Lu Yun wasn’t of this age, so the fact that he’d blundered into becoming humanity’s first great emperor, the notable Flame Emperor, constantly filled him with tremendous unease. All of his actions now were the result of careful planning—but not because he was worried about affecting this era or development of the future.

After all, this time period would be the myths and legends of later generations. Not everything would be passed down either; many events and people would be lost in the long river of time and there’d be an enormous chasm between the present and future history.

Rather, he worried about being assimilated by this world’s heavenly dao and becoming a figure of this era, never to return to his own time. He’d already sensed a ripple of change from the great dao soundlessly melding into his body. If it wasn’t for his primary body protecting the Dao Flower in the chaos, he’d probably already have been assimilated by the great dao and truly become a native life form of this era.

The little fox had once reminded him not to let his primary body cultivate the great dao of this age and reach true divinity realm. If he did that, he'd never be able to go back home.

Before one became a true divine, whether one was at connate great dao or golden core, neither of the two meant the cultivator was really walking the great dao. The word ‘true’ in true divinity—now true human—was indicator enough.

Lu Yun had done enough in this age. Though a scant eighty years had passed, they had been enough to rewrite the world.

“It’s time to go home. What happens next isn’t something I can participate in.” Lu Yun finally understood his next purpose in life. Hongjun wanted him to do whatever he wanted to do, but what he wanted to do right now was absolutely nothing.

“Worldcarver shouldn’t be in my possession. The last task I need to complete is to destroy the celestial court’s fortunes and find the Heavenly Grass.”

He would return to his era after twenty years, but had to exercise great caution during his remaining time. Hongjun wanted him to follow his heart, not run crazily through the land like a devil.

……

After he left Zhuolu, Lu Yun visited Qingqiu Mountain to where the little fox was. He was planning to visit the world of celestials and… probably wouldn't be coming back to the great wilderness after this trip.

“You’re finally here!” No-Good Tushan immediately transformed from a heaven-toppling beauty into a soft and fluffy little fox when she saw him. She burrowed into his arms and ferociously nuzzled his chest.

Leaning backward with surprise, Lu Yun dragged the fox out of his robes.

“Alright, seriously, why are you always doing this?” he demanded.

“Do you think I actually want to?” The little fox pulled a long face back at him. "I need to be surrounded by as much of your presence as possible, or I'll turn back into a native of this era and the power of reincarnation on me will scatter.”

Having undergone reincarnation, the little fox was a being from the future. However, her great dao originated from the great wilderness and she could be reclaimed by her origins at any moment if she wasn’t careful. Hence, she often took her true form and climbed into Lu Yun’s embrace.

“Are we going back now?” she asked with sudden low spirits.

“Mm… yes. We’re going back after another twenty years.” Lu Yun sighed and ruffled Ah Bao’s hair, the mountain ghost was standing next to him. Twenty years was the blink of an eye for great masters like them.

“Big brother Lieshan, will I ever see you again?” She looked mournfully at Lu Yun, already sensing the sadness of farewell.

“You will.” Lu Yun patted her head. “As long as you're still alive, I'll find you no matter where you are.”

A sudden thought struck him and he tapped lightly between Ah Bao’s brows, taking a strand of her soul force and curling it around his fingers.

“Mmhmm!” Ah Bao nodded emphatically. “Ah Bao will do her best to live on. Ah Bao will wait for big brother to come back even if it takes a hundred million years!”

Lu Yun’s nose twinged.

“Go on, big brother. Ah Bao will take care of herself.” She lowered her head and heroically kept the tears in her eyes from spilling out.

It wasn't until this moment that Lu Yun discovered what tied him to this place wasn't the great dao, but each and every single person he’d gotten to know during his time here. Ah Bao, Jiang Ti, Shaodian, Bai Zhaoju, Ling Weiyang… even Fuxi and Wahuang, as well as that perpetually dozing Ah Zhi and the impish Yin Prince Houtu in Pangu’s tomb.

There were too many people that he couldn't bear to never see again.

“I see, I see…” He looked up toward the chaos, exchanging a glance with his primary body. “Since I can't remain in this area, then I'll bring all of you back with me! Back to my time!”

Determination flashed through his eyes as he looked at the soul force twining around his fingertips. A smile crept across his face.

“There’s no need to be sad, Ah Bao. Big brother will absolutely find you once I return to my time and if you’re dead then, I will reverse yin and yang to resurrect you!”

Absolute confidence blossomed from his figure and the image of the Tome of Life and Death flashed through the air. Lu Yun had actually refined one step further in this moment due to his self assurance.

But this was no time for him to dwell on that. There were two more decades left in his countdown in the great wilderness—time enough to do a lot of things. He opened his hands and took out the core essence that Bai Zhaoju had given him. The White Emperor’s figure slowly walked out of his essence after a moment.

“Hoi, it’s Lie Shan!” Bai Zhaoju looked around blankly at first, then grinned widely and wrapped Lu Yun in a huge hug. His joy slowly faded away. “My master is dead.”

“Mm, so you must live well and live up to Senior Rushou’s hopes for you!” Lu Yun comforted him.

“Are you leaving?” Sensing the strange atmosphere, Bai Zhaoju frowned at his friend.

“Yep.” Lu Yun pointed at the center of Bai Zhaoju’s brows and extracted a bit of soul force without struggle. “Help me obtain some soul force from both Zhi Guangji and Chi Biaonu,” he said after a moment’s thought.

He hadn’t met the two of them in this era, but the Huo and Shui nations were both allied with the humans now. Though Zhi Guangji hadn’t been willing to offer up his great dao in the battle of Emperors Fall and ultimately died for it, he hadn’t done anything wrong himself.

Lu Yun also didn’t want him to really die in Emperors Fall. He wanted all of their soul forces so he could coalesce them into seeds and plant them into Hell Flowers to recollect their souls!

“Alright!” Bai Zhaoju agreed without hesitation and turned around.

“Though there’s legends of Fuxi, Wahuang, and Houtu in the future, I’ve never seen any sign of them…” Lu Yun sighed and took the little fox with him to Mount Buzhou.