Chapter 194: Ultimately Inescapable

Fude stared at the past and present lives reflected in the Sin Mirror Platform, and suddenly caught a glimpse of a faint red auspicious cloud deep within his primordial spirit; when he recited the Jade Purity Rebirth Mantra, the souls corrupted by murderous Qi shed their black mist, revealing their original pure primal spirits.

"Such cosmic merit, how could it compare to mere incense?" he said, as the demon‑subduing staff in his hand emitted a clear dragon chant, and the Merit Golden Cloud had already coalesced above the Three Flowers.

A hidden current surged in the depths of the Netherworld. The Truth‑Listening Divine Beast beneath the Kṣitigarbha throne suddenly pricked up its ears, hearing the pure holy tone unique to the Jade Void Palace that came from the Six Realms Wheel.

The life‑death registers of the ten Yama courts turned pages on their own, and the judge's brush left a cinnabar mark beside the name of Kṣitigarbha, then vanished silently.

At the same time, the ginseng fruit tree inside Wuzhuang Temple inexplicably bore mysterious yellow fruits; Zhenyuanzi stroked his beard and sighed, pointing his Mixed‑Origin Dust‑Sweeping Finger toward the Nine Nether direction.

"Uncle Yuan Shi's Yuxu Liuli Lamp is actually more suitable for lighting the path of rebirth than Jieyin's twelve‑grade golden lotus," Zhou Yi tossed a torn page of the Investiture of the Gods into the Reincarnation Well, watching the Heavenly Mechanism re‑assemble within the Netherworld's turbid Qi.

When Fude stepped onto the Merit Golden Bridge and entered the Quasi‑Sage Realm, the echo of the Chaos Bell resonated from deep within the Six Realms of Reincarnation, and the Eight Scenes Palace beyond the Thirty‑Three Heavens and the Jade Void Palace simultaneously sent down celebratory clouds.

After Zhou Yi and Fude discussed a plan, they finally finalized the other's appointment in the Underworld.

Fude formed a seal with both hands, lightly tapped the ground with his toe tips, and his form transformed into a flash of light that leapt to the apex of the Six Realms of Reincarnation.

"I see the countless beings in Reincarnation plagued by suffering; now I vow to cleanse ten thousand wronged souls with Dao Sound," Fude's voice rang like a great bell, and a faint golden radiance spread over his body.

He hovered, sitting cross‑legged, with Precelestial Eight Trigrams Illusory Shadows appearing behind him, and the Taixu Rebirth Sutra he recited materialized into solid golden sigils.

Countless wronged souls exhaled thin black vapors, and their previously twisted faces gradually became serene.

Myriad spirits bypassed the infernal torments and flew straight toward the rebirth passage; the souls kneeling before the Reincarnation Platform bore Merit Seals on their brows and offered salutations upward.

The heavens suddenly split open a golden vortex, and the overwhelming Merit Golden Light poured back like a reversed Milky Way, enveloping Fude.

A Nine Palace Star Map illuminated his dantian; his cultivation surged from the Taiyi Realm straight into the clouds, instantly breaking the Great Luo Shackles, and a Three Flowers Converging at the Apex phenomenon appeared behind him.

Zhou Yi gazed at the faint purple aura within the Merit Golden Cloud, a slight smile curling his lips.

He knew that as long as Fude guarded the Underworld for a thousand years, polishing the Dao foundation with the power of Reincarnation, the Quasi‑Sage Realm would be inevitable.

When that time comes, the throne of the Great Emperor of Fengdu will naturally belong to this Precelestial Divine.

"The Western Sect's Kṣitigarbha King's abacus is likely to fail," Zhou Yi lightly brushed the jade pendant at his waist, and a subtle tremor rose from deep within the Six Realms of Reincarnation.

That tremor was a sign that the Heavenly Dao approved Fude's custodial role, completely sealing off any path for foreign sects to meddle with Reincarnation.

When the Merit Golden Light gradually faded, Fude's eyes burst with crimson glow, and his aura grew ancient and profound.

He stepped onto the Yin‑Yang Twin Fish Formation and landed, then solemnly performed three kneels and nine kowtows before Zhou Yi: "Three hundred thousand calamities of Reincarnation left me ignorant; thanks to the Dao companion's illumination, I now know I am the Body of Ten Thousand Fires Calamity."

Zhou Yi raised his hand, forming two cups of Enlightenment Tea; the amber broth reflected their silhouettes: "Since the Ten Thousand Fires Dao companion has awakened the Precelestial Memory, the Underworld's qi aligns perfectly for your Nirvana rebirth."

Amid the crisp clink of the tea cups, the Six Realms Mystic Light above the Reincarnation Platform spontaneously condensed into a Ten Thousand Fires auspicious sign.

