Chapter 466: The Law-Equalizing Era

Faced with Wang Ping's urging, Teng Xian was completely baffled. 'He wants me to sense the dharma body path? Does he think I'm too heavily injured this time and my strength is too weak?'

'He's actually quite nice...'

It made sense. After all, this was the Heavenly Venerable of Equal Law and Dao Transformation, a famously perfect moral paragon in the post-Immortal Dao era of the Cosmos. Teng Xian had no reason not to trust him.

Especially given the current situation. His plan to kill the Heaven-Stealing Thief had fallen through, and for some unknown reason, he seemingly couldn't contact the Profound Law Bureau. Bai Er was missing. Since that was the case, he might as well build a good relationship with the Heavenly Venerable of Equal Law and Dao Transformation as a fallback.

Thinking of this, Teng Xian immediately bowed deeply.

"I shall respectfully follow your decree."

With that, under Wang Ping's slightly surprised gaze, he obediently sat down cross-legged and began sensing the dharma body path within the torrent of destiny.

'He's this obedient?'

Wang Ping stroked his chin. This certainly saved him a lot of effort, but "respectfully follow your decree"... that phrasing and attitude seemed a bit too reverent.

'Could it be that I become a major figure in the future?'

The next second, as Teng Xian established a connection with the dharma body path and began cultivating, Wang Ping immediately sensed a new change emerging within the Long River of Memory. Without delay, he looked toward Li and Zai on the other side and said in a deep voice, "Seniors, please wait a moment. This junior will be right back."

With that said, he closed his eyes.

The Long River of Memory!

His divine sense drifted, entering an empty void. In the unreachable distance, a boundless river closely resembling destiny surged forth.

With his hands behind his back, Wang Ping observed the Long River of Memory he had forged single-handedly. The memories of all dharma body path cultivators from across the living beings of the Cosmos converged like thousands of tributaries flowing into the sea. Ultimately, they manifested as this singular, straight torrent that flowed right beneath his feet.

Straight, without variation.

'It can't be helped. After all, memories can only cover the past and present, unable to touch the future. Therefore, the Long River of Memory has always lacked the variation of the future.'

For this reason, ever since he became a path opener, the Long River of Memory was the only Great Dao that Wang Ping had no solutions for, lacking even an idea of how to improve it.

But things were different now.

With Teng Xian's inclusion, memories from the future filled the greatest void in the Long River of Memory, and a torrent symbolizing the future visibly spread forth!

"It's still not enough."

Wang Ping's eyes shone. "Perhaps I should find a way to merge Xuanzhi's innate divine power into the Long River of Memory, granting it the ability of deduction."

Xuanzhi's innate divine power essentially deduced the future based on existing information. If the Long River of Memory could acquire that same profundity, it would certainly be able to spawn endless future tributaries just like destiny, bringing this Great Dao closer and closer to true time.

"Rumble!"

The river surged and waves splashed. Every drop of water reflected a clear memory scene. Wang Ping took a step forward and soon sank into the river.

Instantly, the scenery shifted rapidly.

Let me see—just what does this so-called anchored future look like!

...

Falling leaves brought a message.

At the other end of the Cosmos, the final ruin of the Great Rebellion, the Heaven Defiance Palace, was already shattered—the major Immortal Realms had vanished without a trace, and the Human Emperor was the first to lose his life.

Wherever he looked, Wang Ping saw a lifeless Cosmos.

Immediately after, he shifted his gaze and looked around. The vast majority of the surroundings were blurry and impossible to traverse, blocked by invisible walls of air.

'It is Teng Xian's memory, after all.'

The only relatively complete area without air walls was a gloomy, lightless cosmic region, teeming with countless pitch-black qi manifestations.

Wang Ping couldn't help but frown at the sight, because he was all too familiar with this kind of qi manifestation. He saw it almost every day within the Dao Tomb and had even borne it personally. 'The stale qi of a declining orthodoxy. What's going on? Could it be that the Ancient Cultivator Orthodoxy goes extinct in the future, and the Star Grave is completely detonated?'

This was not good news.

Soon, he spotted the owner of this memory. Within that gloomy region, a fragment of a palace was faintly visible, hovering and barely maintaining its glow.

Following that, Teng Xian stumbled out of the palace, his face brimming with excitement, wearing a peculiar dharma robe.

"Swish!"

A streak of light flashed. After rushing out of the palace, he sped all the way, quickly distancing himself from the gloomy region, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he entered a safe area of the Cosmos.

"I succeeded!"

"The ruins of the Heaven Defiance Palace. That one just now must have been in the seventh ring area. As expected, there are records inside stating that the Dao Venerable slaughtered in all directions here in the past..."

Without pausing, Teng Xian immediately took out a booklet and began writing furiously, while Wang Ping stood beside him, observing with great interest.

'It's Covered Lamp Fire...'

