Chapter 849 An Era

　　Hidden within the laws of yin and yang, information from a distant and ancient era finally resurfaced today due to the stimulation of cause and effect. The images gradually dissipated, and Wei Yuan was silent for a while before suddenly realizing that Fuxi hadn't seemed to be lying in that "Inverting Yin and Yang Quick Mastery Manual"...

　　At least, in Fuxi's own perception, he hadn't been lying at all.

　　There was no so-called cultivation method for inverting yin and yang.

　　Even though it seemed so complicated, for Fuxi, who appeared with the concept of yin and yang in the world, it was just instinct.

　　Inverting yin and yang? Wasn't that something anyone could do?

　　Wei Yuan sighed. He realized that sometimes Fuxi probably wasn't trying to be a ‘scumbag,’ but his cognition and self-logic simply couldn't be understood by conventional methods. You couldn't expect someone to understand a summer insect, nor could you expect ordinary beings to understand Fuxi.

　　To use something from the Cthulhu mythos written by a writer over a hundred years ago:

　　Humans would go mad upon seeing higher-level beings beyond their scope of cognition and analysis.

　　Then Fuxi's true form was in a state where even Cthulhu would gouge out its own eyes upon seeing it.

　　Satan would have your image tattooed on his back .jpg.

　　But did that have anything to do with me giving you an axe when I get out?

　　It didn't.

　　Wei Yuan's desire to beat up Fuxi upon returning hadn't diminished in the slightest. And as the images evolved and changed, the chains of cause and effect had completely grasped a certain existence. But the next moment, Wei Yuan's expression slightly solidified, and he was slightly surprised before sighing and saying, "...So that's how it is."

　　This was the core of the Yin-Yang Great Tribulation, simulating a return to the original environment where even the concept of time was meaningless. Wei Yuan's axe strike didn't directly open a channel between here and the modern world, but rather opened a connection between here and a certain point in the past.

　　Ordinary, unstable, and weak connections couldn't allow Wei Yuan's true form to return.

　　But at this moment, on the other side of the rift, there were several special causal connections. Separately, they weren't incomparably powerful, but they had a subtle connection between them, faintly displaying the aura of the Later Heaven Bagua reversing the Prior Heaven. They were incomparably solid and firm.

　　It was the Eight Immortals!

　　Previously, Wei Yuan had ‘seen’ a huge causal feedback, no less than the opportunity for Wuzhiqi to attain the Dao, which was precisely here. And the cultivation methods they practiced were also passed down by Wei Yuan back then.

　　It was based on Fuxi's externally manifested mythological concepts.

　　Disassembled by themselves. For example, Lü Dongbin was Geng metal, while Han Zhongli was Li fire. Each held one end, and if they joined forces, they could reverse the acquired and achieve the innate Bagua, with bright yin and yang revolving, which was in harmony with the environment here, and they all had a significant causal connection with Wei Yuan.

　　Being locked onto by Wei Yuan's cause and effect this time was a coincidence, but also a certain degree of inevitability.

　　But the current causal connection wasn't strong enough or stable enough.

　　Wei Yuan raised his hand and gently rubbed his brow. He remembered that Lü Dongbin's peak period was in the Tang Dynasty, and the last of the Eight Immortals was Cao Guojiu in the Song Dynasty. When Wei Yuan's wisp of divine thought arrived there and discovered that Zhang Guolao was Zhang Ruosu, he also encountered a big problem—

　　Lü Dongbin had already fallen and dissolved his body.

　　Cultivating the path of Sword Immortals, walking the path of slaying external demons and accumulating external merit, naturally made one prone to injury.

　　But Wei Yuan was certain that Lü Dongbin still had a reincarnation. The cultivation methods of the Eight Immortals were connected to each other. Even if Lü Dongbin died, the aura of the other seven immortals would protect his true spirit and allow him to reincarnate, but he didn't know where his reincarnation was.

　　Wei Yuan suddenly thought of the reason for his own reincarnation. Only the great age of contention and chaos in the human world could allow those souls and true spirits who had passed through the tempering of the Heavenly Furnace to be pulled into the human realm amidst the swirling fortunes of the great age of contention and be reincarnated as humans.

　　Lü Dongbin was probably the same.

　　"Lü Chunyang, ah, Lü Chunyang... I want to see who you've been reincarnated as in this life."

　　Find Lü Dongbin's reincarnation, and reunite the Eight Immortals to have them cross the sea.

　　They cross the sea.

　　I also cross the sea.

　　Cross it, cross it!

　　Wei Yuan raised his eyes and looked at the rift in the distance. This rift wasn't big enough, nor was it stable enough.

　　The causal chains weren't strong enough.

　　His true form couldn't descend.

　　Wei Yuan shook his head, and simply sat cross-legged in the void, allowing the countless yin and yang revolving laws to entangle around him. Then, a wisp of divine thought instantly separated, still in the form of a black-robed Taoist, and instantly stepped onto the causal chains.

　　The Yin-Yang Great Tribulation reacted accordingly.

　　But Wei Yuan had already passed through this place in an instant and stepped into the rift.

　　The reaction of the Yin-Yang Tribulation was swift and domineering, but it could no longer catch up with Wei Yuan's divine soul.

　　And here, the battle axe with the power to suppress yin and yang and divide the clear and turbid energies was held in Wei Yuan's physical body. Naturally, mysterious laws emanated from it, rippling in circles, and in the center of this surging Yin-Yang Tribulation, it still opened up a peaceful place.

