The Turning Point
General Zhou and the Mohist cultivator were both intently watching their surroundings.
Someone has stirred the thread of cause and effect.
This is a realm that even a fifth-rank official would find difficult to reach, and the fact that the fluctuations occurred here indicates that this place has been subject to some kind of interference.
Such interference is extremely rare under normal circumstances.
Because very few people are specifically favored by a powerful being, and even if they are, the person has plenty of ways to influence them through various coincidences rather than directly manipulating fate.
Directly manipulating fate is a crude method, and only novices would do it. For the Dao Lineage traditions of the world, once they reach the appropriate level, they will learn from their predecessors how to reduce the impact.
Overly forceful manipulation of fate can easily lead to a surge in fortune, creating individuals with exceptionally strong resistance to fate and cause and effect. Moreover, these individuals generally develop a rebellious mentality towards those who manipulate their destiny.
Many great figures have suffered setbacks because of this.
Therefore, when it comes to manipulating fate, it's generally best to avoid it if possible. If manipulation is unavoidable, then try to minimize the disturbance.
Now that we've reached this era, 'Heaven's Will' has long been an open secret among the direct lineages of the Great Dao Lineage, but some people outside the realm are still unaware of it, as they are not at a high enough level to access it.
However, this kind of Heaven's Will is generally not directed at any one person, unless you are a particularly important young person who can attract the attention of a group of powerful individuals at the same time.
The reason it's not targeted at any particular person is that 'Heaven's Will' is generally used to manipulate the outcome of certain events, tilting the situation in the direction one desires. As for the countless people involved, they are not actually noticed by 'Heaven's Will', and may not even have been seen.
The ants below are hard to target. Unless you are outstanding to the point of being conspicuous, no one will pay attention to you. Manipulating fate and cause and effect is a very tiring thing and requires meticulous calculation.
Therefore, even the disciples of all the great Dao Lineage may not witness such a phenomenon of cause and effect fluctuations even once in their lifetime. And this lifetime is calculated as a cultivator's lifetime, which is a very, very long time.
Was it a powerful figure from the other side who made the move? But the Grand General of the Principal Third Rank said that there was absolutely no way any other Third Rank official could be free to act right now; everyone was busy.
Who is that?
I don't know, but whoever it is, their manipulation methods are very crude and their skill level is very low, so it should be easy to detect.
Perhaps it was someone of rank four who acquired rank three traits ahead of time.
With this mindset, General Zhou fought Shen Shuibi with trepidation, fearing that something with an extremely low probability of happening might occur.
Only--
Events with extremely low probability do not occur here.
It happens in the midst of death.
Death is not uncommon on the battlefield, and being near death does not help with spiritual practice.
If you die, you're dead. You still can't do the advanced math problems you can't solve. You just can't do them. It has nothing to do with whether you've experienced life and death or not. Maybe you'll have more motivation after experiencing life and death, but for those at the seventh rank and above, they have already experienced countless life and death and have already attained immortality.
Getting a perfect score on a primary school exam can certainly help you with advanced mathematics, but that's about it.
Therefore, among the millions of those Unreturning Disciples, hundreds of deaths have occurred, but miracles such as enlightenment have never happened, and millions of deaths have been so mundane.
But, in Cha Xike—
A miracle happened.
He found a glimmer of hope in a situation where all hope seemed lost.
Within the Golden Core and countless shattered inner worlds, he glimpsed a faint clue.
No matter how chaotic or violent the energy, as long as it can remain stable in place, it must have its reason for existing.
There's a saying, "If it exists, it has a reason."
This doesn't mean that everything that exists has a reason; there are plenty of illogical things in this world.
Rather, it means that since something exists, it must have its own inherent reasons and logic. These reasons are the foundation supporting its existence. As long as these reasons and logic are understood and replicated, it is possible to replicate any existing thing.
Nothing exists in the world without a basis; everything has its foundation for existence. This foundation is what Cha Xike pursues on his path to the fifth rank.
Even in such chaos and disorder, like an explosion site... no, even amidst the chaotic ruins of an explosion site, there must still be a foundation for existence.
This is the order of chaos.
Yes, even chaos has its own order; absolute chaos does not exist.
For example, if it is true that there can be no order in chaos, then isn't this law itself a kind of order that is bound to be effective?
Through this logic, we can conclude that laws and order are inherently real, and even chaos has its own order, although this order and laws may be changeable and not fixed.
