Chapter 1946: Sunflower

“My Xu, you’ve hit the nail on the head!”

As the river of time had just emerged, the question thrown across from Lingxi Technique received a response.

One has to admit, Daoqiongcang, this external brain, is incredibly useful when not attached to one’s own head, but rather used as a tool for deduction.

Given the precondition “Original Truth Stele: Ghost” and the fact that “Ghost Ancestor threw herself into Hua Changdeng’s arms.”

After a brief, deep exploration, this fellow started babbling out the entire deduction process:

“Remember the ‘Original Truth Stele: Dragon’? The one the Divine Relic stole from ‘Calamity’?”

“Even before Sword Ancestor spoke, I had a sixty percent guess that the Original Truth Stele would only condense after an Ancestor God had fallen.”

“The appearance of ‘Original Truth Stele: Hua’ further validated this conjecture, raising the probability to eighty percent.”

Eighty percent…

Under Daoqiongcang’s cautious phrasing, eighty percent practically meant ninety-nine percent. This fellow never spoke in absolutes.

Xu Xiaoshou deeply agreed with this.

Although Sword Ancestor had previously said that the Original Truth Stele would only manifest after an Ancestor God’s demise, this might have been influenced by the spirit of the Sword Tower Demon Ancestor.

His true intention was mainly to lure people into the Sword Tower to obtain the character “Sword,” so he could close the door and catch them, rather than publicly state a lie whose answer might already be known—if exposed, it would be too great a loss.

Another point of doubt was:

In the Ancient and Modern Forgetful Pavilion, Kong Yuhen gave the character “War” but couldn’t produce the character “Time,” yet he said he seemed to have seen it?

Previously, this seemed ambiguous and unimportant, but now, combining the known information:

Treasures related to the Dao of Time are clearly all so important, automatically flowing into the Ancient and Modern Forgetful Pavilion, just like famous swords gathering in the Sword Burial Mound.

Even the Six Gates, under the influence of Time Ancestor’s will, Kong Yuhen would subconsciously gather them, preparing to reshape the Time Realm.

If he had seen the character “Time,” would he not take it?

Yet that fellow still said so. The greater possibility, Xu Xiaoshou guessed, was that he truly got lost in chaotic, parallel timelines.

Perhaps, at a certain future point in time, he saw the character “Time” that would only manifest after all of Kong Yuhen’s demises.

But if this thing really manifested, it meant all of Kong Yuhen had completely died, which was why he was powerless to take it.

—The foresight of time power!

“Don’t mention it, the probability of this happening is really not small, and once it’s conclusive, Kong Yuhen might suddenly disappear from the ‘present’ timeline.”

“Even in the past, present, and future, in everyone’s memories, the very concept of Time Ancestor’s existence might be ‘reset’.”

“Then even if the Time Realm is reshaped now, once Kong Yuhen completely dies—for instance, if the Demon Ancestor’s jest comes true—will the Time Realm still be reshaped?”

“Will the Time Realm directly collapse due to a time paradox, leaving Bazun’an with no way home?”

Normal people and normal Ancestor Gods only have one timeline.

Kong Yuhen had many, Time Ancestor had many timelines, and time paradoxes were no laughing matter.

Kong Yuhen’s life and death in the future could greatly influence the history of the present and past, and it would be a huge change!

“So, Kong Yuhen cannot die…”

One link after another, when Daoqiongcang’s thoughts triggered by the Lingxi Technique paused, Xu Xiaoshou only felt the “binding” deepen.

It was as if an invisible big hand, under the seemingly small victory of the Holy Slaves, still dared to secretly sabotage and cause trouble.

If it couldn’t be rooted out, it might be a thousand-mile dike destroyed by an ant’s nest!

Across the Lingxi Technique, Daoqiongcang didn’t stop, still outputting, his increasingly heavy voice pulling the chaotic thoughts back:

“Based on the premise that ‘Ghost’ has fallen, my Xu, you need to be mentally prepared. There are quite a few conclusions below, and they are all bad news.”

“First, I don’t lean towards ‘Ghost’ just happening to fall thirty years ago. Wishful thinking is not allowed. Perhaps ‘Ghost’ fell thirty thousand years ago, three million years ago, or even right after the Divine War.”

“Second, ‘Calamity’ revived in the Divine Relic and only infiltrated the Holy Divine Continent in recent years. We can basically rule out the possibility of Him benefiting from this. Instead, in the Divine Relic, Di Ying had the ‘Medicine’ fallback. Both ‘Calamity’ and you need to be careful.”

