Chapter 823: Chapter 547: The Great Dao of Causality
Wanbang Council.
The Northern Guardian King’s expression hardened.
He had just received news from Lu Chenzhou.
"That tiger-jiao was at least Eight Realms before it died?"
As a leader of civilization, he grasped many ancient secrets, also knew that the starry sky of the Xia Realm was once one of the main battlefields of the Ancient Divine War. Many Great Powers and experts had fought here, but those who experienced that war had already died out. Their legacies and histories are scattered like fragments across the Three Thousand Worlds; no one could say for certain what truly happened.
"I’d better report to Master first."
...
Somewhere in the Three Thousand Worlds.
A small tavern.
An itinerant swordsman in white drank quietly.
The Eternal Immortal gazed at the message left on the Lighting Order.
"Wanming Daoist Lord’s backup plan has appeared too? With that Great Wilderness’ number one Array Master’s sealing laid down, that [Dragon and Tiger Great Saint] won’t be able to escape for a while."
...
In a blink.
Three days passed.
"Recovered almost fully."
Lu Chenzhou brimmed with Dragon Essence and Tiger Vigor.
"This Undying Body is really useful, but I still have to be careful in space. These seemingly deserted planets may hide many ancient secrets.
The lair of the tiger-jiao—I must never set foot there again until I reach the Heavenly Realm. The first time, the tiger-jiao didn’t know me and let me escape by luck. If it’s prepared for me again, it’s bound to have a way to capture me."
Lu Chenzhou stood up, opening the Eye of Calamity, only to see two faint threads of causality stretching deep into the starry sky.
"Excellent, they’re actually together."
He boarded the Aurora Palace, turned into a rainbow, and shot away.
...
On a small asteroid.
"Looks like we’re safe now. Let’s split up today; I prefer solitude," You Tong Demon Venerable said flatly.
"Same here. Hope you don’t forget you owe me your life," the Blood Vine Demon Emperor, likewise a solitary type, replied.
One master of curses, one skilled in cloning.
Only suitable for hiding in the shadows.
You Tong Demon Venerable tore open the void and vanished.
The Blood Vine Demon Emperor muttered to herself, "I need to break through to Demon Venerable soon. Then I won’t fear facing Lu Chenzhou alone."
Ten breaths later.
A beam of light fell to the earth.
The Blood Vine’s brow furrowed deeply.
"What’s wrong?"
The newcomer was none other than You Tong Demon Venerable, who had just left.
"Um, Lu Chenzhou is here again..."
"Vast starry skies, how did he find us? You Tong, did he place a tracking mark on you?"
"I really don’t know."
"Split up, don’t follow me."
"Don’t be naive. There’s no escape. If you want to live, work with me to take Lu Chenzhou down."
You Tong Demon Venerable’s face was resolute.
The Blood Vine Demon Emperor stopped.
She knew You Tong spoke sense.
Her red hair danced wildly, her eyes and brows fierce.
"Fine, this old girl will fight him with you!"
A Demon Venerable, a peak Demon Emperor.
Joining forces, they were not without their chances—but Lu Chenzhou’s survival abilities were so terrifying that Blood Vine Demon Emperor could not help developing the stereotype that he was unfightable.
The two demons stood side by side atop the stars.
Lightning crashed down.
In the dust, a white-robed figure descended wielding a long spear.
"So, what trump cards do you two have this time?"
Lu Chenzhou aimed his spear forward, tone flat.
The Blood Vine Demon Emperor sneered.
"Lu Chenzhou, don’t be cocky. This curtain won’t last long. We demons have plenty of ways to kill you."
"Below the Divine, all are ants. This universe is flawed, and none can become God. Lu Chenzhou, even if you become the new Four Emperors, you’re just a slightly bigger ant."
You Tong Demon Venerable mockingly added.
The Demon Race loses battles but not their pride.
As for surrender?
That word isn’t in the demon lexicon.
"Kill!"
The Blood Vine Demon Emperor waved a hand; the blood vines writhed, like thousands of poison snakes rushing at Lu Chenzhou.