To be honest, he was somewhat surprised. He could clearly sense the qi manifestation of the fruit position he had transformed on Teng Xian's body. He was actually a fruit position cultivator?

'Does this mean my orthodoxy can spread openly in the future without worrying about being preemptively smothered by the Immortal Gate? Did I successfully achieve Truth Cultivation?'

Driven by curiosity, Wang Ping followed Teng Xian, watching him record in the booklet. He then lifted his divine sense again and entered other memory scenes. Watching one Teng Xian after another enter, exit, and walk through his memories, he soon summarized the life of this reborn cultivator.

Teng Xian was a very lucky person.

Regarding the Heaven Defiance Palace, the Immortal Gate had practically used the entire might of the Cosmos to explore it. From start to finish, they had thrown hundreds of Qi Refining practitioners inside, yet not a single one survived.

And the final great battle had caused a cosmic upheaval. This upheaval became the life tribulation for countless Tribulation Transcending Third Layer cultivators, and most of them died as well.

However, Heaven always leaves a path. There were always a few lucky cultivators who fortunately evaded the impact of the cosmic upheaval. Because they were in closed-door cultivation, they didn't participate in the battle at the Heaven Defiance Palace, allowing them to narrowly survive their life tribulation after the war and become Qi Refining practitioners—Teng Xian was one of them.

Yet his luck was also very bad.

The Twenty-Four Qi of Heaven and Earth were shattered by that great battle. The difficulty of Qi Refining drastically increased, and the Eight Trigrams became much harder to sense.

The Pinnacle Stations of heaven and earth disappeared one after another.

Of the originally expansive Three Enclosures of the Cosmos, shockingly, only the Supreme Palace Enclosure occupied by the Brahma Nation remained somewhat intact, free from large-scale collapse.

As for the remaining two Enclosures, the Heavenly Market Enclosure went without saying—the great battle took place right in that region, and the True Monarchs naturally fell there. The Purple Tenuity Enclosure fared no better. After the Ancient Cultivator Orthodoxy was annihilated, the Star Grave exploded, blowing away more than half of its territory into ruins.

The Heaven Defiance Palace was also thoroughly destroyed.

The Human Emperor fell, immortals emerged, and True Monarchs achieved liberation of the corpse... various rumors flew everywhere. A chaotic world following a Dao struggle thus appeared without any warning. Consequently, the Immortal Gate directly dissolved.

Of the original One Palace, Three Academies, and Eight Immortal Peaks, the One Palace directly secluded itself from the world, while the Three Academies and Eight Immortal Peaks chose to part ways, each occupying a corner of the Cosmos.

The Divine Weapon Courtyard occupied the area around the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

The Immortal Prescription Courtyard occupied the area around the Divine Farmer Cauldron.

The Protector Courtyard occupied the area around the God-Conferring Platform.

The Eight Immortal Peaks were also scattered everywhere. The original system completely disintegrated. Overnight, the lofty lords of the Immortal Gate turned into isolated, weak independent cultivators.

Teng Xian was naturally among them. Facing such a chaotic age, a minor figure like him could only go with the flow. His original Qi Refining master had perished early on inside the Heaven Defiance Palace. Fortunately, he had successfully reached Qi Refining, and the Profound Changes Immortal Peak didn't abandon him, bringing him along in their flight.

This was the darkest period for the Immortal Gate.

True Persons and True Monarchs were completely extinct. The Cosmos became entirely the revelry of the Brahma Nation, as the four great Wisdom Kings and various arhats preached everywhere, converting believers to join the Brahma Nation.

The Qi Refining method had seemingly reached the brink of obsolescence.

At this moment of peril, countless people headed to the original Immortal Realms of the major orthodoxies, pleading for the True Persons and True Monarchs to emerge, restore order to the Cosmos, and prop up the collapsing Immortal Dao.

Yet no one ever responded. The major Immortal Realms shut their gates tightly, remaining so silent it made people wonder if all the True Persons and True Monarchs were dead. The Immortal Dao seemed utterly devoid of hope.

That was until a Dao voice announcing itself to the Cosmos rang out.

To this day, Teng Xian could not forget that day. Five Phases, Dharma Body, and dharma power—three Great Daos hung high in the Cosmos, jointly illuminating a majestic silhouette.

"All of you should know of my grand merit that far surpasses our predecessors!"

Someone had stepped forward.

He called himself the Heavenly Being of Equal Law and Dao Transformation. Although he was merely a Daoist, his combat strength was terrifyingly high. In one-on-one combat, not a single arhat or Wisdom King could contend with him.

Two against one, he could turn the tables and kill them. Three against one, they were still no match for him. Five against one, they were still beaten until they fled in panic. Fighting bloody battles all the way, he was invincible.

