Chapter 960 - 955: The Return Is Now!

Chapter 960: Chapter 955: The Return Is Now!

Leaving the karmic link scene.

The second after he left, he saw the karmic link scene of his meeting with Bhagavat suddenly burst and vanish like a phantom bubble. All karmic links were severed, leaving no trace behind.

In that instant, an epiphany arose in Lü Yang’s heart. "He was waiting for me... Bhagavat had actually anticipated long ago that I would use the Time Shifting Device to see him one more time. That’s why he intentionally preserved this karmic link scene until after we met, only to completely slash his presence afterward. Now, even if I wanted to see him again and returned to that point in time, I wouldn’t be able to see a single thing... And this is just Bhagavat. How do these Masters of Dao all have so many tricks up their sleeves?"

Lü Yang couldn’t help but scratch his head.

"Five thousand years ago? I remember Ang Xiao saying that it was the point in time for Bhagavat’s Attainment. It could be called the greatest Change Cause and Effect in history. That statement does make sense. Bhagavat’s Attainment clearly received the approval of every Master of Dao. By using his karmic links to move secretly, no one would notice a tiny ant like me..."

Thinking of this, Lü Yang suddenly felt a jolt of shock. "On second thought, isn’t this too much of a coincidence? The greatest Change Cause and Effect in history is also the biggest flaw left on the Great Net of Karma Links. Anyone could use this opportunity to secretly cause trouble. Could Bhagavat have left this intentionally? The foundation of my Plan for the Collapse of the Other Shore is the Fruit of Rampart Earth. But besides me, is there really no one else who can use this move?"

Of course there was! Bhagavat himself, for instance.

"Not to mention anything else, if Bhagavat could use the Fruit of Rampart Earth as the core to complete the Earthly Buddha Country and achieve Fake Holding Nascent Soul, he could definitely do this too!" Lü Yang thought. "The Plan for the Collapse of the Other Shore... Bhagavat actually has hope of accomplishing what I can do... Damn it, could this have originally been one of Bhagavat’s plans, but I just beat him to it? It’s not impossible! The spiel Bhagavat just gave didn’t seem like something he came up with on the spot at all."

It was clearly premeditated!

"Looking at it this way, even though the Saint Sect Ancestral Master holds something over him and he is considered the weakest among the Masters of Dao, Bhagavat obviously has no intention of being a sitting duck. He also has plenty of tricks up his sleeve!"

Lü Yang wasn’t actually surprised by this. After all, the underlying logic of this Broken Place was just like that: to stay alive, you damn well needed to have some tricks to show! And they had to be major ones. Rigidly adhering to the old ways and only knowing how to bury oneself in cultivation was the ancient style. As for what the ultimate fate of the ancient style was, one only needed to look at that group of True Monarchs of Magical Power from the Star Palace.

"Never mind," Lü Yang said, checking his condition. His Spiritual perception was nearly depleted, and his Mana was mostly drained. Fortunately, the goals of this karmic links journey had been fulfilled.

"But that’s the limit. The Time Shifting Device has neither an Ascension Ceremony nor the corresponding Fruit Arcana. Therefore, the Time it can rewind is very limited. It at least can’t go back five thousand years, nor can it change massive karmic links. Its power, to be frank, is just so-so. I still have to rely on myself!"

With that thought, Lü Yang immediately activated the Time Shifting Device. Protected by boundless multicolored light, his consciousness returned to the Current World, withdrawing from the Great Net of Karma Links.

Inside the Nourishing Life Master.

As the multicolored light retracted, Lü Yang’s figure reappeared. He opened his eyes, and wherever his gaze fell, a flash of Thunderbolt Lightning seemed to tear across the void. The next second, he looked out at the Current World, revealing a look of exhilaration. "The time is now!"

...

The Netherworld, Enlightenment Hidden Profound Mansion.

Ang Xiao stood with his hands behind his back. His narrow eyes, the only part of him not obscured by smoke, narrowed slightly as he thoughtfully appraised the Celestial Mansion battlefield.

The Time Lü Yang spent traversing the karmic links had been entirely buried within the karmic links themselves. In the Current World, he had only just endured the Spell Killing of the Life-Buying Money. To escape further Spell Killings from the Taiyin Immortal Venerable, he had plunged directly into the Celestial Human Residual Consciousness, narrowly escaping with his life. From start to finish, not even the time it takes for an incense stick to burn had passed.

