Across the myriad heavens and realms, throughout countless spaces, many ancient monsters opened their eyes, shock painted across their faces.
"Have I... fallen in realm?"
"No, my combat prowess hasn't been affected in the slightest!"
"Wait... Yang Five as Dao Lord?"
"I see the path ahead... No, it isn't Yang Six. It's still Yang Five."
"Omniscient and omnipotent... Cycle?"
At this moment, the path ahead suddenly surfaced within the hearts of every Yang Five cultivator. It was an even mightier path!
"Entering Cycle means eternal existence—even Returning to Nothingness will be helpless against it!"
"To enter Cycle, one must master an entire Dao!"
In this instant, across the myriad heavens and realms, countless Yang Fives discovered the path ahead.
The path ahead led to Dao Lord, to Cycle.
Apart from stepping into Yang Six, this was a path open to all Yang Fives. Only... this path was fraught with peril, requiring complete mastery over a single Dao.
In an instant, across the Yang Realm, the Yin Realm, and even the Rebirth Realm, countless great wars erupted.
The struggle for the Dao was fiercer than avenging a murdered father or an adulterous betrayal. More and more powerhouses emerged, hailed as Dao Lords. World after world of Cycle manifested like a colossal Great Wall spanning the Yang Realm, holding more and more of Returning to Nothingness at bay.
In a short time, Returning to Nothingness seemed to lessen substantially, its expansion slowing.
Yet right at this moment, an unforeseen mutation arose.
"Not good! Even if we Yang Fives command a Dao, it has become difficult to become a Dao Lord!"
"The Three Calamities and Three Tribulations!"
It seemed Returning to Nothingness realized that Cycle was halting its spread, and thus it brought down the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations to prevent Yang Fives from becoming Dao Lords. After all, for a Yang Five to become a Dao Lord was far too easy, hence the emergence of the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations. Of course, for Yang Three Realm Lords seeking to become Dao Lords, there were no Three Calamities and Three Tribulations. There were simply too many existing Yang Fives; if everyone became a Dao Lord, the expansion speed of Returning to Nothingness would plummet to zero.
Naturally, the so-called Three Calamities and Three Tribulations took on different names and manifestations across the Yin Realm, the Yang Realm, and the Rebirth Realm.
Meanwhile, in the Rebirth Realm, confusion flickered in Sansheng's eyes.
The Three Calamities and Three Tribulations descended, blocking all living beings from attaining the Dao. And he, the cultivator who had attained Cycle, suffered the greatest blow.
Returning to Nothingness... fell upon him.
"Cycle!"
Sansheng resisted Returning to Nothingness with Cycle.
The place where he attained the Dao lay in the Rebirth Realm, where space and time were caught in Cycle. As long as he did not die, even if the world were destroyed, it could be dredged back up from the Cosmic Mother River. Yet at this moment, Returning to Nothingness seemed to awaken a consciousness of its own, regarding him as a threat and instinctively seeking his destruction.
In an instant, the power of Returning to Nothingness across countless spaces and the myriad heavens and realms descended upon Sansheng.
A crack surfaced on Sansheng's face. Like a porcelain doll, his body shattered.
Experiencing Returning to Nothingness at such close range, a look of sudden realization dawned on his face.
"So this is Returning to Nothingness."
"There is life and death, stillness and motion."
"The Heavenly Emperor is Returning to Nothingness."
"Jing is Returning to Nothingness."
"Wufa is Returning to Nothingness."
"Even I am Returning to Nothingness."
All Dao arts, divine abilities, ultimate principles, Great Daos, and rules fell within the scope of Returning to Nothingness. The stronger the living being, the fiercer Returning to Nothingness became. All things turn in sequence; mortals move from birth to death. The universe moves from opening to Returning to Nothingness.
"Cycle!"
Sansheng roared, seeking to pit the power of Cycle against Returning to Nothingness.
