Chapter 1433
Variables
Chapter 1433 Variables
At that moment, the shadow of death quickly crept onto Lü Yang's face, and what he saw was a hand that encompassed the universe gradually encroaching on his vision.
The final tribulation god!
This palm strike, devoid of any technique, was formed from the purest, immeasurable aura of impending doom. It was simple, yet unstoppable.
Faced with this palm strike, Lü Yang's primordial spirit instantly sensed a strong crisis. His intuition told him that this was a blow that was enough to obliterate his immortality. Even though his essence had undergone two transformations, this palm strike was enough to force him to his death. There were only two ways to block this palm strike.
Firstly, it has undergone three fundamental transformations.
With their powerful nature, they can resist the final calamity to some extent, just like the master who is a hero and knows his destiny, ultimately possessing some power to resist.
Secondly, [false detachment].
Si Chong's unique method of transformation, though not a transformation into a god, has transcended the mortal realm, and its extreme immortality is so powerful that even the final tribulation cannot shake it.
Hang in there!
In an instant, Lü Yang cleared his mind, because he had already noticed Si Chong's movements beside him. He only needed to hold on for a moment.
In that instant, Si Chong was able to step in and block the blow for him.
At the same time, he understood why the God of the Final Tribulation had attacked him: 'It must be a Primordial Saint; he wants to use the Final Tribulation to force me to start all over again.'
'No, it was more of a test.'
'He's testing whether I can actually reopen it.'
Thinking this, Lü Yang immediately gritted his teeth, knowing in his heart: 'It seems he won't give up until he gets a result.'
Lu Yang was certain that the First Saint still had a decisive method to use, but he was too cautious. As things stood, he would not continue to push forward the plan unless he could test whether his power of reopening could still be effective. He would only test it again and again.
Even if I escape this time...
'If he doesn't get what he wants, he'll definitely try to take action against me again.'
The initial sage wanted only two outcomes: either restart the game and start all over again, or Lü Yang would die, thus completely eliminating the potential dangers of restarting.
'Either way, he wins.'
and so--
"I don't want either of them!"
Time seemed to stand still at this moment. Lü Yang's thoughts raced as he pondered a way to break the deadlock, wanting to find a third path that the First Sage had not anticipated.
However, during this process, the hand of the God of the Final Tribulation did not stop, but continued to slowly push towards Lü Yang. Ripples spread out in circles wherever it passed, causing the void to shatter, the years to become unpredictable, and all things in heaven and earth to turn into a deathly gray color, and then collapse like rotten wood and crumbling earth!
But it was at this moment that...
Lu Yang raised his head, and after a moment of deep thought, his eyes suddenly lit up: 'I have a way! That's right, how could I have almost forgotten about this?'
Soon, a method emerged from the depths of his consciousness—the [Life Cultivation] Reincarnation Method that the Record Immortal had given him back in the Outer Heavens!
'Use this method to fake your death!'
[Life Cultivation] The method of reincarnation requires dying once before being reborn. Instead of weakening, one can become even stronger.
In an instant, Lü Yang had made up his mind.
Almost simultaneously, the hand of the God of the End Tribulation had already covered his face, but before that, another hand suddenly cut across.
"Ok?"
Upon seeing this, the God of the Final Tribulation raised his eyebrows, while the First Saint, who had been watching closely, twitched at the corner of his eye, looking at the only person who dared to intervene.
"The spirit medium."
Looking across the entire ancient Guanghai, only Si Chong had the confidence to confront the Dao God of the End of Calamity head-on. At this moment, their palms collided violently.
In terms of pure strength, Si Chong is undoubtedly far inferior to the Dao God of the Final Tribulation. However, its essence is like a crystal-clear perfect jade. Even when it is in the midst of raging waves and vast ocean, it can only drift with the current, but it still maintains its integrity and is not worn down in the slightest.
This collision also played a crucial role.
Just as Lü Yang was about to be struck by the palm of the God of the End Tribulation, he suddenly looked up and then, with a loud bang, deliberately rammed into the palm of the God of the End Tribulation.
Then, it ruptured!