"Interesting," Ang Xiao murmured with keen interest. Slowly stepping forward, he walked out of the mansion and arrived directly in front of the Ghost Gate. Then, he raised his hand, curled his fingers, and gave a light knock.

BOOM!

A dull, thunderous blast instantly exploded across the Ghost Gate. The gate, which originally only accepted Souls, now shockingly threw its doors wide open for him!

If Lü Yang were here, he would undoubtedly be immensely astounded. This was because Ang Xiao’s Attainment in this life was vastly different from his Previous Life. In his Previous Life, Ang Xiao had to fight off a horde of experts alone and expand the Netherworld across the entire Void Sea of Light just to earn the opportunity to step into the Netherworld.

But this life was different. Ang Xiao completely ignored the Current World. He didn’t even manifest his form in the Current World; he simply walked into the Ghost Gate in the most unremarkable manner. He faced no obstacles.

Expanding the Netherworld had been a choice his Previous Life was forced to make after stepping out of the Netherworld, being rejected by it, and suffering a severe drop in strength. But now, he was at the unquestionable Peak of his life—why would he need to expand the Netherworld? Even if he swaggered into the Netherworld so blatantly, the Netherworld wouldn’t be able to detect him! As the Veil of the Trees spread, the Netherworld even treated him as a member of the Dead Spirits, showing no resistance whatsoever.

At the same time, Ang Xiao’s Qi trace was climbing.

Fruit of Pewter Metal, Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire, Fruit of Long-Flow Water, Fruit of Sand-Within Earth, and Fruit of Great-Forest Wood—the Five Elements Fruit Positions transformed into a five-colored halo behind his head. Beneath his feet, a Great Dao slowly emerged.

Five Elements Perfection, Void Test Dao!

In this field, Ang Xiao had undoubtedly gone much further than the Taiyin Immortal Venerable. At the very least, his completion level of Curved and Straight far surpassed Collective Gold. When the two combined, it became the Extreme Dao! Beneath Golden Core Perfection lay the absolute limit of the Great Dao within the Void Sea of Light. In that distant Golden Era, even the current Masters of Dao were merely at this Realm!

"Fascinating," Ang Xiao murmured, pacing within the Netherworld as he pondered in his heart. "My karmic links were altered. So that’s what that inexplicable emotion was back then. Someone is using the Fruit of Rampart Earth to Change Cause and Effect."

By now, that piece of the past had already been converted into Forbidden Knowledge. Although it was very faint and could at most cause a Qi Refiner’s thoughts to stagnate, a Perfected Person at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment could withstand it. Yet, no matter what, its core nature remained a "taboo."

Being able to achieve this was also a display of strength. After all, in this Broken Place, failing to produce even a shred of Forbidden Knowledge only proved that you had no tricks to show.

"Let me see." Ang Xiao didn’t rush to have Curved and Straight Swallow the other Five Elements Fruit Positions to assault the Netherworld’s core. Instead, he stopped halfway, waiting leisurely. "Master of Tribulation... His Fruit of Rampart Earth Fruit Arcana still needs the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire. I’ve already drawn their attention for him; the rest is up to him. As someone capable of making Bhagavat place a piece on the board, he should be able to put on a good show for me."

He knew very well that if he continued, he would inevitably fail. "The Netherworld has a master. If I want Attainment, I still need a breakthrough point... Immortal Monarch of Tribulation, what will you do? Let me see what kind of monumental feat you can achieve."

With this thought, Ang Xiao looked up.

Almost simultaneously, inside the Nourishing Life Master, Lü Yang abruptly sensed something. A trace of solemnity surfaced on his face. "It’s here... Even earlier than expected!"

RUMBLE!

At this moment, above the Sea of Suffering, an Intention descended from an infinitely lofty domain. It was impressively the gaze cast down from the Other Shore by a Master of Dao! Wherever the gaze reached, All Phenomena fell dead silent.

In the Previous Life, the Masters of Dao had waited until Ang Xiao attacked the Netherworld’s core before making a move. However, in this life, they had actually struck early!