Under the plum tree, the middle-aged man who had left and returned looked at the young Taoist in deep thought, his brows slightly furrowed.

Why, him again?

But it was the little bit of spiritual light left on the [Qi] that was touched for the second time.

As a result, he showed up and found that the one who touched the status of the Twelve Saints' inheritance was actually this disciple of the Tai Shang lineage. His eyes swept over the jade slip that the young Taoist placed aside, and saw that the twelve seals left on it had been broken, so he narrowed his eyes slightly.

Yuanshi Tianzun has always been fair.

Although this person is Tai Shang's disciple and cannot join his school, this "Original Ancestral Qi" is obtained by him after going through many hardships. Therefore, he did not directly destroy it before, but chose to seal it. However, because of his character of "there are fifty great ways, forty-nine heavens, and only one can be escaped", he left a glimmer of hope.

But no one expected that this person would actually find the one who had escaped.

Such understanding...

pity.

What a pity.

I looked up and saw Hou Tu Huang Di Ji over there, smiling but not smiling. Although he didn't speak, a voice sounded in my ears.

"Great Jade Purity Celestial Venerable, why did you leave and come back?"

Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun raised his eyes.

In an instant, the surrounding Qi moved, and the rules changed. The world in front of the young Taoist changed silently. It was no longer the town under the Helian Mountain. Qi Wuhuo was not able to sense this process at all. Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun did not leave, but appeared in front of Hou Tu Huang Dizhi and said calmly: "Hou Tu."

Hou Tu Huang Di Ji looked at the ripples around the young Taoist priest.

"Brahma Qi Mi Luo, the highest and most supreme."

"Open up the heavens and create the world."

"What a wonderful Yu Luo Xiaotai, what a wonderful Yu Xu Fantasy Land."

"Is this another trial?"

"Yuqing, you are still so overbearing as expected, and never ask others if they are willing."

Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun said calmly: "Yes."

Understatement, as it should be.

Hou Tu Huang Di Ji could not refute, and could not refute. He just looked at the spirituality of Yu Qing Yuan Shi Tian Zun in front of him with a smile. Such an existence, this spirituality, except for strength and means, is almost the same as the original body. Whether it is knowledge or mood, it is the same. He said: "So, why test him?"

"There must be a reason, right?"

Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun did not answer.

Hou Tu Huang Di Ji smiled and said, "But, Yuqing, what is this so-called trial of yours?"

"This child's character is firm enough, his heart is clear, and he is able to take the initiative to go through tribulations and transcend the world. He is also personally chosen by the Supreme. His character is so strong that it is impossible to stop him by testing ordinary cultivators with wine, sex, money and anger. If he is stopped by magical powers, you can see that he has a high level of understanding."

"How will you test it?"

Yuqing said calmly: "You will know when you see it yourself."

Hou Tu Huang Di Ji smiled and looked at Yu Xu's environment. His expression froze slightly. When he looked at Yu Qing again, there was a hint of anger and shock in his eyes: "Yu Qing! You——"

The young Taoist didn't know what was happening.

He was just in a trance for a moment. The plum tree was blown by the wind and its petals fell. The young man subconsciously stretched out his hand and held the plum blossom. Then suddenly the plum blossom disappeared in his palm, as if it did not exist. The young man blinked, not knowing what was happening.

Plum tree?

“Do we have plum blossoms in Jinzhou?”

The young man was puzzled. He looked up and saw the warm and bright sunshine. When the wind blew, he could smell the smell of the earth and the fragrance of the grass and trees. A familiar laugh came from behind him, interrupting the young man's thoughts. It was the voice of a young woman. She smiled and said, "Wuhuo, what are you doing standing there?"

The boy turned around and saw a round-faced woman standing there. She had dark, bright eyes and a smile. She was wearing clothes with her sleeves rolled up. Her hair was tied up with a chopstick as a hairpin. On one side was a kind-looking man. The boy subconsciously said, "Dad, Mom..."

“I just saw a plum tree.”

"What are you talking about? Why are there plum blossoms here?"

"The climate in Jinzhou is not suitable for the growth of plum flowers."

"Come here quickly, it's time to eat..." The young man turned around and watched his father standing up to eat with his bowl and chopsticks as usual, while his mother was busy cooking eggs for him. She smiled and said, "Eat more. You have to go to school today, so you must listen carefully to the teacher's lectures."

Qi Shijing took two bites of rice and said in a slow tone as usual, "Sir, you are a great scholar in the country and have a very good reputation."

