"Back then, the Red Star Empire took the lead. The human leadership and the demon clan made a truce, and even opened the Transmission Realm Tower for the demon emperors to share."
"At that time, the empire focused all its efforts on developing the Northwest Barren Domain. I knew right away that, for a while, there wasn't any place left for me to put my skills to use."
Zhao Xing couldn't help but say, "Brother Yun, why didn't you come find me—"
Yun Tiandao shook his head. "Barren domain development wasn't my strength. I'm just a Shennong from the School of Heavenly Timing. In developing the barren domain, at best, I could bring down a bit of spiritual rain. Anyone could replace me for that. Why would they need me?"
"The Martial Emperor wanted me to stay in Great Zhou, and was even willing to give me a share in the Great Zhou Merchant Guild. But I wasn't a subject of Great Zhou, so how could I accept such benefits?"
Zhao Xing sighed inwardly. Yun Tiandao was just too proud. If he hadn't come from the Xuanhuang Realm, if he wasn't the Grand Shennong of the Xia Dynasty, maybe he really could have become his own partner. But because of this, he just wouldn't accept any favor from Great Zhou.
Of course, the School of Heavenly Timing also limited Yun Tiandao's growth. In the development of the barren domain, Shennongs from the School of Heavenly Timing really didn't have much of a role.
"My cultivation got stuck until you came up with 'Six Theories of the Annihilated Star,' which inspired me." Yun Tiandao kept talking about the past. "After that, I started traveling around the Xuanling Star Domain. While creating my own techniques, I also went around observing the twin yin-yang stars and the changes of the four seasons in various spirit domains. That's how I finally broke through to the Reincarnation Realm."
"About five hundred years later, I reached Lord level."
"I wanted to let you know, but at that time you'd just left Bai Han Realm, and your real body's whereabouts were unknown. So I gave up on the idea."
Listening to Yun Tiandao, Zhao Xing couldn't help but admire him.
To realize in the Dao Domain stage that the Heavenly Timing Dao was a dead end, and then go on to create his own techniques and reach Lord level—Old Yun really was a genius. No wonder he was the founding ancestor in the Xuanhuang Realm.
Yun Tiandao's access to information and resources couldn't compare to his own. He didn't have Zhao Xing's wealth or luck either. He just relied on himself, cultivated the hardest School of Heavenly Timing, and still managed to reach Lord level.
"Back then, I was already a Lord. I had some reputation in the southern border of the empire. I thought I was already a big shot and might be able to ask the Reincarnation Divine Palace to resurrect Emperor Xia."
"So I went to the Tianyou Ancient Kingdom, spent years asking around, tried everything, but in the end, it was all for nothing."
"I stayed in the Tianyou Ancient Kingdom for over three hundred years. I didn't even get into the Reincarnation Divine Palace, just met one of their external affairs members."
"After the Reincarnation Divine Palace turned me down, I was totally disheartened. At that time, the Xuanling historical records were unsealed about the Yuanhai Ancient Kingdom's past. That made me remember the old matters of the Dongyan Ancient Clan, so I started collecting ritual treasures—"
Listening to Yun Tiandao's story, Zhao Xing sighed to himself.
The right to resurrect someone from the Reincarnation Divine Palace was just too hard to get. Usually, it only opened up during a massive war, when the palace would actively allow resurrection for the human geniuses and experts who died in battle.
No matter how skilled Yun Tiandao was, in the eyes of the Reincarnation Divine Palace, he wasn't good enough. In peacetime, asking for this kind of favor was impossible. Unless you stole the Derivation of the Divine Spirit Tablet or used a ritual altar to resurrect someone, there was almost no other way.
That's why people said the Dongyan Ancient Clan set a really bad precedent. After hitting a dead end, Yun Tiandao started thinking the same way.
If the Dongyan Ancient Clan could do it, then he could too.
"I couldn't steal the Derivation of the Divine Spirit Tablet, but I did get my hands on a set of Reincarnation Ritual Altars."
"I trained hard in the way of rituals. By the five hundredth year after the Xuanling historical records were unsealed, I was already prepared for everything." There was a look of reminiscence in Yun Tiandao's eyes.
"Wait, a set of Reincarnation Ritual Altars? Where'd you get them?" Zhao Xing was puzzled. Wasn't that sort of thing supposed to be banned? Was Old Yun really that capable?
"Through the proper channels, it was basically impossible. Most priests of this era don't even know how to arrange an altar, and the forging methods for the five ritual tools have been blocked. They can't make new ones anymore."
