Identity Change, Mount Penglai Guardian

Before the first opportunity event, Zhao Xing had explored the circumstances of every department and tribe. He had learned then that the Martial God Division in the As Sea Region had around thirty-six Demigod descendents, one of whom, Su Long, had caught his attention.

Each department and tribe was responsible for sea regions and locations at different depths.

The Mountain Patrol Divine Department was responsible for third-tier sea mountains and trench regions. Most of these places were undersea planting bases. For instance, the Qi Palace Peak region previously overseen by Liu Qingci was a Yuan Sea Bamboo cultivation site.

The Martial God Division, meanwhile, was responsible for maintaining the undersea cities of the middle ocean. This was a second-tier sea region. The divine artifact Zhao Xing had unearthed from Beast God Ti Bu's inheritance had come from ruins left behind after an undersea city fell.

"Brother Han, I have a few questions," Liu Qingci said.

"Please speak." Zhao Xing nodded.

"Even if you can determine which descendents belong to the Martial God Division."

"For the descendents, however, different identities come with different opportunities. Those opportunities are reflected in the events they encounter after gaining those identities."

Liu Qingci drew a layered map of the sea region.

"Although the regions governed by the Minister of Agriculture and the regions governed by martial artists border one another."

"There are ocean currents separating the lower ocean mountains from the Middle Sea City. The Divine Mountain Earth Change will not greatly affect the middle-layer sea city region."

"Thus, the descendents of the Martial God Division will almost never participate in the opportunity of the Divine Mountain Earth Change."

"Just as we will not participate in other opportunity events."

"If you want to pin the blame on them, you must at least give them a chance to come down."

"How can that be done?"

The question Liu Qingci raised was also what most of the deputy envoys were concerned about.

Different departments had different duties. The opportunity events triggered by descendents differed, as did the places where they occurred.

Therefore, during the first two Divine Mountain Earth Changes, the Mountain Patrol Envoys had not seen other professions appear at all, nor had any other departments participated.

"Excellent question." Zhao Xing nodded. "Whether it is an earth change or a leak, it should be an affair handled by the Minister of Agriculture. If people from the Martial God Division come down to the lower sea region, they are simply meddling where they do not belong."

"Descendents will not recklessly seek opportunities that do not belong to them, lest they add karma to themselves and expose their identities."

"The opportunity events of the Martial God Division's descendents and the Mountain Patrol Department's descendents are like two parallel lines. Under normal circumstances, they cannot intersect."

"But what if the undersea Divine Mountain Earth Change affects a sea city in the middle sea region?"

Zhao Xing raised a hand and tapped several points on Liu Qingci's sea map.

Red dots appeared throughout the lower sea region, flickering with faint light.

Liu Qingci seemed to understand. "You mean—"

"Correct. Suppose that during the next Divine Mountain Earth Change, an undersea volcano erupts."

"And a sea city in the middle sea region happens to drift with the ocean currents directly above that undersea volcanic eruption."

"Then—boom!"

A beam of red light erupted from the sea map. The floating sea city in the middle sea region consequently fell toward the Deep Sea Region and vanished into darkness.

After seeing it, Liu Qingci fell silent. She calculated quietly in her heart, then nodded. "I have no objection."

"Wait. How could an eruption happen to strike the sea city?" Venerable Tao You asked.

"Are you even a Minister of Agriculture? Why are you asking Venerable Han that?" Chu Ji laughed. "Is it difficult for an Earthly Advantage Faction Minister of Agriculture to make a volcano erupt? You actually need to ask why?"

"The Divine Mountain Earth Change is already a disaster. We could remain far from that volcano, merely suppress the timing of its eruption, or use those four deputy envoys who are not descendents as scapegoats. That would achieve our goal while shifting the blame completely."

"Venerable Han, this plan is truly brilliant! Chu Ji admires you!" Chu Ji ended his speech with a flattering remark.

"Chu Ji, you country bumpkin, what are you showing off for?" Venerable Han You was left fuming after Chu Ji's outburst.

His origins lay in the True Self Faction, and he had also studied quite a bit of the Earthly Advantage Faction.

He had merely been slower to react when it came to the issue of undersea volcanoes in the Primordial Sea.

