Chapter 755: Weak, Yet Dominant

Chapter 756: Weak and Small, Yet Ruling

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

Hongjun frowned as he stared at Li Changshou, seemingly trying to gauge if Li Changshou was joking. Seeing Li Changshou's serious expression, he added, "Don't say such things. How could I be the same as your senior?"

Li Changshou gazed at Hongjun. Though they were only half a zhang apart, his eyes were sharp as knives, as if they could pierce through Hongjun's gaze.

The square surface of the low table still displayed the cloud mirror, showing scenes of Sun Wukong within it.

The bamboo hut fell into a brief silence.

"You don't admit it?" Li Changshou asked softly.

"This accusation is absurd," Hongjun replied calmly.

The two showed no signs of power or aura, speaking as if chatting about everyday matters, yet a profound Dao rhythm lingered between them.

In the silence lay thunder; in the calm, a battle cry brewed.

It was like the typical "calm before the storm," but this calm was finally broken by Li Changshou's hearty laugh.

"Ha, ha, ha! I knew you wouldn't admit it. After all, if these truths were revealed, the Honghuang world would descend into chaos. Who knows how many beings would fall into despair and vanish, or whether your teacher would recreate a realm. You're just afraid to admit it."

Hongjun said indifferently, "If this were true, what would I have to fear admitting? This world won't shatter because of anything. The despair and vanishing of beings is merely because their hearts are too fragile. Your teacher upholds the legacy of Pangu, watching over Honghuang, not recreating heaven and earth."

Li Changshou laughed. "Since you're so confident, could you answer a few questions of mine?"

Hongjun replied calmly, "Go ahead."

"What was written on the last page of Senior Lang's destroyed chronicle? Why did Senior Lang suddenly go mad?"

Hongjun answered, "As I showed you earlier, Lang and I had a disagreement."

Li Changshou said firmly, "In the memory you displayed, Senior Lang's emotions clearly don't match those from the end of the chronicle. Senior Lang witnessed the process of creation. In the second-to-last page I saw, he seemed to have suffered a massive blow, his Dao heart completely shattered. Something must have suddenly appeared before him, or he must have suddenly realized something, causing his Dao heart's defenses to collapse. Am I wrong about that?"

Hongjun remained silent.

Li Changshou smiled. "I deduce that was when Senior Lang discovered the connection between you two."

"I have no connection with him!" A hint of anger flashed in Hongjun's eyes.

Li Changshou said indifferently, "Why not just produce the last page of Senior Lang's chronicle? Then everything will be clear."

"Does the truth even matter?" Hongjun said coldly, "I am now the Honghuang world itself; I am the lord of the three realms! The world's origin is within me. You are merely on the path to defeat!"

"Is that so?" Li Changshou replied calmly, "If I had a way to sever your connection to the world's origin, what then?"

Hongjun instinctively clutched his chest, then stared at Li Changshou and laughed. "If you had such a method, why bother with this nonsense?"

"Because I want to give you a way out," Li Changshou said in a low voice, "Though you're just a false persona born from Senior Lang, and you've even killed the original persona, I still see you as half a fellow countryman of mine. Moreover, I owe much of my current state to your guidance. You've given me many benefits, even if most were part of your schemes. I'm not ungrateful. You've harmed countless beings, but aside from my teacher, you haven't touched my family or friends. Though I still hold resentment over my teacher, I want to give you one last chance at life. Right now, only you and I know about this. Stop now. I'll imprison you in a cage beyond the heavens, in a small courtyard where you can quietly watch Honghuang's future changes."

Hongjun's smile carried a touch of helplessness. "You won't even reveal your method. How can I believe you?"

"Saying it would make it ineffective," Li Changshou said seriously. "It all depends on whether you trust me."

"I feel like you're just trying to swindle me with empty words," Hongjun said, his gaze clearing as he shook his head. "It's all just your speculation. Though it's intriguing, there's no real basis."

"Then how do you explain the matter with Heng'e? I feel I wronged Heng'e. She's so pure-hearted, and I used her. During the Fire Emperor's assault on the heavens, I was already mostly certain of the connection between you and Senior Lang. I involved her just to verify my guess. Your attitude toward Heng'e back then was the best proof."

Hongjun said calmly, "I forgave Heng'e because she is the disciple of an old friend."

"Oh? The disciple of an old friend?" Li Changshou sighed slowly. "Then may I tell you a story?"

