Chapter 858: Fate Woven

"Thanks for the gift!" Yan Buji laughed loudly, his form flashing as he arrived before the two supreme treasures. Just as he was about to seize them, a familiar white light flashed!

The Man-Slaying Sword appeared out of nowhere, snatching the two treasures away a step ahead.

"Damn it!" Yan Buji stomped in anger, but realizing the Man-Slaying Sword was in the Underworld God Emperor's hand, he immediately eyed the surroundings warily, thinking: "Damn, they've schemed to come here?!"

The Underworld God Emperor's silhouette flickered in the clouds, as if winking at him.

Yan Buji was about to pursue when he suddenly felt the Human Emperor Scripture in his bosom violently tremble. His thoughts turned swiftly; he decisively gave up the chase and rushed toward another direction.

There, a bronze fragment was emitting a strange fluctuation...

Ji Wuxia stood on the mountain peak, watching Yan Buji's retreating back, murmuring: "Martial Ancestor, the inheritor you sought... is truly extraordinary."

Behind her, Ji Mingyue softly asked: "Mother, we..."

"Pass the order." Ji Wuxia regained the dignity of the family head: "Effective immediately, the Ji Clan will close its mountains for a hundred years. Some secrets, it's time to tell you..."

Meanwhile, the departing Yan Buji didn't realize that the character for 'fate' was slowly emerging on the bronze fragment against his chest.

"Damn it!"

"That thief is someone you Ji Clan brought; who is he?"

"What about that immortal sword...?"

The remaining clans, looking at Ji Wuxia with lingering fear, she snorted coldly: "That person is the Martial Ancestor's inheritor and also a disciple of the Martial Konghou of the Shenlong Sect; if you want to cause him trouble, go ahead—it has nothing to do with my Ji Clan!"

Having said that, Ji Wuxia seemed to have another plan, and she drove everyone out of her territory.

Seeing the Ji Clan's firm attitude, thinking of their heavy treasure being snatched, how could they possibly let it rest!

Several clans made up their minds, each summoning their family elders to come, jointly pursuing Yan Buji!

Poor Yan Buji gained nothing, instead earning the grudge of several Human Emperor clans.

After sensing danger, Yan Buji's face changed drastically; relying on the Blazing Fire Cooking Oil Secret Art, he repeatedly fled to places with less sense of danger!

"What's going on?!"

"How is that old thief so slippery, we can't catch him?"

"A bunch of waste, seal the skies! I want to see where he can run to!"

Half a year passed.

Yan Buji fled to a mountain forest to hide temporarily, sensing danger all around; he had no mind to meditate and recover, casually ate some elixirs, and just as he was about to use the Heaven Gate Law, he sensed a fierce sense of danger!

"Damn, they've sealed the skies for so long—what treasure are they using?!"

Yan Buji's face turned cold.

He certainly knew these Human Emperor clan members were unwilling to let the treasures be taken, and the situation back then was extremely chaotic.

Moreover, the Man-Slaying Sword appeared and departed too swiftly, ironically making him the scapegoat.

And the Ji Clan naturally welcomed the Human Emperor clans' attention being diverted elsewhere; they certainly wouldn't lend a hand.

"Speaking of the Ji Clan, what are they scheming, why would they let me take the Mountains and Rivers Cauldron?"

Yan Buji frowned, he had merely spoken offhand following his persona, but he didn't expect the Ji Clan's Elder to hesitate only a moment before agreeing to exchange the Heaven-Equal Martial Secret for the Mountains and Rivers Cauldron and that half-scroll Human Emperor Scripture, plus the Human Emperor Banner fragment the Ji Clan had previously promised.

Yan Buji had many relics from the Human Emperor era in his hand, yet why would the Ji Clan be willing to give such treasures to him?

"They'd agree to my lion's big mouth either because the Heaven-Equal Martial Secret involves something more valuable, or because these things are hot potatoes..."

Yan Buji pondered a moment, recalling how other Human Emperor clans had come to the Ji Clan seeking trouble; it seemed both guesses were true.

Moreover, the Ji Clan deliberately let him go, aiming to have him draw the attention of other Human Emperor clans—meaning they must be planning something big during this time!

Yan Buji snorted coldly: "The Nan Ting Mountain Region is about to descend into total chaos."

"You old beast, hand over our clan's supreme treasure!"

"Damn it!"

Yan Buji heard the voice, cursed inwardly, and continued fleeing.

Yan Buji sped through the mountains, three streams of light relentlessly pursuing him. His Fortune Dao Power was nearly exhausted, and his magic power Immortal Essence had had no chance to recover in the nearly three years of pursuit.

"Old coot, hand over the Human Emperor Banner fragment!"

The Xuanyuan Clan Leader's voice boomed like thunder, a sword qi splitting the entire mountain peak in two.

Yan Buji rolled in a sorry state to dodge, and the four bronze fragments in his bosom suddenly grew hot.

At this critical juncture, a flash of insight struck him: the Human Emperor Banner and the Reincarnation Disk are essentially vessels bearing "fate" and "fortune"!

"Now I understand!"

He fiercely bit his tongue, spraying a mouthful of essence blood onto the fragment.

The fragment instantly blazed with golden light, forming an incomplete diagram in the air. Yan Buji plunged into it without hesitation, his form vanishing instantly.

"What?"

"Hasn't the Supreme Elder already sealed the skies over Nan Ting? How could that brat possibly...?!"

Those left behind in the pursuit stared in shock, gazing at where Yan Buji vanished, muttering it was strange.

Meanwhile.

When Yan Buji reappeared, he was on a deserted ancient altar.

In the altar's center stood a half bronze flagpole, precisely a replica of the Human Emperor Banner.

Yan Buji tremblingly pressed the four fragments onto the flagpole, and heaven and earth changed color! Recalling how he had encountered the Human Emperor Banner in the Mortal World Tower, he imitated that Detached Daoist, murmuring:

"Now with iron fire, blood-forge the Human Emperor!"

In an instant, countless images flooded his mind: twelve Human Emperors standing side by side, using the battle flag as a guide to draw human destiny; a figure reforging the shattered battle flag into the Reincarnation Disk to suppress the netherworld; and the phantom of a third supreme treasure, hovering high above the nine heavens...

"Heaven, Earth, and Man, the Three Powers..."

Yan Buji murmured to himself, finally realizing:

The Human Emperor Banner governs the "human way," the Reincarnation Disk controls "death and fortune," and that supreme treasure above the nine heavens must hold the "Mandate of Heaven"!

At the moment he grasped the mystery, the bronze fragment in his bosom completely melted, turning into golden liquid that flowed into his meridians. His previously exhausted Fortune Dao Power instantly filled, even surpassing before! Within his Purple Mansion it merged with the golden qi vortex, and a small flag appeared on the Human Emperor Scripture.

"Hahaha!"

Yan Buji threw his head back and laughed long: "The Way of Man, the Way of Earth, the Way of Heaven. The principle of the Three Powers penetrates all, forming a closed loop! With the Five Domains, the Netherworld, and the Nine Heavens forming the net of fate, none can escape."

In the distance, the pursuers have arrived.

But at this moment, Yan Buji already saw a farther road in his eyes.

If fate is truly proven to Existence by oneself, or in other words, if he has uncovered a corner of reality in this world, then the future road will become all the clearer.

"What I must do is not to go against heaven. Rather, within the greatest limits, I will fulfill all my desires, until....." Yan Buji narrowed his eyes, flames blazing in his gaze.

If my desires can overwhelm reality and break through fate, how could that not be the road I hope for?