Yet after Chu Ji mocked him like that, he appeared utterly ignorant.

"This country bumpkin runs to Han Bing's cave abode every day. He is getting more and more arrogant." Venerable Tao You gritted his teeth in anger.

"You dare call me a country bumpkin?" Chu Ji bristled as well.

Chu Ji had lived in an era of war, when spiritual energy was weak, natural disasters and earth changes were constant, and inheritances were not flourishing.

Nor did Chu Ji have the backing of a major power. In the eyes of divine disciples like Venerable Tao You, was he not the very definition of a country bumpkin?

The two immediately began arguing.

"Chu Ji has grown a great deal." Lei Hong coldly watched the two argue. "Over these past centuries, he has gone to Han Bing's cave abode every day. It seems he has learned quite a lot."

Of course Zhao Xing had taught Chu Ji a few things. What boss would personally step in to argue? During numerous meetings, it had always been Chu Ji, his vanguard, charging ahead.

Zhao Xing was also very satisfied with Chu Ji's performance.

However, he could not show it on the surface.

"Enough! What are you arguing about?"

With Zhao Xing's shout, their quarrel immediately stopped.

"Chu Ji, could Venerable Tao You possibly not understand such principles? You were rude!"

Chu Ji immediately apologized to Venerable Tao You. "Venerable Tao You, I was rude just now. Please forgive my impulsiveness."

Venerable Tao You's attitude remained stiff, but he accepted the offered way out. He cupped his hands toward Zhao Xing. "Venerable Han, I too was in the wrong."

The dispute was quickly suppressed, and Zhao Xing continued discussing the plan.

Watching Zhao Xing's plan advance, Liu Qingci could not help nodding to herself.

Geniuses were all unruly, especially when a whole group of geniuses was gathered together.

For Zhao Xing to make these people so obedient was truly rare.

In terms of combat strength, he might not be stronger than them as a whole. But as long as he was a little stronger, and supplemented that with a few methods, he could make this small group useful.

"When Free Gods teach disciples, they often teach them how to preserve themselves wisely and avoid karma. True Gods do the opposite—they use karma instead."

"If I were managing these people, I definitely would not still be thinking of targeting the Martial God Division's descendents. As expected of a disciple of the Boundless True God."

Over their exchanges during the past centuries, Liu Qingci had felt that Zhao Xing's style of conduct was not old-fashioned. Yet she had never considered that Zhao Xing came from the Desolate Territory Era.

She merely thought the slight differences stemmed from having different masters.

"The opportunity event will not occur for another three years, but we must begin acting now."

"Lei Hong, Quan De, Yi Kun, you will handle the volcanic craters."

"Not too many. Pick seven or eight from the Cangdai Volcanic Group."

"Yue Zhen, Gao Shan, Yang He, Xu Huai, Wei Hua, you will oversee the perimeter and eliminate uncertain factors."

"Chu Ji, Huang Liang, go make contact with the four event deputy envoys of the Mountain Patrol Department and keep an eye on them."

"Venerable Jade Flute, surveillance and the concealment of heavenly secrets will be left to you."

"Yes!"

Everyone began acting according to the plan. Those who could enter the secret realm were all experts among experts, and their ability to get things done was beyond question.

Zhao Xing did not remain idle either. He began pestering Bowei to evaluate his plan.

"Evaluate it? You want me to help you find loopholes and fill the gaps, don't you?" Bowei's voice drifted out from the Transmission Realm.

"As expected of an elder. Your insight is truly sharp." Zhao Xing stood outside the courtyard gate and flattered him.

"Heroes create the times, and the times create heroes." Bowei spoke unhurriedly. Today, he had changed into a Fate Master's attire. Combined with the Great Dao Golden Circlet, he looked rather like a charlatan.

"You want to pull in people from the Martial God Division as scapegoats. That means you are directing the course of an opportunity event. There is nothing much to say about the plan itself."

"It all depends on execution. If handled well, you can profit. If handled poorly, you will effectively be altering a portion of the Cosmic Ark's history. The consequences will be severe."

Bowei said calmly, "It would be best to have scapegoats on both sides. I think that Liu Qingci is quite suitable."

Zhao Xing was speechless. Was Bowei teaching him to sell out his teammate?