"Sun Wukong will take a while to wake up, so say what you want," Hongjun said. "But a story is still just a story."

"You're truly... the type who won't shed tears until they see the coffin."

Li Changshou held the clump of chaotic aura in his right palm and slowly pushed it above the center of the square table. With his left hand, he formed a sword finger, and immortal light surrounded him as a scroll appeared behind him.

It was Ling'e's Dao.

"Do you know what I've been doing for the past nearly thousand years since leaving Honghuang?"

"Don't keep me in suspense. Just say it."

"First, I used the Heavenly Demon path to control Xu Bodhi, comprehended the great Dao, and sought a way to eliminate you. Second, I spent time with Ling'e and Yun. And third, I split off a strand of my primordial spirit, simulated it into a Heavenly Demon state, and slowly extended my immortal sense in the chaotic sea, merging it with the chaos. Like an antenna, in a way."

"This was actually quite dangerous. If my Dao heart became unbalanced, it could affect my true self, but I had to find the answer I wanted."

"An answer?"

"Yes, an answer."

Li Changshou pursed his lips and said softly, "A question I've been asking myself since I came to this Honghuang world—the answer to that."

Hongjun asked with interest, "What kind of question?"

"Why is this world like this?"

Hongjun became even more intrigued.

Li Changshou took a light breath and began explaining the question's origin.

"Friend... I'll just call you senior. Senior, do you think a newborn child, without any exposure to language, could master a language?"

Hongjun shook his head slightly.

"Right, they couldn't. Back in my homeland, there were many experiments. Language is collective memory, part of inheritance. It's not just language—writing, skills, thoughts, melodies—these are all tools that newborns learn, remember, and master when integrating into a collective. You have no objection to that, I assume."

"Correct."

"Then let's extend this logic further... Logic is the law and rules of thinking, divided into objective and subjective. That leads to another key term: thinking logic."

Li Changshou leaned forward, narrowed his eyes, and stared at Hongjun, saying in a low voice, "Different environments for civilization formation mean that if two civilizations lack original, persistent, and stable exchange, their thinking logic will differ. In ancient civilizations on Earth, even just a few thousand years ago, the civilization from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was different from that on the Huaxia lands. If those two civilizations met, they could learn from each other through exchange because, tracing back, they shared common ancestors with similar thinking logic. But Honghuang and Earth? I'm just asking: Why can I understand this world so effortlessly? Why can I communicate with the beings here without many barriers, just by learning the local dialect? It's simple—the thinking logic of the beings in this world aligns with my original thinking logic. This was a doubt I buried in my heart before I started cultivating. Then, when I encountered Senior Lang, a crazy but reasonable idea struck me. Who created this Honghuang world? Who crafted this world that collects the myths and culture of my Huaxia homeland? Who embedded a thinking logic pattern similar to mine into this world?"

Hongjun's face turned indescribably somber.

Li Changshou chuckled bitterly and sighed. "Do you still think this is just speculation? This is your biggest flaw—it's been right in front of me from the start. As my Dao realm deepened, it guided me step by step toward the truth of Honghuang. Don't you admit it? Do you need more evidence? I have plenty."

Hongjun said coldly, "Yes."

Li Changshou pointed his left sword finger at the gray aura, and the scroll behind him rustled open.

From the scroll, a strand of Dao rhythm emerged, turning into a perception like spiritual awareness, forming a few murmurs in their hearts:

What the hell is this place? It feels like it's been forever, just hazy all the time. Is this death? No, is death this awful? I thought once you close your eyes, that's it. I lived over forty years without achieving anything, got hit by a car, and now I'm suffering like this? Hey? Is this the legendary chaotic sea? Hongmeng initial opening, Pangu creating heaven and earth?

Hongjun furrowed his brows tightly, closing his eyes, his smile at the corners of his mouth somewhat desolate.

Li Changshou withdrew his finger and gazed at Hongjun, saying slowly, "Friend, let me tell you a story—the story of Senior Lang and you."

Hongjun remained silent.

