Floating Immortal Order

Chapter 137: Northmost Divine Temple

Chapter 137: Northmost Divine Temple

Moreover, he could fly in the skies by riding on black and white light, and the black and gold Daoist robe he wore was profound beyond comprehension. All of his techniques were in a category far above their understanding.

The Young Patriarch Xu Fu’s expression was unsightly as he looked at Ye Zhaixing, who was still in a severe condition. He said to Xu Xiao, “Father, will Ye Zhaixing really be let off so easily?”

Xu Xiao glanced at him with an ambiguous look, then turned and left with the members of the Xu Clan’s Council of Elders. They were heading in the direction of Western Ravine Palace, the place where Grand Elder Xu Qinying always meditated.

Only Xu Qian dared to come forward and try to persuade him. “Xu Dis—He just freed Ye Zhaixing of his shackles. How can we still move against him now, Young Patriarch?”

When he thought back to youth’s indifferent gaze, Xu Fu shuddered. He had a really bad feeling that if he made an enemy out of Xu Disheng, he would ruthlessly destroy him despite the fact that he was his eldest son of their family and technically his half-brother.

He immediately decided to drop the matter regarding Ye Zhaixing. He let out an embarrassed laugh and brought the rest of the Xu Clan with him, departing the scene.

The various aristocratic clans and families of the Ruyang and Lin’an Region were left there, wide-eyed as they exchanged glances with each other. The Xu Clan had already left, so they quickly exchanged pleasantries and went their separate ways.

Ye Zhaixing propped himself up into a half-sitting position and leaned against the large stone stele that he had been chained to. As he gazed up at the resplendent moon, his thoughts were in turmoil.

“Xu Qian, just what cultivation realm is Xu… Xu Disheng at? He could injure a Xiantian so severely, and from his attitude, it looked like he wasn’t even trying.”

She nodded her head and poked his forehead. “There’s no point making any absurd guesses. Him descending from the moon is already something that people like us can’t comprehend.”

Xu Ziyu muttered to himself, “I’ve heard that even those supreme Daoist Lords aren’t able to fly. The things that happened tonight…”

… …

“Sheng’er!” Jin Yu exclaimed. She was still a few years from reaching her forties, but she now had a bit of wrinkles around her eyes that weren’t there before. Nonetheless, her elegant, graceful appearance was undiminished compared to several years ago. The changes in her appearance were only very subtle.

“When you were 5 years old, you left home for 10 years without ever sending any letters. Then when you finally returned home, it wasn’t long before you left again,” Jin Yu lamented as she tightly grasped Xu Disheng’s hand, her crying in chorus with Xu Yan. “And now you left for another several years before returning home. How could you be this heartless?”

“Mother, I have my own things I want to—” Xu Disheng started, shaking his head lightly before Jin Yu interrupted him.

“You have your own things you want to do? Several years ago, you said the same thing! What is it that you need to do? You could stay with the Xu Clan and never be lacking for food or clothing, and experience all the glory and wealth in the world. You could even have as many concubines as you wanted. All of this is still not enough?!” Jin Yu questioned, her face bright red with agitation as she raised her voice.

What is it that I wanted to do?

When his mother’s words entered his ears, a rare turbulence appeared in Xu Disheng’s mind.

Jin Yu and Xu Yan were still saying something. But the voices that entered his ears were blurry and didn’t register in his mind. In Xu Disheng’s sea of consciousness, the cyan jade flute slowly underwent a transformation. When it finished taking form, it appeared as the Black Sky Yellow Earth Pagoda, with radiant beams of profound light glowing around it.

A loud rumbling sound appeared in his mind as another restriction on his soul was released, opening up another piece of his soul.

What is it that I wanted to do?

Why was it this vague to me all this time?

His surroundings seemed to distort before him. His view of Jin Yu and Xu Yan was broken up and scattered as he was dropped into a limitlessly vast, dark abyss.

A glimpse of light appeared, growing as it dispersed the oppressive darkness. In the span of just a few moments, his body was surrounded with a dazzling radiance.

When the light faded, the Oblivion Sky River could be seen above him, crashing as it flowed rapidly along. Below him was a gigantic divine temple, the spotlessly white brick extending beyond where his eyes could see.

Xu Disheng was like a spectator in this scene. Although he was surely existing in the scene of this lofty divine temple, he had no way of touching or interacting with anything in a material sense.

The man in the gold and purple robe turned around and said, “You already entered the high and lofty Sahā Heaven, but you still had the thought to come and visit?”

An limitless golden light condensed into a figure, who smiled. “Is this the tone that the great Emperor Ziwei, one of the six rulers of the Heavenly Court’s Middle Heaven, would use with an old friend?”

Emperor Ziwei gazed off into the distance at the river in the sky and replied, “As someone who had already attained the status of Bodhisattva and entered the Sahā Heaven, paying a visit to my Northmost Divine Temple is a tad improper.”

Despite his words, Emperor Ziwei flicked his sleeves and a Buddhist feast composed of exotic fruits and exquisite beverages originating from a diverse variety of regions in the three heavens and nine realms appeared on the table.