“Third, the Demon and Medicine Ancestors coexist in the Holy Divine Continent and the Holy Emperor Secret Realm. For so many years, there has been no major conflict, nor a tendency to seize Dao or merge. We can also rule out ‘Demon’ being involved in ‘Ghost’s demise.”

“In summary, this also aligns with the maximal benefit analysis, meaning ‘Medicine’ is the mastermind. The plan began when ‘Ghost’ fell, playing two roles, starting from ‘Demon’ and ‘Calamity’, and acting until today.”

Wouldn’t that lead to a mental breakdown?

Xu Xiaoshou felt a chill run through him. Was Medicine Ancestor the true old schemer?

He immediately pointed out a blind spot: “Why couldn’t it be Bei Huai playing tricks? Hua Changdeng cultivated the Sword Ghost for so many years and didn’t notice anything unusual? Also, I’ve seen ‘Ghost’!”

He also used “Thirteen Things Not to Say,” feeling that Medicine Ancestor was truly not human, too cunning, and should not be called Medicine Ancestor.

Xu Xiaoshou held nothing back, finally throwing the matter of Bei Ming having seen the Ghost Ancestor, and the matter of seeing the Ghost Ancestor twice after the Reaper’s Scythe anomaly, into the Heavenly Secret Brain for deep exploration.

Daoqiongcang was silent for a moment, then said faintly, “If you want to use ‘Not to Say,’ please use ‘Hua’.”

Xu Xiaoshou froze, then felt a chill.

Indeed, if the deduction held true, even if Hua Changdeng fell, calling out “Hua Changdeng” at this moment should be equivalent to calling Medicine Ancestor’s true name.

Daoqiongcang quickly gave a negative answer:

“If ‘Medicine’ intended to conceal, Bei Huai wouldn’t know these things. He should have lived with ‘Ghost’ for decades, and guarded against each other for decades, mutually depleting each other.”

“The ‘Ghost’ that ‘Hua’ saw, including the ‘Ghost’ first seen when acquiring the Divine Court, you might also understand as the real ‘Ghost’… let me put it this way!”

Daoqiongcang pondered for half a breath, then gave an example:

“If I were ‘Medicine’, calculating to this extent, having already swallowed Ghost and merged, if I still wanted to act, I wouldn’t let ‘Ghost’ completely disappear.”

“I would let ‘Ghost’ exist and give it free will, with a path of seeking Dao that goes against me and is similar to ‘Ghost’ itself, to fight with myself left and right without affecting the overall outcome I desire, thereby showing weakness to the enemy.”

“In this situation, ‘Ghost’s existence itself might not even know that Its essence is already entirely ‘Medicine’, and because it saw a glimmer of hope for seizing Dao, it is still striving, unaware that from beginning to end, It is in a sealed cage, forever unable to transcend.”

“It’s a great coincidence that ‘Medicine’ cultivates the Dao of Life. The thing He is best at is imbuing living beings with sentience, letting them strive and chase for seemingly meaningful meaninglessness.”

Xu Xiaoshou was sweating as he listened.

He had thought it would be bad, but he hadn’t imagined it could be this bad.

A mad dog wasn’t scary. What was scary was a mad dog like Bei Huai who was actually pretending to be crazy—not a brute, but a wise man!

“Then the Ghost Ancestor I saw…”

“Alas, it’s just a guess.” Daoqiongcang didn’t jump to conclusions, “Perhaps it truly was His last remaining will seeking help, perhaps both the first and second encounters were masked fakes, but, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Indeed, it no longer mattered at all.

Even if the Ghost Ancestor seen the first time truly triggered some hidden fallback, like the Time, Name, and Nuo after the three doors, it was the true will of the Ghost Ancestor that had bypassed Medicine Ancestor, coming from the future? Or the past?

Putting himself in Medicine Ancestor’s shoes, if he truly decided to act against the Ghost Ancestor, even if he allowed a shred of self-will to exist in a special way after Its demise, or created a completely new Ghost Ancestor will.

This will would be used to deceive Demon, Calamity, Bei, Hua, etc., and would never be given the slightest chance to backfire.

So, the Ghost Ancestor’s so-called fallback, the Reaper’s Scythe…

“Is it truly the Ghost Ancestor’s fallback?”

