Chapter 261: Thousand-layer cake, true/false venue, the fight erupts

Fengxi thought it over many times but still couldn't figure it out.

"I, Feng So-and-so, have loyal and courageous heart, a heart full of righteous qi... I oversee the Five Virtues, though my position isn't high, but my virtue is extremely high."

"Why does this situation develop as if I've let down Lady Houtu... I haven't harmed her interests at all!"

"How many years have passed? I've always been making contributions for her, never letting her down."

"Bit by bit to this day, the record of my merits is a thousand eight hundred chi thick."

"In the whole Wu Clan, who is more loyal to Lord Houtu than I am? More useful?"

"Hardly any left!"

Fengxi tallied his achievements, and his conscience steadied.

When doing things, evaluate merit, discuss conduct, not intention.

As of now, Fengxi feels he still lives up to Houtu... working daily under her, contributing one achievement after another, never dragging her down or causing Houtu Ancestor Witch's investment to go to waste.

"Hmm."

"Correct."

"Even if the world judges me, I can still be righteous and confident."

"I'm merely hiding a little in my cultivation practice... lacking three of the Five Virtues, my strength is one level lower... but is that a problem?"

"No!"

"Cultivation is a very personal matter... I rely on effort to advance, on diligence to become strong... is that wrong?"

"No either!"

"It's just that I want to explain here, there's a bit of effort... to avoid the Wu Clan's reincarnation grand strategy losing me this great minister, losing the host, to avoid ruler and minister drifting apart, unable to cooperate, in order to solve the era's main contradiction—the Demon Race as core—I've concocted a benevolent lie, is that excessive?"

"Not excessive!"

"Regardless of right and wrong, usefulness is the proper path!"

Fengxi pondered this, and soon his thoughts became clear.

He is a benevolent lie, meant to temporarily conceal... for the swift development of Houtu Ancestor Witch's cause... when the day comes that the war against the Demon Race settles, he will naturally choose to confess, and will devote himself to Houtu until death.

At this moment, Fengxi felt his ideological awareness rise, his spirit become more noble.

The light of the proper path shone upon him!

Fengxi became lively again.

However, before he could again ask the old driver for other advice...

That magnificent, vast Heavenly Dao Zixiao Palace burst forth with the most brilliant light, illuminating the Myriad Heavens and Ten Thousand Worlds, penetrating past, present, and future.

"Crack!"

In the earth-shaking Dao resonance, the gates flung open, releasing eternal aura, inviting all Great Luo to enter.

"Everyone, please enter!"

Hongjun Daozu's indifferent voice sounded, truly opening the curtain for this grand event.

……

The Zixiao Palace Conference is the highest-level meeting of this era.

Three thousand Great Luo attended—though said to be three thousand, that's a rough figure; in reality, far more.

Eight thousand?

Nine thousand?

Ten thousand?

Or even more?

Fengxi felt a bit dazed, for the first time feeling his vision wasn't working well.

Because when Hongjun announced the start of the Zixiao Palace Conference, in the dim void a lofty, elusive spiritual light arose, spreading to this place.

That spiritual light was transcendent, vast, complex, immeasurable, like a pure essence condensed to the extreme, and also like overlapping radiance of incalculable numbers.

At times it embodied the One, becoming a vague living being with boundless aura... at times it transformed into thousands upon thousands, flashing radiant light.

Fengxi blinked his eyes, looking curiously.

Regarding this scene, he found it hard to describe... but if forced to give a description?

"This... seems like a haunting?"

Fengxi turned over his strange thoughts, then proceeded to ask the old driver for guidance.

"That is the spiritual radiance of the Human Dao."

Mu said, "Honghuang is also a Great Luo... the strongest kind."

"When the Dao of this heaven and earth unite, it becomes the fruition of the Great Luo, possessing an innate immortal spiritual light."

"The will of the Human Dao is the will that governs the spiritual light... what if one day the Human Dao perishes?"

"Then the lifeless Honghuang would be equivalent to the Great Luo losing me."

"But the Human Dao is changeable, thus becoming what you see now..."

Mu gave a simple explanation in a few sentences.

Fengxi nodded, indicating he understood.

In Mu's description, Honghuang is eternal, indestructible.

Even if a place is blown up, or even the entire world's form destroyed... in essence, the Great Dao is indestructible; the heaven and earth evolved from the Dao merely shift from one "Dao appearance" to another.

