Lin and Luo Quell the Calamitous Destiny

Lin and Luo Quell the Calamitous Destiny Dao Master Luo sensed that the force of his strike had struck only empty air. He was briefly startled, and then his expression became as still and placid as an ancient well. After a long while, a smile finally touched the corner of his mouth. Suddenly he burst into hearty laughter, then turned and departed. "Xu Ying, you blocked this move of mine. You must be certain that you can withstand my Great Dao fluctuations. So, to be rid of me, you will surely sneak into the past and try to kill the me of a past life!" He spoke with a leisurely air, in a low voice: "However, this shall be the day of your death. My Nine-Spirit Space-Time Calamity has been waiting for you a very long time." His gaze was deep and unfathomable. This time, not only would he eliminate Xu Ying—should Xu Ying join forces with Taiyi, he would take the opportunity to eliminate Taiyi as well. "As for Taiyi's cohorts, they too ought to be pruned away!" Dao Master Luo's gaze swept across the universe and the eight wilds, and he saw that the contest over the innate numinous treasures had already reached its final stages. Those ownerless innate numinous treasures had plunged into the Chaos Sea, each going its own way, and the grand spectacle of chasing after them was gradually drawing to a close. In this struggle over the numinous treasures, some rejoiced while others grieved, and the dead and wounded were beyond counting! "This calamitous destiny has sacrificed Dao Hua, sacrificed my own father Luo Taizong, and sacrificed seventy percent of the other shore's population—plus tens of millions of cultivators from the Great Thousand Universes, among them no small number of masters at the seventh and eighth layers of the Dao Realm. Dao Master Luo's eyes flickered, and he said in a low voice: "If I were to further sacrifice Xu Ying, Taiyi, the Ancestral God, and Dao Masters of the likes of Dong Xuanziping, Yao Zi, and so many others—and then send my fellow Daoist Lin Chuanting on his way—then, surely, the world could be at peace?" At this thought, he smiled. "It is time to settle the karma of this heaven and earth and grant all living beings an age of great peace. "By the way—has Dao Master Tongtian finished off the Dao Venerable? In his battle with the Dao Venerable, both must surely have been gravely wounded. The perfect chance to send him on his way as well!" Zhangsun Shenghai exerted all his strength to suppress the Jade Emperor Bell, adding several more brand-marks to the great bell, and only then did he let out a breath, overjoyed. "When Martial Uncle Xu gets hold of this treasure, he will surely be delighted!" Bearing the Jade Emperor Bell, he sped away, evading the several Dao Masters who gave chase. Some of them were under Dao Master Luo, some were Taiyi's allies, and some were Dao Masters of Tianjing—all of them exceedingly dangerous. He had only recently attained immortality; even with the Extinction Fire-Tipped Spear in hand, he could not contend against these Dao Masters. Those Dao Masters failed to find Zhangsun Shenghai, and glanced at one another—each recognizing the others' factions—wearing guarded looks. That Dao Master of Tianjing was none other than the Karma Dao Master. Jiang Ningzi had attained the Dao through karma, and his cultivation and strength far surpassed those of the other two other shore Dao Masters. Jiang Ningzi recognized the pair, and with a single sweep of his gaze he clearly discerned the karmic entanglements upon them both. He was greatly astonished. "Daoist friends Sinong and Tong Li—I observe that your karma threads are drawing to a close, already showing the omen of severed karma. This is a sign of death," Jiang Ningzi counseled them earnestly. "The karma threads of you two are drawing to a close at the very same time, which means you are fated to die together. You must not fail to take note of this." Dao Master Sinong, an ally of Taiyi, sneered upon hearing this: "Well, well, Jiang Ningzi. You have set your heart on killing the two of us. Do you imagine that just because you were once the teacher of Tianjing, we will fear you?" Dao Master Tong Li, a deceased Dao Master of the other shore who had been resurrected by Dao Master Luo, stared warily at Jiang Ningzi and said with murderous intent: "Or perhaps the one who dies today will be you—who can say?" Jiang Ningzi turned a deaf ear to their words, and said with mounting astonishment: "The two of you—the speed at which