The Empress's No.1 Lackey

Chapter 1281 680: He Came from Earth

Therefore, the Moya Practitioner spared no effort in teaching me cultivation, and further instructed me on how to defeat Ksitigarbha...

Ha, Ksitigarbha thought himself wise, yet failed to consider, could the Moya Practitioner be wholly unprepared? Back when he taught Ksitigarbha, he also left behind some contingencies."

He gave a cold snort, his eyes filled with disdain and scorn.

Then, he looked at Zhao Douan and the others' faces and spoke indifferently:

"The subsequent events, you all know.

I participated in the revolt, overthrowing Qi Country, and also personally took part in the 'Heavenly Hunting and Destruction of Buddha', during which I met Pei Niannu. Unfortunately, midway, Nian Nu was ambushed and forced to reveal herself, dying in that war.

Fortunately, at the time, I had learned some soul preservation techniques from the Moya Practitioner, and was able to save her Divine Soul."

Under the fiery red banyan tree.

Pei Niannu, holding her shoulders and wearing a silver face mask, snorted coldly, and said with a sneer:

"Xu Manzi! You obviously intended to refine me into an Artifact Spirit back then; don't think I didn't know your plans!"

Ancestor Xu paused and helplessly replied:

"That's not important; after all, you 'survived'. "

Pei Niannu laughed softly, full of ridicule.

Zhao Douan and the others exchanged looks, beads of cold sweat forming on their foreheads, not daring to get involved in such an exchange between senior figures.

Eventually, Xu Zhenguan attempted to mediate:

"Ahem, Ancestor, was it you who eventually killed the Dharma King Ksitigarbha then?"

"Indeed," Ancestor Xu nodded, somewhat proudly saying:

"Ksitigarbha did die by my hand, and after killing him, I confiscated the soul-splitting technique he'd perfected, ending the Heavenly Hunting and Destruction of Buddha.

Following that, you all know the rest, the overthrow of Qi Country, the establishment of Yu Country. But…"

"But what?" Zhao Douan pressed on.

Ancestor Xu hesitated a moment, saying:

"Later, together with Moya, I delved into this spell, and indeed, it's exquisitely profound, even transcending the realm of merely splitting souls, reaching further into reincarnation...

Yet, we both agreed back then, if Ksitigarbha truly mastered this technique, he might not have been truly killed by me, but could still have the chance to reincarnate."

Reincarnation?

Could the Dharma King Ksitigarbha not be dead?

At this moment, they were genuinely shocked.

Furthermore, an even more terrifying thought unbidden floated to their minds:

If the Dharma King Ksitigarbha did not die back then, who would he reincarnate as? Could it be...

"Xuan Yin?"

This name simultaneously appeared in the minds of Zhao Douan, the Empress, and the Heavenly Master.

Only, there was no evidence.

However, relatively speaking, what they wanted to hear more was the conclusion of this story.

Zhao Douan suppressed his suspicions about Xuan Yin and fixed his gaze on Xu:

"And then?"

He understood the following was the main event and crucially related to the truth of his own background.

"Then ah..." Ancestor Xu raised the teacup on the table, took a slow sip, and finally, under the anxious gazes, he spoke placidly:

"After I ascended the throne, since the Royal Family of Qi Country burned down the Capital City, it was naturally necessary to rebuild it, and during this process, I inherited many legacies left by Qi Country's Royal Family, which included the three giant doors you all passed through.

Hehe, indeed, they were secretly constructed by Qi Country, only they weren't fully completed at the time, quite flawed still, or else the remnants of Qi Country wouldn't have chosen fierce battle, but rather escaped through the tunnels."

Ah...

Zhao Douan instinctively glanced at Tuoba Weizhi, finding the dark-skinned girl unflinchingly calm, seemingly indifferent.

Ancestor Xu continued:

"I thought they were good items at a glance, so I went ahead and polished them off.

And precisely because of the presence of this door, I was able to conveniently and frequently travel between Mubei Forest and the Capital to meet with the Moya Practitioner."

"At that time, the world was already largely settled, order restored, a period of peace commenced.

However, the Moya Practitioner also approached his time of demise, but the most pressing problem was, the fissure in the forest persisted, and again showed signs of expanding.

With the Moya Practitioner's passing, if no sufficiently powerful figure took his place to continue guarding, then the world would be in peril!"

On hearing this, Xu Zhenguan realized:

"So you, Ancestor, took the Moya Practitioner's place?"

At this point, the situation was clear.

Ancestor Xu didn't hold back, nodding solemnly, saying:

"Yes. At that time, the world was already the Xu Family's world; given the affair with Ksitigarbha, we couldn't trust others, so in those last days, the Moya Practitioner told me everything, including the secret of the fissure.

Later, once the dynasty stabilized, I faked my death and came here."

Zhao Douan eyed him:

"So, you saw the world behind the fissure, and then painted it in the mural? But I still don't understand, why did you arrange so much, and... how did you know about me..."

At this moment, faced with Zhao Douan's intense gaze, Ancestor Xu was unexpectedly silent.

He looked at him with a complex gaze, as if looking upon an old friend, finally, he slowly said:

"With your intelligence, you should have guessed somewhat. Indeed, I succeeded Moya's position, the Moya Practitioner was supposed to die too, but as I said...

Ksitigarbha perfected that soul-splitting skill, so... before Moya died, he and I attempted something...

An attempt to send the Moya Practitioner into reincarnation, to return once more to the mortal world."

The sunset slowly descended.

Upon the fiery red banyan tree.

The golden Dragon Essence whined and hovered.

Ancestor Xu met Zhao Douan's gaze, Zhao Douan's face reflected in his pupils, and he calmly said:

"And before Moya died, he once told me his greatest secret. That is... he came from the world within the fissure."

——

ps: Finally, finally wrote the complete loop, well, actually, it was hinted at in the front...