"But the ones that already exist can still be used."
"After I recovered the memories of the Yuanhai Ancient Kingdom, there was some turmoil in the entire Tianyou Ancient Kingdom. I realized there was an opportunity and immediately went to the Phantom God Star System."
"You dug up the Reincarnation Ritual Altar from the Moonfall Mausoleum that belonged to that tyrant demon queen?" Zhao Xing suddenly understood.
"Yeah."
In his past life, the Phantom God Star System had been under development for over seven thousand years, and the timeline more or less matched up.
Back then, Zhao Xing got involved with Du Yun by providing a Void River Map of the Moonfall Mausoleum, which Du Yun then shared with the Tianyou Ancient Kingdom. Zhao Xing himself got a Time Page from the Xuanling Historical Records there, and dug up the Thousand Illusions Tree.
By rights, his involvement this time should have sped up the process a lot.
But after the Yuanhai Ancient Kingdom incident, the ritual Dao was cut off, Yuanhai Ancient Kingdom disappeared, and many powerful cultivators reincarnated, so progress slowed down again. The key Reincarnation Ritual Altar was never found—turns out Yun Tiandao was the one who got it.
"As you'd expect, I failed." Yun Tiandao continued. "I hid out in the old site of the Yuanhai Ancient Kingdom, on a remote, uninhabited star continent, and held the ritual ceremony."
"I tried to resurrect Emperor Xia and the survivors of the Xia Dynasty."
"I made a total of two attempts."
"The first time, I managed to resurrect Emperor Xia, but he was still completely insane. As for the civil and military officials, I couldn't revive any of them. He soon killed himself again due to his madness."
"I kept cultivating the ritual Dao, reflected on what went wrong, and figured out that I'd only kept Emperor Xia's relics and Celestial Soul, but didn't have those of the civil and military officials."
"The madness was because I could only trace back to the Barren Domain's First Era. When I tried to reach further into the past to summon their souls, I ran into a powerful barrier."
Zhao Xing nodded slightly. The obstacle Yun Tiandao ran into was most likely the barrier of time and space.
If he couldn't break through that wall, he'd only ever get a mad Emperor Xia, never the real one.
In the way of resurrection, the Reincarnation Divine Palace had the final say. Others could try to find loopholes, but they could never do anything too outrageous—it always counted as a 'not-too-dangerous resurrection.'
Of course, what the Dongyan Ancient Clan did was still very dangerous.
"After about one thousand years, I tried again to break through that barrier."
"At first, I really wasn't confident. But for some reason, this time the barrier was much smaller," Yun Tiandao said, eyes full of doubt. "Still, I didn't succeed. Instead, I saw some really strange scenes."
"What did you see?"
"I saw, from the river of time and space, a ship coming out, carried by giant waves over a high city wall. It looked kind of like this—" Yun Tiandao gestured as he tried to describe it.
As soon as Zhao Xing saw the drawing, he was shaken. Yun Tiandao had seen the Yin-Yang Warship, the very ship Zhao Xing took back from the Bone Divine Domain in Yuan!
Did Old Yun really witness the moment he returned from the past?
"About this ship, did you see anything else? Did you notice anything special?" Zhao Xing asked quickly. Even now, he didn't know how to activate the Sealing Ground. Maybe he could get some answers from Yun Tiandao's observations.
"Something special?" Yun Tiandao frowned and thought hard. "I saw those giant waves lifting the ancient ship, and it seemed like there were a pair of big hands holding it up. I'm not sure if I'm describing it right. The Dao illusions that show up in the river of time are hard to put into words. I vaguely remember there was a speck of light in the river, spinning under a vortex."
A pair of big hands? Zhao Xing frowned. Yun Tiandao's description was really vague. He still had no clue how to activate the Sealing Ground.
"Go on. Was there anything else?"
Yun Tiandao shook his head. "My ritual offering didn't bring Emperor Xia back. Instead, I got a statue and a book."
"A statue?" Zhao Xing was surprised. "Shouldn't it be two statues?"
He thought the Immeasurable True God statue must've sneaked in during Yun Tiandao's ritual and descended onto the altar. But now it seemed like that wasn't the case.
"Two? No, just one." Yun Tiandao glanced at Fairy Nifeng. "The one in Nifeng's hand isn't the same as the one I have."
"We got hers when we were collecting treasures later."
