Chapter 1769: Remnants of the Old Era

The figure upon the throne opened his eyes; a flicker of dim light passed and vanished.

He was a single being, twisted by the divine-path rules into an obsidian-like three-headed black serpent — yet it did not seem jarring, perfectly harmonious, utterly unlike any other human life.

"Is the Human-Dao fortune warning him?"

"Again, the same old thing — dull and tedious."

King Zheng's voice was cold and hoarse, like a snake's tongue flicking out, accompanied by a faint hiss: "How many years now? Never any change, over and over."

"Can you handle it?"

He said coldly.

"This subordinate can handle it, Your Majesty."

The half-human, half-eagle woman shivered: "Our people are planted throughout the Great Tu Dynasty — we can control this kingdom entirely. King Tu won't stir up any trouble."

"We only ask Your Majesty to wait a few more years."

"When the Human-Dao fortune is at its thickest, we shall surely offer it up, turning that fortune into crystal — into Your Majesty's treasured collection."

"Do not err."

King Zheng whispered.

The price of error is death.

The Divine Court has countless divine servants; aside from the Divine-Path Supreme, not a single one is indispensable. All are merely chess pieces and puppets within the Divine Path — no error is permitted, for an error means a piece has become unfit and must be replaced with one that is.

The core power has never been these divine servants themselves, but the Divine-Path talismans conferred by the Divine Court.

"Yes,"

"Your Majesty!"

The eagle-winged being prostrated herself reverently, bowed deeply, then walked backward out of the palace.

The palace sank once more into a near-eternal silence.

"Take note,"

The instant the eagle-winged woman's footsteps reached the palace gate, that hoarse, cold voice — accompanied by the hiss of a snake's tongue — rose again.

She hurriedly prostrated herself once more to listen to the sacred words.

"Keep an eye on the Qingfeng Qingfeng Beidou Holy Land."

"Over the years we've captured several Qingfeng Qingfeng Beidou Holy Land spies — they may become variables." King Zheng said flatly: "The same goes for the Mahāvairocana Future Buddha's side; those Buddhist followers never know when to stop courting death."

"Understood!"

The eagle-winged woman drew a deep breath and answered again.

She knew these words were not meant for her alone, but for her to relay to the loftier divine servants of the Divine Court, so they could make every preparation.

Here, in the heartland of the Divine Court, the Court fears no outside enemy!

……

"Closer and closer."

"Causality… closer and closer…"

Deep within the layered divine souls of the Rain Master Divine Palace, Jiang Ding said lightly: "This sovereign can almost smell that cold, damp scent — so steeped in sin, so

deserving of death."

"He must be looking forward to it immensely — to dying by this sovereign's sword."

At this moment, is this place his true body?

Or is his true body with Tu Ying San Yi?

No one knows.

Jiang Ding himself does not know either.

In any case, one thing is certain — within his own consciousness, he is the true body. Whether that is fact cannot be verified, nor does it need to be.

Jiang Ding stood deep within the Rain Master's divine soul, hands clasped behind his back, quietly gazing at the divine talisman that had conferred the Rain Master divine office.

This divine talisman represented a portion of Heaven-Dao's authority — the authority to summon rain — seemingly sharing the same origin as the immortal art 'Summon Rain,' containing countless mysteries.

Before Jiang Ding's eyes, dao patterns surfaced one after another, steadily deepening his comprehension of the immortal art Summon Rain.

The Rain Master's divine soul constantly interfaced with the Rain Master divine-office talisman, managing rainfall across myriad worlds. Through this process, the mysteries of heaven and earth surfaced unceasingly, like a three-dimensional book unfolding before him.

"Raindrops… water droplets…"

Within Jiang Ding's heart, an entirely new sword technique gradually took shape.

While contemplating the Rain Master divine talisman, more matters were being handled simultaneously. Of the various heavenly materials and earthly treasures in the Rain Master's treasury, Jiang Ding did not take a single hairsbreadth — everything was done exactly as the original Yu Zi Dao memory model dictated; not even one extra spirit stone would be touched.

What he needed was the knowledge structure of those many heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

Beyond that, the Rain Master would occasionally venture out into the myriad worlds of the Great Thousand. The rules and customs of these worlds were likewise gathered.

All of this was continuously accelerating the development of immortal-Dao within the Ancient God world cluster.

According to plan, this kind of research and deduction would continue for over a hundred thousand years, until a peak Heavenly Being-grade central array-spirit computer emerged within the Ancient God world cluster — one with a tremendous possibility of making a peak leap and becoming a Supreme-grade treasure.