However, this leads to another conclusion: above the non-fixed patterns, there exists a fixed pattern.
Because, through the first argument, we can conclude that no matter how much change and chaos there is, there must be an order that is bound to take effect. This proves that chaos and order are contradictory yet unified. After they are unified, we can deduce that there is a law supporting these contradictions and order.
Based on the above arguments, we can draw a very clear conclusion.
The Tao exists.
If the foundation upon which this thing exists cannot be considered the 'Tao', then what can be considered the 'Tao'?
This logic is similar to how, no matter how chaotic the explosion or the flow of water may be, it is essentially governed by the laws of physics.
However, this point is not so certain in the outer void, especially in the hands of a fifth-rank cultivator.
Because the laws of physics are not solid in the hands of a fifth-rank cultivator, who can even manipulate the Heavenly Way Limit of speed, it is not difficult for a fifth-rank cultivator to alter certain laws of physics in a short period of time.
But what about the laws behind the laws of physics?
Amidst the chaotic rules of physics, are there no hidden patterns?
Just as he was about to be torn apart, Cha Xike realized this, and in that fraction of a second, he found order in the chaos, the pattern in the turbulent air that was exploding everywhere.
Although the physical rules here are changing every second, because these chaotic energies themselves represent the other five categories' understanding of the 'Dao,' the Dao of these inner worlds is constantly being crushed and changed.
The patterns changed very quickly, but he still found common patterns.
Thus, Shen Shuibi's self-destruction of her golden core and several shattered fifth-grade inner worlds were condensed into one, with the golden core as the core, forming a precious pearl.
The dying Cha Xike placed the precious jewel into his belt.
A snap.
His Dharma image supports it.
However, that image had no form whatsoever, because it had already burst before it could be shaped!
Cha Xike is only a top-tier fifth-rank official, slightly stronger than the Baiyue Sovereign, but only slightly stronger. He is still far behind Shen Shuibi and General Zhou, and even further behind the future super geniuses like Li Qi, the Demon Prince, Liu Junyi, and the Little Heavenly Master.
Li Qi might explode from consuming this chaotic and violent energy, let alone Cha Xike.
Even if he finds the pattern and is able to digest and absorb it, his own capacity to withstand it is still limited.
Just like humans eating meat, humans do have the ability to eat meat and digest and absorb its energy, but if a person eats a ton at once, they will still die from overeating.
That's exactly what happened to Cha Xike at that moment.
His physical form had been burst open, and his inner world was shattering at an extremely rapid pace.
But that's enough.
Before he dies, he wants to move this chaotic and explosive energy to another location, using his own body as a means of transportation.
Human Path only remaining humane army is located there.
At this moment, there are still two and a half minutes before the phased array detector is activated.
General Zhou and the Mohist cultivator were besieging Shen Shuibi, but they were also holding back some of their strength because they wanted to block the area controlled by the causal fluctuations and prevent some low-probability events from happening.
Even the most powerful can manipulate fate, but they can't always succeed. They just need to be careful to avoid some coincidences.
As long as you don't go out, you won't get hit by a car; that's roughly the idea.
Unable to fight back under the suppression of the two, Shen Shuibi was forced to defend herself, her living space shrinking, and they were able to monitor everything around her at any time.
Over there, the Unreturning Disciples had been basically wiped out. Miracles don't happen easily. Human Path only suffered losses in the first wave. After that, they made steady progress and quickly annihilated hundreds of thousands of people in a quarter of an hour.
Extremely efficient.
From then on, only Cha Xike remained alive in the organization of the Unreturning Disciples.
But at this very moment—
General Zhou suddenly contracted!
"Over there! That's it! I'll go stop them." He turned around abruptly, broke away from the battle, and rushed off into the distance.
Over there, Cha Xike transformed into a shooting star, hurtling towards the Human Path army that was wrapping up its work at incredible speed.
This speed even surpassed General Zhou's own maximum speed, and it would only take him a maximum of thirty seconds to reach the army.
Fortunately, General Zhou only needs to intercept them head-on. If he can stop the enemy, he will win this battle!
At the same time, Shen Shuibi, enduring the attacks of the Mohist cultivator, abandoned her defenses and, while suffering heavy injuries, charged towards General Zhou.
Want to leave?!