"The current sage has been summoned several times but refused to serve as an official. He just traveled around giving lectures. Now that he has come to Jinzhou, you must seize the opportunity to learn more from him and then serve your country."

"Um."

"Have you memorized the article I taught you to memorize before?"

"After dinner, recite it to me."

"Can't you let the child finish his meal first?! Are you the only one capable of that?"

"I, I'm not..."

"What are you talking about? Shut up!"

"Come on, Wuhuo, eat more. Don't listen to your father. He is just a poor and corrupt scholar who has a lot of rules."

"you--"

The young man watched his parents talk and eat. His mother sewed a bag for him, stuffed his books, paper and pens into it, and carried it on his body. The young man walked to the gate of the yard, turned around and watched his mother sewing something, while his father was tending to the hanging baskets he had planted, pruning them carefully.

He stood at the door, and in a trance he seemed to sense something was wrong.

But there seems to be no difference.

In the real world, Hou Tu Huang Di Zhi looked at Yu Qing Yuan Shi Tian Zun:

"...The Jade Void Illusion is no different from reality. Are you going to trap him to death here with these?"

Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun said: "It's just a test."

"With his realm, he has a certain chance to see through the illusion and walk out of it."

"But there's only that one chance."

Hou Tu Huang Di Ji looked at the young man.

For any illusion, one only needs to cut off the array points, but she saw that this time it was the Yuxu illusion.

The center of the formation is the young man’s parents.

If you want to break the formation, you need to kill it with a sword.

However, Yuxu does not like those who kill their parents in order to break the formation.

Moreover, this is the method of the Taoist Ancestor. Qi Wuhuo's parents were originally mortals and had never cultivated their "Self". After one life passed away, they drank Meng Po soup and this life ended. Even if they were reincarnated, they could not awaken their past memories, because the "Self" in their life was not prominent or special compared with other "Selves". After reincarnation, everything was over.

In this Yuxu illusion, Daozu used his supreme magical powers to gather here everything that belonged to Qi Wuhuo's parents and was imprinted on this world itself. In other words, this illusion was false, but also real. From the perspective of his parents, it was more real than their souls after reincarnation.

Open up the heavenly world and create all the heavens.

This is another world.

The formation cannot be broken without killing.

Killing it will break the small formation and enter the big formation.

It will directly shatter one’s own Tao heart.

If you seek it with a conscious mind, you will become obsessed and unwilling to realize it, which will lead to great mistakes.

Hou Tu Huang Di Ji hoped that the young Taoist would break the formation and realize that it was an illusion; but at the same time, he did not want him to break the formation. He immediately looked at Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun and saw that he had a cold and detached expression. Yuqing was especially strict with his disciples and juniors, the most strict among the Three Pure Ones and Four Imperial Lords. The so-called trial would naturally have a price, and it was a huge price.

She watched all this happen in silence, and the young man just smiled and waved to his parents, then walked out of here, greeted every familiar person in his hometown, and walked towards the school along the road that was so vivid in his memory. When he walked into the school, a young man stood on the stage and said his name was Su Shengyuan.

He smiled and said, "There is another teacher who will teach you the classics, morality, and medical skills."

A thin young man walked in, his eyes were clear and quiet. Qi Wuhuo's eyes widened, and he watched him introduce himself, but his mind was blank. For some reason, he felt a kind of joy and sadness as if he had met his parents again. Today, when he returned home, there was a guest at home, who was a middle-aged man with a sword on his back, with an immortal look.

He called himself Tan Tai Xuan.

After seeing the young man, he was quite happy and said that the young man had good aptitude and was destined to practice Taoism.

He also demonstrated his sword-controlling skills, which dispelled the doubts of Qi Wuhuo's parents.

After thinking about it for a night, the young man chose to refuse. The Queen Mother of the Earth had a complicated look on her face and sighed in her heart. If she embarked on the path of cultivation in this dream, she could also break the formation, or at least increase the possibility of breaking through this formation. The Queen Mother of the Earth said, "If you enter the gate of Taoism, can you break the illusion?"

Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun said calmly: "It can be increased by 30%."

Hou Tu Huang Di Ji could only watch with regret, watching the young Taoist sinking into the softest part of his heart, sinking deeper and deeper into this constructed real world, his soul being blinded, and finally getting into a situation from which he could not extricate himself.

She can't and won't take action.

There was just regret and sorrow in his eyes.

Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun still looks like a statue, with a calm and indifferent expression, like a ruthless god, overlooking everything.