Precisely because it is so profound, that's why many Great Luo are eager to try, to meddle, to vie for hegemony, to unify Honghuang.

And the key to ruling Honghuang lies in the Human Dao.

This is the self of the Honghuang Great Luo!

Whoever leads him will attain the supreme achievement beneath Pangu... and moreover, can, by holding the reins of Honghuang, glimpse a higher realm.

Similarly, it is precisely because there are so many tumultuous hegemonic situations, with all the great powers entering the fray to contend, each heavenly will scheming... that the state of humanity has become strange.

The Great Derivation fifty, its use forty-nine, there is one that escapes.

In the endless spacetime variables, everything is possible.

That every living being has an infinitesimal sliver of possibility, to transcend the mundane, and thereafter establish oneself eternally!

However, they are greatly affected, closely tied to the external environment.

Even if there is a sliver of possibility to prove the Dao, the hard condition for proving Dao as a Great Luo must also be met—that is, an understanding of the Dao.

Put differently, these are cultivation resources, the strength of teachers... even if they come by a 'fortuitous coincidence', they must still exist.

And to fulfill these conditions... one must look to the development of the era, the outcome of the contest among the topmost great powers, which determines the future path.

Now, the great powers are contending, the result not yet decided, thus presenting this strange state.

Countless possibilities overlap, brilliant spiritual light shimmering, yet the form is very vague, even constantly shifting, not very stable, appearing as a facet of humanity as a whole, not as an independent entity.

They are not truly complete Great Luo existences; frankly, they are not even definite beings, merely flashes of humanity among many variables, appearing here superimposed.

"Our contest influences heaven and earth, influences the era... actually it just gives humanity a framework, determining which possibilities will be promoted and which variables will be abandoned."

"However, this is not too absolute." Mu laughed, saying, "Even if abandoned, it does not mean hope is completely lost... humanity possesses a most precious place of memory, that place you visited long ago."

"The River of Time!"

"There, there will still be opportunities... the sparks of thought and spirit will be reborn, receiving inheritance and continuation."

"Moreover, as the era changes and the theme changes, some pearls lost in the vast sea will also get a chance to return to the stage."

"If viewed from this angle, the Great Calamity is still very necessary—letting all of humanity stir, engendering hope and vitality, rather than being a stagnant pool."

Mu leisurely said, "We have practically reached the extreme."

"The continuation of the endless era has been carefully maintained... right now in this Purple Cloud Palace there are countless Great Luo; who can know how many of them truly originated from here?"

"Having broken free of the original cage, making oneself strong enough, thus overturning time, resetting origin, holding the innate divine household register... tsk, can't guess, can't guess!"

Mu gave a faint smile.

Fengxi heard this, his eye corner twitching, watching as the Purple Cloud Palace gates opened, the first batch of top-tier great powers striding in head high and chest out, one hand stroking his chin, deep in thought.

"Alright, it's my turn to go in... Little Fengxi, you better know the way."

Mu said something somewhat obscure, then blended into the second batch of people displaying ordinary Great Luo aura, calmly stepping into the Purple Cloud Palace.

Everything is orderly.

The Purple Cloud Palace is not a vegetable market.

The order of entry is, of course, according to strength.

This is respect for the predecessors.

Given Fengxi's displayed senior Great Luo level, he belongs to the third batch to enter.

As for the fourth batch... that is obviously the useless Great Luo.

Fengxi entered the Purple Cloud Palace, and also gained a concrete understanding of the situation inside.

This place is vast.

A single hall seems to condense the Myriad Heavens and myriad elements together, mighty, extraordinary, beyond measure.

Each Great Luo here can fully stretch, freely manifesting the fundamental form of the Great Dao... each heavenly will has spiritual light flickering, defining its form.

One after another, jade-like futons stretch endlessly, far more than the number of Great Luo present.

However, from a certain point onward, it is simply giving a colossal seat to—humanity!

Humanity occupies the most spots, covering countless futons.

As for this, not many people care.

Because humanity is... not exactly foolish, but rather overthinking overly complex; as long as one doesn't fight oneself, that's already good—what could one possibly say at the meeting?

All proper affairs are actually entrusted to the far-seeing, endless spacetime Great Luo to handle, being spoken for by each heavenly will.

Great Luo, once also originated from humanity, is a part of humanity, and still among its most outstanding heroes.

Having them speak, point out the future, can be said to be the most reliable situation.

Of course, this is based on each Great Luo's heavenly will, all of whom devote themselves to humanity until death.