Li Changshou spoke in a slightly soothing voice:

"There was a middle-aged man, down on his luck and rootless, who met his end in a car accident. When he 'opened his eyes'—or rather, when his consciousness awoke—he found himself in an indescribable gray space. Nothingness, emptiness, helplessness. He fell into a miserable state, with only his thoughts and no physical form, unable to feel the passage of time, yet his mind kept racing. He couldn't even die; he could only sink into sleep over and over. What he didn't know was that this area, filled with nearly endless power and impossible to comprehend, contained only his mind, and many wondrous things happened. He was, in fact, the sole ruler of this period and region. He felt eternal loneliness, an unending, uneventful quiet that nearly drove him mad. In his daze, he began talking to himself. He went mad. His mind split, his personality fractured, to combat the endless solitude and loneliness. Without the original personality noticing, other personas emerged. Here, there was no concept of time or space, but as the only mind, his every thought influenced this region. Then, one day, a sudden idea struck him: 'Hey? Is this the legendary chaotic sea? Hongmeng initial opening, Pangu creating heaven and earth?' What he didn't realize was that this thought, this subconscious judgment from his own memories, affected the evolution of this miraculous region. When this region evolved broken Dao principles and gave birth to multiple true spirits and beings, Pangu was born from his small wish. If we introduce the concept of time, it must have been an incredibly long period. Then, around Pangu, those key elements—chaotic green lotus, chaotic egg, sky-opening axe, innate gods and demons—all came into being. That feeble mind that had ruled everything lost its original dominance as the number of true spirits and beings increased in this region. But subconsciously, he had already transmitted his way of thinking, and everything changed according to his notions. This era was called Hongmeng. That 'he' was Senior Lang. Even more terrifying, Senior Lang's original personality muddled through and completed the split with the other personas. We can infer that the first true spirit split occurred before the birth of multiple true spirits and beings, before Pangu appeared. And the split personas attached themselves to one true spirit. This is proven by Lady Houtu's seven emotions incarnations, which allow such a situation. Senior Lang, in his confusion, forgot that these were his imagined companions—this was likely self-hypnosis to fight loneliness, subconsciously treating the personas as friends. Then, Senior Lang's original personality truly became friends with these split personas. These personas had Lang's memories and knew everything Lang had caused. They had fatal flaws—some obsessive, some benevolent, some imitating the original. They were incomplete but tried to accompany the original personality through that difficult, lonely time. Among them, one persona was the strongest and gentlest. He suggested that each persona hide their identity and become part of the world the original personality yearned to see. So they took on roles in the chaos and Honghuang, step by step turning the original personality's strongest desire at that time into reality. At this point, this group of personas still shared one true spirit body. He encountered Pangu, deceived Pangu, and survived by begging as a 'friend' for the original. That single true spirit being was you, Hongjun at that time, right? What did Senior Lang's original personality most desire? Based on the information left in the chaotic sea, what appeared most frequently was the original personality's self-comfort: 'Did I transmigrate to the chaotic sea? I can still be brothers with Pangu and make my way back to Earth!' Later, Senior Lang's original personality witnessed the creation of heaven and earth, and Honghuang was born. This region was called the chaotic sea. After Pangu's death, those split personas began using the original personality's memories and impressions to script the Honghuang world, gradually separating from Hongjun's body and directing one grand play after another. Demon Ancestor Luohou was a false persona of Senior Lang. Hongjun the Dao Ancestor was a false persona of Senior Lang. The elder lying in the stone coffin with Ran Deng was you, right, senior? This world was opened by Pangu, yet anyone whose cultivation speed surpassed Pangu's primordial spirit incarnations—the Three Friends—was absurd. My teacher Taiqing once said that the elder in the stone coffin was among the first strong ones after creation and was once more powerful than my teacher, which makes no sense. Jieyin and Zhunti's teacher was also one of the personas, later swallowed by Hongjun the Dao Ancestor. That was the predecessor of the Honghuang committee, before Lang joined. In the ancient great war, the conflict between Demon Ancestor and Dao Ancestor was actually a battle between the 'larger' personas that kept devouring the others—the winner takes all. After Demon Ancestor was defeated, the split personas merged, gaining complete thoughts, stubborn ideas, and selfish desires not to return to the original personality. When the split persona disagreed with the original... No, that conflict between the split persona and the original was also part of the split persona's scheme. The split persona went to great lengths to erase the original personality! Finding a grandiose excuse—to protect Honghuang. But in reality? The name Honghuang was given by this accidentally transmigrated being in his subconscious at the beginning. Once the split persona erased the original, it had lost all meaning. Yet this split persona didn't fall into chaos; instead, it placed itself above all beings. The split persona's selfish desires and ambitions were just to cover its own flaws."

