Ever since developing the profound wonder of the [Master of Great Tribulations] to modify concept, Lu Yang had constantly pondered a question: could he use this profound wonder to copy a Supreme Dao Fruit?
He had even tested it privately.
The result was: yes, he could.
However, because [Divine Firmament Thunder] was merely an orthodox Dao Fruit, it suffered from an innate deficiency. Consequently, the copied profound wonders also came with many troublesome restrictions.
But on this point, the Primordial Heavenly Demon was exactly the same.
Lu Yang, at the very least, possessed Dao comprehension at the level of a [City Rampart Earth] Perfected Lord. The Primordial Heavenly Demon, on the other hand, had absolutely nothing; he was merely an operator of the [Time-Raversing World Divine Instrument].
Thump!
At this moment, the Primordial Heavenly Demon seemed to hear his own heartbeat... Even though he didn't actually have a heart, he still experienced this illusion.
All he saw was a hazy, iridescent radiance, layered upon itself, weaving into a net. And within this iridescent light, he seemed to see his entire past from the moment he was born. It was brief, yet it was meticulously subdivided into countless fragments, neatly arranged. This sight caused his expression to change drastically.
"This is impossible..." The Primordial Heavenly Demon's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
At this moment, he felt as if the Lu Yang before him had suddenly grown countless times larger, his head touching the sky and his feet planted on the earth. Meanwhile, he himself had shrunk countless times out of thin air.
As one grew and the other shrank, he had already fallen completely into Lu Yang's palm.
In a flash, the Primordial Heavenly Demon almost crushed the [Time-Reversing World Divine Instrument] in his hand. Without a shred of hesitation, he poured his boundless spiritual power into the artifact.
A second later, the artifact flipped.
'[World-Reversing Time Divine Instrument]!'
A powerful karmic fluctuation immediately spread outward, aiming to anchor his past karma based on his current state in the present world, preventing it from being altered.
However, facing the brilliant light blooming from the artifact, Lu Yang's figure didn't waver in the slightest. He still stood tall and indomitable, like a divine mountain that had existed since antiquity. And the Primordial Heavenly Demon remained a minuscule figure, like an ant cowering at the foot of the mountain. The two simply weren't on the same level of existence.
"Why!?"
Seeing this, a look of profound shock finally surfaced on the Primordial Heavenly Demon's face. His limited Dao comprehension simply couldn't comprehend what was happening.
In his eyes, what he had was the genuine [City Rampart Earth].
And no matter how impressive the thing in Lu Yang's hand was, it was still fake, a counterfeit, its stature not even reaching the level of a Supreme Dao Fruit. Yet, he actually couldn't win?
This was unreasonable!
A second later, as if seeing right through his thoughts, Lu Yang spoke eerily:
"There's nothing unreasonable about it."
"It's because you lack the Dao comprehension of [City Rampart Earth] that you cannot understand, nor can you see the gap between us clearly. That's why you still harbor illusions of a fluke."
"If you manage to escape with your life today, and painstakingly study for a century to truly master [City Rampart Earth], naturally, you would never again entertain the thought of battling me in karma."
Lu Yang's voice rumbled and echoed.
But the Primordial Heavenly Demon could no longer hear it. He had already plummeted into a karmic scene of the past, and his memories concerning the future were rapidly being clouded.
The Primordial Heavenly Demon abruptly opened his eyes.
What met his gaze was a vast, magnificent sea of consciousness. He reacted almost instantly: 'This is Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow's sea of consciousness!'
Several years ago, he was born right here. He received the nurturing of the World Honored One, then devoured the soul of Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow, thereby plunging the Pure Land into extinction.
And finally, he successfully "birthed."
'Not good!'
Feeling his memories of the future becoming increasingly illusory, to the point where he even began to forget certain details, the Primordial Heavenly Demon started to roar frantically.
He had to activate the artifact immediately...
What artifact?
A moment later, the Primordial Heavenly Demon regained his calm, displaying the peaceful expression of an infant.
In real history, the World Honored One would appear shortly to enlighten him.
However, this time, the World Honored One had vanished. While Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow was troubled by him, he wasn't completely powerless to fight back and could still suppress him.
Then, Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow sought out the Immortal Lord Master of Tribulations and Ferryman of Karma.
After paying a massive price, the Immortal Lord agreed to Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow's request. A single bolt of lightning reduced him to ashes while he was still in his embryonic stage.
"NO—!!!"
