Chapter 425: Master of the Divided World

Seeing his proposal rejected, Kate felt a sudden unease in her heart.

But after witnessing Fischer turn to ash before her eyes, she dared not say another word.

Yet Li Ang had no time to attend to this member of the 【Great Love Project】 headquarters.

【Anchoring is entering its final stage; prepare for the surge.】

Watching the prompt appear on his career panel, Li Ang's expression remained utterly still.

The main universe completed anchoring faster than imaginable—he had expected it to take months, yet it had taken less than half a month.

He had some suspicions: it was likely tied to his own uniqueness.

Still, finishing anchoring sooner was better; no one wanted to remain burdened with debuffs indefinitely.

As if sensing the final moment approaching, the One World intensified its assault.

The Three Calamities, the Nine Trials, the Five Decays of the Celestial.

These calamities, once known only through ancient records, now filled the void; nearby, Kate, merely touched by a fraction of their power, turned instantly pale and could not stop coughing.

Too bad.

Under the effect of 【Reverse Birth】, Li Ang, though not yet invulnerable to all evils, was close enough.

Yet his face showed no joy—instead, he frowned, lost in thought.

'The One World is full of weaklings, fine, but other worlds—'

Fighting against this world sounded absurdly exaggerated, and the pressure it brought Li Ang was far from trivial.

Only because the One World lacked strong figures, and thanks to the resistance granted by his 【Immortal】 career, could he act so recklessly—but in another world, things would be different.

Thus Li Ang still needed a way to conceal his existence, and achieving that would almost certainly require the 【Immortal】 path.

Fortunately, having previously controlled members of the 【Great Love Project】 headquarters, he already had a rough plan.

Just as Li Ang was pondering how to proceed, the One World's targeting grew increasingly severe.

Amidst an inexplicable tremor, a terrifying gale of wind, laced with endless lightning and fire, surged toward the youth standing firm in the void.

With the aid of 【Reach Heaven】, Li Ang could perceive with perfect clarity the One World's furious rage.

Though the world possessed no subjective thought, it still displayed an unforgiving stance toward the 'traitor.'

Facing the world's hostility, Li Ang let the wind, thunder, and fire strike his body, sighing involuntarily: "Can't you just calm down?"

Undeniably, the world's final counterattack was terrifying—even his current stats were barely holding up.

Excluding 【Reverse Birth】, this refined Sanyi Sect technique continuously repaired the damage inflicted by the calamities.

But if a fifth-tier powerhouse had chosen to intervene, the final outcome would have been uncertain.

Unfortunately, none did; the only other transcendent present, Kate, was entirely dominated by Li Ang and could not even conceive of resistance.

Elsewhere.

On Earth, many Xuan Sect practitioners vaguely sensed the world was undergoing a great transformation.

Of course, they knew nothing of world development—only that, mysteriously, communication with Heaven had become exceedingly difficult.

The most affected was the Cishangqing Sect; recently, their success rate in crafting talismans had plummeted drastically.

If they found no solution soon, the Cishangqing Sect risked losing this vital means of survival.

Helplessly, they turned to the Sanyi Sect, hoping the Immortal might have a solution.

Gazing at the white-haired man seated at the head, the Qingpaizhang Sect leader bowed respectfully: "Left Gate Master, may we meet the Immortal?"

"Or has the Immortal revealed anything about these recent anomalies?"

Due to their status gap, the Cishangqing Sect had never expected to meet Li Ang directly.

For them, even a few fragmented words from Zuo Zuo Ruotong would suffice.

Moreover, today they did not come merely on their own behalf—before departing for the Sanyi Sect, numerous other transcendent factions had secretly approached them.

In response, Zuo Zuo Ruotong shook his head slightly: "Apologies, I don't fully understand the details, but my disciple mentioned the anomalies should end soon."

Hearing this, the Cishangqing Sect members exhaled in relief—so long as it wasn't permanent.

After relaxing their tense postures slightly, they smiled faintly: "That's good, thank you, Left Gate Master."

"Then we won't overstay—please convey our gratitude to the Immortal on our behalf."

With that, the Cishangqing Sect members rose and prepared to return to their own Shanmen.

Having received the answer they sought, they had no reason to linger at the Sanyi Sect, even though they had many more questions for the Immortal.

For instance, the 【Reach Heaven Talisman】 he had transmitted.

Yet the Immortal had not appeared, seemingly unwilling to meet them.

The Cishangqing Sect members could not press further; after all, the vast power gap between them made any bold request unthinkable.

Seeing this, Zuo Zuo Ruotong also rose, preparing to see them off.