Wow, so there really were evil god statues everywhere. The Immeasurable True God statue in Fairy Nifeng's hand wasn't the same as Yun Tiandao's.
It made sense. The Immeasurable True God did mention sending his real body to the Black Heaven Barren Domain, but never said anything about the ancient ship.
He also didn't know Yun Tiandao had tracked him, or that Zhao Xing showed up near the ancient ship. Normally, the Immeasurable True God should've known, since Zhao Xing made an appearance back then.
But if they weren't the same statue, then it all made sense. The Black Heaven Barren Domain was huge, so hiding in the same kind of place by coincidence was normal.
"Can I take a look?" Zhao Xing asked seriously.
Yun Tiandao said nothing.
Zhao Xing immediately caught on. "Is it dangerous?"
After thinking a moment, he asked again, "Is it dangerous for me?"
Yun Tiandao nodded.
Zhao Xing understood right away. He'd come to do the evil god mission, and he'd already gotten a lot of information from the empire.
If it was the Immeasurable True God situation, there was almost no real risk for him, and the evil god's control was basically zero. Whether he said the name or even cursed, it wouldn't matter.
But Yun Tiandao's situation was different. Old Yun entered the ancient ship and hadn't stayed long, but he'd already survived three True Spirit Tribulations. That kind of massive improvement had to come with a price. This evil god must have some way to keep watch—at least from how Yun Tiandao acted, just saying the true name was out of the question. He couldn't reveal any more details either.
"Alright, we can talk about that later. What was the price for the ritual?" Zhao Xing asked.
Evil gods usually wanted pretty much the same things—they always aimed for the source of this space-time.
Still, Zhao Xing wanted to know the exact form of the sacrifice. Dao source was a vague idea; different items could represent different Dao sources.
"There are two," Yun Tiandao replied coldly. "The first is killing. Over these years, I've killed more than ten billion people, refining their souls and bodies."
Zhao Xing's brows shot up.
"Zhao Xing, don't get the wrong idea." Fairy Nifeng quickly explained. "He only killed star pirates and those wicked, heartless nobles."
So that's how it was? No big deal, then.
Zhao Xing let out a breath. It looked like Yun Tiandao still had some bottom line. He was always worried Old Yun would lose himself and become a real monster just to resurrect Emperor Xia.
Still, Yun Tiandao was in deep trouble. If he kept going like this, he'd definitely get caught. Even if the nobles he killed were evil, it was up to the ancient kingdom's ruler to judge them. Yun Tiandao overstepped his bounds, and if anyone found out he did it to make sacrifices to an evil god, it'd be unforgivable.
But now that Zhao Xing knew, it didn't seem like much. The people Yun Tiandao killed really weren't that many. On a single high-level world, you could easily fill that quota. Spread across the whole ancient kingdom, nobody would even notice.
"And the second?"
"Stealing stars."
"Sorry, stealing what?" Zhao Xing blinked.
"No, not that kind of stealing," Fairy Nifeng explained. "He means stealing sun stars and moon stars."
"How many did you steal?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Around fifty thousand pairs of mid to high-grade yin-yang twin stars," Fairy Nifeng answered quietly.
"You—" Zhao Xing was speechless.
Compared to killing those billions of criminals and star pirates, stealing stars was a way bigger crime.
What were the most precious public resources in the Spirit Qi Star Domain? The sun stars and moon stars!
Simply having spiritual energy doesn't make a place a Spirit Qi Star System. There must be yin-yang twin stars in orbit. Only then can spiritual energy cycle completely, so all four seasons inside the system can balance life, death, the five elements, and every Dao, letting them all move in a complete circle.
Right now, on any of the Nine Ancient Dao Roads, every road has twin star systems. This is one of the few times the School of Heavenly Timing really stands out.
Yin and yang open the six directions. True spirits are born from the source. Only like this can you build a stable, long-lasting system with the best source circulation.
When Zhao Xing developed the Annihilated Star Ancient Road, he often needed to move stars around. Even then, on the whole Annihilated Star Ancient Road, only about one hundred fifty thousand high-grade twin stars were relocated.
But Yun Tiandao actually stole over fifty thousand mid- and high-grade twin stars from all over the star domain to sacrifice to the evil god?
'That's it, no wonder Old Yun could have such a breakthrough.'
'The one he sacrificed—could it be some kind of evil god from the School of Heavenly Timing?'
'A god who specifically devours the source of yin-yang twin stars?'
