Chapter 281

Vacuum Homeland.

Between heaven and earth, a misty, vague pure qi permeated, ethereal and clear, emitting the utmost refined and pure immortal light.

This is the pure qi that rose to heaven when heaven and earth first opened, which then evolved into refined primordial qi.

Beneath the Vacuum Homeland, boundless turbid qi sank, condensing into continents that supported the entire Vacuum Homeland, allowing it to stand upon the boundless Chaos, becoming a Dao field of the other shore akin to the Nine Heavens and Nine Netherworlds, exalted above all heavens.

At that moment, the void grew hazy, a figure stepped out from within it, appearing in this special world—it was Feng Yi.

After arriving here, Feng Yi's gaze shifted, and he saw a figure that seemed to have been waiting for him.

It was a middle-aged man wearing immortal's robes, head crowned with an E-guan, his aura steady and heavy like a mountain, bearing a feeling that spanned myriad ages—he was the chief of the Twelve Divine Envoys serving the Unborn Old Mother, acting as her envoy, Zhenyuanzi.

At the same time, he was also a great supernatural being who had achieved Perfection in Creation.

However, in these heavens, if one does not reach the other shore, everything is merely an illusory bubble.

Thus, even the renowned ancient Perfection-in-Creation great supernatural being, Zhenyuanzi who shared rule with the world, had no choice but to take refuge under the Golden Sovereign, becoming one of the Twelve Divine Envoys to gain protection.

Seeing Feng Yi's figure appear, Zhenyuanzi hurried forward to salute, saying, "Your Majesty, the Golden Sovereign invites Your Majesty within!"

"Thank you for your trouble, Dao friend."

Feng Yi nodded, gazing at this one who in the other heavens is called the Ancestor of Earth Immortals, able to address the Three Pure Ones as a Dao friend, yet here solely tasked with receiving him; his heart could not help but feel a sigh.

In these heavens, the other shore and what lies beneath it are truly two entirely different concepts.

"I dare not."

Hearing Feng Yi's words, Zhenyuanzi hastily said, "Your Majesty, please!"

After speaking, he made the inviting gesture, a hint of reverence flashing in the depths of his eyes, and he silently sighed.

The other shore!

Merely a step away, yet like a heavenly moat, it separates two worlds.

Crossing this step brings one to the lofty heavenly will; failing to cross it, even one as perfect in creation as he, is no more than a pawn.

And this Majesty before him not only reached the other shore, but also forged an entirely new heterodox path to the other shore; upon setting foot, he rivals the ancient beings of the other shore, causing Zhenyuanzi's heart to fill with reverence.

Following Zhenyuanzi, before long Feng Yi arrived at the deepest Chaos region of the Vacuum Homeland.

After arriving, Zhenyuanzi tactfully took his leave, leaving only Feng Yi alone gazing at the scene deep within the Chaos.

In the boundless Chaos, a round, clear treasure light like a full moon sank and floated here; surrounding it, white lotuses blossomed, each containing a divine spirit born representing different heavenly and earthly Daos, as if all Daos of the myriad worlds had coalesced, perfect and whole.

Embryonic Dao Fruit!

This thought arose in his mind, but Feng Yi's expression hardly changed as he stepped into the Chaos.

Thereafter, he fixed his gaze upon the round moon above, seeing within the layered palaces a hazy figure seated.

"Dao friend, you have finally come; I have waited for you a long time!"

A sacred and refined voice rang forth; from the bright, pure moon specks of light fell, condensing before Feng Yi into a mature, elegant female figure.

She wore ancient, elegant attire; her visage somewhat resembled Gu Xiaosang's, yet more mature, bearing a touch of divinity and majesty, like a peerless empress ruling over all heavens.

This figure is none other than the Golden Sovereign, one of the ancient Five Emperors, and also the Unborn Old Mother of the present Luo teaching.

"Golden Sovereign, Dao friend!"

Feng Yi slightly bowed his hands, smiling, "Many thanks for your earlier assistance, Dao friend."

Whether it was aiding Fuxi's form to restrain Amitabha Buddha, preventing the Buddha from fully controlling Fuxi's body, or, when Feng Yi's true self broke through to the Emperor Immortal realm, stepping forth to block Amitabha Buddha so he could successfully condense the Emperor Immortal fruit, the Golden Sovereign before him has, in all these ways, conferred great kindness upon him.

Thus, Feng Yi harbors no ill will toward the Golden Sovereign; instead, he feels a sense of gratitude.

"Fuxi, Dao friend, you're too polite."

The Golden Sovereign lightly shook his head, a hint of smile on his flawless visage: "Actually, I am merely repaying Dao friend's karma; moreover, I also need Dao friend's aid so my true self can truly depart these heavens and witness the genuine Dao scenery—thus I chose to assist Dao friend, a sort of advance wager."

