Unifying karma, reincarnation, and space-time sounded simple enough, but implementing it was dauntingly difficult.
Merely unifying the current karma threads of an entire universe required an achievement at the Immortal realm at the very least. Unifying karma and space-time meant forging a grand unification of every karma thread across all timelines—past, present, and future.
Not to mention an Immortal, even a Dao Master who had mastered both Karma and Space-Time would find that nearly impossible!
Yet by adding reincarnation into the equation—unifying the entire universe's past, present, and future within reincarnation—it became far more manageable.
Reincarnation was the tool for the grand unification of karma and space-time.
Once reincarnation began to turn, the chaotic karma threads scattered across various eras fell into order and gradually converged, achieving the grand unification of karma and space-time.
"The universe has a beginning and an end. It arises in chaos, ends in extinction, and returns to chaos. Thus, only by leaping out of reincarnation and remaining unstained by karma can one attain true, vast freedom and eternal imperishability."
Xu Ying channeled the Record of the Great Dao of Hongyuan Counter-Proof. Behind his head, a cave abyss of space-time slowly emerged. It spun, profoundly deep within, as though concealing a myriad worlds.
Next, a reincarnation cave abyss flew out. Approaching the space-time cave abyss, it gradually merged with it.
This reincarnation cave abyss rumbled into motion, cutting into time and into space, one segment cleaving toward the past and another thrusting into the future!
Witnessing this, Tianchengzi was visibly moved. While Xu Ying's attainments in the Great Dao of Space-Time were still inferior to his own, his mastery of the Great Dao of Reincarnation was astonishingly far beyond his!
*He has walked much farther than I have in reincarnation! I cultivated so many parts of it wrong.*
He gazed at Xu Ying's reincarnation cave abyss and compared it against the Great Dao of Reincarnation he had comprehended himself, immediately spotting numerous errors and omissions.
Just then, another cave abyss—one of karma—appeared behind Xu Ying's head. The moment karma emerged, those on Qionghua Island with exquisite Dao methods and stable Dao hearts sensed a hint of abnormality. They searched all around, yet failed to detect any clue.
Xu Ying mobilized the karma cave abyss to merge with the reincarnation cave abyss, drawing the diverse karma threads scattered across time toward the reincarnation cave abyss.
Gradually, the reincarnation cave abyss formed a ring of reincarnation.
Xu Ying's method was similar to the cultivation method of the Karma Golden Wheel, except one refined a golden wheel using karma, whereas the other unified karma through reincarnation.
The Karma Golden Wheel was purer, capable of gathering all of one's karma in a short period and penetrating the karmic shifts of the entire universe.
The reincarnation of karma, on the other hand, was far vaster, connecting the past and future to bring all those karmas together.
"With my strength, I cannot unify the karma of everyone on the other shore. Doing that for everyone would likely require a Dao Master. What I can do is unify the karma of everyone currently on Qionghua Island."
Xu Ying said, "Tianchengzi, I will cast the technique. You protect me!"
Even though Tianchengzi was a Master of the Great Dao, he could not help but tremble with excitement, his voice raspy. "The mistake made back then can finally be corrected today..."
Xu Ying was an outsider and a latecomer who had never witnessed the scene when the first wave of calamitous destiny arrived on the other shore.
But Tianchengzi had.
Facing that wave of calamitous destiny, the mighty figures of the other shore had no choice but to slaughter one another, condoning the mutual butchery of disciples, kin, and friends. In the end, out of fifty-eight Dao Masters, only Hua, Lin, and Luo had the last laugh.
From that point on, the other shore was no longer the other shore.
The other shore's mightiest era had faded into the past alongside that first wave of calamitous destiny. The other shore that followed was nothing more than a loser—a pathetic wretch scuttling about in hiding to evade its doom.
Tianchengzi himself was a victim of that war of Dao Masters, lingering between life and death. He had no choice but to seal himself within a single day's reincarnation loop. Were he to break free of that reincarnation, he would die instantly!
