Faster than a fleeting moment, faster than an instant, faster than a lifetime’s end.
Within countless thoughts, countless ancient figures appeared.
The thoughts that reached this shore were all assimilated and devoured by the ancient figures. The ancient figures had already seen the path leading to the other shore.
“Zhaoming! Zhaoming! Zhaoming!”
The ancient figures, as if performing a grand sacrifice, continuously shouted Zhaoming’s name and surged towards the Zhaoming world, intending to devour it entirely!
Zhaoming immediately severed all his thoughts, retracting the remaining ones to the other shore.
But the price was that all the historical records of this world were scattered, left outside the torrent of time, beyond the ability of Confucianism to alter them ever again.
“Run? Can you escape?”
The ancient figures had already seized the thoughts of the other shore. It didn’t matter if they were severed; they could still develop new futures from these severed thoughts, traversing to the other shore through these unmanifested ideas.
Once the path ahead was illuminated by beings like the ancient figures, there was no means within the current world to stop them, save for finding a new place to hide.
The historical records were indeed unshakeable.
But it was enough to shake the person who modified them.
“In the end, he’s just a historian. Abandoning the historical records, he is powerless against the ancient figures. Now that the Zhaoming world’s gates are wide open, his defeat is certain.”
Christ’s eyes reflected this astonishing transformation, believing the Zhaoming world had lost all its foundations in this realm.
Even the historical records were abandoned; what else was there to say?
However, Yuan Huang frowned, sensing that things were not so simple.
He was in the past and discovered distortions and anomalies occurring there.
In a more distant era, during the Han Dynasty, heavily controlled by Confucianism, something was being illuminated.
“History books are merely one of Confucianism’s supreme methods.”
“Merely, one of them!”
Yuan Huang’s words proved true.
Though the Zhaoming world’s gates were wide open, and the ancient figures had transformed into countless thoughts, using this peak method of assimilation and consumption to incorporate the Zhaoming world into their own existence, writing history was also a method of Confucianism… one of them!
Dong—!
Ding ding ding…
The sounds of bells and musical pitches resonated from within the Zhaoming world. The music was patterned, originating from the most ancient Confucian streams.
“Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, Yu! Play Huang Zhong, sing Da Lü, dance Yun Men, to offer sacrifice to the Heavenly Gods!”
“They’re coming! This is ‘Li Yue’!”
Li Yue, the cornerstone of Confucianism, had been passed down continuously since the Zhou Dynasty. Though each subsequent era saw changes to cater to rulers, it generally ran parallel to law and order, gradually evolving into the fundamental morality of the human world.
Yuan Huang looked towards the gates of the Zhaoming world. Simultaneously, five immortal coffins rose from the earth. Yuan Huang, with quick reflexes, attempted to seize two of the coffins and pull them into the past, but these two coffins emitted a vast radiance, tightly bound to the Zhaoming world. At this moment, a colossal Confucian thought from the Han Dynasty, like a tidal wave, swept the hidden Yuan Huang in the past into its embrace!
The Han Dynasty, shrouded in historical mist, was controlled by the paths of Immortals and Confucianism, difficult for ordinary Heavenly Heart cultivators to perceive. But it was still a past dynasty. Time had passed, and all phenomena had faded. Nothing should have remained, nor should any entity capable of influencing the future emerge from history.
For if such powerful beings existed, the Han Dynasty would not have fallen, nor would they have needed to leave behind the Divine Altar for future generations.
Yuan Huang released the two immortal coffins. The Han Dynasty’s torrent also rapidly receded into the past. Those two immortal coffins flew into the Zhaoming world. Yuan Huang returned from the past and said to Christ, “Why didn’t you intervene? These are the vessels of the Five Directional Emperors!”
Christ looked at him and shook his head. “There is only one God.”
“Are you referring to yourself?” Yuan Huang’s expression was slightly odd.
Christ, however, pointed towards the deeper reaches of the Zhaoming world:
“No, I am the Lord of Monotheism. My ultimate goal is for there to be only one deity in the world, only I to be called Lord, omniscient, omnipotent, and capable of all things.”
“But this has not yet been achieved, so the Five Directional Emperors are not the true God. They are like me now, having not yet reached their ultimate goal. I do not need them.”
“Their strength is based on the Zhaoming world.”
Within the Zhaoming world, a sky had already descended. It was vast, solemn, reverent, and supremely majestic. Its color was bright and righteous, indescribable by worldly terms. It seemed empty, yet encompassed everything.
“Huang Tian Shang Di.”
The return of the Five Directional Emperors was the prelude to Huang Tian Shang Di’s revival. As the five immortal coffins collapsed, the five colors within transformed into pillars of light, supporting the Zhaoming world’s gates and blocking the ancient figures’ thoughts.
