Chapter 1107: Mad State! Manipulating Fate! The Backlash-Consumed Yuan Chen Tianjun!

After Luo Fu demonstrated greater mastery over the Time Dao, Yuan Chen Tianjun still had the courage to oppose him for two reasons.

The first reason was that he had nowhere to flee.

Yuan Chen Tianjun was manifested through the Twelve Yuan Chen Great Array using the Twelve Yuan Chen; if he left the Great Array even for an instant, he would instantly dissipate.

The other reason was that Luo Fu had not used his realm to strip him of his control over the Time Dao, and Luo Fu's magic power still lagged far behind his own.

Both the Time Dao and the Fate Dao require magic power to sustain them.

Without magic power to support them, even the highest realm cannot fully manifest their power.

Luo Fu's deficiency in magic power became the source of Yuan Chen Tianjun's confidence.

Despite their recent clash, Yuan Chen Tianjun had realized that Luo Fu's strength seemed hardly weaker than his own.

Yet Yuan Chen Tianjun still retained a sliver of confidence.

In Yuan Chen Tianjun's view, Luo Fu was merely a Pretender Sage.

Since he was a Pretender Sage, his endurance must inevitably be inferior to Yuan Chen Tianjun's Hunyuan-level strength.

Even with the Chaos Pearl's enhancement, this fact could not be changed.

For the Chaos Pearl's enhancement was external force, not Luo Fu's true strength.

When facing backlash, external force could indeed offer some protection, but it could not block all backlash.

A portion of the backlash still had to be borne by Luo Fu himself.

This meant that the amount of power Luo Fu could wield had a limit.

Once that limit was exceeded, even with the Chaos Pearl's enhancement, Luo Fu would collapse from within.

That limit was Yuan Chen Tianjun's opportunity.

Unfortunately, Yuan Chen Tianjun did not know.

The truth was the exact opposite of his assumption.

The backlash Luo Fu could endure far surpassed his own maximum tolerance.

For what stood before them was merely Luo Fu's avatar.

Any backlash the avatar could not bear could be absorbed entirely by the original body.

As for how much backlash Luo Fu's original body could endure, it far exceeded Yuan Chen Tianjun's imagination.

Even the combined backlash tolerance of ten thousand Yuan Chen Tianjuns could not match that of Luo Fu's original body.

Thus, Yuan Chen Tianjun's hopes were destined to be shattered.

As the River of Time's power was heavily depleted, the River of Time itself began to impose its backlash upon Yuan Chen Tianjun.

The cost of wildly manipulating the River of Time had begun to slowly manifest.

Yet Yuan Chen Tianjun acted as if he sensed nothing, continuing to burn the River of Time, desperate to glimpse the exact limit of Luo Fu's backlash tolerance.

Unfortunately, no matter how many future fragments he observed, he found no scene where Luo Fu reached his limit.

In many future fragments, Luo Fu was using the Time Dao and Fate Dao without restraint.

Yet Luo Fu, a mere Pretender Sage, seemed like an endless abyss, endlessly devouring all backlash.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A series of faint cracking sounds arose—because Yuan Chen Tianjun had manipulated the future too wildly, the accumulated backlash had begun to fracture his body.

Sensing the stabbing pain in his body, Yuan Chen Tianjun finally snapped back to his senses.

Realizing his body could no longer withstand the backlash, Yuan Chen Tianjun hastily ceased his observation of the future.

Crack!

The cracks on his body continued to spread slowly.

Looking at the dense network of fissures across his body, Yuan Chen Tianjun's eyes flickered with dread.

One step closer, just one step closer, and he would have perished under the backlash due to his madness.

This was one of the primary reasons Time Dao cultivators perished.

Observing the past and future easily led one into a mad state.

If one overused the Time Dao and failed to awaken in time, one might directly perish under the backlash.

Under normal circumstances, Yuan Chen Tianjun would never encounter this situation, for he was the True Spirit of the Time Dao.

If he truly fell into madness, the Time Dao would warn him.

Becoming the True Spirit of the Time Dao meant being bound by the Time Dao—and protected by it.

This was the first time since becoming the True Spirit of the Time Dao that Yuan Chen Tianjun had encountered such a situation.

Thinking of this, Yuan Chen Tianjun unconsciously turned his gaze toward Luo Fu.

As expected, he saw that the Hunyuan Eternal Creation Sword in Luo Fu's hand had, at some point, been shrouded in the aura of the Fate Dao.

At the sight of the Hunyuan Eternal Creation Sword, Yuan Chen Tianjun immediately sensed it: just now, his fate had been altered once more.

Seeing Yuan Chen Tianjun look at him, Luo Fu's lips curled into a faint smile as he slowly raised the Hunyuan Eternal Creation Sword and pointed it at Yuan Chen Tianjun.

He was making it unmistakably clear: what had just happened was his doing.

Yes, the reason Yuan Chen Tianjun had fallen into a mad state was not only because he was desperate to find Luo Fu's weakness, but more importantly, because Luo Fu had interfered with his fate.

Desperate to uncover Luo Fu's weakness, Yuan Chen Tianjun had indeed carried a thread of madness while observing the future.

Under normal circumstances, Yuan Chen Tianjun might have entered a mad state.

At that point, the Time Dao would have issued a warning, restoring him to sanity.

Following this trajectory, Yuan Chen Tianjun would have endured considerable backlash, but not enough to cause his body to fracture extensively.

This trajectory was merely one of many possible futures.

But what Luo Fu did was use the Hunyuan Eternal Creation Sword to fix this trajectory as Yuan Chen Tianjun's sole fate.

And what Luo Fu did was use the Primordial Eternal Opening Heaven Sword to fix this developmental trajectory as the sole destiny of Yuan Chen Tianjun.

Securing this outcome requires little magic power.

Because the likelihood of this future occurring is extremely high.

As for Yuan Chen Tianjun falling into a state of madness and suffering severe backlash,

it is not due to the Dao of Fate.

Luo Fu did not secure the outcome that Yuan Chen Tianjun would descend entirely into madness, or even perish directly from backlash while in that mad state.

As previously stated, securing an outcome that directly interferes with a living being's life or death consumes vast amounts of magic power—it is entirely unworthy.

Only a greenhorn who has just grasped the Dao of Fate would do such a thing.

True experts manipulate fate through subtle, incremental fluctuations, then ultimately drive their target to death.

Minor disturbances to fate can achieve effects no weaker than directly securing a certain death.

Yet the magic power required for the two approaches is vastly different.

Yuan Chen Tianjun received no warning from the Dao of Time because Luo Fu interfered with the Dao of Time and disrupted Yuan Chen Tianjun's perception through other Daos.

With no warning whatsoever, and under the influence of fate, he would inevitably fall into madness.

Through these subtle maneuvers, Yuan Chen Tianjun stands but a step away from perishing.