Chapter 46

Fengxi felt a bit embarrassed.

Pretending to be unconscious was exposed, leaving him helpless.

Not continuing the pretense, he instead gave an embarrassed smile and sprang up—

He feared that if he kept pretending, he would really be dragged over and used as bait to fish for ages!

He opened his eyes and cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

The first thing that came into view was the wealth Fengxi had longed for.

They were all placed to one side, each storage bag holding the riches of hundreds of thousands of Wu Clan Golden Immortals, sorted and piled together rather casually.

It was clear that the one who struck Fengxi on the head didn't care about these riches.

After all, he was… a big shot capable of fishing for ages, speaking as if he didn't even care about the dragon clan's progenitor, subtly a human king, at least a Great Luo.

How could such a powerful being take interest in Fengxi's paltry possessions?

What truly drew their attention and discussion was Kong Xuan, which also brought up the current state of the phoenix lineage and the feathered race.

—a single peacock feather, plucked out and laid horizontally on a stone platform, with a palm-sized phoenix hopping about, stepping here and there.

Fengxi glanced; the tiny phoenix was splendid, its wings spread, colors shifting dazzlingly.

Even though its bean‑sized eyes flashed anger, its small frame only made it look cute.

"It's so cute, roasting it would surely be delicious, right?"

"It's just too small… the meat all together wouldn't even fill two bites…"

A wicked thought flickered in his mind, then was quickly snuffed out—the phoenix's gaze turned dangerous, eyes narrowed at him.

Faced with that, Fengxi followed his heart and dared not entertain any suicidal ideas.

Instead, he turned his gaze to the other side—by a river that seemed to flow from nothingness sat a vast, awe‑inspiring divine being, back to him, holding a fishing rod whose line disappeared into the long river.

That fishing rod was familiar to Fengxi—it was the very implement that had struck him on the head earlier!

"I was actually knocked over by a fishing rod… and that dog…" He glanced aside; the black‑and‑white strange beast wagged its tail happily, lying on the ground, front paws clutching a strange fruit, occasionally licking it, a satisfied smile on its canine face.

Perhaps sensing Fengxi's gaze, the dog flashed him a look that seemed both dignified and wise, then… shoved the fruit further into its own embrace.

"Am I just being tricked by this sort of guy?" Fengxi struggled to keep his cheek muscles from twitching, "Others fish, I rush over to join, only to be casually knocked over… what is this?"

"Volunteers bite?"

He had a thousand words in his heart, but when they reached his lips, nothing came out.

Only the phrase "ma mai pi" remained, compressing everything to the extreme, lodged in his throat, neither up nor down.

"Why not keep pretending?" the fishing deity chuckled lightly, turning slowly, "What a pity… wait a moment and you'll feel what it's like to be scoured by the long river of time."

"That's a treatment only attainable at the Taiyi peak… to experience the scouring of time, one must refine one's true and singular self in endless spacetime, preparing for the ultimate leap to prove the Dao and become a Great Luo, piercing the river of ages."

"What a rare opportunity!"

The deity sighed, "If you make it through this ordeal, keeping your consciousness from being overwritten by the endless information of the time river, you'll grasp a hint of the mystery of eternal time; future entry into the Taiyi peak will gain a thirty percent boost in success."

Hearing this, Fengxi gave an embarrassed laugh, "Thank you, senior, for your kindness… but I've only just become a Golden Immortal; the Taiyi peak is so far off, I shouldn't be overreaching… wait?!"

"You… you are the Great Sage Fuxi?!"

He strained to widen his eyes.

In the halo that lent the deity a solemn aura, Fengxi made out its true visage.

At the same time, he finally understood why the voice had seemed familiar before.

He had thought it was due to these past days of running business, talking with thousands upon thousands of merchants, various accents, giving Fengxi an illusion.

But it wasn't.

The source of the voice was none other than the Great Sage Fuxi who had once left a deep impression on him, wits and courage pitted against Thus line: "Di Jiang Zu Wu!

But why?

Shouldn't it be Xihuang, who schemed with Thus line: "Di Jiang Zu Wu, be fishing here?

Could it be that the act of "fishing for trifles" has already corroded the highest echelons of the Demon Race?

"Little brat, rare to see, strange indeed." Fuxi smirked, "Great Luo, eternal and free in endless spacetime, capable of manifesting billions of billions, present everywhere— we are the Dao!"

Dao, everywhere!

What's the matter with having a few incarnations, a few Trumpet?

How so? Don't you believe?

If you don't believe, I'll just use a few more numbers to say hello.

Fuxi the Great Sage's smile was warm, but the next moment he abruptly directed a horror scene.

The nearby mountains came to life.

The mountains had spirit; their bodies vibrated, emitting sound.