“Does it truly contain the authority of reincarnation?”

“This authority should have been seized by Medicine Ancestor long ago!”

Under Fusang City, Wuji stared at the black scythe before him, a shiver running down his spine.

Hua Weiyang had sought the Dao his entire life, but because of a Great Luo Nine Heavens Profound Life Sword, he was stuck at the last step, forced to embody the Great Dao.

Is the Reaper’s Scythe my Great Luo Nine Heavens Profound Life Sword?

If I had entertained the thought of comprehending the “reincarnation” authority at that time, would it have been equivalent to voluntarily accepting Medicine Ancestor’s deep influence?

Anyone who entered Medicine Ancestor’s sight, from the lowest to the middle to the highest choice, was bestowed a sword, a scythe, or a Divine Court, cultivated to the highest level, to be used by Him?

The Holy Divine Continent, this vast pigsty, the different Ancestor Gods, their ways of raising pigs, were truly too diverse!

“Hua Changdeng cannot die, what do you think?” Xu Xiaoshou asked again with a serious voice.

Before cooperating with Daoqiongcang, regardless of what Ghost Ancestor or Daoqiongcang said, Xu Xiaoshou had been determined to kill Hua Changdeng.

Now that Ghost Ancestor had fallen, everything had to be re-evaluated.

Xu Xiaoshou was genuinely curious. What had Daoqiongcang been worried about before knowing this, and what new thoughts would He have after knowing it?

“Sigh…”

A long sigh came again from the Lingxi Technique. Daoqiongcang no longer held back:

“To be honest, when Hua Changdeng ascended to Holy Emperor, carrying the lantern to Bei Ming, I divined a hexagram, and it was a great inauspicious omen.”

“Heavenly secrets hexagrams, of course, don’t represent anything, but ‘what if’ makes one have to be cautious.”

“At that time, I thought in the worst direction, but even then, it was just that if Hua Changdeng lost the battle, at least Ghost Ancestor could still help, jointly resisting Medicine and Bei, so he wouldn’t become a ghost beast host.”

“Now it seems, the great inauspicious omen will only be worse than I expected—Hua Changdeng entered the wolf’s den alone, and even his teammates were opponents. After the battle, regardless of success or failure, he should only be left with the possibility of becoming ‘Medicine’s’ puppet.”

“And Holy Emperor, ‘Medicine’ doesn’t need it. He uses ‘Hua’ for ‘Ba’, and even more so for the ‘Demon’ spirit in the Sword Tower!”

Wuji turned his head and looked towards Lingyu Mountain, feeling the mountain wind bleak and cold.

So, even without knowing Ghost Ancestor’s demise, Daoqiongcang’s guess was correct.

Ghost Ancestor had thrown herself into someone’s arms.

After the reincarnation of the undead, Hua Changdeng even borrowed Medicine Ancestor’s life force, launching a counterattack before dying.

Fortunately, Bazun’an went to zero in one step, ending all worse possibilities.

“If Bazun’an had the Harmonization stage, and I had really listened to Ghost Ancestor’s advice to stop Hua Changdeng’s fall…”

Xu Xiaoshou saw another terrifying outcome, the only outcome that should have appeared in Medicine Ancestor’s plan.

He would indeed play the role of a reckless person, as Dao Peipei said, being the first to enter, but he would surprise all players.

After the battle between Hua and Ba, regardless of Hua’s life or death, Bazun’an’s state would certainly be unstable and he would need time to harmonize.

Stuck in the Harmonization stage, Medicine Ancestor had already merged long ago, and His state was more perfect than Demon and Calamity.

He would enter the stage by means of the maddened Bei Huai, or the Reaper’s Scythe, or because of the phrase “Hua Changdeng cannot die” causing Bazun’an to hesitate, preventing Hua Changdeng from being immediately killed, thus allowing him to directly enter the stage by means of Hua Changdeng…

In any case, this “reckless person” would immediately swallow Hua Changdeng, digesting his sword Dao insights.

Then, He would crush with absolute power and swallow Bazun’an, who was in the Harmonization stage—after all, no one was in a more perfect state than Medicine Ancestor in the merging stage.

And after swallowing the fattest pig, Bazun’an, nurtured by Demon Ancestor’s billion-year plan, He would use Hua and Ba’s sword Dao insights to radiate the “Sword” authority.

Medicine Ancestor’s ambition also included the Sword Tower Demon Ancestor’s spirit. He would become so strong that He could directly barge in and seize it. How could Demon Ancestor, whose body, spirit, and will were not united, resist?

