Old Master, Times Have Changed - Chapter 713 (Patreon)

Chapter 713: The Mystery of Dao Attainment

After some time, Hong Sheng left the Hall of Hong.

Gazing into the distance at the islands hidden among the clouds and mist, a trace of confusion flashed through his eyes.

Back then, when he reached Return to the Void peak, he ran off to challenge Yuan—who had only just stepped into the Integration realm—and was defeated by a casual finger. That was with Yuan holding back, too!

A difference of just one realm had already been like that…

Not to mention that Yuan was now in the Soul Transformation realm, while Hong Sheng had only just completed his Integration. Between them lay an entire “Integration realm”!

Yuan would probably only need to look at him, and he’d explode on the spot.

He had finally come to terms with himself during seclusion, and the moment he came out, his father pulled this stunt on him.

“Sage Emperor Yuan…”

Recalling the countless legendary stories about Yuan he had seen on the Ascension Web not long ago, Hong Sheng couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

Rising from utter obscurity, achieving Soul Transformation in less than two thousand years, spearheading the union of the major righteous sects to form the Alliance of Righteousness, and ushering in a brand-new era…

He was even acknowledged across the entire Tai Xuan Realm as “the most dazzling person of the last thousand years”!

Hong Sheng might be the son of a True Immortal, and he might have reached the Integration realm, but in Yuan’s legend, he was nothing more than a throwaway line.

“Sigh…”

After letting out a soft sigh, the somewhat dejected Hong Sheng drifted toward a certain direction.

There were still some senior and junior brothers in the sect who, back then, had been full of ambition and wanted to compete with Yuan.

But most of them had been struck down by reality just like him—and some had even sunk into despair and never recovered after that.

That was why his father wanted him to go see them. Maybe now that he had reached the Integration realm, he could give them a jolt, help them regain their confidence, and pull themselves together again.

After all, they had once been the brightest geniuses in the sect.

Letting them keep sinking like this was simply too great a waste.

Emm…

Come to think of it, did his father arrange for him to spar with Yuan for the same reason?

( _“ )…

His father really was something—treating his own son like a tool!

A streak of light cut across the high skies as clouds dispersed around him.

Hong Sheng was still complaining in his heart when, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a figure holding several books, walking out from the mission handover area.

She wore a blue-gray Dao robe. Her brows and eyes looked as if painted, and her pupils were like deep, quiet springs.

A strip of gauze was wrapped around her forehead, and her aura was somewhat disordered—she seemed to be injured.

‘Just got back from a mission?’

The throb from deep within his bloodline made Hong Sheng realize at once that this was his younger sister.

Zhao Ruohan…

So young, yet already in the Soul Transformation realm, with a solid foundation and condensed, steady power.

As for anything beyond that…

He couldn’t see it. She had extremely formidable methods on her, and more than one.

Tsk.

His father really was…

After thinking it over, the streak of light he had become shifted course and descended.

…

…

‘In the end, I still hesitated. Not decisive enough.’

Zhao Ruohan, having just left the mission handover area, adjusted her body by circulating her power while mentally reviewing the mission.

‘If it were Chi Jiuyu in that situation, she’d probably have handled it better.’

Even though the two had become friends, Zhao Ruohan still regarded Chi Jiuyu as her greatest rival.

So every time she returned from a mission, she would imagine how Chi Jiuyu would act if she were in Zhao Ruohan’s position.

Sometimes, when they chatted, she would even probe indirectly and ask.

She was thinking so deeply when—

“Hey there, little Ruohan!” A voice suddenly sounded right beside her ear.

Huh?

Someone was blocking people on the sect’s travel lane?!

Caught off guard, Zhao Ruohan paused. The power she was nurturing through her meridians almost went astray, and an unnatural flush rose on her fair face.

“Pfft!”

A mouthful of blood sprayed out.

“Holy—!”

Hong Sheng, who had just landed in front of her, was startled out of his skin.

W-what is this?!

Zhao Ruohan wiped the corner of her mouth, lifted her head, and glanced at Hong Sheng. Her expression didn’t change much.

“Hello, Sixth Brother.” Her tone was perfectly calm.

She had already received the news while on her way back, so she knew she had a sixth brother who had successfully reached the Integration realm.

“Ruohan, you…?”

“Don’t worry, Sixth Brother. I’m fine. I was just stabilizing my injuries, and my power went astray for a moment.”

“Huh?”

You were stabilizing injuries here?

Wasn’t this the kind of thing you did in a quiet chamber, slowly and carefully?

“We should go first. Stopping here is against the rules,” Zhao Ruohan said seriously.

As she spoke, she raised her streak of light and continued forward.

“Ah? Oh, okay!”

Hong Sheng didn’t know what to say and could only follow.

Before long—

“Did Sixth Brother come to find me for something?” Zhao Ruohan asked, her breathing already smoothed out.

