Abnormal Future Branch

Taiyin continued, "When I quelled the Dark Turmoil back then, quite a few Forbidden Zone Supremes became my enemies. They might have already joined forces."

"Although the Immortal Ascension Road has become their obsession, and they are unwilling to engage in Supreme-level battles before its opening, which could affect their state..."

"But once people cross a line, they have no bottom at all..."

The Taiyin Sacred Emperor recalled what he knew, his expression growing increasingly grim.

Beside him, the Sun Holy Emperor remained silent.

As the saying goes, the moon's phase is destiny, and the moon's wheel is the wheel of fate.

Taiyin, possessing the Taiyin Physique, had a difficult past during the Primordial Era when humans were in a low status. He was once a pill slave, fed precious medicinal ingredients, waiting to be refined into pills.

To change his circumstances, and the circumstances of humanity, he gradually discovered the path of cultivation.

After slowly growing powerful and escaping, his identity made him an enemy of the world.

For a long time, to escape and survive, he constantly stole secret techniques from various races.

He gradually referenced curse techniques and developed his own secret arts, which could observe karma through the moon's phase, excel at concealing karma, or kill enemies by following karma.

This secret art could also divine fate through the moon's phase.

Listening to Taiyin's description, Fang Zheng remembered the old woman who performed shamanic dances at the village's earth temple and curiously asked, "Isn't this just making voodoo dolls and fortune-telling? Can you also do shamanic dances?"

Taiyin paused and said helplessly, "I actually can."

He continued his tale.

For beings bound by the river of time, it flows forward, and they often drift with the current, finding it difficult to change their course.

In certain accidental circumstances, like a fish leaping out of the water to glimpse downstream, some individuals can glimpse a corner of the future through dreams.

Cultivators who meticulously study divination can foresee even more detailed aspects, thus avoiding death, knowing fortune and misfortune, and comprehending Heavenly Secrets.

To comprehend Heavenly Secrets comes at a great cost. Cultivators who meticulously study divination often encounter all sorts of strange occurrences, dying either by heavenly punishment or by unnatural causes.

Just today, upon returning to the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, while immediately busy trying to revive the Sun Holy Emperor's human skin by tossing Healing Potions at it, the Taiyin Sacred Emperor didn't idle. He took the opportunity to divine.

Using the Blood Block gifted by Fang Zheng, which could endlessly produce massive amounts of vital blood, the Taiyin Sacred Emperor used that vital blood as a sacrifice and saw a glimpse of the future.

A terrifying future!

Taiyin softly recounted his discovery, his voice tinged with solemnity.

He said to Fang Zheng, "Just like a rolling river, if it encounters stubborn rocks or mountains blocking its path, it will change course, creating different tributaries."

"The river of time is also like this. During my divination, I glimpsed two future paths."

In the first vision of the future, it was a world where neither Taiyin nor Fang Zheng existed.

The Immortal Ascension Road lacked the Law Block that continuously spewed out Law Chains, capable of infinitely refining immortal substances.

Therefore, the various self-severed Supremes of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands did not break their seals prematurely. They waited until years later, when the Immortal Ascension Road was about to officially open, before fully unsealing.

Years later, at what was believed to be the correct time and place, a rift to the Immortal Ascension Road appeared on the Big Dipper.

The Forbidden Zone Supremes, convinced that this was the opportune moment and location, broke free from their seals and jointly attacked the Immortal Ascension Road.

In that future scene, Taiyin saw the remains of his former body fall from the rift of the Immortal Ascension Road.

He witnessed Supremes from different life forbidden zones working together to blast through the void at the depths of the Immortal Ascension Road, entering a chaotic cave.

However, at the end of the chaotic cave, although it was indeed the barrier of an Immortal Realm fragment, it lacked the Heavenly Heart Imprint as a key.

Even though it was the correct time and place, the Immortal Realm fragment did not open its gate for them, and they could not break through it.