The golden light surrounding the figure faded, allowing his full appearance to be seen clearly. But the smile on his face also disappeared. “This time, I’m only here to say farewell,” the figure said.

For the first time, Emperor Ziwei’s indifferent expression showed some change, but he didn’t ask what he meant. He continued staring off into the distance at the Oblivion Sky River, his thoughts obscure.

But Xu Disheng’s heart was pounding loudly. The figure’s face was the exact same as his own, without the slightest disparity!

However, the figure with his face was wearing gold and white Buddhist robes. There was a faintly discernible halo floating behind his head, and a holy Buddhist aura emanated inexhaustibly from his body.

“The Lord Buddha of Sahā Heaven, as well as that personage of the Heavenly Court, are both in a deep hibernation at the moment. If I want to pursue the Immortal Dao, this is my only opportunity.”

Waves appeared in Emperor Ziwei’s heart. “Immortal Dao?”

“That is correct,” the figure said, the golden light radiating from his Buddhist robes gradually dimming down as his voice turned indifferent. “In untold years past, the Great Buddhist Sun World and the Heavenly Court jointly worked out an agreement. The inexhaustible immortal qi from the Floating Immortal Heaven would be taken and used to repay all living beings of creation of the three heavens and nine realms by extending their longevity. This is what led to the existence of many beings with eternal life. But I want to rewrite the Immortal Dao. I want to imitate the ‘Immortals’ from several calamities past and return order to the three heavens and nine realms.”

“The Immortal race has been extinct for a long time now. The only thing left in the Floating Immortal Heaven is the inexhaustible immortal qi! They were too merciless, stripping the beings of the nine realms of their lifespans. That was something that none of the beings could tolerate!” Emperor Ziwei said, a rare hint of anger in his tone. “The countless beings of the Heavenly Court and the Great Buddhist Sun World went through several calamities and tribulations before being able to overthrow their merciless rule. And now, you have the nerve to…!”

The youth shook his head. The halo of virtue behind his head gradually scattered, and the 12 Buddhist Magic Artifacts around him were being destroyed one by one. His hundreds of years of attainments as a Bodhisattva were slowly being relinquished. “Our convictions stand opposed. There’s no need to argue further on this matter. But that respected personage in the Heavenly Court is in a state of dormancy, and you, Emperor Ziwei, can’t stop me. In the end, I only came here to say goodbye to an old friend.”

As he began to turn away, Emperor Ziwei’s tone also restored its previous calm. “If you insist on this, even I will have no choice but to be your enemy.”

The golden radiance surrounding his body became subdued as the youth’s figure dissipated and transformed into a cyan true soul. It entered a delicate, exquisitely detailed twelve-petaled lotus platform that had appeared at some point in time, and began to head off into the distance, towards the Nine Serenities Realm.

… …

When Xu Disheng opened his eyes, there was a newfound hint of immortal qi originating from the Black Sky Yellow Earth Pagoda in his resplendent gaze.

This strand of immortal qi took on a silver white color, and possessed an overbearing, tyrannical aura. Xu Disheng could only rely on the Black Sky Yellow Earth Pagoda, an Immortal Treasure that had existed since time immemorial, to make use of this immortal qi.

And at this point, the Black Sky Yellow Earth Pagoda had already reverted to its form as a cyan jade flute. The aura of an Immortal Treasure was too intense and grand. Right now, less than a hundredth of the power of the Black Sky Yellow Earth Pagoda had been unsealed. If it maintained its form as an Immortal Treasure for too long, there was a possibility that the Three Realms of the Golden Crow, the Sahā Heaven, and even the supreme Bodhisattvas in the Heavenly Court could perceive a hint of aura from this Immortal Treasure.

What is it that I wanted to do?

I wanted to return to the Six Paths of Reincarnation and unseal that sixth path that had been closed all this time—the Immortal Path.

I want to go to the Floating Immortal Heaven.

I want the countless living beings of the three heavens and nine realms to return their lives to heaven.

I want to reforge the Immortal Dao that had been labeled as taboo. I will become one of those supreme Immortals, strip all living beings of their lifespans, and restore order to heaven and earth!

.

I will replace emotion with ruthlessness and overcome any tribulations to achieve this!

TL: This is a very important chapter for the future plot of Floating Immortal, where Xu Disheng finally realizes that he was a Bodhisattva in his previous life, so I wanted to clarify a bit. Dao is a term that has many meanings, and these meanings have been debated throughout the history of the idea. In one sense of its meaning, it can loosely mean ‘path’, ‘road’, or even ‘beliefs’. Here, I translated 仙道 (xiandao) as ‘Immortal Path’ to refer to one of the reincarnation paths of the Six Paths of Reincarnation (such as the Sun Path, the Moon Path, the Human Path, the Ghost Path, the Sky Path, and now the taboo sixth one, the Immortal Path). But I also translated it in some parts as ‘Immortal Dao’ to refer to the path/way of the Immortal (becoming one, existing as one, etc.).

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