Hong Sheng answered honestly.

“It’s not really anything. I just got out of seclusion, and since I happened to run into you, I thought I’d come say hello.”

His previous younger sister—Hong Xi—had never really gotten along with him since they were little. After they grew up, it only got worse. She mocked him all day with that sarcastic, needling tone.

Back then, his personality had been arrogant too, so the moment they met, they’d argue.

They hadn’t seen each other in years…

He’d heard that Hong Xi was now at Return to the Void peak, only one step away from the Integration realm, and currently serving as a Star Territory Warden in a planetary system in the northern star territories.

“You’re only twenty-six, right? Reaching the Soul Transformation realm this young is impressive—better than I was back then.”

He had reached the Soul Transformation realm at twenty-six.

But judging by Zhao Ruohan’s condition, she had probably broken through even earlier.

And the hardest part was that, despite reaching the Soul Transformation realm so young, she hadn’t become as arrogant as he had been back then, looking down on everyone just because of an Innate Divine Technique.

“It’s average.”

“Huh?”

“In the Sword Sect, Chi Jiuyu reached the Soul Transformation realm at twenty-two.”

What?!

Twenty-two?

Is she even human?!

Wait.

Could she be the child of Sword Ancestor and Sword Sovereign?

If she were the descendant of two True Immortals, reaching the Soul Transformation realm at twenty-two would actually make sense.

But Chi Jiuyu…

“Then she is…?”

He had only just come out of seclusion, and there was still a lot he hadn’t caught up on.

“The Sword Sovereign’s eldest personal disciple.”

At that, Zhao Ruohan pressed her lips together.

“And she’s also rated by the Tai Xuan Ascension Web as the number one genius across the myriad worlds.”

“Bull—!” Hong Sheng blurted out.

Only after saying it did he realize it was inappropriate.

He steadied his emotions and said seriously, “I mean, ‘number one genius across the myriad worlds’ is still a bit exaggerated.”

“Reaching the Soul Transformation realm at twenty-two is amazing, but Yuan fits that title better.”

In his eyes, only Yuan deserved to be called “the number one genius across the myriad worlds”!

Zhao Ruohan frowned slightly.

“Sage Emperor Yuan? But he’s already a Dao Lord in the Soul Transformation realm.”

A Dao Lord in the Soul Transformation realm was an existence just beneath the True Immortal patriarchs.

Without exception, every Soul Transformation cultivator had once been an unrivaled genius in their youth.

And once someone achieved Soul Transformation, it meant they had fully cashed out their potential—calling them a “genius” no longer felt appropriate.

“By the way, Sixth Brother, you weren’t in seclusion yet when Sage Emperor Yuan became famous, right? Have you met him before?”

Hong Sheng: “…”

So little Ruohan didn’t know about all his grudges and messy history with Yuan.

That was good. He wouldn’t have to worry about losing face.

Hong Sheng thought that—but he didn’t feel even the slightest relief. Instead…

For some reason, he felt a little disappointed.

…

…

Elsewhere.

On the Far Side of the Stars, already repaired.

At the center of a magnificent Dao field where purple mist surged and billowed, Xuan sat upright upon a purple-mist Dao platform. Before him floated a speck of black light.

It was the pitch-black tribulation thunder left behind after that Soul Transformation Cang race member failed in their breakthrough.

Xuan had taken it to study it, hoping to uncover the anomaly that appeared during this attempt at Dao attainment.

Unfortunately, even Xuan could not see the cause of the irregularity.

‘Internal interference…’

Thinking of what Xu Xing had said not long ago—

The claim sounded somewhat forced, but it truly was the only explanation.

“Xuan.”

A wisp of seven-colored radiance appeared out of thin air in front of Xuan, forming into a majestic seven-colored divine figure.

Behind its head, a divine halo shone brilliantly as it rotated without end. In the shifting light, it seemed to contain endless ages.

Gu.

“Well? Did you find anything wrong?” Gu asked.

“No,” Xuan said.

Xuan’s gaze moved away from the black speck of tribulation thunder and turned to Gu.

“But I have a guess.”

His tone was calm, without the slightest ripple.

Gu frowned.

“Tian?”

Yes. Gu had also guessed the possibility that Tian had intervened.

“It’s a bit forced, but only Tian has both the motive and the ability,” Xuan said blandly. “It can’t possibly be you.”

“…” Gu paused. “Of course it’s not me!”

Those words from Sword Ancestor were obviously meant to sow discord!

“You mean Tian intends to pressure us this way, forcing us to awaken Tian from dormancy.”

“Yes.”

The guess might sound forced, but it was still the most reasonable—and the only one.

Other than Tian, who was also an “Ancestor of the Cang race,” no existence should have been able to interfere from the outside and affect Dao attainment under the watch of Xuan and Sword Ancestor.

“What are you going to do?” Gu asked in a deep voice.