Li Changshou paused and looked at the silent Hongjun with his eyes closed.

"Friend, not going to speak?"

Hongjun remained silent.

Li Changshou continued, "The third reason Senior Lang went mad and chose suicide lies here. Senior Lang's original personality discovered these secrets and completely broke down. Honestly, if it were me, I'd collapse too. When I figured all this out, I had moments of self-doubt."

Li Changshou sneered. "Turns out, I've been living in a story written by someone else."

"Here."

Hongjun said indifferently, and a piece of paper flew from his sleeve, landing in front of Li Changshou.

Mist surrounded the paper, plunging the surroundings into an illusion. Li Changshou saw Senior Lang's figure.

Li Changshou clearly saw Senior Lang.

He was ordinary, with a fair, middle-aged face, neither tall nor short, dressed in an elegant Dao robe.

Senior Lang knelt before the stone stele of the Kunpeng, his eyes red and his expression somewhat ferocious, his sword finger trembling as he wrote large characters.

At the same time, Senior Lang's roar echoed from beyond the scene:

"Fake, it's all fake! This world shouldn't exist; its evolution has all gone wrong! Brother Pangu's created world has been shackled by my own hands. True spirits in this erroneous world keep reincarnating, just repeating mistake after mistake! I have to destroy this world. I have to return the chaotic sea to its original state, back to before I arrived. No, this isn't the chaotic sea—the chaotic sea is the fate I imposed on it. Shackles! I'm the shackle of this world! It was my damn inability to handle loneliness that imposed fate on the true spirits who jumped into this world! And I kept shouting that fate is fake! I have to destroy it. I must destroy it... I'll bear the consequences of my mistakes myself!"

The voice full of madness faded gradually, and the scene dissipated slowly.

Li Changshou looked at the last page before him and quickly confirmed it was the final page of Senior Lang's chronicle. The scrawled writing on it matched what he had just heard.

He sensed a subtle change in Hongjun's aura and opened his eyes to meet Hongjun's gaze again.

This time, several figures appeared in Hongjun's pupils.

A youth in blood-red armor wielding a black divine spear, an elder with a massive hole in his chest, and a fair Daoist peacefully asleep in a rocking chair.

Demon Ancestor Luohou, Ran Deng's true self, and Senior Lang.

Apart from Senior Lang, Luohou, Ran Deng's true self, and Hongjun the Dao Ancestor spoke simultaneously, their voices merging into one, rough and heavy:

"No one can destroy the Honghuang world we created."

Li Changshou: ...

Hongjun closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the anomalies were gone, condensing into a single sentence:

"So what if it is?"

Hongjun sighed. "Though I dislike admitting my origins and once used earthworms and crickets to disguise them, it's ultimately just a matter of roots. Now, I am the guardian of the heavens, and you can't deny that. I erased the original personality that birthed me for the sake of this world."

"For the heavens?"

Li Changshou chuckled twice. "Don't deceive yourself. What you've done, which part was truly for the heavens? Senior, Senior Lang was injured during the creation and later found a place to recuperate, sleeping through the entire ancient era. If I'm not wrong, he was sealed by you all. From the moment Senior Lang's true spirit split, you had already betrayed the original personality. You shared memories and knew what Senior Lang subconsciously thought of Honghuang, yet you took the title of Hongjun and became the Dao Ancestor—that was the start of your ambitions. The other personas were just pawns in your schemes. Swallowing the original personality was something you planned meticulously, step by step. Every move you made was incredibly clever. I even suspect that during the second true spirit split, when you separated into Demon Ancestor and the coffin elder, you altered their awareness. Otherwise, how could Demon Ancestor have fallen into the trap so foolishly?"

Hongjun laughed. "That's purely your speculation."

"True, there's no evidence for these things," Li Changshou said calmly, "unless we find Demon Ancestor's body or awaken the informed one, Chu Feng, from the Undying Volcano."

Hongjun's smile stiffened slightly.

The bamboo grove fell silent again. The gray aura between the two figures had been put away by Li Changshou, and the scroll behind him had quietly dissipated.

"Friend, aren't you going to admit defeat? I've exposed your origins."

"Where did I lose?"

Hongjun said calmly, "Instead, if you truly could defeat me, how would you handle this world? Destroy Honghuang?"

