Six hundred years in the past, despair showed in Gong Jiexuan's eyes as she watched the spacetime around her crumble into ruin. She had no idea why she had met with such calamity. She had clearly only come to rescue someone—how had she suddenly encountered such bizarre events?
Ahead of her, Xu Ying, Taiyi, Dao Master Hua, Dongxuan, and the others were crushed under such pressure that they were bathed in blood, droplets squeezing out from their pores until their physical bodies were nearly shriveled and parched.
The Dao Venerable's Dao ripples exerted an overwhelmingly domineering pressure.
Just when they could scarcely endure it any longer, the Dao ripples arriving from the future suddenly ebbed like a receding tide, their might plummeting rapidly. Taiyi cried out in pleasant surprise, "The Dao Venerable is wounded! The Dao Venerable has been injured!"
The others were overjoyed as well. This was no ordinary ebb of the Great Dao, but rather damage suffered by the Dao Venerable's Dao in the future.
"We aided Luo Taizong, allowing him to wound the Dao Venerable!" Everyone was filled with immense delight.
"Luo Taizong is formidable indeed—worthy of hailing from the Dao Alliance to be able to wound even a being like the Dao Venerable!" Taiyi chuckled. "Tyrant though he may be, he has performed a great service for our other shore, averting what could be called an imminent disaster."
Sacred King Xuan Nu said, "Having fought this decisive battle against the Dao Venerable, I fear his wounds must be severe. Fellow Daoist Taiyi, this is the perfect opportunity to eliminate him."
Taiyi's heart stirred at her words. Just then, Dao Master Hua moved abruptly, leaping out of this spacetime as he called out, "Taiyi, the matter here is finished... Do not seek me out again, or I will kill you."
The remaining crowd looked back and forth at one another, murderous intent surfacing on their faces. Now that the crisis had passed, what awaited them was struggling to cross the slaughter tribulation, and the Dao Masters of the other shore and Tianjing were mortal enemies. Without another word, they turned into streaks of flowing light and leaped out of spacetime. Taiyi, Tianchengzi, Xuan Nu, and their group left in one direction, while Dongxuan, Cenxi, and their party departed in another.
Neither side was prepared yet, and coming to blows now would be disadvantageous to both. Only Xu Ying remained behind in the past spacetime. He raised his head and looked around. As their clash with the Dao Venerable's divine abilities came to an end, the collapsed spacetime and karma gradually recovered, though karmic samsara would undergo slight, inadvertent corrections.
"Hey."
A sudden voice jolted him from his thoughts. Xu Ying looked toward the sound and saw Gong Jiexuan standing opposite him, having not departed.
"Xu Ying, did you return to kill me?" Gong Jiexuan asked.
Xu Ying smiled faintly. Reaching out, he tapped her forehead gently with a finger, then smoothed away spacetime with a wave of his hand and returned to the present.
Gong Jiexuan watched this scene in a daze. Suddenly, she remembered her duty and charged with all her might toward the Xu Ying who was delivering a fatal strike to Lingxuzi. Mobilizing the Great Dao of Hongmeng, Hongmeng purple qi swirled across her palm as if a miniature Chaos spirit root had sprouted from the purple mist, brimming with infinite power as it rose to meet Xu Ying's palm.
At that very instant, the corner of her eye caught Lingxuzi suddenly vanishing into thin air. Confusion rose in her heart, not knowing what had transpired, when she saw Lingxuzi suddenly appear once more. Only, this reappeared Lingxuzi was stronger than before. Filled with alarm and fury, this Lingxuzi was attacking toward one side, wielding Creation as a blade to slash down there.
An even stranger thing occurred. The Lingxuzi who had vanished earlier suddenly reappeared, as though dragged back from spacetime by someone, before being pierced clean through by a formidable finger strike. At the same time, the far more powerful Lingxuzi abruptly dispersed like dust, ceasing to exist.
What horrified her even more was a corpse tumbling down from spacetime.
Boom! Gong Jiexuan's palm collided with Xu Ying's palm, both of their figures swaying slightly. Gong Jiexuan hurriedly said, "Fellow Daoist Xu, Lingxuzi has offended you greatly, but I hope you can overlook past grievances..."
She broke off mid-sentence. Lingxuzi was already dead.
Looking back, she saw the corpses of Lingxuzi and another person. Gong Jiexuan stepped forward to inspect the other body, only to find that it was the corpse of Ping Yaozi, another Dao Master of Tianjing. Her mind in complete disarray, she took Ping Yaozi's corpse, took her leave of Xu Ying, and hurried off to see Ping Yaozi.
Four hundred and forty-six years later, in Tianjue City, Gong Jiexuan rushed over and spread her arms wide, blocking Cenxi and the others from Xu Ying, shouting, "As for Ping Yaozi, no one has any proof that he died at the hands of Fellow Daoist Xu! His corpse merely appeared at the scene!"
