The anomaly didn't just occur in the Netherworld.
A similar change also appeared on the [Paramita]. That gaze cast down from the highest point was almost inevitably noticed by the Dao Lords below.
Emperor Cang's death was even more so.
On the second tier of the [Paramita], the towering Buddha statue that constantly wore a smile suddenly raised its head. Sensing the turbulent auras, a trace of amusement surfaced in its eyes.
Almost simultaneously, in the Mortal World.
[Sky-shrouding] sensed it and silently entered the Great Karmic Net. And there, an incarnation housing the World Honored One's consciousness had already been waiting for a long time.
"Senior" [Sky-shrouding] cupped his hands.
The next second, the monk smiled and waved his hand. "No need for formalities. I only invited you here this time to view the overall situation together, so you can clearly understand the state of affairs."
Meanwhile, the originally turbulent [Paramita] also fell into a kind of bizarre silence. Layer upon layer of thoughts collided and intertwined. It seemed the other Dao Lords were also observing, everyone waiting for that person's decision. This stillness rapidly spread from the [Paramita] towards the Mortal World.
And as the only Heaven Treading Realm expert in the current world...
[Sky-shrouding] naturally bore the brunt of it. He immediately realized something was wrong and frowned deeply. Fortunately, his reactions were lightning-fast, and he quickly grasped the crux of the matter:
"Something has gone wrong in the Netherworld."
"Correct." The monk smiled and nodded. "Not only has something gone wrong, but it's massive. Beast Taming has awakened and recovered to a considerable extent."
"Good, very good!"
At this point, the monk even clapped his hands and laughed. After a moment, he reined in his expression and said solemnly:
"However, Beast Taming completely awakening and taking charge of the Netherworld is that person's greatest taboo. He cannot possibly allow the path to transcendence he craves to be dragged down by the Netherworld."
"Now, everyone is anxious."
Hearing this, a look of confusion appeared on [Sky-shrouding]'s face.
Seeing this, the monk shook his head. "This taboo cannot be spoken from my mouth, so you don't need to understand it. Just knowing the final result is enough."
"The current situation is that that person does not wish to see a Master of the Netherworld exist. Furthermore, the leakage of a certain piece of forbidden knowledge has put Sword Lord and Cang Hao's [Heavenly Dao] at risk. Therefore, they are somewhat anxious right now, causing the [Paramita] to shift, ultimately affecting the Mortal World."
At this point, the monk smiled even more happily:
"They are hesitating."
"Normally speaking, Sword Lord and Cang Hao definitely have to make a move. The [Heavenly Dao] is of utmost importance to them; they cannot allow the forbidden knowledge to spread."
Leaving Emperor Cang alive back then was forced by circumstances.
After all, if they hadn't left such a [Variable], things might have spiraled out of control. For this reason, Cang Hao even hid the other party in the Netherworld.
This was originally a perfect arrangement.
After all, only death spirits could enter the Netherworld and obtain that forbidden knowledge through Emperor Cang. And it was impossible for death spirits to return to the Mortal World.
But now, the First-generation Master of Beast Taming Peak had awakened. This Master of the Netherworld instantly added endless [Variable] to a situation that was originally in the bag.
Therefore, it was entirely natural that Sword Lord and Cang Hao couldn't sit still.
"But the problem is... the one at the highest point also wants Beast Taming dead."
This made things very delicate.
"Sword Lord and Cang Hao want to make a move to resolve future troubles, but they also feel that if they do, they will become a knife in that person's hand, essentially doing free labor to solve his problem for him."
At this point, [Sky-shrouding] already understood.
"Therefore, no one wants to make the first move."
"Sword Lord and Cang Hao feel they can still drag it out a bit. After all, even though the taboo has been exposed, it's impossible for the Master of the Netherworld to truly do anything in the short term."
"Since that's the case, it's better to wait."
"If that person can't sit still first and chooses to make a move, then they would profit immensely... This is also an excellent opportunity, a chance to make that person step down."
