Chapter 35: Meeting Fuxi

Emerging from the spatial vortex, before his eyes lay the vast chaotic currents. Ji Ning had once traveled alone through the chaos, but that was only a brief trip to the border regions near the Three Realms.

"Fuxi is currently in the chaos, studying and pondering various great formations," said Bodhi. "Among the Three Sovereigns of the human race, Shennong and Fuxi usually spend most of their time in the chaos. Only Suiren resides permanently in the Xinhuo Grand World."

As he spoke, he led Ji Ning forward swiftly.

Space and time shifted.

The speed was astonishing.

"That is..." Because of the immense speed, the surrounding chaotic currents became blurry, but Ji Ning suddenly saw towering flames in the distance ahead.

"We've arrived," Bodhi's voice sounded, and their speed abruptly decreased.

Soon, Ji Ning was brought by his master close to the towering flames. The flames blazed fiercely, like an ocean, its end barely visible to the naked eye.

"Water?" Ji Ning was startled to discover that above the sea of flames, there seemed to be rolling black waves. Only upon closer inspection could he discern that they were endless black water currents... Below was an endless sea of flames, above was an endless expanse of black water, the two seemingly merging as one, the space between them faintly annihilating.

"Fuxi," Bodhi called out.

Whoosh!

Instantly, a path opened in the sea of flames before them, with the flames on either side unable to intrude even a hair's breadth.

"Let's go, enter," Bodhi said.

Then Ji Ning followed Bodhi, flying along this path.

"Is this a formation set up by the Human Sovereign?" Ji Ning couldn't help asking. "This flame—I can't recognize what kind of fire it is."

The most famous in the Three Realms were the Nine Great True Fires.

"This is the 'Inextinguishable Xinhuo' realized by the Human Sovereign Suiren," Bodhi said. "It is a flame surpassing the Nine Great True Fires. As for the water currents above, they are the 'Taiyin Profound Water,' the essence of the Taiyin Star. Suiren helped with the Xinhuo, so there is such a vast amount of flame. But the Taiyin essence had to be gathered by Fuxi himself, so there is relatively less. This formation is still being studied by Fuxi; it has not yet reached completion."

Ji Ning was awestruck.

Inextinguishable Xinhuo? Taiyin Profound Water?

In truth, cultivators of lesser strength, or those who were still weak themselves, often did not know that there were even more powerful flames beyond the Nine Great True Fires. Now he knew.

For instance, 'Solar True Fire' was merely the most common, endless flame on the Sun Star. 'Solar Golden Flame,' however, was the flame within the core of the Sun Star, far more terrifying in power than Solar True Fire. Even a True God or Dao Ancestor had to be extremely cautious when facing Solar Golden Flame; one careless mistake and they would be burned alive.

Solar Golden Flame existed naturally.

The Ancestral God Zhurong had created 'Zhurong Divine Fire,' also a flame surpassing the Nine Great True Fires. Unfortunately, Ancestral God Zhurong had long since perished.

The Human Sovereign Suiren had created 'Inextinguishable Xinhuo,' likewise surpassing the Nine Great True Fires.

In the Three Realms, there were also the Nine Great True Waters. Surpassing them were the 'Taiyin Profound Water' of the Taiyin Star and the 'Gonggong Divine Water' of Ancestral God Gonggong. But Ancestral God Gonggong had also died long ago.

During the ancient era, the ten Ancestral Gods fought and contended for supremacy, and some died.

Pangu was actually a World God, but in ancient times, the gods and demons did not know of the existence of 'World Gods.' Because Pangu was so powerful, he was singled out among the ten Ancestral Gods and considered the 'Pangu God,' a being above all immortals, Buddhas, gods, and demons.

Pangu split heaven and earth and died from exhaustion.

Nuwa had entered the chaos and never returned.

Ancestral God Fuxi was reincarnated into the human race and became the Human Sovereign Fuxi.

Several Ancestral Gods died in the ancient struggle for supremacy.

In the war of the ancient cataclysm, fighting against the Abyss Gate and the Lord of All Things, several more Ancestral Gods died in battle.

Even the Human Sovereign Fuxi had to work hard to mobilize the 'Taiyin Profound Water.' Fortunately, he had mastered the two Great Daos of 'Yin' and 'Yang,' which allowed him to command the ultimate yin 'Taiyin Profound Water.' However, his achievements in water were clearly not as high as Suiren's in fire.

"Fuxi is devoted to formations. If he had kept studying 'water,' with his mastery of the two Great Daos of Yin and Yang, he might have long ago created a profound water surpassing the Nine Great True Waters," Bodhi remarked.

"In his past life as an Ancestral God, he was skilled in the Dao of Destruction. In this life as a Human Sovereign, he focuses on formations," Ji Ning said, very curious about Fuxi.

Whether in his past or present life, Fuxi stood at the pinnacle of the Three Realms.

...

Whoosh.

Passing through the flame passage, they saw a patch of land several hundred zhang in size floating in the chaos. On this land sat a tall man in a Daoist robe, cross-legged. His robe was covered with numerous diagrams—'Taiji diagrams,' 'Eight Trigrams diagrams,' 'Star charts,' and other formation patterns. Countless runic symbols swirled around him. Fuxi gazed at these symbols, occasionally modifying some or rearranging them.

"Wait a moment," Bodhi said.

