Heaven-Defying Rebel Sage
Chapter 312 - 296: The Spring Breeze Greens the Banks of Jiangnan Again

Chapter 312: Chapter 296: The Spring Breeze Greens the Banks of Jiangnan Again

Legend has it that Wukong created the Posa Greater World, established the elements of earth, water, wind, fire, divided Yin and Yang, evolved all beings, and resurrected old friends through reincarnation.

On this side, Lord of Primordial Beginning and the Ancient of Heaven came out and paid their respects to Wukong with a salutation.

"Immeasurable eons! Who would have thought that Wukong, you would actually achieve the realm of a Great Dao Sage. Although the Earth Immortal Realm has been destroyed, fortunately, you have grasped the Reincarnation Mysteries and understood the Great Reincarnation Technique, allowing all the deceased to be resurrected," the Lord of Primordial Beginning said with a smile.

Wukong continued to perform the Great Reincarnation Technique, and Kunpeng, Zhun Ti, Amitabha Buddha, Ancestral Demon Luo Hou, Ksitigarbha Buddha, and others were all revived.

There were also Kong Xuan, Medicine Buddha, the Buddhas of the Pure Land, Bodhisattvas, the deities of the Heavenly Court... all those who retained a trace of their True Spirit were brought back to life with the Great Reincarnation Technique.

This was an act of Great Magical Power, a miracle that resurrected the dead and revived them through reincarnation.

Kong Xuan, being of the Five Elements Spirit Root, transformed into a cluster of Five Elements Spiritual Energy, and then evolved again, but others were not so fortunate; most of them were of mortal flesh and could only be reborn as infants, then slowly grow up. However, their memories remained intact, and they knew the cultivation methods. Even as infants, they could cultivate.

Humans, demons, deities, ghosts, monsters, Buddhas, immortals, oddities... and so on, everyone was revived one by one. After experiencing the defense of the Earth Immortal Realm, they had already put aside their differences, united as one. Now resurrected, they didn’t even think of roaring for battle, seeking to annihilate the Chaos Heaven Demon.

Everyone watched with a sigh, and when they came to their senses, they realized they had died once, and the Earth Immortal Realm had long been shattered.

"Great Emperor Xuanyuan, Flame Emperor of Shennong, Saint Emperor Fuxi, all reincarnate!" Wukong spread his hands, with Fuxi appearing first.

He, too, was akin to an Innate Taoist Body, half-human and half-serpent. Upon arrival, he possessed the cultivation level of a Primordial Golden Immortal. The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, on the other hand, emerged as infants and could only grow and cultivate slowly again.

The Heavenly Dao Saints also became Primordial Golden Immortals. They had to cultivate anew, perceive anew the Heavenly Dao Laws of the Posa Greater World, only through this could they return to their peak.

"Unending eons! Well said, well said," Amitabha Buddha said with his hands clasped in prayer.

Wukong set down the Heavenly Dao Laws with precision, where any act of crime was forbidden. Violators would be exiled into eternal darkness by the Heavenly Dao Laws, their term of exile determined by the severity of their crime. For those with grave offenses, Heavenly Dao Thunder Punishment would be directly descended upon them, obliterating them utterly.

Although the Posa Greater World was now a haven of harmony with the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors reborn to instruct mankind, no one could guarantee that such peaceful coexistence would remain in the future. After all, distinctions exist between humans and demons, barriers among devils, and strife even among deities... All as cultivators, there is no first in scholarship or second in martial prowess; conflicts are inevitable. If handled improperly, it could cause racial tensions.

Thus, Wukong, with his Great Magical Power, established an arena known as the "Platform of Life and Death." If disputes became irresolvable, the parties would take to the platform to decide the victor, life or death irrelevant, unregulated by the Heavenly Dao. However, should one kill another and seize wealth under the regulation of the Heavenly Dao, then they would suffer its punishment.

Now with great powers assembled and sages as numerous as clouds, with such Great Saints like the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors in the world, teaching all beings, the occurrences of crime would certainly be rare.

After arranging everything, Wukong performed a somersault and flew above the Thirty-Three Heavens. There was no longer a need for the Heavenly Court; harmony reigned among all. The Heavenly Court only had a purpose for constraint. Now, with everyone equal and no distinction between deities and mortals, establishing a Heavenly Court would only create a sense of aloof superiority, which is undesirable.

"Heaven-Defying Taoist, go!" Wukong commanded with a light shout, as a Primordial Spirit Thought separated and transformed into the Heaven-Defying Taoist.

Then the Great Dao Principles completely severed the connection between him and the Heaven-Defying Taoist, yet the cultivation level of the Heaven-Defying Taoist was also that of a Primordial Golden Immortal at the peak.

A mere Primordial Spirit Thought had created a Primordial Golden Immortal at the peak. Within that thought also contained Great Dao Principles, but repairing this connection would also take a considerable time, at least several years.

"Go, you go find Xiao Qing," Wukong said slowly.

The Heaven-Defying Taoist nodded, steered his cloud away from the Thirty-Three Heavens, and headed towards the Posa Greater World.

"Taoist Master!" Xiao Qing exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the Heaven-Defying Taoist.

Her humble self dared not dream of becoming a companion to a Great Dao Saint; and with Xuan Ming there, she could only watch in silence.

