In the dim universe, the great karmic net layered and intertwined chaotically, weaving the "history" of this world. Every thread of the net was a surging stream of time.
And on one of these grid squares, Lu Yang's figure emerged.
"...Whoa!"
Lu Yang lowered his eyes and looked at the grid beneath his feet. It was visibly tens of times larger than the other grids, and the karmic threads forming it were absurdly thick.
"Makes sense. It is the Thousand-Year Great Tribulation, after all. If you ask me, this grid is actually quite small... Oh right, this battle is only the beginning of the Thousand-Year Great Tribulation. The Mysterious Wall hasn't even joined the fray yet. As for the Immortal Nexus... what I've seen might not be all there is. The Four Dogs of the Immortal Nexus are definitely still hiding some cards."
Lu Yang shifted his gaze, looking out into the dim universe.
There, countless karmic threads faintly appeared and disappeared, ready to weave entirely new grids at any moment, forming new karmic events.
"Incredible, truly incredible."
"And this is only what I can see. The World Honored One's perspective is definitely higher; he can see more karmic threads and potential futures."
After marveling for a moment, Lu Yang withdrew his gaze.
Although the future was close at hand, it was not the goal of his trip. He had come seeking the past—a second later, he raised the artifact in his hand.
"Go."
Boundless iridescent light merged into the great karmic net beneath his feet. Centered on Lu Yang, it began to rapidly search, causing a sudden, sharp pain between his eyebrows.
It felt as if a hole had been torn open at the bottom of his sea of consciousness. Majestic divine sense uncontrollably poured out, all merging into the [Time-Reversing World Dao Instrument] to ensure this artifact could operate and deduce karma... And this was merely searching his own personal history directly related to him.
With his true body here acting as an anchor, the search was relatively easy.
But what if he expanded the search to the entire Immortal Nexus? If it were no longer limited to him personally, how would he lock onto history and find the karma that met his requirements?
'...Forget it.'
Lu Yang quickly stopped thinking about it. This wasn't something he could figure out at his current realm. Fortunately, he currently possessed a rather simple trick.
A moment later, Lu Yang's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Found it!"
In the next second, he followed the iridescent light and instantly escaped into the locked karmic history. The light and shadows before his eyes shifted, presenting a karmic scene.
Soon, voices reached his ears.
"It should be Senior giving me benefits instead!"
The familiar voice and the self-righteous tone couldn't help but bring a smile to Lu Yang's face. At the same time, he hid himself even more carefully.
Currently, he had already used the [Master of Great Tribulations] to alter his concept, transforming into an Inner Demon body. Beside him were the Primordial Heavenly Demon and Chong Guang. The three of them simultaneously activated the formless variations of an Inner Demon, merging into the gentle breeze of the Heavenly Court. They quietly observed the Heavenly Court, their gazes landing on the two people deep in conversation.
One was exactly Lu Yang himself, and the other was [Sky-shrouding].
'This is the last time I met with [Sky-shrouding] before heading to the Star Palace. Neither I nor he should have the ability to detect my current self.'
[Sky-shrouding] went without saying. Traveling merely with his [World-Retribution Incarnation], he might not even be able to defeat his current self, let alone detect him.
As for himself.
'My past self at this time consciously lowered his perception of the outside world.'
'So it shouldn't be a big problem.'
This was the advantage of wandering through his own karmic history. He knew where he could manipulate things and where he couldn't; the upper limit for manipulation was exceedingly high.
"So, where are my benefits?"
"..."
While Lu Yang was deep in thought, the conversation below had already come to an end. [Sky-shrouding]'s eye twitched slightly, and then he directly stood up, ready to leave the place.
'This evil old ghost is definitely cursing me as a Sword Bastard in his heart right now.'
Lu Yang grumbled inwardly and hurriedly followed. A gust of sinister wind blew into [Sky-shrouding]'s sea of consciousness out of nowhere, disappearing from the Mystic Spirit World Realm along with him.
A second later, Lu Yang noticed a shift in perspective. When he looked back, he had already arrived at the location of the 'end of the world' at overseas. He had once heard [Sky-shrouding] explain that beyond this place, leaping into that endless abyss would lead to the Netherworld. What was [Sky-shrouding] doing here?
Right at this moment, [Sky-shrouding] spoke.
"Come out."
[Sky-shrouding] stood with his hands behind his back, the smoke around him undulating. He sneered coldly, "Did you think I wouldn't notice? Fellow Daoist who quietly entered my sea of consciousness."
Boom!
In an instant, Lu Yang felt the entire karmic scene begin to tremble slightly. Faintly, dense cracks even began to appear.
'Is the karmic scene about to shatter!?'
'Did [Sky-shrouding] discover me?'
'No, that's not right. If [Sky-shrouding] had already discovered me, the karmic scene should shatter immediately, not just totter on the verge of collapse like it is now.'