"Of course not," Li Changshou laughed. "I think this world is quite good. It's a microcosm of my homeland's mythological system, inheriting my homeland's culture. It's familiar and fresh. Why not let a new world develop in its own direction? Senior Lang's subconscious provided a template for this world, influencing the initial spiritual energy clusters' evolution and creating such a wonderful realm. Isn't it fine to let it exist? Haven't you noticed? The issue isn't what the world or the beings are like. This world, which originally existed only in my homeland's myths, is already quite good. The problem lies with you, with the Heavenly Dao. Why not let this world break free from its shackles, let it evolve and develop based on the mutual influence of beings and Dao principles? Isn't that possible? We don't have to insist on Honghuang shattering into an endless starry sky, or having a solar system with a blue planet. My homeland's universe is even grander. Wouldn't it be better to let Honghuang develop on its own? Let the Heavenly Dao lose its selfish desires, let you separate from the world's origin, and let the heavens and great Dao have no consciousness? I oppose Senior Lang's plan to destroy the world—that's an irresponsible escape. Such a crude escape without seeking a remedy is too rough."

Li Changshou looked sincere. "Friend, let go. Give freedom to the heavens and to the beings."

Hongjun narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at Li Changshou.

"Aren't you the one who keeps saying it's all for the heavens? This question seems to hit your sore spot. You're at a loss for words right now. Because you never thought of letting go of this world! The Heavenly Dao is your stepping stone. After killing Senior Lang, you've completed yourself. You're now Hongjun the Dao Ancestor, a being who wants to control the heavens and the chaotic sea. You spread the primordial spirit path and promoted the so-called three corpses method. The three corpses method you taught me back then was clever, but behind that technique, I first sensed your pathological psychology. Why would a perfectly fine self insist on severing the true self corpse, good corpse, and evil corpse? I can't help but suspect you want cultivators to be like you, fantasizing that you alone are the 'true self.' It's all just to satisfy your twisted Dao heart. Don't pretend it's for the heavens. This world was ruined by you all in the ancient era!"

"Enough, we can never understand each other."

"You're making me sick right now..."

Looking at Hongjun's regretful expression, Li Changshou felt speechless for the first time.

"In the end, we must fight," Hongjun said, unfazed by Li Changshou's criticism. "Since that's the case, I'll tentatively believe you have a trump card against me. How do you want to duel, and when? Consider this my final courtesy as a senior. Actually, Changshou... if you had chosen to cultivate the three corpses method I gave you back then, I truly would have passed the position of Dao Ancestor to you and gone to explore the path back to that blue planet."

Li Changshou shook his head. "That version of me would be too unstable—I'm the type who wouldn't even dare give my paper figures consciousness. Don't say these emotional things. Your rhetoric doesn't mean much."

Pausing, Li Changshou looked down and saw in the magical treasure mirror on the desk that Sun Wukong had opened his eyes and was gazing slightly absentmindedly at the overcast sky.

"He's awake."

The smile at the corners of Hongjun's mouth grew thicker. "Before our duel, why not see how far he can go?"

Li Changshou laughed. "Friend, you're just stalling for time, aren't you?"

"Oh? What makes you say that?"

"You're seizing the moment to devour the Heavenly Dao," Li Changshou said, pointing a finger. A scene slowly appeared behind Hongjun.

Outside Zixiao Palace, a jade disc spun rapidly, suppressing a large cauldron beneath it.

Inside the cauldron, a multicolored figure sat quietly, being continuously refined by the Qiankun Cauldron, with streams of light flowing into the jade disc.

Around the cauldron, four gray-robed elders sat cross-legged, extending their palms toward it.

Seeing this, Li Changshou remained composed and said leisurely, "You're impressive for tricking the Heavenly Dao's selfish desires into self-destruction. But... the Heavenly Dao's will was triggered by you in the late ancient era. Even if you devour it, you'll just have stronger control over the Heavenly Dao, not much different from now."

Hongjun said, "You don't seem worried about me fully controlling the heavens."

Li Changshou smiled without responding, watching the figure of Sun Wukong being enveloped by flames, and said, "A trump card is meant to deliver a decisive blow at the key moment. Do as you like. Once you're ready, I'll give you the proper ceremony."

The implication was... If I could do it right now, I'd have acted already.

However, Li Changshou had no intention of fighting Hongjun directly.

His way of "dealing with" Hongjun wasn't through a grand battle; his teacher Taiqing had tried that and it hadn't solved the root problem.

(End of chapter)