One hundred million years ago, the Great Daos of the other shore collapsed. The Great Dao of Causality, in particular, began showing signs of turmoil.
When the first calamitous destiny erupted, chaos engulfed the world. Dao Masters Hua, Lin, Luo, and the others—fifty-eight in total—had never encountered such a catastrophe. They gathered at Qionghua Island to deliberate on how to confront it.
Among them was an Immortal named Hong Tiangang, who cultivated the Great Dao of Causality and was held in high esteem. He addressed the assembled Dao Masters: "The other shore has inherited the calamitous destiny of Tianjing, and thus we face this great disaster. When calamitous destiny arrives, slaughter and conflict arise with it. If we cannot extinguish this calamitous destiny and restore clarity to causality, a far greater calamity will come, one that will not cease until the other shore is utterly destroyed."
The fifty-eight Dao Masters were split into three major factions led by Hua Shengsheng, Lin Chuanting, and Luo Shizong, with an intricate web of smaller factions bound by various ties. At that time, the other shore already governed dozens of universes. The Dao Masters could channel the Dao force of these universes, giving them strength far superior to other realms; even if they encountered Dao Masters from foreign universes, they could slaughter them on the spot.
The other shore had been in its prime period of expansion, only to run headlong into such upheaval, leaving every Dao Master on edge. Hua, Lin, and Luo conferred and decided upon a scheme of mutual slaughter to purge the calamitous destiny.
Dao Master Hua proclaimed, "All living beings on our other shore are equal, with no distinction of high or low. In the midst of calamitous destiny, we shall cull one another. Those of inferior skill shall die until the calamitous destiny disperses. This is the way of equality; none may blame another."
Dao Master Lin and Dao Master Luo agreed. After more than two thousand years of bloody conflict, aside from Luo Taizong who was exiled and Tianchengzi who sealed himself ten million years ago, all fifty-three other Dao Masters were killed. Their corpses, along with their shattered Great Daos, were treated as stored rations. The three Dao Masters Hua, Lin, and Luo each brought out innate numinous treasures to suppress the remains and broken Great Daos of the fifty-three Dao Masters, waiting to dig them up and consume them whenever calamitous destiny returned in the future.
From then on, only the three Dao Masters had the last laugh. As for the countless Immortals and other cultivators of the other shore who died during that era, they were beyond reckoning.
Xu Ying and the Ancestral God walked through time as observers, taking care not to disturb this bizarre chapter of history.
The Ancestral God sighed with emotion. "Those Dao Masters never would have imagined that what seemed like a clash between three major factions would spare not the factions themselves, but only their three leaders!"
Xu Ying contemplated the reason for this. After a moment, he said, "The three Dao Masters held far more resources than anyone else, and their strength was vastly superior as well. They simply did not belong to the same tier as the other Dao Masters; the others were essentially working for them."
He paused briefly before continuing, "Luo Taizong was the same, though he had already been knocked out of the game. On the surface, they all seemed to be Dao Masters, but the resources they controlled differed, placing them in different tiers. When it came down to a fight to the death, those who died were all the ones working for the three Dao Masters. As for those who controlled the resources, they would always be the last to die. That is why only the three Dao Masters survived until the end."
The Ancestral God nodded gently. "The three Dao Masters realized this as well. Thus, over the long span of one hundred million years that followed, to preserve their dominion, they had to ensure no one could ever contest their resources."
Xu Ying chuckled. "That is why, throughout the next hundred million years, whoever became a Dao Master had to take an axe strike from Dao Master Hua!"
The Ancestral God smiled. "Tongtian was permitted to become a Dao Master only because calamitous destiny was looming; they needed a Dao Master Tongtian to act as their executioner, and they also needed him to win over the new sacred clan. As for resources, they would never share a single scrap with him."
Xu Ying shook his head. "They wouldn't part with so much as a single hair! When Taiyi attained the Dao and became a Dao Master, they refused to give him any resources either. In the eyes of the three Dao Masters, everyone else is an enemy—including the other two Dao Masters!"
As they spoke, the two of them arrived at Dao Master Luo's Anyou Palace. At this time, Daoji Heaven had not yet been created; it would be opened later. For now, Anyou Palace stood merely in the mortal realm.
From a distance, Xu Ying observed Anyou Palace, noting the patterns of Dao Master Luo's comings and goings. He also observed the bearings of Qionghua Island and Hushan Pavilion, tracking the movements of the other two Dao Masters. At this era, the three Dao Masters clearly harbored little trust in one another. Anyou Palace, Qionghua Island, and Hushan Pavilion were separated by immense distances, making it nearly impossible to arrive quickly; even providing reinforcement would take a substantial amount of time.
Xu Ying observed meticulously. Before he knew it, more than two years slipped by. Having gained an intimate understanding of Dao Master Luo's cultivation and strength, he finally resolved to strike.
"At this point, Dao Master Luo is merely in the early Dao Master realm, not yet at the middle stage. The other shore governs two hundred and fifty-six universes, which means at his peak, he can channel the soul path of at most two hundred and fifty-six universes! In other words, at his peak, his Dao force is two hundred and fifty-six times his ordinary state. In his ordinary state, Dao Master Luo is nothing more than an ordinary Dao Master cultivating the soul path!"
