My Dreams Connect to Ancient Times-Chapter 68 - 67: Taishan

In the dead silence, sweat dripped down Qing He Daoist’s forehead, one drop after another. Qi Tiansheng was even more bewildered, looking around in a daze.

And the five juniors stared blankly at the scene, staring blankly at the young man holding the Great Seal.

’How... how did it suddenly come to this??’

In their eyes, the young man seemed to have transformed into a different person, becoming even more mysterious and unfathomable, more imposing and vast!

A chill unknowingly rose from the base of their spines, gradually spreading throughout their bodies.

As time passed, the aura around the young man grew darker and his presence colder. The two words "Celestial Flipping" on the Great Seal shook their very souls, terrifying them to the core!

Under this extreme pressure, they recalled the terrifying power from when the young man had beckoned just now, the possibly illusory Golden Decree and the Celestial Venerable in the sky.

Qing He Daoist silently performed a salute.

"I, along with the disciples of Guangcheng Palace, will take my leave. I hope Scholar Lu can honor his words and visit our Ancient Kongtong Mountain one day."

With that, he gestured, preparing to leave with the three dazed disciples of the ’Ping’ generation.

"Aren’t you taking the seal?" Lu Xuan asked faintly, raising his eyelids slightly.

Qing He Daoist paused his steps and gave a carefree smile.

"We can wait for Scholar Lu to visit our mountain gate, and it can be returned then!"

After speaking, the four of them pushed the door open and left. The space in the wooden cabin, which had been stretched and expanded, instantly contracted back to normal.

Holding the seal, Lu Xuan glanced sideways at Qi Tiansheng and the others, then asked again:

"Well? Is Daoist Qi not leaving yet?"

Qi Tiansheng was full of suspicion and uncertainty, his expression grim. He couldn’t quite figure out the young man before him.

After a long moment, he glanced at the vigilant Wu Datong standing beside them, sighed deeply, and also performed a salute.

"To impose any further would make me seem tactless... Similarly, I hope Scholar Lu will keep his promise and make a trip to my Dragon Tiger Mountain one day!"

"Since I have given my word, I will surely act upon it."

"Good!"

Seeing this, Qi Tiansheng didn’t linger. He turned and left with his two junior nephews.

But just as he reached the door, he seemed to remember something and turned back to ask:

"I forgot to ask for Scholar Lu’s name. May I ask..."

The young man answered indifferently while stroking the Heaven-Flipping Seal.

"My name is Lu Xuan."

"Lu Xuan..." Qi Tiansheng first nodded, then froze abruptly. The two Little Daoists also exchanged glances.

Lu... Lu Xuan?

’Such a coincidence??’

After a long silence, Qi Tiansheng clasped his hands in a final salute and departed.

After he left, a long while passed before Lu Xuan finally put down the Great Seal and exited the state of Supreme Forgetting Emotions.

The air of indifference, supremacy, and loftiness vanished with it.

"Uncle Wu..." A smile returned to his face. "I really troubled you today."

Wu Datong snapped back to reality and sized Lu Xuan up and down with a suspicious and uncertain gaze for a long moment.

He then said hesitantly:

"Xiaoxuan, just now you were..."

"Oh, that? It was an act. If I hadn’t scared them off, I really don’t know how I would have resolved the situation."

He was telling the truth. It was the optimal solution he had deduced while in a state of absolute rationality.

’Use the Golden Decree to summon the Great Seal, then force Qing He to retreat with the Primordial Body and Supreme Forgetting Emotions, and finally use the momentum from that to scare away Qi Daoist...’

Wu Datong was full of doubt. ’An act?’

’You can fake a tone of voice, you can fake an expression, but that kind of aura... can that really be faked?’

However, he didn’t press the issue and instead skipped the topic, saying:

"Well, speaking of which, I was planning to look for you today anyway. I should be taking Xiaoxu to the provincial capital tomorrow. If all goes well, I won’t be leaving the provincial capital for a long time."

"You’re leaving?" Lu Xuan was a bit lost in thought. Xiaoxu was one of his few friends, and now he was leaving too.

After a long pause, Lu Xuan sighed softly, and then his face broke into a brilliant smile.

"Yeah. Once I’ve settled things in East Sea City, I’ll come find you in the provincial capital... As it happens, I should be taking the college entrance exams this year, so I’ll just apply to a university in the provincial capital!"

A worried look appeared on Wu Datong’s face as he warned Lu Xuan not to get easily involved in the upcoming turmoil in East Sea City.

He said bluntly:

"It should have been fine. Most factions didn’t believe the rumors were true. But after that phenomenon just now... East Sea is truly about to descend into chaos!"

Finally, Wu Datong tried to persuade him for a while longer, hoping Lu Xuan would go with him to the provincial capital, but he was refused again.

"Uncle Wu, I have my reasons for staying in East Sea City. Reasons that I cannot ignore."

Seeing this, Wu Datong didn’t say any more. After chatting with Lu Xuan for a little longer, he also took his leave.

Before he left, he didn’t forget to close the door. The small cabin returned to its usual cold silence.

