Chapter 564: Within Five Years

Qian Jueshan's gaze passed over Zong Guang Immortal Venerable's angry expression and settled on the Buddha Venerable standing calmly nearby.

He said, "Buddha Venerable just spoke of the tangled causal threads; may I ask whether this chaos was caused by an old calamity's pull? If my memory serves, a hundred years ago you publicly cast a divination."

"At that time you said that within three hundred years the cultivation world would face a cataclysm, Qi fortunes wither, spirit veins shatter, all spirits suffer, this being a fixed heavenly decree."

The Buddha Venerable heard this, clenched his interlaced fingers sharply, and the golden pattern at his brow flared instantly.

He stared at Qian Jueshan, the furrowed lines on his deeply creased face tightening like carved knives, his voice heavy with sandalwood and dust, "Indeed it is so. The divination then indicated a pair of man and woman bearing the dragon‑phoenix destiny who would trigger the calamity, yet the heavenly mechanism was obscure, and I could never discern their exact identities."

The Buddha Venerable paused, lowered his eyes to the dissipating Buddha aura in his palm, and said, "But just now the divination shifted—every causal thread tangled around one person, namely your junior disciple, Yuan Yao."

"This calamity now arises because of Yuan Yao."

"Since it is destiny…" Qian Jueshan suddenly raised his voice, his tone laced with ice, "then even if not Yuan Yao, someone else would bear the calamity. Rather than pursue blame here, let us discuss how to mitigate the aftereffects of the disaster!"

"Audacious!" Zong Guang Immortal Venerable roared, "Qian Jueshan! At this point you still defend that rogue disciple!"

Qian Jueshan seemed not to hear, his gaze like a torch fixed on the Buddha Venerable: "Buddha Venerable, now that the calamity has manifested, the Heavenly Dao is irreversible."

He stepped forward, his white robe sweeping the ground and stirring fine spiritual light, "The cycle of cause and effect means that the one who draws the calamity can also become the calamity itself."

The Buddha Venerable's Buddha light surged three inches around him, his half‑closed eyes snapping open, "You would gamble the fate of the entire cultivation world on a little girl?"

"It's not gambling." Qian Jueshan met those two eyes that pierced the cycle of reincarnation, his tone decisive, "It is faith."

Immediately, Qian Jueshan looked at the Buddha Venerable and said meaningfully, "Buddha Venerable, how many in this world possess a destiny‑bearing Dao body? I only hope you do not let your eyes be clouded, lest your lifelong reputation be ruined."

The Buddha Venerable's expression shifted, and he fell silent.

Only then did Qian Jueshan look at Zong Guang Immortal Venerable, speaking coldly, "Zong Guang Immortal Venerable, you have always looked down on me, but you managed to become the head Elder of Tian Jiaocheng's city guard; do not be obstinately self‑righteous."

Zong Guang Immortal Venerable heard this, his face turning iron‑blue.

He swiped his sleeve forcefully, "I am not targeting you! I am merely discussing the matter itself!"

Qian Jueshan was about to speak, but he seemed to sense something and looked up at the heavens.

His brows suddenly knit, "Why has the Boundary Abyss Passage closed?!"

The Phoenix‑Xuan Immortal Venerable, who had been standing silently, finally spoke, his brow creasing into a shallow groove, "We have been monitoring the Boundary Abyss Passage, but several hours ago it suddenly shut. This is highly suspicious. According to ancient texts, without external force forcing it, the next opening will require a hundred years of stellar cycles."

At this point she glanced toward the Boundary Abyss, a barely perceptible worry flashing in her eyes.

She knew that once Yuan Yao entered the Boundary Abyss, her son Ying Wuji would inevitably follow.

Inside the Boundary Abyss, abyssal qi erodes bone, and spatial turbulence cuts like a blade.

Not even a hundred years—let alone a hundred days—can cause a Cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage to have body and spirit annihilated.

Even fusion cultivators venturing deep must proceed step by step.

