

He had actually thought that this Daoist would comfort him.

He hadn't expected him to make such a joke. He immediately shook his head and said, "Hun Tian failed to achieve transcendence and died. I'm afraid he can never return. But what about you? Can you return to that timeline now?"

Wei Yuan nodded slightly and suddenly asked, "You said the transcender might be the Great Venerable of the Turbid World."

Cause and effect intertwined around him, fluctuating and changing, emitting large patches of golden light like the morning sun. The scholar in green robes suddenly heard the Daoist before him say something that seemed like a self-suggestion or a question, "That's how everyone calls Him..."

"*Destiny*, do you know the name of the Great Venerable of the Turbid World?"

The scholar in green robes was stunned. The name of the Great Venerable of the Turbid World?

That was an invincible powerhouse who dominated the world. Even if He had once suffered damage to His state of mind, even a damaged, non-peak Great Venerable was still an unparalleled existence firmly in the top five. A thought from Him could turn the world upside down and kill countless beings.

Such an existence must have a name that resounded throughout the ten directions of the world. He must know it...

The scholar in green robes was taken aback.

That taken-for-granted thought suddenly froze. In an instant, he searched his past memories, but there was no sign of it. It was as if he didn't know what the name of the Great Venerable of the Turbid World was at all. The scholar in green robes' expression suddenly changed.

"This, this is... How is this possible!"

Wei Yuan's voice was slow: "...You don't know His name either."

*Destiny*, the scholar in green robes, murmured, "What, what is happening?"

The black-haired Daoist slowly said, "You ask me? I don't know either."

"There's only one possibility, one guess."

"He has already severed and merged all of His past and future selves. All of His selves, even just memories and information, have been integrated into the sole self of this moment. Even His legends and names are gradually disappearing. After the battle in seven days, win or lose, no one in the world will know of His existence again."

"If He dies, there will be no possibility of returning."

"This is the most decisive path to breakthrough. If you don't achieve the Dao, you will die without a burial place."

The scholar in green robes felt a tightness in his chest, feeling the tragic and magnificent aura contained in those words.

To merge all past and future selves into one.

Even the cognition and memories of past people about oneself would gradually dissipate.

To abandon the possibility of survival, to reach the strongest self.

One battle, transcendence!

"In that case, I must give Him enough respect."

Wei Yuan slightly lowered his eyes, and the entire space rippled violently.

Obviously, he was trying.

Trying to walk out of this grand dream spanning the past, future, and present.

To interfere with the present world again!

Cause and effect flowed, Yin and Yang changed, layers of laws impacting each other. Although it wasn't like the battles between experts in the Great Wilderness, where the eruption of Yuan Qi could cover millions of miles and move mountains and fill seas, there was a kind of dignified loftiness that forced the scholar in green robes to retreat step by step, unable to continue observing at close range. His mind was stirred, however. After a full millennium of Dao protection, of sitting and waiting, the day of flowering and bearing fruit was finally about to be seen.

Even he couldn't suppress the movements of his heart.

This place was originally Wei Yuan's grand dream, and now it had become a phenomenon, but he was about to step out of this dream.

This violated the basic laws, but Dao fruits could not be spied upon with common sense. Countless laws and cause and effect surged and turned into waves. When even the scholar in green robes felt a little suffocated, he saw the black-haired Daoist before him take a step.

This step seemed to involve all the cause and effect in this world.

As if all fruits were born from this.

Then, not far from the foot of Mount Wudang, a black-haired Daoist appeared. It was Wei Yuan.

His eyebrows were gentle and calm, as if he could accommodate mountains and all things, but there was an extremely pure and profound feeling about him. "Southern Celestial Masters, Northern Wudang," Mount Wudang's name in the Daoist sect was so prominent, and there were so many people coming and going, but not only could they not see this Daoist, even when they bumped into him while walking, they passed through him in the air, without noticing.

It was as if he were in a completely parallel spacetime. The corner of the scholar in green robes' eye twitched wildly. Unstained by cause and effect!

The heavens cannot cover me, the earth cannot carry me. Sentient beings cannot see me.