The explosion of blood and light, the shattering of mystery—all the scenes blurred in the blink of an eye, the layers of light mingling together, making it impossible to tell whether Lü Yang was alive or dead.
Almost simultaneously.
The First Sage suddenly stood up straight, his divine eyes shining brightly, trying to capture Lü Yang's primordial spirit in the chaotic light and color, and to witness with his own eyes the annihilation and dissipation of his primordial spirit.
At this moment, he cast aside all other things and stopped paying attention to them. He only wanted to see Lü Yang die with his own eyes—which was a perfectly correct decision.
However, that is precisely why.
He overlooked someone who had always stood by Lü Yang's side, someone he had never taken seriously from the beginning, someone he considered merely a pawn.
【Angxiao】.
Prior to this, Lü Yang had not communicated with him at all. After all, the appearance of the God of the Final Tribulation was very sudden, and Lü Yang could not have predicted it in advance. However, when things had evolved to this point, there was no need for communication. [Angxiao] guessed Lü Yang's thoughts based on instinct alone.
Therefore, he knew.
'I must act now. I can't let the First Saint see the truth about the senior. I have to keep it a secret from everyone, make them all believe that the senior is dead.'
This is almost impossible.
After all, those currently paying attention to Lü Yang's situation include not only the Initial Saints, but also the Dao Gods of the Final Tribulation who are nearby, as well as many Dao-achievers.
Deceiving everyone is no easy feat.
Fortunately—
'I'm very good at this.'
In the blink of an eye, Angxiao had already made up his mind. Without saying a word, he extracted the fragment of the Ancestral Dragon's primordial spirit from the depths of his sea of consciousness.
This fragment was specially cut out by Lü Yang and him when Lü Yang handed over the Ancestral Dragon's primordial spirit, so that he could continue to stay in the Outer Heaven.
However, now, [Angxiao] used it without hesitation.
A hazy mist covered the fragment, erasing the aura of the ancestral dragon from it, and then he decisively threw it into the chaotic radiance of Lü Yang's avatar.
At the same time, he also pushed the [calamity] to its limit.
The next second, Lu Yang, within the chaotic light, also sensed the movement of [Angxiao] who was so close at hand, and immediately understood, detonating everything.
"Boom!"
The explosive light obliterated all traces, and seizing this opportunity, Lü Yang used the fragment of the primordial spirit sent by [Angxiao] to block in front of himself.
Then, Lü Yang looked back.
He happened to make eye contact with Angxiao. After completely losing the Ancestral Dragon's primordial spirit, the latter's figure had begun to blur, but his expression was very calm.
'I really am.'
At this moment, Angxiao was even at a loss for words.
When did I become this kind of person?
Look at this selfless act, where is the demeanor of a seasoned Holy Sect True Lord? Oh well, it's just causing trouble for the First Saint after all.
In any case, it seems that I have no hope of transcending this situation.
Since that's the case, if I can't transcend it, then that old bastard Chu Sheng shouldn't expect to either. I have to find a way to drag him down with me, otherwise I won't feel balanced!
After all, this is also the style of the First Holy Sect, the Holy Sect's way.
Immediately, the thick white mist formed by [Calamity] enveloped his figure, and like a stone sinking into the sea, [Angxiao]'s figure completely disappeared without a trace.
'It's time to go.'
Without the slightest hesitation, Lü Yang activated the [Life Cultivation] Reincarnation Technique, and his primordial spirit instantly vanished into nothingness, leaving only fragments of his disintegrated primordial spirit in the original location.
Almost simultaneously, the gazes of the First Saint, the Dao God of the Final Tribulation, and even all the Dao Ancestors who were watching this scene converged, accurately capturing the fragment of the scattered primordial spirit. They all fell silent, and then, a chaotic storm of thoughts erupted.
"Junior Brother Xuande is dead?"
"No way, that was the Daoist Master's personal disciple, and he just died like that?"
"What's impossible about it? The one who made the move was a Dao God at the end of the tribulation. That palm strike was even stronger than Shi Weixiong's current one. It would be surprising if he survived."
"That's true."
Inside the Purple Cloud Palace, the First Saint stood motionless, like a clay statue, his eyes filled with contemplation as he frantically deduced Lü Yang's fate.
really dead?