The Heaven-Defying Taoist smiled faintly.

Time flowed as if returning to the days in the Earth Immortal Realm, where the Heaven-Defying Taoist on his own challenged Buddha’s sons and battled fiercely against Di Lin.

All of it seemed like it was in front of one’s eyes.

She still favored Wukong, as he was like a Taoist, effortlessly taking lives, serene as a light breeze with scattered clouds.

Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian had long perished in the cataclysm, reduced to ash, ceasing to exist; leaving Xiao Qing living in loneliness.

The Heaven-Defying Taoist smiled faintly, and Xiaoqing couldn’t help but start laughing as well.

...

Dressed in a green robe, the Heaven-Defying Taoist held a jug of "bamboo green liquor" and stood sidelong at one side of the alley, drinking. Xiaoqing, meanwhile, slowly walked towards him from the far end of the ancient post road. In the early morning, within the ancient building, in the depths of the courtyard under the sky well, smoke curling from chimneys rose from the rooftops as Xiaoqing combed his hair and helped him wash up.

Ordinary days.

But the Heaven-Defying Taoist knew that the destiny of the woman was never going to be one of limitless horizons; not in the last eon, nor in this one. The world was a cycle, a reincarnation. Xiaoqing seemed fond of this simple life, moving back and forth between the mountains and waterside mansions, with just a serene turn of the head. Yet as time passed, the beauty that emerged was like the rows of white-walled and black-tiled houses; even though they were long past repair, they had an air of grandeur, a common beauty ephemeral as clouds and smoke.

Embracing ordinary emotions, the pair wandered in the endless forest akin to the sea, frolicking in the streams that shimmered with the purity of a maiden’s glow. They walked on foot, with fallen blossoms scattering about, the mist arising in March, and those pink peach blossoms swaying in the glow of the morning sun and the sunset’s dusk.

In the quiet post road, a branch sticking out from the wall took on a woman’s graceful silhouette. On those branches, exquisite and desolate blue flowers blossomed.

Because of their delicacy, they did not show off their flamboyance, for being partly hidden, they did not display recklessness. It was like a tune, always echoing in subdued notes, recurring themes, reaching directly into the heart of those who loved to gaze upon the blue flowers without any guard. Thus, the more the Heaven-Defying Taoist smiled, the lighter and more content he became.

The two of them, following the gentle stream, wandered aimlessly in the dreamlike Divine Land of Dongsheng, resembling an intoxicated fool after wine, more earnest, less flippant. After years of longing that were finally fulfilled, the girl’s restraints were at last coming to an end. She could now dance freely with the wind, performing "Beauty Yu," handed down since the last eon, amidst the stream beneath the mountainous shadows, walking barefoot like a water nymph.

Who knows, if Cao Zijian from the previous eon saw this, what sort of poem would he write?

The Heaven-Defying Taoist sang songs, and Xiaoqing strummed the zither, both singing and conversing amid the eternal void, harboring ordinary sentiments.

Sitting on a black-awning boat atop West Lake, they appreciated the scenic splendor of West Lake.

The Heaven-Defying Taoist sipped his liquor lightly, when he suddenly saw a scholar by the shore opening an oil-paper umbrella to meet a woman dressed in white.

Xiaoqing couldn’t help but exclaim, "Sister?"

The Heaven-Defying Taoist thought deeply for a moment, as if time had paused its steps. In that short pause, it felt as though eons had passed; he slowly shook his head and said, "No, that is a flower of likeness. Buried in a past life, blooming in this one. Don’t disturb their ordinary life."

Xiaoqing felt a bit melancholic, nodded, and said, "Okay."

Like a wife’s compliance to her husband, yet with a tinge of reluctance.

Past events are like the wind.

But how could such windy past events be forgotten so easily? Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing had cultivated for a thousand years to become deities, their bond so profound. How could they relinquish it so effortlessly?

As countless eons pass by, there will always be a similar flower that blossoms, fulfilling the unachieved dreams within the last eon.

Perhaps, the intertwined destinies of Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian were meant for this pair of lovers after all.

The drizzle on the banks of Jiangnan, under an aging oil-paper umbrella, could not adequately tell tales of the lingering clouds and windswept charm. A bout of rain, a bout of desolation, a bout of sadness, with light liquor down the throat—just another round in the cycle of reincarnation. Turned to dust and crushed to earth, only the fragrance persists as before.

So be it, so be it.

When the beacons of war flare up, with clashing swords and charging cavalry, and deception between rulers. Will there again be a crazed Xiang Yu weeping as he holds the body of his beloved wife? Or a King You of Zhou, for a beauty’s smile, forsaking his realm to jest with the feudal lords?

"Young Master, I’ve come to return your umbrella," the woman gently knocked on the scholar’s door, her smile blooming like flowers.

"Ah... Miss, please come inside and have some tea," the scholar’s cheeks flushed as he welcomed the woman inside.

Everything was so familiar, as if it were progressing forward along the track of old times.

To find out what happens next, please stay tuned for the following episode.

Ps: [Responding to the Sect Leader "Great Saint of Chaos" who has contributed so much to this book, these past few days he has been asking for additional updates. I only have two Chapters in reserve, and it’s beyond my capability, but I’ve decided to release one Chapter anyway since it’s been a long time since the last update.] (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please support by casting your recommendation votes, monthly ticket at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)