Now that the direction had been decided, everyone had long since prepared a plan for how to implement it.
"We intend to shatter this grotto-heaven and use it as the vessel to carry the 'Foundation'!" Master Huangshi opened boldly. He stroked his white beard, his brows twitching. "This grotto-heaven was opened in ancient times by many of my Daoist predecessors. It hangs above the present world, independent from the world, and is therefore suited to—"
"This is also why we invited Great Sage Wuzhiqi here."
If they wanted to use the grotto-heaven to carry the "Foundation," then they first had to throw it into chaos, shatter it, and then allow everyone to pour the Mystery they controlled into it for ordering and reconstruction.
And that kind of power was not something the many successors of the Hundred Schools present possessed. Among them were some who had already reached the immortal realm, and some who had not, but to break through a grotto-heaven of this level required the essence of power at least equivalent to the chief gods of other lands.
What corresponded to a chief god was an Immortal Venerable of the immortal path, a Sage of Confucianism, a Sky King of the divine path, or a Great Sage among demons.
"You don't need me for that now." Wuzhiqi shrugged and smiled, looking toward Rovi. "With Donghua Dijun here, where would there be any need for me?"
"Help us to the end... What do you say, Patriarch Donghua?"
"You're actually willing to hand over such a great opportunity?" Rovi was somewhat surprised. Shattering a grotto-heaven and reconstructing it was like recreating heaven and earth from chaos. It was indeed a rare opportunity.
Although grotto-heavens and blessed lands operated by principles similar to a Reality Marble, the gap between different Reality Marbles was enormous to begin with.
Rovi could tell that the grotto-heaven before him was nearly complete.
It could be called a miniature "world."
"Only by handing it over can I come ask you for help afterward!" Wuzhiqi blinked, speaking as if it were only natural.
She said, "Otherwise, how could I have the nerve to ask you to suppress my mind-monkey?"
Wuzhiqi was still thinking of escaping her seal as soon as possible!
Very well. Since she had put it that way, Rovi had no reason to refuse, and he would not refuse.
"Patriarch, please act!" Master Huangshi bowed deeply.
The Mohist Juzi knelt on one knee. "Patriarch, please act!"
The Confucian successor, the Legalist scholar, the Military School representative... all of them saluted Rovi at the same time.
And so Rovi sat behind the table, swept his sleeve, and uttered only one word.
"Very well."
A single word, yet it echoed like the tolling of a bell. Rovi once again struck the "chaos" in his mind.
If something was to be shattered, it had to be twisted first.
Thus invisible whispers echoed outward, rippling through the entire grotto-heaven and blessed land. Fortunately, they were not directed at any single person or existence, so everyone could only hear a faint reverberation.
Only Wuzhiqi's cheeks puffed out slightly, as if she were holding back laughter, her full chest trembling nonstop...
The sky was veiled in darkness. The earth, mountains, and rivers folded layer upon layer like crumpled paper. In an instant, the surroundings became extremely dim, and only the place where they stood still showed a patch of light.
Rovi struck the chaos in his mind again.
The "chaos" born from an Outer God shook even more violently within his consciousness.
Twisting, crushing, folds deepening and intensifying layer after layer without end—under this, he finally turned every piece of scenery into chaotic light and shadow.
The sky collapsed and bit completely into the earth.
The world seemed to return to its origin, revealing a scene of chaos and distortion.
"I told you, you're far more suited to this than I am!" Wuzhiqi watched this scene and sighed with feeling. "If I acted, I could only draw in the waters of the Huai River to crash against this place and shatter it... I could never achieve this. I could never..."
"Return heaven and earth to chaos."
"Chaos was like an egg." Master Huangshi murmured unconsciously.
Jing Ke was still drinking, but even she widened her eyes and stared at the scene.
Chaos was like an egg.
And Pangu—was born within it!
A thunderous roar emerged in an instant. The blazing light of a burning furnace surged and bloomed. Rovi's figure vanished at once, and in its place appeared a colossal shadow.
Like a sun burning fiercely, displaying flowing light through brilliant flames.
That was the light of the furnace core.
It was the manifestation of Rovi's other form—he had revealed his own Machine God body.
That form, never before seen in the Divine Land, left the masters of the Hundred Schools aghast. Wuzhiqi also parted her lips slightly... and her eyes instantly shone.
She had never seen anything like it.
But she simply felt... that it was beautiful.
"Back then, Chiyou was called bronze-headed and iron-boned, but even he didn't have bearing like this!" Wuzhiqi could not help making the comparison.
And in that moment, the Machine God forged of steel spread out cold, hard iron wings.
His hands braced against the "above" of chaos, and his feet stepped upon the "below" of chaos.
Beneath his feet surged a crimson storm, the manifestation of primordial stellar power and the power of the Sword of Rupture, slicing chaos apart.
