Chapter 1049: Time Immortal

When Lu Yang saw the Token of Time Seeking Immortality, he froze for a moment.

What was going on? Was the Immortal of Time nearby?

Lu Yang landed, and the Token of Time Seeking Immortality grew increasingly hot to the touch.

He looked around. Having endured a succession of self-detonations, the Western Sky Temple was now a field of ruins; only the Mahavira Hall stood tottering, yet it had not collapsed.

Was there something strange about the Mahavira Hall?

Lu Yang walked straight toward the Mahavira Hall, a guess confirmed by the steadily rising temperature of the immortal-seeking token.

Master Mingyu thought to himself that things boded ill, and he anxiously followed behind Lu Yang, saying, "Exalted Immortal, Exalted Immortal, you cannot go there."

Lu Yang turned a deaf ear to his words. Ignoring Master Mingyu's dissuasion, he walked to the doors of the Mahavira Hall, whereupon a voice echoed from within the hall.

"Mingyu, this person is an old acquaintance of mine. I shall reminisce with him; you go and attend to the aftermath."

"Yes." Hearing that voice, Mingyu underwent a complete reversal in attitude. He no longer barred Lu Yang's way, turning instead to depart.

Having just experienced a great battle, the people's hearts were filled with panic, and it indeed required his presence to stabilize them.

Hearing the voice inside the Mahavira Hall, Lu Yang's heartbeat quickened slightly.

This was the voice of the Immortal of Time; the Immortal of Time was right here.

But if the Immortal of Time was inside the Mahavira Hall, why had the Immortal Fairy not discovered him earlier?

Lu Yang put the Azure Peak Sword away into his identity jade tablet and stepped into the Mahavira Hall.

Stepping inside, a pure fragrance assailed his nostrils, a scent blending sandalwood and lotus. The space within the hall was vast, and enshrined right at the center was a colossal golden statue of the Buddha. The statue stood dozens of meters high, its countenance benevolent and its eyes slightly closed, as though it were contemplating the ultimate truths of the world.

The golden statue was surrounded by exquisite murals depicting many stories from the life of the World-Honored One, each painting vivid and captivating.

The golden Buddha statue opened its eyes and stepped down from the lotus dais, its body shrinking simultaneously until it reached the height of an ordinary person. Though its demeanor remained compassionate, its features shifted somewhat, appearing to be only in his early twenties.

The golden Buddha scrutinized Lu Yang closely, his gaze locking onto the wooden token at Lu Yang's chest, and asked, "Just now, you utilized the embryonic form of the Immortal Dao Fruit. Where did you obtain it?"

"Time, you are still alive?!"

The voice of the Immortal Fairy rang out from within Lu Yang's body, and she emerged from him with great excitement.

Seeing the Immortal Fairy, the Immortal of Time was likewise incomparably thrilled, asking, "Immortal, you have indeed been resurrected?"

"Yes, it was Little Yangzi... Lu Yang who resurrected me!"

Little Yangzi? The Immortal of Time froze for a moment. What kind of strange form of address was that?

Immediately after, the Immortal of Time looked at Lu Yang with a solemn expression and earnestly uttered two words: "My thanks."

"It's... it's nothing, just a coincidence."

Although Jiang Lianyi, Ao Ling, and the Immortal Ying Tian had all offered their solemn gratitude upon their first meetings when they learned he had resurrected the Immortal Fairy, this kind of treatment still made Lu Yang somewhat uncomfortable.

"A coincidence is quite enough." Something they had failed to achieve despite ten thousand years of effort had been accomplished by Lu Yang. Whether it was a coincidence or not, this was a monumental favor.

Seeing the wooden token hanging at Lu Yang's chest, the Immortal of Time recalled the past and sighed inwardly. Back then, when passing through the channel of time, he had seen that Lu Yang possessed a part of himself, and he had suspected whether his future self had met with disaster.

Despite his utmost caution, his suspicion had ultimately been validated; something really had happened to him.

"By the way, Time, how are you still alive?"

The Immortal of Time wore a peculiar expression. Was this the kind of question one should ask upon first meeting?

However, considering Immortal's personality, asking such a question bluntly was entirely in character.

"How much do you know about the Fire-Seed Dynasty?"