The widespread dissemination of Five Phases, Dharma Body, and dharma power, especially the existence of the Dharma Body, swiftly filled the gap in cultivators at the Qi Refining Entering the Dao level caused by the Heaven Defiance Palace incident, finally giving the heavily injured Immortal Dao a chance to catch its breath.

After all, the Heavenly Being of Equal Law and Dao Transformation didn't just preach the Dao.

He also expounded the Dao.

Everywhere he went, he would set up a Dao altar. Whether one was at the Tribulation Transcending First Layer, Tribulation Transcending Third Layer, or even Qi Refining, he treated everyone equally while explaining the Great Dao.

With a superior cultivator selflessly willing to spend time personally elevating lower cultivators, the number of practitioners naturally began to surge. At first, most people cultivated the dharma body. Later, those with better talent cultivated dharma power, and eventually, a few truly outstanding genius cultivators proved the Five Phases fruit positions. Gradually, more and more people followed him.

Teng Xian was one of them.

Before this, he had been a scavenger, specializing in searching the ruins of the shattered Heaven Defiance Palace to look for accidentally preserved opportunities.

As for the location of the ruins, it was the region Wang Ping had just seen, filled with the stale qi of a declining orthodoxy, which in later generations was known as the Dark Sea.

It was formed by the backflow of stale qi from outer domains after the Ancient Cultivator Orthodoxy perished and the Star Grave exploded. Only the ruins of the Heaven Defiance Palace could barely survive within it. Although it was extremely dangerous, many people still continually risked their lives going there for the sake of opportunities and cultivation.

These people were the scavengers.

As a scavenger, Teng Xian's luck was also quite good. While the vast majority gained little, he actually picked up a precious legacy in the ruins.

The legacy came from an earth Yin Fire cultivator who, while alive, seemed to have once had a chance at Truth Cultivation. Unfortunately, he fell short at the final hurdle and ultimately perished in the Heaven Defiance Palace.

However, right before dying, he left behind many insights regarding earth Yin Fire. This precious opportunity later became the key to Teng Xian proving Covered Lamp Fire. Although this fruit position was completely different from the cosmic qi he mainly cultivated, the two surprisingly did not conflict and could perfectly coexist.

Unfortunately, his luck ended there.

After proving Covered Lamp Fire, his combat strength wasn't weak; he was considered a powerhouse even among Qi Refining practitioners. However, progressing further was almost impossible.

For the thirty fruit position masters, simply proving it immediately allowed them to reach First Layer Heaven Breaking, surpassing the vast majority of Qi Refining practitioners. Furthermore, as their mastery over the fruit position deepened, their combat strength would continuously rise, eventually stabilizing around Third Layer Heaven Breaking relying on the fruit position, which was equivalent to the weakest Qi Refining Third Layer. And this was limited to ordinary fruit positions.

Supreme fruit positions were a bit stronger; initial proving reached Third Layer Heaven Breaking, and at completion, it could reach Fifth Layer Heaven Breaking. However, to go any higher, one could only find ways to annex other fruit positions.

In the Cosmos of that time, this path was extremely prevalent.

Some cultivators, overly eager for success, hastily annexed three fruit positions to achieve Breaking Seven Layers. Although they lived freely for a time, their future path was severed, and by the end, it was too late for regrets.

There were also cultivators who worked painstakingly to gather the Five Phases and achieve Ninth Layer Heaven Breaking. Then, using the Five Phases fruit positions as a stepping stone, they proved an empty fruit position to sense the Five Phases, entrusting the empty fruit position into the Great Dao of Five Phases. Ultimately, they completed the resonance with the Five Phases and attained the Daoist realm.

The Immortal Dao seemed to flourish once more.

At the same time, it was also during this period that the Heavenly Being of Equal Law and Dao Transformation took another step forward, fighting an epic battle that silenced the entire Cosmos.

On that day, True Monarch Zhaoxuan Jinming returned, intending to swallow the Five Phases, devour the Dharma Body, and seize all dharma power, pushing the newly risen Immortal Dao to the brink of extinction.

Then the Heavenly Being of Equal Law and Dao Transformation made his move.

No one knew the details of the great battle. They only knew the final result—Fire-Earth Progress fell, and True Monarch Zhaoxuan Jinming was slain in the Cosmos.

From then on, everyone's title for this supreme almighty being changed.

He was no longer honored as a Heavenly Being, but as a Heavenly Venerable. Even the Brahma Nation surprisingly acknowledged this title without any refutation. The Heavenly Venerable of Equal Law and Dao Transformation!

To distinguish him from the bitch-born Heavenly Venerable who founded the Immortal Dao, most cultivators would slightly shorten this Dao title, calling him:

"Dao Venerable..."

Wang Ping gathered his thoughts, his consciousness withdrawing from Teng Xian's vast sea of half a lifetime of memories. He stroked his chin, falling into brief reflection.

'Is that me?'

