Old Master, Times Have Changed - Chapter 701 (Patreon)

Chapter 701: Arrival

Efeng Saint’s reaction was a bit slower, but he quickly sensed something was wrong as well, and he too raised his head to look beyond this stretch of space.

At this moment, every extraordinary resident of Efeng Sacred City—no, even all extraordinary living beings across the entire Tai Yi Continent and the One Hundred and Eight Heavens—lifted their heads to stare upward.

High above the sky hung a pair of dark purple eyes. Around them, shadows woven from “Disorder” and “Chaos” spread outward, blotting out the heavens and covering the earth.

It was as if countless colors had been mixed together—so dazzling that a single glance made one feel dizzy.

Yet the eerie part was this: every extraordinary being below the “Saint” level was irresistibly drawn in, utterly unable to tear their eyes away.

The shadow coiling across the firmament kept writhing, and the darkness within it began to fade bit by bit.

Soon, the chaotic colors formed a clear image.

It was a luxuriant forest. Towering ancient trees pierced the clouds, wreathed in a hazy radiance of life.

Upon the branches stood small houses built from deadwood. The materials were crude, yet the structures themselves were exquisitely crafted.

What was revealed was only a tiny corner of the whole, but one could already see graceful beings moving between the giant trees.

They wore splendid robes stitched from some kind of plant after it had withered. Each of them was surrounded by a dense, creation-like glow of vitality.

Fushu Heaven.

Ruled by the Fushu Sacred King.

It upheld the belief that “all things have their ordained number; everything should follow nature.”

Its temperament could be described as extremely hands-off. Back when Dongming Sacred Lord and Kongji Sacred Lord erupted into a holy war, the Fushu Sacred King chose to support neither side.

Over the years, many extraordinary beings from the thirty-six Higher Heavens, the seventy-two Lower Heavens, and even the Tai Yi Continent—people whose ideals didn’t match the mainstream and who lacked the strength to change the chaos of the Tai Yi Continent—chose to travel to Fushu Heaven and live there in seclusion.

Likewise, many native beings of Fushu Heaven grew curious about the outside world and left.

As for the Fushu Sacred King himself, he had only left Fushu Heaven once—back when Kongji Sacred Lord ruled the heavens—to visit the Kongji Sacred Domain. Other than that, he had never departed.

“Is that… Dongming Sacred Lord?”

Efeng Saint recognized the location shown in the image, and also realized that the one behind all of this was Dongming Sacred Lord.

But why would Dongming Sacred Lord project the scenery of Fushu Heaven onto the Tai Yi Continent and the One Hundred and Eight Heavens?

He looked across at Yuan, wanting an answer from him.

His instincts told him that Dongming Sacred Lord’s elaborate display was very likely connected to the foreign True God remnant before him.

Soon, the image zoomed in on one of the towering ancient trees.

On a massive branch wide enough for dozens to stand upon, two figures gazed into the distance.

One had long hair draped over her shoulders, serene and gentle.

The other had short hair cut to her ears, looking crisp and decisive.

They were Ning Wanzhu and Mingyu.

Yuan stared at the scene without blinking.

Dongming Sacred Lord had done nothing else and spoken no extra words, yet the threat was already blatant.

How was this possible?!

Given this world’s level of power, an imprint condensed from a wisp of Void Return power should be able to block Heaven’s Will’s lockdown for at least a month.

How could it…

So little time had passed—how could he have locked onto Wanzhu and Mingyu’s location so quickly?!

“Your Excellency… those two are…” Efeng Saint couldn’t help asking.

The situation was already obvious.

Dongming Sacred Lord wanted to use those two women to accomplish something.

And what he wanted to accomplish…

was clearly connected to the foreign True God in front of him!

“My dao companions.” Yuan stood up, his gaze leaving the projected image. “Your world doesn’t have this concept, so you can also understand them as my lovers.”

Efeng Saint froze.

Before he could even process it, Yuan was already walking toward the distant door that led outside.

“Don’t worry. No matter the outcome, I won’t implicate you.”

“Your Excellency!”

Efeng Saint sprang up. His lips trembled, and in the end he forced out the question that had been weighing on his heart:

“Do you regret it?”

But Yuan did not answer.

He only waved a hand, then pulled open the door and walked out.

Click.

With that soft sound as the door closed again, Yuan’s back vanished from sight.

Efeng Saint stood there for a long time.

It had been their first meeting, and he had only said things of uncertain truth…

After a long while, Efeng Saint sat back down. Behind his lenses, his murky eyes held a trace more wistfulness.

…

…

Fushu Heaven.

One of the Tai Yi Realm’s thirty-six “Higher Heavens.”

At this moment, within the rift between Fushu Heaven and the Tai Yi Continent.

Dongming Sacred Lord stood with his hands behind his back, as raging spatial turbulence swept past him.