your karma threads are drawing to a close is astonishing. It shows that your deaths are near, and you are about to return the universe's karma. Your time of death is yet... ten, nine, eight, seven..." He stared at the two Dao Masters before him in horror. Hearing this, the two Dao Masters were both shocked and furious, knowing that he meant to cut them down here and now. They shouted at once: "Together—destroy him!" At that very moment, Jiang Ningzi had counted down to "one." The two Dao Masters each soared into the air, unleashing the innate numinous treasures they had just claimed, and hurled themselves ferociously at Jiang Ningzi, sneering: "You want us dead? Then we will send you on your way first." Jiang Ningzi's face was a mask of doubt and alarm. He was just about to defend himself when he suddenly cried out in shock: "Strange—why are even my own karma threads being severed? Could my time of death have come as well?" He was thrown into a panic. The lunging Dao Master Sinong suddenly gaped wide, and a blood-drenched spear tip punched out through his mouth, shattering every one of his teeth. Dao Master Sinong hung impaled upon the great spear, struggling with all his might, while behind his head surfaced the wondrous scenes of dozens of universes. Yet the great spear gave a light shake, and he burst apart, his Great Dao all shattered, his primordial spirit obliterated. On the other side, a tall, slender figure suddenly appeared behind Dao Master Tong Li—none other than Dao Master Lin! Dao Master Tong Li saw that Jiang Ningzi was not blocking his attack, but instead staring behind him. Knowing something was wrong, he at once unleashed his innate numinous treasure and blasted it backward—but Dao Master Lin was a step ahead of him. With a single sweep of his sleeve, he scooped Tong Li up, man and treasure together, into his sleeve. Dao Master Lin gave his sleeve a shake, and broken bones came clattering out. He reached into the sleeve and drew forth the innate numinous treasure within, and saw that it was stained with Tong Li's blood. He put the treasure away, raised his left hand, and the long spear came whooshing back, dropping into his grasp and trembling faintly. Dao Master Lin regarded Jiang Ningzi with great interest, then suddenly smiled: "Teacher Jiang Ningzi—have you divined the day of your death?" Jiang Ningzi's expression did not change, and he gave a slight nod. Dao Master Lin smiled: "Have you calculated when you will die? Let me see how accurate you are." Jiang Ningzi channeled the Karma Great Dao, and in an instant all the karma of the other shore converged upon him in strands. He said in a low, deep voice: "I have been a master of divination all my life. Even if I have calculated my own death calamity, I will not accept it." "Lin Chuanting—today I shall defy karma itself." He was, after all, a Dao Master who had attained the Dao through karma, blessed with the cultivation experience of his past life, far beyond anything the likes of Tong Li could ever match. In the years when Tianjing was still flourishing, he had even been one of the Eight Innate Masters, his name resounding far and wide. Now that his cultivation erupted in full, the myriad wonders of the Karma Great Dao were revealed without the slightest concealment. Even his Eye of Karma evolved into the All-Knowing Eye—any expression, any movement of Dao Master Lin he could foresee, and thus respond to in advance. Any divine power that Dao Master Lin was about to unleash, he already understood completely—so wondrous was the cultivation of the Karma Great Dao. Dao Master Lin studied this All-Knowing Eye, and saw that the eye reflected his every movement; the moment a thought stirred in his heart, it too was mirrored there, revealing all the follow-up movements that would come of it. "The Karma Great Dao truly is formidable. "If I had followed Teacher Jiang Ningzi and cultivated the Karma Great Dao back then, I would never have been reduced to keeping company with vulgar men like Hua Shengsheng and Luo Shizong!" Dao Master Lin said with emotion. "Back then, you told me I had a talent for karma, and bade me study under you. But I disdained how slowly the Karma Great Dao progressed, and never cultivated it. Instead I turned to the Spirit Dao. Later, though I did become a Dao Master through the Spirit Dao, I found that my attainment in it had long since reached its limit, with no further progress to be made. Jiang Ningzi looked at him and said: "You mastered the Spirit