Bowei said, "Liu Qingci was only forced into signing a karma contract with you. She is a Demigod of the Evil God Faction, a disciple of an Evil God general-priest. You do not think that counts as betrayal, do you?"

"Use descendent A Su Long as the scapegoat on the Martial God Division's side, and Liu Qingci as the scapegoat on the Mountain Patrol Divine Department's side. Only then can your plan be considered secure."

"Elder, is there another way?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Since you do not intend to agree to that method." Bowei tossed over a Dao manual. "Then you will have to work a little harder yourself. This is a karmic forced-drive technique, the Dry Thread Fruit."

"If you can master it within three years, you can use Karma Threads to interfere with your enemies."

"Even if other descendents have gods protecting their path, they will not be able to pull people away through Karma Threads immediately."

"The price, however, is that many gods will come to resent you."

"Am I afraid of that?" Zhao Xing smiled and immediately accepted the Dao manual.

Three years later, in the year 573, on the eve of the Divine Mountain Earth Change.

A Su Long had recently been feeling restless, constantly sensing that something major was about to happen.

Yet according to the Karma Token, his opportunity value was fluctuating between forty and fifty points, with no signs of decline at all.

Then where did this feeling come from?

"I obtained the identity of a Martial God Division Director here and have already experienced one opportunity event. The next opportunity event should occur in the second Solar Year."

"It is only the year 573 of the first Solar Year. Logically, I should not feel this way. Could some additional event be about to trigger?"

"Will it be good or bad?"

The time node A Su Long had entered was two hundred years ago, between the first Divine Mountain Earth Change and the second.

But martial artists had their own opportunity events, and A Su Long had participated in the Solar-Lunar Eclipse event.

The Solar-Lunar Eclipse referred to an abnormal phenomenon involving the super Sun Star and Yin Star concealed within the Yuanzang Divine Sea Ark.

During this abnormal operation of the celestial timing, one had the opportunity to secretly gather Solar Divine Essence and Lunar Yin Divine Essence for body refinement.

During the previous solar eclipse change he had experienced, A Su Long had collected more than three hundred drops of Solar Divine Essence and already transformed one divine bone.

The next event would be a Lunar Eclipse. By rights, it would not happen for more than a thousand years, yet he now felt an instinctive premonition.

He vaguely sensed that something major was about to happen.

"Could it be an illusion?"

Unable to sleep no matter what, A Su Long simply left his courtyard and came to the top of Bifang City's walls.

Bifang City was the largest city in the middle sea region.

Some undersea races lived here, along with a small number of humans.

Bifang City drifted with the ocean currents. Only regions at this depth were suitable for the undersea races to survive.

Their special life structures meant that once these undersea creatures drifted to the surface, they easily died. If they went deeper, they were likewise easily crushed to death by the terrifying pressure of the sea.

Of course, A Su Long did not need to worry about Bifang City's operation. That was the task of formation masters. He only needed to maintain order among the various races.

The Cosmic Ark could be called crowded. Even though it had been made large enough, there were simply too many living beings—even the oceans had to house people.

The moment A Su Long flew onto the city wall, he saw two sea beasts of the same clan but different species fighting outside the city.

"Two little fellows from the Yuan Snake Clan are fighting again." A Su Long cast them a cold glance. "Beasts are beasts. They have reached the Human Race's Reincarnation Realm, yet still cannot suppress their instincts."

A Su Long was just about to reprimand them when he discovered that the two Yuan snakes seemed to have been frightened by something and suddenly swam away.

At the same time, A Su Long's heart suddenly began pounding violently.

He abruptly lowered his head and looked toward the sea floor, only to see that the ocean current separating the deep sea from the middle sea region had vanished.

The once-clear seawater rippled densely, countless crosscurrents forming within it. A wisp of firelight emerged from the pitch-black sea floor.

"What?! This is—"

A Su Long's body suddenly sank.

The entire Bifang City began to shake.

First Solar Year, year 574. The opportunity event, Divine Mountain Earth Change, had been triggered. Divine-level origin transformed into Earth God Crystals and broke through the mountain barriers.

Your opportunity value in this opportunity event has risen to eighty-two points.

"The third Divine Mountain Earth Change has begun."

