A Dream of Three Thousand Years—How Much Gold Did I Lose!

In a secluded corner, a dark silhouette coughed incessantly. Among the frothy bubbles he coughed up, flecks of bloody foam seemed to drift. "Samsara... what exactly is it missing?" Sansheng could not understand. With his talent, even the Heavenly Emperor fell far short of him. Yet the closer he drew to Samsara, the more he felt it drifting further away. Even with the Sword of Oblivion successfully forged, Samsara remained unimaginably distant. "Sansheng, the Samsara you seek is different from the Samsara we envision. It is a dead end. Why not switch to... Stillness?" Having lain dormant within the jade slip for many years, Jing was finally able to transmit a faint message. "Jing" was already dead. His Dao remained, though incomplete. Thus, Jing thought Sansheng could walk his Dao and achieve true Stillness. *All things are still, yet I am not still.* Sansheng furrowed his brow and waved a hand. "You're already dead, yet so many echoes remain?" The jade slip instantly fell silent. The path Sansheng sought was Samsara. As for Stillness, which could freeze all creation and hold it in whatever state he willed, that was not what Sansheng pursued. "What is it that I lack to reach Samsara...?" Sansheng murmured. Right then, he broke into another violent coughing fit, spitting up a large pool of bloody foam. The power of Returning to Nothingness was still corroding him. At this moment, he was incomparably weak. Suddenly, Sansheng lifted his head, the black robe draped over him trembling. "You're here?" Not far ahead stood a young woman holding a blood-colored longsword. Her expression was cold and aloof, her gaze grave. Even though the shadowy figure before her was exceedingly frail, she treated the situation with utmost caution. After all, the slightest misstep would cast her into a bottomless abyss. Not to mention, the figure was profoundly mysterious—and had laid out schemes manipulating her and her master's fates. As Sansheng's words fell, the battle began in absolute silence. This was a battle between Dao Lords. More than that, neither was an ordinary Dao Lord. Though plagued by the karma of Returning to Nothingness and unable to unleash even a ten-thousandth of his true power, Sansheng could still slaughter ordinary Dao Gods with ease. As for Wu Shi, she wielded the Sword of Oblivion—an upgraded version at that. A clash between the two of them was enough to upend the universe. Yet their exchange was brief and rapid. It didn't even shatter the mountain where they stood, remaining purely a contest of Dao principles and Great Daos. Devour, Oblivion, Cycle, and beyond. "Just who are you? Why do you also know the power of Devour?" Wu Shi had already gained the upper hand, but not a shred of joy showed on her face. The foundation the other party displayed was simply too astonishing. Had he not been so severely weakened, she would never have been his match. "My name is... Samsara." Sansheng's form grew increasingly ethereal and illusory. Even without Wu Shi's assassination attempt, a day would come when he faded into illusion and dissolved entirely into Returning to Nothingness. This was a curse—the curse of Returning to Nothingness. The crimson blade slashed down, seemingly capable of devouring everything in the world, even swallowing Returning to Nothingness itself. The sword ultimately pierced through Sansheng's hand, piercing the back of it. At that moment, his blood merged into the Sword of Oblivion. A raspy voice sounded. "Between Cycle and Samsara, what exactly is missing?" "Is it death?" Even now, he clung to his obsession, desperate to see the road ahead. Yet even facing death, he still could not see Samsara clearly. What was it that he lacked? "Who in the world are you?" Wu Shi flicked the blood-colored sword, and the cowl concealing the shadowy figure's face flew back. A weak, pale, yet exceedingly familiar face met Wu Shi's eyes. Her pupils shrank violently, and disbelief washed over her face. "Master?" *End of the Sansheng Arc.