"The Fire-Seed Dynasty? We have already met Lianyi, Little Ling, and Ying Tian, so we know most of what there is to know about the Fire-Seed Dynasty."

"You have met Ying Tian? Where is he now?"

"He resides within the minor world of an ancient ring, which is currently held by a disciple of the Laurel Immortal Palace."

"So that is how it is. When I obtained the Sky-Cleaving Axe, I thought something had happened to him. It is good that he is alive."

"Since you have met Ying Tian, then you know about as much of the Fire-Seed Dynasty as there is to know. Whatever he knows, I know; there is nothing more to tell."

"I heard from Ying Tian that you were ambushed during the late period of the Fire-Seed Dynasty. Who did it?"

The Immortal of Time shook his head gently and replied, "I do not know, but it was certainly one of the three of them—including Ying Tian. One of them was possessed by the mastermind behind the scenes!"

"You can use the Time Dao Fruit to enact a temporal reversal. Who could possibly ambush you?"

Recalling the scene from thirty thousand years ago, the Immortal of Time slowly exhaled, his expression grave, and said, "My Dao Fruit was interfered with, rendering me unable to perform a temporal reversal. I suspect that the mastermind's Dao Fruit is also related to time."

The Immortal Fairy was perplexed and asked, "Also related to time? How could that be possible? You possess a time-attribute Dao Fruit; how could he possibly have one as well?"

"That I do not know. It is merely my intuition. Perhaps some other Dao Fruit is also capable of affecting temporal reversal."

"What happened next?"

"After I was ambushed, I was severely wounded, and my Divine Wood body was beyond saving. I had no choice but to abandon the Divine Wood body, let my soul leave its shell, and leap several thousand years through time to arrive at the era of the Great Gan. However, I did not remain in the Great Gan; instead, I chose to head for the Western Regions."

The Nian Beast could leap through time, so the Immortal of Time naturally could as well.

"With my physical body gone and only my soul remaining, if I were to encounter the Immortal of Extinction or the mastermind behind the scenes, I would not even have the strength to strike back."

"In order to forge a true body, I established a Buddhist kingdom in the Western Regions and hid myself within the Buddha statue in the Mahavira Hall of this Western Sky Temple. Only the successive abbots of the Western Sky Temple knew of my existence."

"This Mahavira Hall was constructed using the power of incense, forming a minor world within itself that can evade the perception of the Immortal of Extinction."

It was entirely normal for the Mahavira Hall to enjoy abundant incense, so it would not arouse suspicion.

"Within the Buddhist kingdom, I propagated the idea that Buddhist cultivators should beg for alms to forge golden bodies for the Buddha. Under this imperceptible influence, this became one of the methods of cultivation for Buddhist practitioners."

"The act of Buddhist cultivators forging golden bodies for the Buddha generates the power of incense. As the Buddha, I absorb this portion of the incense."

"During this period, I happened to come across the Immortal Ying Tian's Sky-Cleaving Axe, and I used it as the supreme treasure of the Western Sky Temple to conceal my existence."

"Whenever the Western Sky Temple encountered danger, I would divine the future, allowing them to utilize the Sky-Cleaving Axe at the most opportune moment to ride out the crisis."

"I observe that this young friend Lu Yang's immortal body is likewise condensed from the power of incense, except that it cannot be maintained for long, nor can it leave the Buddhist kingdom."

"This kind of body cannot withstand high-intensity combat." Speaking to this point, the Immortal of Time paused, his gaze toward Lu Yang filled with envy.

"Of course, that is assuming young friend Lu Yang did not possess the embryonic form of the Immortal Dao Fruit."

"In order to forge a permanent immortal body, I have been accumulating power all this time."

"The accumulation of incense is a lengthy process, and waiting is very tedious. Thus, I would randomly perform time leaps—perhaps leaping a few years, a dozen years, or dozens of years. Every time I leaped to a temporal node, I would have the abbot of the Western Sky Temple recount the events that had transpired during those years to me."

"Until just now, during a temporal leap, I perceived Mingyu calling out to me, saying that the Western Sky Temple was facing a great crisis. I also perceived the fluctuations of the embryonic form of the Time Dao Fruit and the embryonic form of the Immortal Dao Fruit from the other side of time, which is why I leaped to this current temporal node."