"Oh?"

Feng Yi slightly raised his eyebrows, speaking calmly: "Golden Sovereign, Dao friend, what do you mean by that?"

As for the Golden Sovereign knowing that beyond this realm there still exist the myriad heavens and worlds, Feng Yi is not surprised, for earlier events had already hinted at it.

But how does the matter of the other party owing him karma begin?

"Everyone knows I inherited the Ultimate Print left by Yuanshi Tianzun, shedding the past via the Chaos Ultimate Dao to gain rebirth, and also obtained the Human Sovereign's legacy, thereby ascending to the other shore and becoming the Unborn Old Mother."

Gazing at Feng Yi, the Golden Sovereign did not answer his question but spoke of his past: "What people do not know is that I not only received the Ultimate Print from Yuanshi Tianzun, but also inherited the Dao lineage of Lingbao Tianzun, condensing the two opposing Daos of Chaos Ultimate and the End of the Origin into my ultimate destination Dao, thereby attaining the other shore and swiftly achieving the embryonic Dao Fruit."

Feng Yi listened silently, his expression hardly changing; as an outsider, he naturally already knew these secrets.

The Golden Sovereign also did not mind, speaking with a hint of emotion: "In fact, I not only obtained Lingbao Tianzun's Dao lineage, but also inherited his title, taking his place as the manifest Lingbao Tianzun."

"Hng?"

Feng Yi's heart stirred, recalling the Lingbao Tianzun of the Shrouding Heaven cosmos and the Three Pure Ones of the Wasteland cosmos; ripples rose in his mind‑lake.

The Golden Sovereign suddenly turned his gaze, a pair of eyes containing infinite beauty fixed on Feng Yi, smiling: "Dao friend should know that the fallen mother god within the world derived from Fuxi's body is one of my alternate selves; indeed, when you first came to these heavens and stole the power of that alternate self of mine, I already sensed it."

Feng Yi's brows furrowed slightly, a hint of doubt appearing in his eyes.

"Hehe."

Seems he noticed Feng Yi's expression change; the Golden Sovereign chuckled lightly, his tone odd: "This is not because Fuxi, Dao friend, your concealment has gone awry; actually, under normal circumstances, no one should be able to detect your presence, merely taking you as Fuxi's countermove; otherwise, the Virtuous Heavenly Lord and Amitabha Buddha would have noticed then as well; the reason I can detect a trace is because there exists some karmic link between you and me."

"Link?"

Feng Yi gazed at the mature, elegant female immortal before him, his heart stirring, countless trigrams turning in his eyes.

The Golden Sovereign seemed not to notice his movement, speaking leisurely: "By means of the link between us, I vaguely sensed that beyond this realm there still exist as many heavens and worlds as the sands of the Ganges, and that I seem to have established a connection with an ineffable existence, gaining some vague information."

"In the boundless Chaos void, every moment sees innumerable heavens born and innumerable heavens destroyed, termed boundless and endless; even these heavens of ours amount to nothing within it, and in some of those heavens, certain incarnations of Fuxi are called Mugong, Dong Wanggong, the heavenly emperor of the endless, infinite multiverse of the East, that is, the Qing Emperor Taihao!"

Having said this, the Golden Sovereign's eyes held a hint of smile, locking gazes with Feng Yi in meaningful intent.

The instant the Golden Sovereign's words fell, the trigrams in Feng Yi's eyes shifted at once, a most extraordinary karmic star‑line reflected in the depths of his pupils, shaking his heart.

At the same time, even the supreme treasure of the Yi Dao located deep within his spiritual world trembled slightly.

Feng Yi's eye twitched slightly; he quickly suppressed the vision in his eyes, no longer looking at the Golden Emperor's gaze, as if he hadn't heard what followed, and didn't pick up the topic, but calmly said, "An existence that cannot be spoken of?"

A slight twitch at the corner of Feng Yi's eye; he hastily gathered the anomalous phenomena at the bottom of his gaze, no longer looking into the Golden Sovereign's eyes, and seeming not to have heard his following words or taken up the topic, he calmly said, "An ineffable existence?"

The Golden Emperor's gaze fell inexplicably on Feng Yi; after a long while, seeing that his expression hadn't changed, he couldn't help sighing and said, "He might be 'I', or perhaps another existence; I still cannot comprehend him."

"Is that so?"

Feng Yi's eyes flickered with thought; after a moment he suddenly asked, "Golden Emperor Dao friend, without relying on this connection, have you not left this realm of heavens to enter the boundless Chaos void, heading to the true myriad heavens?"

The Golden Emperor shook his head: "Didn't I just say? I not only inherited Lingbao Tianzun's Dao lineage, but also inherited his title; at that time I was the nominal Lingbao Tianzun."

