“But what exactly is this immortality? Is it the eternal existence of power?”
The old man shook his head, waving the ink brush in his hand, and ink dots stained the scroll.
A colossal dragon’s eye was pressed against the center of the light screen, and as it slowly opened, its reflection showed a world ravaged by war and in utter disarray.
“The eternity that stops at the individual will only lead to endlessly growing abominations; this is the delusion of the (Calamity of Abundance).”
During the Spring and Autumn Period, an old man riding a green ox backward was discussing their respective philosophies with a tall, robust middle-aged man accompanied by several disciples.
But with a dramatic change in the heaven's curtain, this philosophical debate, which would be widely discussed by later generations, was interrupted.
“It seems the principles we two teach will need significant revision, Qiu.”
“So this is what a Dragon looks like. I wonder what kind of magnificent figures the Dong clan, who were responsible for raising Dragons for Yao and Shun, were like. Ancient times truly make one yearn for them.”
Laozi sat atop a mountain ridge, stroking his long beard, and said with a smile.
His cultivation of inner peace had reached a state of perfection; he could be said to remain unperturbed even if Mount Tai collapsed before him.
Although his state of mind had fluctuated slightly due to the magnificent imagery displayed in the light screen, he quickly regained his composure.
(The address “Qiu” comes from the Book of Rites, indeed directly calling him by name. Lao Dan said: “Qiu! Stop the coffin to the right of the road, stop crying to listen to the changes.”)
“On the path of Dao, one seeks immortality, and then the Dragon-kind are born.” Confucius sat on the other side, gazing at the scene in the sky, lost in thought for a long time.
“Teacher Li, I heard that in ancient times there was a Classic of Mountains and Seas. It recorded that the god of Mount Zhong, named Zhuyin, saw for day, closed his eyes for night, breathed out for winter, breathed in for summer, did not drink, did not eat, did not rest, and his breath was wind.”
“This is so similar to the Supreme Dragon described by the heaven's curtain. Could this Supreme Dragon be another name for the Candle Dragon?”
Confucius asked with cupped hands.
“Teacher, if that is truly the case, could it be that the deities celebrated in ancient myths all truly existed? It’s just that now they, like the Candle Dragon, roam the Great Void and no longer descend to the mortal realm.”
Another sword-wielding man beside Confucius cupped his hands and asked doubtfully.
In another timeline, a gaunt man, about 40 years old and ugly, lay on a large rock by a stream.
Beside him, a fishing rod was propped up.
“Hahaha, what talk of eternal life and seeking immortality?”
“There is no such thing as an immortal existence in this world; there is no such thing as an immortal existence.”
Power, race, culture. Everything will one day completely return to nothingness.”
“When water is full, it overflows; when the moon is full, it wanes. If true, perfect immortality is achieved, new disasters will inevitably arise somewhere.”
The man lay on the rock, his legs crossed, laughing loudly at the light screen in the heaven's curtain.
From his words, this seemed to be a nihilistic being.
And he was the famous Zhuangzi—Zhuang Zhou.
“Dragon-kind, if these Dragon descendants also live long lives, then will the tenacity of their spirits match their bodies?”
“Longevity is not necessarily a good thing.”
Zhuangzi shook his head, seemingly not optimistic about the future of these Dragon-kind.
The light screen in the sky seemed to echo Zhuangzi’s words.
The next second, the constantly questioning youth asked again: “Then, is immortality the continuation of bloodline?”
“I once visited the homeland of the Infinitians. In the Land of White Cinders, the Dead Dragon (Crying Wind) brought down endless fiery rain, causing its offspring to flourish and transform, burning unceasingly.”
As the youth recounted his past, the scene changed again.
The Supreme Dragons that had just been entrenched in the Milky Way galaxy disappeared, replaced by a strange giant Dragon with two wings on its back and standing on four legs.
This Dragon, named Crying Wind, was just as its name suggested.
It was an existence caught between life and death.
From its neck down, it was all bare bones, stripped of flesh and blood. In its chest, a spherical light emitting crimson lightning radiated an extremely terrifying aura.
“Why is this Dragon so strange? It’s not as sacred as before; instead, it’s somewhat terrifying.”
In a certain dynasty, a scholar dressed in plain clothes said curiously.
Hearing his words, his friend beside him suddenly covered his mouth and whispered, “Brother Li, you must not speak rashly. If the Dragon God above hears you, it will not be good.”
In the Song Dynasty, Empress Dowager Wu was originally drinking and chatting with her officials, all looking up at the dazzling and colorful universe in the sky.
But the moment Crying Wind appeared, with a bang, a bronze wine cup fell to the ground.
Looking up again, Emperor Gaozong of Song shrank back in his chair in terror, as if greatly frightened, his eyes tightly shut, not daring to open them.
“Come, quickly! Order the archers to shoot that monster in the sky down for me!”
Another famous Ming Dynasty Emperor, known for his “calling for gates,” was in a similar state.
He cowered beneath the bodies of the livestock raised by the Oirat, trembling and not daring to look up.
“Don’t, don’t come near me! I am the Emperor! You cannot kill me!”
If one observed carefully, they would notice a dark mass of energy at the center of the brows of both Emperor Gaozong and the “calling for gates” Emperor.
It turned out that this was the heaven's curtain’s influence on certain individuals with deep sins.
Corrupt rulers like these two, who were first-rate tyrants, would be affected by the light screen, seeing the most terrifying images from their inner fears.
Speaking of which, it’s worth mentioning.
In fact, what people of different psychological age groups see in the light screen is not the same.
For example, certain bloody and terrifying scenes naturally cannot be shown to young children aged five or six.
So the light screen thoughtfully installed a cognitive filter on the images. When your psychological tolerance is insufficient, the image in your eyes will be modified.
And now, these two, crying and howling like stray dogs, had their cognitive filters removed.
This meant that they truly stood before Crying Wind, and naturally, they were scared into such a state.
“The Dragon-kind are spread across all worlds, yet they remain scattered across the Silver Sea, never interacting. Compared to the scale of the universe, the rise and fall of a single race is insignificant.”
In the light screen, the old man, whose body was only partially visible, seemed to shake his head in response.
Hearing the old man’s words, the youth continued to ask: “I hear that the Vidyadhara allied with the Xianzhou, and five Dragon Masters descended together, guarding against the traces of the Calamity of Abundance for ten thousand generations without ceasing.”
“Could the meaning of this immortality be their great endeavor of protecting the universe?!”
The old man sighed deeply, his voice filled with weariness.
“But the former Imbibitor Lunae has already broken his oath, causing great chaos in the Xianzhou. Alas, even a Dragon Master possesses a mortal heart. The heavy responsibilities on his shoulders will one day transform into shackles, weighing him down.”
In the image, a Dragon was slowly lowering itself into flames.
“Then, if it is as the Elder says, what exactly is the revelation of this immortality?”
The scene changed again.
The old man who was answering stood up from the table, revealing his true appearance.
He wore a grey-ink colored long robe, his hair and beard all white, and he was also a Dragon-kind.
And beside this Dragon-kind, several large characters prominently appeared.
Vidyadhara 【Dragon Master】 — Taoran.
At the same time, the constantly questioning young man also revealed his figure as the picture zoomed out.
But strangely, he was wearing a wetsuit, oddly shaped, as if he had an octopus head.
An introduction also appeared next to him.
Erudition Society, Candle Ink Scholar, 【The Scribe】 — Oppenheimer