The Magus Era

”The long dream in thousands of worlds!” Amidst the golden light, a scrawny priest drawled. He had a bitter face, with his hair coiled in a pair of buns, and each bun having a lotus on it. A colorful branch was held in his hand.

”The fruit of Dao is harvested today.” Another priest slowly walked out of the golden light. This priest was smiling while holding a brightly glowing staff. His hair were tied in three buns on his head, and each bun also had a small lotus.

”Priest Mu? Priest Hua?” Ji Hao looked at them with shock and asked without thinking.

The white-skinned smiling priest, who looked like an immortal, shook his head slowly and responded, ”Priest Mu and Priest Hua have ceased to exist in this world. Now, we are...The Great Master and Second Master of our sect. As for names, we haven’t decided yet.”

This priest grinned as he glanced at the Pan Gu bell which floated above Ji Hao’s head. As a beam of cold light flashed across this priest’s eyes, and a tremor went through Ji Hao’s heart. As Ji Hao expected, this priest gave a long sigh and said, ”My little friend, your bell is destined to belong to our sect. If I can hold this bell, I can certainly defeat the evils, destroy the devils, and protect the whole world.”

He looked at Ji Hao seriously and continued with a deep voice, ”For all living beings in the world, my little friend, please devote this bell to me, will you? Or, are you willing to join my sect to live happily ever after?”

Ji Hao coughed slightly and responded, ”Masters, you have attained the great Dao of quietus, freed yourselves from your physical bodies, and achieved the ultimate freedom. In the future, you can choose every part of the great Dao of Pan Gu world. Congratulations.”

The two priests smiled faintly and nodded slightly at Ji Hao, but their eyes lingered on the Pan Gu bell, which floated above his head, the Pan Gu sword in his hand, and the golden bridge treading under his feet. From time to time, they cast glimpses at the East Emperor’s chariot. When they saw the Chaos dragon which pulled the chariot and had been fighting against Dragon Mother, their eyes shone brightly.

Ji Hao sighed. Priest Mu was a linden tree while Priest Hua was a colorful lotus. They were limited by their physical bodies; therefore, no matter how talented they were, they didn’t have much choice in the great Dao of Pan Gu world. They were gifted, but their gifts limited their development. Both the linden tree and the lotus had a nature of green, for which reason, if Priest Mu and Priest Hua chose to cultivate themselves with the Dao of fire or metal, they would surely be weaker than the other cultivators.

Ji Hao didn’t know how long they had slept in here, or what did they learn from the thousands of small worlds that sky devils created. But, once they woke up, the linden tree and the colorful lotus vanished as their physical bodies. Thus, Priest Hua and Priest Mu disappeared, leaving these two masters in this world. They were Priest Hua and Priest Mu, but they weren’t exactly Priest Hua and Priest Mu.

They freed themselves from the limitations given by the linden tree and the colorful lotus, and went beyond a certain level to reach the higher great Dao. That was why one of them said ’The fruit of Dao is harvested today’. Today, they were finally free, and had achieved their dreams.

”My little friend, you are a clear-minded person. You perceived our results of the great Dao of quietus, which means you are destined to be one of us.” The three-bunned priest smiled at Ji Hao and said, ”Why don’t you be my disciple? We don’t easily take disciples, but if you...”

Ji Hao interrupted him, ”I don’t want to give you my treasures. Do you know why? Because you owe me a debt!”

The two priests immediately stopped talking. The bitter-faced priest showed an even bitterer look, that every single wrinkle on his face was growing deeper. The smiling priest smiled brighter and brighter while looking at Ji Hao with his eyes sparkling. Ji Hao didn’t know what he was thinking.

Abruptly, the smiling priest bowed to Fuso tree, which stood a short distance away. ”Long time no see, Fuso, my friend. How have you been?” He said.

A wrinkled face emerged from the tree trunk and cast a meaningful glance at the two priests. ”My two friends, you have such great constancy, cultivation, and power. You...You actually made it. Congratulations, congratulations! You’ve freed yourselves from your bodies and earned the ultimate freedom. Like the golden lotus in the fire and the light in the water, now that you have made it, your future will be boundless.” Fuso tree sighed with envy and said.

The smiling priest responded, ”My friend, are you willing to join us and be the third master of our sect? If you join us, we will surely share this result of Dao with you!”

Fuso tree remained silent shortly, then his branches began shaking like an old man shaking his head. ”Not likely. That result of Dao of quietus fits your nature, which is why you attained it...I am full of fire, so how can I achieve quietus? If I go on that path, I will become a tree-shaped piece of coal, won’t I?”

The two priests dropped their faces. Ji Hao coughed loudly and said in a deep voice, ”Since you have woken up, you should remember what your clones have done all these years. Do you remember what you promised me when those Pan Yu saints broke your peaceful world? Help me with your full powers three times...”

The bitter-faced priest sighed heavily and closed his eyes, as if he cared about nothing.

The smilingly one bowed to Ji Hao and gave a reply, ”My little friend, you came to the wrong people. Priest Mu and Priest Hua made promises to you...But, they don’t exist in this world anymore. Why did you come to us?”

The smiling priest wielded his sleeve and sent a tremendous force to Ji Hao. The Pan Gu bell buzzed and emitted a bright green light as Ji Hao tightened his muscles to withstand this ridiculously strong force.

Streams of Chaos power puffed out of Ji Hao’s pores. In order to defend himself against this force, he boiled his spirit blood and activated his Pan Gu body. He suddenly grew to tens of meters tall while some faint marks of the great Dao of Chaos emerged on his skin.

A pure, vast, and wild power spread out from his body. Seeing this, the eyes of the two priests and Fuso tree shone simultaneously. The smiling priest praised, ”What a strong physical body! You’re perfect to join us and be our guard!”

Ji Hao gave a cold smile and responded, ”I’m afraid you can’t afford me...You two, are you really gonna shamelessly eat your own words?”

The smiling priest frowned and hollered, ”Go to the ones who made the promise, who owed you the debt! I am not Priest Hua. What have I ever promised you?

The priest wielded his sleeve again as he smiled at Ji Hao while continuing, ”If you don’t want to give up, feel free to kill the two clones of Priest Hua and Priest Mu!”

Ji Hao clenched his teeth tight, even causing a creaking noise. These two had become truly shameless after they earned the ultimate freedom!