Chapter 976: 971: Butterfly on the Spider Web

Chapter 976: Chapter 971: Butterfly on the Spider Web

Peach blossoms cast their shadows as tides swelled across the jade sea.

At this moment, Lü Yang was wearing the skin of a Little Novice Monk. He treaded on the waves, cleaving through the wind and surf as he made his way toward the Dragon Palace. However, Bhagavat’s earlier words flashed through his mind.

He thought, “The Old Dragon Monarch’s blood brother? I seem to recall something about that…”

In a Previous Life, when the Perfected Lord went into seclusion, he had borrowed the power of the Seven Luminaries Heaven to achieve Foundation Establishment Perfection. He had slain Celestial Python and then smoothly looted the Dragon Palace in passing. Within the Old Dragon Monarch’s treasure trove, he not only obtained the Cultivation Technique for the Fruit of Celestial Fire, but he also acquired a highly valuable Grotto Heaven Fragment. At the time, Banner Spirit Celestial Python had explained to him that it was left behind by a Dragon Monarch of the same generation as the Old Dragon Monarch, and its corresponding Fruit was exactly the Fruit of Sky-River Water.

He pondered, “The Celestial Covering Purifying Profound Grotto Heaven…”

The information matched up perfectly. There truly was such a Dragon Monarch. The fact that his Grotto Heaven Fragment had never been used by anyone proved that he was indeed the last Perfected Lord of the Golden Core to hold the Fruit of Sky-River Water.

So, the question remained: would Bhagavat really be so kind-hearted?

He scoffed internally, “Bhagavat might seem like a good person, but it’s impossible for him to truly be one.”

Lü Yang was no fool. He didn’t view things through the rose-tinted glasses of brotherhood like the First Generation Demon Taming Peak Master did, nor would he naively believe that Bhagavat was some benevolent figure.

He analyzed, “Perhaps Bhagavat did have his principles in the past. However, since he managed to survive this Broken Place in one go and become a Master of Dao, it is absolutely impossible for him to have retained any moral bottom lines. So what if they were fellow disciples? In my Previous Life, when the First Generation Demon Taming Peak Master was crushed to death by Ang Xiao, Bhagavat never showed up to save him. There is definitely a scheme hidden in this!”

The more Lü Yang thought about it, the gloomier his expression became. He deduced, “Bhagavat’s idea is nothing more than having me use the Dao of Arcane Body to extend the lifespan of the Old Dragon Monarch’s brother.

“At first glance, it doesn’t seem like much.

“But if I utilize the Dao of Arcane Body, will it trigger other Variables? The Dao of Arcane Body… would Bhagavat not covet it? Impossible. He definitely wants it too!”

After all, Si Chou’s Residual Thought had been subjected to Enlightenment by him! After the Dao of Arcane Body was shattered, only the Pure Land possessed the Golden Body Technique, which shared some similarities with the Dao of Arcane Body. This proved that Bhagavat had plundered many benefits from the Dao of Arcane Body back then. Given that, how could he possibly refuse a complete Dao of Arcane Body?

He narrowed his eyes, “On the surface, he is helping me.

“But in reality, he is harming me… It’s just that my current perspective is too limited and my intelligence is insufficient, so I have no idea what Bhagavat has actually prepared.”

At this thought, Lü Yang’s headache worsened. The unknown was always the most terrifying. In a daze, he felt as if he were a frail butterfly caught in a spider’s web, forced to watch helplessly as Bhagavat approached to feast on him.

Meanwhile, in the Pure Land, at the Great Leiyin Temple.

After watching Lü Yang leave, the Little Novice Monk possessed by Bhagavat continued walking without pause. He stepped into the grand hall and looked up at the sky, a mocking expression appearing on his face.

In his line of sight, he still saw that boundlessly high and distant realm. A vague silhouette emerged, and upon it stood a minuscule, dot-like figure. A heavy, oppressive gaze cast down from above, continuously searching through this segment of karmic links and history from seventy thousand years ago. The gaze was filled with absolute calmness and indifference.

It was an unparalleled Mighty Power. Searching through karmic links was exactly like flipping through a novel—skimming past page after page, reading every word and sentence, and then gradually narrowing down the search radius step by step.

Bhagavat thought, “It will be soon. There is not much time left.

“Although I temporarily deceived him just now, as time passes, he will eventually lock onto this exact point in time and drag out that Master of Tribulation.”