The Heavenly Venerable of Equal Law and Dao Transformation had pioneered the Five Phases, the dharma body path, and the Dharma Power Dao, and had even spread the orthodoxy throughout the world. No matter how you looked at it, this seemed like his future self.

He then looked at Teng Xian in the memory once more.

Teng Xian had just finished writing in the book in his hands. He snapped it shut with a satisfied expression and looked toward a streak of light flying over from the distance.

"Brother Quan!"

Teng Xian laughed aloud and took the initiative to step forward. As the streak of light drew near, it swiftly dispersed, revealing a figure who unexpectedly possessed the combat power of Breaking Seven Layers.

More importantly, this was someone Wang Ping recognized.

"Quan Zhenhong..."

To think these two actually knew each other in the future, and their relationship was clearly quite good. Quan Zhenhong had specifically come to meet Teng Xian in case he ran into bandit cultivators.

The next second, Quan Zhenhong said in exasperation, "I say, you can't just call me out to act as your left and right protector every single time. Your aptitude is terrible and you're too lazy to cultivate, but I'm different. I already possess five fruit positions, and I've even mostly sorted out the concept for void-certifying."

"Really?"

Teng Xian was somewhat surprised. "That fast? Your talent isn't that good, is it? According to the Dao Venerable, your wisdom light is probably only a bit stronger than a monkey's..."

"It's still better than a monkey!"

Quan Zhenhong was clearly unconvinced. He sneered, "Someone like you, who sits at the same table as the dharma body path, looks no different from a cockroach. I'm the only one who can tolerate you."

"If it were the masters of other fruit positions, believe it or not, they'd chase you off before you even got close, terrified that your wisdom light would disgust them with its ugliness."

"Tsk!"

Teng Xian smacked his lips. "The Dao Venerable said that wisdom light discrimination is forbidden! You people are turning back the clock to the Immortal Gate's ways. The residual poison of the Immortal Gate has truly caused deep harm!"

"But you really are ugly," Quan Zhenhong said, spreading his hands.

"If your wisdom light wasn't so low, you wouldn't have wasted your time until now. Instead of cultivating hard, you've devoted yourself to studying history and tinkering with writing a biography for the Dao Venerable."

"What do you know!" Teng Xian shook his head, a look of longing appearing in his eyes. "The Dao Venerable achieved such monumental feats; how could no one record them?"

"Destiny is practically at a standstill now. The Dao Venerable achieved such great merit, yet there's no merit engraved in the Cosmos. Without records, tens of billions of years from now, he might be forgotten. Take that bitch-born Celestial Venerable who founded the Immortal Dao, for example—look at it now, can you still find any records about him?"

"What I must do is engrave the Dao Venerable's great deeds!"

By the end, a sense of mission even emerged in Teng Xian's eyes. "Moreover, I've certified Covered Lamp Fire. I have a unique advantage in this regard."

"I'm certain of it, this is the will of Heaven!"

"The will of Heaven?" Quan Zhenhong curled his lips upon hearing this. "I think it's just you being a lapdog."

Teng Xian felt no shame whatsoever at those words. Instead, he laughed. "So what if I'm a lapdog? That's the Dao Venerable! Being the Dao Venerable's lapdog is my honor."

"What does your stuff even count for?"

Quan Zhenhong looked completely disdainful. "Say what you want, but have you ever even met the Dao Venerable? This brings me back to when the Dao Venerable and I fought side by side..."

"Alright, alright, enough." Teng Xian immediately looked annoyed. "You've said this eight hundred times already. Didn't you just join forces with the young Dao Venerable to slay an ancient entity attached to you, successfully surviving your life tribulation and achieving Qi Refining Entering the Dao? Even if you aren't tired of saying it, I'm tired of hearing it."

"So what?"

Quan Zhenhong spoke righteously, "That was the young Dao Venerable! I joined forces with him to kill an enemy. When have you ever seen the invincible Dao Venerable join forces with anyone?"

"Give it a rest, 'joined forces.'" Teng Xian sneered. "In that battle, you were only at the Tribulation Transcending stage while the Dao Venerable was already at Qi Refining. How much effort could you have contributed? How much damage did you deal? Was it even ten percent?"

"That's none of your business."

Quan Zhenhong waved his hand dismissively. "I'm just asking if it was a joint effort or not. Even if I couldn't deal any damage, I still played a role in distracting the opponent."

The two of them chatted idly like this as they flew along on streaks of light. Wang Ping followed them, personally taking a tour through this so-called future era. Although it was completely incomparable to the Immortal Gate at its peak, it carried the vibrant energy of a world rebuilding from the ruins, possessing a bit more vitality than the Immortal Gate.

Soon, he arrived at the end of the memory.

Teng Xian and Quan Zhenhong stood shoulder to shoulder in the crowd. There were many other cultivators like them, all gathered around long-distance viewing formations.

Every formation gazed across the Cosmos, reflecting an indomitable figure that stood between heaven and earth.