Xu Ying's eyes gleamed as he muttered to himself, "In his ordinary state, his combat prowess is mediocre. Even with innate numinous treasures, he is nothing special, far inferior to an ordinary Primordial Origin Dao Master like me. My Dao force is three thousand times his ordinary state; even if he were at his peak, my Dao force would still exceed his by more than tenfold."
With this thought, he nudged his divine intent. Spacetime on the other shore instantly warped, and a colossal Samsara Ring distorted yesterday and today, transforming the region within ten thousand li of Anyou Palace into a wondrous domain of reincarnation.
The Ancestral God looked up and saw an ouroboros materialize above his head at some point. The massive serpent bit its own tail, quietly working its teeth to swallow itself bit by bit. This was the phenomenon produced by Xu Ying severing a single day of time and fashioning it into a closed loop.
Dao Master Luo sensed something amiss. From within Anyou Palace, a powerful divine consciousness swept across the surroundings, seeking out changes in spacetime. However, the spacetime reincarnation had already settled into concealment. At this time, he was merely a Dao Master of the soul path; he failed to detect the temporal shift and saw nothing of the ouroboros.
Xu Ying had warped spacetime solely to establish a contingency. If he failed to kill Dao Master Luo, he could return to yesterday and begin anew, repeating the process until he found a way to slay him.
Xu Ying retreated, concealing himself within layers of void to evade the sweeping divine consciousness. Dao Master Luo inspected the area in all directions, found no trace of any disturbance, and let the matter rest.
"Back when I first met Luo Taizong, Dao Master Luo mentioned... that he had prepared thorough measures to ensure anyone traveling to the past to ambush him would meet certain death!" Xu Ying's eyes flashed. He did not know what measure Dao Master Luo had in place, but he had to ferret it out so as not to capsize in a ditch. Though his current Dao force was more than tenfold greater than Dao Master Luo's at this era, the future Dao Master Luo cultivated multiple Great Daos, united the Great Thousand Universes, and possessed Dao force more than tenfold greater than Xu Ying's.
"Ancestral God, stay hidden in the distance and do not move. I will kill Dao Master Luo!" Xu Ying deliberated at length before instructing, "If I run into danger, strike without hesitation at everyone on Mount Jiuqiu, slaughtering Dao Master Luo alongside all his disciples."
The Ancestral God was startled. Slaying people indiscriminately went against his Dao heart as the primordial spirit of the universe.
Seeing his hesitation, Xu Ying knew he could not bear to do it, and smiled. "I need you to kill them in order to trigger the spatiotemporal correction. You do not possess the divine power to alter the past. The moment you kill them, the ouroboros of spatiotemporal correction will swallow itself completely, resetting everything to yesterday from the beginning!"
He added with utter solemnity, "Once spatiotemporal correction takes effect, they will all be alive and well. But if we die in the past, we die for good, beyond correction. So if I find myself in mortal peril, you must strike."
The Ancestral God hesitated. "But there is no Mount Jiuqiu here."
Xu Ying looked down, taken aback. Outside Mount Anyou lay verdant hills and clear waters, but indeed there was no trace of nine mounds. "He hasn't moved to Daoji Heaven yet, so he must not have relocated Mount Jiuqiu here."
Unperturbed, Xu Ying said, "Within ten thousand li of Anyou Palace, leave not a single soul alive."
"Ancestral God, I entrust my life to your hands."
Solemnity filled the Ancestral God, and he hurried off to make preparations.
Calming his mind, Xu Ying tried to sense the Primordial Origin Great Dao across the eight universes to borrow their power. If he could draw upon Primordial Origin, his Dao force would surge eightfold, giving him far greater certainty in slaying Dao Master Luo.
Suddenly, Xu Ying froze. He could only sense the Primordial Origin Great Dao of a single universe; the Primordial Origin Great Daos of the other seven universes were completely unreachable.
This unexpected development chilled him, and he pondered where the problem lay. *In this era, the other shore has only discovered two hundred and fifty-six universes; the rest have yet to be found! The universe I sensed must be one of those two hundred and fifty-six!*
Xu Ying thought to himself, *Chaos is unfathomable and unknowable. When I traveled to the past, the other seven universes remained undiscovered, hidden within the Chaos Sea, making them unknowable. That is likely why I cannot sense them.*
With this thought, he rose to his feet. He abruptly mobilized four innate Great Daos: Causality, Samsara, Calamitous Destiny, and Slaughter. Wielding all four simultaneously, he fused four kinds of innate Dao force into an Immortal-Slaying Sword Finger. Even Luo Taizong or Dao Venerable could only command the Dao force of three Great Daos at once, yet he could command four, forging a far more potent divine power. The Immortal-Slaying Sword Finger was precisely the technique he had pioneered from this mastery, powerful enough to alter the past.
Xu Ying surveyed his surroundings. Seeing that the Immortal-Slaying Sword Finger caused no temporal anomalies, he instantly locked onto Dao Master Luo, driving the finger strike down through the void.
