Chapter 1525
Chapter 1525: Future Self
Jaws dropped in the crowd to see the young man in black next to Lu Yun, including those of the eleven potentates. They rubbed their eyes to make sure that they hadn’t seen incorrectly or made an erroneous judgment.
There were two Lu Yuns who looked exactly the same in front of them.
One was in long white robes, while the other was in black brocade robes. Every detail about them was the same, including their aura.
But judging from the Curse King’s expression, the public understood that the suddenly appearing black-robed Lu Yun was here to kill the one they knew.
Some hearts lifted in joy, while some clenched with trepidation.
……
“You’re here.” Lu Yun nodded at the other him across the way.
“That’s strange, why that choice of words?” smiled the black-robed Lu Yun.
“It’s not like I can say ‘I’m here’, can I?” Lu Yun half rolled his eyes.
“It’s so bizarre, why does everyone think I’m going to kill myself—er, commit suicide?” The baffled black-robed Lu Yun first looked at the Curse King, then at everyone else around them.
“Who knows? Hong thought so too. The Meng who buried you under Mount Cloudcover probably felt the same thing,” Lu Yun responded.
“Just because I’ve become a demon in the future?” frowned the black-robed Lu Yun. “I am still me even when I am a demon… so why would I kill myself?”
With that, the Curse King’s expression changed slightly.
“How is the future?” Lu Yun didn’t know what the black-robed version of himself had experienced after being sent through the time passage.
“The future is an empty hole, a lonely world,” answered the black-robed Lu Yun. “All life has perished, leaving only me to search for that thing and bring it back. It’s a pity that it became a spirit as soon as it reached the present.”
“Wait a second, all life perishes in the future?” Lu Yun’s eyebrows raised. “All life?”
“Everything dies and nothing escapes the fate of reincarnation.” Black-robed Lu Yun nodded. “The era I ended up in seemed to be the end of a great cycle, a terrifying instance of devastation. There were no living beings, no order, just some fragmented rules and laws.
“Therefore, I became a demon.” He rose and surveyed the surroundings with a smile. “As glorious as your talent is, as stunning as your cultivation may be, as mighty as you rise to rule it all, nothing escapes that final devastation.
“Everything returns to the origin, everything comes again to the starting point. It all resolves to the beginning and ends up in desolation, buried under the great dao of reincarnation.
“The world that you look to and the era that you peer at are too far away in both distance and time. You would be better served living in the present, fighting over today, and becoming the king of this era.” Black-robed Lu Yun’s words echoed with a beguiling note and spread in all directions.
The morale of countless beings, cultivators, and even true kings began to droop, wither, and fade away.
“Wake up!” roared the Dao King, sending his dao note rolling over the land and breaking apart black-robed Lu Yun’s demonic tones. He took another deep breath and shouted, “Immortal King, your future self is a demon! You can’t let him run free like this!
“The era of great devastation is so far from us that the strongest of the fourth realm cannot glimpse even its shadow!
“There’s something wrong with this future self! If he went to the time beyond the great devastation, how could he have become a demon and cultivate the demonic dao?!” The Dao King’s voice rang in everyone’s ears as if it were the morning bell, but Lu Yun’s expression remained the same throughout.
It was the Curse King who showed some reaction. He’d cursed the great tomb beneath Mount Cloudcover as well, so Lu Yun’s future self should’ve been under his control. Something seemed to have gone wrong.
“You’re right, I mean precisely that.” The black-robed Lu Yun smiled when he heard the Dao King’s words. “Live in the present, fight for the present, and don’t think so far. Nihil and nothing are the true eternity.”
“…holy fuck, how come I turn into some religious nutjob in the future?” Lu Yun rubbed his nose. “What did you bring back from the future?”
“The big-headed doll, you’ve seen it already,” said his black-robed self. “The mistress’ cultivation method of the three lives isn’t to collect the dao fruits of the past, present, and future. It’s to send replicas of oneself into the past and future to find two treasures!
“I brought the treasure back from the future, but it turned into a big-headed doll as soon as it reached this era.
“Our past self should’ve gotten his hands on the treasure too and delivered it to you through certain means.”
“Do you mean that brush?!” Lu Yun blinked.
“Yes, the brush. The brushes of the past, present, and future!”
“Does this have something to do with the akasha ghosts?” Lu Yun still recalled how God had said that the akasha ghosts had something to do with him. He hadn’t believed God at first, but now that he knew God was a heavyweight of the fourth realm and a being above Nihil World Sovereign, he was beginning to accept those words.
The black-robed Lu Yun fell silent for a moment, then raised his head to look at the pure black sky. “I would commit suicide right now if it wasn’t for the akasha ghosts. I would kill you, then kill all life in this Hongmeng.
“The akasha ghosts are my resentment and your resentment. I released my resentment through the brush of the future when I obtained it, and they became the akasha ghosts.
“Since the brush of the future drew them, they are not restricted by the past, present, or future. They can appear in any era. Since they were drawn into existence, the layout of absolute death that they project is a real scroll. Anyone who loses themselves in it becomes a person in the painting.”
I now have two of the brushes, Lu Yun suddenly thought. Both his current and future self were him. They hadn’t combined as one yet, so their memories remained separate. But whatever he was thinking was also the thoughts of his future self.
“Find the big-headed doll and turn him back into a brush. The Tome of Life and Death will truly open up to you when the brushes of the past, present, and future are united. It can end the cycle of great devastation!” The black-robed Lu Yun began to fade away as he spoke and turned into a dao fruit that sank into Lu Yun’s forehead.
Lu Yun’s cultivation was finally complete with both his past and future selves in his body.
The pure black sky began to clear up and a hazy purple firmament once more appeared in everyone’s eyes. Lu Yun’s Glacial Fire Hammers recovered their strength, and he was now peak ninth step king!
“We can continue.” He opened his eyes and faced the eleven potentates, three thousand true kings, and the glowering Curse King.