Chapter 1027: A Past Self, A Future Self

“Him?!” Qiu Luoyu plainly knew the identity of the three-eyed man, and knew that he’d infiltrated the sacred palaces by returning as a chaos dragon and killing a real one to take its place.

The three-eyed man was also an otherkind. He was a sovereign and the only one within the entire chaos to remain out of the sacred palaces’ clutches. Qiu Luoyu hadn’t thought that this rogue wanderer would also have his sights set on the six palaces.

“If the one you mentioned earlier is also getting involved in this… then we have a ray of hope. But if we still rely on just the two of you, this will remain a suicide mission.” Qiu Luoyu quirked his lips. “If my guess is correct, he’s using you to draw attention so he can do other things that he wants to do more.”

That confirmed some of Lu Yun’s suspicions and he nodded as well.

He hadn’t trusted the three-eyed man from the very beginning, though he’d been quite tempted by the idea of stealing the six sacred palaces and destroying the foundation of the chaos creatures. It seemed doable, but Lu Yun had his own thoughts all along.

He hadn’t forgotten how the three-eyed man had displayed certain killing intent on Mount Buzhou. If Lu Yun hadn’t sent the thirty-six warriors in his stead, the three-eyed man likely would’ve already killed him.

“Don’t even think about this anymore, the six sacred palaces come from extraordinary origins and can’t be taken just because someone wants them. Even experts beyond the chaos would suffer karmic repercussions and be annihilated if they tried to take them. You have your dao palaces, hurry and do whatever it is you want to do. The creation seed is almost mature.” Qiu Luoyu’s expression changed slightly as urgency crept into his voice.

He alone wouldn’t be enough if he wanted the creation seed. If he didn’t have Lu Yun and the little fox as decoys, he would likely have to take shelter in the realms. He was an otherkind, so he could live in those worlds. But those worlds were also a cesspool to him and he wouldn’t flee to them if he didn’t have to.

Otherkind were also chaos creatures, they just weren’t poisoned by the energy of a world. However, that didn’t mean they didn’t abhor the realms from the bottom of their hearts as well.

They approached the realms and even allied with its denizens only to ensure their own survival. Once their crisis was resolved, they would swiftly turn their sights on the realms to destroy them as well.

……

A chaos star and the sixth dao palace were at hand. Lu Yun could sense the presence of hell from where he was, but he didn’t send the sixth palace in. He didn’t know what would happen when all six were gathered together, but he now felt that the outcome wouldn’t be anything good.

The six chaos stars nurtured the laws of the highest order in the chaos. If someone was controlling them and manipulating the laws through them, Lu Yun was certain that the current kingdom of hell wouldn’t be able to resist the sovereigns of the chaos.

Qiu Luoyu left, retreating from the chaos current entirely.

“How do I cultivate so that my own body is my dao fruit?” Lu Yun asked the little fox.

“My path is unsuitable for you.” The little fox shook her head. “I can use my own body as my dao fruit because I possess the primitive great dao. The immortal dao isn’t an inheritor of the primitive great dao, so there’s a disconnect between the great dao within my body and my old dao fruit, compared to the new body that was forged through reincarnation.

“Since I have a past self, I can discard it and use it to refine a dao fruit for my current body. But you’re different, you have no past self. Whether it’s Flame Emperor Lie Shan or the current you, they’re both you. There’s no past or present separation between those two, so you can’t walk my path!”

The little fox took the human form of the stunning Tushan Miao; she wore an uncommonly grave expression on her face. She’d recovered to her sovereign condition and peak strength as the foremost beauty of the great wilderness.

Though she hadn’t been a chaos realm master during that time, she’d numbered among the mightiest of those who existed, second only to Leize. How else would Fuxi and God have brought her along and included her in their plans?

She slowly opened her alabaster-white palm and displayed the neutral chaos star hovering silently over her right hand.

“Use this neutral star to create a past you, or a future you.” A sheen of silver sparkled faintly in her eyes. “I more or less understand what those chaos creatures are trying to do, and so does Qiu Luoyu. However, he didn’t say anything just now, so he’s not a worthy ally. We can only rely on ourselves.

“Concentrate the laws of the highest order into this star and send it to the past so it can become a past you!”

“A past me?” Lu Yun blinked.

“That’s right, a past you in some era before our world was born!” the little fox said solemnly. “My master knew a long time ago that the chaos creatures know how to destroy our realms. They can do that through directing their laws into our worlds and using them to undo our existence on a fundamental level.

“Their methods have been different throughout time, but who would’ve thought that they’d use the six dao palaces as bait this time and entice you to refine the chaos stars within. That’s how they’ll flood our worlds with their laws!”

The six dao palaces had existed long ago, but the laws they contained had never infringed upon the realms. There was a clear moat between the two and they never crossed paths. But if a denizen of the realms refined these six laws of highest order, they would become a tremendous weapon with which to destroy all worlds.

Of course, this also hinged upon their refiner being willing to take action, which was where possession came in. This was the crux as to why the chaos creatures had withdrawn the six dao palaces into the chaos.

Hongjun knew of all this, but hadn’t told Lu Yun about it. The little fox had learned of some of it through the creation seed in her body, and her following Lu Yun to the chaos could be attributed to Hongjun.

“You might destroy our realm ahead of time if you travel to a period just before our world was born, so… you should go back to an even more ancient era. Go back prior to what they call the Great Devastation in the chaos, the further back the better!

“Since there’s no sense of time in the chaos, it’s easier for you to travel through time.”

“I need to go back to a time before the Great Devastation, just like how I traveled to the great wilderness?” Lu Yun felt a migraine developing.

“There’s no need to do that. All you need to do is to send this chaos star into the past and go about your business. It’ll come back on its own.” The little fox waved a hand. “It’s up to its own fate whether it comes back dead or alive. This chaos star is only traveling back to the past to become your substitute because it contains your presence.”

Lu Yun heaved a sigh of relief. He’d go crazy if he had to travel through time again.

He injected a bit of his own soul force and the six laws of the highest order into the chaos star, whereupon the little fox called upon the creation seed within her body. She ripped open a little tear in space and time and sent the star drifting to a certain point of time in the past.

If she’d done this in the realms where the concept of time existed, this would’ve been nothing short of committing suicide. Heaven and earth would’ve recoiled so severely on her that she’d be dead before her next breath, but since there was no time in the chaos, it wouldn’t result in any consequences.

Of course, this ability of hers stemmed completely from the creation seed. When she, Fuxi and the others had established the river of time and traveled from the great wilderness to the future, then brought Lu Yun back with them—they’d done so utilizing the creation seed in her.

There still remained a trace of energy on the creation seed to step into space and time.

“Since there’s no concept of time here, we can create any opening that leads to the past. Why don’t we create another future self? Perhaps I’ll be able to find it some day in my days to come…” A sudden thought struck Lu Yun.

“A future self?” The little fox’s eyes lit up. “That’s right, if there’s a you in the future, you might be able to meet him some point down the road. When your three bodies become one, you’ll be stronger than just the combination of your past and present self!

“But what are you going to use for your future self?” the little fox asked doubtfully.

“This.” Lu Yun opened his hand to reveal an emerald-green sapling. A sapling of the Karmic Tree!

He’d split this off from the Karmic Tree through the strength of the Tome of Life and Death. The tree was an extraordinary treasure and most suitable to fashion his future self. If his past self refined the six laws of highest order within the chaos, then Lu Yun would inject the strength of reincarnation along with his soul force into this future self.

The little fox used the last bit of energy remaining within the creation seed to create another opening and send the tiny sapling to the future.

What lay ahead of them, Lu Yun had no idea. He wasn’t even mentally connected to them; they were two independent life forms residing in the past and future. They would only become him and transform into his dao fruit after encountering Lu Yun again.

……

“I’ve finally filtered the last bit of impurity from the creation seed.” The little fox felt a weight lifted from her shoulders after creating two openings into space and time in quick succession. She could already glimpse the threshold of creator realm.

The ability to tear into space and time had limited the creation seed’s growth. It wasn’t until now that its power fully came under her control and enhanced her strength.

“The eleventh creation seed is about to mature. Do we really want to give it to Qiu Luoyu just like this?” Some new thoughts developed in her mind now that she was free of some old worries.

“It’d be nothing but trouble for us if we obtain it. Whoever wants it can have it. It’d be best if Qiu Luoyu can really use just that to create a sacred land for otherkind,” Lu Yun’s tones were quite firm. He really had no intention of claiming ownership over a treasure like this. His goal all along was to just create mayhem and confusion.

Qiu Luoyu’s arrival took care of quite a few issues for him. Lu Yun had made his move, the rest was up to the three-eyed man.