After this, only the remaining Demon Ancestor’s body and will, the weakened Calamity Yin, and the other Ten Revered Seats’ schemes…

Indeed, none could stir up waves!

After all, if this step was truly taken, who in the world could rival Medicine Ancestor?

This Shennong Clan, playing the role of the only reckless Ancestor God, would wear sheep’s clothing, and in the most circuitous yet direct way, would be the first to reach zero!

“As long as Bazun’an didn’t go to zero in one step…”

“As long as Bazun’an had even half an hour in the Harmonization stage…”

Having understood this, Xu Xiaoshou could barely imagine how absolute Medicine Ancestor’s hatred for Bazun’an must be at this moment, beneath His calm surface.

It was likely as boundless as the waters of three great rivers!

This was almost like Him being cut from heaven into hell by a single sword, forced to continue hiding and not showing the slightest hatred, not letting Demon and Calamity see that He had made any plans, twisted to such an extent.

Suppressed and aggrieved to this extent, Medicine Ancestor’s mentality must have become warped, right?

“Will He give up easily? Impossible!”

“Then Bazun’an is about to ascend, who will bear this hatred?”

Xu Xiaoshou’s mouth twitched.

Besides the Holy Slaves, besides himself, who else could it be?

And since Medicine Ancestor couldn’t possibly give up easily, what kind of developments would unfold from all the subsequent events that Bazun’an’s one-step zero had halted?

Immediately, Xu Xiaoshou thought of the character “Hua.”

This thing, before it manifested, probably Medicine Ancestor was the first one who wanted to devour and digest it?

Even now that it had manifested, perhaps He had already prepared, and as soon as He got it, He could immediately absorb it, seize Hua Changdeng’s sword Dao essence, and then radiate it to the Demon Ancestor’s spirit in the Sword Tower?

“Like the Reaper’s Scythe, the character ‘Hua’ cannot be touched…”

“The character ‘Ghost’ is similar. Xi arrived suddenly, at Hua Changdeng’s instruction. Hua Changdeng is Medicine Ancestor’s puppet, so this thing might also be a Great Luo Nine Heavens Profound Life Sword…”

Xu Xiaoshou felt his brain burning again.

If these things weren’t analyzed, Medicine Ancestor might suddenly explode and also go to zero in one step.

At that time, the only ones left bewildered would be all the other Ancestor Gods, the Ten Revered Seats, and himself, after Bazun’an left.

And precisely some things were no longer suitable for complete sharing with Daoqiongcang.

Does the show-off Old Dao not want to become an Ancestor, not want to go to zero?

This fellow’s ambition and schemes were certainly no less than Medicine Ancestor’s. Cooperate where necessary, but also guard against him.

So…

“What else is there?”

“Shennong Baicao, this old fox, at what point in time will he jump out again?”

Without a doubt!

As soon as Bazun’an ascends, Medicine Ancestor will definitely jump!

He could even directly jump to the Xingjie, forcibly seize the character “Hua,” and resume the chess moves that Bazun’an had temporarily halted.

Likewise, He could succeed!

The appearance of the Original Truth Stele: Ghost indicated that Medicine Ancestor was now most likely in a perfectly merged state, complete.

If He couldn’t defeat Bazun’an, would He still fear the combined forces of Demon Ancestor, Calamity Yin, and all other weak ants who couldn’t go to zero in one step?

So…

“I can think of this, so Medicine Ancestor wouldn’t think I could think of this, thus becoming wary and responding?”

“And all of this is what I associated after obtaining the Original Truth Stele: Ghost—Medicine Ancestor considered a thousand things, but only missed that Hua Changdeng would send the Original Truth Stele: Ghost into my hands?”

“Impossible! That means He is on the third, fourth, fifth layer… What is it? What is it? What other fallback does He have?!”

Wuji’s head was smoking dry.

Looking at Bazun’an and Kong Yuhen in the void, it felt its thoughts stuck by something, yet nothing could stop the extreme state of the Intent Dao.

Reviewing its past life again and again, it was afraid of missing something crucial.

Suddenly, like a sudden great release after a month and a half of constipation, Wuji’s eyes widened, and its chicken butt twitched.

It understood!

A ghostly sunflower face appeared in front of it, and a rustling whisper echoed in its ears:

“You, finally came, otherworlder…”

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