Inside a cave abode on an undersea mountain, Zhao Xing watched the black sea region as chaotic turbid energy surged.

"This time, it will last for a shorter period, but it will arrive more fiercely."

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

Zhao Xing used the Four Pillars Mystic Gate to teleport repeatedly.

He quickly found a relatively elevated location and looked distantly toward a group of undersea volcanoes before looking overhead.

"The turbid energy is rising. It first broke through the ocean-current layer, changing the undersea water veins."

"But this still will not affect the middle sea region. We need to add more force."

Zhao Xing silently calculated the cycle.

When April of the year 574 arrived, Zhao Xing sent a Telepathic Transmission to the descendents of the Mountain Patrol Divine Department.

"Move!"

At the beginning of April, there was a loud boom.

The Cangdai Volcanic Group on the sea floor erupted completely, with the eight largest active volcanoes being the most violent.

Eight red pillars of light surged upward from the sea floor, piercing through multiple water-vein buffer zones.

Three of those volcanic craters hurled enormous quantities of matter into the middle sea region.

At this moment, Bifang City had already settled upon the final great sea vein. If the Divine Mountain Earth Change broke through this final barrier, the entire Bifang City would fall into the deep sea.

However, Zhao Xing had taken half of Bowei's advice. He had not aimed all eight active volcanoes at Bifang City, so Bifang City was not in danger of overturning. Only a mass of Earth God Crystals, carried by the impact of the three volcanic craters, had been scattered into the middle sea region.

Outside Bifang City, in the surrounding sea region, A Su Long was leading a patrol and maintaining order.

Suddenly, a flash of light caught his eye.

"What is that?"

A Su Long looked in that direction and discovered a faint orange glow in the seawater.

Like stars, they dotted the black sea region.

He recognized it at once. This was a precious divine treasure!

"My heavens! Earth God Crystals?"

Whoosh~ A Su Long immediately flashed over. "They really are Earth God Crystals!"

"Ha!" A Su Long gave a low shout, shattering the mud, sand, and stones in the sea region and creating a vacuum zone.

As a result, even more Earth God Crystals were exposed.

"Hiss, so many Earth God Crystals!" A Su Long's eyes immediately lit up.

He continued downward, quickly arriving at the boundary between the middle sea region and the Deep Sea Region.

"There are already so many to pick up above. Wouldn't there be even more below? But my karmic burden is also increasing. Participating in another event could be dangerous—"

Yet A Su Long hesitated only briefly before being drawn in by the greater divine radiance from the sea floor.

"If we didn't take them now, wouldn't that be a waste? Earth God Crystals were precious treasures! Why not seize whatever opportunities came our way?"

For a moment, all sorts of philosophical maxims flashed through A Su Long's mind—fortune came from taking risks, refusing Heaven's gift invited punishment, and so on.

A Su Long gritted his teeth and, taking advantage of the chaotic heavenly secrets, immediately charged down.

In another direction, the Descender "Wu Zhen" also came across many Earth God Crystals.

"So many Earth God Crystals have been cast up here. This should be the Divine Mountain Earth Change opportunity event."

"Could this opportunity event be triggered even while we're in the Martial God Division?"

Wu Zhen had his doubts, but triggering an additional opportunity event was always possible.

He never considered that another Descender's scheme might be behind this.

"There are too many people around Bifang City. If I'm going to gather them, I should go down there."

"Bifang City is shaking right now. I can use this chance to enter the Deep Sea Region. As long as I come back early, there shouldn't be any problem."

"Damn, so many Earth God Crystals! Did this trigger an additional god-tier opportunity event?"

"I'm rich, I'm rich! This is a golden opportunity bestowed by the earth!"

A bald, burly man carrying a broadsword immediately leaped into the Deep Sea Region.

"I actually triggered an additional opportunity event just by coming here? Hahaha, my teacher said my luck was exceptional. He really wasn't exaggerating."

Venerable Sword Tomb laughed heartily to himself, swallowed an Earth God Crystal in one gulp, and charged downward as well.

"Hmm, there may be Descenders in the Mountain Patrol Divine Department too. But that's perfect—I can pin the blame on them."

All the Descenders in the Martial God Division had triggered this additional opportunity event.