This greatly tests self-awareness and personal integrity.

Fengxi sat steadily in his seat, looking around, feeling quite novel.

"Hmm... are the Great Luo's powers still effective?"

His eyes lit up, "Outside it still doesn't work... cannot fully investigate the Purple Cloud's past."

"But after entering, one can?"

"I... now can trace back to the first Purple Cloud Palace meeting?"

Fengxi's eyes shifted, his power spontaneously activated.

After a subtle spacetime disorientation, Fengxi found himself in a very special state.

He is both at the second Purple Cloud Palace meeting and at the first Purple Cloud Palace meeting.

Moreover, he can fast-forward through the first meeting, experiencing it in the shortest time.

Thus, countless information was received by Fengxi, having gone through the first Purple Cloud Palace meeting once, understanding everything that had happened before.

In short, it was Dao Ancestor Hongjun speaking.

He first played a historical epic that Fengxi was very familiar with—all the gods joining forces to exterminate the demons; then he began to speak passionately, saying how the demon ancestor Luo Hou, how he did evil, bringing the greatest danger to the Honghuang world.

Even though the demon ancestor has now been suppressed, the lingering calamity remains.

When a Great Luo attains the Dao, a demon lord blocks the way!

To deal with this crisis, he created the Severing Three Corpses method...

Wait, wait, wait, wait.

At the meeting, Hongjun Daozu expounded his own Profound Gate Great Law, gaining the unanimous praise of the Great Luo Heavenly Will present.

They worried about heaven and earth, worried about all beings, and strongly approved of Hongjun's perfect solution to the Demon Lord blocking the Dao.

Afterward, Hongjun Daozu further stated that after the Demon Ancestor wrought havoc upon heaven and earth, Honghuang needed to achieve stable development, needed a Saint to appear, to govern the cosmos.

Many top-tier experts spoke enthusiastically, agreeing with the Dao Ancestor's proposal on one hand, and recommending the virtuous without avoiding nepotism on the other, various sorts of self-recommendations.

Finally, a virtuous emperor—Fuxi proposed that merits should be rewarded accordingly, in order to determine the affiliation of the Saint's position, and to bestow upon humanity's myriad beings the most responsible Saint.

The Dao Ancestor agreed, the Great Luo agreed.

Thus, the entire meeting, in an atmosphere of perfection and harmony, announced a perfect conclusion.

Fengxi stared, eyes wide and mouth agape.

At this moment, in his heart, myriad alpacas galloped forth, mighty and vast, as if they could trample the Myriad Heavens and myriad worlds.

"This... this is fake, right?"

If he didn't know a little about some secrets... he might have believed it.

"This is definitely a trick to fool people."

Fengxi's gaze was deep and profound, as if he had thought of something.

"Perhaps it's fooling some Great Luo who lack the qualifications to understand the truth of the first era..."

"That's why I'm seeing this scene right now... truly putting on a full act!"

"This venue is all fake... really fucked up!"

He recalled the words Mu had said, and a gleam flashed across his face.

Afterward, he began making subtle adjustments, seeking the correct path.

Severing Three Corpses!

Fengxi attained the Dao as a Great Luo, paying homage to Houtu, which can also be said to be Nüwa.

This is his backing!

What's more, he is currently mingling among the Wu Clan, participating in this era's great calamity.

Using these connections as keys, in the faint sound of the dim void, Fengxi sensed a spatiotemporal path, wandering and lingering at the edge of his perception where his endless spatiotemporal existence resides, concealed by a supreme law.

That is a path that can defy law and order, purely born from nothing.

However, after Fengxi sensed it, it did not violate his law.

Naturally making contact, he established himself in that entirely new venue.

"Two-layered venues, overlapping together, simultaneously catering to the ignorant and the informed... like an old mille-feuille."

Fengxi let out a low sigh, sensing his surroundings... they had changed, yet also not changed.

He was both in the false venue, listening to Hongjun Daozu's summary report—how significant the effect of Severing Three Corpses was in intercepting the Demon Lord's blocking of the Dao.

And also in the entirely new venue, he felt an intensely thick and surging scent of gunpowder.

In the entirely new venue, the entire hall was very quiet.

So quiet that Fengxi felt a little afraid.

In the hall, not a single Great Luo spoke; they all wore cold faces, and killing intent unintentionally poured forth, making spacetime seem as if it were about to freeze.

"This... is the prelude to a fight!"

Fengxi sighed low in his heart.

(End of Chapter)