Invisible ripples swept forth, the Dusk of the Gods descended. On the battlefield, a king wielded a Big Spear, hacking a path through the vines. Lu Chenzhou followed up, his spear slashing down.
The Blood Vine Demon Emperor was severed at the waist. She revealed her true form—a giant blood-red tree three thousand meters tall, its aerial roots snaking out from the earth, transforming into endless vines.
"Blood-colored Tree Realm!"
A vine domain, its diameter far more vast than many Demon Venerables’ domains, appeared and imprisoned Lu Chenzhou within.
"You Tong, do it!"
The Blood Vine Demon Emperor went all out.
You Tong Demon Venerable muttered incantations. His huge eyes ballooned like a bubble, then cracked open at the pupils, and a pair of pale jade-like hands with red nails stretched out from within.
Innate Divine Ability: Witch’s Touch.
The next moment.
Lu Chenzhou’s eyes also bulged freakishly; his pupils split. The red-nailed ghostly hands had somehow transferred onto his body.
"A curse killing divine ability that ignores defenses?"
The golden armor around Lu Chenzhou remained unbroken.
One strike later.
You Tong Demon Venerable’s aura withered.
Unable to maintain Demon Venerable Realm any longer.
But he burst into wild laughter.
"It actually worked."
His innate divine skill was to shift devastating curses carried within himself onto others through causality.
If the enemy’s cultivation was not higher than his, there was always a fifty percent chance of instant kill, their soul shattered.
If the enemy died, the curse would dissipate.
If not—the caster alone must bear the curse’s full brunt.
He too risked instant death.
This was gambling with one’s life!
You Tong Demon Venerable always thought he had terrible luck, so he’d never used this move on an enemy before.
This was the first time.
"It must work! I’ve already failed at curse killing twice. I don’t believe I’ll always be unlucky."
You Tong Demon Venerable was full of hope.
At the instant the curse hit, Lu Chenzhou felt as if half his foot had stepped into the Ghost Gate, his soul teetering on the brink.
"What an uncanny technique."
Lu Chenzhou stood upon a single-plank bridge.
Beneath the bridge, an endless abyss.
Countless ghost hands gripped his ankles.
They wailed, trying to drag Lu Chenzhou down.
Once he fell, he would be forever lost in reincarnation!
In front of him was a gold coin.
On the front, the word [Life].
On the back, [Death].
An invisible force yanked Lu Chenzhou’s arm, pressing him to toss the coin and decide his fate.
Lu Chenzhou refused—he didn’t believe anyone could decide his life or death with a simple coin toss!
He rebelled against this intangible law.
He could die on the battlefield.
But not in such a ridiculous way.
The pressure of that invisible rule only grew.
Lu Chenzhou wedged himself on that thin bridge.
Until, suddenly, that unseen law vanished.
Lu Chenzhou breathed a sigh of relief, at the same time feeling as if something had been lost in him; the Martial Arts Tree sent a notification.
It had completed its transformation.
[Low Class World Destiny -1]
In front of Lu Chenzhou, a shadowy humanoid was being dragged by endless ghost hands, pulled into the unfathomable abyss.
Within that figure: mountains and rivers.
"Is this the will of Hanhai World?"
Lu Chenzhou had a revelation.
The blessing of Hanhai World had allowed him to fend off the effect of the invisible law, shrugging off the curse.
"So this is how World Destiny works?"
Lu Chenzhou recalled Yaochi Immortal’s words.
Those blessed by World Destiny have good luck and can more easily escape in life-and-death calamities like the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations.
His eyes returned to normal.
At the same moment, he saw You Tong Demon Venerable standing there in a daze, whose eyes again split open, and from them a red-nailed spectral hand stretched forth.
"He’s been hit by curse backlash."
Curse killing seems fearsome, but the drawbacks are severe. That’s why, though the Great Wilderness Cultivation Method is vast, few ever study curses.
Those skilled in this path do not live long.
Same goes for divination techniques.
Next moment.