At that time, the Immortal Gate fleet would descend upon the Gods-and-Buddhas Great Thousand World, and the central array-spirit computer would instantly ascend to Supreme-grade, truly establishing a foothold within the Great Thousand World.

This was the final plan.

No matter what, the Immortal Gate would make one desperate struggle at the very last moment — it would never die a mediocre death.

Jiang Ding silently accumulated, silently researched the immortal-Dao knowledge he and the Immortal Gate required, awaiting the arrival of that earth-shattering day.

Of course, in the process, executing one or two ants that deserved death was only proper.

Time slowly passed.

Before he knew it, another five hundred-plus years had gone by.

Bo—

On this day, accompanied by a sound like the faint plucking of a thread of causality, Jiang Ding's eyes snapped open:

"Variable!"

A variable has appeared!

Since descending into the Great Thousand World of Gods and Buddhas, he had not changed

anything, had not touched any cause and effect, not even disturbed a wisp of Qi or a thread of the Dao, so with the help of the Human Dao, everything in the world changed according to his calculations without a single error.

But now, a variable has arisen.

Within the Dao's essence, threads of Human Dao fortune floated before the Great Sun Sword Disciple, revealing a scene to him.

This was a smooth-skinned, jade-like bald youth, with rosy lips and white teeth, his eyes and brows full of compassion; it was he who had appeared in the Datu Dynasty, extremely hidden, extremely subtly altering the cause and effect of this land.

"The Future Buddha, Great Sun Tathagata!"

"Has he discovered this Lord?"

Jiang Ding's killing intent was fierce.

The Future Buddha, Great Sun Tathagata, another ruler of the Great Thousand World of Gods and Buddhas, a Supreme of the Divine Path; his true body is at the Qingfeng Qingfeng Beidou Holy Land battlefield, so this must be merely a projection or a Buddha Disciple.

A projection and a Buddha Disciple are essentially the same thing.

The projection of a Supreme of the Divine Path and a Divine Disciple can transform into one another; they are not normal living beings, lacking the normal process of reproduction and birth.

According to intelligence, although the Future Buddha, Great Sun Tathagata, is not considered powerful among the Supremes and has not unified the entire Great Thousand World, he seems very special, connected to certain existences from extremely ancient times, and is very skilled at calculating future events.

It, like Shangqing, is something rejected and suppressed by the endless universe and starry sky.

Suddenly, the Human Dao fortune informed the Great Sun Sword Disciple of one thing.

This intelligence vanished the instant it appeared in the Great Sun Sword Disciple's mind.

The endless universe and starry sky does not allow such existences.

The Future Buddha, Great Sun Tathagata, and Shangqing are both traces and remnants of certain existences from the past.

The Human Dao Heavenly Way cannot fully predict such existences; at least, the Human Dao Heavenly Way of the Great Thousand World of Gods and Buddhas cannot. The power of the Human Dao Heavenly Way will never reveal its full strength for any single living being; this is a sight that only appears when the entire Human Race faces life and death.

In the Datu Dynasty, the Buddha Disciple of the Future Buddha, Great Sun Tathagata, has appeared.

"Should I flee?"

Jiang Ding fell into deep thought.

This unexpected variable made a warning sign rise in his heart, yet also made him greedy and eager, very much wanting to kill this newly appeared Buddha Disciple.

The Great Sun instinct of tens of thousands of years was craving.

"I need him!"

"I need the Buddha Disciple; my path to Immortality needs them."

Amid countless thoughts, Jiang Ding completely calmed down: "Even if it is a trap set by a Supreme of the Divine Path, I will jump in, kill the Buddha Disciple, and then flee."

"The endless universe and starry sky is too barren; Divine Disciples are hard to meet and are a non-renewable resource."

"Furthermore, the Supreme of the Divine Path is clearly at the Qingfeng Qingfeng Beidou Holy Land!"

"The enemy is exposed while I am hidden; this Lord has never disturbed any cause and effect. Could a mere Supreme of the Divine Path who has not unified the Great Thousand World calculate all of this Lord's movements across vast space?"

"No, this is absolutely impossible; this Lord's Great Sun Immortal-Mortal Sword Soul originates from the Spiritless Universe, naturally transcending cause and effect, and the Human Dao Heavenly Way is shielding me."

"So many advantages are on my side! The risk is certainly controllable!"

Jiang Ding's killing intent churned endlessly in his heart, and the joy in his heart grew continuously.