Old Master, Times Have Changed - Chapter 694 (Patreon)

Chapter 694: The Heaven-Deceiving Substitute Form World-Seizing Method

A bit speechless.

But at the same time, he also kind of wanted to laugh.

He never would’ve thought that one day, he’d run into something like this himself.

“I honestly can’t tell whether it’s your behavior that’s too naive, or your thinking that’s too childish,” Yuan said helplessly.

In truth, he had always understood that some of the ideas he insisted on were a bit idealized.

But still…

So being a “good person” meant you deserved to have a gun pointed at you?

What’s more, he had never thought of himself as any kind of “good person.”

“I’m just an ordinary person with no real sense of responsibility—someone who’s even a bit irresponsible,” he said, his voice much lower.

Just an ordinary person who wanted to go home.

On the road back, he happened to gain power, and so he changed some things along the way.

That was all.

The Dongming Sacred Lord didn’t reply again.

Only an endlessly vast will—supreme, holy, indifferent, and distant—descended, trying to seal off the entirety of Chongxiao Heaven and cut it away from the Taiyi Realm.

Yuan sensed it immediately, but he didn’t panic.

Instead, he glanced toward the other side of the mountainside, at the brilliant flowers covering the whole slope.

Within the thick, layered petals, you could see one grotesque maw after another—packed with sharp teeth.

“At most, I just think a little more than other people,” Yuan sighed, withdrawing his gaze.

Then he stepped forward.

His whole body flickered, like a projection of light cast onto the world.

In the next instant, that supreme and distant will completely sealed “Chongxiao Heaven,” isolating it from the Taiyi Realm.

And yet, Yuan himself had already vanished from the mountainside…

Or rather, he was no longer inside Chongxiao Heaven at all.

As a Soul Transformation expert who had comprehended the Great Void and grasped the Dao of space, how could the power of a single Arcane-tier world possibly trap him?

Even if he was only a sliver of awakened consciousness.

In the next instant, a colossal force descended upon Chongxiao Heaven. Clouds churned. Heaven and earth lost their color.

Boom!

A visible shockwave slammed downward, pulverizing the linked mountain ranges with unstoppable force.

When everything finally settled, the lush mountain forest had turned into a desolate plain, without the slightest trace of life.

The Dongming Sacred Lord’s figure drifted down from above. Fine, broken streams of cloud scattered beside him.

He looked down over all of Chongxiao Heaven. In his dark violet eyes, a strange light flickered.

“He left just like that…” The Dongming Sacred Lord sounded surprised.

He had originally thought that even if Yuan wanted to go, he would leave behind some means to protect the living beings in this region—to keep them from being harmed by his arrival.

He hadn’t expected him to leave so cleanly, without leaving anything at all…

“Because of the betrayal of the Taiyi Realm’s Heaven’s Will?”

The Dongming Sacred Lord pondered.

After suffering a betrayal like that, it would be normal for his thinking to change…

No, wait!

He was a True God!

How could a “True God” who surpassed the Sacred Lords change the principles he believed in just because of a single betrayal?

So why, exactly?

The more he thought about it, the less he understood.

After a long time, the Dongming Sacred Lord’s figure vanished from Chongxiao Heaven, as if he had left.

The once-vibrant forest was gone, leaving only barren land where no life could be seen.

About twenty seconds later, the Dongming Sacred Lord appeared again in the high skies above Chongxiao Heaven.

After sweeping his gaze around, he frowned.

“Nothing. Looks like I was overthinking it…”

This time, he turned into a streak of light and shot upward. The sky of Chongxiao Heaven rippled, and the ripple lingered for a long time after he left.

Three minutes later, the Dongming Sacred Lord appeared yet again in the high skies above Chongxiao Heaven.

“Still nothing?”

He seemed baffled. Muttering to himself, he walked off toward the distance.

His figure gradually faded until it disappeared completely.

Ten more minutes passed…!

Like that, after trying nine times, the Dongming Sacred Lord finally gave up on the idea of lying in wait for Yuan in Chongxiao Heaven.

He kept coming back because he knew how rare this opportunity was.

As the “Child of Inheritance,” he had already “seen” part of Yuan and Xu’s great battle from back then through information recorded by Heaven’s Will.

He understood exactly how troublesome Yuan’s abilities were.

Ordinary sealing methods were useless. Forget catching him—finding him wasn’t even easy!

And it was rare that Yuan had just revived and shown his face in Chongxiao Heaven…

Unfortunately, the result was unsatisfying.

Yuan’s behavior also went far beyond what he expected.

It seemed he could only rely on those two outsiders—find a way to lure Yuan out.

He could only hope…

That Yuan still cared about their safety.

…

…

Tai Yi Continent, Kongji Sacred Domain.

