Chapter 88: Mount Tai Ye Fan

"Sea of Wheels, Palace of Dao, Four Extremes, Transforming Dragon, Immortal Platform."

"Perhaps one could, by relying on the system of using one's body as a seed, integrate one's many insights into the heavenly stele's profound law."

"First, open up the bitter sea. Pangu."

"Countless streams of information flowed within his pupils, and Feng Yi's gaze became unusually bright."

"After a long while, he then gathered his spirit and looked toward the dazed-eyed figure in dark robes by the edge of the Fairy Pool—this was the Fuxi deity formed from the collective thoughts of all beings in this realm."

"With a stir in his heart, that figure instantly turned into an illusory ray of light, merging into Feng Yi's body."

"Although he now has a flesh-and-blood body, Feng Yi will not easily abandon this Fuxi incarnation equivalent to a deity of faith."

"In the future, when he finds an opportunity to study this power of sentient beings' thoughts, he might obtain a faith embodiment similar to Amitabha Buddha, or a powerful incarnation like the Undying Daoist."

"After doing all this, Feng Yi glanced at the little white tiger not far away, a faint smile appearing on his face, exuding the aura of the Fuxi mark, and he gently waved at it."

"The little white tiger, like a small cat, hesitated for a moment; seeing that the green bronze cauldron in the pool had not been taken away, it ultimately turned into a white light and landed on Feng Yi's shoulder."

'"Haha, you made a wise decision."'

"Seeing the little white tiger ultimately choose to follow him, Feng Yi couldn't help but burst into laughter."

"Afterward, he glanced once more at the Fairy Pool beside him and the green bronze cauldron at its bottom, then turned without the slightest reluctance and headed out of the valley."

"After a moment, the valley returned to tranquility, with only the green bronze vessels still sunk at the bottom of the Fairy Pool, awaiting the day someone would retrieve them."

"Mount Tai, the foremost of the Five Great Peaks, owing to its towering grandeur, also holds the reputation of being the number one mountain under heaven."

"At Jade Emperor Peak, Ye Fan looked down upon the myriad mountains below, gazed afar at the Yellow River, and felt the majesty and grandeur of this famous mountain; involuntarily recalling the ancient saying 'Climbing Mount Tai makes the world seem small,' he now profoundly understood its meaning."

'"Nothing surpasses this mountain in height, nothing exceeds it in antiquity—truly worthy of being the chief of the Five Great Peaks, Mount Tai!"'

"This thought arose in his mind, and Ye Fan couldn't help but marvel at the splendid view before him."

"But just then, his heart stirred, his eyes shifted slightly, and he instinctively looked toward a slender figure not far away."

"He was a man dressed in dark robes like an ancient figure, holding an antiquated book in one hand and a simple brush in the other, as if writing something."

"Although this scene would seem strange in the present era, for some reason, in Ye Fan's eyes it conveyed an indescribable sense of harmony."

"It seemed as if the man before him, resembling an ancient figure, possessed an indescribable temperament that made his every gesture conform to the surrounding nature and environment."

'"He truly seems like an ancient person stepped out of history!"'

"This thought arose in his mind, and Ye Fan instinctively stepped forward, curiously fixing his gaze on the ancient book in the other's hand."

"The book's surface bore mysterious patterns, and at the top of the page when opened were written two very ancient characters, faintly carrying some inexplicable rhythm."

"Although Ye Fan did not recognize these two characters, the moment he saw them he automatically understood their meaning: 'Cover the Sky!'"

'"Cover the Sky? How arrogant."'

"He inwardly muttered a complaint, and the next instant his gaze was directly drawn to the picture in the book, his entire mind seeming to be sucked into it."

"It was an extremely shocking scene: amidst a blood-red sunset, nine colossal beings descended from the heavens, pulling an ancient, vast bronze coffin, and fell toward the summit of a towering mountain."

"The whole picture was lifelike, as if it truly existed between heaven and earth, and even faintly the entire scene seemed to be continually changing."