In an instant, boundless light erupted from within the Primordial Heavenly Demon's Heavenly Demon body, shattering the karmic scene a split second before the lightning could strike him dead.
[World-Reversing Time Divine Instrument]!
At this moment, the only thought left in the Primordial Heavenly Demon's mind was the relief of a narrow escape from death: 'Thank goodness... Thank goodness I already bound my life to this supreme treasure!'
Even though he had lost control of the artifact while deeply trapped in the karmic scene, when his karma of death was about to be finalized, the artifact autonomously awakened and saved him... Thinking of this, the Primordial Heavenly Demon immediately let out a loud laugh while rapidly retreating.
"Hahaha! You still fell short by one move!"
Before his laughter faded, he had already stirred up a gloomy wind and vanished from Lu Yang's secluded cave abode. He was, after all, terrified, not daring to remain a moment longer.
However, simply leaving like this left him feeling indignant.
'There's another Unorthodox Dao Perfected Lord in the Mystic Spirit World Realm.'
'Although he's just an Unorthodox Dao cultivator, killing him in passing will serve as a good tonic for my body. Once I've recovered my condition, I'll fight that bastard to the death!'
Thinking of this, the Primordial Heavenly Demon immediately changed direction.
Soon, he sensed the aura of the Mystic Spirit World Realm Supreme. The other party also seemed to have discovered him, their divine sense unable to conceal their terror.
'Afraid? It's good that you're afraid!'
The Primordial Heavenly Demon was overjoyed. The emotion of fear actually facilitated his invasion. He charged forward without hesitation, plunging right into the Mystic Spirit World Realm Supreme's sea of consciousness.
Then, he froze.
'Am I an idiot? Look at the state I'm in. Why would I dawdle around here with nothing better to do than eat an Unorthodox Dao Perfected Lord? How is this any different from eating shit?'
Only at this moment did he finally see clearly.
Right on his own body, there was actually a thread of karma. The two ends of the thread connected him and the Mystic Spirit World Realm Supreme, guiding all of his actions.
"This is..."
The Primordial Heavenly Demon fell into a deep state of bewilderment.
But it was too late. Within the Mystic Spirit World Realm Supreme's sea of consciousness, a talisman leaped out of thin air, then gradually lit up with blinding, incandescent lightning.
"BOOM!!!"
At the same time, Lu Yang extinguished the light of karma at his fingertips.
From the very beginning, the Primordial Heavenly Demon had misunderstood.
Although Lu Yang could use the [Master of Great Tribulations] to modify concept and copy the effects of [Commanding Past and Present], it still couldn't compare to the genuine [City Rampart Earth].
Therefore, what he altered wasn't past karma, but the present.
The karmic scene of being struck to death by lightning that the Primordial Heavenly Demon had just witnessed actually possessed no efficacy whatsoever, nor could it truly alter causes and shift effects.
In the end, it wasn't the [Time-Reversing World Divine Instrument] that saved him; rather, Lu Yang intentionally let him out. Everything was done to shape a "cause," guiding the Primordial Heavenly Demon's actions toward the "effect" of "going to kill the Mystic Spirit World Realm Supreme." It was that simple, yet the Primordial Heavenly Demon completely failed to see through it.
"To dare take it out and use it without the slightest understanding of [City Rampart Earth]."
As his words fell, he reached out his hand, and a cluster of iridescent light was instantly pulled through the air into his grasp. It was precisely the [Time-Reversing World Divine Instrument] that the Primordial Heavenly Demon had been holding!
"A fine treasure, but sadly, I daren't use it."
Lu Yang shook his head and stored the artifact away. Following that, he pushed open the door and walked out of his cave abode, gazing at the lightning that shot into the clouds not far away, brilliant as golden clouds.
Within the lightning, the Primordial Heavenly Demon was disintegrating inch by inch.
However, Lu Yang could sense that the other party still had a backup plan. He had likely left several clones in the Immortal Nexus to ensure he could revive even if killed.
'It doesn't matter. For the first step, inflicting heavy damage is enough.'
Inflicting heavy damage this time would make it easier to suppress him next time, and then he could hand him over to Martial Uncle Chong Guang to devour, thereby increasing his own Dao comprehension.
Thinking of this, Lu Yang stopped watching the perishing Primordial Heavenly Demon. He turned around and walked back into his cave abode. The heavy doors slowly closed behind him.
Bang!
The doors slammed shut.
Almost simultaneously, the Primordial Heavenly Demon turned to ash amidst agonizing shrieks.
(End of Chapter)