What he desired most was to alter the past and change the destiny of the other shore. All these years, he had tirelessly searched for such an opportunity, never once succeeding. But now, that chance had finally arrived!
Xu Ying's body gradually floated upward, the halo of reincarnation behind his head growing increasingly radiant. The karma threads of everyone on Qionghua Island flew over in droves, sinking into the reincarnation of karma!
Below, Dao Master Hua, Dao Master Lin, Dao Master Luo, and the others watched the scene unfold as the sky was illuminated by the halo of reincarnation, its brilliance shining ever more dazzlingly.
"It's that madman!" Dao Master Luo cried in alarm.
Xu Ying locked onto everyone, seizing hold of their karma threads. He immediately traced backward, sweeping every experience of their entire lives into reincarnation.
From their births onward, all karma entered reincarnation.
He drove the halo of reincarnation to spin backward, instantly propelling the "future" karma threads of everyone on the island forward.
Among them, thousands saw their karma threads snap as they moved forward; they were likely the ones who died in this grand assembly on Qionghua Island, or, like Xu Ying, people from the future who had been swept into this day.
Xu Ying bypassed them directly. Those remaining on the island were the survivors of this grand gathering—namely, the fifty-eight Dao Masters including Hua, Lin, and Luo!
*To erase such entities, one must penetrate the future and grasp the entirety of their lifelong karma.*
Behind Xu Ying's head, only the karma of those fifty-eight people remained within the halo of reincarnation, constantly advancing toward the "future."
Halos flickered in Xu Ying's eyes, an endless stream of scenes flashing by one after another. Those were the experiences of these fifty-eight individuals across past time and space!
He had to deduce all of their experiences before he could alter the past!
Right at this moment, someone below suddenly began a slaughter. It was none other than Hua, Lin, and Luo, who had allied with other experts to strike down the rest of the island's occupants ruthlessly.
Tianchengzi watched with mounting anxiety, glancing repeatedly toward Xu Ying as he urged inwardly, *Faster, faster! If those who originally survived back then are killed, the space-time loop will trigger again and undo all our work!*
Yet he dared not speak aloud for fear of disturbing Xu Ying.
Amid the chaotic melee below, many people—such as Grand Dao Lord Shenmo—secretly tried to see if they could kill Dao Master Hua and the others to take their places.
These experts from the "future" possessed formidable Dao methods and divine abilities; before long, casualties began to mount!
"Old dog Hua, won't you die yet?" Grand Dao Lord Shenmo and his younger self joined forces to finish off Dao Master Hua, bursting into loud laughter.
Tianchengzi's heart sank. He looked up to see the ouroboros devouring itself at high speed, soon gobbling itself up entirely!
Turbulence surged through space-time as it began to correct everything.
Tianchengzi's spirits plunged. A rift tore open in space-time, and Grand Dao Lord Shenmo, Grand Dao Lord Taiyi, and others came flying out of it one after another.
In addition, countless corpses tumbled out of the rift with dull thuds, crashing against the ground.
These corpses also belonged to experts who had entered Longxing Temple. For various reasons, they had perished on this day one hundred and twenty million years ago.
When the space-time loop reset, outsiders like them would not be restored like Dao Master Hua and his companions. If they were wounded, they would carry those wounds into the reset; if they died, they entered the loop as corpses, never vanishing.
Having gone through so many space-time loops, the number of casualties had grown quite substantial. Several thousand corpses falling together from the heavens was an utterly shocking sight!
"Xu Ying isn't among them!"
Tianchengzi froze, then swiftly turned around, only to see Xu Ying still beside him, continuing to drive the reincarnation of karma.
His heart shook. *His Great Dao of Space-Time has already reached the point of transcending space-time! He is not affected by the space-time loop!*
Tianchengzi had also achieved transcendence over space-time, which was how he had survived to this day. But he was a Dao Master of Space-Time; only by virtue of that could he manage such a feat.