He stood in the Cosmos.

His unfathomably vast and profound body reached up to the highest heavens and down into the netherworld. However, it lacked the ferocity of a True Monarch's profound body that made one unable to look directly at it; instead, it carried a sense of gentleness.

His towering face looked downward. Around him, a full thirty stars radiating five-colored light orbited in a ring, hanging behind his head. The resulting halo cast a dark shadow over his facial features, making his appearance indistinct, leaving only a suffocating sense of majesty.

Before him was a surging torrent.

Unlike the destiny that Wang Ping remembered, the future torrent of destiny was no longer raging; it was so dead and silent that it resembled a stagnant lake.

Suddenly, He moved.

An infinitely vast hand raised high and grasped toward destiny, as if aiming to uproot this creation of immortals from the depths of the Cosmos!

"It's starting..."

A clamor abruptly arose. Everyone stared intently at the scene reflected by the formations. With every passing second, supreme Dao attainments flowed into their seas of consciousness.

"Do you think the Dao Venerable has a chance of succeeding?"

Quan Zhenhong couldn't help but speak up, his tone apprehensive. "That's destiny, the foundation of the Immortal Dao for countless years. The Dao Venerable shouldn't be an immortal yet, right?"

"It won't be a problem!"

Teng Xian turned his head, his tone resolute. "Have faith first!"

This was not just his thought, but also the thought of the vast majority of cultivators present who had lived through the decline of the Immortal Dao and witnessed the Dao Venerable restore the Cosmos with their own eyes.

There was nothing the Dao Venerable couldn't do!

And the result—proved exactly that.

"Rumble!"

In the memory scene, the mighty figure's hand, which had reached deep into destiny, lifted once more. That boundlessly vast hand had been stripped of all flesh and skin, leaving only bone.

However, gripped tightly in his hand was a bright light. It was a part of destiny hidden in its deepest depths, the supreme profundity that had once constructed the life tribulation. Within the light were infinite transformations and boundless colors, yet it ultimately condensed into a streak of pure, unchanging white.

In an instant, an epiphany struck Teng Xian's heart.

It wasn't just him; Quan Zhenhong, and indeed every cultivator who saw that speck of pure white—even Wang Ping—naturally experienced an epiphany.

That was the variable.

In the next second, the impossibly majestic figure slowly placed that speck of pure white behind his head, as if he were hoisting an object of immense weight.

At the same time, the halo behind his head abruptly split. Of the thirty stars, one broke away, projecting a unique sense of presence.

"Earth on the Wall..."

Teng Xian's eyes widened as he muttered in a low voice. Of the five supreme Dao fruits, only Great Ocean Water had been certified by anyone thus far; the rest remained unowned.

"What is the Dao Venerable trying to do?"

At the same time, Wang Ping also raised his head to look at the figure in the memory scene. Others might not have understood, but he understood perfectly.

'He extracted a profundity from destiny called the variable, then merged it into Earth on the Wall, using the Dao fruit to bear it.'

This was only a stopgap measure.

Because the main body of destiny still existed, the variable had only been temporarily "borrowed" by some supreme Divine Power, which was why he needed to grip it so tightly.

'The moment he lets go, the variable will instantly return to the torrent of destiny, making it impossible to utilize. So, he chose to temporarily use a Dao fruit to bear it... A wise choice. Compared to the Dharma Body and dharma power, the Five Phases possess an orthodox status, making them far more suitable to bear the burden.'

Suddenly, heavenly light flared brilliantly.

The radiance of Earth on the Wall and the variable was kneaded together by the mighty figure's hands, and finally held three inches before his chest like a treasured artifact.

The profundity bloomed.

Grasp the Past and Present!

In an instant, the entire memory scene was dyed pure white. All sounds and sights receded into the brilliant light, swiftly vanishing into nothingness.

After an unknown amount of time, the white light gradually faded.

Teng Xian opened his eyes.

"Where is this...?"

Filled with endless astonishment, he flipped up and sat up on his bed. He looked around with his mouth wide open, completely submerged in disbelief.

Simultaneously, Wang Ping lowered his eyes.

'He was reborn.'

This was the profundity of Earth on the Wall, Grasp the Past and Present... the variable, altering cause and changing effect, capable of modifying the past in the truest sense, ignoring the restrictions of time...

As he thought about it, he suddenly gained enlightenment.

In his heart, the prototype of a brand new Dao fruit abruptly surfaced. It was none other than the Dao fruit demonstrated by the Heavenly Venerable of Equal Law and Dao Transformation in the memory scene.

Earth on the Wall!

'No, I don't understand... Which qi manifestation of Earth Qi possesses this level of mighty power? The first manifestation of Earth Qi shouldn't have anything to do with time.'