Of the thirty-six Descenders, half were unable to resist the temptation and went straight into the sea.

A smaller number, such as Venerable Sword Tomb, A Su Long, and Wu Zhen, went down as well, but they were not acting recklessly. They all intended to find other Descenders and make them take the blame.

That would reduce the burden on their true spirits.

As for how to identify Descenders?

They only needed to secretly follow someone and see whether that person kept the Earth God Crystals for himself.

They were hard to distinguish normally, but much easier to spot during an opportunity event.

"The Mountain Patrol Divine Department has thirty-six people in total, including the chief and deputy envoys. I hope I can find Descenders among them," A Su Long thought.

In the deep sea, at the Mountain Patrol Divine Department.

Zhao Xing was observing the situation when he saw a caterpillar hurriedly swim over and leap into his palm. "Venerable Han, they've taken the bait."

"The fish have bitten."

"How many people did you find?"

"I found six. Xu Huai sensed thirteen after transforming as well. All these martial artists snuck down here."

"Hehe, I never expected there to be so many Descenders. Venerable Han truly saw everything coming!"

Under normal circumstances, members of the Martial God Division were not permitted to come down here. Without a deployment order or explicit official document, they should not enter the deep-sea area or approach the Sacred Mountain.

Even if the situation was urgent enough to make exceptions, they should have first submitted a document, notified the Mountain Patrol Divine Department, and come down under the pretense of helping.

But these people had chosen to sneak down. That practically confirmed that they were Descenders.

When Zhao Xing had previously told Xu Huai, Chu Ji, and the others that there were Descenders in the Martial God Division, many of them had not believed him.

Zhao Xing was not a god. How could he know other people's identities?

But seeing this now, they all believed him.

Zhao Xing did not grow smug. "A few too many have come down. We still need to be careful. Don't let a minor mistake ruin everything."

"Chu Ji, keep watching them."

"Venerable Jade Flute, inform all Descenders that groups of three are to become groups of five."

"When we face those sneaking fools, we must ensure that we hold an absolute advantage."

"Understood."

On the Mountain Patrol Divine Department's side, there were exactly thirty Descenders including Zhao Xing.

Since there were rather too many scapegoats coming down, and the final Divine Mountain Earth Change window lasted only three years,

after 574 years had passed, Zhao Xing decisively gave up searching alone. He divided the team into six groups of five and began closing the net on those martial artists.

March, 575.

Venerable Sword Tomb gleamed with golden light from head to toe. A sword barrier formed across the seafloor as he appeared atop a mountain peak.

He had just split apart a mountain and obtained a batch of Earth God Crystals.

"Over the past year, I've already obtained nearly three thousand cubic measures of Earth God Crystals."

"My karma burden has also increased considerably. It's about time for me to leave."

"Pity I haven't encountered any other Descenders. Otherwise, I could have forced them to share the burden for me—hmm?"

Venerable Sword Tomb truly had Wish Fulfillment. The moment he thought that, he saw five figures descend from the sky.

Zhao Xing, Yue Zhen, Lei Hong, Quan De, and Tao You had already surrounded Venerable Sword Tomb.

"You brazen thief! You dared steal divine objects? Surrender immediately!"

"You..." Venerable Sword Tomb frowned, for he could sense that none of these five was ordinary.

Venerable Sword Tomb had wanted to find Descender scapegoats, but he had never expected to become someone else's scapegoat instead.

The moment Zhao Xing's group of five attacked, Venerable Sword Tomb's expression changed at once.

Elsewhere, Venerable "Wu Zhen" was tracking something through a trench.

"Strange. I clearly saw someone absorbing Earth God Crystals just now. That person was definitely a Descender. I followed him here, so why did he suddenly disappear?"

Just as Wu Zhen was still confused, a Three-Eyed Thunder Lion suddenly crawled out of a cave.

"Are you looking for me, sir?"

"Marquis Transformation Art?" Wu Zhen snorted. "You really are a Descender!"

"A mere Minister of Agriculture from the Celestial Timing Faction dares lie in wait for me? I'll give you one chance to live. Hand over the cleansed Earth God Crystals at once, or else—"

Before he could finish, a horned hoof suddenly smashed through the slope where Wu Zhen stood.

