This instantaneous shift was something even the Primordial Saint had not anticipated. Even Sword Lord was momentarily stunned. Witnessing her own stature being suppressed to the absolute limit within the Netherworld, her beautiful eyes instantly flared with inexpressible rage.
"You court death!"
A violent sword-light slashed toward the Netherworld as the river of destiny manifested, waves rising as though the image of Sword Lord escaping the Netherworld was about to emerge.
However, Dao Tianqi completely refused to engage her, his silhouette rapidly vanishing behind layers of death-qi.
The Netherworld was not something a single Sword Lord could cleave apart; while she remained suppressed, [Destiny] would need time to find her a future of escape.
But without her guardianship, even for a brief moment, the False History—guarded only by Cang Hao—left enough room for Xiu Zhen to enter and exit dozens of times. Xiu Zhen realized this immediately.
"An opportunity."
Moving like a lightning bolt, his Primordial Spirit fire illuminated time and space as he traced back through Karma. In a blink, he reached the junction where the True and False Histories met 129,600 years ago. At that moment, the Primordial Saint moved.
"Useless."
At the fifth layer of the [Paramita], this paramount figure of the sea of light wore a cold expression. He pinched a hand seal, and a brilliant light suddenly ignited between his fingers.
[Inevitable Fate].
This Great Dao, once unremarkable among the Five Great Heavenly Destinies, had grown in concept over the past hundred thousand years under his command. Now, he manifested its form as a brush, sweeping down to strike a point upon the sea of light.
Karma abruptly split apart.
This single stroke created an inexpressible chasm before Xiu Zhen. From the pitch-black abyss, a sense of fatal crisis radiated toward him.
'This is...'
Xiu Zhen's pupils contracted as he instantly calculated the cause and effect. Simply put, the Great Karmic Net had developed fissures long ago due to the struggles between Dao Lords, and now they were erupting all at once.
—Nonsense.
There were countless fissures in the Great Karmic Net; he wouldn't have failed to calculate them. Since he had taken this path, it meant the road was originally sound.
'It's [Inevitable Fate]!'
'The process is unimportant; only the result matters... The Primordial Saint needed a chasm to block me, so the Great Karmic Net responded to his demand!'
The result was fixed; the great momentum was hard to change. At this thought, Xiu Zhen's Primordial Spirit thoughts fluctuated violently, but he dared not approach the False History again. Just then, a brand-new thought surfaced:
'Continue tracing back!'
Xiu Zhen's mind raced as a plan took shape:
'I was born from the collision of the thoughts of the World Honored One and Du Xuan, before the World Honored One became a Dao Lord. Strictly speaking, I possess Karma from the Ancient Era.'
'I can go to the Ancient Era!'
'I'll enter the Ancient Era first, then flow downstream from that time to bypass this chasm and enter the False History—yes, that's it!'
In a single thought, Xiu Zhen vanished again. Almost simultaneously, the Primordial Saint sensed it, his cold eyes watching the Ancient Era without any ripple.
"A deathbed struggle, nothing more."
But just then.
Thump, thump, thump.
Heavy footsteps trampled upon the Great Karmic Net, sounding like thunder, impacting the abyss created by [Inevitable Fate] and throwing the years of time into chaos.
In an instant, the abyss that should have swallowed Xiu Zhen's Primordial Spirit became illusory. One moment it appeared ready to devour, and the next it seemed as though it had never existed. Xiu Zhen's actions split into two entirely different futures.
Which image was real?
Karma would not be decided by lower cultivators but by the outcome of the clash between two Dao Lords. Whoever won would determine which image became the truth!
"RUMBLE!"
Brilliant Light of Order rose and fell like a tide. In the end, [Order] retreated, and the illusory abyss solidified, standing firmly upon the Great Karmic Net.
Lu Yang had lost.
In that split-second collision, he intended to use [Delete] against the Primordial Saint's [Inevitable Fate], but he was overmatched and forced to retreat.
Yet the victorious Primordial Saint felt no joy. Instead, the defeated Lu Yang let out a light laugh: "Stepping down two layers has indeed weakened [Inevitable Fate]. Even I can shake it now..."
At this moment, the hearts of every Dao Lord stirred!
Yes, although the Primordial Saint won the clash, the fact that someone could clash with [Inevitable Fate] at all exposed a fundamental secret.
[Inevitable Fate] was now very weak!
Compared to the previous, invincible sense of mastery over the sea of light, the current [Inevitable Fate]—though still terrifying—was merely "very strong". It was no longer impossible to defeat!
On the other side, the Primordial Saint watched Lu Yang's retreating figure with suspicion. Lu Yang remained hidden within the Netherworld, his mysterious aura unrevealed.
'...He has weakened.'
He was not surprised by the drop in [Inevitable Fate], as it was under his control. What surprised him was Lu Yang, whose displayed strength had also weakened.
This wasn't a change in raw power, but in endurance. Previously, when Lu Yang activated [Order], the light covered the heavens. Combined with the [Dead Cycle], it was difficult to deal with him without a killing blow. But this time was different.
The opponent collapsed almost upon contact. He didn't persist or struggle; defeat was simply defeat. Because it was so logical, it left a seed of doubt in the Primordial Saint's heart.
However, he soon set aside his doubts. Xiu Zhen had traced back to the Ancient Era and was dropping toward the False History from another direction, yet Sword Lord still hadn't escaped the Netherworld!
This time, the Primordial Saint did not intend to block him.
'I can't be the only one doing the work.'
He stood with hands behind his back, looking calmly at Sword Lord in the depths of the Netherworld.
With that single glance, Sword Lord realized she could no longer use this as an opportunity to test the Primordial Saint, or things would go out of control. She shook her head and let out a long sigh.
Almost simultaneously, Sword Lord's cold, peerless face softened like spring rain. Infinite [Threads of Affection] surfaced in her eyes, dense as a net and heart-stirring. Under its influence, the Dao Lord of Dao Arts, Myriad Laws—who was charging at the front of the False History—suddenly froze!
[Threads of Affection] interference!
In that instant, Sword Lord used the [Threads of Affection] to drain a portion of his spiritual power, passing it through herself to reinforce Cang Hao.
Cang Hao simultaneously heard Sword Lord's transmission:
"Block that Primordial Spirit!"
"..."
Feeling the sudden surge of spiritual power within him and the corresponding drop in his opponent's aura, a deep light flashed in Cang Hao's eyes as he decisively turned around.
In an instant, he flicked his wide sleeves. Countless books flew out, their pages fluttering as characters leapt from the paper, forming a vast river of text. This river surged against the current, once again blocking Xiu Zhen—who intended to flow down from the Ancient Era—from entering the False History.
This path was closed!
Witnessing this, rage and helplessness surfaced in Xiu Zhen's thoughts, but he dared not force his way through and retreated once more to the Ancient Era.
'The matter is impossible; I shall hide again.'
With this thought, Xiu Zhen's Primordial Spirit intended to vanish into the void again.
But how could the Primordial Saint let him go?
"RUMBLE!"
A chime of the Dao rang out. A blazing white light illuminated the universe, leaving Xiu Zhen with nowhere to hide. He was struck with panic, unable to find a way to escape.
But precisely at this moment.
For no reason, a thought suddenly surfaced.
[Go to the Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness.]
[The complete Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness of the Ancient Era.]