Wang Ping had some understanding of the first manifestation of Earth Qi. Previously, Chu Huaijing, an Earth Qi cultivator at Breaking Nine Layers, had demonstrated it once when he came to kill him. It was called Power Over Life and Death. It was undoubtedly an extremely domineering qi manifestation, but it had nothing to do with altering the past or the shifts of time.

"Rumble!"

The next second, the Earth on the Wall inside his sea of consciousness explosively shattered. Unlike Heaven Sky Fire, it failed to take shape, clearly missing a critical element.

'A pity...'

Gathering his thoughts, Wang Ping looked at Teng Xian again.

Meanwhile, Teng Xian seemed to have adjusted his mindset. Through the Long River of Memory, all of his thoughts were clearly displayed before Wang Ping's eyes.

In the early days of the Law-Equalizing Era, the Dao Venerable was actually quite flighty.

He would joke around with people during every sermon, and he wasn't afraid of causing offense. When battling against the Brahma Nation, curses would fly from his mouth frequently, casually insulting their families at the drop of a hat.

He didn't put on the airs of a mighty figure in the slightest.

However, the more glorious the Law-Equalizing Era became, the fewer smiles appeared on the Dao Venerable's face. His figure grew increasingly distant and elevated, appearing more and more lonely in everyone's eyes.

'The burden on the Dao Venerable's shoulders is too heavy.'

The Three Enclosures of the Cosmos were all pressed upon his shoulders: the Dark Sea eroding the Cosmos, the covetous Brahma Nation, and the Ancient Cultivators returning from the depths of time.

The Dao Venerable could shoulder it all.

Yet, if possible, Teng Xian felt he might be able to make the future even better, so that things wouldn't be so difficult for the Dao Venerable, sparing him from having to carry the entire Cosmos on his back.

Teng Xian firmly believed:

'I came here with a mission.'

What followed was a series of plans, including compiling future history, how to advance further, and how to delay the impending cosmic war...

Wang Ping opened his eyes.

His consciousness withdrew from the Long River of Memory. He stroked his chin thoughtfully, reviewing the reverence Teng Xian held in his heart for the Heavenly Venerable of Equal Law and Dao Transformation.

'Is that me?'

'Isn't that a bit too noble...? Then again, I am just that noble, a man entirely detached from vulgar tastes. It seems this future is perfectly fine.'

Wang Ping's harvest from ransacking Teng Xian's memories this time was incredibly massive. First, he had seen the future developmental direction of a supreme Dao fruit; although it lacked a crucial element, it was still better than having no clues at all. Second, he had obtained all the intelligence regarding the future that Teng Xian possessed.

Of course, the authenticity of the intelligence couldn't be guaranteed.

After all, Teng Xian was not a firsthand witness either. Most of it was pieced together when he gathered historical records in the future, and a significant portion of it consisted of unofficial history.

However, there was also a portion that was undeniably authentic history.

[Earth Qi steals destiny, the six qi return to the Cosmos once more]

[Wood Qi returns lifespan, the human position no longer drifts]

[Metal Qi opens the treasury, Immortal-Serving undergoes a martial liberation into the great void]

[Fire Qi undergoes nirvana, Radiant Qilin refines true gold through the Dao]

[Water Qi manifests clearly, Mingxing ascends to immortality and transforms]

Five major events would occur in succession within the three years following the opening of the Heaven Defiance Palace. The resulting cosmic war would ultimately shatter nearly more than half the Cosmos.

'I see. So this is the reason behind the Water Qi decree: Yuanjun's ascension... No, in all likelihood, she failed, which is why she wants to change the future.'

Thinking up to this point, Wang Ping let out a long sigh of relief.

With this intelligence, at the very least, there was no longer an information gap between him and the Water Qi faction. He could also use this to deduce and fathom their intentions.

'First, [Earth Qi steals destiny, the six qi return to the Cosmos once more].'

'The key to this incident lies with the Heaven-Stealing Thief. The result was his death, the ritual for Purging the Stale Qi of the Six Heavens being broken, and the Thirty Qi of Heaven and Earth being restored to completion.'

Among the five major events, only this one had sufficient information, because regarding it, Teng Xian had an eyewitness he could ask: Quan Zhenhong. That included the location and opening incantation of Jade Firmament Palace, which Quan Zhenhong had boasted to him about during their chats.

And according to what he said—

'Inside Jade Firmament Palace, there are actually three important items: two rituals and a true instrument. The true instrument is responsible for guarding the place.'

'Little Gan's opportunity also came from that true instrument.'

'The two rituals are Purging the Stale Qi of the Six Heavens and Upholding the Three Calamities Orthodox Law, while the true instrument is the Dao-proving artifact of the Heavenly Banner Pardoning True Monarch.'

'It's called the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Tome.'

Wang Ping understood tacitly. Upholding the Three Calamities Orthodox Law was likely the very thing Zai obsessed over, but historical records were not optimistic about it.