Neither the full power of several Supreme Beings in their ultimate sublimation, nor the Wushi Bell aided by the vital blood of the Wushi Great Emperor, nor even Amitabha's Divine Self sacrificing the entire Mount Sumeru and the faith of all Buddhist followers in the universe, could break it.

The barrier of the Immortal Realm fragment resisted their prolonged assault. Several Supremes, having never launched a Dark Turmoil to devour living beings, were in poor condition. They were also backlashed by the Immortal Realm fragment and perished directly after their ultimate sublimation ended.

The remaining self-severed Supremes broke through the Immortal Ascension Road and returned. They launched a Dark Turmoil far more brutal than any before.

At this point, Taiyin's expression turned grim, and his fists clenched.

In that Dark Turmoil, countless lives were devastated. Taiyin saw several human descendants fighting desperately against the self-severed Supremes to protect all beings.

The Sun Holy Emperor's human skin revived, the Void and Hengyu Great Emperor's corpses were possessed by spirits, and Gai Jiuyou, Ye Fan, and many other existences engaged in fierce battles.

Ultimately, in a tragic scene of mutual destruction, they dragged several beasts that had devoured living beings to their deaths.

Even so, a few Supremes managed to devour enough living beings to barely recover their strength and returned to their forbidden zones to seal themselves again.

Thus concluded the first future Taiyin had seen.

Fang Zheng asked, "Huh? Taiyin, do you mean that in this future, neither you nor I exist?"

He tilted his head, pondered for a moment, and recalled the science fiction novels he had read. Suddenly, he said, "What you're describing sounds like parallel worlds, doesn't it?"

"Parallel worlds?" Taiyin raised an eyebrow slightly. "What are those?"

Fang Zheng explained, "It's something I read in science fiction novels. They say that every different choice leads to a split in the future, like two parallel lines that never intersect once they diverge."

"In different parallel worlds, there are identical people and events, but with some differences."

"It's like if you step out with your left foot or your right foot, that's already two different worlds."

After hearing Fang Zheng's explanation, Taiyin seemed to understand. "Parallel worlds? Perhaps the different branches of the river of time can indeed be seen as different parallel worlds."

However, he immediately shook his head again and continued, "If I had only seen this one possible future, it wouldn't be such a big deal."

"After all, I have already returned, and history has long since diverged from that future. The future will naturally change along with it."

"It's just... the second future I saw..."

His expression turned serious as he continued to recount his findings.

After performing the divination and seeing the first future, Taiyin initially didn't pay it much mind.

After all, history had already changed, and the future he saw was merely one past possibility.

However, the trajectory of the second future was something he found truly difficult to accept.

Unlike the first future, which only showed scattered glimpses, in the second future, Taiyin felt as though he had personally experienced a tragic disaster.

It was a future where Taiyin existed, but Fang Zheng did not...

As if waking from a profound dream, Taiyin opened his eyes to a sky full of stars, finding himself standing amidst the vast expanse of the cosmos.

"How did I get here?" he wondered, filled with confusion.

"Wasn't I just performing a divination?"

Looking around, Taiyin saw a vast formation pattern spreading out beneath his feet.

At the center of the formation, a golden-red cube stood silently. Every moment, chains of White Tiger and Vermilion Bird laws, each imbued with the power of a full-strength attack from a Great Emperor-level being, surged endlessly from within it.

It seemed that Taiyin himself had set up this formation.

Upon closer inspection of the formation's patterns, Taiyin recognized it. This was precisely the Four Symbols Killing Array, constructed from the Law Phantoms of the White Tiger and Vermilion Bird guarding the mighty pass on the Immortal Ascension Road.

This array was incredibly exquisite and immensely powerful. Once fully activated, even Supreme Beings could be severely wounded by it.

He felt bewildered. "Why would I set up this formation?"

"Could it be that my memories are incomplete, or perhaps..."

Subconsciously, he wanted to attempt to deduce the answer through divination.