In that instant, he felt boundless, endless pressure. It felt as if several Yang Sixes were striking at him simultaneously—or rather, as if every Dao Lord, every Yang Five, every living being, and every inanimate object in the world were turning against him at once.
He had attained the Dao as a Yang Five; in terms of strength, he was already comparable to a Yang Six. Yet this was not Samsara, not the Dao he pursued.
In merely an instant, his arm was obliterated. The power of Cycle reassembled it anew.
Such collisions occurred at every passing moment. A mere stray wisp leaking outward was enough to cause tens of thousands of Realm Lords to perish. The clash between Sansheng and Returning to Nothingness fell into a stalemate: destruction, restart; shattering, rebirth.
"Is this... illusion?"
Countless years passed, and Sansheng's consciousness grew faint, leaving him in a muddled stupor. As for the corrosion of Returning to Nothingness... it also weakened.
By now, Sansheng's divine soul was dim, his true spirit fractured. He saw his body transforming into illusion.
"This is the curse known as Sinking."
"It curses me, curses the seat of my Dao lineage."
"All things shall ultimately return to nothingness."
Resisting Returning to Nothingness with Cycle had brought him the Curse of Sinking. This curse was destroying not just him, but also his world—a destruction that even a Dao Lord's Cycle could scarcely undo. After all, this was the sum of all destructive power.
"Cough, cough..."
Sansheng coughed up a mouthful of blood, his mouth filled with bloody froth. He could not remember how many years it had been since he had suffered such wounds.
Muddled, his consciousness hazy, he stumbled along like an ordinary cultivator.
"Such karmic retribution cannot be resisted without Samsara."
"What is Samsara?"
"Where is my Samsara?"
He tumbled down into the mortal realm, slender and haggard, resembling a severely wounded wanderer.
"Hey, beggar, take this steamed bun!"
"Milady, stay away from people like that. What if he has enemies..."
"Beggar, get lost!"
"This man must be an immortal! Three whole years of heavy snow, and he hasn't frozen to death!"
"Immortal, please take me as your disciple! I want revenge!"
In the mortal dust, through his muddled haze, Sansheng saw many people.
All of a sudden, he seemed to realize something, and a fleeting moment of clarity passed through his eyes.
"Someone has become a Dao Lord?"
"Attaining the Dao through Devouring?"
"It feels familiar."
That aura was somewhat familiar to him. It seemed like... the creature that had taken a bite out of him back then.
"Samsara... What is Samsara?"
He did not reach out to sense that Dao Lord any further, but continued to search for his Samsara.
Years flowed by; countless ages passed. The Curse of Sinking exerted an ever-greater toll on him. The place where he attained the Dao came to be called the Abandoned Land.
Across the endless years, he saw the Heavenly Emperor descend into the Rebirth Realm, seemingly searching for him. He also saw that dying breath of Shenren transform into the Heavenly God, filled with grand ambitions. Yet none of this had anything to do with him anymore.
His true spirit and consciousness were steadily dissolving. All that remained of him was a wisp of obsession.
Suddenly, he seemed to recall something.
"Within Samsara, there is Meng Po."
"Who is Meng Po?"
"Oblivion?"
"Does Samsara lack Oblivion?"
"Yes... I must forge a sword... the Sword of Oblivion."
Sansheng's obsession remained muddled. A Sword of Oblivion could smooth away the Curse of Sinking and serve as a link in Samsara as well.
"This is my only chance... to step into Samsara."
At that moment, Sansheng's body shattered completely, turning into illusion. Only a black shadow remained, drifting like a ghost through the world, wandering the Rebirth Realm solely to seek the materials to forge that sword.
"An unyielding bone shall serve as the sword's spine."
"A bone fearless, undaunted, and brimming with obsession is best of all."
He roamed the mountains and rivers.
Later, he found a little boy burdened by hatred. He took away all of the boy's emotions and bestowed upon him the greatest swordsmanship talent in the world.
