Chapter 1037: Shura

The Lun Dao Tian Yi ceased its rotation.

Purple-black, corrupted causal force seeped from the demon embryo's palm into the Lun Dao Tian Yi, altering its internal causal laws.

The demonic force spread.

But in the next instant, an ancient power surged forth from within the Lun Dao Tian Yi.

Pure white, like jade, heavenly mechanism sword qi began to strangle the purple-black demonic causal force.

The Lun Dao Tian Yi began slowly rotating again.

Within the poppy chains, the demon embryo's face was deformed, cold and cruel.

Its bloody palms desperately gripped the Lun Dao Tian Yi, trying to halt its rotation.

The Lun Dao Tian Yi's rotation soon slowed again.

Yet the ancient core power of Lun Dao Mountain remained strong, steadfastly fulfilling its predetermined causal laws.

The demon embryo extended another palm and pressed it upon the Tian Yi.

Stronger demonic causal force coiled around the Lun Dao Tian Yi.

The Lun Dao Tian Yi seemed trapped in a mire of demonic paths, turning even slower—but in the next instant, its internal causal patterns, like mysterious array runes, trembled violently, unleashing a vast, pure heavenly mechanism force that spread outward, continuing to strangle the fallen demonic power.

This ancient heavenly mechanism treasure resisted all external forces.

Not even the demon god's embryo.

The demon embryo's hands, like corrupted infants, were ground to bloody pulp by the causal force of the Lun Dao Tian Yi.

The demon embryo's face twisted into rage, fury, and contortion.

It was the demon embryo closest to the demon god's origin.

But the demon embryo was still merely a demon embryo—a rudimentary form, a nascent seed, born at the dawn of the demon god's manifestation, lacking the full power of the demon god in its prime.

It must rely on slaughter, bloodshed, fear, despair, and humanity's vile, corrupt desires to coalesce into a physical form and be reborn.

Before that, it could not break through the heavenly mechanism seals laid by powerful cultivators.

All it could do was slow the Lun Dao Tian Yi's rotation, yet it could not alter the predetermined outcome.

The demon embryo's expression turned blank, and slowly closed its eyes.

It was calling its "believers."

Humans are greedy.

Human nature is corrupt.

The seals humans set can only be broken by "humans."

Soon, its call received devout responses; the demon embryo opened its eyes, its gaze cold, tinged with mockery.

The surrounding void cracked open once more.

A thread of golden causal force, tainted with demonic energy, spread again, coiling around the Lun Dao Tian Yi.

This golden causal force was a supreme heavenly mechanism art, entwining the Lun Dao Tian Yi.

And this was not all.

Soon, another rift in the void opened.

A strand of deep blue causal force also spread forth.

Yet this thread of causal force carried an extremely complex aura: human, demonic, and a faint crimson "corpse" aura.

Impossible to tell whether it was human or ghost.

The golden and blue causal forces were the strongest.

In addition, several weaker, more chaotic causal calculations oozed through the void torn open by the demon embryo, like vines, creeping toward the Lun Dao Tian Yi.

The Lun Dao Tian Yi was tightly bound by these dense, corrupted causal forces.

Its rotation visibly slowed, then slowed further.

Finally, it came to a complete halt.

The demon embryo, through its own power and that of its minions, had halted the operation of the Lun Dao Mountain's treasure, the Lun Dao Tian Yi.

Next, the demon embryo's purple-black hands began to turn the Lun Dao Tian Yi backward.

It sought to reverse causality, rewrite the laws.

The tainted golden causal force and the corrupted blue causal force resembled tree roots.

The other myriad causal forces resembled branches and leaves.

All these powers converged densely, jointly suppressing the Lun Dao Tian Yi, creating an opening for the demon embryo.

The Lun Dao Tian Yi was indeed suppressed.

But it was the ancestral treasure of Lun Dao Mountain, its internal causality eternal—capable of being restrained, yet incapable of being reversed or altered.

No matter how strong the demon god's causal force, it could not reverse the Tian Yi.

The situation stalled.

The mixed demonic forces and the pure white, like jade, Tian Yi force locked in a struggle, evenly matched.

For a time, neither could overcome the other.

The demon embryo raged, its purple-black, bloody hands pounding and tearing at the Lun Dao Tian Yi—but to no avail.

The Lun Dao Tian Yi remained utterly unmoved.

In this delicate balance,

beside the Floating Sky Peak of Lun Dao Mountain,

in the dead of night, atop the towering Sword-Observation Tower piercing the starry sky, a faint, imperceptible aura emerged.

This aura was like a single star in the heavens, infinitely profound.

Yet it had no form, no trace, no color.