Xu Ying was merely a cultivator of the Eighth Layer of the Dao realm who had cultivated the Great Dao of Space-Time to the Immortal realm, yet he could remain untouched within the space-time loop—neither increasing nor decreasing, neither altering nor changing. It was truly admirable.
*This Dao Friend Xu will surely become a titan in the future,* Tianchengzi thought to himself.
Shortly after, Xu Ying calculated the manifold karmas, pushing the karma threads of these fifty-eight individuals right to the eve of their respective attainments of the Dao.
These fifty-eight people had attained the Dao at different times; some were far ahead of the others, while some had attained it tens of millions of years after their peers.
Such a span of time was truly astonishing.
Yet once the reincarnation of karma deduced up to this point, it came to a dead halt, unable to advance any further.
Xu Ying's heart stirred. No matter how he mobilized reincarnation, he could not advance it half a step!
He had encountered this situation before.
Back when Xu Ying met Zhong Yuliu in the Jing Realm, he had discovered that not a trace of karma clung to her.
Without karma, the reincarnation of karma naturally could not proceed!
Xu Ying frowned deeply. These fifty-eight had achieved the Dao and attained the Dao. Having achieved the Dao, they were themselves the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth; having attained the Dao, they could command the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.
At this stage, even if they took lives or brought about catastrophic disasters, no karma could fall upon them!
A Master of the Great Dao was entirely beyond the reach of karma.
*No, that's not right... If a Dao Master is untouched by karma, why would they still suffer calamitous destiny? Clearly, karma still exists!*
Xu Ying's eyes flickered as he thought, *It's just that this karma isn't ordinary karma—it is the karma of Heaven and Earth! Such karma can only be discerned and uncovered in conjunction with calamitous destiny!*
At this thought, the Record of the Great Dao of Hongyuan Counter-Proof roared into motion once more. A cave abyss of calamitous destiny flew forth, merging with the reincarnation of karma!
Tianchengzi's eyes widened in sheer disbelief. This was the third supreme Great Dao to manifest on Xu Ying's person!
*He has actually cultivated three supreme Great Daos to the Immortal realm—truly, the younger generation is terrifying. Wait!*
His eyes flickered as he thought, *If Dao Friend Xu only cultivated these three Great Daos, he could have attained the Immortal realm long ago. Yet he remains in the Eighth Layer of the Dao realm, at the First Attainment. That means he has a fourth Great Dao—one that restricts his realm.*
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than the cave abyss of calamitous destiny finished fusing with the reincarnation of karma, once again transforming into a single halo of reincarnation.
With the aid of calamitous destiny, Xu Ying finally succeeded in locating the karmas of each Dao Master!
"A Dao Master carries three kinds of karma! First is the karma of Heaven and Earth—born of Heaven and nurtured by Earth, one must draw upon the qi of Heaven and Earth to survive. Second is the karma of the Great Dao—cultivating Dao methods and obtaining the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, only then can one achieve and attain the Dao. Third is the karma of the universe—the universe is spawned from a clump of chaotic qi, becoming Hongyuan, and only when Hongyuan opens does a universe come to be; born within it, one owes this karma and must repay it!"
The halo of reincarnation behind Xu Ying's head spun at blistering speed. Taking in the three kinds of karma owed by each Dao Master, he looked toward their future lifetimes!
The far end of these three karmas was a swath of indistinct chaos.
Because only the three karmas of Heaven and Earth, the Great Dao, and the universe remained, the experiences of these Dao Masters were likewise an unknown to Xu Ying, no longer clear and distinct as before.
Suddenly, the space-time loop triggered yet again. Once more, it failed to shake Xu Ying and Tianchengzi. However, even more corpses tumbled from the space-time rift this time; over half of those pursuing Xu Ying had already died across the successive cycles.
Both Grand Dao Lord Shenmo and Grand Dao Lord Taiyi were heavily wounded, sporting more cuts and gashes with every iteration.
Both Grand Dao Lords realized the direness of their situation. Taiyi sought out Shenmo, and after conferring, the two decided to join forces.