After Qi Wuhuo refused, he studied with the two teachers every day. He seemed to be very talented and quickly showed his intelligence in studying. He became the most admired disciple in the entire school. Everyone thought that he should take the exam and become a high-ranking official. He passed the provincial and county examinations one by one and was finally going to study in a bigger city.

“在外面要好好吃饭，不要节省，家里不缺你这点钱，得吃好的，也买点好的布料，不行寄回家中来，娘来给你缝衣裳，外面儿的太贵了。”

“妇道人家，外面裁缝铺里面缝的衣服更好些的。”

“无惑，别听你娘的，不要担心我们，在外面不比家中，要懂得谦虚，不要和人结怨才是，这些钱拿着，该吃就吃，该买就买，也买一身时兴的衣裳，佩剑，玉佩，去和同窗游学，拜访各地的名士，都是要做的事情，可不能节省。”

齐士敬拍了拍齐无惑的肩膀，道：“去吧……”

齐无惑背着行囊，在夕阳下越走越远了，若是没有意外的话，他将要会前往大城，会越走越远，很少回家，齐士敬夫妻目送着孩子走了之后，神色也都稍有黯淡，朱绮霞坐在那里擦眼泪，齐士敬做了饭菜，道：“好了，不要哭了。”

“孩子有本事是好事啊，你哭什么。”

“可，可是，无惑这么大，从没有离我们那么远……”

“往后，往后就很少能看到他了。”

“他也很少再能见到我们，可能，可能一辈子就只剩下几面了。”

“一想到这里，我也不知道为什么，就很想要哭……”

齐士敬神色暗淡，不知为何，妻子这一句话让他的心中也有种揪着的疼痛感，一个古板严肃的夫子，都差一点落下眼泪，看着外面夕阳如血，忽而却是瞪大眼睛，先是下意识起身猛地往前几步，而后止住脚步，怒道：

“无惑！你，你回来做什么？”

少年人放下了行囊，看着爹娘，轻声道：“儿子觉得，还没有准备好。”

“今年去城中的话，可能只能落败，所以回来了，打算多学几年。”

齐士敬本来要呵斥，不知为何，却说不出口。

朱绮霞则是擦着眼泪笑出来，一下撞开了自己的丈夫，道：

“回来，对，稳一点，稳一点好。”

“来，无惑饿了吗？想吃什么，娘去给你做。”

“别吃你爹做的，他做的只有他能吃下去。”

少年人回到了家中，而这一准备，就是足足的三十五年的时间，当年同窗时候，不如他的学子们也有上了进士，做了官的，也曾回来看望当年这个年少时候就文采飞扬的齐无惑，只是带着胜利者的矜持感慨着，说少时了了，大未必佳，引以为遗憾。

齐无惑也不在意。

三十五年过去，而今他也已经五十余岁，父母都已经年老，满头的白发，都得要拄着拐杖才能够走动，人过了五十岁，死了就不能被称呼为夭了，七十来岁数，算是长寿了，他这五十多年，一直都在这里，陪着父母。

也成了个讲学的夫子。

陪着先生讲学，和他一起上山采药。

后来，又过去了二十多年，听说先前做了官的同窗牵扯进了大案子，被罢免。

后来听说皇帝也死了。

后来齐无惑的头发也已经白了，爹娘病倒了，这村子里面的人来来去去，一茬一茬，路过的时候，见到齐无惑都要称呼一声老爷子，都赞叹他的孝顺。

在有一日难得的好天气，齐士敬夫妻在阳光下晒着太阳，齐无惑拉着爹娘的手。

听他们说自己曾经做了很长时间的噩梦，梦到锦州有大火灾，自己夫妻两个都死在那一次的火灾里面，说最后看着还不到十岁的儿子站在那里呆呆的，一想到以后儿子要受的苦就忍不住哭起来，然后齐士敬就会一边说妇道人家一边自己也有些眼眶泛红。

齐无惑总是得要安慰爹娘：“我就在这里，那只是个梦啊。”

“是啊，梦……”

“梦……”

二老呢喃，朱绮霞说话都已经有些不清楚了，道：

“只是，就因为我们两个，倒是连累你一辈子。”

“你本来能去做官的，做大官……”

“怎么会是连累呢。”

“不会。”