Dense shadows flowed out from the unseen depths, eroding the emerald-like splendor of Fushu Heaven little by little, wrapping it up.

Because the power of the Tai Yi Realm’s “Heaven’s Will” was deliberately targeting them, the many beings inside Fushu Heaven—even Ning Wanzhu and Mingyu—noticed nothing at all.

In the entirety of Fushu Heaven, only beneath an unremarkable giant tree did a strange being—youthful in appearance, leaning against the trunk with eyes half-closed—suddenly open his eyes.

His crystalline turquoise pupils looked like gemstones, as if the whole of Fushu Heaven were reflected within them.

His gaze crossed the high sky and arrived directly at the rift between the Higher Heavens and the Tai Yi Continent, calmly fixing on Dongming Sacred Lord.

“I am the one who bears Tai Yi’s mandate. This is the ordained number,” Dongming Sacred Lord said flatly.

So long as it had not broken free of the Heavenly Dao’s restrictions, “Heaven’s Will” affected native beings only through vague concepts—karma, fate, the grand trend of things, and the like.

It was difficult for it to intervene directly the way it could against outsiders.

That was why the Fushu Sacred King could detect that Dongming Sacred Lord was sealing off all of Fushu Heaven.

“An ordained number… heh.”

The Fushu Sacred King let out a chuckle that was unclear—mockery, or self-ridicule—then closed his eyes again against the tree.

Seeing how “cooperative” he was, Dongming Sacred Lord no longer paid him attention. Instead, he focused on Ning Wanzhu and Mingyu, silently waiting for a sliver of Yuan’s waking consciousness to appear.

Time trickled by, bit by bit.

Just as the lockdown of Fushu Heaven had only one-seventh remaining…

Without a sound.

A faint gray light appeared from an unremarkable corner. Even Dongming Sacred Lord, who had been watching everything around him, noticed nothing amiss.

It was as if that gray light had always belonged there.

The gray light circled once, flickered, then vanished from its spot and reappeared beside Fushu Heaven, about to slip inside…

Dongming Sacred Lord, who should not have been able to sense it, narrowed his eyes and instantly locked onto its position.

In the very moment before it could surge into Fushu Heaven, he intercepted it.

“So you’ve come…”

Dense shadows churned, wrapping the gray light and delivering it to him.

A hint of a smile rose on Dongming Sacred Lord’s face.

He was about to make his next move…

“Dongming.”

A calm voice came from within the thick shadows, and his expression stiffened.

In an instant so brief it could be called a billionth of a billionth of a moment, a holy, pure power erupted from within!

Whoosh!

Golden flames roared upward. Searing torrents swept in all directions—smoothing everything down, burning away all wickedness.

Even the raging spatial turbulence became gentle and harmless in that moment.

The sacred blaze blazed brilliantly, and even the dense shadows around Fushu Heaven dimmed noticeably.

From within the flame-tide, a sacred, immaculate figure stepped out.

She wore a gown of gold and white, as if woven from the world’s own blessings.

In her eyes, pure white diamond-shaped crystals rotated slowly. A vertical white mark sat at her brow. The ends of her hair shone with pure dawnlight, and behind her head, an eightfold halo of divinity gleamed.

It was one of the people Dongming Sacred Lord least wanted to see—

Kongji Sacred Lord!

Standing upon the surging sea of flame, her eyes were utterly calm.

“Kongji Sacred Manifestation, appear!”

Not a single unnecessary word. She went all-out at the very first moment.

A formation composed of countless profound lines spread outward from her at high speed.

As the flame-tide rolled, a strand of pure white light shot into the sky, rippling outward in rings of golden halos.

A vast, holy, illusory figure manifested behind Kongji Sacred Lord.

“Kongji!”

Dongming Sacred Lord’s face sank like water, but in the next breath he returned to calm.

He turned and spoke coldly to the side:

“Stop her. Once everything is over, I’ll release your grandson.”

“Hmph!”

With an angry snort that made no effort to hide its fury, an old woman with a hunched back and a cane stepped out, along with a gaunt old man holding a heavy hammer.

“This old one, Dianling, pays respects to the Sacred Lord,” the old woman said, looking at Kongji Sacred Lord.

“This old one, Cuijiu, pays respects to the Sacred Lord,” the old man said in a deep voice.

They looked completely ordinary, yet standing amid the surging golden flame-tide, they were not affected in the slightest.

And moreover…

This was the rift between a “Higher Heaven” and the Tai Yi Continent!

“Sacred Lord, please calm yourself. The two of us do not wish to fight you,” the old man named Cuijiu said earnestly.

“You…” Kongji Sacred Lord frowned.

These two were undoubtedly Sacred Kings—perhaps even beings on the level of Sacred Lords.