Up in the sky, Xu Ying remained standing, operating the reincarnation of space-time to lock onto the fifty-eight Dao Masters.
The karma threads of these Dao Masters varied in length, presumably reflecting differences in their lifespans.
*Rather than probing all fifty-eight, it's better to pick one and commit everything to a breakthrough!*
The moment the thought occurred to him, Xu Ying said swiftly, "Tianchengzi, I am going to attempt to erase a Dao Master. Be ready; there could be great danger!"
Tianchengzi gave his consent, waiting in full battle readiness for any unforeseen disaster.
Xu Ying was somewhat nervous as well. This was his very first time manipulating karma to smother a Master of the Great Dao before they had even become one!
He looked down toward Qionghua Island. At this moment, another space-time reset had just erupted: Grand Dao Lord Shenmo and thousands of corpses were plummeting from the sky, having not yet hit the ground, while Grand Dao Lord Taiyi had just entered the space-time rift.
On Qionghua Island, numerous cultivators of the other shore had arrived. In the distance, Dao Master Luo was driving his carriage over.
Without hesitation, Xu Ying mobilized his Dao power, forming a sword finger. A three-foot sword aura slowly materialized at his fingertip, and he aimed a distant point toward Dao Master Luo's carriage. The sword aura broke through the air!
At the same instant, Xu Ying's expression changed abruptly. Along Dao Master Luo's karma thread, an immensely vast and boundless Dao power came surging from the other end of space-time with terrifying speed!
"Tianchengzi!" he shouted.
Tianchengzi immediately sensed that horrific Dao power as well. This Dao power was not an active strike from the Dao Master Luo of the future; rather, his Great Dao had sensed ripples disturbing the past, and it was moving on its own to flatten those ripples!
Xu Ying, preparing to erase Dao Master Luo from space-time, was that very ripple!
Just as Xu Ying's three-foot sword aura reached the carriage, the Dao Master-level Great Dao cultivated by Dao Master Luo—the Dao of Soul—came surging back in counterattack!
At such speed, Xu Ying would never have time to slay Dao Master Luo before being erased by this force of the Great Dao!
Along with his divine ability, the Immortal Slaying Sword Finger!
This Immortal Slaying Sword Finger of Xu Ying's contained the Dao of Slaughter, as well as portions of extinction Dao power and calamitous destiny Dao power.
These three Dao powers complemented one another, pushing the might of this sword strike to its absolute peak!
Yet it stood no chance against the fluctuations of a Dao Master-level Great Dao!
Tianchengzi bellowed furiously. Around Xu Ying, layers of space-time bloomed like opening lotus petals. In an instant, boundless space-time erupted outward with Xu Ying at the center, intercepting the Dao power blasting from the distant future!
All around Xu Ying, swath after swath of space-time was annihilated. The halo of reincarnation behind his head suddenly shattered into dust, scattering like drifting sand.
Tianchengzi took the brunt of that Dao power of the soul, blood bursting from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. His fists and palms crossed as he repeatedly struck toward the depths of space-time.
Though he was a half-dead Master of the Great Dao, his cultivation realm remained. He finally managed to stall that Dao power of the soul for a split second. But immediately afterward, an even more torrential wave of soul Dao power surged forward, swallowing both of them!
*Boom!*
Xu Ying's Immortal Slaying Sword Finger pierced through Dao Master Luo's carriage, arriving directly in front of the terror-stricken Dao Master Luo.
The fluctuation of soul Dao power followed right on its heels, shattering the Immortal Slaying Sword Finger to pieces!
At the same time, this pocket of space-time shook violently. Unable to bear the karma of altering the past, the ouroboros above everyone's heads collapsed, fractured, and vanished into nothingness!
*Did it succeed?*
Suffering the backlash of the Dao of Soul, Xu Ying felt as though he had been struck by a catastrophic blow. Right before blacking out, he saw the towering back of Grand Dao Lord Taiyi step in front of him.
Chapter 821