Later still, within Cycle, he watched as that man thrust a sword toward a woman. Heavy snow drifted down, yet from the sky fell blood. Covered in bloody gashes, the woman wore a cold, aloof expression, solitary as a lonely figure beneath a lamp. Her hands gripped that sword, clutching it tightly—the sword forged from Sword Disciple.
Later still, within Cycle, he saw the remnant spirit of that Dao Lord who had attained the Dao through Devouring. She seemed to have died under the Three Calamities and Three Tribulations. The black shadow that Sansheng had become traveled to the Cosmic Alliance, found Wu Shi, and used Wu Shi to replace that Devour Dao Lord.
Later yet, Dao God Youqian perished. Wu Shi gripped a blood-red sword, her expression repressed and ferocious. Watching the young woman's solitary, lovely silhouette, confusion filled Sansheng's eyes.
"Has this sword... succeeded?"
"No, it hasn't succeeded yet. What in the world is missing?"
To Wu Shi, this sword was already powerful enough—powerful enough to contend with the Curse of Sinking. Yet to Sansheng, it was still far too weak. It could not serve as a pillar of Samsara at all.
"What is still missing?"
Puzzled, Sansheng did not reclaim the sword.
Elsewhere, Wu Shi brandished the blood-colored longsword, repelling the Nine Heavens Divine Palace to vent her anger on her master's behalf. The Dao Gods who had once wounded her master were likewise slain by her hand. The spreading Curse of Sinking was also swept flat by the sword in her grip.
"Master..."
Wu Shi's eyes turned faintly red. She stood upon Mingrixue Mountain amid the swirling blizzard, yet the companion of former days was nowhere to be seen.
"The Zhoushan Great Realm... and the Abandoned Land... Due to the Curse of Sinking, venturing deep into them leads to chaotic space and time, where past and future exist within a single thought..."
She thought of Sword Disciple. She thought of Sword Disciple drawing his blade against her on Yunmeng Mountain.
"Master, I will definitely see you again."
She no longer made her presence felt in the Rebirth Realm, instead delving into the depths of the Abandoned Land. The Zhoushan Great Realm had long since been pulled in by the Abandoned Land, becoming a part of it. She went deep into the Abandoned Land's depths, standing in the Zhoushan Great Realm at the edge of space-time. She was waiting; amidst the chaos of space and time, perhaps in some rift of time, she might see Sword Disciple once more.
Alas, even though she traversed Cycle via the Abandoned Land, she still never found that familiar figure along that timeline.
At the same time, from within a rift of time, Sansheng watched with calm eyes, murmuring, "Quite the actress."
If anyone else had looked upon Wu Shi, they would have assumed she was simply a devoted, lovesick fool, forever wishing to see Sword Disciple one more time and alter the reality of Sword Disciple becoming a sword. Yet in truth... while that was indeed true, at every moment, without drawing attention, Wu Shi was probing Sansheng's identity, his strength, and seeking ways to elevate her own power.
Clearly, Wu Shi wanted vengeance. After all, Sansheng had toyed with her; he had toyed with both master and disciple.
With a black robe draped over him, a rare glimmer of clarity appeared in Sansheng's muddled eyes. "Could it be... what this sword lacks is me?"
Later, within the Abandoned Land, Wu Shi encountered a fortuitous chance and found an extraordinary treasure. That extraordinary treasure had drifted in from the Yin Realm and seemed to be the crystallization of a Yang Four. Without revealing a thing, she fused this extraordinary treasure into the Sword of Oblivion that her master had become.
The snow fell heavily. Gripping the sword in her hand, her expression remained cold and detached. "Can I... kill him?"
She had no confidence. The black shadow that had toyed with her and her master was far too mysterious and unfathomable, far more terrifying than ordinary Dao Lords. The only comforting factor was that his condition did not seem very good.
She lay in wait for who knew how long. Finally, on a day of heavy snow, she chose to strike.
She would avenge her master!
She would avenge Sword Disciple!
Those who toy with fate will ultimately be toyed with by fate!
Chapter 622