Chapter 982: 977: Fall of Heaven!
Chapter 982: Chapter 977: Fall of Heaven!
Of course, Lü Yang didn’t actually spend thousands or tens of thousands of years within the Great Net of Karma Links. Nor could he have stayed that long. In fact, after only a few years, he had already felt faint signs of losing himself—a testament to the profound mystery of karmic links.
Thus, the moment he ensured the modification of the Yu Zhao Dragon Monarch’s karmic links, he immediately returned to the Current World. He consumed the final halo of the Sheji Master to thoroughly anchor these altered karmic links into the Current World, thereby triggering the miraculous resurrection of the Yu Zhao Dragon Monarch.
“Incredible.” Lü Yang stretched his limbs, savoring the profound mysteries of karmic reconstruction. This was because the Yu Zhao Dragon Monarch appearing in the Current World was no longer merely a manifestation of karmic links. He had truly recovered his physical body. Beyond that, the Grotto Heaven corresponding to the Fruit of Sky-River Water, the Yu Zhao Dragon Monarch’s Gold Attribute, and even his True Dragon bloodline—all of his standard attributes had been fully restored.
With this thought in mind, Lü Yang hesitated no longer.
“RUMBLE!”
Accompanied by a deafening roar, the Celestial Covering Purifying Profound Grotto Heaven he had just obtained plummeted downward, transforming into a cluster of light as dazzling as a star. As for the Emperor Fruit of Sky-River Water, Lü Yang had absolutely no interest in it. What he wanted was the Emperor Fruit of Vast-Sea Water. The Fruit of Sky-River Water was too mediocre and useless to him. At most, he didn’t mind extracting a bit of the Yu Zhao Dragon Monarch’s Gold Attribute to see if it could yield a useful Talent Skill later on.
Meanwhile, the anomaly of the Grotto Heaven’s collapse was instantly sensed by the myriad lives of the Immortal Pivot, cultivators in Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core… and even the high and mighty All Daoist Lords.
“Hm!?”
Among them, the Bhagavat was the most pleasantly surprised. Truth be told, the Saint Sect Ancestral Master’s earlier destruction of the Great Net of Karma Links from seventy thousand years ago had made him give up hope. But now, a change had occurred in the karmic links. His plan had evidently succeeded after all. Had that Immortal Monarch of Tribulation actually evaded the First Saint’s purge and successfully triggered the collapse of the Foundation Establishment Realm?
He thought, “Well done!
“But… how did he do it?”
At this moment, alongside his pleasant surprise, doubts lingered in the Bhagavat’s heart—surprise that his plan had unexpectedly succeeded, and doubt regarding the reason behind it. Why had it succeeded? Which Master of Dao had intervened?
He analyzed, “Relying solely on the Immortal Monarch of Tribulation, evading the First Saint’s purge would have been absolutely impossible. A Master of Dao must have been helping him from the shadows… Who could it be?”
Thinking of this, the Bhagavat couldn’t help but look up at the fourth layer of the Other Shore. To be precise, he looked toward the Sword Pavilion Daoist Lord and the Daoist Court Daoist Lord.
“Was it them?”
The Sword Pavilion Daoist Lord, the Sword Monarch.
The Daoist Court Daoist Lord, Cang Hao.
Ordinary people did not understand the secrets among the Masters of Dao, but the Bhagavat was crystal clear on the matter. He knew that these two Masters of Dao did not walk the same path as the others. Whether it was the Great Net of Karma Links or the Netherworld, these were the First Saint’s arrangements and were deeply intertwined with himself. Thus, he and the First Saint had always been the ones pulling the strings. The Sword Monarch and Cang Hao had never intervened much; at most, they stood in support of the notion that the Netherworld should remain without a master.
“Especially the Sword Monarch.” The Bhagavat’s gaze finally locked onto that heaven-piercing Sword Light on the fourth layer. Toward this Master of Dao, he had actually always harbored a sliver of wariness. For as far as he knew: “Cang Hao is one thing; his strength might truly be limited to the fourth layer. But the Sword Monarch is absolutely not like that. He is on the fourth layer simply because he does not wish to ascend higher…”
The paths of the Masters of Dao were also different. Some wished to continuously climb higher, while others hoped to remain closer to the Current World, only forced upward by the pressure of their competitors. For a time, thoughts swirled in the Bhagavat’s mind.
Meanwhile, All Daoist Lords had deduced the source of the changes, and the colors of light representing them above the Other Shore began to fluctuate wildly as a result.
“Someone has altered the karmic links!”
“This suddenly appearing Celestial River Water Dragon Monarch… Bhagavat, is this your doing?”
“Can it be stopped?”
The above were merely Lü Yang’s own guesses. After all, he couldn’t hear the conversations above the Other Shore, but he figured the content wouldn’t be far off.