Cause and effect cannot fall on me, the Five Elements cannot be added to me. I exist parallel to this world.

Wei Yuan raised his head to identify the direction, raised his right foot, but did not land it. Instead, he slowly retracted it.

The scholar in green robes looked on in confusion. After hesitating for a long time, he couldn't help but ask, "Why don't you go out?"

Wei Yuan lowered his eyes to sense cause and effect and answered, "It's not the time yet."

"And..."

"This place is me. How difficult is it for *me* to walk out of me."

"Besides, the current me is just a wisp of divine sense."

Wei Yuan clenched his five fingers and casually answered. Only then did the scholar in green robes suddenly realize that, although the black-haired Daoist before him had already accomplished incredible things, fishing through the ages, wielding cause and effect, and reversing Yin and Yang to achieve the *Destiny* opportunity, in reality, he was not the main body.

He was just an incarnation of his divine sense!

The real body was still in the midst of the Yin-Yang tribulation, constantly being tempered by the purest Yin and Yang Qi. He didn't know how long it had been, but that body, which had already reached the point of being immune to myriad tribulations, was being washed and refined in a state of being extremely close to the source of the world's Yin and Yang Qi. To what extent would it have grown?

This body, immune to myriad tribulations, this soul that penetrated Yin and Yang.

If one could obtain either of them, one could rely on it to dominate the world undefeated.

And when the opportunity came, what a magnificent and terrifying phenomenon it would be when the two were combined!

Just thinking about it made the scholar in green robes feel a slight tightness in his chest, as if he had already seen the battle where Qi converged to its highest point.

The Great Venerable of the Turbid World, who abandoned himself and everything, seeking only a trace of transcendence; the Heavenly Emperor, who covered the world and suppressed the ages, with the stars and myriad phenomena imperishable; and the Floating Li Jade Void Primordial Heavenly Lord, with a body immune to myriad tribulations and a soul that penetrated Yin and Yang, combining the two.

They were going to fight!

They were going to fight!

Even as a mere bystander, not a participant in the battle, the scholar in green robes felt an extremely intense emotion rising in his heart, passionate and magnificent, wishing he could immediately reach the moment of battle. On the contrary, the black-haired Daoist, who was destined to be one of the three combatants, had a long and peaceful aura, and was rather calm, saying faintly:

"There are still seven days. Let's take it one step at a time."

As he spoke, he slowly took that step.

.......................

A trace of flowing light scattered in the sea of clouds, a wisp of ripples seen in the sunset.

The Southern Sea was still as it had been.

After the Fire God Zhurong returned, he didn't make any fanfare. He seemed very satisfied with the current order of the various countries in the Southern Sea, and had no intention of re-establishing countries centered around gods. On the contrary, he quite agreed with the sweeping reforms in each country.

To burn away the past with fierce fire, illuminate the darkness, and open up a new era.

This was also the true meaning of fire.

During this period after his return, the Fire God Zhurong just slowly tidied up the courtyard where he and his wife had lived, like an ordinary human, removing all the weeds, repairing the houses and courtyards, or, when the sun set, facing the stone tablet and saying gentle words, as if the woman were still there.

But today, after saying these words, Zhurong raised his eyes and looked into the distance, seeing the sunset in the sky like blood, with a hint of bleakness. Layers of ripples rose and fell. He seemed to be able to still see the woman in green robes sitting on the bluestone, looking far into the distance at the Xuanyuan tribe.

"She still hasn't been able to walk out, hasn't been able to face these things directly."

Zhurong's voice was generous and gentle.

"But this was never something that could be easily overcome."

"Not the kind of thing that can be overcome just by saying it. She can only think about it herself. If she can, she will usher in a new world. If not..."

A young man transformed from a colorful bird next to him subconsciously asked, "What will happen?"

Zhurong's voice was gentle:

"Perhaps, she will sit here for ten thousand years, thirty thousand years, or even three hundred thousand years."

"Until the mountains have no ridges, and heaven and earth merge."

"Only then will I dare to part from you."

"Only then..."

..................

"Your Majesty, today, today the wind and rain are heavy, let's go back."