Coming suddenly and arriving in an instant, it fused the Law of Cause and Effect directly during the struggle between the Evil Embryo and the Discourse Celestial Apparatus, seeping into the core of the Discourse Celestial Apparatus.

No one noticed.

The balance was shattered.

The Discourse Celestial Apparatus "surrendered."

The powerful aura of the Evil Embryo began to gain the upper hand.

The power of the Evil God's minions began to run rampant.

The causal structure of the Discourse Celestial Apparatus began to reverse.

One by one, the edicts were corrupted by evil force, and cause and effect were slowly rewritten…

Within the poppy chains, the Evil Embryo revealed a grotesque and cruel smile…

……

All of this occurred within the Realm of Cause and Effect, heavily concealed by Liao Zheyan.

Aside from those directly involved, nearly no one in Qianxue Province knew.

Only Mo Hua suddenly felt a chill run through his bones.

He seemed to see a grotesque face smiling at him.

That face was hideous—purple and black, like a stillborn fetus, radiating evil, monstrous and terrifying, brimming with hatred and greed for the mortal world.

That grotesque face interrupted Mo Hua's focused contemplation.

Mo Hua frowned.

"What's happening?"

Yet he could not imagine what could possibly be happening…

His mastery of cause and effect was far too shallow to interfere in the contest of wills above the Void.

All he had was a sharp intuitive sense of cause and effect.

And a faint resonance, stemming from his shared origin with the Evil Embryo.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"Forget it. None of my concern. I only need to focus on the Sword Discourse…"

Qianxue Province has so many affairs—how could a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator like him worry about them all?

If the sky falls, the taller ones will hold it up.

He was not the tallest among them.

In fact, he was likely the shortest of them all.

Mo Hua calmed his mind and resumed contemplating the arrangements for the Tian-character Sword Discourse.

Though the odds of victory now seemed vanishingly low, he must prepare thoroughly to seize even the slimmest chance.

After all, his master's life hung before his eyes.

Yet Mo Hua could not concentrate.

Somewhere in the depths of his being, he sensed something.

That grotesque, evil smile kept surfacing in his mind, interrupting his thoughts.

It seemed He had accomplished something—and was immensely pleased.

Mo Hua grew annoyed.

"Still smiling?"

Mo Hua scowled and muttered under his breath, "If you smile again, I'll take you in…"

Whether Mo Hua's "threat" worked and the Evil Embryo sensed danger,

or whether it was simply time—the Evil Embryo retreated again.

That grotesque face dared not smile before Mo Hua again.

Mo Hua nodded, then focused entirely once more on the Sword Discourse…

……

Night passed, the sun rose, the morning glow bright. On the surface, all was calm.

In the Discourse Mountain.

The elder representatives of the Si Sect and the Eight Gates gathered before the Discourse Celestial Apparatus, reviewing the list it had projected.

This list was for the final Dizi Sword Discourse.

For some sects, such as the Grand Void Gate,

the outcome of the Dizi Discourse was already settled; the result of this final match mattered little—who they faced made no difference, so they paid it little mind.

But some sects remained tense.

Their battles were fiercely contested, rankings tightly clung to; a single victory or defeat determined their rise or fall.

The elders of these sects could not help but feel uneasy.

Yet such sects were few; most elders present held a strange sense of "relief."

Once this final match ended, the Dizi phase would be over.

Like a sect examination where only the last subject remains—once done, you're free to rest—that peculiar, light feeling.

Though after the Dizi phase came the Tian phase.

But there would be a period of rest in between.

And for the vast majority of sects, the Tian phase was an absolute "high-tier contest," far beyond their reach.

Many sects couldn't even field a single team capable of entering the Tian phase.

With the end of the Dizi phase, their entire current Sword Discourse was effectively over.

The Son of Heaven Bureau's stage is meant for those truly elite sects and truly exceptional children of heaven.

They have little to do with it.

So, in a certain sense, this truly is the final Sword Discussion.

Regardless of the results, it's truly the last one before "vacation."

No more worrying day and night about victory or defeat, no more exhausting efforts to outmatch other sects.

It was under this mindset—where stretching out your neck invites a blade, and pulling it back invites the same blade, and whether you stretch or not, the outcome is nearly settled—that the representative elders of each sect opened the list generated by the Dao Discussion Celestial Apparatus.

In an instant, everyone's expression changed.

A chill surged into their hearts.

The bright sunlight overhead turned sinister and cold.

Even the elders of Dao Discussion Mountain trembled in expression, their eyes filled with disbelief.

In the hall, every sect, every elder's hand, every Sword Discussion list, for every disciple, bore the same three characters:

Demon War!

……

"Impossible!"

"How could it be Demon War?!"