Boom!

The seawater churned as a shrunken Di Cang, suppressing the glow of its divine power, appeared atop the rubble-strewn slope.

"You look down on the Celestial Timing Faction's Minister of Agriculture?" Di Cang stared coldly at Wu Zhen.

"Swish, swish, swish—"

Three more transformed Ministers of Agriculture appeared nearby. Five mystical beasts surrounded Wu Zhen from all sides.

This is bad! There are too many of them!

Wu Zhen's heart jolted.

Zhao Xing led the Mountain Patrol Divine Department's people as they played the role of the oriole. They no longer collected Earth God Crystals themselves, merely followed behind the martial artists and ambushed them.

By 576, the final year of the Divine Mountain Earth Change.

Liu Qingci reported a problem.

"Brother Han, seven people still have negative karma, including me. We can't correct it. What do you plan to do?"

"I understand," Zhao Xing replied. "Those whose karma has not been corrected, come to me immediately."

Liu Qingci then asked her teacher, "Teacher, do you think this Han Bing might use the opportunity to make us scapegoats?"

"If there are scapegoats on the Mountain Patrol Divine Department's side too, he'll be even safer."

"Hard to say," Divine General Yin Zai replied. "When benefits are at stake, anything is possible. You gained too much this time. If Han Bing wants to set you up, the initiative is in his hands. Be careful."

Liu Qingci and the other six came to Zhao Xing's side, but the battle they had expected did not happen.

Zhao Xing did not choose to betray his teammates, even if they had only been assembled temporarily.

He looked at the seven people, including Liu Qingci, and merely said, "Follow me."

Swish—

The seven followed him, half-believing and half-doubting.

At that moment, eight vortex passages appeared in the sky above Qi Palace Peak.

Zhao Xing waited there with Liu Qingci and the other seven.

The tails of the vortices led to Middle Sea City. Earth God Crystals were linked within the vortex passages like beads on a string.

"These are cleansed Earth God Crystals, leading to Sea City. Someone will come down soon. You know what to do, right?"

Liu Qingci was somewhat startled. Zhao Xing was actually willing to use his own cleansed Earth God Crystals as bait? There was a good chance these things could not be recovered!

"They're here!"

Zhao Xing stared upward.

In one of the eight passages, the first figure emerged. A green-haired martial artist, six daggers circling his body, furtively popped out.

"Ha!"

The instant he appeared, Zhao Xing and the others joined forces to suppress him.

"You... you..." The green-haired martial artist immediately realized something.

"Do it," Zhao Xing said in a low voice.

An ownerless ring was immediately forced into the martial artist's hand.

Blood dripped from the martial artist's chest, and the ownerless ring was forcibly bound to him.

"Fuck! What are you doing?!" The martial artist was scared half to death after binding the ring.

There were actually ten thousand cubic measures of Earth God Crystals inside!

I only came to pick up scraps!

Why are you doing this to me?

Ten thousand cubic measures of Earth God Crystals—how enormous would the karma burden be?

"Ah—"

Karma Threads produced by the ring began coiling around the green-haired martial artist.

The crushing burden caused this world to reject him. His cultivation technique destabilized, his blood and qi surged into his heart, and he immediately teetered on the verge of Going Berserk.

He desperately tried to resolve it, but the karma burden was simply too great for him.

Just as he was about to collapse.

"Pfft, meow—"

Zhao Xing cut off his arm.

"Off you go!" Then, with lightning speed, he sent the man back to the Upper Sea Region.

Zhao Xing looked at Liu Qingci. She nodded. "It worked. My karma value has risen by five points and is now positive."

"Next!"

Sea City martial artists poured down like rain. Tempted by the Earth God Crystals, among the Martial God Division's thirty-six martial artists, only five Descenders ultimately did not come down.

It was not that they had resisted the temptation, but that many of them already had unresolved karma burdens. Karma Threads wrapped around them, and they did not dare touch another opportunity event.

Those who came down were essentially capable people, at least when it came to resolving karma burdens.

Yet these martial arts geniuses suffered terrible misfortune that year.

At the beginning of 577, the Divine Mountain Earth Change ended. This time, Bi Luo Free God and the Martial God Division's Bifang Free God appeared even faster.