Once the matter regarding Ping Yaozi's death was resolved, Gong Jiexuan returned to Shangdu, her expression shifting between dark and light. Reflecting upon everything that had transpired today, as if possessed by ghosts and gods, she suddenly recalled that bizarre occurrence four hundred and forty-six years ago, when she had witnessed another Xu Ying and Ping Yaozi's corpse!
With a stir in her heart, she summoned Dongxuan and instructed him to find an opportune moment to eliminate Xu Ying.
She then summoned Wu Xizi and said, "Go to Tianjing and inform the Dao Venerable that Xu Ying manipulated divine abilities of spacetime and samsara over four hundred years ago to execute Lingxuzi and Ping Yaozi."
A few more years passed. Gong Jiexuan arrived in Tianjue City to wait for Xu Ying and seek his guidance on cyclic verification of the nine Daos. The Xu Ying she met seemed like a completely different person—refined, gentle, profoundly learned, and speaking with poetic eloquence. It involuntarily reminded her of the first time she had met Xu Ying, when he stood in spacetime and gently tapped her forehead. That moment was etched deeply into her mind. She knew it had merely been Xu Ying's subconscious at work, yet she still found herself unable to break free of it.
Just then, Dongxuanzi, Wu Xizi, and the others tracked her down. Arriving before her, they looked her up and down, asking, "Is Young Lady unharmed?"
Puzzled, Gong Jiexuan smiled and asked, "What could possibly be wrong with me?"
Only upon seeing that she was unhurt did Dongxuanzi and the others breathe a sigh of relief. After all, Xu Ying's strike had been exceedingly fierce. Had it landed on Gong Jiexuan, she would likely have lost her life and been erased on the spot. While they harbored bone-deep hatred toward the Dao Venerable, they held no such resentment toward Gong Jiexuan.
Looking at Gong Jiexuan's bewildered gaze, Dongxuanzi hesitated, wanting to tell her the hidden truth, yet after weighing it back and forth, he could not bring himself to speak.
"For the sake of Tianjing, we cannot tell her the truth. If she leaves the other shore, there will be one fewer Dao Master of Hongmeng, and the other shore's calamitous destiny will not be able to evolve into the Nirvanic Extinction Tribulation," he thought silently to himself. "Right now, there are only two things we must do: one is to seize the chance to eliminate the Dao Venerable; the other is to return to the other shore and face the tribulation in peace."
Cenxi coughed lightly and said, "Since Young Lady is fine, we shall take our leave!"
The crowd exchanged glances and bade farewell one after another.
Suddenly, Gong Jiexuan smiled. "Dongxuanzi, you stay."
Dao Master Dongxuan hesitated for a moment before halting his steps, watching Cenxi and the others depart into the distance.
Gong Jiexuan walked over to his side. Watching Cenxi and the rest leave, she suddenly said, "The one you joined forces with Xu Ying, Taiyi, and the others to oppose was the Dao Venerable, wasn't it?"
Dao Master Dongxuan's body trembled slightly as he looked at her.
Gong Jiexuan sighed. "Back then, I saw all of you and heard your voices. I knew you were fighting my father, the Dao Venerable. It's just that throughout all these years, I could never understand why. Brother Dongxuan, can you tell me the reason?"
Dao Master Dongxuan fell silent in contemplation for a moment, then said, "Young Lady, you must flee quickly. Flee from the other shore, and you will still have a slim chance of survival!"
Gong Jiexuan fell silent for a moment before saying, "Is it the calamitous destiny of the other shore? Father had us come to the other shore to cultivate, but his motive was not pure—it was to taint us with the other shore's calamitous destiny, wasn't it?"
Dao Master Dongxuan shook his head. "He wants us to become part of the other shore's calamitous destiny, precipitating the arrival of the other shore's Nirvanic Extinction Tribulation. Young Lady, it is still not too late for you to flee, so long as you have not attained Dao Master..."
Gong Jiexuan shook her head. "It is too late! My cultivation here, my first verification and my second verification, were all achieved on the other shore. Even if I flee into the Chaos Sea, the calamitous destiny will still track me down.
"Dongxuanzi, since we are already caught in this tribulation, then let us prepare to cross it!"
Dao Master Dongxuan looked at her, seeing that her expression was calmer than he had anticipated; she had clearly prepared herself long ago.
In Tianjing, because its starry sky had been stripped away by the other shore, the Chaos Sea appeared unimaginably close, seeming as if it could press down upon Tianjing at any moment. Right at that time, a figure suddenly tumbled down from the Chaos Sea, slamming into the ground like a dead fish.
Dao Master Tongtian, dressed in green robes and looking spirited, asked, "Fellow Daoist, what brings you here?"
Xu Ying smiled. "I would like to ask Dao Brother to do me a favor and kill someone!"
"Who?"
"The Dao Venerable!"
Dao Master Tongtian was slightly taken aback. Giving Xu Ying a deep look, he asked, "The Dao Venerable?"