After the Bai Han Realm incident, Zhao Xing's opinion of the School of Heavenly Timing Shennong dropped sharply. The only demon Shennong he'd ever met was Bai Han Venerable.
"You're too daring. With so many yin-yang twin stars missing, you're probably going to be hunted soon."
Yin-yang twin stars are basically irreplaceable resources. Sure, there are some rumored spells from the School of Earthly Advantage that can supposedly activate sun veins and moon veins, bringing new vitality. But this doesn't actually create more source energy. It just temporarily changes the local ecosystem inside the circle.
The evil god stole those yin-yang twin stars and took them out of this space-time. That's basically robbing the contemporary yin-yang Dao source—the total amount is just less!
"Brother Yun, you've really messed up," Zhao Xing sighed.
"Brother Zhao, is Tian-ge's crime really that serious?" Fairy Nifeng got nervous.
"Madam, the first thing is easy for me to handle," Zhao Xing said. "With my current status, I can just take responsibility myself and say I ordered it."
"If Brother Yun killed some star pirates and corrupt nobles, that's really nothing big."
Handled properly, he could just pay compensation to those ancient kingdom rulers. If he got tough, who would dare cause trouble for him? They might even thank him for helping clear out the pests.
"But the second thing—that's more troublesome. This is a sensitive time," Zhao Xing said.
"Zhao Xing, I'll take responsibility for my own actions."
"Let's just pretend we never met today. If I get caught later, I won't mention you."
Yun Tiandao didn't want to cause Zhao Xing any trouble, and started to leave with his partner.
"Hold on," Zhao Xing stopped him. "Brother Yun, I just said it's a bit of trouble. I never said it can't be solved."
"I don't want to drag you down."
"You can't handle this, but I can," Zhao Xing advised. "Even if you're not afraid, is Madam really going to go through life on the run with you?"
"Think of how much she suffered just to be reunited with you."
Yun Tiandao's expression softened. He'd guarded the Era's House alone for a million years, and even the legendary Wang Tianzhi admired his willpower. But Fairy Nifeng was his weakness.
"If you trust me, leave this to me."
Zhao Xing took over, partly because he was grateful for everything Yun Tiandao did for him and Great Zhou back then. Also, it had to do with his own mission.
He came here to deal with evil gods—wasn't this just a ready-made achievement?
"Stealing stars is a big crime. How are you going to take the blame?" Yun Tiandao wasn't suspicious, just worried about dragging Zhao Xing down.
"I'm a Primordial Emissary," Zhao Xing grinned. "With my half-god cultivation on top, that status means something else. Right now, I'm supposed to investigate evil gods appearing in the world."
"I can file a request to make you my divine guard. It'll just mean Brother Yun has to put up with it a little."
Yun Tiandao didn't care about that at all, just asked curiously, "You really have that much power now?"
Stealing stars, killing people, connected to evil gods—and Zhao Xing could settle all of it?
"Hahaha, we're not little nobodies anymore," Zhao Xing said with a bit of pride when he saw Yun Tiandao's look. "Look, even the Carlos Family collapses at my word."
"As long as you come back with me and become my divine guard, I'll file a report. Even if you're caught stealing stars, you were following my orders—and I'm following the highest orders from humanity."
"Stealing some yin-yang twin stars? All for the mission, right?"
Zhao Xing was sure as long as it wasn't a matter of principle, it could be resolved—he might even get rewarded.
After all, Yun Tiandao had already started the evil god mission and gotten pretty far. If Zhao Xing had to start from scratch, it would be a lot of work. This kind of task needs time to test loyalty. But if he took over Yun Tiandao's evil god mission, there might be unexpected gains.
As for Yun Tiandao wanting to resurrect Emperor Xia or restore the dynasty—once he became Zhao Xing's divine guard, he'd have a way forward. If Old Yun got stronger in the future and made enough contributions, maybe it'd all work out.
Fairy Nifeng excitedly grabbed Yun Tiandao's hand. "Tian-ge, we—"
Yun Tiandao patted his partner's hand. "Alright, Zhao Xing, I'll go back with you."
Zhao Xing grabbed Yun Tiandao and used his Primordial Clone as the anchor to start distance-free teleportation.
In just a few days, he settled Yun Tiandao outside Jiachen Pass, at a base in the Annihilated Star Corridor.
A lot of it was still private territory belonging to Great Zhou, and hadn't been moved yet.
Zhao Xing called over Ji Si first.