Even though a string of upheavals had occurred within Chongxiao Heaven,

from the moment the blue-violet streak of light entered the Taiyi Realm until the sliver of Yuan’s awakened consciousness left Chongxiao Heaven, not much time had passed.

Kongji Sacred Lord, Ning Wanzhu, and Mingyu had just stepped down from the city walls and returned to the tallest tower at the very heart of the Sacred City.

“Just now, the Taiyi Realm’s ‘will’ sealed off Chongxiao Heaven,” the Kongji Sacred Lord explained to them.

The Taiyi Realm’s “will”?

Wasn’t that this world’s Heaven’s Will?!

“It sealed off Chongxiao Heaven?” Mingyu couldn’t help asking.

“Yes.”

The pure-white, prism-like crystal within the Kongji Sacred Lord’s eyes rotated slowly, adding an even stronger air of divinity to her already holy presence.

As the highest-ranked existence of the Taiyi Realm—and a native being—

she could clearly sense what the Taiyi Realm’s Heaven’s Will was doing.

“I don’t know what happened, but Chongxiao Heaven is still in a ‘sealed and isolated’ state.”

The two of them looked toward where Chongxiao Heaven should be.

According to the “Taiyi Realm One Hundred and Eight Heavens Genealogy Chart” in the Kongji Sacred Lord’s treasury, Chongxiao Heaven was supposed to be “bright as the blazing sun, pure as the radiance of the dawning moon.”

But now, where Chongxiao Heaven ought to be, there was only a hollow void.

As if nothing had ever existed there at all.

The Taiyi Realm’s Heaven’s Will…

It really sealed Chongxiao Heaven?!

Both of them felt the same thought rising uncontrollably. They exchanged a look and understood what the other was thinking.

“Kongji Daoist…” Ning Wanzhu looked at the Kongji Sacred Lord. “Do you understand the Taiyi Realm’s ‘Heaven’s Will’?”

“Heaven’s Will?”

So this was how they referred to the world’s “will.”

It really was fitting.

“I’m sorry, you two. I don’t know much. The last time I had contact with it was one thousand three hundred and seventy-one years ago.”

“You’ve had contact with the Taiyi Realm’s Heaven’s Will?” Mingyu was startled.

“Yes.” The Kongji Sacred Lord’s voice remained calm and gentle. “It wanted me to accept the ‘Taiyi Mandate.’”

The Taiyi Mandate?

Wouldn’t that mean becoming the Child of Inheritance?!

“Then you…”

“I refused. The ‘Taiyi Mandate’ doesn’t align with my ideals.” As she said that, a faint smile appeared on her beautiful face. “Just like the saying you used…”

“Different Daos cannot walk together.”

…

The two of them fell silent for a moment.

Just as Mingyu was about to speak, Ning Wanzhu spoke first.

“We already understand everything Yuan experienced in the Taiyi Realm.”

Mingyu paused. The Kongji Sacred Lord, however, stayed completely composed.

“Please, go on.”

“Looks like you noticed our concealment long ago,” Ning Wanzhu said.

“You’re not the only one who can peer into other people’s hearts.”

Yes. From the very beginning, the Kongji Sacred Lord had known.

From the very beginning, she had known Ning Wanzhu possessed the ability to observe the qualities of someone’s mind.

But she didn’t care, and she never tried to hide anything.

Everything she did came from her true heart. Why would she need to cover it up?

“That makes us seem petty,” Ning Wanzhu said softly.

“People are different. There’s no need to mind it.”

She could face anyone openly, but she would never demand that others be the same as her.

Listening to them, Mingyu’s expression grew complicated.

She came from the Listening to the Rain Pavilion, an organization that sold all kinds of intelligence. Trained since childhood as a future master of the Pavilion, she was the kind of person with a “messy” mind.

And precisely because of that, she hated the kind of behavior where someone spoke in riddles—where every sentence held hidden meaning.

After taking off her mask, she preferred dealing with people who were straightforward and candid.

And she herself would also act “straightforward” and “candid” in that process.

That was why she could become close friends with Li Ke.

But in truth, her “straightforwardness” and “candor” were all an act. When interacting with others, she couldn’t stop herself from overthinking. Sometimes she even felt ashamed of herself.

By Yuan’s description, she was actually an extremely awkward person.

Li Ke had even said that someone as awkward as her managing to cross the Integration threshold was practically a miracle!

After all, Integration meant understanding oneself and setting one’s true heart straight.

But who said “thinking too much” couldn’t itself be a true heart?

In a way, compared to someone as “pure” as the Kongji Sacred Lord, Mingyu was the complete opposite extreme.

