Jiangnan, atop the Extreme Heaven Cliff.
Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde snapped awake, only to find Perfected One Subduing-Spirits before him, appearing equally dazed for reasons unknown, his expression somewhat pained.
"What happened?"
Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde knit his brows tightly; in his memory, he had merely been fulfilling his duties as Sect Master, looking after the most promising Foundation Establishment Perfected One in the sect. Seeing Perfected One Subduing-Spirits with an unusual complexion, he immediately voiced his inquiry.
On the other side, Perfected One Subduing-Spirits suddenly clutched his chest and looked around, feeling as though something vital had been stripped away.
But what exactly was it?
He could not remember.
For a time, the two stared at each other, both ignorant of what had occurred, sensing only a profound feeling of incongruity. They then looked up toward the sky in unison.
The fourth layer of the [Paramita].
A bright sword-light resided here, manifesting a graceful and elegant silhouette. Sword Lord withdrew her gaze, her voice cold and aloof: "It seems Myriad Treasures is determined to walk this dark path to the end."
On the other side, Cang Hao spoke in a low tone:
"That Xuande certainly has plans regarding the eighth secret realm."
"Unfortunately, we failed to invite him to join the [Heavenly Dao] ; otherwise, it would be us holding the initiative now, and there would be great hope of surpassing the Primordial Saint."
"Now, that opportunity is gone."
Speaking to this point, Cang Hao stared directly at Sword Lord : "Nian Yao, you should also be able to tell that in that brief instant just now, they clashed once more."
"It was not a direct confrontation of Dao arts, but a layout of schemes. That Xuande has laid another trap for the Primordial Saint. The Primordial Saint is likely countering his moves right now, leaving only us excluded. They know too much, while we know too little; we are fundamentally unable to participate in this match of theirs."
"..."
Sword Lord remained silent for a long while before whispering: "Should we contact Bu Tianque, withdraw from the [Heavenly Dao], collapse the [Paramita], and cause some trouble for the Primordial Saint?"
"It is meaningless."
Cang Hao shook his head: "The Netherworld still exists, and that Dao Ancestor Xuande does not rely on the [Paramita]. Collapsing the [Paramita] now would be no different from seeking one's own death."
"It cannot be collapsed."
Sword Lord sneered: "The Primordial Saint is still here. I do not believe he is without trump cards. At worst, he will simply step down another layer, but at least we can use this to weaken him further."
"After all, the current Primordial Saint still possesses a large gap in raw strength compared to the side of Myriad Treasures and Xuande. The Primordial Saint has no need to win us over, and even if Myriad Treasures wins us over, we would still be no match for him... But if the Primordial Saint weakens further and drops to the fifth layer, that will be a different story."
"Schemes and layouts ultimately cannot decide the final outcome."
"In the end, it still comes down to strength."
Sword Lord stated her plan:
"We only need to bring the strength of both sides close to a balance and increase our own weight. When that time comes, whichever side wishes to win will have to find a way to cooperate with us."
Looking across the vast sea of light , a beam of immortal light rose from the ground, leading directly to a nearly untouchable arc of light situated above the sea of light and the Dark Void.
The [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness]!
In the Ancient Era, it was even crowned with the name [Road to Immortality], yet because [Supreme Grandmaster] had mysteriously vanished, only six trials remained connected.
However just then.
"RUMBLE."
Accompanied by a chime of the Dao, the sound of Buddhist chanting echoed through the sea of light. Following this, a massive foot appeared, ruthlessly trampling upon that beam of immortal light.
"No! Stop..."
"It is a Dao Lord! A Dao Lord has struck!"
"Which Dao Lord?"
"Where is Lord Sisui..."
Within the [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness], cultivators of the Gatekeeper lineage were filled with despair, for they could see nothing but that magnificent foot.
Yet that was only their perspective. In a place they could not see, at the same moment the World Honored One stomped down, a slender white finger also appeared, silently descending toward the brow of an old man with a wizened face deep within the Gatekeeper lineage's station.
This place was 129,600 years in the past!
In history, this stomp had caused the [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness] to shatter on the spot, and the original Gatekeeper had been slain by the Primordial Saint without even his True Spirit remaining.
Originally, the Gatekeeper lineage was meant to be completely exterminated after that.
Instead, the World Honored One's stomp had shattered the connections within the [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness] and saved a tiny minority of cultivators, allowing them to flee into the sea of light.
But this time, the situation had changed.
Within the clear karmic scene, the Primordial Saint's finger no longer descended to slay the original Gatekeeper but instead flipped back to deflect the World Honored One's trampling foot.
"Amitabha... Hmph!"
Instantly, the World Honored One's main body in the current world felt the resonance. His consciousness projected over, yet he was powerless to stop it, forced to withdraw his foot and watch coldly.
If he could, he would have loved to churn this segment of karmic history into powder. Unfortunately, the weight of this history was far beyond the minor karmic dialogue between Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde and Perfected One Subduing-Spirits. If he were to shatter it, he would likely be the first to suffer a backlash so severe he might never recover.
Thus, he could only watch.
However, in the next second, the World Honored One's expression thawed like ice, turning into the gentleness of a spring breeze. His furrowed brows relaxed, and finally, he let out a great laugh.
"Hahaha!"
The laugh was filled with pure satisfaction.
On the other side, the Primordial Saint's intent remained upon the Great Karmic Net, his gaze deep: "Altering causes and shifting effects... I cannot revive them?"
In the next second, the karmic scene shattered.
The Gatekeeper lineage, which had clearly been saved, could not be brought back to the present world to be revived by the Primordial Saint. All karmic threads simply vanished into the dark universe.
"...Impressive methods."
The Primordial Saint calmly plucked a thread of aura and sensed it briefly before nodding slightly: "A golden cicada shedding its skin; they actually deceived my eyes back then."
There was only one possibility for the failure of altering causes and shifting effects.
The [Effect] itself was incorrect.
Since the [Cause] and [Effect] could not match and had no connection, no matter how one modified the [Cause], the final [Effect] would not change.
In other words:
The original Gatekeeper from back then, and even more than half of the Gatekeeper lineage, had not died. They had truly done as Long Tu said and secretly hidden within the eighth secret realm!
Since they were not dead, how could they be revived?
"Furthermore, that disguised death even turned into history left within the Great Karmic Net. By shattering it now, I have likely startled the snake."
"And Xuande."
"Does he know that this path of the Gatekeeper has issues? Let us assume he does... In that case, is he playing a game of 'darkness under the lamp' with me? What is his true purpose?"
The Primordial Saint lowered his eyelids, seemingly lost in thought.
Within a certain region that was difficult to define.
This place could not be named, thought of, or spoken of. What met the eye were jade halls and pavilions; magnificent palaces were situated amidst the clouds.
Deep within the palace.
Looking across, upon an ancient Dao-platform, a wizened old man in meditation suddenly snapped his eyes open and spat out a mouthful of hot blood.
"Pfft!"
His originally vigorous aura instantly plummeted to the bottom.
Only after a long while did he recover. There was no fear or shock, only a deep sense of liberation: "Have I been discovered? If that is the case, the day must be drawing near."
"Transcendence..."