Now, Ji Si was already a thirteenth-rank Fate Lord. Ji Si was also involved in the evil god missions and had access to that kind of intel and channels.
After hearing Yun Tiandao's story, Ji Si couldn't help shaking his head. "Yun Tiandao was a bit reckless about this. Things at this level just aren't something one person can pull off alone."
"But honestly, his determination is admirable. If I were in his position, I'd probably do the same thing. I'd pay any price to bring the Grand Shennong and His Majesty back to life," Ji Si said.
He imagined it—if Great Zhou was destroyed, if the Grand Shennong and His Majesty died, and neither the Empire nor the Reincarnation Divine Palace would help, he'd also cling to that last straw of making a sacrifice to an evil god.
"His case is easy to fix," Ji Si said. "Grand Shennong, just apply to Gu Luohe to make Yun Tiandao your divine guard. That'll solve both the star-stealing and killing problems."
"But how do we handle the technical side?" Zhao Xing asked. To get Yun Tiandao in officially, he'd need to submit some merit records.
That meant figuring out the name and nature of the evil god Yun Tiandao sacrificed to, and whether there was any other motive or method. If Old Yun really was his subordinate and it was all planned out in advance, Zhao Xing could just take him straight to Mind Palace, but there needed to be a proper order to things—procedural justice.
If Mind General found out Zhao Xing put him on the payroll after the fact, it would look like he was covering for Yun Tiandao.
So Zhao Xing and Ji Si had to handle this first.
"Yun Tiandao can't talk about the evil god ritual because the evil god's thought is in his mind," Ji Si analyzed. "If Yun Tiandao even thinks about speaking, it counts as betraying the evil god. Then the gods can use cause and effect, and kill him from afar before he even gets the words out."
Zhao Xing nodded. When he fought the Immeasurable True God, all his split souls were affected. Clearly, the methods of the gods could not be underestimated.
Ji Si thought for a moment. "Grand Shennong, we can have Yun Tiandao put on the Xuerei Fortune Divine Bone first, then let him enter the Eight Directions Divine Mirror."
"As long as that one isn't a Destiny God General, the mirror spirit can make sure, without alerting the evil god's will, that Yun Tiandao says what he needs to."
So the Eight Directions Divine Mirror could do that? This spirit was hiding its abilities from me, Zhao Xing grumbled inside.
If a great Dao artifact has an experienced spirit, facing a new master is like an adviser picking their king.
Obviously, with Ji Si, the mirror spirit was done hiding things.
No surprise—this was a treasure for a Fate Master, not a Shennong.
And the core of the mirror spirit's plan was just four words: blessed by heaven, avoid causality.
Whoever wore the Xuerei Fortune Divine Bone would reach the thirtieth stage! That would make sure everything went smoothly, tilting Yun Tiandao's fortune to the good side.
With the Eight Directions Divine Mirror avoiding causality, the evil god's monitoring wouldn't work on Yun Tiandao.
So Zhao Xing didn't hesitate—he took off the Fortune Divine Bone and put it on Yun Tiandao.
Then he sent Old Yun into the mirror.
He and Ji Si followed him in.
"Yuu~"
Inside, the mirror's space was all white, like clouds everywhere.
The Eight Directions Mirror Spirit appeared as a middle-aged Daoist. His robe was covered with hexagrams, tortoise-shell divinations, heaven's strategy, star readings, bird omens, dream readings, protective hexagrams, fortune slips, the Wheel of Heaven—it was like he had every Fate Master's art all in one.
"Senior Eight Directions, sorry for the trouble," Zhao Xing bowed.
"Mm." The mirror spirit nodded, but didn't act right away. He looked at Ji Si.
Clearly, the spellcaster would be Ji Si; the mirror spirit was just here to help.
"Senior, this is a big deal, shouldn't you—"
"Ji Si's cultivation is more than enough. Outsiders who don't understand should just keep quiet."
Zhao Xing shut up right away and stood to the side.
"Open the Divine Eye of Innate Yin-Yang." Ji Si's brow opened into a Fate Eye, and two hexagrams floated into his palm.
They drifted to Yun Tiandao, one before and one behind.
The yang hexagram rose, the yin hexagram fell, and Yun Tiandao seemed to be in a space all his own.
He was clearly right in front of them, but Zhao Xing felt like Yun Tiandao didn't exist anymore.
When he closed his eyes, even Yun Tiandao's name and image started to fade away.
'That strong?'
"Any change in the hexagrams?"
"No."
"Any cause?"
"None either."
