My Dreams Connect to Ancient Times-Chapter 254 - 75: 1 Person Achieves Enlightenment, Chickens and Dogs Ascend to Heaven (Part 2)

"Oh?" Lu Xuan asked, a little curious. "Did something happen?"

Butcher Zheng hesitated for a moment, then whispered:

"I heard—and this is just what I heard, mind you—the old mayor got promoted, so the former Vice Mayor Gu took his place. Then, just a couple of days ago, an inspection team came to town, and it seems Director Ji went to them to report Mayor Gu."

He paused, lowered his voice, and continued:

"And then Director Ji got suspended... I heard people at the Inspectorate and around the neighborhood talking. They say the head of that inspection team is Mayor Gu's nephew. No idea if it's true... But I know Director Ji. He's a good man, so it can't be anything too serious."

"Is that so?" Lu Xuan's expression didn't change as he said calmly, "Then this newly appointed mayor probably does have some real problems."

"Sigh, even if he has problems, what can anyone do about it?"

Butcher Zheng lamented:

"The Grand Speaker is even making a special trip to inspect East Sea City. If you ask me, why would a small place like ours ever catch the Grand Speaker's eye? Most likely, the new mayor has a powerful backer, someone connected to the Grand Speaker... He's probably coming just to see him!"

"Yes, yes! Old Zheng's actually making a lot of sense this time. All that time at the Inspectorate wasn't for nothing!"

Sister Zheng nodded eagerly and added:

"A lot of people are guessing the same thing. If the Grand Speaker's inspection goes well, it'll be a huge political achievement... He's here to hand that Lord Gu in the city government a major accomplishment on a silver platter!"

Lu Xuan chuckled, but just as he was about to say something, there was a knock on the door.

"Old Zheng, you home?" a familiar, aged voice called out.

"Coming, coming!" Butcher Zheng opened the door and said in surprise, "Well now, Old Lu, why are you bringing over so many sausages?"

"I have to move, so I'm giving you all the sausages I have at home!" Lu Xiuyuan said with a cheerful laugh, walking into the room with the sausages in hand. When he saw the two guests already seated inside, he froze.

"Xiaoxuan??"

"Teacher Lu." Lu Xuan stood up.

Now it was Butcher Zheng and Sister Zheng's turn to be dumbfounded. Butcher Zheng said, astonished:

"Old Lu, you know Lu the Kid?"

He was confused. 'Old Lu only moved in at the beginning of last month, so how...?'

Lu Xuan's mind raced for a moment, and the threads of cause and effect became clear. He said with a wry smile:

"Teacher Lu, you told me before you were going to find a new place to live in seclusion. So this is where you chose?"

"Well, I'm old after all. I couldn't bear to leave East Sea City after living here for so long. I used to live in the Upper City District, and now I've moved to the Lower City District. Doesn't that count as a new place...?"

After a pause, Lu Xiuyuan looked at the stout old man beside Lu Xuan and asked politely:

"And this is..."

"Uncle Zhu. He came with me." Lu Xuan didn't elaborate, instead turning to the clueless Uncle Zheng and Sister Zheng to explain. Realization dawned on both of them.

"Old Lu, you were actually a teacher at East Sea High School!" Butcher Zheng exclaimed as he closed the door and pulled up a chair for Lu Xiuyuan. The latter sat down readily and chuckled.

"You never asked me..."

The four of them were all acquainted, so they began to chat amongst themselves. Uncle Zhu, however, remained silent off to the side, seeming somewhat out of place.

Zhu Wuneng honestly didn't know what he could possibly say. His confusion was also growing. 'Venerable Fusheng seems to know quite a few mortals...'

'Did he meet them after he was just reincarnated, before his Innate Wisdom awakened?'

Just then, Butcher Zheng sighed emotionally for a moment.

"I never would've thought... it's such a small world. By the way, Old Lu, you said you're moving? What's that about?"

Hearing this, Lu Xiuyuan hesitated slightly. He had originally just planned to come over and say his goodbyes, but he never expected Xiaoxuan to be here too...

He gave a wry smile and said:

"It's nothing, really. I used to be a soldier, and I heard an old comrade got into some trouble with someone. I just want to go and back him up, that's all."

Butcher Zheng was a little confused, but Lu Xuan seemed lost in thought.

'There are three Karma Tribulations in East Sea City. One involves Chu Shuangtian, and the other two concern Butcher Zheng and Lu Xiuyuan.'

'Now that I've cultivated the Primordial Dharma Aspect and can be considered a novice in the Primordial arts, I've become extremely sensitive to Cause and Effect. As a result, the ins and outs of these Karma Tribulations have become clear to me.'

'Chu Shuangtian's will involve an Earth Immortal. Uncle Zheng's tribulation will lead me into a confrontation with some high-level officials in the Federation. And behind that Mayor Gu, there's probably another Earth Immortal.'