Hello, I am Fuxi.

The surging long river rushed forth.

Countless droplets flew up, reflecting the great sun's light, scattering rainbow shadows.

The river, possessing a deity, had the rainbows refracted from the droplets arrange themselves crookedly into a line of words, offering a greeting.

Hello, I am Fuxi.

Above the azure sky, clouds and mist flowed, then suddenly changed.

Whether it was coincidence or coincidence, unknown.

A gust of strong wind blew over, the clouds and mist deformed, naturally forming a sentence in the sky.

Hello, I am Fuxi.

……

Fengxi's face turned wooden; what could he say now?

There's nothing left to say.

"Eternal and free, endless incarnations." Fuxi sighed wistfully, "I'm a bit confused, I don't know how many of me there are…… Perhaps it's just infinite."

"The me who negotiated with Dijiang is me."

"The me fishing here is also me."

"Even if it's you…… it's actually me too."

Fuxi smiled with narrowed eyes.

"You're kidding?" Fengxi's pupils widened, "How could I be someone else's incarnation?"

"Oh, no, I misspoke……" He suddenly became excited, a bit excited, "Is it really true?"

Fengxi's face instantly changed expression, his whole body almost lunged forward to hug the thigh, "Tuba! The true self!"

"Look, I, your incarnation, am now in such a miserable state…… Just to earn a little money, I'm about to lose all my integrity."

"Could you show great mercy and give me aid?"

"My request isn't high; just share your cultivation realm and Daoist attainments with me, and then give me ten or eight innate spiritual treasures as well……"

"I'm a weakling, please carry me to fly!"

"In a few words, Fengxi vividly expressed this meaning."

"He became excited, while Fuxi remained silent."

"This exalted, great divinity, with a strange gaze, looked Fengxi up and down, smacking his lips, 'You are truly the most shameless…… no, the most unpretentious fellow I've ever seen……'"

"Are you willing to give up your self's independent consciousness and freedom of your three views? Waiting to be covered by me?"

"Only those strong enough to break the rules are worthy of talking about independence, talking about freedom……" Fengxi complained, "I'm a little wizard limited by survival and development issues; every day I have to consider the allocation of cultivation resources, and life or death in the future great calamity……"

"On the surface, I seem free…… but under this world's countless invisible frameworks, under countless shackles……"

"Put bluntly, I'm just a puppet on strings, or perhaps a batch of leeks being harvested over and over…… What's the point of talking about independent consciousness, freedom of three views…… gilding my own face?"

"In front of people I chat and laugh happily, appearing fine. In reality, behind the scenes I bear countless pressures and agonies, facing confusion and anxiety about the future…… What's the point?"

Fengxi spoke with conviction, "My goal is actually not grand…… As long as I live a safe and peaceful life, without worrying about my safety, and can do whatever I want with no one able to restrict me…… that's enough!"

"If I were to define the time span of this life, I hope it is——eternity!"

Fuxi's mouth twitched, then twitched again——he had never seen such a quirky fellow, feeling powerless and defeated.

He rubbed his forehead, laid his cards on the table, "Aid is impossible, flying you is also impossible…… just give up on that idea."

"No!" Fengxi wailed, "Aren't we all one person? You can't be so heartless!"

"No no no, I misspoke just now…… you are actually not my incarnation." Fuxi shook his head repeatedly, "I sympathize with your situation, but I'm powerless to help."

"How could this be?" Fengxi, deeply struck, "Someone as great as you, now you also love joking?"

"He actually wasn't joking, just didn't finish his words." Xiao Feng Huang spoke at this moment, becoming a bright lamp illuminating the darkness in Fengxi's heart.

Fengxi tilted his head, listening to her words.

"You are his incarnation, yet not his incarnation……" Xiao Feng Huang flapped her wings, acting as a teacher, "Actually, you are also an incarnation of all Great Luo."

"Holy crap? Am I that awesome?" Fengxi stared, speechless.

"Of course not." The Phoenix said slowly, "Because all living beings beneath the Great Luo are the shared incarnation of all Great Luo beings."

"Otherwise, how could the nobility and supremacy of the Great Luo be demonstrated?!"

"Honghuang is a game; those who haven't reached Great Luo are merely people in the game, a piece of data…… but Great Luo are the players, the administrators, the license holders."

"We can alter the data, assume designated roles…… this is the truth of everything."

"Great Luo is the Dao." Though small, the Phoenix spoke with grandeur, "The Dao evolves heaven and earth…… the living beings in heaven and earth fulfill themselves by following the Dao's principles."

"Every Great Luo participated in the great project of constructing Honghuang, providing data for this world…… only, because their strengths differ, their proportions also differ."

"(End of chapter)"