"More importantly, those nine colossal beings were actually nine huge dragon corpses, and atop the summit a human figure stood facing the descending bronze coffin, as if the protagonist of the whole picture."

"Gazing at the shocking image of the nine dragons pulling the coffin in the book, Ye Fan's mind wavered, and faintly his pupils seemed to behold various different scenes."

"Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin, Fluctuating Ancient Star, Northern Dipper Emperor Road Contending for Supremacy"

"Numerous images flashed before his eyes, hazy and illusory, yet they seemed to represent events that would soon occur in his own future, plunging him into a dazed state from which he could not free himself."

"After an unknown amount of time, Ye Fan suddenly made out the face of the figure standing on the summit, facing the nine-dragon-pulled coffin—the protagonist of the image—and realized it was none other than himself."

"Boom"

"In an instant, Ye Fan's mind snapped back, countless thoughts surged, and for a moment he felt as if he had crossed worlds, his very temperament subtly shifting."

"Having regained his senses, Ye Fan instinctively tried to recall the many images he had just seen."

"He instinctively felt those images were important to him, as if they represented some kind of future of his own."

"But the next moment, he discovered that the images he had just seen seemed to be shrouded in a mist from him; no matter how he tried to recall them, he could no longer see them clearly."

'"Young man, have you seen enough?"'

"Just as Ye Fan was lost in confusion, a gentle voice sounded: 'What future did you see in the River Chart?'"

"The voice was not loud, yet it seemed to contain some soothing power, instantly calming Ye Fan's mind."

"Instinctively raising his head, Ye Fan saw the owner of the book, a handsome youth with a smile."

'"That was the picture of the future."'

"This thought arose in his mind, and Ye Fan's face showed an undisguisable surprise as he instinctively said, 'Did I really just see my own future?'"

"Before his words even finished, Ye Fan couldn't help but startle."

"He actually believed such an obviously deceitful statement upon hearing it?"

"The youth in dark robes seemed to see through Ye Fan's thoughts, lightly laughing and saying, 'Isn't there already an answer in your heart?'"

'"An answer?"'

"This thought arose in his mind, and Ye Fan instinctively felt that the picture he had just seen was his future, although even he felt the notion was absurd."

"But just then, he suddenly realized a name in the youth's recent words, and instinctively asked, 'You said this is the River Chart? Then who are you?'"

"The youth in dark robes seemed to have just finished sketching the picture in the book, looked at Ye Fan, and with a faint smile softly said, 'You may call me Fuxi.'"

"Fuxi!"

"Just two short words, yet like a thunderclap they exploded in Ye Fan's heart, plunging him into a daze."

"As a person of Huaxia, Ye Fan naturally knew the name Fuxi—the progenitor of humanity, one of the ancestors of Huaxia."

"Under ordinary circumstances, if someone claimed to be Fuxi, Ye Fan would only regard them as a lunatic or a swindler."

"But at this moment, when the youth in dark robes uttered those two words, for some reason Ye Fan instinctively believed him, believing he was indeed that progenitor of humanity."

'"I must be crazy!"'

"Having returned to his senses, Ye Fan's heart unconsciously gave rise to this thought."

At the moment Ye Fan's thoughts were turning, he suddenly felt as if he sensed something, and subconsciously he once again fixed his gaze on the book held by the dark-robed figure opposite him.

On the page, the figure shown standing on the mountain peak, facing the Nine Dragons pulling the coffin, was fully outlined as the picture's protagonist—it was exactly his own likeness.

At the same time, that gentle voice sounded again in Ye Fan's ear: "Young man, I have borrowed a thread of your qi; the future scene you just saw on the River Chart shall serve as my payment!"

As the words faded, Ye Fan's heart gave a slight jolt, and he felt an indescribable strangeness.

Subconsciously he turned his gaze to the book and noticed that the figure depicted there, which resembled him closely, seemed to have undergone some inexplicable change, as if it had come alive in an instant.