That's a bit too easy. He doesn't actually think this test will definitely kill the opponent, since Si Chong is still around, and it's possible that it will fail.
Of course, the chances of success are not small.
However, now that it has actually succeeded, Chu Sheng has fallen into subconscious doubt, almost unable to resist shooting an arrow at the target first, convinced that Lü Yang has faked his death.
So he observed even more carefully, but he couldn't find any flaws. It was indeed a case of physical destruction, dissipation of magical power, and even shattering of the primordial spirit, leaving only fragments in the original place. Other things can be faked, but the primordial spirit cannot be faked. If it is said to be annihilated, then it is truly annihilated.
Thinking of this, Chu Sheng suddenly looked up.
If an enlightened being dies, the primordial flame that illuminates the dome will also be extinguished. This is the best evidence to determine whether Lü Yang is truly dead.
Then he saw it.
Sure enough, an unknown primordial spirit fire on the dome suddenly vanished, perfectly corresponding to the time of Lü Yang's "death," without the slightest error.
Lü Yang opened his eyes.
The [Life Cultivation] Reincarnation Method allows you to freely set the conditions for reincarnation. Basically, the higher your [Life Cultivation] level, the more conditions you can set.
Of course, Lü Yang didn't have much expertise in [Life Cultivation], and only knew the Reincarnation Technique, so he couldn't set any conditions. However, he didn't care about that, since the main purpose of reincarnation was to fake death and avoid the sight of the First Saint. What kind of reincarnation he was wasn't very important to him.
'It's not over yet.'
Lu Yang continued his actions without stopping. He could think of the same things that the First Saint could think of, and immediately planned to suppress the flames of his primordial spirit to create the illusion of his demise.
Normally, one's primordial spirit cannot be concealed.
However, Angxiao perfectly wrapped things up for him, sacrificing his own life to allow him to take his place, thus playing a game of substitution.
Of course, the fragment of the primordial spirit that Angxiao possessed was relatively weak, far less powerful than that of Lü Yang. That's why Lü Yang needed to do his best to conceal himself at this moment in order to disguise himself and avoid revealing any flaws. If he didn't do this step well and the First Saint discovered the clues, then the whole show would be for nothing.
However, the next second, Lü Yang realized something was wrong.
"here it is"
What you see is a paradise-like place, with peach trees everywhere, peach blossoms falling like rain, and a gentle breeze blowing by.
Then a sound rang out:
"Fellow Daoist, there is no need to worry. This place has been managed by the three of us for many years. No causal calculation technique can penetrate here. It is safe for the time being."
Lu Yang was somewhat surprised upon hearing this, and then leaped to his feet. At this moment, he was not human.
There was nothing he could do; he wasn't a [Life Cultivator] at all. Forcibly performing the reincarnation technique wouldn't even allow him to be reborn as a human, and he could only barely reincarnate as a giant paramecium.
However, at his level, what he was reborn into was completely unimportant. At this moment, with a thought, his physical body immediately disintegrated and reassembled. He didn't even need to draw on external spiritual energy; the essence of his [Infinite Law] immediately activated, unleashing boundless power that allowed him to quickly return to his peak.
Then he saw who was speaking.
It was a middle-aged man holding a ruyi scepter in his hand, with a smile on his face. His body was surrounded by layers of illusions, reflecting countless lights.
Looking out, the illusion showed various Dao Lords vying for supremacy, as well as mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, the sun, moon, and stars, as if the entire landscape of China had been condensed together.
Lu Yang looked up and saw that the other person was also looking directly at him.
Immediately afterwards, Lü Yang saw two more figures emerge from behind the middle-aged man, a male and a female attendant.
However, what shocked him was that although the aura of these two boys was not as strong as his, they were undoubtedly Dao Ancestors who had undergone a fundamental transformation!
The next second, the middle-aged man cupped his hands in greeting and smiled:
"Great Fortune, greetings to my junior brother."
Upon hearing this, Lü Yang finally understood the true identities of the Taoist priest and the two boys before him—they were none other than the three Dao Ancestors of the [Yunxiu] lineage!