He thought, “Except for that old fossil…”
Lü Yang gazed up at the Other Shore. The Celestial Covering Purifying Profound Grotto Heaven smashing the Foundation Establishment Realm and All Daoist Lords changing their expressions in response—all these scenes were reflected in his eyes. Yet, there was no trace of joy in his heart.
This was because the one he paid the most attention to, the one who most ought to have shown emotional fluctuations due to the collapse of the Foundation Establishment Realm—the Saint Sect Ancestral Master—was unsettlingly calm at this moment. On the sixth layer of the Other Shore, that tiny figure, whose outline was only faintly visible, remained as unshakeable as a celestial pillar. He merely looked down upon the Current World with icy indifference, completely disregarding the collapse of the Foundation Establishment Realm. He was neither angry nor surprised, as if he were just looking at a plaything in his palm. This attitude was clearly wrong.
Did he still have a backup plan? This wouldn’t be surprising. Although the plan to crash the Foundation Establishment Realm was the Bhagavat’s meticulously arranged result of deceiving the heavens, how could the Saint Sect Ancestral Master be easily fooled?
But no matter what—
“At the very least, let me see your trump card!”
Like an arrow on the bowstring that had to be fired, Lü Yang simply gave up thinking. Without another thought, he shifted his Daoist Hand Seals and directly detonated the Celestial Covering Purifying Profound Grotto Heaven!
In that instant, the roaring actually vanished from Heaven and Earth. The loudest sound is inaudible.
Meanwhile, the sky above the entire Current World shattered. An immense cosmic sea, previously impossible to behold, surfaced and then fractured into countless ribbons of light. The ribbons of light cascaded down from high above into the Current World like a neon dress. Countless starlights shook loose from every single ribbon, plummeting from the lofty heights. Before they could even touch the Current World, the massive fluctuations in Position caused them to explode violently, turning into streaks of fire that illuminated Heaven and Earth. Such a spectacle could be seen everywhere across the Void Sea of Light.
This was the result of the Foundation Establishment Realm’s collapse. If cultivation was like climbing a high mountain, then the Foundation Establishment Realm was the resting stop built halfway up. Many people rested there. However, suddenly one day, this resting stop was yanked away. Thus, as a matter of course, everyone resting there would naturally fall to the foot of the mountain. Such a tremendous drop in Position was enough to smash a person to pieces! This was also within the Bhagavat’s expectations. But they were merely Foundation-Stage Cultivators; why would he care no matter how many died?
However, right at this moment, the Bhagavat suddenly let out a soft exclamation of surprise. “Hm?” He discovered that the Foundation-Stage Cultivators did not seem to meet an instant annihilation from the destruction of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Some had survived.
He noted, “Immortal Pivot, Star Palace, Celestial Mansion… In several super Outer Realms, Foundation-Stage Cultivators who have forged a Dao Foundation have not perished outright, despite also suffering a drop in Position.”
Why was this so? A similar thought merely flashed through the Bhagavat’s mind before he seemed to realize something. The originally serene Buddha Light once again produced faint ripples.
“Is it you again, Demon Tamer…”
The First Generation Demon Taming Peak Master also knew about the flaws of the Foundation Establishment Realm! Although he had failed to persuade the Bhagavat to repair the Foundation Establishment Realm seventy thousand years ago and the two had parted on bad terms, that didn’t mean he had done nothing. Quite the opposite, in fact. He had made the utmost effort to compensate for it.
“Is it the Dao Foundation?”
Immortal Pivot, Celestial Mansion, Star Palace… Or rather, all the Foundation Establishment Cultivation Techniques passed down from the Ancient Era were different; they all required the forging of a Dao Foundation. In contrast, Outer Dao Realm Heavens that were born relatively late, such as the Profound Spirit Realm, did not possess a so-called Dao Foundation. They were the hardest-hit areas for cultivator casualties following this collapse of the Foundation Establishment Realm. Conversely, Foundation-Stage Cultivators with a Dao Foundation had a buffer room, even though their Position was also dropping.
All along, it seemed the First Generation Demon Taming Peak Master had been doing similar things. During the Fall of the Other Shore, he established the Netherworld to repair it. With the collapse of the Foundation Establishment Realm, he created the Dao Foundation to compensate for it.
“What’s the point?”
The Bhagavat smoothed out the ripples in his Buddha Light, restoring his eternally unchanging, icy demeanor. “Willingly falling into depravity and unable to control one’s own fate—it is all just a reflection of the moon in the water, a flower in the mirror.
“Why take it to heart?
“Do you not understand that you will die like this?
“I understood this truth long ago, which is why only I became a Master of Dao. Yet, even in your current state, you still do not understand. In that case, you deserve to die!”