In his eyes, that Immortal Monarch of Tribulation—Immortal Monarch Du Ye—was already a dead man. Admittedly, the opponent’s methods were exceptional, his plans were excellent, and his ambitions were grand. Had he been born a hundred thousand years ago, he might have become a great cultivator capable of dominating the Sea of Light. Unfortunately, he was born in the wrong era.

He sneered inwardly, “Rather than dying a worthless death, it is better for you to be used by me. Cultivated Demon… your body fueled by the obsession for revenge will only unleash its greatest value in the hands of your senior brother.”

With this thought, Bhagavat immediately shifted his gaze. His eyes looked toward the Overseas regions and quickly locked onto Lü Yang’s figure. The wariness in the young man’s eyes and the hesitation in his actions could not escape Bhagavat’s sight.

He mused, “It seems he has guessed that something is wrong.

“This is normal. He belongs to the Stain Sect, after all. Not to mention, since he suffered such a massive loss back then, it’s only natural for his current revenge-obsessed body to be highly vigilant.”

Bhagavat remained perfectly calm. All emotions had been stripped from his body. He was like a completely different person compared to the Senior Brother Wan Bao who had just been chatting and laughing cheerfully with the First Generation Demon Taming Peak Master. All that remained was pure apathy.

He thought, “It’s useless.

“Only a Master of Dao can see through and resist the schemes of another Master of Dao. You still don’t understand this principle, which is exactly why you’ve ended up in this current state.”

What kind of trap had he set?

The answer was very simple: the Old Dragon Monarch’s blood brother, the Dragon Monarch holding the Fruit of Sky-River Water, had actually been his subordinate from the very beginning. He was an Enlightened Body!

He recalled, “Back when I was striving for the Nascent Soul realm, the Fruit of Sky-River Water was one of my Five Elements combinations. I used Unity to assimilate all the cultivators who were attached to me, and that Dragon Monarch was one of them… It’s just that after I achieved the Nascent Soul realm, this entire segment of history was completely extracted and ultimately turned into Pseudo-History. Because of this, no one knew about it.”

From the very beginning to the end, that Dragon Monarch had been carrying out Bhagavat’s will. Worried about being discovered by the Saint Sect Ancestral Master, Bhagavat had even deliberately caused the Dragon Monarch’s soul to shatter and scatter. This was his hidden pawn. It had remained unused all this time, waiting precisely for this day!

Thinking of this, a smile couldn’t help but creep onto Bhagavat’s lips. In truth, Lü Yang’s appearance was even better than he had anticipated; it was truly the icing on the cake. In his original plan, it should have been his own clone traveling through karmic links to arrive in this era. However, the lifespan issue regarding the Pocket World Technique could not be solved. Therefore, he had planned to use a Secret Technique to seal the clone’s Grotto Heaven completely within the Fruit of Sky-River Water, keeping it suspended until it was needed, at which point he would let it crash down.

But now, there was no need for that.

He plotted, “By having that Master of Tribulation extend my clone’s lifespan, this massive life-or-death karmic link will allow me to inject the final piece of Unity into his Spiritual Space, thoroughly crushing the opponent’s Perfect Dao Heart!

“In other words, as long as he follows my method, he will never escape his fate of being reduced to my clone. At the same time, my method is the only viable option available to him right now!

“He can either fight to the bitter end, or choose to take a desperate gamble.

“He has no other choices. Fighting to the bitter end is completely meaningless, whereas gambling at least offers a glimmer of hope—though, of course, that hope only exists from his perspective.”

At this thought, a galaxy-like light flashed through Bhagavat’s eyes. These were all karmic links. No matter how all the ’causes’ on Lü Yang combined, and what kind of ’effect’ they ultimately formed, every possible variation could not escape Bhagavat’s vision.

This was the sheer disparity between a Master of Dao and those beneath the Master of Dao. Standing higher allowed one to see further. A Master of Dao stood unfathomably high. This point alone was beyond the comprehension of a Lower Cultivator. In many cases, a simple information gap was more than enough to set up an inescapable death trap, just like the one Lü Yang was in right now.

Bhagavat was already certain in his heart. Unless another Master of Dao intervened, Lü Yang’s inevitable ending would be complete Enlightenment at his hands, reducing the boy to his clone. Through this, he would not only seize the opportunity to obtain the Dao of Arcane Body, but he could also smoothly trigger the collapse of the Foundation Establishment Realm. As this collapse caused the other Masters of Dao to fall from their Positions, it would simultaneously force them to stop targeting the Netherworld. This would allow Ang Xiao to achieve successful Attainment, thereby gaining himself another Master of Dao as a helper. He was going to reap an unimaginably massive windfall!