Zhou Yi stared at the figure shrouded in mysterious yellow qi; the laws of heaven and earth swirled around Fude like tides. As the Reincarnation Dao pattern coalesced on his brow, fragments of a thousand‑year‑old memory gradually reassembled.

"The Honghuang clouds have all returned to dust; now only Fude remains," the white‑robed Daoist gently brushed the fallen otherworldly flower petals in his sleeve, his brows bearing the wear of intersecting ages.

A horrific scene of his past self falling into the North Abyss flashed briefly in the Sea of Awareness, yet under the wash of Merit Golden Light it turned into specks of starlight.

When Zhenyuanzi returned from the You Ming Blood Sea, the book in his hand trembled slightly with excitement.

The sleeping ginseng fruit tree within Wuzhuang Temple seemed to sense something, and without wind it shed countless green glimmers that crossed the Yin and Yang realms and landed on a dear friend's shoulder.

The two immortals who had endured the Great Calamity met each other's gaze and, without words, understood the three epochs of convergence flowing in each other's eyes.

When the Merit Golden Wheel of the Six Realms of Reincarnation fully formed, Zhou Yi's Precelestial Dao Body suddenly emitted a faint glow, and the Destiny Points on the system interface were subtly rising.

He watched Fude transmute the dead souls, and in the Sea of Awareness a premonition of the world overturning during the Witch‑Undead decisive battle surfaced.

"Cang Wen's true meaning of the Heavenly Dao still lacks seasoning, and the Zi Yi Clan's Precelestial Dao Cocoon still needs nurturing," Zhou Yi lightly tapped the void, and the Kunlun Mirror's illusion reflected a Chaotic battlefield beyond the Thirty‑Three Heavens.

The after‑effects of the Demon Race's Celestial Star Array colliding with the Wu Clan's Celestial Divine Sha are now stirring faint ripples on the mirror's surface.

The ancestor of Earth Immortals suddenly turned, bowed deeply to the ground, and the ginseng fruit that flew from his sleeve automatically landed in Zhou Yi's palm.

This Precelestial Spirit Fruit, imbued with Wu‑earth essence, turned into a mysterious sigil the instant it touched Human Race qi, silently merging into the deep veins of the Honghuang earth.

Before leaving the Netherworld, Zhou Yi deliberately planted three jade slips on the banks of the River of Forgetfulness.

The mediation of destiny technique recorded therein will, twelve hundred ninety‑six thousand years later, manifest on its own as the Six Realms of Reincarnation reach perfection.

At that time, the bronze cauldron atop Shouyang Mountain will sound, reminding Human Race descendants to come claim this cross‑temporal gift.

After careful deliberation, Zhou Yi decided to transfer this opportunity of the Six Realms of Reincarnation to Fude, seeking maximal utilization of resources.

Returning to Human Race territory, he began a secluded cultivation life lasting a thousand years, and the Human Race's presence in the Vast Wilderness World grew increasingly tenuous.

The entire Honghuang Heavens and Earth fell into a strange hush; beneath the seemingly calm surface, currents roiled. Keen beings had long sensed the approaching crisis and began sealing themselves away.

A millennium passed in an instant, and when Zhou Yi awoke from the Enlightenment state, the sky suddenly displayed ten blazing suns, whose scorching flames instantly engulfed the earth.

"The Witch‑Undead decisive battle is about to erupt; immediately activate the entire clan's war readiness," Zhou Yi urgently summoned Sui Huang and other tribal leaders.

The command surprised no one; during the seemingly ordinary thousand‑year life, the Human Race had already secretly prepared countermeasures.

"When ten days pass under the sky, disaster will brew; immediately initiate the emergency evacuation plan to ensure all civilians are safely relocated."

Zhou Yi's primary concern was not the battle but the safety of ordinary clan members.

Under Sui Huang's command, the tribes swiftly carried out an orderly evacuation, and the well‑crafted emergency system proved effective.

When the last group of tribespeople entered the underground shelter, the Human Race's elite had already gathered silently.

Zhou Yi stared at the ten three‑legged birds soaring wildly in the sky, descendants of the Demon Emperor Yu's bloodline, frantically unleashing true solar fire.

He couldn't help but frown: How could the Heavenly Court have no one to restrain such madness? Such a ten‑day airborne phenomenon—did the Demon Race's upper echelons truly remain oblivious?

The fog of the Great Calamity already shrouded all beings; even the Demon Race's crown prince could not escape mental obscuration.

Yet such brazenly abnormal actions—might there be another hidden motive? Zhou Yi gripped his war spear, knowing that this cataclysm sweeping the Honghuang would ultimately be inescapable.