* *** "What you lacked was the Netherworld." Atop Myriad Gods Mountain, Qi Yuan opened his eyes. Countless memories flooded into his mind at that moment. For an instant, his gaze showed confusion and melancholy, among other things. Sword Disciple, Youqian, and Sansheng. Those three lifetimes were experiences he had undergone while creating the Three Pure Ones Method, counting as part of his past. "I didn't expect to run into Little Wu Shi within the Three Pure Ones Method." Recalling every bit of his time with Wu Shi, Qi Yuan found it quite amusing. On second thought, though, it made complete sense. After all, Wu Shi was his Divine Infant. A karmic bond existed between them, so running into her was only natural. Later on, however, Wu Shi had been captured by Sansheng and had swallowed the Dao fruit of the Devour Dao Lord. Bit by bit, past memories resurfaced. Qi Yuan's gaze turned calm. "So above Yang Five lies Yang Six." "Cycle is merely the beginning of Samsara." Qi Yuan waved his hand, and a jade slip settled into his grasp. This jade slip was none other than the game jade slip. "So this jade slip actually had a name—Jingjing. No, wait... there's also a part of Sansheng in it. It's grown a bit of a brain." The game jade slip—the entity known as Jing—had once been seized by Sansheng. Later, Sansheng had been slain by Wu Shi. A portion of Sansheng had merged into the Sword of Oblivion, while another portion entered the game jade slip, combining with Jing to form the game jade slip. "So this game jade slip is actually a part of me." "Ugh, my head is spinning a bit." "Am I Sansheng's future?" "Or is Sansheng a part of me?" Qi Yuan muttered to himself. Though he was brilliant, he disliked wracking his brain. Using his brain was reserved for formulating grand plans. "None of that matters." A moment later, Qi Yuan understood. To Jing, time did not exist. Past, present, and future were all frozen at a single point. To Sansheng, who presumed to grasp Samsara, causality likewise did not exist. It was a matter of creating history, editing history, or perhaps... Qi Yuan was an observer. If he had never observed that piece of history, then that piece of history might not truly exist. Just like an ant that did not know Qi Yuan—to the ant, Qi Yuan was an illusion, something that did not genuinely exist. And that history was to Qi Yuan what Qi Yuan was to the ant. "The reason Sansheng failed to achieve Samsara was that... he didn't have the Netherworld." "Without a Netherworld, how could there be Samsara?" Anyone from Blue Star knew this truth. The Netherworld was an indispensable component of Samsara. Sansheng had simply suffered from a lack of cultural education. Admittedly, Sansheng had been created through Qi Yuan's Three Pure Ones Method. He possessed supreme talent, a sharp mind, and handsome looks. Yet Qi Yuan, as the original self, considered himself in no way inferior to Sansheng. After all, he had a bachelor's degree, while Sansheng did not. He also possessed a property deed, a marriage certificate, and a psychiatric diagnosis certificate, none of which Sansheng had. "Indeed. Sansheng never underwent the nurturing of nine years of compulsory education, which is why he failed at Samsara." "I'm different. I already have the Netherworld. Walking the path of Samsara will be a breeze for me." "I have the Netherworld, the Ten Yama Kings, and everything else. The only thing missing is the River of Forgetfulness." "Wait, where did my river run off to?" "A river of stars? The Milky Way?" "No, the Cosmic Mother River!" Only the Cosmic Mother River, capable of reviving the universe's living beings, resembled his lost River of Forgetfulness. "Right now, I have passed through the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations." Qi Yuan assessed his own strength. He was still far from Sansheng at his peak. However, having overcome the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations, his strength was extraordinary. Coupled with the Sword of Oblivion, it was fair to say he was invincible beneath Yang Six. Even against a Yang Six, wielding the Sword of Oblivion, he would dare to trade blows. Not to mention, the moment he stepped into Samsara, his strength would likely instantly surpass peak Sansheng. "Feng Ye, how long have I been in seclusion?" Qi Yuan asked. Of course, if he sensed the information factors, he could ascertain the time himself, but he was lazy. "Your Highness, you have emerged?" "Your Highness, you have been in seclusion for a total of three thousand years!" Feng Ye said respectfully. "Three thousand years? That long? Sigh, and my strength only grew by this much." Qi Yuan felt somewhat disappointed. As the saying went, an inch of time was worth an inch of gold. Just how much gold had he lost? "During these three thousand years, did anything important happen?" Qi Yuan asked. "Your Highness, God Lord Heitian came looking for you once, but you were in seclusion," Feng Ye answered earnestly, slowing his speech. "God Lord Heitian said that his kindness toward you has been written off."