Chapter 368: Chapter 32: The Secret of Nuwa, All Are Killable Beneath Daluo

[In the first year of his reign, Emperor Qin Shi Huang journeyed to Taishan for the sealing ceremony. Along the way, he met his Uncle Zhong, Profound Yellow.]

[On the Sealing Platform, the First Emperor declared that Virtue should be worthy of humanity, not the heavens. He proclaimed that sacrifices should be made to the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and the elder sages of the past, not to the Celestial Realm and Earth, nor to Immortals, Buddhas, and Ghost Gods.]

[The Immortals were enraged. Thunder rumbled, torrential rain fell, wild winds howled, the clash of weapons rang out, and fierce fires blazed. The Medicine Buddha of Spirit Mountain, the Luminous Glaze Buddha, descended in person. He casually severed eighteen thousand years of the Great Qin’s national fortune, unleashing his wrath and invoking a great tribulation.]

[The First Emperor’s Uncle Zhong, Profound Yellow, strode into the heavens. Reaching out, he patted the Buddha’s head, severing his path to Longevity. The Medicine Buddha, the Luminous Glaze Buddha, was extinguished. Before his end, he wept bitterly, filled with endless regret.]

[The First Emperor then forged the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, inscribed with the words, "Having received the Mandate from Man, may my reign be long and prosperous." With it, he bolstered the great fortune of the Human Dao and curtailed the destiny of the Immortals and Buddhas!]

...

Taishan.

The sealing ceremony was complete. The First Emperor returned to court, escorted by one hundred thousand Black Armor soldiers. The Wu’an Monarch was at his side, and Liu Bang, Yan Huang, Zhang Jifeng, and Wang Zhiyao followed as well.

After the great army departed, Taishan returned to its original tranquility.

The thatched cottage.

Lu Xuan raised his hoe, tilling the earth one strike at a time. Every ray of sunlight still felt like a Great Sun, with hundreds of them pressing down upon him, yet the crushing weight and tearing sensation from before were gone.

"This..." He was taken aback. The Old Nong walked out of the thatched cottage, smiling. "Your foundation has already been perfected in the past. There is no longer a need for such methods."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Xuan felt his entire body lighten. The sunlight reverted to normal, and the hoe in his hand became just an ordinary tool.

He asked curiously,

"Teacher, when was it perfected?"

The Old Nong chuckled.

"Your third martial uncle saw the Medicine Buddha intruding upon your memories. He casually plucked away a third of the Buddha Body to solidify your foundation for you. With that, you can now start planning the grand ritual to achieve Immortality."

Lu Xuan’s eyes brightened. He set down his hoe, his thirst for knowledge surging, and asked,

"Teacher, does this mean I no longer need to pursue the Extreme Realm of the ’Heaven-Facing Palace’ stage?"

"The Heaven-Facing Palace stage... the ’Celestial Palace’ it refers to is, in fact, one’s own path. To face the Celestial Palace is to comprehend the Great Dao. You’ve already clearly seen your own path for a long time, have you not?"

"I see." A wave of understanding washed over Lu Xuan. He then asked, "Is a ritual absolutely necessary to step into Immortality? I possess twelve hundred shares of Human Dao Fortune, and it feels like I could become Immortal at any moment..."

"Absolutely not."

The Old Nong’s expression grew solemn. He said softly,

"To become Immortal is to forge an Immortal Golden Body, which is divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower Grades. Achieving Immortality through Human Dao Fortune or an ordinary ritual will only allow you to forge a Lower Grade Immortal Golden Form. It is the most inferior."

Lu Xuan’s eyes lit up.

"If I may ask, Teacher, how does one achieve the Middle and Upper Grades?"

"For the Middle Grade, one must perform a ritual that affects the entirety of the Human World, the Celestial Realm, or the Nine Nether."

"For the Upper Grade, the difficulty is greater still. The ritual must engulf the entire Great Heaven and Earth and be reflected throughout the Celestial Myriad Realms. You must author a new Chapter in the great expanse of Years and spearhead a momentous shift in the world’s tide. Only then can it be achieved. In all of history, those who reached the Upper Grade have been few and far between."

Lu Xuan grew thoughtful and asked again,

"May I ask, Teacher, what are the differences between these three grades?"

"With the Lower Grade, the physical body becomes immortal and one’s lifespan is endless. With the Middle Grade, the bloodline becomes unending and the True Spirit becomes immortal. As for the Upper Grade..."

The Old Nong’s expression grew serious.

"Achieving the Upper Grade Immortal grants one a weakened version of a Dao Fruit’s characteristic: being Undying."

Lu Xuan’s pupils contracted. He said nothing, listening intently as the Old Nong continued,

"It means that as long as a single being beneath the level of a Dao Fruit knows your true name or your deeds, then even if your soul is scattered to the winds and your True Spirit is utterly annihilated, you will re-emerge from the songs of legend and step forth from history itself. This is a great secret. None but those of the Upper Grade or the Dao Fruit realm are aware of it."

Lu Xuan gasped. ’As long as a single being below the Dao Fruit realm in all the Celestial Myriad Realms knows my true name, or even just a sliver of my story, it’s equivalent to being Undying?’

’And that’s the *weakened* version of a Dao Fruit’s characteristic?’

He swallowed hard and couldn’t help but ask,

"Then, Teacher, who in this world below the realm of Dao Fruit possesses an Upper Grade Golden Body?"

"Originally, there were over a hundred such individuals, but now only enough to be counted on two hands remain. For instance, the Queen Mother of the Jade Pool, Zhenyuan Zi, and Sun Wukong..."

"Sun Wukong?" Lu Xuan’s expression shifted.

"You know of that brazen Monkey?" The Old Nong chuckled. "That Monkey seems reckless, but he is in fact quite cunning. He raised the Great Turmoil in Heaven in the Celestial Realm, caused chaos in the Nine Nether, and undertook his journey to the West in the Human World. His deeds were reflected throughout the Celestial Myriad Realms, culminating in a grand ritual that granted him Upper Grade Immortality."

After a pause, he waved his hand dismissively.

"However, that Monkey’s success was ninety-nine percent luck. It just so happened to be a time when several Dao Fruit beings reached a compromise, which is the only reason he was made. Otherwise, with his mere Grand Grade body at the time, how could he possibly have caused a turmoil in the Celestial Palace and thrown the Nine Nether into chaos?"

Lu Xuan nodded pensively. ’Causing a turmoil in the Celestial Palace and chaos in the Nine Nether with a Grand Grade body... Hm?’

’Don’t I count as having caused a turmoil in the Celestial Palace, too?’

He chuckled and asked,

"Then, Teacher, what about the other hundred or so who achieved the Upper Grade Immortal Golden Form? What happened to them...?"

"A very long time ago, there were no rules between those of the Dao Fruit realm. They would casually overturn history and re-enact the past at will. Those hundred-some individuals with Upper Grade Immortal Golden Forms were utterly annihilated during the countless times history was rewritten."

The Old Nong sighed.

"I cannot tell you their specific names or deeds. If I did, they would be able to return, and for you, that would not be a good thing."

As he spoke, he leaned back in his rocking chair, leisurely waving a cattail fan.

"Your eldest martial brother should be arriving soon... But first, tell me. What happened beneath that Stone Stele?"

Lu Xuan’s expression turned solemn. He knew the important part had come. After a moment of thought, he began,

"I went to that world of deathly silence. I saw the Lady, the skeleton on the cliff face, and the Dying Buddha on the mountain peak..."