"Mm," Ji Ning nodded.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Fuxi, sitting in the distance, finally stopped. The surrounding runic symbols all vanished.

Fuxi smiled at Bodhi and Ji Ning: "Bodhi, why have you brought your precious disciple? Mm, come, sit first."

With a wave of his hand, two cushions appeared before them, along with two low tables bearing wine.

Bodhi led Ji Ning to sit down.

"It's good news, of course," Bodhi said, handing the scroll Ji Ning had given him to Fuxi. "Take a look."

"Oh."

Fuxi took it and immediately began to examine it with his divine sense. Once he started, he became completely absorbed.

"Don't rush; Fuxi is like that. We'll wait here slowly," Bodhi said. "Come, try this wine. Fuxi personally created it using the principles of formations—you won't find it anywhere else."

Ji Ning picked up the cup and tasted it.

Instantly, an unprecedented sense of comfort spread through his body, even his soul felt relaxed.

"Truly excellent wine," Ji Ning exclaimed.

"No one else could make it," Bodhi said.

The master and disciple then began drinking. The wine flask seemed small, but it contained enough immortal wine to fill a great lake. They drank leisurely, and over a day passed before the Human Sovereign Fuxi finally withdrew his divine sense from the bamboo scroll.

"Excellent, excellent, excellent!" Fuxi couldn't help exclaiming, saying 'good' three times.

"How is it?" Bodhi looked at him. "The 'Lang Fu' is good, isn't it?"

"The talismans recorded in this 'Lang Fu' are each more miraculous than the last. It took me three hours to fully comprehend them all. As long as the materials are prepared, many powerful talismans can indeed be refined," Fuxi said with a smile. "With these talismans, our Nuwa camp gains an additional boost. Though the boost is small, small increments add up and can influence the overall situation."

Hearing 'though the boost is small,' Ji Ning understood that the Nuwa camp's foundation was still very deep, and much of it was beyond his current knowledge.

Just as the Abyss Gate had some powerful methods.

The Nuwa camp likely had them too.

"At this point, there are very few means that can increase the overall strength of our Nuwa camp. This 'Lang Fu' is one of them," Fuxi said, shaking his head in admiration. "But for me personally, the greatest help was that 'Heaven and Earth Reversal One Mind Formation.' I spent most of my time studying it."

"What? The Heaven and Earth Reversal One Mind Formation? It helped you that much?" Bodhi was puzzled. "That formation requires eighteen cultivators to be completely of one mind. How could it be of such great help to you?"

"You don't understand."

Fuxi shook his head. "Though this formation is decent, the formations I have created are far more earth-shattering. Of course, I wouldn't set up the Heaven and Earth Reversal One Mind Formation. However... the mysteries contained in this formation, the techniques of its construction, are completely different from those of our Three Realms. And its most remarkable aspect is the 'Heaven and Earth Reversal.' I have been studying this 'Water and Fire World-Destroying Formation' for years, trying to find a more perfect way to combine the two extremes of water and fire. The method of 'Heaven and Earth Reversal' has given me new insights. Though the Heaven and Earth Reversal One Mind Formation is not particularly powerful, the one who created it is likely far superior to me in the Dao of Formations."

Fuxi sighed.

At Fuxi's level, when he looked at a formation, he examined how it was created, dissecting its essence. Clearly, Fuxi had drawn what he needed from it.

The Heaven and Earth Reversal One Mind Formation was indeed created by a great power in the chaos specifically for the 'Taowu Eighteen Divine Demons.' However, Fuxi's claim that the creator was superior to him was mistaken. That great power, after all, had realized the mysteries of formations in a different environment, naturally leading to great differences from Fuxi's understanding, which greatly moved Fuxi. But in terms of true achievement in the Dao of Formations, the other was barely on the same level as him.

"It can help you perfect the Water and Fire World-Destroying Formation?" Bodhi was delighted.

Inextinguishable Xinhuo and Taiyin Profound Water, each taken alone, were already immensely powerful.

If they could be perfectly combined...

That would be astonishing. It would greatly aid the final decisive battle, increasing their side's chances.

"It is helpful," Fuxi nodded. "But to achieve absolute perfection, much is still lacking. I need to study the Heaven and Earth Reversal One Mind Formation more carefully. Mm, these seven great techniques are all quite remarkable. They are clearly not from our Three Realms lineage; they should be from a chaos alien race. You brought your disciple here—did Ji Ning find these seven great techniques?"

"Yes," Bodhi nodded.

Fuxi looked at Ji Ning and sighed: "People all have selfish hearts. Small selfishness is for oneself; great selfishness is for one's family, one's tribe, one's nation, one's race, even one's own world. You are merely a Celestial Immortal or True God, yet you have offered these precious seven great techniques. That is rare and commendable."

Ji Ning felt ashamed upon hearing this.

He had offered the seven great techniques for his master and for his camp, but hiding the stone tablet was for himself. He had kept it secret from everyone else, partly because he feared the Abyss Gate's intelligence network, and partly to leave himself a backup plan. After all, the great tribulation of the Three Realms was upon them; he might die at any moment. He was not afraid of death, but if he died, who would protect his daughter?

"These seven great techniques of yours—the Lang Fu benefits the entire Nuwa camp, and the Heaven and Earth Reversal One Mind Formation has helped me greatly. Mm, I cannot accept your gift for nothing," Fuxi said.