'As expected, the one Teacher Lu will have to face is also an Earth Immortal...'

Lu Xuan smiled to himself. 'This Karma Tribulation really is a bit too rigid. The tribulations have all been arranged according to the level of a Five-Tribulation Earth Immortal.'

'Then again, for an ordinary Five-Tribulation Earth Immortal, suddenly gaining several enemies at the Earth Immortal Level would be tough. There would even be a real risk of perishing.'

'And if they chose to avoid the tribulation, they'd be unable to resolve the Cause and Effect, dooming them to stagnate for the rest of their lives.'

'But that's for a normal Five-Tribulation Earth Immortal. For me, on the other hand...'

Lu Xuan thought for a moment. 'I'll just resolve all of this at once. Uncle Zheng's situation is easy enough to handle, but as for Teacher Lu...'

He glanced sideways at Lu Xiuyuan. With his current power, Lu Xuan could see that Lu Xiuyuan's body was riddled with severe internal injuries, and his Dao Foundation was shattered.

'Judging from the shattered Dao Foundation, Teacher Lu must have also been an Earth Immortal in the past, and not a low-level one at that.'

As he mused, Lu Xuan's thoughts turned to Old Chen, Old Li, and the others. Although they were not part of his Karma Tribulations and had no entanglement of Cause and Effect with him, they were still old acquaintances.

'Since I have achieved Enlightenment, my old acquaintances should all be blessed. If I attain the Great Dao, the entire world will share in its fortune.'

At this thought, he lifted his head, a peaceful smile gracing his face as he said:

"Teacher Lu, aside from visiting everyone, the real reason I returned to East Sea City was to resolve my tribulations."

"What?" Lu Xiuyuan was taken aback, unable to process what he'd heard. Butcher Zheng and Sister Zheng were even more baffled. 'Tribulations? What on earth are those?'

'It sounds so mysterious...'

Lu Xuan took another sip of his hot tea and said softly:

"To be entangled in Cause and Effect is to face a tribulation."

Butcher Zheng scratched his head in confusion and was about to ask a question when Lu Xiuyuan abruptly shot to his feet.

His pupils dilated, and his eyebrows shot up in astonishment as he stammered:

"Xiaoxuan, you're... you're undergoing your Karma Tribulation??"

Back when Lu Xiuyuan was still an army commander at the Great Wall Border, he was a Great Earth Immortal who had long since passed his own Karma Tribulation. He naturally understood the meaning behind Lu Xuan's words...

'Lu the Kid... has become an Earth Immortal??'

'How is that possible???'

He fell into a daze, recalling when he first met the boy. It was about half a year ago, and the kid would come every week to eavesdrop on the cultivation class from outside the classroom...

Lu Xiuyuan simply couldn't connect the clean-cut boy who had hidden behind a wall to listen to his lectures half a year ago with an Earth Immortal who had already passed the four tribulations of the Flesh, Greed, Lust, and the Red Dust.

Lu Xuan just smiled peacefully.

"My cultivation is a bit fast."

"A bit... a bit fast??" Lu Xiuyuan's expression was blank. "Half a year... from not even having built a Jade Tower to undergoing the Karma Tribulation... You... you..."

Nearby, Butcher Zheng and Sister Zheng just stared at each other, completely unable to understand the conversation. Zhu Wuneng, however, appeared quite calm, a look of understanding in his eyes.

'Hmm, so it seems Venerable Fusheng's Innate Wisdom awakened half a year ago?'

'To rise from a mere mortal to an Earth Immortal in just half a year, in this great era that has yet to fully recover... Not even the Buddhas or Emperors who underwent Reincarnation during the golden age of Ancient Times could have done that, right?'

'Tsk, tsk. As expected of the most mysterious of the Thirteen Immortals of Jade Void!'

Lu Xuan himself just chuckled softly. But as he was about to say something, he suddenly frowned and glanced to the side.

A moment later, a frantic pounding shook the door.

The door was quickly smashed open, and several stern-faced young men walked in. The burly man in the lead was exceptionally rude:

"We're from the inspection team. You're Zheng Shan, right? You're coming with us... As for these others, they're temporarily listed as suspected accomplices. They're coming with us too..."

Butcher Zheng's and Sister Zheng's faces instantly turned pale. Lu Xuan sighed and put a hand to his forehead, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

'Half a year ago, right next door, the Inspectorate had taken him away in the exact same manner.'

He shook his head and raised his eyes.

"Silence."

A wisp of an Immortal's aura swept down, and with a CRASH, the stern-faced young men were slammed to the ground!

Lu Xuan rose leisurely and looked at the astonished Butcher Zheng, smiling.

"Uncle Zheng, how about I take you on a little trip to the inspection team?"

As he spoke, he stopped concealing his power. He relaxed, and from his very form, lotuses and Qingyun began to bloom, swirling and floating around him, making him appear just like a Banished Immortal descending to the mortal realm.