'After the incident, massive turmoil broke out in the Dao Tomb. The stale qi of a declining orthodoxy leaked out. Although it was quickly suppressed, the Ancient Cultivator Orthodoxy fell silent afterward, laying the groundwork for the explosion of the Star Grave in the future. From this, it can be seen that Zai most likely failed.'

It wasn't even just a failure.

'The stale qi of the orthodoxy leaked out of the Dao Tomb, most likely because there was no one left to bear the Heavenly Venerable True Mantra... In the worst-case scenario, Zai might have even been killed!'

Wang Ping's expression darkened slightly.

Clearly, this was not good news... Aside from this, three True Monarchs had taken action during this incident, and three extreme positions had emerged in the Cosmos.

Heaven-Water Dispute, Earth-Mountain Modesty, and Heaven-Lake Treading.

'Among them, Heaven-Water Dispute was aimed at the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Tome. This is the Dao-certifying true instrument of the Heavenly Banner Pardoning True Monarch, and the orthodox lineage of the Divine Firmament Five Thunders.'

'Whoever wields it wields the Divine Firmament Five Thunders. True Monarch Shuofang Hanyou likely wanted to refine it to fulfill his own merit.'

'As for Earth-Mountain Modesty, it was aimed at the ritual for Purging the Stale Qi of the Six Heavens, and Little Gan was the pawn he meticulously planted for this purpose. When the Great Rebellion completed the ritual for Purging the Stale Qi of the Six Heavens, they used a crucially important item. Compared to it, everything else was just scraps.'

That item was a drop of blood.

Immortal blood!

'This drop of blood originated from that immortal deep within the Heaven Defiance Palace, and Little Gan is the entity born years later from the interaction between this blood and heaven and earth.'

'So strictly speaking, Little Gan and this drop of immortal blood share the same origin, which means he is the only one who can extract this drop of blood from the ritual!'

And once it lost the immortal blood, the ritual for Purging the Stale Qi of the Six Heavens would automatically shatter. The return of the six qi was just the result of the event, not the goal of the Earth Qi. At the very least, that Earth-Mountain Modesty's true intention was to seize the immortal blood within the ritual. Perhaps it was related to his path to immortality?

Unfortunately, Teng Xian had no way of knowing this detail.

Or rather, the fact that he knew this much intel was already due to Quan Zhenhong, an eyewitness, recounting his experiences. It could be considered heaven-sent luck.

In comparison, there was much less intelligence regarding the remaining four events.

'Second, [Wood Qi returns lifespan, the human position no longer drifts].'

'In this incident, Xianfu suddenly rose to prominence and certified the newly emerged Cavern Abyss Pure Profound Dragon Thunder Water Directorate Divine Position, only to perish bizarrely just three days later.'

During this period, a full five extreme positions of heaven and earth—Thunder-Wind Constancy, Wind-Thunder Increase, Earth-Mountain Modesty, Lake-Mountain Influence, and Earth-Thunder Return—manifested in the world. They seemed to be wrestling with each other, or perhaps offering support. But in the end, Xianfu died, and the extreme positions successively retreated, as if they had never appeared.

'Third, [Metal Qi opens the treasury, Immortal-Serving undergoes a martial liberation into the great void].'

This event was even more ambiguous. There were almost no historical details, and all eyewitnesses died. Only outside observers saw the result of this great battle.

'Fire-Heaven Great Possession, Fire-Lake Opposition, Fire-Mountain Wanderer, Heaven-Lake Treading, Heaven-Mountain Retreat, and Lake-Thunder Following. Six extreme positions of heaven and earth emerged because of this.'

'In the end, Heaven-Lake Treading shattered, and Fire-Lake Opposition was buried along with it. A supreme immortal artifact supposedly emerged from within the Hundred Treasures Great Abundance Granary, but it quickly hid itself away... Furthermore, there seemed to be some foul play, namely that Heaven-Mountain Retreat and Lake-Thunder Following did not appear right at the start.'

They had delayed for a period of time.

And during that time, it was Heaven-Lake Treading alone fighting against the three extreme positions of Fire-Heaven Great Possession, Fire-Lake Opposition, and Fire-Mountain Wanderer without falling.

'The waters here are probably very deep.'

Wang Ping lowered his eyelids. Judging from the results, the one wielding Heaven-Lake Treading should be Tianxing's father, the Immortal-Serving Orthodoxy-Treading True Monarch.

This True Monarch died suddenly.

Mingyou and Tianxing's fates could well be imagined. They certainly couldn't have met a good end, and most likely were buried alongside the True Monarch. Truly a pair of ill-fated lovers.

'Fourth, [Fire Qi undergoes nirvana, Radiant Qilin refines true gold through the Dao].'

Teng Xian didn't understand this event. He had only seen this sentence in the ruins of the Heaven Defiance Palace, originating from the Earthly Yin Fire inheritance he had obtained.