At his hands and knees appeared primordial lava impacts originating from the Primordial Highest Heaven.
Both hands and both feet contained supreme force.
With this, he divided above and below, propping open a thread of light in this place after it had been twisted and collapsed.
That light appeared, yet it was like an abyss.
It drew in all the "Mystery" of the Hundred Schools.
They rippled like a vortex around the Machine God, but at its core was only emptiness, and within that emptiness, a simple ancient character: "Change."
Form and formlessness, with a single character as its true meaning.
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!
The sound of bells echoed through the chaos as if resounding across the wilderness.
Distortion scattered in all directions.
The masters of the Hundred Schools looked upon the steel giant, and a deep shock rose within them.
In this moment, it was like watching the legendary opening of heaven and earth.
No.
Or rather—this was the opening of heaven and earth!
...
One day, Donghua Dijun entered chaos and saw the world vast and hollow. The Emperor-Lord lowered his brows and transformed into a giant of steel. With a colossal body beyond measure, he held up heaven and stood upon earth. Thus heaven and earth first took form.
—The Scripture of Donghua Dijun Opening Heaven and Earth.
...
In the present world, in the outskirts of Ji, the capital of Yan, amid misty haze, figure after figure walked out as if appearing from nothing.
They were the people who had just been inside the grotto-heaven and blessed land.
Now that the grotto-heaven and blessed land had been shattered and transformed into the "Foundation," hanging above the present world, everyone had naturally been released from within it.
Rovi stepped onto the ground and, with a sweep of his sleeve, supported the still-dazed, sleeping Yu Mei-ren at his side. He felt somewhat helpless.
"It seems the Emperor-Lord still has something to do..." Wuzhiqi glanced sideways at Yu Mei-ren and let out a strange little laugh.
She shook out her pale long hair. "Very well. Then I shall come bother you next time."
"Mm." Rovi nodded, sweeping a glance over the people standing around him. "Then we will meet again."
"We respectfully see the Emperor-Lord off!"
"We respectfully see the Emperor-Lord off!"
"..."
The successors of the Hundred Schools all bowed their heads at the same time, and Rovi swept his sleeve and departed.
Above the firmament, faint light shimmered hazily.
As it fell, it illuminated that ethereal departing figure.
"It seems next, we still need a contest of orthodox lineages!" Master Huangshi stroked his beard and chuckled.
The Mohist Juzi frowned. "The Mohists do not engage in meaningless disputes."
"But the orthodox path of Huaxia must still be decided." The Confucian successor swept his sleeve and withdrew his gaze from the faint light in the sky.
That light was the manifestation of the "Foundation" in the present world, shining over vast Huaxia and the Divine Land like a star.
It was the source of "thought," and also the basis of its link to Human Order.
The Mystery of the Hundred Schools had all been embedded within it, circling around "Change," nested layer upon layer and existing in stability.
Because of this, the Hundred Schools had stabilized their own Mystery. It would no longer drain away. Indeed, as the "Foundation" continued to stabilize and expand, their power would instead grow stronger with the passage of time.
However, the "Foundation" was based on "thought." The greater the range covered by thought across the Divine Land, the stronger the "Foundation" would become.
At the same time, however, the so-called "thought arts," being rooted in thought, also determined what would come next: whoever occupied the mainstream thought of all under heaven would become the school that led the "Foundation," and whoever did so would be able to pass down their own school's inheritance through it, enduring without end.
"To teach and transform all people has always been the Confucian duty."
"Rule by non-action is true great order under heaven."
"Only by taking law as the Foundation can all under heaven belong to the public—"
"..."
The four aristocratic centuries of Spring and Autumn and Warring States, marked by bells and cauldrons, had passed, but the vast history of the Nine Provinces of Huaxia and the boundless Divine Land had only just begun.
Everyone gradually dispersed. Jing Ke, left where she was, swayed and let out a drunken hiccup.
From beginning to end, she seemed to have done nothing, only watched from the side and thrown a strand of her own "sword intent" into the "Foundation" as it formed.
Yet now, her mind abruptly cleared...
Because someone had come.
Or rather, someone finally dared to rush out from the corner.
"Jing Ke..."
"Yan Dan. As your friend, I already gave you the chance. You were the one who didn't dare—" Jing Ke sighed and looked toward her friend, Dan, the crown prince of Yan.
Yan Dan smiled bitterly.
He had asked Jing Ke to bring him to this place, which he should not have known about and had even less right to set foot in, only because he hoped to find a powerful person who could help resist Qin.
Qin was about to march east, eyeing all under heaven like a tiger. The other states were weak, but how could they possibly be willing to die?
As crown prince of Yan, Yan Dan was even less willing to see Yan fall to Qin.
But although he had not been able to see that scene of heaven and earth being opened, Yan Dan had still been frightened back by the aura that appeared in that instant.
He... had been cowardly.
