Elsewhere, Meng Qi tossed the fruit to Azure Emperor. Dark and slightly translucent, it reflected everything around it like a mirror: the transcendent Azure Emperor in countless future branches, Medicine King Buddha with his blue-green golden body, Taiyi Heavenly Venerable wearing the Bamboo Crown, Chunyangzi, and Divine Lord Dongyang. Azure Emperor's past, present, and future all seemed condensed within this single fruit.
Whoosh!
Towering waves surged along the entire River of Time, like a great serpent arching its spine, plunging the surrounding spacetime into black-and-white stillness. The fruit suddenly shattered into countless tiny mirrors, reflecting the Heavens and Myriad Realms and revealing past and future, resembling both the Haotian Mirror and the Eastern Emperor Bell!
The mirror fragments scattered into the Azure Wood Ancient Tree, which brimmed with vigorous life. Hanging from its branches, they formed fruits that seemed to be crystallizations of the Great Dao.
Everything happened in an instant. Then the Azure Wood Ancient Tree, laden with strange fruits, flew off the auspicious clouds and entered the River of Time, traveling upstream through the Recent Ancient Era until it reached Medicine King Buddha.
It broke free of the curse of the Book of Nail-Headed Seven Arrows.
Returning to the beginning of the epoch, it completely stilled the waves of the River of Time. Medicine King Buddha escaped the influence of the Withered-Flourishing Bodhi and the chanting of "Amitabha Buddha," leaped out of the illusory waters once more, and entered the chaotic void. Sitting cross-legged, he proclaimed in a thunderous voice:
"I am Azure Emperor."
"I am Taihao."
Taiyi Rescuer Heavenly Venerable followed him out of the River of Time. Countless figures, including Chunyangzi and Divine Lord Dongyang, rose into the air and shouted in unison:
"I am Azure Emperor."
"I am Taihao."
Azure Emperor's figure slowly rose, drawing