Dao, and then turned to slaughter Tianjing without mercy. Countless Tianjing people died at your hands. You repay kindness with enmity—how can you still have the face to call me teacher?" Dao Master Lin raised both hands and gazed at his own palms, white as jade, and said slowly: "I have never once regretted slaughtering Tianjing. The Tianjing Dao Venerable wanted from the very start to seize our home for his own, to destroy the Great Dao of our heaven and earth, and then to come and replace our people and wipe us out. We merely struck first, that is all." A mocking look crossed his face. "Put yourself in my place, Teacher—if you Tianjing people had risen to power here on the other shore, would you not have wiped us other shore people out to the very last?" Jiang Ningzi sighed and nodded in silence. Dao Master Lin smiled: "Teacher, that is precisely it. Each of us acts for the future and the fate of his own universe—so even if we commit every kind of evil, what is there to reproach?" Jiang Ningzi said in a hoarse voice: "But the truth is not as you imagine it. All of us are merely pawns in the Dao Venerable's hands." Dao Master Lin was unconcerned, and said with an air of ease: "What the truth truly is matters little. Dao Master Tongtian has already gone to kill the Dao Venerable—he is doomed to die. Whatever schemes he may have, he cannot escape the fate of falling. As for the safety of the other shore—after you die, Teacher, I will send the other Dao Masters on their way as well. That should be enough to quell the calamitous destiny. Please, Teacher." Jiang Ningzi surged every ounce of his Dao power, his hair bristling with fury, and shouted: "Then come!" Behind Dao Master Lin there appeared the wondrous phenomena of the Great Thousand Universes. He mobilized the Dao power of all the universes under his command and pointed a single finger. Jiang Ningzi had clearly already sensed the trajectory of that finger—yet in the next instant he found that every possibility within the future of space and time had been sealed shut by that one finger. "This disciple of mine... his talent is truly extraordinary..." He charged fiercely at Dao Master Lin, but the very next moment a burst of blood appeared and pierced through his skull. The Dao power of the Great Thousand Universes shattered his primordial spirit outright and destroyed the Karma Great Dao. Dao Master Lin's face darkened with grief, and he let Jiang Ningzi rush right up to him. He raised his hand and caught hold of Jiang Ningzi, so that he would not fall. "Teacher, your Karma Great Dao is unmatched anywhere in the world. How could I, your disciple, allow your name for infallible calculation to be soiled? He reached out and closed Jiang Ningzi's eyes, and said softly: "In the end, you still should not try to leap beyond karma!" He took out a coffin, laid Jiang Ningzi within it, hammered in the coffin nails, and so cast him adrift into the universe. Dao Master Lin bowed toward the coffin, then turned and departed. "Now the fish have been raised big enough—it is time to draw in the net. Slay every Dao Master, and quell the calamitous destiny." At the same time, at another end of the other shore, Dao Master Luo sought out Dao Master Lü Gang. Dao Master Lü Gang was at that moment fighting Dao Master Kuang Zhu over an innate numinous treasure. Seeing Dao Master Luo approach, he hastily leaped out of the fray, bowed low, and said: "Spare me, Brother Luo—I am willing to surrender." Dao Master Luo looked kindly and genial, and smiled: "Daoist Lü, why do you say such a thing? Back in the day, you and I were both cultivators, traveling together to Tianjing. Luo Taizong, with his dark and sinister heart, sowed discord and set us to killing each other—yet you looked after me a great deal, and I, Luo, have always been most grateful!" Dao Master Lü, hearing this, knew that Dao Master Luo still cherished their old friendship, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Dao Master Luo said: "And that is why, when the other shore's calamitous destiny first erupted, I could not bear to kill you with my own hands, and had Dao Hua do it in my stead. Do you still remember, Daoist, how I spoke to you when the calamitous destiny came?" Dao Master Lü Gang's heart lurched, and he said: "You said then that the struggle of the calamitous destiny bore upon the very survival of the other shore—that even the closest of life-and-death friends, even a soulmate who truly understood you, must be offered up for the other