"I've done all I can. If you had truly spoken, that person might not necessarily have refused you. But now it is already too late." Jing Ke sighed and turned to leave. "Farewell, my friend."
Yan Dan froze. Only after a very long while did he murmur, "I... disappointed you, Jing Ke."
He had indeed been cowardly.
But he... did not want to give up.
Elsewhere, outside the city of Yan, the world was covered in faint, misty light after the rain. After leaving, Rovi returned to the city and found an inn to rest.
Not for himself, but because the drunk Yu Mei-ren needed rest.
As he walked, he also pondered the gains from earlier.
But as the one who had opened the "path of thought," and as the direct creator of the "Foundation," Rovi had obtained far more benefits than that group of people.
As the one who had opened heaven and earth, he had directly gained the "Foundation's" recognition as its master. It honored him as "Gu"—the Gu of Pangu.
That "Dao" with thought as its core could also be used by him.
Compared to these things, however, what Rovi cared about more was the "chaos" within his mind.
Using it as a tool to "open heaven and earth" had only been a sudden idea, and even more, a hope that this method would allow it to grow even stronger, step by step approaching the goal he desired.
Only now, although it had not grown stronger as Rovi had hoped, it had visibly become more "solid."
Solid and heavy.
It felt almost like a qualitative change.
Of course Rovi was quite satisfied with this—though he would have been even more satisfied if he had not been interrupted while sorting through it.
"Such tasty wine... more..."
"Come on~"
"So annoying, so annoying. Nagging and fussing without end."
Listening to the girl's constant murmuring by his ear, Rovi had not expected Yu Mei-ren's drunken behavior to be this bad.
He brought her into the inn and settled her on the bed. Just as he was about to rise...
Yu Mei-ren suddenly grabbed his collar and yanked downward.
He was pulled straight into her arms.
In the quiet room of the inn, the sound of breathing rose and fell. Thin gauze hung over the bed, and Rovi glanced sideways, looking somewhat helplessly at Yu Mei-ren as she clung to him like an octopus.
Her arms wrapped around him, her full and graceful figure almost pressed entirely against him.
Yu Mei-ren had directly pinned Rovi beneath her.
The face before him was lovely and delicate, flushed red with wine, yet revealing a charm and fragility she never showed on ordinary days.
Rovi had just been about to leave when he discovered that Yu Mei-ren had suddenly rested her head against his neck.
"Don't... hoo... leave me..."
"Don't want... to be alone..."
"You're the one who brought me out, so you... have to take responsibility."
She was clearly drunk, and though her pronunciation was slurred, her logic was unexpectedly clear.
Rovi had brought her out from beneath the Fusang Tree.
So Rovi had to take responsibility.
So Rovi could not leave her.
So...
"I want to be with you... a-always be with you!"
Yu Mei-ren smiled.
A peaceful smile, and even more, an utterly pure smile without the slightest concealment.
Rovi fell silent for a moment, then sighed helplessly and stroked her hair as she gradually drifted into sleep.
Perhaps she was only a child after all.
...
"..."
"Is this the place?" Outside the inn, a carriage slowly stopped on the streets of Yan's capital. Someone opened her eyes, and an impatient, delighted surprise appeared on her pretty face. "I can feel it. The Emperor-Lord's scent. The Emperor-Lord is here!"
The maid beside Xu Fu very much wanted to say, Miss, your nose really is sharp. Fortunately, she did not say it aloud. "Yes, Miss."
"According to the clue in the King of Qin's letter, that person last appeared in the capital of Yan."
When the Emperor-Lord entered the world, he had never hidden his whereabouts.
And so any interested party who knew of his existence could possibly learn where Rovi was with only a little investigation.
Of course, only possibly. Rovi had not hidden his movements after entering the world, but neither had he displayed his existence in an excessively high-profile way.
Finding him was like searching among the six states for someone somewhat special.
It required a sufficient intelligence network.
Qin met that requirement, and each state also had such forces.
It was only that so far, apart from the "reckless" Jing Ke, not one person had dared to directly disturb Rovi.
Aside from the girl Xu Fu, who had arrived at this very moment.
"Let's go—!"
Her face full of excitement, Xu Fu jumped down from her seat, making the carriage tilt and shake.
"Miss, mind your bearing!" the maid could not help reminding her, only to discover that Xu Fu had already disappeared.
She froze in place. Only after a long while did she sigh.
She clearly acted very timid and shy on ordinary days, so why was it that whenever she encountered something or someone she liked, she could always throw herself forward so recklessly?
The young maid shook her head and glanced at the other letter in her hand...
It was something her "eyes" here had given her, which she had not yet had time to report to Xu Fu.
"A person suspected to be Donghua Dijun idly wandered here and entered an inn with a woman."
The maid silently folded the letter and put it aside.
Pretending she had never opened it. Pretending she knew nothing.
Hopefully, everyone would be fine.
---
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