Time-Killing Trap!
Above the Golden Province, in the Purple Bamboo Forest.
Zhang Fusheng tucked his hands into the narrow sleeves of his coarse linen coat, his gaze sweeping over the two groups of people in the bamboo forest, and raised an eyebrow slightly.
Let's forget about the Cui family.
Who is this man in black robes?
Why did Old Su look so grim?
He was sizing up the crowd, and the crowd was also sizing up these two uninvited guests they had never seen before.
Su Qiansuan's heart remained heavy. She subconsciously rubbed the old scar on her left hand, her gaze sweeping over the newcomer.
When did these two appear?
He was alarmed. He now held sway over the Golden Province and the Golden Realm, and with the blessing of the Great Realm, he was comparable to an extremely powerful being.
But they were completely unaware of when the two had appeared!
And that man in black robes.
Su Qiansuan's eyebrows twitched violently.
Who are you?
The man in black robes tilted his head slightly. His aura was clearly only at the Great Grandmaster level, extremely weak.
Yet it carried an air of arrogance, as it asked the question from a superior position.
Zhang Fusheng, dressed in coarse linen and looking like a farmer, frowned and sized up the man in black.
His eyes flashed with countless starlight, as he tried to discern the other person's cause and effect and origins—nothing extraordinary.
Zhang Fusheng saw his past; he was just an ordinary, unremarkable Great Grandmaster.
Born in the Golden City, raised in the Golden City, there was nothing unusual or amiss.
Until three days ago.
Three days ago, the black-robed man's karma abruptly ended, and his soul vanished—as if his body had been possessed by some other being.
But when Zhang Fusheng tried to examine the origins of the soul occupying this body, what he saw, the cause and effect, pointed to was...
Nothingness.
No, to be more precise, cause and effect point to Heaven and Earth?
Zhang Fusheng's heart stirred, and he quietly used his Fiery Golden Eyes. This time, he saw it even more clearly.
Not heaven and earth.
Is it a painting?
An endless scroll painting encompasses the entire world, and the true form of the man in black robes stands prominently outside the scroll!
Mountain River Society and Country Diagram.
Zhang Fusheng immediately thought of this Supreme Treasure.
He narrowed his eyes, and sure enough, the Mountain River Society and Country Diagram was no longer in Li Xiuyuan's hands; it had been picked up by the others.
Now, the person who found the treasure is using the Mountain River Society and Country Diagram to manipulate reality and has directly taken over this unfortunate man's body!
In other words.
The true form of the spiritual will within this black-robed figure is quietly observing the reality within the scroll, and everything within the Purple Bamboo Forest within the scroll, outside the Mountain River Society and Country Diagram.
Interesting.
As his thoughts raced, Zhang Fusheng calmly began to speak:
"I am merely a passerby. I have come today for the sake of the Qinghe Cui Clan. I need their help with a small matter, but..."
He looked at the man in black robes:
"You are the one who intrigues me more."
The man in black raised an eyebrow, but didn't reply. He looked at Su Qiansuan:
"What has Senior Su decided? Is he willing to relinquish control of the Golden Province?"
Su Qiansuan frowned and remained silent.
The man in black robes chuckled lightly, his hands clasped behind his back, and said calmly:
"It seems Senior Su is still not giving up, look at this."
He calmly reached out and pointed at a certain Celestial Person among the Cui clan.
Su Qiansuan, Zhang Fusheng, and Ruan Yutu all looked at that Celestial Person.
But then they saw that the other person had suddenly lost an arm for no apparent reason!
The scar at the break point clearly indicates that it has been there for many years.
The next second, the Celestial Person's other hand and both legs disappeared. A second later, his head also vanished into thin air, leaving him lying lifeless on the ground!
Zhang Fusheng was taken aback. When?
What kind of tactic is this?
The Cui clan members all paled, and Su Qiansuan suddenly stood up, his expression extremely grim.
"Who exactly is behind you, sir?"
The man in black robes said smugly:
"As I said, my master holds the Supreme Treasure, and controls the past and the timeline of the last ten thousand years."