In the deliberation hall of Dao Discussion Mountain.

The elders of Dao Discussion Mountain and the representative elders of the Si Sect and Eight Gates were all emotionally agitated, debating fiercely:

"This ancient and savage Sword Discussion format wasn't abolished long ago? Why did the Dao Discussion Celestial Apparatus generate it again?"

"Did someone tamper with the Dao Discussion Celestial Apparatus?"

"Who has such power?"

"The Dao Discussion Celestial Apparatus is a legendary heavenly treasure left behind by the founding ancestor of Dao Discussion Mountain; those who could alter its causality and reverse its projections are scarce across the entire cultivation world."

"Such great beings have terrifying origins—why would they bother expending great effort to do such a thing?"

"Moreover, what do they gain?"

"What is the purpose of changing the Sword Discussion format to 'Demon War'? Are they deliberately causing chaos?"

"Are they just bored, looking for amusement?"

"Impossible…"

Amid the heated argument, one elder spoke:

"The event has already occurred; we can investigate the cause later. The question now is: what do we do about the upcoming Sword Discussion?"

"Should we follow the Dao Discussion Celestial Apparatus's projection?"

"If we follow it, we must adhere to the ancient system and hold the 'Demon War.'"

"That would inevitably spark massive controversy."

"If we don't follow it, what then?"

"Reject the Dao Discussion Celestial Apparatus's projection and create our own list? Or try to make the Dao Discussion Celestial Apparatus re-project?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell silent for a moment.

Everyone frowned in deep thought.

After a moment, someone declared decisively:

"We cannot revive the Demon War—it is an outdated ancient system, abandoned long ago because it was too savage, too utilitarian, too bloody, a naked 'survival of the fittest' that contradicts the fundamental purpose of righteous cultivators: unity, exterminating demons, and defending the Dao."

"The Sword Discussion's purpose is 'discussion,' not 'killing.'"

"Reviving it now is equivalent to encouraging disciples to kill—how will others perceive the atmosphere of our Qian Academy?"

Others disagreed.

A rugged-faced, stern sword cultivator elder said:

"To slay demons and eradicate evil, one must wield thunderous force. To exterminate demons and defend the Dao, one must possess a Demon War heart."

"Demons and devils are treacherous and cruel."

"To exterminate them, one must be even more treacherous, even more cruel."

"Without a decisive, killing heart, you will inevitably fall victim to demonic poison."

"This is the meaning of the Demon War."

"Without the killing decisiveness and iron will forged in the Demon War, our righteous cultivators could never have overthrown the Demon Palace, established the Dao Court, spread the righteous Dao, and saved all beings…"

But this argument met with more opposition.

"That's ancient history…"

"Times are different. Back then, when demons ravaged the world, decisive killing was necessary; now, under Zhao Chengping's peace, stop constantly chanting 'righteous vs. demonic.'"

"Exactly—this is a Sword Discussion, with Lin Li's righteous families and prodigies gathered here—where are the 'demons'?"

"Constantly talking about 'righteous vs. demonic' is just alarmist."

"I think this Demon War is inappropriate…"

"Right, I also disagree."

"If you oppose the Demon War, then what? Do you reject the Dao Discussion Celestial Apparatus's projection?"

"This…"

Everyone hesitated again.

The Dao Discussion Celestial Apparatus is the treasured heirloom of Dao Discussion Mountain, existing for tens of thousands of years—no one truly dares reject its projections.

"Not reject—just suspend it," said a tactful elder.

"Yes, suspend it. For the final Dizi-level Sword Discussion, we'll arrange our own list…"

"Then the question arises: who will compile this list?"

"Who can guarantee it won't be biased?"

"Who can guarantee it won't be interfered with?"

Most importantly, "Who can guarantee it will be accepted by all?"

The predictions of the Dao Discourse Celestial Instrument were not entirely reasonable; the lists it produced often left many sects dissatisfied and caused numerous disciples to harbor resentment.

But no one dared to truly object.

Because it was the artifact of the Laozu Sect of Dao Discourse Mountain.

It was the system that had been used since ancient times in the Dao Sword Assembly.

It was something that could "be accepted by all."

Once they disregarded the Dao Discourse Celestial Instrument and compiled their own lists—even if the Sida Sect and Eight Major Gates joined forces—they could never truly earn trust.

After all, human hearts are far too complex.

In such a struggle over interests, anything decided by cultivators simply couldn't withstand scrutiny.

No matter how this list was compiled, it would invite "skepticism" from many.

As for drawing lots and leaving it to chance, that was even less possible.

These people were all core elders of major powers, great sects, and mighty clans; their vision and insight were exceptional, and they naturally knew that so-called luck could never truly be mere chance.