You Tong Demon Venerable’s expression twisted—half in terror, half in joy.
Terrified that Lu Chenzhou was truly blessed by fortune and even at the cost of his Demon Venerable Realm, his curse killing still failed.
But glad his own luck wasn’t bad either.
Heh, he’d dodged another tribulation.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, a miserable scream. The Blood Vine Demon Emperor abandoned her attack on Lu Chenzhou—on her giant tree trunk, a crimson-nailed ghost hand sprouted. Clearly, she was cursed.
Lu Chenzhou and You Tong Demon Venerable were both stunned.
The Blood Vine Demon Emperor demanded:
"You Tong, did you fucking curse kill me?!"
"What’s going on? Witch’s Touch only triggers twice at most. Both Lu Chenzhou and I were cursed... Logically, the curse should have dissipated. How did it transfer to you? Unless Lu Chenzhou wasn’t cursed?"
You Tong Demon Venerable was baffled.
He had clearly seen Lu Chenzhou get hit.
This boy actually found a way around curse rules?
"Save me!"
The Blood Vine Demon Emperor was in unbearable pain.
"I... I can’t save you."
You Tong Demon Venerable turned into rainbow light and fled, only to be chased down by Lu Chenzhou. A single peerless spear-flash shone across the stars. Not even being a Demon Venerable, how could he resist Lu Chenzhou?
You Tong Demon Venerable, dead!
Lu Chenzhou seized his soul and refined it instantly.
Delving into curses, he unexpectedly uncovered the power of the Causality Dao. Though the Dao Book recorded this path, even rating it top class, he’d never heard of any Great Powers mastering causality.
Causality, is just too difficult!
On the Martial Arts Tree.
The Causality Dao rose swiftly.
Reaching Entering Dao level in short order.
[Causality: Fourth Rank (21%)]
[Daoist Lord: ???]
"There’s actually a Causality Daoist Lord already."
Lu Chenzhou couldn’t guess who it was.
He only knew it was likely an Evil God.
After all, the Great Wilderness Gods were gone.
"Of all the Daos I cultivate—Severe Poison, Blood Moon, Causality—each has a Daoist Lord. It’ll be tough to master them."
Still, the road will reveal itself as you walk it.
Lu Chenzhou would never give up on the Causality Dao. It would help him cleanse the Human World of demons. The Demon Palace wanted to wage guerrilla war and play hide and seek with him; that was now futile.
Elsewhere.
The massive blood-red tree abruptly collapsed.
Soul destroyed, no trace remained.
Lu Chenzhou didn’t even have the chance to collect the soul.
The Blood Vine Demon Emperor—dead.
The giant tree withered to blood-colored ash.
A blood-hued diamond-shaped crystal dropped to the ground.
"What’s this?"
Lu Chenzhou asked the Artifact Spirit.
No one knew.
Lu Chenzhou stored the crystal, swept up the two demons’ spoils of war, and left in the Aurora Palace, tearing open the void behind him.
...
Eye of Truth.
Lord Toad and Blood Ancient God looked grim.
"You Tong is dead."
"Blood Vine is dead too."
The Witch opened his eyes.
"Lu Chenzhou’s doing, right?"
"Most likely. Lu Chenzhou seems to have some tracking method that locked onto You Tong’s location."
Lord Toad couldn’t figure it out.
The Witch spoke mildly:
"It’s possible he’s already mastered causality."
Lord Toad’s brows rose.
"Impossible! The difficulty of the Causality Dao is no less than your Ether Dao, not much easier than the World Dao.
Without a high-level mentor, most people never grasp causality their entire lives—let alone master its depths."
The Causality Dao was Lord Toad’s pride. Among the Evil Gods, he’d always felt superior because of this path. He couldn’t stomach a mortal grasping it.
The Witch said calmly:
"Lu Chenzhou is unimaginably perceptive—he can’t be measured by convention. Begin the second phase of the plan. Except for those hidden pieces, abandon the rest in Xia Realm."
Secretly, the Witch sighed.
With this round of the game in Xia Realm, he’d already lost half a piece.