Threefold Reversal: Zuo Ruotong

The video came from a later era's anime commentary. Zuo Ruotong looked like a figure from a painting, but the common people of every dynasty took him for a real immortal. Countless people knelt and bowed to him.

Some prayed for blessings, some prayed for rain, and others thought Zuo Ruotong was handsome.

Most of those who thought so were women.

From empress dowagers and imperial consorts to princesses and young ladies of noble families, all the way down to village women who had never left their villages in their lives, seeing Zuo Ruotong as depicted by people of a later age was like a mountain hog tasting fine grain.

It was the first time they had seen a man so fair and handsome.

Especially after Zuo Ruotong transformed into qi, his bearing became even more outstanding, and he looked even better.

A young princess said, "Mother, I want a prince consort like him when I grow up!"

Looking at her daughter, her mother thought, You want one? So does your mother! Where am I supposed to find a prince consort like that?

Watching Zuo Ruotong transform into qi in the video, the First Emperor of Qin widened his eyes and stared fixedly at the heavenly screen.

His heart was filled with shock and longing, as though he had seen the hope of eternal life.

"This man actually possesses such abilities, just like an immortal! If I obtained this immortal art, could I not become an immortal too?"

It was not just the First Emperor of Qin. Among the emperors of every dynasty, all but those too young to know better and the fools wanted eternal life and wished to become immortals.

Emperor Zhenzong of Song Zhao Heng, who had replaced Supreme God Haotian with the Jade Emperor as the supreme deity, immediately ordered the people of Daoism to find the Three-One Sect.

The Chongzhen Emperor of the late Ming looked at the heavenly screen and said, "Immortal, can you save my Great Ming?"

["At the sight, Sichong's face was already streaming with tears. Weeping with joy, he laughed and cried, 'Hahaha, the third level! The third level!'"]

["The next second, he fell sharply to his knees, repeating the words 'third level' over and over. Seeing this, the disciples around him followed suit, kneeling and looking up at the sky. Tears covered their faces, but they had no attention to spare for them."]

["At this moment, they were the most devout disciples, kneeling before the Threefold Reversal that belonged to them. Every one of them turned to the people beside them for confirmation, their voices filled with disbelief: 'The third level, it really is the third level! It really is the third level! Follow the current to evade the calamities ordained by fate; go against it to attain the art of the primordial cycle.'"]

["No one knew who had cried out this verse of the Threefold Reversal art, but in the next moment, the words rang out across the entire square."]

The Lord of Ten Thousand Years paced in anxious circles and said, "Follow the current to evade the calamities ordained by fate; go against it to attain the art of the primordial cycle. Are those the only two lines of the cultivation formula?"

He was not the only one anxious. There were also the Daoist priests of every dynasty, as well as those seeking immortality.

Transforming into qi, turning oneself into Innate Primordial Qi—in the eyes of many Daoist priests, Zuo Ruotong in the video closely matched their image of an immortal.

["Li Muxuan, however, stood rooted to the spot at the sight. After a moment of stunned silence, he too fell heavily to his knees, as though compelled by ghosts and gods. The one he knelt before was none other than Sect Leader Zuo, whom he admired yet could not let go of—the immortal who had so nearly become his master."]

"That lad had bad luck. He never got to take Immortal Zuo as his master."

"How grand it would be to tell people you had an immortal for a master!"

"What a pity. This lad called Li Muxuan has no affinity with immortals!"

The commentary in the video made many common people feel sorry for Li Muxuan.

["Zuo Ruotong had no desire to pay the slightest attention to the others' actions. At that moment, he cared only about Wu Gensheng before him."]

["The two stood facing each other, one in the sky and the other on the ground. After a moment's contemplation, Zuo Ruotong frowned slightly, and Wu Gensheng narrowed his eyes at the sight."]

["Just then, Sichong, who was kneeling on the ground, could no longer restrain himself. His body trembling, he struggled for a moment before running up to Wu Gensheng and cursing, 'Get lost, Wu Gensheng! Get lost, now! Today is a day of great joy for our Three-One Sect. We won't hold your trespassing against you, so get lost!'"]

["Before Wu Gensheng could react, Zuo Ruotong called out mildly, 'Sichong.'"]

["Then he told him to withdraw."]

["Hearing this, Sichong mustered his courage and replied, 'Senior brother, you've already reached the third level. Why bother with these ordinary mortals?'"]

["Zuo Ruotong said nothing. He merely shot him a sidelong glance, and then a great mass of qi surged from all around his body. The qi spread out and swept toward Sichong. Shock appeared on Sichong's face; he did not understand what his senior brother meant by this."]

["Only in the next moment did he realize that the white qi had hurt no one. It had merely separated him from Zuo Ruotong."]

["Seeing this, the Three-One disciples all shouted, 'What's that? We can't see anything at all!'"]

["Meanwhile, Zuo Ruotong had already flown up to Wu Gensheng. Looking at him, he asked, 'Wu Gensheng, what do you think of my Three-One Sect's Threefold Reversal?'"]

["Hearing this, Wu Gensheng lowered his head and remained silent at first. Only then did he slowly say, 'Even counting the abilities of all the extraordinary people under heaven, Reverse Rebirth can be called unrivaled.'"]

["But Zuo Ruotong was not satisfied with that answer. 'If you weren't the head of Quanxing, I would gladly regard you as a close friend. Tell me what you really think.'"]

"The name of the Quanxing sect should come from the Huainanzi," Emperor Xuanzong of Tang said. "'Keep one's nature whole and preserve one's true self, doing no harm to one's body; when faced with urgent peril, one can reach through to heaven.'"

["Hearing this, Wu Gensheng protested, 'That is what I really think. If I weren't the head of Quanxing, I'd be drinking and chatting with you about it.'"]

["Zuo Ruotong paid no mind to the flippancy in his tone and continued, 'It is what you really think, but you haven't finished. Say the rest.'"]

["At those words, Wu Gensheng's expression remained unchanged. After a moment, he uttered the next few words: 'It cannot reach heaven.'"]

["Faced with such outrageously defiant words, Zuo Ruotong was not angry. He continued, 'Your conclusion now doesn't surprise me, but I'm very curious. Judging by your attitude before you and I fought, it seems you had already decided then that the path of Reverse Rebirth would lead nowhere.'"]

["Wu Gensheng spoke frankly. 'It was even earlier than that. I thought so when I first heard about Reverse Rebirth. If Reverse Rebirth really is as the rumors say, then it certainly cannot reach heaven.'"]

["Zuo Ruotong did not understand why, but Wu Gensheng changed tack and asked him, 'When did you join the Three-One Sect?'"]

["After Zuo Ruotong answered that he had joined as a child, Wu Gensheng continued, 'No wonder. You can't see the mountain's true face because you're standing in the midst of it. If you had been older, with your aptitude and the knowledge you had then, you would not have failed to see it clearly. A road with an end does not deserve to reach heaven. Can you imagine a time when the road to heaven comes to an end?'"]

["Wu Gensheng pointed up at the sky and said, 'How could the road to heaven be limited to three levels? And why must there be three? Once you reach the third level, what then? Does the road to heaven end there?'"]

"Doesn't that already count as reaching heaven? That Wu Gensheng is talking big, if you ask me!"

"Sect Leader Zuo has already become an immortal, and yet that isn't reaching heaven?"

"The road to heaven... what exactly is the road to heaven?"