'Does that mean he's bluffing?'
Lu Yang instantly straightened out his train of thought. After pondering for a moment, he immediately formed hand seals. The sinister wind drifted through the sea of consciousness, gently plucking at [Sky-shrouding]'s emotions.
[Five Poisons of the Hearts]!
Almost simultaneously, [Sky-shrouding]'s exposed, narrow eyes raised slightly. A trace of inexplicable ripples suddenly surfaced in his originally tranquil, lake-like mind.
That was—jealousy.
"To think that Immortal Lord Master of Tribulations and Ferryman of Karma actually managed to grasp the Dao Fruit Secret Method of [City Rampart Earth]. That's a good thing that even I drool over..."
Hm?
What the hell!
[Sky-shrouding] immediately realized something was wrong. Being jealous of a Middle Stage Golden Core? Don't make him laugh. How could he possibly harbor such a meaningless and bizarre thought?
'No, wait. This emotion came out of nowhere. If someone wanted to divert my attention, they should use methods I can't detect. Instead, this thought immediately made me realize something is wrong... Does that mean the other party isn't trying to hide, but is trying to warn me?'
'Warn me about what?'
'[City Rampart Earth]? Karma...'
As [Sky-shrouding]'s thoughts deepened, Lu Yang gradually frowned: 'Oh crap, was this kind of hint still too blatant?'
[Sky-shrouding] was about to discover the truth!
The cracks in the karmic scene were growing more numerous. Once [Sky-shrouding] had a sudden realization, the karmic scene would instantly shatter, and this trip of his would be for naught.
However, right at this moment.
"Hmph!"
[Sky-shrouding] suddenly stopped thinking. Then, with a cold sneer, a [Knowledge-Perception Barrier] materialized, and he slapped it onto his own head backhandedly.
The shattering of the karmic scene came to an abrupt halt.
A moment later, [Sky-shrouding] raised his head again, his gaze calm. "Mm... I just concealed a piece of memory, but it wasn't a harmful one."
"Where is the hint I left for myself?"
"Mm. It tells me to reference certain sudden thoughts, not to casually doubt them, not to think too deeply, and to speak this hint out loud directly."
"Very good."
With that said, [Sky-shrouding] stood with his hands behind his back and said nothing further. He adopted an attitude of completely giving up on thinking and simply waiting for the "inexplicable thoughts" to appear.
Seeing this, Lu Yang couldn't help but clap his hands and laugh:
'As expected of you! [Sky-shrouding]!'
I don't need to worry too much. Just by giving a tiny hint, he perfectly acts according to my wishes. We truly are the best of friends in the world!
Thinking of this, Lu Yang immediately activated the Inner Demon method, influencing [Sky-shrouding]'s emotions.
"Mm... interesting."
Soon, [Sky-shrouding] reacted, speaking frankly, "I actually felt curious about that Immortal Lord Master of Tribulations and Ferryman of Karma just now, and wanted to attack him?"
"No, that's not right."
"Master of Tribulations clearly has ties with the World Honored One. He's not my enemy, but rather a friend... Mm, I actually developed a favorable impression of this Master of Tribulations."
"Friends? Helping each other?"
"Interesting. Should I help him? How? He should have his own things to do. I can't leave the Netherworld; I can only help him from within the Netherworld."
"Whatever he needs to do, if it can attract the World Honored One's attention, it must inevitably involve the Dao Lords."
"In that case, the only way I can help him is to attain the Netherworld at a critical moment to draw their attention away for him. When is the critical moment?"
A smile gradually surfaced in [Sky-shrouding]'s eyes:
"Interesting. I suddenly felt killing intent towards him again."
"Does this mean when he's about to be killed? At the very least, he should encounter a crisis. However, given his strength, it shouldn't truly result in his death."
"Does this mean... escaping?"
"When he encounters a crisis and then manages to escape, I will attain the Netherworld to draw their attention away for him... Haha, is he using me as a meat shield?"
"Mm... no matter."
"For me to generate so many thoughts, it must be related to the World Honored One. In that case, it should be..."
Smack—!
Before his voice faded, [Sky-shrouding] abruptly raised his hand and slapped another Knowledge-Perception Barrier onto his face, stabilizing the nearly collapsed karmic scene once more.
"Mm, I forgot some things again."
"But the memory I left behind tells me there's no problem. Although my emotions are a bit off, I don't need to overthink it; I just need to adopt the final conclusion."
"When the Immortal Lord Master of Tribulations and Ferryman of Karma is injured but successfully escapes, I will attain the Netherworld."
'Success!'
Lu Yang barely held back his laughter. Without another word, he directly left this karmic scene, anchoring the brand-new karma into the great karmic net.
Altering causes, shifting effects!
[Sky-shrouding], working with you is simply too pleasant!
(End of Chapter)