After a moment of silence, Lü Yang said sincerely:
"Fellow Daoist, your two disciples have also become Dao Ancestors. It seems that their attainments in the [Reading] lineage are also extremely extraordinary. Truly, a great teacher produces great students."
Da Yunlai shook his head upon hearing this:
"Junior brother, you flatter me."
"My lineage of Yunxiu emphasizes the importance of timing and luck. My two disciples were fortunate enough to achieve their current status by taking advantage of the timing of the battle between Daozun and Taiyuan Immortal back then."
"Now you want me to train another one, but that's simply impossible."
fortune?
Lu Yang's expression shifted slightly, as if he had caught something, and he looked at Da Yunlai: "Fellow Daoist seems to have been preparing for a long time, and already knew that I would be reincarnated here?"
Da Yunlai did not deny it, but simply nodded: "I suppose so. I observed the changes in the fortunes of the Divine Continent and predicted that I would arrive here in advance, so I came ahead to wait. Fellow Daoist, you don't need to worry. Among the ten paths of the Divine Continent, my [Fortune Cultivation] lineage is probably the least skilled in combat."
"We observe the times, but we do not enter into them."
"For the practice of [Feng Xiu], the process of driving changes in the times is our cultivation. The more the times are changed, the greater the feedback to us."
"For example, the three of us."
"Back then, it was by assisting Dao Zun that he reversed his own fate and surpassed Taiyuan Immortal, who was originally supposed to be superior, and that's how he achieved his current cultivation level."
Upon hearing this, Lü Yang blinked.
"That sounds a bit like 'making connections with influential people'."
"Wrong."
Da Yunlai shook his head slightly: "It's not so much that [Befriending Noble People] is like me, but rather that this lineage originated from my [Cultivation of Fortune] lineage."
"Unfortunately, it is ultimately ambiguous. Therefore, the ability to 'meet a noble person' is not as good as my ability to 'cultivate fortune' to observe the times. So, it is often difficult to find the right 'noble person'. Otherwise, Jiao Guiren would not have failed to climb up to the Dao Venerable back then, and instead, a junior like Lu Xian would have become the number one person in the Dao lineage."
Lü Yang understood the unspoken meaning behind Da Yunlai's words.
"Fellow Daoist, do you mean you're actually quite good at finding benefactors?"
Upon hearing this, Da Yunlai immediately laughed: "Of course, otherwise why would my [Yunxiu] lineage travel thousands of miles to wait for you here, Junior Brother?"
"Am I a benefactor?" Lü Yang asked knowingly.
“Of course.” Da Yunlai nodded: “Looking at the Divine Continent now, with the Dao Venerable personally orchestrating things, the only ones who can be called the center of destiny are you and the First Saint.”
"The two of you are the center of destiny brought about by this struggle for the Dao."
Lü Yang accurately grasped the key words in Da Yunlai's words:
"A struggle over the Dao?"
"good."
Da Yunlai continued, "Apart from my [Yunxiu] lineage, I can't see the others clearly. Of course, even if I can't see them clearly, it doesn't really matter."
"After all, there's no point in seeing it clearly."
Lu Yang frowned upon hearing this: "Why?"
“Because we are too insignificant.” At this point, a hint of gloom finally appeared on Da Yunlai’s face: “So insignificant that we have no way to interfere.”
"Because—this is a battle for the title of Nascent Soul!"
Before Da Yunlai could finish speaking, this secluded paradise began to tremble slightly, as if an earth dragon were turning over, and thunder rumbled in the distance.
However, the voices of the Great Fortune did not stop, but instead grew stronger: "In the moment before the final calamity, the realm is no different from that of the Dao Venerable. Although it is only for a moment, for the Nascent Soul stage, a moment is no different from eternity, so this Dao struggle has occurred."
"The Daoist Master and the Final Calamity".
"Don't mistake the final tribulation for the Dao God outside that wants to invade the present. They are not the same thing. The one that the Dao Venerable is fighting against is even more indescribable."
Da Yunlai spoke urgently, and the thunder in the sky and the rumbling of the earth beneath his feet grew increasingly intense:
“The true end times do not exist in consciousness; their essence is destruction. The naturally born gods that separate out are merely their agents.”