Some cultivators with extraordinary talent could truly use heavenly destiny arts to reverse cause and effect and defy fate.

Even fate could be changed.

Let alone the "luck" of drawing lots.

"Then let the Dao Discourse Celestial Instrument re-predict?"

"No," said an elder of Dao Discourse Mountain, "once the Dao Discourse Celestial Instrument is set, it cannot be altered."

"It's not that we don't want to change it—we simply can't."

"Even if, hypothetically, the Dao Discourse Celestial Instrument had truly been tampered with, re-predicting would yield the same result anyway."

"If you change it once, you can change it a second time..."

"This..."

The elders all furrowed their brows; they were truly at a loss.

Neither option worked—it was truly impossible to decide.

Inside the deliberation hall, murmurs arose again; elders from various sects frowned, whispering in small groups, discussing the matter.

After an unknown length of time, an elderly elder of Dao Discourse Mountain, of high virtue and great prestige, whose hair and beard were entirely white and whose age was unknown, slowly opened his eyes and sighed hoarsely:

"Let it be this way: the Asura Battle it is. The result of the Dao Discourse Celestial Instrument cannot be changed..."

Seeing others still had objections, the elder continued:

"The Dao Discourse Celestial Instrument is the artifact of the Laozu Sect."

"Its principles are complex, its cause and effect profound."

"And its most mysterious quality is this: no matter what it predicts, it is always the best possible choice under the current circumstances."

"Even if the result is bizarre or strange, do not casually overturn it unless you possess the power of the Laozu Sect of Dao Discourse Mountain."

"If you follow its result, the situation may become worse."

"If you don't follow its result, the situation will only become worse..."

"In this world, things are generally like this—we are all merely choosing between 'worse' and 'even worse'..."

"Do not overestimate yourselves; hold reverence for the artifacts of the Laozu Sect."

These words carried deep meaning; all who heard them fell silent.

The deliberation hall grew quiet for a while.

"Moreover, for the vast majority of your sects, this matter is not truly terrible..."

The white-haired elder of Dao Discourse Mountain's eyes revealed a glint of penetrating insight:

"This is also an opportunity for you."

"The Asura Battle carries great weight—it is sufficient to 'shuffle the deck' once more."

"After all, in ancient times, the Asura Battle had another name..." The elder's gaze was deep, his voice low and resonant as a drum, each word deliberate:

"The Heaven-Class Promotion Battle!"

Only the prodigies who endured the trials of Asura and emerged victorious were qualified to ascend Xuantian Peak, to the summit of Dao Discourse Mountain, and engage in the final Heaven-Class Dao Sword Duel with their peers.

This was the former Heaven-Class Promotion Battle.

These heavy words caused every elder present to feel a sudden constriction in their chests.

At the same time, their eyes flickered, each lost in private thoughts.

The discussions at Dao Discourse Mountain ceased.

In the end, the matter was settled as such, and by evening, the decision was transmitted to all sects.

The final match of the Earth-Class Dao Sword Duel will adopt the ancient Dao Sword format:

"The Asura Battle."

"All Earth-Class competing disciples will engage in a free-for-all battle to the death."

"Whoever survives to the end is the victor."

Upon this decision being announced, it immediately stirred uproar across all sects and clans.

Even the cultivators who had come to observe were thrown into chaos.

This kind of thing was simply too unbelievable.

It also surprised nearly everyone.

The Earth-character Sword Debate, which had nearly reached its conclusion, instantly surged into a great turmoil, like a storm whipping up wild waves.

Now, no one truly knew how the situation would develop…

……

Meanwhile, the Sida Sect, the Geda Sect, the Twelve Schools, and even some of the Qianxue Hundred Schools capable of advancing to the Earth-character Sword Debate, all their senior elders and even their sect leaders, held emergency meetings through the night to discuss this sudden turn of events.

From evening until deep into the night, the lights of all major sects burned brightly.

Almost everyone was unable to sleep.

Grand Void Gate, Elder Residence.

Since last night, Mr. Xun had been restless; now, gazing at the compass before him, his expression was solemn to the extreme.

Finally, the elderly Mr. Xun let out a deep sigh:

"The storm is finally coming…"

This storm, long foretold, had simply… descended from the heavens all at once.

The sky of Qianxue is about to change.

And at this moment, in the Disciples' Quarters.

Mo Hua stared at the three characters "Asura Battle," equally stunned and lost in thought.

Following it came a sudden, sharp pang in his heart.

The faint, long-desired thread of karmic connection had finally arrived.

Mo Hua's eyes grew hazy; in his daze, he seemed to see his master smiling gently at him…

(End of Chapter)