"Wonderful!"
Zhao Xing opened his eyes to see the mirror spirit looking very pleased with Ji Si, that smug look making Zhao Xing want to roll his eyes.
"What? Not convinced?" The mirror spirit glared at Zhao Xing.
"No."
"Don't be jealous. You're an amateur. I followed you and it was a waste of talent. Before, I couldn't be bothered to say much. Wasn't hoping for you to die, but if you did, I'd just wait for a better master."
"Thank you, Senior…"
"You're welcome," the mirror spirit waved his hand.
Zhao Xing was annoyed—he actually meant it?
Ji Si kept casting, and the mirror spirit praised him again, "Ji Si is different. He's one of the top three Fate Master geniuses since the Five Emperors era ended."
"If he climbs Ten Directions Mountain and gets the first hexagram, he'll step into the god realm."
To get the tenth hexagram from Ten Directions Mountain was one way for a Fate Master to become a god.
Zhao Xing got curious. "Senior, what's your connection to Ten Directions Mountain? What's your identity?"
The mirror spirit seemed in a good mood and chanted, "Grinding fate stone atop the mountain makes a mirror, entering the Dao among mortals to guide the world, fate neither comes nor goes, heaven's way is uncertain yet always certain… Figure it out for yourself, kid."
'Figure it out myself? What the hell am I supposed to figure out?!'
'Seriously, these Fate Masters love acting all mysterious.'
Zhao Xing didn't say anything else and just waited quietly for Ji Si to finish casting the spell.
When it got quiet, it was like time stopped inside the mirror.
No one knew how long it was before Ji Si and Yun Tiandao opened their eyes at the same time.
"Grand Shennong, there's only one quarter-hour," Ji Si said, pulling out a sundial to keep track.
Zhao Xing immediately began questioning Yun Tiandao.
"Who is it?"
Yun Tiandao said, "Her full true name is: Leiting Shensi Wuyuan Leishenjiang Tianji Yuanjun."
That name was pretty long. Yuanjun usually meant a woman, so Zhao Xing just called this evil god 'Lady of Celestial Thunder.'
From the title alone, he could already guess a lot. She was at the level of a Divine General, probably a god of the School of Heavenly Timing. The Thunder God Office was likely a divine office from a past era, and Five Abysses might be a place name.
'So it really is a god of Heavenly Timing,' Zhao Xing was shocked. Maybe he could get a god-level Heavenly Timing technique from this evil god—to fill in his own weak spots!
"Brother Yun, show me the technique she passed on to you."
Yun Tiandao nodded, pressed two fingers to his ear, and pulled a bolt of lightning from his mind.
That lightning quickly changed into a purple Dao book, with all sorts of divine patterns appearing on it.
Just as Yun Tiandao did this, Ji Si looked up at the sundial. "Grand Shennong, only half a quarter left."
That move must have triggered some kind of taboo—Ji Si's suppression couldn't last much longer.
Zhao Xing hurried to record everything. He used his true spirit imprinting to forcefully memorize the whole thing. He immediately felt that seventy percent of his soul-consciousness was occupied.
'What a strong divine technique! Even though I have so many split souls, I still have to use up seventy percent of my soul just to take it in?'
'Looks like Yun Tiandao was under protection to learn it. I'm basically stealing the knowledge and forcing myself to remember it—no wonder it's so different.'
He didn't start studying the technique right away but kept using the remaining time to ask questions.
"What's the next stage of the mission she gave you?"
Yun Tiandao recalled, "Keep collecting yin-yang twin star cores and killing people to refine source power. But the required numbers are five times higher. Once the targets are met, perform the offering. The reward will help me survive my eighth True Spirit Tribulation."
At that moment, the hexagram arrays above and below Yun Tiandao's head floated and sank.
Ji Si reminded again, "Only thirty breaths left."
Zhao Xing pressed on, "Any other important info?"
Yun Tiandao thought for a second. "Yes. The location of the ancient ship will change after the next offering, and I'll have to wait for her instructions to find it."
Great, still a single line of communication. So much for raiding their base right now.
"She also gave me backup missions."
"One, find the original 'Jiefaluo' Dao artifact or a strength-type artifact."
"Two, collect information on a certain person."
"Who?"
At that moment, Ji Si interrupted again, "Only time for one more sentence."
Yun Tiandao's eyes looked pained as he forced out the words, "A scholar with the Dao name 'Pangjialei.'"
Zhao Xing wanted to ask more, but Ji Si immediately stopped him.