However, Wang Ping had his guesses: 'It's that Heavenly Wheel Radiant Qilin Saint King. Fire-Heaven Great Possession is precisely the extreme position of heaven and earth he controls. Did he revive? Earlier, during the third event, Fire-Heaven Great Possession also appeared. Was it him who took the lead and killed the Immortal-Serving Orthodoxy-Treading True Monarch?'

'Refining true gold through the Dao...'

Could this true gold be referring to Heaven-Lake Treading?

Wang Ping silently memorized the relevant intelligence, then looked at the final record: "Fifth, [Water Qi manifests clearly, Mingxing ascends to immortality and transforms]."

There was absolutely no basis for this event anymore. The reason Teng Xian listed it in true history instead of arbitrarily fabricated unofficial history was actually very simple.

Because during a sermon, when asked about the results of the Heaven Defiance Palace incident, the Heavenly Venerable of Equal Law and Dao Transformation had muttered this as a low sigh.

'I understand.'

After sorting through all of his gains this time, Wang Ping completely cleared his train of thought. 'Excluding the last one, the other four perfectly correspond to the decree of the Water Qi.'

'That's right, it's the decree of the Water Qi, not Yuanjun.'

In the first event, [Earth Qi steals destiny, the six qi return to the Cosmos once more], the only one to show up at the end was Heaven-Water Dispute. Neither Water-Heaven Waiting nor Yuanjun made a move.

Thinking back to his previous encounter in the Deity Transformation Realm, the mission to protect the ritual for Purging the Stale Qi of the Six Heavens was actually just the one-sided claim of True Monarch Shuofang Hanyou. He couldn't represent that Water-Heaven Waiting True Monarch or Yuanjun. What truly prompted Yuanjun to personally issue a decree were the last two events.

[Metal Qi opens the treasury, Immortal-Serving undergoes a martial liberation into the great void].

[Fire Qi undergoes nirvana, Radiant Qilin refines true gold through the Dao].

'At its core, the key should all lie with the Heavenly Wheel Radiant Qilin Saint King. This is where Yuanjun's interests lie, and this is what she wants me to do.'

Thinking up to this point, Wang Ping felt a sudden enlightenment.

'In other words, even if I destroy the ritual for Purging the Stale Qi of the Six Heavens, the only one who might truly make things difficult for me is True Monarch Shuofang Hanyou.'

It wouldn't go as far as falling out completely with Yuanjun.

Now that was a good thing!

After all, Yuanjun was a suspected quasi-immortal in Li's words. Compared to her, True Monarch Shuofang Hanyou, who had only recently certified his Dao, was undoubtedly much easier to deal with.

With this in mind, Wang Ping had already made his decision.

"Senior Zai."

Wang Ping stood up and said solemnly, "Regarding the cooperation with the Profound Law Bureau, I can agree to it, but don't be in a rush to set out. Wait for me to send you a message."

He needed to head to the Heaven Defiance Palace immediately!

'I need to meet with Little Gan first.'

He possessed too much intelligence. He had to touch base with the Heaven-Stealing Thief first before taking action to change the future in Teng Xian's memories. 'Although for me, it would be best if the ritual for Purging the Stale Qi of the Six Heavens shatters, that doesn't mean I have to sit back and watch the future unfold. The major trends cannot be changed, but the minor ones can... At the very least, there should be hope in saving Little Gan's life, and I can't let the Earth Qi's plan to seize the immortal blood succeed either.'

As for how to meet Little Gan, that wasn't difficult either.

Although Little Gan had taken away all of Teng Xian's memories regarding the location and opening incantation of Jade Firmament Palace, he still had another path he could take.

Quan Zhenhong!

'He's going to Jade Firmament Palace to seek opportunities. I can just follow the flow and hitch a ride.'

For Wang Ping, although that so-called Heavenly Venerable of Equal Law and Dao Transformation in the anchored future was very appealing—with him having already become the number one person in the Cosmos.

He did not intend to just follow this future.

Because too many people died. Little Gan died, Xianfu died, Yuanjun died, and the Ancient Cultivator Orthodoxy perished... This was absolutely not the result Wang Ping wanted to see.

Therefore, he planned to change it.

Admittedly, the future as the Heavenly Venerable of Equal Law and Dao Transformation might be an easy path. If he truly anchored it, he could certify his Dao without having to do anything at all.

However—

'If I have to sacrifice the Cosmos for it, I disdain to do it.' Wang Ping closed his eyes, hiding the myriad of thoughts surging in his heart. There was doubt, and there was struggle, but in the end, it all turned into firm resolve:

'At least in this incident, the stale qi of the Six Heavens will return, I will save Little Gan, and I will push Senior Zai to become a Dao Lord.'

'I want it all!'

With this very life, he would forge the most perfect ending!

As for whether doing so would affect the anchored future... It didn't matter. Even without any anchoring, he could still reach the absolute peak in the future!