It seemed everything had quieted down again.

’Is East Sea City about to fall into chaos...?’ Lu Xuan lowered his gaze, his mind wandering slightly as he toyed with the Great Seal in his hand, which was engraved with the two words "Celestial Flipping."

’Beneath the ruins... I wonder what’s really down there, and why did the "Supreme Foundation Establishment Chapter" appear?’

’And Dragon Tiger Mountain... Fusheng Lu Xuan Celestial Venerable...’

As he muttered to himself, a shadow fell over Lu Xuan’s features. A gut feeling arose in his heart that East Sea City would likely undergo a major change in the coming months.

And the events and objects within the ruins would be connected to him.

Although it was just his intuition, the feeling grew stronger and stronger.

’June 6th? That’s still two months away.’

.......

For the next few days, Lu Xuan’s life returned to its original peace.

He went to school to cultivate during the day and cultivated at home at night, occasionally going to the library to look up some information.

He had a rather bold idea: to see if he could find a balance within the Mediation of Creation... to create something that could nourish both his Physique and his spirit, and just enough to replenish the Essence, Qi, and Spirit he expended when using this Great Divine Technique.

If he really found this balance point, would that mean...

’I could become a human perpetual motion machine?’

Time trickled by in quiet contemplation, and everything seemed no different than before.

If there was any difference, it was the absence of the Wu Family father and son in the shantytown, leaving him one less place to visit. At the same time, he wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but...

Lu Xuan felt that ever since the day the phenomenon stretched across thirty thousand li, Xiaoyan seemed to have become a little more intimate and attached to him.

「Ten days passed in a flash.」

「April 10th, a Saturday.」

It was a holiday, but not entirely a holiday.

"Xiaolu! Xiaolu! Are you up yet?" Early in the morning, Yan Jiangxue called, her voice cheerful. "You promised to show me around the shantytown today!"

Lu Xuan stopped his breathing exercises, and the red glow on his physical body dissipated. He smiled into the phone and said:

"Of course I didn’t forget, but there’s really not much to see in the shantytown. You can see from one end to the other at a glance, and the roads are very narrow..."

"No!"

On the other end of the line, Xiaoyan muttered:

"I want to see the people you mentioned—Uncle Chen who sells sugar-fried chestnuts, Uncle Zheng who sells pork, and Uncle Li who sells roasted sweet potatoes... But mostly, I want to see the place where you grew up."

Her voice grew softer and gentler.

"Besides, after we see the shantytown, we can go have fun somewhere else... I’ve always wanted to go to Taishan!"

Taishan was the highest mountain in Langya Province. It was said to have held a special status during the Old Calendar Era and even in the Ancient Era. It wasn’t too far from East Sea City, but it was still four or five hundred kilometers away.

And for the past few days, Xiaoyan had been constantly talking about wanting to go to Taishan, mentioning it many times.

"Taishan!" Lu Xuan rubbed his nose and gave a wry smile. "A round trip there would take more than a whole day. We only have Saturday and Sunday..."

"Then take a few days off!" Yan Jiangxue said nonchalantly. "It doesn’t matter if we miss a few days of school. We’ll get to miss Ji Boduan’s birthday, too!"

She was still a bit socially anxious and didn’t like crowds or this kind of gathering... ’The feeling of not knowing what to do with my hands is awful.’

Lu Xuan said helplessly:

"We already promised someone we’d go, we can’t just back out... How about this: I’ll come pick you up and show you around the shantytown first. If you still want to go to Taishan after that, I’ll ask Teacher Lu for a few days off."

"I’ll be waiting for you!" Yan Jiangxue’s smile was as radiant as a flower. "Perfect! I found some information on that Spiritual Object you mentioned, the one that can nourish both Physique and spirit. I’ll bring it with me!"

Lu Xuan’s eyes lit up.

.......

Meanwhile, in a five-star hotel somewhere in the city.

Inside the suite, Li Xiaosang irritably tossed aside a large stack of files and let out a weary breath.

"Still no leads... Let’s take a break. I’m a little tired."

"Should we go for a walk around the city?" Zhang Tiandong offered eagerly. "I think there’s a music festival or something today."

"No, thanks."

Li Xiaosang stood up, a little lost in thought as she said:

"I think I’ll just go for a walk by myself... Hmm, I’m going to head back to the shantytown to visit some old acquaintances."

"I’ll go too!" Zhang Tiandong raised his hand high. "The sun’s strong today, I’ll hold a parasol for you!"

Li Xiaosang’s mouth twitched. Beside them, another team member, Chen Qishou, rolled his eyes and cursed:

"Simps like you never come to a good end!"

"What the hell do you know!" Zhang Tiandong shot back. "This is called being a considerate guy. Do you even know what a considerate guy is?"

"A considerate guy? Then you’d have to get in line behind the dogs!"

"Alright, that’s enough!" Li Xiaosang held up a hand in resignation. "Let’s all go together. We can just treat it as a way to clear our heads. Besides, we haven’t investigated the shantytown yet. Who knows, we might find something unexpected."