They appeared before the Descenders almost immediately after it ended.

When Venerable Sword Tomb woke up, he found that he had returned to Bifang City, brought back aboard a flying vessel.

A deity stood before him. It was the Martial God Division's Free God, Bifang.

"Greetings, Divine Venerable!" Venerable Sword Tomb hurriedly rose.

"Tell me what is inside this," Bifang said with solemn majesty, holding a ring in his hand.

Venerable Sword Tomb took the ring and looked inside, only to discover a pile of Earth God Crystals.

"Divine Venerable, I... I've been wronged!"

"Who put Earth God Crystals into my storage ring?!"

"You still dare quibble? Court death!"

Bifang opened his mouth wide and immediately swallowed Venerable Sword Tomb.

The Thousand Thread Fruit's Entanglement disrupted the Karma Threads, preventing many Descenders' protectors from pulling those under their protection out of the Cosmic Ark event through the Karma Threads.

But its effect was somewhat lacking on certain people.

For example, a fierce figure like A Su Long.

"Han Bing, this was all your doing. You deserve to die!"

"But don't think you'll get off easy either!"

After seeing Bifang and Bi Luo Free God, A Su Long knew that this adventure was over.

There was no way to suppress his rising karma value. No matter how he explained himself, Bifang would not listen.

"Expand, expand, expand!"

A Su Long roared, and a layer of snowflake-like ice crystals abruptly covered his body.

"You seek death!" After Bifang and Bi Luo Free God arrived and discovered that A Su Long still dared resist, they immediately joined forces to suppress him.

Facing the suppression of two Free Gods, A Su Long immediately broke free from the Thousand Thread Fruit's restraints. He no longer sought to endure humiliation and remain here.

Instead, he chose resistance and risked everything.

He intended to withstand Bi Luo Free God and the pressure of killing Bifang, kill Zhao Xing and the other Descenders, seize all the Earth God Crystals, and then escape.

"Retreat! He broke free from the Thousand Thread Fruit's restraints."

Bowei gave an immediate warning just before A Su Long went mad, while Zhao Xing's figure shot backward.

Bi Luo Free God immediately shifted Zhao Xing to another mountaintop.

Boom!

Three streams of divine light erupted—A Su Long's, Bi Luo's, and Bifang's.

"A Su Long brought out a divine general's Power Divine Item?"

"Has this guy gone insane?"

"Isn't he afraid of backlash?"

The sudden change sent everyone fleeing away from A Su Long.

Rumble~

The massive hand of divine power transformed into layer upon layer of mountains, and above those mountains, a gaping bloody maw swallowed down at Li.

It collided with the porcelain divine artifact A Su Long had unleashed.

"He's really gone mad."

"If he does this, even if he escapes afterward, he'll be seriously injured. Just how much does he hate Venerable Han?" Lei Hong, who had arrived later, had no idea what had happened.

"How could he not hate him?" Chu Ji said through Telepathic Transmission. "A Su Long only took a little over three cubic units of Earth God Crystals, yet Venerable Han made him bear thirty thousand cubic units of karma."

"A Su Long was probably the biggest scapegoat of them all."

"What? Something like that actually happened?"

A Su Long, Wu Zhen, and Jian Ling had truly suffered terrible misfortune. At first, they had not realized there was a conspiracy at all. Then, they had failed to realize the danger of the Pi-thread Fruit and had not chosen to flee immediately. By the time they understood, they were already facing divine punishment head-on.

Watching Jian Ling get swallowed directly by Bifang and Wu Zhen turn into a streak of white light and depart, Zhao Xing had thought the plan would come to a perfect close.

But then an accident occurred. Before fleeing, A Su Long had actually unleashed an extraordinarily powerful divine artifact. He had kept it unused until now because he believed he still had hope of remaining. Yet after Li exploded in despair upon seeing no hope at all, A Su Long brought out that divine artifact and actually grievously wounded two Free Gods!

Only afterward did he turn into white light. His physical body exploded, and his true spirit was scooped away by an invisible hand.

Zhao Xing retreated again and again. In the end, all the mountain envoys stared at the battlefield in stunned silence.

"The two Free Gods and A Su Long have all disappeared."

