My Dreams Connect to Ancient Times-Chapter 236 - 65: The Sanqing as Thieves, Lu Xuan’s 2 Slaps
Faint wisps of Time swirled around Lu Xuan. He glanced at the extinguished Jade Void Glazed Lamp, his expression solemn.
A decrepit old man emerged, treading upon the flow of Years. A kind smile graced his face as he walked past the frozen Masters of the Academies, past Zhang Ling, and arrived before the statues of the Philosophers, gazing cheerfully at Lu Xuan.
"Xiaoxuan, it’s been a long time." The familiar voice echoed in Lu Xuan’s ears. A pang of emotion stung his nose, and scenes from the past seven years replayed in his mind.
’On that snowy night seven years ago, it was Grandpa Chu who had found me, only nine years old at the time, and taken me home...’
"Grandpa Chu..." Lu Xuan descended from the highest point among the statues of the Philosophers and bowed deeply at the waist.
"You’re still so formal." Chu Tai smiled calmly, lightly stroking his long beard. With his stooped back, he looked just like the same little old man from the shantytown who survived by collecting trash, completely unchanged.
He spoke gently:
"It must have been hard for you, child."
Lu Xuan bowed deeply once more in a grand salute, his eyes rimmed with red:
"Grandpa Chu, I was happy to endure it."
"Is that so?" Chu Tai chuckled. With a flick of his hand, a bed, a table, and chairs materialized in the void. The scene was identical to the inside of the small wooden cabin in the shantytown, and a familiar feeling washed over Lu Xuan.
"Have a seat, Xiaoxuan." Still stooped, Chu Tai slowly sat down at the old wooden table. Seeing the familiar furniture and the small wooden bed he had slept on for seven years, Lu Xuan felt a sense of disorientation, as if he had returned to the past, back to the shantytown.
He sat down as told, his eyes still red, and said softly:
"Grandpa Chu, you..."
"Xiaoxuan, I know you have many questions," Chu Tai began, speaking slowly. "About the Bronze Fragments, that dream of yours, and finally, this good-for-nothing old man."
Lu Xuan didn’t reply, just nodded lightly. These were indeed questions that had puzzled him for a long time.
Chu Tai calmly sized up the high-spirited young man before him, seemingly filled with emotion, and said:
"So little time has passed... Xiaoxuan, I won’t hide things from you any longer."
As he spoke, he gestured lightly. The three Bronze Fragments slowly detached from Lu Xuan’s Spiritual World and floated in mid-air, shimmering with a radiant light and swirling with Chaos.
"This one gives you the power to rewind the river of Time and walk through the Years."
"This one elevates your innate talent, your natural affinity for the Dao, to an even greater height."
"And this one ensures your destiny aligns with the heavens. Opportunities will naturally find their way to you, and for whatever you wish to achieve, heaven and earth themselves will lend their strength."
Lu Xuan listened quietly to Grandpa Chu’s soft-spoken explanation, not saying a word as his mind raced.
’I’d already figured all this out on my own.’
Chu Tai’s voice was as gentle as ever, his face full of kindness, as he continued at a leisurely pace:
"Back then, I found you in the snow, saved your life, and gifted you these Three Treasures. They allowed you to go from a nameless nobody to a world-famous figure in a short time, your renown even surpassing the heroes of the past and present!"
His words were laced with gentle persuasion:
"Unfortunately, I am simply too old. As more and more powerful eyes turned toward you, I knew I couldn’t defeat them, so I had no choice but to leave your side. It wasn’t that I wanted to abandon you; it was something I was forced to do."
Lu Xuan listened quietly, his expression grave.
Chu Tai sighed and said softly:
"My intentions were good from the start. I figured that while the current era isn’t a Dharma-ending age, it has yet to recover and become a truly grand one. So, I wanted you to cultivate during Ancient Times and make a real name for yourself."
He began to sigh more and more deeply:
"But who would have thought that after I entrusted you to The Three Pristine Ones, this is how they would treat you..."
Lu Xuan was taken aback.
He lowered his eyelids and said softly:
"Grandpa Chu, I don’t understand what you mean."
Chu Tai continued to sigh:
"First you took Supreme as your master, and then Primordial. And while you probably haven’t formally become Spirit Treasure’s disciple yet, he granted you the title of Profound Yellow, so that practically makes you his disciple as well..."
Lu Xuan was slightly surprised. ’But... I became the Third Master’s disciple before the Second Master’s...’
’I suddenly remembered that I became his disciple inside the [Origin]. And according to my Three Masters, the [Origin] is a unique place that exists at every point in time, past and present, completely hidden from any outside observer...’
Lu Xuan didn’t point this out. Sensing that something was wrong with Grandpa Chu’s words, he simply continued to listen quietly.
A look of sorrow and indignation appeared on Chu Tai’s face:
"The Three Pristine Ones seem to treat you like a Direct Disciple, but what’s the truth? Your talent is simply too astonishing! Your innate comprehension is practically one with the Dao, surpassing even that of many Innate beings. They... are afraid of you!"
Lu Xuan continued to listen in silence.
The indignation on Chu Tai’s face grew even stronger as he spoke, his voice trembling:
"Ever since I found you seven years ago and gave you the Three Treasures, all I’ve wanted is to see you reach the absolute peak. I see my former self in you, child. We both want to rid the world of chaos, misfortune, and calamity..."
"I succeeded, a long, long time ago. But in the end, a single moment of carelessness caused me to fall from grace."
"You wish to bring order to the world, a goal just like my own. But that path is covered in thorns. It requires you to first achieve the state of [Only I Am Venerable]. And how could The Three Pristine Ones possibly dare to let you become the ’Only Venerable’ one?"
The more Lu Xuan listened, the more something felt wrong. His nature was pure, but that didn’t make him a fool. Grandpa Chu’s words, both explicit and implied, were constantly belittling his three masters, and he kept bringing up the events of seven years ago—that snowy night...
Lu Xuan’s eyes grew even redder, and he was on the verge of tears.
But this time, it was not out of joy, but sorrow.
Seeing this, Chu Tai, oblivious to the true meaning behind Lu Xuan’s emotion, let a smile flash across his face before heaving another sigh:
