CHAPTER 171: EYE OF THE ANCESTRAL DRAGON, THE POWER OF VOID

Main Wind Dragon stood beside the Divine Psyche Incarnation and said, "When I first arrived, I noticed the mark between his brows. But he clearly doesn't carry the energy of the Ancestral Dragon, so how could he possibly possess the Eye of the Ancestral Dragon? There must be something I've overlooked."

Nantian Wan'er looked at him and asked, "Could it be something to do with the green-robed Daoist? The two avatars awakened their self-awareness on the first floor. It was also around that time that Lu-gege's obsessive memories erupted."

"Hm?" Main Wind Dragon turned toward Lu Chen, stroking his chin with one hand. His voice grew solemn. "I heard from my clone about Little Lu's avatars. So they've already developed independent thought? And that green-robed Daoist even appeared again?"[1]

Main Wind Dragon paced across the isolated island, frowning deeply. "Could the avatars really gain intelligence so quickly? That's far too fast. Even if they had lingered in the small world, it still shouldn't have happened at this speed."

"Lord Wind Dragon, it truly happened." Seeing Main Wind Dragon growing anxious, Nantian Wan'er stepped forward and explained. "It was only a few hours ago that they developed independent thought. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it either. Their intelligence and awareness make them seem nothing like mere avatars."

She waved her hand, conjuring a mirror projection beside her. Within it, the process of the avatars gaining consciousness played out. "To be precise, they're no different from real cultivators."

"The avatars born from the Golden Snake Nine Variations do have such potential..." Main Wind Dragon admitted. "But for them to reach this level of intelligence so quickly, that's far too outrageous."

He stepped closer to the Divine Psyche Incarnation, eyes fixed on the mirror. "At that time, did anything unusual occur? Or did someone interfere with the birth of their consciousness?"

"If I must say, the only strange thing was the second avatar's green robe. As far as I know, Lu-gege doesn't own one. But when the second avatar developed awareness, he suddenly took it out of nowhere and began wearing it. Not long after, Lu-gege went straight onto the second floor."

Nantian Wan'er stood beside him, gazing at the mirror. "By the time we hurried after him, he had already obtained that manual. As for how he acquired it, I don't know."

"That green-robed Daoist again? Then the problem must lie with him." Main Wind Dragon's brows knit tightly. "I can sense the power of time flowing within him. And the source of that power traces back to the Ancestral Dragon. The last time that man appeared, Little Lu obtained his Divine Eye.

"What exactly is that green-robed Daoist's goal? Why does he cling to Little Lu so persistently? Who is he, really? I believe I nearly guessed his identity back in the Tower of Time."

Main Wind Dragon released his divine sense into the outside world, locking onto the second avatar. "Could it truly be as he said? That the green-robed Daoist and Lu Chen are one and the same? Or perhaps Lu Chen is the reforged body of that Daoist?"

His divine sense swept over the second avatar again and again, from head to toe, from black hair to green robe, constantly comparing him to that Daoist.

Main Wind Dragon trembled all over as he fixed his gaze on the second avatar, his expression turning complicated. "Could it be..."

He suddenly recalled the first time he encountered the green-robed Daoist. At that time, Lu Chen hadn't even entered the Qi Regulation Realm, yet the Daoist acted as though he knew Lu Chen well. He also seemed familiar with both Wind Dragon and Nantian Wan'er.

Over the course of this sequence of events, Lu Chen created three avatars, and, surprisingly, the second one wore a green robe. The resemblance to the Daoist was uncanny. If not for the difference in aura and cultivation, Main Wind Dragon might have already believed they were the same person.

The longer he stared at the second avatar, the more vividly the resemblance struck him. Every word the green-robed Daoist had once spoken resurfaced in his mind, pushing him closer to the truth.

"Main body... the Green Sovereign Divine Tree, the power of time, the same face... Reversing time cannot change the past, the Dad-Making Project, bearing the weight of all worlds, as long as you live, I will not die, and Wan'er's fate...

"Ah! What is it?! Just what is it?!"

Main Wind Dragon clawed at his fur, roaring like a madman. "If only Lord Second were still here! With all these threads, he would certainly uncover the Daoist's true purpose."

From within the small world, Feng Tiancheng observed through a mirror projection. Clone Wind Dragon coiled around his shoulder, quietly recounting how the Daoist had appeared and what had transpired with Lu Chen.

Hearing Main Wind Dragon's frenzied outburst, Feng Tiancheng muttered under his breath the sentence he had once heard from Lu Chen. "Grandpa Feng, it's been a long time."

His mind drifted back to that day, when he and Lu Chen had worked together to mend the rift. The very first words Lu Chen had said upon waking had been steady. So steady, actually, that they hadn't sounded like Lu Chen's own.