"Based on my observations of the changing times, both the Divine Land and your future generations are pawns used by the Dao Venerables to play against the Nascent Souls in this Dao struggle, each bearing immense fortune. However, among these fortunes, Junior Brother, your fortune is the greatest."
"Therefore I am certain that you are the most important pawn of the Daoist Master."
Upon hearing these words, Lü Yang gradually frowned.
Is "Fortune" the same as "The Book of a Hundred Generations"?
The next second, he suddenly spoke: "You just said that besides me, the First Sage is also the center of destiny. According to your logic, the First Sage is..."
"good."
Da Yunlai said decisively, "From my perspective, he is a pawn in the final calamity, which is why his luck is comparable to yours, Junior Brother."
Upon hearing this, Lü Yang fell into deep thought once again.
After a moment, he continued:
"What is the subject of this debate?"
Da Yunlai laughed: "What else can we fight over but each other's Dao? It's naturally about our respective Daos. That final calamity symbolizes the inevitable destruction that is destined to come."
"But the Daoist Master intended to deny it."
"That's why we had the Daoist Venerable's 129,600 years of rule, why we had this Daoist struggle, and why we had the plans of the Daoist Ancestors to save the Divine Land."
"Everything is for the sake of striving for the right path."
"If the Daoist Master wins, the Divine Land can continue, but if the final tribulation wins, everything will fall into eternal annihilation, with no chance of life left."
At this point, Dayunlai finally stopped making noise.
Almost simultaneously, the earth-shaking rumble and the thunder in the sky abruptly ceased, but even so, a sense of impending doom still lingered in the air.
This is the limit.
Looking at Da Yunlai, Lü Yang understood immediately. Da Yunlai could only say so much; if he continued, an indescribable terror would surely descend.
However, he still had to ask.
If everything Da Yunlai said is true, then an unavoidable problem will arise, which may even overturn his common sense.
That is--
"I come from the future."
Lu Yang said, enunciating each word clearly, "According to your logic, if the Daoist Master loses, then the Divine Continent will fall into eternal annihilation, so where will the Sea of Light come from?"
"Since I exist and can come from the future, doesn't that prove the Daoist's inevitable victory?"
After speaking, Da Yunlai did not answer immediately. Instead, he calmly looked at Lü Yang and, in an almost ethereal tone, whispered his reply:
"Junior brother, didn't you already know that?"
"Or do you still believe, even now, that we ancient people are illusions, a mirage that can influence the past, and that you are the real one?"
Lü Yang's pupils suddenly contracted.
Finally, the terrifying suspicion that I had vaguely sensed before surfaced in my mind.
Wrong, all wrong.
"The real time has never changed from the beginning. What you call the 'now' has always been what you call the prehistoric era."
Did people from later generations travel through time and space to the ancient past by transforming into a mysterious realm?
"You are completely wrong. You are the future visions that the Dao Venerable observed in a single thought, and were ultimately brought to our world by the Dao Venerable from the future!"
"Of course, you are not illusions, because what the Divine Transformation sees is real."
"In theory, the moment Dao Zun observed you, the Divine Land should have been destined to continue. However, Dao Zun is not the only one who has reached the Divine Transformation stage in this world."
"The final tribulation interfered with the future observed by the Dao Venerable, intending to deny your existence."
"And that's how this moment came about."
"In this struggle for the Dao, whichever side's pieces win in the end will have their chosen future completely anchored as reality, and there will be no way to change it."
If I had to describe it—
"Your world, your sea of light, the era you experience—every blade of grass, every tree, every flower—is what the Daoist Master sees in the future."
"【variable】."
Da Yunlai's words plunged Lü Yang into complete silence.
In a daze, he seemed to finally glimpse the operating principle and truth of the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes]. So this is it? Everything was created by the thoughts of a Nascent Soul cultivator?
Since the future is not certain to begin with, it is natural to "start over".
"Wait, wait a minute."
Lu Yang pressed his brow and quickly found the suspicious point.
If the operating principle of the "Book of a Hundred Generations" is based on the observation of "Equal", then what about the power of reopening in the "Book of Divine Fortune and Destiny"?
What is the origin of that book?
There must be an even bigger secret behind this!
(End of this chapter)