The Great Nether Priest of the Netherworld Kingdom looked at the woman sitting on the bluestone in front of her, and her heart was extremely bitter. Ordinary wind and rain would naturally have no effect on a god, but what made her feel worried and anxious at the moment was the state of mind of the woman in front of her.

But the Azure-Clad Dragon Lady Xian acted as if she hadn't heard, and didn't answer. She just lowered her eyes and looked at the sky.

Sunset, setting sun. How beautiful...

Like a dream.

The invitation with the free and easy handwriting was placed beside her. Although it was just a letter, it seemed to carry incomparably heavy luck. No matter how strong the wind was, it couldn't blow it away. It was also the core of the Qi interaction here. Just being placed there plainly made the Great Nether Priest's scalp tingle and her breathing difficult.

The Azure-Clad Dragon Lady raised her eyes and looked into the distance.

In seven days, you will be engaged too.

My heart has a thousand layers of thoughts, layers of lovesickness and bitterness, unable to tell anyone.

Suddenly, a clear and indifferent voice sounded, saying indifferently:

"Since you miss him, why don't you go."

The Great Nether Priest of the Netherworld Kingdom's scalp went numb, and she fell to the ground in prostration, daring not to raise her head, daring not to offer any advice, and even suppressing the sound of her breathing to the limit. The reason for all of this was only because, beside her, in this world, an existence had appeared.

The gray-robed man stood with his hands behind his back, not knowing when he had come, not knowing how long he had been there.

Looking down, his eyes were deep and unfathomable, not knowing what the myriad things of the world were reflected in them, the vastness of the ages reflected in them.

At this moment, he was like ten thousand zhang of dark clouds, surging and surging, like thunder running, seemingly extremely angry, not knowing when a thunderbolt would suddenly strike down with unparalleled dominance. Thunder was naturally extremely terrifying, making people frightened, but at this moment, this atmosphere of about-to-explode was even more oppressive, almost causing people to faint.

"Why don't you go?"

"It's his wedding with the Heavenly Maiden, why should I go?"

The Azure-Clad Dragon Lady didn't turn her head, just answered faintly. After a moment of silence, she said softly:

"It will make things difficult for him."

Just these six words made the gray-robed man snort coldly.

It was like a thunderbolt from the nine heavens, crashing down!

The Great Nether Priest almost fainted on the spot, and the fear in her heart was even more difficult to put down, rising with a rumble, causing her whole body to tremble uncontrollably.

Zhu Zhao illuminated the Netherworld and overlooked the ages, opening his eyes for day, closing his eyes for night, and was the most impartial.

He had never been so angry!

"Make things difficult for him? Hmph, so you'd rather leave yourself with a heart demon, trapping yourself?"

"Foolish."

"His problems are his problems, but you have a hundred thoughts in your heart, you should at least say them out."

The Azure-Clad Dragon Lady was about to retort, but a hand pressed on her shoulder. In an instant, the world had changed. The setting sun, the sparkling waves of the Southern Sea, someone alone in the light, in the blink of an eye, had turned into starlight, the vast mortal world. The sound of laughter she heard in her ears made the Azure-Clad Dragon Lady Xian stunned:

"Where is this?!"

The gray-robed man answered indifferently: "The Human Realm, Tu Shan Qingqiu Country."

He withdrew his hand without a trace.

"Your state of mind encountering a heart demon will also slow down my progress."

His voice paused slightly, then he said faintly, "No matter what the ending is, you should at least say it out, so that you can have no regrets. Gods are impartial, but this time, be selfish once."

This place was decorated with lanterns and streamers, the atmosphere was lively. The disciples of the Tu Shan clan had already come up to greet them.

"I wonder which guest this is? Please tell us your name, so we can report it."

"No need."

The gray-robed man nodded slightly and swept his sleeves, striking the great cauldron that welcomed guests. The sound was deep and heavy, but it also had the beauty of slow and graceful composure. His plain voice resounded throughout Tu Shan:

"The Heavenly Lord's great wedding."

"The Nine Nether Candle Dragon, brings his sister to offer kinship."

"To congratulate him."