His disciple's ascension had not altered the Great Ying Immortal's demeanor—he remained exactly as he had always been.

If anything, after glimpsing the path ahead of 【Reverse Birth: Three Layers】, Zuo Zuo Ruotong no longer resembled his former self; though his face remained youthful, his entire being exuded an aura of death.

As they chatted, the group reached the mountain's foot.

At that moment, the Qingpaizhang Sect leader raised a hand to stop Zuo Zuo Ruotong, smiling appropriately: "Left Gate Master, please stay here—this far is sufficient."

"Very well. May you all travel safely."

Zuo Zuo Ruotong halted, speaking gently in polite farewell.

Though the Cishangqing Sect's talisman craft had been affected, being called the Xuanmenzheng Sect meant they were far from lacking other means.

Moreover, the world had since returned to peace; the highway bandits once common in recent years had nearly vanished.

"Then we take our leave."

With those words, the Cishangqing Sect members bowed slightly to Zuo Zuo Ruotong, then turned to depart.

Yet before they had taken more than a few steps, a sudden dread gripped their hearts.

The few of them abruptly stopped in their tracks and instinctively exchanged glances.

After confirming it wasn't an illusion, they turned to look at the Sanyi Sect Sect Master behind them.

Seeing that he too was frowning, the Zhongshangqing Sect disciples felt a sudden jolt in their hearts: "Zuozuo Sect Master?"

The Qingpaizhang Sect Master ventured cautiously to call out.

Hearing the voice, Zuo Ruotong came back to his senses, thought briefly, then said: "Everyone first—"

He wanted to say that the current situation was clearly unsuitable for setting out, and that over the next few days the Zhongshangqing Sect disciples should stay at the Sanyi Sect.

But before Zuo Ruotong could finish speaking, a sudden flash of insight rose within his heart.

He finally knew who had been causing the anomalies during this period.

Li Ang—his own disciple.

However, faced with the information that had suddenly appeared in his mind, Zuo Ruotong did not actually believe it at first; instead, he felt someone was playing tricks from the shadows.

'Who is it?'

Unfortunately, after thinking for quite a while, Zuo Ruotong could not think of any possible candidate, so he could only temporarily suppress his doubts and look toward the Zhongshangqing Sect disciples not far away.

On the other side, the Zhongshangqing Sect disciples wore extremely strange expressions, because just now the very same flash of insight had risen in their hearts as in Zuo Ruotong's.

As a Xuan Sect specializing in talismans, the Zhongshangqing Sect was more familiar with 【Tongtian】 than the Qiyuxuan Sect, so they naturally knew the information they had received was correct.

But the problem was—they were currently on the very person's turf!

After a brief silence, a proper smile appeared on the Qingpaizhang Sect Master's face: "Then we'll be intruding for some time to come, Sect Master Zuo."

"Sect Master...?!"

Hearing this, the Zhongshangqing Sect disciples couldn't help but cry out.

But before they could say anything more, the Sect Master raised a hand to stop them: "The immortal has helped us greatly—some things are better left unsaid."

Saying so, he looked again at the Daying Immortal: "I wonder what Sect Master Zuo thinks?"

Faced with the inquiry, Zuo Ruotong's expression didn't waver in the slightest.

He looked at the Qingzhang Sect Master opposite him, whose words and bearing were beyond reproach, and could not tell how much genuine feeling lay in the other's words.

But in the end, Zuo Ruotong still prepared to refuse outright.

The pure are pure of themselves; the Sanyi Sect would never stoop to using such means to prove its innocence—he trusted that his disciple would absolutely never have done the things described in the information.

But the Zhongshangqing Sect disciples had all received that information, so the other powers in the Realm of Extraordinaries probably—

Thinking of this, the white-haired man shook his head slightly: "No need, everyone should still—"

Before he could finish speaking, a terrifying, chilling aura descended from the heavens.

Everyone present instinctively looked up at the sky, but unfortunately saw nothing.

'The battlefield is beyond the heavens...'

The Qingpaizhang Sect Master's gaze flickered slightly—this was already the most reasonable guess he could make.

Unlike the Sanyi Sect and the Zhongshangqing Sect, the Wudang and the Shuzi Sect—Zhuanjingqi Sect forces of extraordinaries—knew exactly what was happening.

At this moment they were staring dumbly at the dials in their hands, muttering uncontrollably: "How is it possible—one of the Zhou Tian stars is missing?!"

The Zhuanjingqi Sect is tied to the stars, so these sects naturally knew the Zhou Tian constellations well.