“Back then, Yuan made an agreement with the Taiyi Realm’s Heaven’s Will and helped the Taiyi Realm resist the foreign enemy, Xu…”

As Mingyu’s thoughts wandered, Ning Wanzhu began explaining everything that had happened between Yuan, Xu, the Taiyi Realm’s Heaven’s Will, and the events of that year.

The Kongji Sacred Lord listened intently.

Especially when Ning Wanzhu reached the most critical part—how the Taiyi Realm’s Heaven’s Will chose to betray Yuan at the decisive moment, suppressing him through a ritual and attempting to refine him into the world’s foundation to seek an increase in world level—her brows knit slightly.

Soon, Ning Wanzhu finished telling everything Yuan had gone through in the Taiyi Realm.

After hearing it all, the Kongji Sacred Lord fell into a long silence, lifting her gaze to the sky—or more precisely, to the Abyss Ruins Realm outside the Taiyi Realm.

After quite a while…

“So the Abyss Ruins Realm…”

“Formed from power that leaked out while Yuan was unconscious, entangled with a trace of True God Xu’s power,” Ning Wanzhu explained.

Another silence followed. The Kongji Sacred Lord finally sighed.

“What a terrible truth.”

A well-intentioned outsider, harmed by a despicable world.

“I’m sorry.”

Ning Wanzhu paused.

“You don’t need to apologize. This has nothing to do with you.”

“It’s necessary.” Her expression was solemn. “As a member of this world.”

The dawnlight at the very ends of the Kongji Sacred Lord’s hair grew brighter and brighter.

“From here on, I will do everything in my power to help you rescue him.”

“That could make the Taiyi Realm lose its chance to rise in world level,” Mingyu reminded her.

The Kongji Sacred Lord herself was only one step away from Soul Transformation.

Once the world level rose, she could very well cross that step and achieve Soul Transformation.

“The cost of a world’s growth should not be borne by an innocent life—especially not by someone who helped the world, and to whom the world owes a debt.”

This should never have happened.

Yes, she also wanted to see higher vistas. She also wanted her world to become stronger.

But if the price was an innocent life, she would never accept it.

Unless the price was herself.

…

…

Tai Yi Continent.

Mingsi Sacred City.

Founded by a Holy-rank transcendent from the chaotic path who had reached an extremely high level.

Because the founder of Mingsi Sacred City believed in the simplest and most brutal principle—“the weak are meat; the strong eat”—the entire system of the city was unbelievably cruel.

The strong held absolute power over the weak.

The city’s arena was always open. Either challenger could be anyone, even the founder herself.

As long as the challenger proved in the arena that they were stronger than the challenged, they could take everything the other possessed—

wealth, glory, even life itself!

At this moment, inside the enormous arena—spanning hundreds of acres and reeking of blood—

two figures were clashing in the center at speeds far beyond what normal human eyes could track.

Each collision made the black-red ground beneath them cave in, and terrifying shockwaves swept outward in all directions.

It even spread to the stands, crushing spectators into bloody mist.

Yet every face was filled with fanaticism. Not a single spectator backed down because of it.

Even when those in front died, people behind immediately surged forward, terrified that standing too far back would keep them from seeing clearly.

In their warped pursuit of power, some even shouted things like, “To die seeing a fight like this is worth it!”

Bloody. Brutal.

At the highest point of the arena, on a pitch-black throne, a tall, brawny woman sat in revealing leather armor. Her bulging muscles were like granite, radiating raw strength.

Black hair fell to her waist. Her wolfish, vicious gaze swept across the entire arena.

In the stands,

in an inconspicuous corner,

a black-haired, violet-eyed young man watched everything unfolding below.

“In just a few years, it’s become a complete mess…”

Seeing the fervor on those faces—and the numbness beneath that fervor—Yuan’s mood turned complicated.

Back when the Kongji Sacred Lord held the advantage, the world had been chaotic in places, but it hadn’t been chaotic to this degree.

“The ‘Ritual of Refining the Origin Through Chaos to Seek Truth’…”

Everything happening now was obviously the work of the Taiyi Realm’s Heaven’s Will—using “chaos” as fuel for its ritual, and letting the Child of Inheritance bring it about with his own hands.

Specks of violet light fell from Yuan’s fingertips, flowing through the stands toward the spectators who had been crushed into bloody mist by the shockwaves.

They reassembled those people, then silently sent them out of Mingsi Sacred City.

In the process, he also planted a method deep within their souls—

The Heaven-Deceiving Substitute Form World-Seizing Method.

He didn’t know why, but long ago he had discovered that the Tai Xuan Realm held many secret arts specifically aimed at Heaven’s Will.

What he’d gathered were only fragments…

But by patching them together and adding some of his own understanding, he could barely piece together a method that targeted the Taiyi Realm’s Heaven’s Will.

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