　　Without Wei Yuan's own restraint, the battle axe in his hand suddenly split open.

　　Yin and Yang revolved, and the Yuanshi Tianzun sat cross-legged on it.

　　Above his head, the yellow heaven celebration clouds flowed and changed, and layers of auspicious light cascaded down, while on one side, a banner hung down beside him, as if standing at the end of a distant era.

　　………………

　　A day of heavy snow in the deep winter—

　　Lin'an City.

　　Although the country was now prosperous, that was mostly enjoyed by the high-ranking scholar-officials. Ordinary people were still living frugally. This year, for some reason, the winter was particularly cold, freezing people to death.

　　A person had frozen to death by the roadside.

　　Passersby sighed with emotion. The person who had frozen to death was a well-known down-and-out in this neighborhood. No one knew where he came from. He was born crazy, like a fool, and always mumbled things that others couldn't understand. He didn't even try to avoid the cold in winter.

　　This morning, someone discovered that the beggar was sitting in the corner, his body already stiff.

　　He was already dead.

　　A passerby couldn't help but sigh, "...Alas, it's truly a sin..."

　　"Another one died today."

　　A shopkeeper next to him said with emotion, "Who says otherwise? It's cold, and the heavens are taking people. There's no way around it, is there? But it's also because this person is crazy and doesn't know how to avoid the wind and snow. That's why he died. Otherwise, he could have gone to a ruined temple outside the city to avoid the wind and snow and might have been able to avoid this calamity."

　　The old man nodded and said, "What was this person's name?"

　　"It's good to know his name, even if he died."

　　"It's too pitiful to die without a name or surname."

　　The shopkeeper said, "Old sir, you are truly kind-hearted. However, this person can't even speak clearly. Sometimes he says he's a person from the Qin Dynasty, or some Black Ice Terrace under the First Emperor. Other times he says he's a person from the Tang Dynasty and even claims to be a cousin of the Great Master Xuanzang. He also says he knows Zhuge Wuhou or something."

　　"Ha, these words are all nonsensical. We don't know what his name is."

　　"He just wanders around aimlessly. Once, probably because it was dark and the road was slippery, he accidentally walked into a stinky ditch. Some mischievous kids saw him and started shouting 'Stinky Ditch, Stinky Ditch' around him. I don't know how, but this strange nickname spread."

　　"If you don't mind, you can also call him Stinky Ditch."

　　The kind-hearted Taoist priest was shocked, "This, isn't he often bullied?"

　　"Bullied? Not really."

　　There were no customers now, and the shop assistant was happy to talk about it, saying:

　　"Although he's often crazy, he's not someone to be trifled with. He's surprisingly strong. In the past, some down-and-outs tried to make trouble for him. More than a dozen strong men who didn't have a proper job and just honed their strength were beaten by this person with a broken tree branch for three streets, and they couldn't get out of bed for more than ten days."

　　"When they went to report to the officials, when they heard that they had been beaten up by this fool, they were laughed at and kicked out. No one believed them."

　　The old man was surprised. He didn't expect that this was actually a person with some ability. He immediately said with emotion, "People always say that there are many extraordinary people in the secular world. Seeing this today, it's indeed true. What a pity. Here, little brother, take this money and help arrange his funeral..."

　　The shop assistant declined, "The funeral, you don't have to worry about it."

　　"Actually, he waited here all night today. It's not hard to understand."

　　"Those children who called him Stinky Ditch back then, a few years ago, on this day, took him to eat a good meal, saying that they would come to find him today."

　　The old man said, "They made an appointment a few years ago?"

　　The shopkeeper said, "Yes, a few years ago, they grew up a bit, left home and the city, and joined the army, entering under the command of Marshal Yue and fighting against the Jin all the way."

　　The old man said solemnly, "Then they..."

　　The shopkeeper looked at the snowy Lin'an City outside and said in a calm tone:

　　"A few years ago, in the Battle of Zhuxianzhen, they fought the Jin to the death."

　　"All gone."

　　The old man's expression was complicated, and he said with emotion, "...Fighting bloody battles for the country is the act of heroic men, and this person, although naturally foolish, knows how to keep his promises and is also worthy of respect..." He had originally bought some wine and meat today, intending to go back. He had always revered Taoism, and his family was associated with an old Taoist priest of unknown age, surnamed Zhang.

　　In fact, he had vaguely understood who that old Taoist Zhang was...

　　When he was young, that old Taoist Zhang riding a donkey was like this now, and now he was already white-haired and had many children and grandchildren, but Taoist Zhang still hadn't changed much. If he wasn't a land immortal, where would he get such means?

　　Today was also once every ten years, the old man would come riding a donkey backwards,

　　Although he was a Taoist, he especially liked to drink.

　　He had bought a lot of wine and meat, just to go back and entertain him, but meeting this person who had frozen to death, he felt a bit emotional and couldn't bear it. He took out some wine and meat and put it down, saying, "Just consider this as me inviting you and your friends to have a drink and a meal."

　　Only now did he realize that the hair of the person who had frozen to death was falling down, covering his face.

　　Curious about what this person who kept his promises looked like, he subconsciously reached out and pushed aside the falling black hair.

　　Immediately, he saw a pair of eyes as cold as ice.

　　The old man was startled and jumped up, retreating repeatedly, "You, you, you!!!"

　　He saw that the person who had frozen to death had a deep and calm temperament and said:

　　"What is the current era?"