"That guy couldn't really have grievously wounded two Free Gods, could he?"

"Bi Luo Free God is at least at the Divine Soldier Late Stage. Though Bifang is only at the middle stage of Divine Soldier, it is an Innate God. Could it also be..."

"Not weak?"

"Something's wrong. My Karma Token has started fluctuating. I can't see the numbers anymore. How could this happen?"

Everyone discussed it inwardly. Logically, this should have been the time for the opportunity event to settle, yet their divine superiors had all vanished.

At the same time, the numbers on their Karma Tokens had begun to blur. Chu Ji, Lei Hong, Liu Qingci, Xu Huai, and the others all wore uncertain expressions.

"Return to the Mountain Patrol Divine Department first." Zhao Xing likewise could not determine how this would develop, so he could only return to the safe area first—the Mountain Patrol Divine Department.

Thus, they waited uneasily for a year. During that time, Bi Luo Free God never showed herself, nor did any new gods appear in the Mountain Patrol Divine Department.

A year later, someone finally could no longer endure it.

"Boss Han, Han You, Quan De, and Yue Zhen have also disappeared," Chu Ji ran over and said. "It looks like they have left for good."

"Chu Ji, do you want to leave too?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Yes, I want to leave too." Chu Ji spoke frankly. "Boss Han, I've already gained enough. I want to leave while the Historical Post is still effective."

"Then go." Zhao Xing nodded.

"Boss Han, I'm very grateful to you." Chu Ji said sincerely, "Without you, I couldn't have gained so much."

Zhao Xing smiled softly. The third opportunity event had ended. Although A Su Long's incident at the end had prevented them from collecting some Earth God Crystals in time,

this harvest had still far surpassed the first two. Moreover, everyone's karma remained positive even now!

Now that he was leaving, Chu Ji was the only one who had come to thank him. The others had all slipped away directly without even saying goodbye.

But that was perfectly normal. After all, they had been a team forcibly thrown together.

"Boss Han, I'm from the 874th Solar Year of the Luo Emperor Era. If there is a chance, I will come find you and repay your favor!"

After saying that, Chu Ji bowed to Zhao Xing and left the main hall. Once outside, the Historical Post on his body glowed. After three to five steps, Chu Ji's figure became insubstantial and vanished from where he stood.

"The Historical Posts provided by the Dark Shadow Temple only allow one to leave the Cosmic Ark's secret realm when one's value is positive and one is not in a divine opportunity."

"For someone in Chu Ji's situation, surviving was truly not easy." Liu Qingci slowly walked over from the entrance.

"Why haven't you left yet?" Zhao Xing glanced at Venerable Jade Flute.

"Chu Ji has achieved his goal, but I have not." Liu Qingci said softly. "Those who left are all short-sighted."

The third opportunity event had ended. Chu Ji left. Han You and Quan De left as well. One after another, twenty-one people departed.

They had no idea what consequences the battle between A Su Long and the two Free Gods would bring. Since they had already gained quite a lot, choosing to leave and preserve the fruits of their adventure was a perfectly normal choice.

Only Zhao Xing, Liu Qingci, Xu Huai, Wei Hua, and a few others were bold enough to remain and wait for further opportunities.

As they were talking, Zhao Xing's heart suddenly stirred.

The Profound Spirit History Book Replica within his body suddenly turned a page, revealing words upon it:

Bi Luo Free God died of untreated injuries and fell in the 577th year. Bifang Free God was grievously wounded.

The course of history in the As Sea Region has changed. Unknown events are about to arise.

Your identity will undergo an unknown change based on your karma value.

Liu Qingci beside him seemed to have sensed something as well. "My identity is about to change. Brother Han, have you sensed it too?"

"I have." Zhao Xing sighed. "I never expected A Su Long to be able to kill Bi Luo Free God and grievously wound Bifang."

"A historical event has changed. I'm afraid some matters aboard the Yuanzang Divine Sea Ark will also change." Liu Qingci said, "I'll return to my cave residence to prepare. Brother Han, farewell."

"Farewell." Zhao Xing nodded.

Three more days passed, and new words appeared in the Profound Spirit History Book Replica.

Your identity change is complete. You have obtained the new historical identity: Mount Penglai Guardian.