shore." Dao Master Luo sighed and said gloomily: "That I did not kill you with my own hands last time was already a betrayal of my promise—consider it my way of repaying you. This time, though..." Before he could finish, Dao Master Lü Gang at once unleashed his innate numinous treasure. The Cangtian Dao Book blasted toward Dao Master Luo, while he himself turned and fled. Dao Master Luo raised his hand, and the Cangtian Dao Book dropped into his grasp. Then his mighty Dao power wiped away Dao Master Lü Gang's brand-mark outright. He opened the Dao Book, and Dao light burst from its pages; wherever the light shone, Lü Gang tumbled toward the book. Dao Master Lü Gang fled for his life, yet he drew ever nearer to the Dao Book, and in the end fell inside it. With a snap, Dao Master Luo shut the Dao Book, crushing him to death, and smiled: "The other shore's calamitous destiny—one more portion quelled. By the way, Kuang Zhu—you watched me kill him, so why did you not flee?" Kuang Zhu had been watching Dao Master Luo with a broad smile all this while, toying with Dao Master Lü Gang like a cat toying with a mouse. At this, he could not help gaping in astonishment, then smiled: "Brother Luo, why would I flee? I was resurrected by you, Brother Luo—this life of mine belongs to you." Dao Master Luo smiled: "So I have come to reclaim this life of yours!" Kuang Zhu's expression changed on the spot, and he blurted out: "Brother Dao, what do you mean by this? It is true that in the past I opposed you, but when I was resurrected this time, I already pledged my allegiance to you. You also promised that you would never hold my past against me. So how can you go back on your word today?" Dao Master Luo shook his head: "So that is the reason you did not run. Kuang Zhu, you have misunderstood. I resurrected you only to gather up the calamitous destiny and ward off calamity for myself—like storing up grain against the coming of a famine year. Now that the other shore's calamitous destiny has erupted, is this not exactly the arrival of the famine year?" He smiled faintly: "And so, you stores of grain ought to be dug up and eaten now." Hearing this, Kuang Zhu at once stirred his own Great Dao. Behind him rose the visions of dozens of universes, and he hurled himself at Dao Master Luo, crying in grief and fury: "I will fight you to the death!" But it was all in vain. Dao Master Luo raised his hand and brought it down, and Kuang Zhu was slain. Dao Master Luo turned and left, saying with a smile: "As naive as ever, just like before! You, too, Kuang Zhu, have met a fitting end." His figure vanished as he went off in search of the other Dao Masters. More than ten days later, Dao Master Wu Xizi looked up and saw Dao Master Luo walking toward him. His expression changed abruptly, and he turned his head: "Miss, you go on ahead!" Gong Jiexuan's heart trembled. "We leave together." "There is no time." Dao Master Wu Xizi spread his arms wide and let out a thunderous shout: "Myriad Daos Reincarnation!" With a boom, across the other shore's universe, countless streams of Great Dao radiance came surging from all directions, weaving the cycle of reincarnation of the heaven-and-earth Great Daos. Dao Master Wu Xizi twisted space and time, turning the heaven-and-earth Great Daos of the other shore into rings of reincarnation—among them, of course, the two Great Daos of time and space. His Dao power was immeasurably mighty. With a single turn of reincarnation, he transported Gong Jiexuan to the mortal world of the other shore and hid her away, so that Dao Master Luo would not find her. "Teacher Wu Xizi's reincarnation art—truly masterful. Myriad Daos Reincarnation, the various Great Daos revolving without cease: wind may turn to thunder, water may form into fire; the yin-yang and the five elements, the four symbols of gods and demons, the three powers and the nine palaces—all can transform into one another!" Dao Master Luo looked upon Wu Xizi's Reincarnation Great Dao and praised it without end: "Such a complex and profound Great Dao art—I could never master it. Had I studied the Nine Innate Daos back then, I might never have become a Dao Master today. Yet Teacher Wu Xizi managed to become a Dao Master—clearly, his talent is extraordinary." Dao Master Wu Xizi hurled himself at him, his strikes fierce and domineering, bent on casting his Great Dao into reincarnation—on casting him into reincarnation as well! Dao Master Luo watched him charge up close, shook his head, and said: "What a pity!"