"And that person also wants to drag it out a bit, because he feels Sword Lord and Cang Hao's interests have also been infringed upon, so in the end, they will definitely have to come out and clean up the mess. Besides that, he probably also has absolute confidence... no matter how bad the situation gets, he has the ability to make the final decision."
As his voice fell, the World Honored One nodded slightly.
"Exactly so."
The thoughts of the three Dao Lords plunged the [Paramita] into this bizarre stillness. It was like two ends of a scale, liable to tip towards either side at any moment.
In a flash, [Sky-shrouding]'s gaze flickered:
"And this is our opportunity!"
The only ones capable of adding weights to the scale of Dao Lords and deciding its tilt were naturally Dao Lords themselves. And currently, there were only three such weights.
Spiritual Power, Dao Arts, and the World Honored One.
No, wait... there was another weight.
"And me..."
Without the World Honored One needing to point it out, [Sky-shrouding] had already comprehended everything. Although his weight was far inferior to a Dao Lord's, he also possessed the ability to interfere with this scale.
'The personalities of Dao Lords always favor mediation and compromise. If I directly attempt to attain [Tribulation], definitely no one would allow it. But if there is a more troublesome Master of the Netherworld standing in front, and I can solve this trouble for them, then they will compromise and allow me to attain it.'
Then the key lay in:
'How can I bind my attainment of [Tribulation] with the Master of the Netherworld? Either me, or the Master of the Netherworld—make the Dao Lords choose!'
He had a plan.
However, thinking of this, [Sky-shrouding] suddenly felt hesitant. He glanced at the monk beside him: "Senior... do you truly think this is a good idea?"
The plan itself naturally had no problems. But the crux was that this plan was definitely detrimental to the current Master of the Netherworld, the First-generation Master of Beast Taming Peak. And as far as he knew, the World Honored One, as the First-generation Master of Myriad Treasures Peak, was martial brothers with the other party, and their relationship was quite good. Yet now, he was selling him out just like that?
Thinking of this, [Sky-shrouding] couldn't help but wonder:
'He couldn't be tricking me, could he?'
On the surface, he's selling out the First-generation Master of Beast Taming Peak, but in reality, he's using the information gap to fool me, selling me out instead. This is exactly the kind of thing the World Honored One would do!
Hearing this, the monk actually smiled.
His smile was as compassionate as ever. He had smiled for over a hundred thousand years. No one knew his true thoughts; they could only see the smile floating on the surface:
"Since you ask me this, I can only give you one answer."
"I have no intention of harming you."
"Ultimately, since ancient times, attaining the Dao has only ever come down to four words: each relying on their own abilities—If you want to attain [Tribulation], then exhaust all your methods to do so."
As his voice fell, [Sky-shrouding] disappeared from his spot.
Leaving only the World Honored One, calmly looking down at the densely packed, boundless great karmic net below. It felt as if he had returned to the eve of his own Dao attainment.
All living beings were like chess pieces, and the Dao Lords were all chess players.
Those who stood high placed their pieces slowly and placed fewer of them. But because he stood low, he could place more chess pieces and make more arrangements.
"I have played this chess game once before."
Guiding actions according to circumstances, he borrowed the momentum of Sword Lord and Cang Hao wanting to establish the [Heavenly Dao], the Primordial Saint wanting to eradicate Sisui, and the great battle of the Dao Lords, ultimately defying heaven to attain the Dao.
That time, he won.
Now it was time for the chess game to begin again. And this time, the chess game was smaller than the last, but even more perilous. There were also more variables, making it harder to control.
At this moment, the depths of the World Honored One's eyes seemed to truly shed all emotion. Cold and indifferent, he calmly looked down upon the great karmic net, calculating the changes of all things. Under his gaze, the karma became increasingly clear, until a resplendent colored light lit up in the great karmic net, slowly surfacing.
This was a [Variable].
Or rather, this was the only chess piece in this chess game that was almost entirely uncontrolled and unconstrained by the Dao Lords, yet possessed enough weight to decide the outcome of the game.
"[Pill Cauldron]."