The ninth layer was different from the other eight.
The instant Chen Xuan stepped into that gray void, every sensation around him was stripped away. There was no sound, no light or darkness, no distinction between up and down. He floated in absolute nothingness.
The only thing that existed was the enormous sphere of light suspended in the void.
Hundreds of yards across, the sphere hung silently at the center of nothingness. Countless fine patterns flowed across its surface, each vibrating at a different frequency. Their vibrations intertwined and influenced one another, like a vast net covering every node in space and time, breathing slowly.
The patterns varied in color as well. Some were bright yellow as sunlight, some deep blue as the ocean, others pale violet as evening mist. Myriad colors interwove without the slightest hint of disorder.
Chen Xuan approached the sphere.
The closer he drew, the more violently the nine origin seals in his dantian trembled, like nine strings plucked together, searching for the same frequency.
The Ninefold Time Silver Sand spun rapidly in the innermost ring. The pull of its vibrations drew the other eight origin seals outward, and under the guidance of his divine sense, nine different powers reached into the sphere at once.
The instant they touched it, his consciousness was abruptly dragged into a vast ocean of information.
The Destiny Great Dao.
It was the most profound of the Nine Orders. Karma governed the connections between past and present, while destiny governed the relationship between future and present.
Countless possible futures spread from every node of the present like innumerable threads. Some were clear as daylight, others hazy as distant fog, and still others kept branching and changing shape.
Chen Xuan sank his divine sense into that ocean of information, identifying and untangling