Xu Ying nodded gently. "At this moment, the Dao Venerable should be heavily wounded. Even if he isn't dead, he will not be a match for you. Right now, Taiyi and the others are searching for Luo Taizong's whereabouts and have no time to kill him. Only Dao Brother can end his life!"
Dao Master Tongtian said, "Taking advantage of an injured opponent in this battle is hardly honorable!"
Xu Ying replied, "This concerns the life and death of the Three Realms. If Dao Brother worries about shouldering infamy, I will bear it for you."
Dao Master Tongtian unfastened the Immortal Slaying Sword and said indifferently, "What is there to fear from mere infamy? I shall go and slay him."
Xu Ying breathed a sigh of relief. The two walked out of Biyou Palace. Just as Dao Master Tongtian was about to depart, an intuition suddenly struck his heart. Xu Ying also sensed an anomaly from the other shore. Looking puzzled, he suddenly mobilized karmic samsara, forming an All-Knowing Eye within the samsara to sweep toward the other shore.
In just a brief moment, he thoroughly perceived and grasped the karma and samsara of the other shore's universe. Although Dao Master Tongtian followed the path of cyclic verification, having deduced the two Daos of Calamitous Destiny and Nirvanic Extinction, he was still not adept in karma.
"Fellow Daoist Xu, what on earth has happened?" Tongtian inquired.
Behind Xu Ying's head, the colossal All-Knowing Eye rolled and turned, its gaze fixing upon various corners of the universe as he said, "Wu Xizi, Cenxi, and the others have headed to Tianjing to kill the Dao Venerable. Dao Master Hua is attempting to eradicate Taiyi, Tianchengzi, and the others who know the truth. Dao Master Lin has ambushed Wu Xizi and his party, clashing beyond the heavens. Taiyi and his group are scouring for Luo Taizong's whereabouts. Dao Master Luo has unsealed the forbidden zones in an attempt to resurrect ancient Dao Masters..."
His All-Knowing Eye encompassed samsara and karma. At this moment, new karmic threads flooded forth continuously, integrating with his Dao eye; yet these karmic threads were so tangled and chaotic that they were nearly impossible to unravel.
"The karma of the other shore is in total disarray!" Xu Ying said.
Dao Master Tongtian also sensed the calamitous destiny growing heavier by degrees, remarking, "The greater the number of resurrected Dao Masters, the more chaotic karma becomes, the heavier the calamitous destiny, and the fiercer the slaughter. The other shore draws ever closer to the Nirvanic Extinction Tribulation. Who knows who will become the final straw that breaks the camel's back!"
Shaking his head, he drifted away with the Immortal Slaying Sword.
Xu Ying watched his departing figure, sensing the tangled, disorderly karma, and thought silently to himself, "Before the Three Realms arrives, I wonder if Taiyi can turn the tide, endure the slaughter tribulation, and break free from this calamitous destiny?"
At that moment, a shooting star streaked across the sky beyond. Xu Ying raised his head to look. The shooting star came from the Chaos Sea, plunging toward the mortal realm of the other shore.
"Is the other shore still expanding right now?" Xu Ying felt perplexed seeing this. Such a phenomenon usually appeared only in newborn, expanding universes, such as the Three Realms. As the Ginseng Fruit Tree grew, the Three Realms' Hongyuan continued to expand, and the Great Daos of heaven and earth matured. Because of cosmic expansion, strange objects from chaos would fall into the Three Realms to be gathered by people.
That shooting star was likely a treasure falling from the Chaos Sea to the other shore, piquing Xu Ying's curiosity. He flew over to investigate. The shooting star moved at blinding speed, trailing streamers of chaos, and crashed into the mortal realm one step ahead of him. When Xu Ying arrived before it, wisps and strands of chaotic energy trailed everywhere, yet to dissipate.
Yet what had crashed to the ground was not the expected treasure, but a massive ball of flesh, its gore squirming, impossible to tell what had formed it.
Xu Ying extended his palm and cautiously touched the ball of flesh. Suddenly, a voice surfaced in his mind: "Hold back the Dao Venerable... Hold him back... Buy time for the other shore... Hold back the Dao Venerable... We must hold him back..."
Xu Ying froze. Sensing the unyielding, fight-to-the-death battle intent emanating from the ball of flesh, he instantly knew who it was!
"Luo Taizong has already passed. Since you are already dead, why did you insist on returning?" Xu Ying murmured softly. "Dao Brother, you have returned to your homeland now!"
"Returned?" An obsession surfaced from within the ball of flesh, sounding quite joyful. "I am the Cosmic Primordial Spirit... If I die in my homeland, I can lessen some of the calamitous destiny for the other shore..."
With those words, the massive ball of flesh suddenly disintegrated, its lingering obsession dissipating completely.
Xu Ying sensed that the calamitous destiny hovering between heaven and earth on the other shore abruptly diminished by a substantial margin!
Chapter 860