Both palms' hexagrams settled into place and pushed Zhao Xing away.
Zhao Xing felt a wave of time and space sweep over him. Yun Tiandao's eyes turned blank.
"When are we starting?" Yun Tiandao asked.
"It's already over," Ji Si said.
"But I don't remember saying anything." Yun Tiandao frowned.
"Of course you don't," Ji Si said. "If you remembered, wouldn't the evil god remember too?"
"Once you're out of the Eight Directions Mirror, you won't remember this at all."
Yun Tiandao gave a wry smile. "Looks like when I go out, I'll end up asking all over again. I never realized her influence on me was this strong."
"It doesn't matter. As long as you trust us, remembering or not doesn't change anything," Ji Si said.
Yun Tiandao nodded and accepted it.
Ji Si waved and sent Yun Tiandao out. The outside clones guided Yun Tiandao to Tianji Pavilion to settle in and deal with the divine bone's removal and other follow-up steps.
Inside the mirror, Zhao Xing pulled out the Immeasurable True God's statue.
He was already here, so why not have the Eight Directions Mirror Spirit check out the Immeasurable True God's details too?
Lady of Celestial Thunder gave Yun Tiandao's mission, but Zhao Xing was always a step removed. The Immeasurable True God's mission was really his own.
"Senior Eight Directions, I ran into another evil god—please take a look at this."
When the mirror spirit saw the statue of the Immeasurable True God, his expression immediately turned solemn. "Where did you get this?"
"Is there a problem?" Zhao Xing was surprised. As far as he knew, the Immeasurable True God statue shouldn't be as powerful as Lady of Celestial Thunder's—he could even suppress it himself.
"Lady of Celestial Thunder is just a free Divine General, but the divine power on this statue is the True God power of heaven and earth testimony," the mirror spirit said seriously. "Even though the divine power is weak, its level is higher than Lady of Celestial Thunder's."
No wonder it's called True God. Zhao Xing thought that was just a title the Immeasurable True God gave himself.
"Heaven and earth testimony?" Zhao Xing wasn't scared at all—in fact, he got even more excited. "So it's a big fish."
"Kid, you've got guts," the mirror spirit narrowed his eyes, like he'd seen all the times Zhao Xing interacted with the Immeasurable True God. "You're just a half-god, and you want to outplay a True God?"
"A god is a god, whether there's one or a bunch," Zhao Xing said without fear. "If you want to make it in this world, you've got to have some guts. Just look at Qing Yuzi—daring as hell."
"Senior, what's his origin?" Zhao Xing wanted to know the Immeasurable True God's profession.
"A god of formations," the mirror spirit replied. "He also probably controls a certain space-time node passage, so his reach is wide."
"Any True God like that is a big deal. Either they have a bunch of free gods as friends or servants."
The Immeasurable True God was really that strong? Zhao Xing didn't dare take him lightly anymore.
"If I have to deal with him, Senior, what's your advice?"
The Eight Directions Mirror Spirit said, "Since it's a True God who's recognized by heaven and earth, their bottom line is higher than that of a free god. There are some rules they absolutely won't break."
Zhao Xing thought about it. By the Mirror Spirit's standards, the Immeasurable True God was stronger than Lady of Celestial Thunder, and dealing with the Immeasurable True God was actually safer? That meant the missions he assigned might not just be killing and star-stealing.
"Senior, I have another question—"
"Go ahead."
"If the gods can travel back and forth through the past and present, is there any god who goes to the future? Just to see if the universe actually gets destroyed?"
Zhao Xing thought, since both groups of gods think they're on the side of justice, why not just check the future and see who's right?
The Eight Directions Mirror looked at Zhao Xing like he was an idiot. "No one goes to the future because you can't come back. Figure out why yourself. Asking me something that simple is just wasting my time."
With that, the Mirror Spirit booted Zhao Xing out.
After getting dissed by the mirror, Zhao Xing wasn't mad. As he returned to the Primordial Realm, he thought hard about it. By the time he reached Gu Luohe's palace, he understood.
'What happens when the universe enters the fourth stage, the period of extinction?'
'All sources collapse, all Dao disappear.'
'Even a God Emperor would lose all power at that stage. No one could swim upstream through the river of time and return to the past.'
'When the river dries up, how could anyone go against the flow? It's just impossible to see.'
After clearing his thoughts, Zhao Xing found Gu Luohe. "Senior Gu, I have urgent business. It's about the Black Abyss evil god."