After a pause, he spoke indifferently:
"Therefore, the life and death of all living beings within ten thousand years are in our hands."
A light, airy sound echoed through the Purple Bamboo Forest, followed by a deathly silence.
Suddenly a voice rang out.
"Time?"
Everyone looked and saw the young man who had suddenly arrived, dressed in coarse linen clothes.
The young man, expressionless, calmly narrated:
"Altering time will cause a series of subsequent events to change, after you altered the past and caused that Cui clan Celestial Person to lose a hand."
"Logically speaking, he shouldn't still be in the Purple Bamboo Forest."
After a short while,
Zhang Fusheng raised his eyelids, his eyes shining brightly:
"Therefore, what you should be changing is a fictional history, and making it directly real."
"Does this mean that the series of changes that should have been triggered have been skipped?"
A look of surprise flashed across the black-robed man's face as he sized up the young man, but he quickly regained his composure.
He maintained his superior demeanor and asked casually:
"Who are you?"
Zhang Fusheng didn't answer, but instead stroked his chin, his thoughts racing. It seemed he had guessed correctly.
The Mountain River Society and Country Diagram" must be because of the Mountain River Society and Country Diagram".
The Mountain River Society and Country Diagram is clearly a Supreme Treasure existing in reality, yet standing outside the scroll, one can observe and even interfere with reality.
And.
It can even interfere with real history outside of the painted canvas.
However, the Mountain River Society and Country Diagram does not seem to directly interfere with or change things over time.
What is changed is the history depicted in the painting, and the consequences of that changed history are directly reflected in reality!
"I see."
Zhang Fusheng suddenly realized that the reality depicted in the Mountain River Society and Country Diagram was not true reality, but rather an illusion or virtuality.
But any changes made to it can become reality immediately!
What a terrifying Supreme Treasure!
This is still in the hands of someone Becoming a God.
What if it's in the hands of a deity?
If it were in the hands of a celestial being or a Buddha...?
Zhang Fusheng stared intently at the man in black robes, his eyes burning even more fiercely.
The man in black robes suddenly felt uneasy, and a cold look flashed across his face:
"Senior Su, let me deal with this uninvited guest for you."
As soon as he finished speaking,
The man in black robes snapped his fingers lightly.
At the same moment.
Zhang Fusheng suddenly felt his intuition screaming warnings, as if a great calamity was about to befall him!
Just as he was about to knock on the Gate of the Past and make it clear that he had never been to the Purple Bamboo Forest, he suddenly had another idea.
Heavenly Secrets.
Zhang Fusheng witnessed the workings of the heavens.
However, the warning from his spiritual sense vanished in an instant, fading away abruptly—as he leaped forward, leaving Body Flying and Traces Entrusted...
He does not exist in reality; what stands here at this moment is merely a shadow.
Zhang Fusheng suddenly understood: since it wasn't in reality, it naturally wouldn't be altered or interfered with by the Mountain River Society and Country Diagram.
At least, it won't be altered or interfered with by Mountain River Society and Country Diagram controlled by such a weak person!
As his thoughts raced, a slight impulse stirred within him. He subtly activated [Body Flying and Traces Entrusted], allowing a part of himself to re-emerge in reality.
To be precise, it was myself six months ago.
"Um?"
A look of confusion appeared on the black-robed man's face:
"Your past is incomplete; you're missing half a year of your past? Strange, but it doesn't matter."
He smiled and snapped his fingers again.
Dust to dust, ashes to ashes.
At the same moment, outside the capital.
A young man stood before the painting, caressing a wooden carving:
"Senior, please lend me another hand!"
"Can."
A weary voice came from the wood carving, but the young man, who was only at the Great Grandmaster level, suddenly shone, resonating with the Mountain River Society and Country Diagram!
He manipulated the Mountain River Society and Country Diagram, anchoring it to the young man dressed in coarse linen, and then used the time reflected in the Mountain River Society and Country Diagram to anchor it to a period when the young man was still a martial artist.
The scene in the painting shifted accordingly.
The young man, his attention drawn into the painting, randomly chose a body and quietly took it over.