“The thoughts of this moment are different from the thoughts of that time.”
Zhaoming looked at the blocked “ancient figures.”
With the appearance of the Five Directional Emperors, all thoughts were reshaped. Even if he abandoned the historical records, he still possessed Confucianism’s most powerful method: Li Yue.
Li Yue, the rules of the world, the absolute rules defined by Confucianism. It did not necessarily require people to fully adhere to them, but as people lived in the world, even villains and malevolent spirits possessed an awareness that “certain actions violate social morality.” They might believe they feared nothing and were lawless, but by thinking so, they had already acknowledged Li Yue as the world’s standard.
Precisely because it was the world’s standard.
Thus, they felt they were violating it, considering it immense bravery and arrogance, and took pride in it.
This was acknowledgment and knowledge.
This was the foundation upon which all worlds were established.
“The historical records permeate all worlds, all phenomena; they record everything.”
“Li Yue establishes all worlds, all phenomena; it shapes everything.”
The five tones and twelve semitones.
Resonated within the Zhaoming world.
And at this moment, the ancient figures saw Zhaoming gain empowerment, a greatness and divine nature beyond description, something recognized by all worlds, all sentient beings, and even the myriad immortals within the inner mountains and rivers, and recorded in history.
The sacrifices of heavenly gods used Confucian Li Yue.
The morality of the world originated from Confucian Li Yue.
The succession of dynasties required Confucian Li Yue.
Social stability was invariably accompanied by Confucian Li Yue.
Indeed, everything in the world, from a certain moment in the Zhou Dynasty, Li Yue had been influencing the changes in historical records, laying the foundation for all the dynasties of the subsequent millennia. Starting from the Han Dynasty, it flourished, all originating from Confucianism.
It was one of the world’s cornerstones, trodden underfoot by all beings, incredibly solid, perhaps even surpassing historical records. If there were a way to forcefully eliminate and destroy it, all worldly phenomena and order would perish, and beings would also disappear.
Because from the Zhou Dynasty onwards, and flourishing in the Han Dynasty, everything within it was built upon Confucian Li Yue!
The ancient figures watched the Five Directional Emperors take shape, giving rise to new thoughts, altering the order of the Zhaoming world, akin to changing the lock on a door.
Their gaze shifted from the Five Directional Emperors upwards, towards that Huang Tian.
“You still cannot enter, because you cannot contend with all worlds. Thus, even if I am on the other shore, without going to this shore, I can influence everything in this world. It’s just that I cannot write history, but you cannot write it either.”
The Zhaoming world’s confrontation with the ancient figures showed that Confucianism possessed many formidable methods; being the head of the Three Teachings was no empty claim.
However, the ancient figures looked at Zhaoming, staring for a while.
The reflections of the ancient figures within those thoughts vanished.
The Zhaoming world smiled.
The tide had turned.
Unseen, above Huang Tian, the massive face of an ancient figure appeared. The face opened its mouth, which gradually consumed the entire visage. The entire Huang Tian seemed to writhe downwards, as if coming alive.
Zhaoming suddenly raised his head. At this moment, half his face was already that of an ancient figure. He was greatly shocked, but faster than a lifetime’s end, he was devoured by that cavernous maw that covered heaven and earth.
“Huang Tian Shang Di? Overthinking things!”
“When I arrived here, all futures vanished. In the death dreams of these corpse-liberated immortals, I have long been present.”
He had revived the Five Directional Emperors, but were they truly the Five Directional Emperors that were revived?
They were clearly five ancient figures.
“The head of the Three Teachings, let someone else take it!”
The ancient figures revealed a terrifying smile, then looked at the Huang Tian they had occupied. They surged through time, transforming into a fist, and in the most direct manner, brought about the demise of this unrevived Confucian origin.
Heaven and earth were reopened, chaos evolved, and the ancient figures drew forth a strand of true primal force from within.
A roar echoed through all worlds, in the hearts of all Confucian cultivators.
It was the sound of Huang Tian being shattered!
Henceforth, it was severed from all Confucian origins, never to be revived.
Yuan Huang and Christ witnessed this astonishing scene. Huang Tian was shattered before it could revive, severing Confucianism’s path to the past. Zhaoming was also devoured by the ancient figures, signifying a change in Confucianism’s lineage.
Hei Yi Ji Xiang was greatly terrified. What had she truly summoned?
When the ancient figures’ gaze met Hei Yi Ji Xiang, Hei Yi Ji Xiang also cooperated by explaining:
“I truly don’t know where that fellow went!”
“I am the Dao. When I say I don’t know, I truly don’t know, at least not after ‘One’!”