Yet the moment his sword finger burst forth, Great Dao fluctuations from the future came roaring down. Sensing them at that very instant, Xu Ying thought, *Dao Master Luo's ambush for me and Taiyi has finally appeared!*
The thought had barely crossed his mind when the Great Dao fluctuations from the future spiked wildly. In the next breath, nine avatars of Dao Master Luo charged out from spacetime, each bearing a distinct divine form. Some had ferocious faces, others solemn visages, their physiques wildly varied—some possessed three heads and six arms, some bore eyes on their palms, and others were starkly emaciated. All pounced upon Xu Ying simultaneously.
Before Xu Ying could strike down the present Dao Master Luo, the nine spirits in the sky moved to execute him first. Xu Ying immediately engaged these figures from spacetime, simultaneously unfurling innate numinous treasures: the Great Dao Banner, Nirvanic Azure Emptiness, the Apricot-Yellow Flag, the Xuanhui Pagoda, and the Rebirth Flower.
Seizing the Kaiyuan Divine Axe, he charged toward the nine divine forms of Dao Master Luo.
*Boom!*
Layers of void shattered. Forced out of hiding, Xu Ying crashed into the skies above the other shore. Innate numinous treasures clashed, releasing shockwaves that rippled across the other shore in an instant, startling awake all three Dao Masters.
At that moment, Dao Master Luo, Dao Master Hua, and Dao Master Lin stepped out of their respective palaces.
Dao Master Hua was filled with shock and doubt. "Who is fighting? Such immense Dao force is dozens of times greater than mine!"
Dao Master Lin turned pale. "How could there be anyone so powerful in this world? Could Dao Venerable have returned to life? Only Dao Venerable could wield such power!"
Dao Master Luo looked up into the sky in sheer horror. There, nine different versions of himself were besieging a dark-faced youth.
Xu Ying's innate numinous treasures slammed into the bodies of these divine forms, but the impact produced a crisp clang like metal striking stone. What burst from within them was not blood, but bursts of spiritual radiance.
*They are innate numinous treasures! Dao Master Luo refined his Dao bodies together with innate numinous treasures to create the Nine Spirits!*
Just as Xu Ying deduced their true nature, he noticed the nine divine forms shifting formation. Their bodies—representing the nine Great Daos of Hun, Po, Ling, Shen, Nature, Sacrifice, Libation, Netherworld, and Void—moved in a layout that bore the distinct semblance of the Nine Daos Cyclical Verification.
Xu Ying felt both shock and fury. *Taizong, I know you want to protect your darling boy, but that's no reason to try to get me killed!*
Dao Master Luo possessed extraordinary talent in the paths of soul and spirit. Specializing primarily in the soul path, he had used it to extrapolate the po path, which led to the ling path, and subsequently to the shen path, nature path, sacrifice path, libation path, Netherworld Great Dao, and finally the Void Great Dao. Without unmatched natural talent, he never could have cultivated to such heights. Yet these nine Daos possessed no inherent cycle of mutual verification; they could not form a closed loop.
Without ever encountering the Nine Innate Daos, Dao Master Luo had extrapolated a Void Great Dao that rivaled them, cultivating it to heights unprecedented in history. Such talent was truly astonishing. Xu Ying concluded that this trap had certainly been imparted by Luo Taizong. Tailoring it to his son's innate talent and drawing on the Dao Alliance's Nine Daos Cyclical Verification, Luo Taizong had forged for him the Nine Spirits Spatiotemporal Heavenly Tribulation, specifically designed to counter divine powers like Xu Ying's that traversed the past to kill.
Just as Xu Ying seemed doomed to perish beneath the Nine Spirits Spatiotemporal Heavenly Tribulation, the land within ten thousand li of Anyou Palace suddenly plunged downward, flattened into the earth beneath a colossal palm print. Under the Ancestral God's single palm strike, everyone across ten thousand li was slaughtered instantly. Only Dao Master Luo barely clung to life, coughing up blood from grievous injuries. The shuddering impact resonated across the entire other shore.
Dao Master Hua and Dao Master Lin were even more terrified. *Such terrifying Dao force is a thousand times greater than my own. What sacred entity could this be...?*
By this point, the ouroboros had completely devoured itself, sending time flowing back to one day prior.
Xu Ying was soaked in blood, the Kaiyuan Divine Axe in his hand, his Great Dao Banner, Xuanhui Pagoda, and other treasures still deployed.
The Ancestral God jumped in fright and stammered, "Ah-Ying, we were just talking! How did you get so badly wounded in an instant?"
Xu Ying raised a hand and said calmly, "Fellow Daoist Luo Taizong left behind a difficult problem for me. I was careless and suffered a minor setback. Had I not taken precautions, I would already be dead."
He offered praise: "For someone who hasn't mastered the Nine Daos Cyclical Verification, Luo Taizong achieved something truly remarkable."
"However, I already know how to break it." Xu Ying circulated the Nine Daos Cyclical Verification. As the Great Daos evolved within him, his Dao injuries vanished before long.
Lifting the Kaiyuan Divine Axe, Xu Ying smiled with gleaming eyes. "Ancestral God, let's do it again!"
Chapter 875