Qian Jueshan, upon hearing this, raised his hand; spiritual light at his fingertips surged, three talismans flew from his grasp, transforming into three white arcs that shot straight into the sky.

He closed his eyes, attempting to pierce the void with his innate spiritual essence to trace any hint of the Boundary Abyss Passage.

But as time passed, the white arcs vanished like a mud‑filled ox into the sea, and the vortex linking the two places seemed never to have existed.

His heart sank sharply.

One of the city‑guard Elders suddenly sighed, his hoarse voice full of despondency, "The Boundary Abyss Passage closed abruptly, the Boundless Island's demonic qi surged, the ruler of the Second Continent perished violently in a secret chamber, even the Spatial Pillar defending the Fifth Continent vanished, each of these incidents is a sign of calamity!"

Qian Jueshan, hearing this news, suddenly recalled what Ying Wuji had once told him.

He cast a cold glance away.

"What about Xu Yan Zhi?"

Just as they were bewildered, Qian Jueshan's voice rang out again.

"Send a message for him to come here!"

At this moment, Qian Jueshan only wanted to kill Xu Yan Zhi.

And then, Qian Jueshan received a transmission talisman from Zong Rao.

—Qian Jueshan! Three fusion cultivators forcibly breached the Carefree Sect; the sect master is gravely injured and incapacitated, the Great Void Scroll has been seized!

Qian Jueshan's complexion shifted slightly.

…

Meanwhile.

In a remote corner of the cultivation world, a girl in a black robe hurried toward the young man clad in a white Dao robe.

"Yan Zhi!"

The black‑robed girl leapt into the handsome man's arms.

Xu Yan Zhi embraced her back.

"Are you hurt?"

The girl lifted her head, revealing a beautiful face; her brows and eyes were cool and resolute, and a joyful smile spread at the corners of her mouth.

She shook her head slowly.

Xu Yan Zhi asked softly, "Did the Elders of Tian Jiaocheng notice you?"

"No." Lu Xiangxiang replied earnestly, "Yan Zhi, trapping Yuan Yao and the others was the first step. Next, our second‑phase plan must be set in motion."

Xu Yan Zhi was about to speak when he suddenly received a message.

He curled his lip slightly, "We now possess the Spatial Pillar and the Great Void Scroll; the second‑phase plan should be executed."

He paused, then said coldly, "In a past life Xie Yan shattered the three realms' laws; we possessed defiant cultivation yet could not transcend the tribulation, and met a tragic death by his hand. Now Heaven grants us five years, enough to turn the three realms into a furnace. The great chaos of the three realms will enable us to become the supreme of the three realms; unifying them will then be as easy as a palm‑sweep."

"Five years?" Lu Xiangxiang was startled, "We had planned a ten‑year scheme; this is so rushed…."

"Rushed?" Xu Yan Zhi suddenly reached out to stroke her temple hair, his fingertip brushing her furrowed brow, his tone gentle as if laced with poison, "Xie Yan's group must not be underestimated; they will emerge from the Boundary Abyss within ten years. When they return, we may not even have bones left. We retain memories from our past life, and Yuan Yao's group does too, meaning they can seize the initiative. Since we have now trapped them, we hold the advantage. So …"

He leaned close to her ear, his breath scented with cedar, "We must get ahead of them and grasp the three realms' spirit veins, heavenly materials, earthly treasures, ancient inheritances… all in our hands."

Lu Xiangxiang frowned, "But how now can we restrain Qian Jueshan …"

Xu Yan Zhi smiled, "With the Buddha Venerable present, he cannot act against me for now."

"Buddha Venerable …" Lu Xiangxiang finally voiced the doubt that had lingered in her heart for years, "In past and present you have paved the way for me everywhere; what exactly is the bargain between you two?"

Xu Yanzhi suddenly let out a low laugh, sending a chill down people's spines.

His eyes were as deep as a ten-thousand-year cold pool, and he slowly opened his mouth.

"No deal, but he has a reason he must help me."

Because the Buddha Venerable… is his father.