Chapter 411: The Ancient and Modern Recorder (22)

The Secluded Depths consisted of eighteen layers, and each layer was ruled by a Lord.

Every one of those Lords possessed the terrifying power to sweep across countless realms and was known as a Scourge among calamities.

Even an existence as fearsome as the Dark Night Emperor Lord, one of the few supreme experts across the heavens who had hope of becoming an Immortal, had only managed to fight a single Lord of the Secluded Depths to mutual destruction.

Within the profound dimensions, a towering shadowy figure overlooked the mortal world. Countless dried black points surrounded that shadow—they were withered universes reduced to insignificant dust.

In an instant, all light was swallowed.

The towering figure looked toward the bronze mask floating in the boundless black night. Though everything here was shrouded in deep darkness, a thin membrane formed of gathered light still clung to the surface of the mask.

"That is… the Lord of No Light, one of the top five among the eighteen Kings of the Secluded Depths!"

The descendants of the Dark Night Emperor Lord, who had entered the depths, trembled violently.

The mask had actually drawn the attention of such a terrifying existence.

The Lord of No Light was an opponent even their ancestor, the Dark Night Emperor Lord, would have treated with extreme caution in his prime.

At that moment, the evolution within the mask had not stopped. One peerless existence after another was manifested. Countless rays of light pierced the darkness. Those rays extended and interwove into the karma of all living beings. Far too many eras had passed since Su Chen first carved the mask. The bronze mask of old was no longer a pure mask; it had become an object interwoven with the karma of the carriers of all beings.

"So it was true after all…"

A murmuring voice echoed between heaven and earth. The mask suddenly transformed into a figure—the very Emperor Lord who had once refined Ran Tianxia.

"No…"

Before he could react, the surging torrent of history crushed over him and his body shattered at once.

This sudden change caught the descendants of the Dark Night Emperor Lord completely off guard.

Time and space seemed to freeze.

They could still think, yet their bodies could not move.

"That… that is our ancestor?"

As countless figures appeared one after another, the final silhouette to emerge from the mask was none other than the long-fallen Dark Night Emperor Lord.

The descendants of the Dark Night Emperor Lord were filled with excitement.

Was their ancestor about to revive?

The boundless pupils of the Lord of No Light, which contained myriad universes, suddenly contracted.

The figure of the Dark Night Emperor Lord also turned into golden sand and scattered as though blown away by a gust of wind.

Within the interwoven karma of those countless figures, something unexpected coalesced… an egg?

A figure was gestating inside that egg. Upon its face sat the strange bronze mask.

Its body continuously flowed and reformed, constructed from the interwoven karma of the myriad beings. Its existence seemed to lie outside this time and space, suspended between void and reality.

At that very moment, a low murmur sounded within the empty void of time and space.

"It succeeded? In the end, the one who seized the dominant position within the collective consciousness of all beings was still me."

In essence, Su Chen was already dead. He had died long ago in the Heavenly Origin Sect. Yet he had not immediately returned to the Reverse Fate Space.

With this mask, Su Chen had made certain arrangements. Though he possessed no cultivation at the time, laying down a guiding formation was not difficult. Because of that formation, after each wearer's death, a wisp of consciousness would remain within the mask, generation after generation…

Until the mask completely transformed into a product that witnessed karma, stained with the aura of cause and effect, and became immortal through the long river of years.

It had been a dangerous gambit. Across countless ages, the slightest mishap would have destroyed the mask. After experiencing countless wearers, if Su Chen's consciousness had not remained firm enough, he would have failed to seize the dominant position within the karma of all beings and return. Instead, he would have become nothing more than a wedding garment for others.

Su Chen could not afford to fail. This was his final hope. Fortunately, he succeeded.

Across the heavens, the Great Dao, karma, and fate stood supreme. What Su Chen sought was karma. At this moment, his destiny had already taken root in the long river of years of this spacetime. By stealing the power of karma, he became rootless and formless. As long as he did not actively expose himself, even an Immortal King would find it difficult to deduce his past.

Su Chen understood that relying solely on his own strength in this life to walk another path to Immortality would be far too difficult.

Therefore…He used the power of all living beings to seize the position of karma!

Looking at the countless threads of light that covered the golden figure like extending vines, fear actually appeared in the eyes of the Lord of No Light.

A True Immortal of the Karma Position! He had actually witnessed the birth of a True Immortal!

Su Chen glanced at the Lord of No Light, then looked down at the descendants of the Dark Night Emperor Lord below. He immediately understood what had happened.

Su Chen had no interest in taking action. As he vanished, everything seemed to return to silence.

Only after confirming that Su Chen had completely disappeared did the enormous body of the Lord of No Light slowly sink into a dimensional rift. The originally quiet Secluded Depths became even quieter, without the slightest sound.

Had Su Chen left? He had not.

Within a long, flowing river, he stood upon its surface. Countless lines of karma interwove and filled the space, finally transforming in his hands into a book of extreme antiquity that at first glance resembled the Reverse Fate Scripture.

This was not the Reverse Fate Scripture.

For a True Immortal of the Karma Dao to grow stronger required a different "source" from that of other True Immortals. The path Su Chen walked demanded that he record all living beings, record True Immortals, and even Immortal Kings… record the causes of their deaths. If they died completely and never returned, existing only within the Book of Karma, then Su Chen could obtain a portion of the "fruit."

Countless "fruits" gathered together would form a towering tree. If on that day he was not killed, he might one day prove the Dao of an Immortal King.

Time, to Su Chen, was merely a number. He began to walk the world.

Whenever a major historical event occurred that would influence the direction of the myriad realms of this spacetime, a figure wearing a mask and holding the Book of Karma would appear as if by destiny.

He took part in no conflicts and altered no history.

All he did was record that stretch of history.

With another cycle of eras, chaos erupted once more.

The Lords of the Secluded Depths poured forth in full force.

Yet in this era, they were mistaken. At the end of this era, an extraordinary figure was born.

A giant who stood between heaven and earth casually tore Emperor Lords apart with his bare hands. His strength had long surpassed all limits.

The Lord of No Light was filled with unwilling rage.

Yet… he was about to die.

In the unseen, he saw that behind the terrifying giant appeared a familiar bronze mask. The masked figure held a book in his hands.

The consciousness of the Lord of No Light completely dissipated.