Yet she had no impression of them at all. Could it be…

“We’re just two old relics who don’t belong to this era,” the old woman named Dianling said as well.

Truthfully, they did not want to become enemies of the “Sacred Kings” of this era.

Whether it was grudges and passions, glory and wealth, or even the fulfillment of self-worth—

They had experienced it all.

They had once reshaped this world into what they wanted it to be.

Now, they only wanted to enjoy their remaining years in peace, and—if possible—seek the path beyond the Sacred Lord…

Kongji Sacred Lord watched them in silence for a moment.

Boom!

Flame-tides swept in all directions as the holy, illusory Sacred Manifestation struck boldly. Five fingers wreathed in searing flames, it pressed a palm down toward Cuijiu and Dianling.

“Sigh…” The old woman let out a soft sigh.

Cuijiu raised the heavy hammer in his hands.

As expected, fighting couldn’t be avoided.

The extraordinary beings of this era were all stubborn—every last one of them a madman!

Rumble!

Two world-shaking forces erupted, instantly bracing against the Sacred Manifestation’s flaming palm.

The terrifying shockwave spilled outward from the collision point, causing even the nearby “Higher Heavens” to shift slightly.

In a single instant, those two forces overwhelmed the Sacred Manifestation’s palm, and the sea of sacred flame filling the ten directions caved inward uncontrollably.

Waves of flame rolled. One of the Sacred Manifestation’s hands was directly smashed apart.

Yet even as she fell into the disadvantage, Kongji Sacred Lord’s expression remained calm.

She didn’t defend herself at all. The Sacred Manifestation behind her raised its other hand and struck straight at the two of them!

Cuijiu and Dianling could only retreat and evade.

They were only helping Dongming Sacred Lord because they had been threatened—and, incidentally, because they wanted to see whether the path beyond the Sacred Lord truly existed…

They were not here to fight a peer Sacred Lord to the death!

For a time, the two sides became locked in a stalemate. The aftershocks of their exchanges alone churned the entire rift into chaos.

And within that turmoil—

A faint, inconspicuous purple glimmer flashed and vanished, silently slipping into Fushu Heaven.

Dongming Sacred Lord, watching the surroundings, did not notice at first.

But as a subtle ripple brushed past, it was as if a tacit resonance struck him. With one glance, he locked onto the purple glimmer that had arrived beside Ning Wanzhu and Mingyu.

“Found you…”

He moved, vanishing from where he stood, and shot straight toward Fushu Heaven.

Kongji Sacred Lord noticed, but the two peers clung to her tightly, leaving her unable to stop him.

“Go!”

In the end, she could only send that single word into Fushu Heaven.

She herself took a hit head-on, and the eightfold halo behind her dimmed by a great deal.

…

…

Meanwhile.

A dazzling martial Celestial radiance had already reached beyond the Tai Yi realm-domain.

Magnificent Martial Will surged upward, pushing everything aside, making even the light of countless worlds seem dim.

At last, that radiance arrived at the boundary of the Tai Yi realm-domain.

Humm.

As the radiance drew in—

Ji Yinxue appeared amid churning chaotic energy, standing straight as a pine, gazing forward in calm silence.

With a single look, she saw innumerable worlds like brilliant stars, their world-lights rising and interweaving, competing to shine.

Her gaze crossed those countless worlds and landed on an immense world that was exceptionally powerful—each breath it took stirred countless worlds to flicker in response.

In her clear eyes was reflected the full panorama of the Tai Yi realm-domain.

The next instant, Ji Yinxue raised her right hand.

“Myriad Dao!”

Her five fingers closed, stirring the endless chaotic energy around her into a violent surge.

The many worlds gathered in homage; the myriad dao bowed low.

Even the world-light that overlaid immeasurable worlds and covered an entire realm-domain seemed to be seized in her grasp with that single motion.

“Must revere me!”

In an instant so brief it could be called a billionth of a billionth of a moment, the chaotic energy churning around her fell into absolute stillness.

Transcending all—among all heavens and the myriad dao, none could match a single punch of mine!

The great sound was silent!

Everything, all things, in that moment seemed illusory and fragile—leaving only one bright, dazzling fist-imprint as the sole undeniable reality!

Crack!

The fist-imprint slammed down. Before even an instant could pass, the “brilliant light layer”—a shell formed from the brightest wisp of light among immeasurable worlds, encircling Tai Yi—shattered apart.

Revealing the full outline of Tai Yi, as well as the three great worlds that surrounded it!

After doing this, Ji Yinxue flicked her hand, dispersing the fist-imprint, then turned into a rapidly flickering streak of light and shot straight toward Tai Yi.

However, though the fist-imprint had already dispersed,

the “Heaven’s Will” that had remerged throughout Tai Yi—terrified by that punch intent that transcended everything—was thrown into panic.

What is going on?!

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