“Simple.”

Whoosh—

A wave of purple mist swept in and swallowed the black speck of tribulation thunder before Xuan.

Xuan spread his hand, revealing a strange existence—impossible to see clearly, yet unmistakably present in every living being’s perception.

Linked to heaven and earth, rising from the cosmos, connecting to the worlds—

Heaven’s Will!

The instant it appeared, a heavy pressure expanded outward from the purple-mist Dao platform, spreading in all directions.

Even the purple mist surging through the Dao field calmed completely in that moment.

This was the portion of Heaven’s Will he had previously barged into Central Continent to seize from the Sword Sect and the Supreme Dao Sect—the very core used for the Soul Transformation Cang race to cultivate the “Immortal Threshold” method.

“Why guess when we can ask?” Xuan said.

Buzz—

A line of purple radiance flashed, cutting off an utterly negligible wisp from that unimaginably heavy mass of Heaven’s Will.

Xuan gathered the vast majority of the Heaven’s Will back into his palms, stood up from the purple-mist Dao platform, and lightly pointed forward.

That tiny wisp of Heaven’s Will drifted forward, and gradually it outlined a figure—no different from an ordinary Cang race member—perfectly refined features, seven-colored eyes filled with indifference.

The moment it formed, light entered its gaze, and it possessed its own will.

It raised its head. When it saw who stood opposite, a flicker of surprise crossed those indifferent seven-colored eyes.

“Xuan?”

It had assumed Gu would be the one to awaken it from dormancy, yet it was Xuan—the one who guarded against it most strictly.

Gu, standing to the side, stared in astonishment.

Xuan moved too fast. Gu hadn’t even had time to say anything before Xuan had already awakened Tian from dormancy.

“Why did you awaken me?” Tian asked.

Tian understood clearly: unless the Cang race stood on the brink of extinction, Xuan would never fully awaken Tian.

And it was obvious they weren’t at that point yet.

Moreover, this faint thread of Heaven’s Will only allowed a phantom to exist in the world. Beyond exchanging information, it couldn’t exert much power—perhaps not even as much as a cultivator in the Integration realm.

So Xuan definitely had something to ask.

“This matter—does it have anything to do with you?” Xuan asked directly.

“…” Tian fell silent for a moment, then said flatly, “Why should I answer you?”

“Understood,” Xuan said.

Still without a trace of extra words, Xuan raised his hand and squeezed.

Crash, crash, crash!

Vast purple mist surged in like a tide!

A clear shock flashed through Tian’s eyes, but before Tian could say another word, the phantom was crushed and shattered.

Gu watched from the side, feeling utterly baffled.

Xuan awakened a thread of Tian’s will, spoke a single sentence, and then crushed it?

Understood…

What, exactly, had Xuan understood?

“Xuan, just now it…?” Gu began.

“It wasn’t Tian,” Xuan said with certainty.

“But if it wasn’t Tian, then who could it be?”

Xuan did not answer.

Xuan only looked at Gu deeply, then turned and vanished from the Far Side of the Stars.

Leaving Gu alone in the purple-mist Dao field, completely at a loss.

…

…

Ancient Tai Xuan Heaven.

Just as always.

The blue sky was washed clean.

A great sun hung high in the heavens, shining across the ten extremes.

A palace that seemed forged from endless ages stood at the very center of heaven and earth, but the figures who usually sat above the clouds, feasting and amusing themselves, were nowhere to be seen.

Compared to when Xu Xing had cleaved open the boundary between the present world and the past and stormed into Ancient Tai Xuan Heaven—

This land, existing only in the Past Domain, had become even more deserted.

And now, within a remote deep forest.

Among the trees, strange flowers competed in beauty, and auspicious grasses stayed evergreen.

At the forest’s heart lay a lake as picturesque as a painting. The water was jade-blue, shimmering like a bright mirror.

By the shore, verdant growth flourished amid drifting spiritual mist.

Suddenly, a streak of purple mist appeared, forming into a human-sized figure with a blurred face, standing at the lakeside.

After staring at the lake for a while, it sat down on the shore.

It spread its hand, and a point of black light rose and hovered in front of it, motionless.

“If it wasn’t Tian…” Xuan murmured softly, staring at the tribulation thunder’s black light.

Although Tian hadn’t answered the question, Xuan had already confirmed that the anomaly in this Dao-attaining attempt had nothing to do with Tian.

If anything—

Tian hadn’t even known this had happened.

Was it Gu?

Or was it…

Tai?

But logically, neither had the motive, and one of them had already fallen completely.

Tai’s fall had been witnessed by Xuan with their own eyes—there could be no mistake.

Gu often did things Xuan couldn’t understand, but there was no way Gu would interfere at such a critical moment.

After a long time, Xuan seemed to think of something.

No!

In the final battle back then, Tai never used that one chance even up until the moment of falling! 

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