"After I sensed your background, Lingbao Tianzun also noticed; I don't know by what means, but Lingbao Tianzun has likely now comprehended the true secrets of the myriad heavens, and may even have left this realm."

"I merely came to understand through this that beyond this realm there are boundless myriad heavens, and I obtained only some information; I have not truly escaped this realm of heavens."

Speaking to this point, the Golden Emperor turned his gaze to Feng Yi, smiling: "Precisely for this reason, the karmic debt I owed from inheriting Lingbao Tianzun's Dao lineage has been completely repaid; this is also why I said I owed karmic debt to Dao friend Fuxi."

Lingbao Tianzun

Feng Yi recalled his attempt in the Zhetian world to harness sentient thought power; he originally thought he could draw on Lingbao Tianzun's sentient thought power to create a Tongtian Jiaozhu because the Lingbao Tianzun of the Zhetian world had completely fallen; now it seems the true Lingbao Tianzun intentionally fulfilled it.

It's no wonder his earlier comprehension of ending the Great Dao went so smoothly; it seems Lingbao Tianzun did it to repay karmic debt.

With thoughts turning in his heart, Feng Yi again turned his gaze to the Golden Emperor, feeling something, and said: "Golden Emperor Dao friend, do you wish to leave this realm of heavens?"

"Exactly!"

The Golden Emperor nodded, his voice cold and clear: "All this still requires your assistance; I believe with your ability, Dao friend Fuxi, you should be able to let me leave this realm and go to the true myriad heavens."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Yi's eyes showed a hint of strange color: "Golden Emperor Dao friend, you have already achieved the embryonic form of the Dao fruit; are you really going to so easily give up the Dao fruit position of this era?"

"The Dao fruit position?"

The Golden Emperor slightly shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of sigh: "With the Sanqing present, I could never obtain the Dao fruit position of this era; originally I had no other choice, so I had to contend for it; now that I have a new option, I certainly won't throw myself into the fire like a moth."

"Moreover, now that Dao friend Fuxi is here, the Dao fruit position is likely even harder to contend for; if so, why should I insist?"

Looking at the Golden Emperor before him, who seemed utterly indifferent to the Dao fruit position, Feng Yi felt somewhat unaccustomed for a moment.

After all, in the original timeline, the Golden Emperor had schemed against everyone, exhausted his all, burned his boats, and chosen to contend with the Sanqing for the Dao fruit position.

And now, he actually chose to give up so easily?

However, thinking of the original timeline's situation, Feng Yi's heart gained a bit of understanding.

In the original timeline, those who had reached the other shore calculated that this era was the final calamity, and no one knew whether another era would exist.

If so, the Golden Emperor could only exhaust all schemes, give his all, and strive for the Dao fruit position.

But now, because of Feng Yi's existence, all those who have reached the other shore clearly realize this era is no longer the final calamity; moreover, knowing that beyond this realm there exist other myriad heavens, the Dao fruit position is no longer the endpoint of the Great Dao, so the Golden Emperor's change of mind is quite natural.

Thinking this through, Feng Yi spoke: "Dao friend, do you wish to leave this realm of heavens and retrace the path of the Great Dao?"

"Exactly."

The Golden Emperor nodded, his gaze deep as he looked into the distance, his voice turning aloof and lofty: "This realm is too small; the Dao fruit position is merely an insignificant scene on the way of the Great Dao. I will go to the true myriad heavens to behold the true endpoint of the Great Dao, and also to see whether within that true myriad heavens there exists an ineffable 'I'."

At this moment, the Golden Emperor's bearing was majestic and icy, like a high-hanging moon, indifferently overlooking all beings of the myriad heavens.

Now he truly is the Golden Emperor who single-mindedly seeks the Dao and is indifferent to all things!

Feng Yi's eyes showed a hint of strange color, then he said: "Dao friend once helped me attain the Dao; I will naturally assist you in leaving this realm of heavens, but I still need some time; please wait a moment."

Regardless of whether the Golden Emperor's words are true, at least the favor of his assistance is real; Feng Yi naturally wants to settle this karmic debt.

"Thank you, Dao friend!"

Upon hearing Feng Yi's words, the Golden Emperor's face showed a hint of smile: "Please rest assured, Dao friend Fuxi; as long as you assist me in leaving this realm of heavens, feel free to speak of any future matters."

"That will do."

He nodded, meeting the Golden Emperor's gaze; for some reason, Feng Yi always felt a bit ill at ease, and after discussing further, he took his leave.

Watching Feng Yi's retreating back, the Golden Emperor's pupils shifted slightly, carrying a hint of loftiness and vagueness.

After a moment, his figure also vanished behind the layered palaces beneath the hanging bright moon, leaving only a faint voice:

"Fuxi."

(End of chapter)