He had sensed something unusual about Lu Chen back then, but pressed for time, he hadn't pursued it. When the crisis was resolved and Lu Chen himself said nothing about it, he simply let the matter slip from his mind.

"So, the green-robed Daoist was here even then? With all these similarities, and that line, 'It's been a long time, Grandpa Feng', could the green-robed Daoist actually be Little Lu's second avatar, just from a different time?"

Feng Tiancheng clasped his hands behind his back and muttered, "But if that's the case, then does it mean Little Lu encountered a major problem in his cultivation in the future, forcing this avatar to return to the past, hoping to change the outcome by seeking an opportunity right when he first began cultivating?

"To traverse the void requires a coordinate, let alone traveling from the future to the present. Without a powerful anchor, no matter how strong he is, he couldn't have come back."

Eggy poked its head out of the Fire Phoenix's nest on the Innate Green Sovereign Divine Tree. It pointed toward the direction of the Tower of Time and chirped loudly at Feng Tiancheng. "Creak... creak... over there..."

"Over there?" Feng Tiancheng glanced at the distant Tower of Time, then at Eggy on the tree. After a moment of thought, he said, "Could it be that this Tower of Time is the spatial coordinate he left behind?

"That would make sense. A treasure like this couldn't possibly be in the current continent. Back then, even when we gave our all, all we managed to do was unlock the first floor for a few minutes. Yet that green-robed Daoist could enter it freely and even control it at will. If it didn't belong to him, it could never have been opened in that manner.

"It seems the green-robed Daoist really is Little Lu's avatar. The Tower of Time we obtained three hundred thousand years ago might have been the result of him opening the wrong time channel, or perhaps he has been altering things since three hundred thousand years ago, or even earlier."

Feeling that he had finally unraveled the matter, Feng Tiancheng called toward the mirror, "Wind Dragon, I understand what's going on now. From this moment on, no one is to mention this again.

"You needn't probe further into the Daoist's origin. Everything will reveal itself in time. For now, what matters most is letting Little Lu comprehend the divine ability. The fluctuations at his Heavenly Pool are strong. I expect his cultivation will soon conclude."

"But Lord Seventh, I am so close to uncovering his true identity. Please grant me a little more time."

"I said I already understand. Don't you get what that means?"

"But..."

Feng Tiancheng's face grew stern as he looked at the mirror. "Follow my orders. I will uncover whoever he is myself."

Wind Dragon looked into the wavering mirror, as though wanting to say more. In the end, he only let out a long sigh. "Yes, my lord. I will aid him in his cultivation at once."

He circled the Divine Psyche Incarnation, then raised his hand and laid down a reinforcing formation over the isolated island for protection.

At that moment, the shifting light and shadow in Lu Chen's mind suddenly froze.

Wind Dragon turned toward Nantian Wan'er and said sharply, "Wan'er, it's any moment now. Stay alert."

He gathered spirit qi in his hands, ready to strike at once.

A beam of gray-brown light shot out from Lu Chen's forehead, curved sharply, and passed straight through him.

It did not stop there. His eyes remained shut, but endless white radiance surged from his right eye, while his left eye erupted with a torrent of pure darkness.

The black and white streams spread furiously outward, divided neatly by the gray-brown beam. To the right stretched boundless light, to the left absolute darkness. Lu Chen's Divine Psyche Incarnation sat cross-legged precisely on the boundary between the two.

The radiance of black and white grew ever denser, soon obscuring everything around. When the energy reached its peak, it began to refine itself, condensing into purer, more transcendent states, evolving toward a higher state of existence.

Nantian Wan'er shook her head and reached blindly toward Wind Dragon with her right hand, but could not touch him. "Lord Wind Dragon, are you still here? What are these things around us? I can't see anything at all."

"I'm one meter to your left. These seem like the energy of the Void. It's the source power of the Ancestral Dragon itself. Close your eyes for now and wait here. I'll investigate the other side."

"Alright..." She answered softly, closed her eyes, and sat cross-legged. "Lord Wind Dragon, is this dangerous? Why would such things suddenly appear in Lu-gege's mind?"

"It shouldn't be dangerous. Little Lu's training is likely nearing its end. These energies need to merge back into his body. I must check the other side. Stay here and wait."

Wind Dragon stepped into the dark half. Aside from what lay near Lu Chen, nothing could be seen. Guided only by memory, he walked a few steps forward and crossed into the side bathed in pure white light.

But there, too, nothing could be seen except Lu Chen himself.

"As I thought..."

Spirit qi surged in Wind Dragon's eyes as he forced himself to peer deeper. By now, these were no longer merely black and white, but black void and white void.

He strained until exhaustion, yet the outer reaches remained hidden. At last, he sighed, "The void... it really is void. The purest, most absolute void."

He then returned to his original position.

1. A reminder that unlike Lu Chen’s avatars, the Main and Clone Wind Dragons do not share the same memories. Information must be communicated separately. ☜