"Oh?" Gu Luohe sounded surprised. "You made progress that fast?"
"Yes," Zhao Xing replied. "I have an informant. Thanks to him, I learned a lot."
"But there's a bit of a procedural issue, so I want to request your approval to make him my divine guard."
"What's the issue?"
When Zhao Xing explained what Yun Tiandao had done, Gu Luohe understood—it was a case of acting first, asking permission later.
Gu Luohe didn't say much, just nodded. "You can do it, but don't let it happen again."
Some things about Gu Luohe's personality hadn't changed.
Zhao Xing remembered that scene in the Bone Divine Domain, when Gu Luohe personally repelled the demon clan's chief priest's subordinate.
"Thank you, Senior. Here's all the intel I got from Yun Tiandao," Zhao Xing said, passing on everything he'd learned from Yun Tiandao.
But he didn't mention the Immeasurable True God yet. He decided to wait and report it once he had more information.
"Thunder God Office, Lady of Celestial Thunder…" Gu Luohe repeated the name, "That was a divine post set up during the Five Emperors era. I know about Lady of Celestial Thunder—didn't think she'd show up here."
"If I'm not wrong, what you got is a fragment of the Nine Origins Divine Thunder Law from the School of Heavenly Timing."
Hearing Gu Luohe's thoughtful tone, Zhao Xing asked carefully, "Senior, you know her?"
"Yes." Gu Luohe nodded slightly. "Lady of Celestial Thunder was once a Divine General under my father."
A Divine General under King Gu Xiao?
"Senior, why did the Barren Domain Era lose the method to become a god with the Heavenly Timing Dao?" Zhao Xing asked.
Gu Luohe said coolly, "Because my father also betrayed the future and fled into the past."
"He wounded me. If not for Da Ren's protection, I'd be dead already."
"My memories of him are mostly fragments. It's a family shame, and I don't like to talk about it."
Zhao Xing's expression got a little strange. A father and son at odds, split by beliefs—Gu Luohe really was a 'child of the version update.' His story was complicated.
"You're skilled in the Self and Earthly Advantage Daos. Are you still aiming to become a Heavenly Timing god?"
Before Zhao Xing could answer, Gu Luohe shook his head. "You're probably going to be disappointed. After my father became a God King, he followed Emperor Luo and joined the Fifth God War."
"Not only did he take my older brother, he took all the secrets to godhood through Heavenly Timing and sealed the source Dao of Heavenly Timing in a certain solar year, before Era one hundred thirty-six of the Barren Domain Era."
"I don't know the exact year, but if you want to become a Heavenly Timing god, you have to go to that time node. That's extremely dangerous."
Zhao Xing didn't hide his intentions. "I did think about it, but not too seriously."
Gu Luohe looked at Zhao Xing. "Since you've dealt with evil gods, you must have heard their doctrines. Did anything they say shake your beliefs?"
Zhao Xing didn't hide it. "Yes, Senior, I have."
He shared the Immeasurable True God's rhetoric.
"The difference between me and my father was right there," Gu Luohe said. "He thought the only way was to restart the universe from the primordial stage. But tracking time to the very beginning is incredibly difficult, and you'd have to face all the primordial demon gods born in endless chaos eras."
"I believe you have to break before you can make something new. Only by surviving the end of extinction, using the Eternal Realm to get past the great collapse, is there a true path."
Gu Luohe didn't say more—he clearly didn't want to talk about his past with his father, King Gu Xiao.
"I can see you're still rational. You haven't completely sided with me or with the evil gods."
Zhao Xing quickly shook his head, wanting to show his loyalty. "Senior, I—"
Gu Luohe raised his hand to stop him.
"Zhao Xing, having doubts is a good thing. I, Gu Luohe, don't mind people having their own ideas. If someone does better than me or has a better chance to find a future for the race, I'll support them."
"Back then, Da Ren supported me the same way. He was a God King, but he still respected me. Personal glory and gain mean nothing."
"Whether the path is at the end of extinction or at the primordial beginning—you can find your own answer."
"But before that, finish your mission and secure your place in godhood as soon as you can," Gu Luohe said, looking into the void, his eyes deep. "The Third Era of the Barren Domain is about to arrive. It's called the Ice Age. If you don't become a god soon in this era of calamity, you might not even keep your current memories. There will be huge chaos."
Zhao Xing felt a chill. "Yes, Senior. I'll complete the mission as fast as possible."