Her decision was extremely risky, because the Mohist cultivator next to her were also anxious and immediately launched a barrage of attacks, summoning more than ten fifth-grade Law Treasure and smashing them towards Shen Shuibi!
Like a golden bell resounding across the vast expanse, its light shining before and behind, it evokes the image of brave warriors rushing to the enemy, their emotions overflowing with righteous indignation!
That's a sea of Mohist Law Treasure!
So many Law Treasure formed a radiant, ever-flowing stream.
Looking further, one sees bows and horses, then crossbows, spears, knives, swords, lances, shields, axes, halberds, whips, maces, claws, forks, rakes, ropes, and lassos.
There are also many tigers and leopards, each appearing in a cave, opening round holes in the void, eight caves in the upper part, eight in the middle part, and eight in the lower part. Inside the caves are endless scenery, with dark blue patterns, tiger heads connected to the walls, bright and majestic, dragons and elephants lined up, and battlements formed, shining and even more magnificent.
These Law Treasure displayed numerous strange phenomena, as if countless demons with furrowed brows and bristling hair, fighting fiercely, hunched over, rubbing their hands together, baring their teeth, and rushing towards Shen Shuibi!
Faced with such an attack, Shen Shuibi ignored it completely, abandoned all defense, and gathered stars and moon in her hands!
The stars shone brightly all day, their graceful forms like twinkling spears, their jade-like light like jeweled ropes. They shone in their full glory, their light returning to the night sky. The stars of Orion and Gypsy, along with the stars of Winnowing Basket and Pleiades, brought forth wind and rain.
The Polaris Golden Core Method has reappeared!
The one surnamed Zhou, don't even think about leaving!
The frame of reference was forcibly changed, Shen Shuibi became Chenji, controlling the 'movement' around her!
The only option is to get closer to Shen Shuibi!
The Mohist cultivator and General Zhou thought they were holding Shen Shuibi back, but they didn't realize that it was a two-way street, as Shen Shuibi could actually hold them back as well!
If there's anything left that can be done outside that's Human Path, then it's that the Mohist cultivator and General Zhou have held Shen Shuibi back, leaving her with no choice but to wait for her death.
However, as long as the remaining people outside are Shaman Path, Shen Shuibi will risk her life to hold them off, leaving these two people no time to worry about anything else!
Everyone was a top-tier fifth-rank, and Shen Shuibi was even slightly stronger.
In this situation, it might be difficult to hold out for a Chen or two, but it's only a few seconds. As long as we dare to fight and risk our lives, how can we not do it!?
Under the Polaris Golden Core Method, Shen Shuibi ran towards General Zhou. From Shen Shuibi's perspective, it was as if she didn't move and General Zhou was coming towards her.
As a result, General Zhou, who was originally running towards Cha Xike, is now heading towards Shen Shuibi.
As long as their relative speed remains the same, General Zhou will not be able to get close to Cha Xike. Shen Shuibi used this trick to forcibly detain General Zhou!
Even as she was bombarded by the Law Treasure's light, and her injuries worsened, she still didn't stop, drawing General Zhou closer and closer to her.
General Zhou immediately realized that he could not leave this place unless he killed or maimed Shen Shuibi.
He immediately turned around and unleashed his full power!
If you dare to keep someone here like this, then be prepared to die! Shen Shuibi was already barely holding on, and now keeping General Zhou here is tantamount to taking on an attack without any defense.
I can kill her in half a second at most, and then go deal with Gou Lou!
There was no need for communication; the Mohist cultivator already knew this, and without hesitation, he unleashed another powerful attack!
Yes, we're going all out; there's no need to go all out anymore.
The Mohist cultivator and General Zhou simultaneously unleashed all their power, blasting towards Shen Shuibi!
According to their calculations, Shen Shuibi had no chance of resisting. She could either maintain the restraints and face the attack head-on before dying, or she could only break the Technique Method and quickly evade it.
If General Zhou can dodge it, he can take the opportunity to escape and stop the distant shooting star!
However, Shen Shuibi stood still, continuing to trap the two of them.
This made General Zhou's eye twitch, but he did not stop and unleashed his halberd!
Since you're not going to hide, then go die!
But at that moment, an inconspicuous shooting star suddenly fell from the sky.
Who remembers that when Li Qi recounted his story, he said he 'controlled two meteors' (see the end of the previous chapter).
My subscriptions are dropping steadily every day; I can't breathe.