齐无惑嗓音温和，爹娘困倦了，他握着他们的手，听他们说自己要睡一觉，而后齐士敬和朱绮霞慢慢闭上了眼睛，呼吸细微起来。

齐士敬和朱绮霞在同一天去世了。

齐无惑照顾的很好，无病无痛。

长命百岁，岁岁平安。

齐无惑卖了屋子，把父母合葬在了一起，众人都称赞他的孝顺，最后石匠问他，在墓碑上刻什么，已经是老迈的不成样子的齐无惑伸出手抚摸着石碑。

他的脊背都已经弓着，弯腰，脸上满是皱纹，手掌上也有老人斑，伸出手摸着石碑，手掌颤抖，却是想起了自己年少时候站在门口，阳光温暖之下，看着父母年轻的模样。

“……岁月如梭啊，一眨眼就过去了这么久。”

石匠恭敬地看着这个村子里面的老者。

老者笑了笑，呢喃道：“父齐士敬，母朱绮霞之墓。”

“子，齐无惑……”

他手指落在石碑上，似乎在看着过去，看着未来，而后土皇地祇娘娘看着那苍老的老者，眼底惋惜之时，那老者手指落下，呢喃道：“太上玄微。”

“立。”

后土皇地祇娘娘瞳孔微缩。

似乎错觉，似乎真实，她看到旁边的玉清元始天尊嘴角微不可查微微勾起。

文字落下，轰然巨响，周围之炁猛然汇聚而来，那八十岁的老者气息寻迅速变化，于是老者的脊背重新笔直，重新变得年轻，白发转而为黑，唯双鬓为白，化作了青年模样，而后终究回归于少年人，这般变化，将那石匠骇得不轻。

少年道人重新走回到了家中，他弯下腰，捡拾了些许的石头，枯枝，而后堆叠，他恢复了原本的模样，但是没有修道，在这里没有法力，但是就靠着这些石头，枯枝变化堆叠，这个世界竟然泛起了层层的涟漪，而后在少年道人这简陋的法坛之下，层层破碎。

鹤连山下，梅花树在风拂过的时候晃动，于是花瓣在天空散开，少年道人闭着眼睛。

却有眼泪自脸上流淌下来，止不住。

后土皇地祇看到他身上隐隐发生了变化，而后看向旁边的玉清元始天尊，察觉到少年道人本来会遇到的，最大的八难之一，竟然在这过程之中直接破碎被湮灭，心中最大的遗憾被弥补。

玉清元始天尊，霸道冷淡，会不顾旁人反对给后辈安排各种苛刻的试炼。

但是试炼的反面就是机遇，只要是能够闯**过天尊的试炼，就会发现元始天尊所见到的远比旁人更远，给弟子安排的试炼虽然极难，却也是每一个后辈弟子最弱最缺乏的一环，所以元始天尊的亲传弟子，但凡是能够出山的，都没有丝毫的短板。

元始天尊拂袖起身，平淡离开。

只是道：“可惜了。”

“终究不能是我的弟子。”

后土皇地祇道：“玉清……”却已不见了那元始天尊，而齐无惑睁开眼睛的时候，却已经短暂忘却了自己刚刚的经历，只是不知道为何哭泣，也不知道为何，心中某一处空空落落的部分似乎不再那般难受，有一种痛快淋漓的感觉。

少年人一如往常，收敛了《炁》，第二日去拜访了苏先生。

苏先生似乎疲惫许久，和往日相同，仍旧是会热情温暖地招待这少年道人，却又和往日不同，再不会在他的面前提起讲学和朝堂之事，只会说些人间往来的经历，说自己在四处游历时候的见闻。

看似和往日相同，却又有一种极大的落寞和遗憾。

尽管在极力收敛，终究是存在的。

“苏先生……”

齐无惑感觉得到他心中的失落和遗憾，也知道，这样的遗憾和失落，正是苏圣元仍旧还渴望改变这个时代的证明，他自己是绝不会被重用的“乱党”，只能希望弟子能得到学识，能去改变这时代，而今这个寄托也消失了，自是失落。

少年道人心中若有所思，回家的时候，却是一怔，看到旁边很久以前就空着的院落被打开，里面似乎有人在住着，恰到好处，有人推开门，那是个穿着白衣的中年人，面如冠玉，眸如飞凤，却自有一股堂皇的威严。

冲着齐无惑点了点头，淡淡道：“吾在此地，居住数月。”

“小友，请了。”

齐无惑是知礼之人，拱手客气道：“在下齐无惑，邻里之间相互帮忙是应该的。”

“不知道先生怎么称呼。”

中年人平淡道：“在下，【清玉】。”