But before Ye Fan could fully make out this change, his vision suddenly blurred, everything around him grew hazy, and an ethereal voice sounded in his ear: "Young man, the curtain is about to rise, destiny is about to unfold, the road ahead is perilous—be careful; if fate wills, we shall meet again."

As the voice faded, the hazy vision before Ye Fan vanished, and the dark-robed man was gone; it seemed as if everything before him carried a dreamlike quality.

He subconsciously glanced around and found himself standing blankly atop the Jade Emperor's Peak, with a beautiful girl standing before him—his classmate Lin Jia.

After asking his companions, Ye Fan realized that none of them had seen the dark-robed figure he described; it seemed that what had just happened was truly just his hallucination.

But for some reason, Ye Fan kept feeling that what had just occurred was not an illusion, and he felt a vague sense of loss.

At this moment, Lin Jia looked at Ye Fan with some concern, waved her hand in front of him, and softly asked, "Ye Fan, are you all right?"

"I"

Ye Fan seemed still immersed in what had just happened, and only after a while did he shake his head.

In the time that followed, his mind kept replaying what had just occurred, leaving him with an indescribable feeling.

Until suddenly black specks appeared on the horizon, gradually grew larger, and finally turned into nine colossal objects descending from the sky.

Ye Fan stood there blankly, as if he had completely lost the ability to think.

The scene that suddenly appeared in the sky before him was exactly the same as the picture he had seen in the River Chart of the youth suspected to be Fuxi.

At this moment, the scene before Ye Fan's eyes seemed to coincide with the image from the past book, giving him a sense of an epic ordained by fate.

"What is depicted in that book truly concerns the future!"

"Could that book really be the legendary River Chart? Is that youth truly Fuxi? If so, then the images I saw must truly be my own future—how could that be? I must be going mad!"

Although Ye Fan usually enjoys reading books about curiosities and is quite curious about legendary ancient civilizations, he never imagined he could actually see the legendary Chinese forefather, the human ancestor Fuxi.

Nine Dragons pulling the coffin, River Chart, future events, Fuxi.

Countless thoughts churned in his heart; at this moment Ye Fan felt that the worldview he had built over the years seemed to be completely reshaped.

As Ye Fan stood dazed, with the Nine Dragons pulling the coffin descending, fissures appeared all over the summit of Mount Tai, revealing five-colored altars etched with the marks of ages.

And in the deep pit where the ancient bronze coffin crashed, there stood a supermassive five-colored altar bearing the entire huge bronze coffin.

A dark-robed figure appeared at some point before the five-colored altar, curiously examining the ancient script on the altar that resembled heavenly writings—it was Feng Yi.

He emanated an ineffable aura; though he stood right there, he gave off a subtle presence that made people unconsciously overlook him, and no one noticed him.

After examining the runes on the five-colored altar for a moment and recording those characters onto the River Chart, Feng Yi began to scrutinize the ancient bronze coffin before him.

This ancient bronze coffin is an important item that runs through the trilogy, originating from the master of the bronze coffin.

As Feng Yi examined the ancient bronze coffin, the ancient characters engraved on the five-colored altar suddenly blazed with light; countless letters flew up, emitting a dazzling divine radiance.

The characters continually flowed and recombined, eventually forming a huge Bagua diagram, from which arose an ancient and enduring aura.

As the Bagua turned, a moment later a black-and-white yin-yang fish intertwined appeared, forming together a yin-yang Bagua diagram.

Hum

After an unknown amount of time, the yin-yang fish at the center of the yin-yang Bagua diagram opened like a gateway, starlight shining within, revealing an ancient path through the stars.

With the opening of the stellar ancient path, the Nine Dragons pulling the coffin started up again, the ancient bronze coffin opened, and it sucked in the figures on the mountaintop, including Ye Fan.

Just before entering the ancient bronze coffin, Ye Fan subconsciously glanced toward the five-colored altar and saw the dark-robed figure that seemed like his own hallucination.

Unfortunately, before he could say anything more, he was directly swallowed by the ancient bronze coffin.

(End of chapter)