Then--
History changes.
Six months ago.
Jiangzhou.
After several days of mental healing, Liu Zhengbang, finally free from the pollution, leaned against the bed, his face full of disbelief.
"Is this fake??"
Standing before him, the old man named Zhou Zhihong shook his head:
"Those seven characters for 'kill' have been verified over a hundred times, and the result confirms they are correct."
"The owner who carved those seven characters suffered from extremely severe mental pollution, having experienced at least thirty instances of Qi Deviation —but crucially, he remained lucid."
After a pause, Zhou Zhihong continued:
"Furthermore, we have received information that all the investigators monitoring Zhong Shan's relatives in Longzhou City have been killed. It is now basically confirmed that Zhong Shan is this Great Grandmaster."
Liu Zhengbang's eyelids twitched:
"A Great Grandmaster has been possessed by demons more than thirty times, how is that possible? Captain, and if that were really the case, I shouldn't be able to regain my senses."
Zhou Zhihong shook his head slightly:
"This isn't the key point about why I personally came down. It's already confirmed that Daoism will be carrying out a large-scale operation in Jiangzhou City, though the specifics are unknown."
A high-ranking official from the Investigation Bureau headquarters spoke calmly:
"I won't stay long; I'll be leaving tomorrow. But you'd better be careful and watch out for Zhong Shan."
"In addition."
He suddenly shuddered, and in Liu Zhengbang's bewildered gaze, a black robe appeared on the old man's body.
The old man in the black robe examined his hands, silently absorbing the memories of the body he had temporarily taken over.
Investigation Bureau?
That's enough for my needs.
Only
A look of disbelief flashed across the black-robed man's face. Had only half a year passed since the time the young man in hemp clothing was a martial artist?
In other words,
In just six months, that young man in hemp clothing rose from an ordinary martial artist to an extremely high level, now able to directly visit Su Qiansuan!
"fortuitous opportunity! He must possess an immense fortuitous opportunity!"
"But now, that fortuitous opportunity will be mine!"
The man in the black robe muttered to himself, his face showing even greater excitement.
He quickly raised his head, composed himself, and spoke with enthusiasm:
"Find this person and see where they are right now."
Light and shadow appeared in the black-robed man's hand, reflecting a face—not the young man in coarse linen clothes.
Instead, he was a boy who looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old.
But this was the true form of that young man, reflected directly by that Supreme Treasure.
"This is... Zhang Fusheng?"
Liu Zhengbang was surprised, then replied:
"I know this person. He 'Hong Tianbao's newly accepted apprentice, and he's currently in Jiangzhou City. Shall I have someone check his location?"
"ASAP."
The old man in the black robe nodded slightly.
A moment later, he took the location information of the man named Zhang Fusheng, disappeared from the spot, and leaped away into the distance, feeling somewhat puzzled.
Zhang Fusheng. That name sounds so familiar.
Without much thought, the man in black leaped a few times and appeared on a commercial street, immediately locking onto a young man walking down the street.
He smiled and stepped forward, stopping the young man. Instead of immediately killing him, he asked:
"Little one, you seem to have many secrets, yet you've lost half a year, and during that time you've reached a very, very high level. What is your fortuitous opportunity?"
A look of greed appeared on the black-robed man's face as he stared intently at the young man named Zhang Fusheng.
He couldn't help but rub his hands together.
The Great Grandmaster's physique is undoubtedly a crushing defeat against a young man at the martial arts level.
However, something unexpected happened.
The young man's face showed no surprise, confusion, or fear.
He simply gazed at himself with interest, and then remarked:
"Just as I suspected, this is the so-called ability to change the past— the Mountain River Society and Country Diagram."
The man in black robes stared wide-eyed. What was that?
His mind suddenly went blank, and he realized that the surrounding prosperity and noise had quietly frozen, everything had fallen into silence, everything had fallen into tranquility.
It was as if everything around us had been paused.
Only the young man in front of him stretched:
"So, where is your true form?"
The man in black robes saw the young man smile and speak, and saw the Bodhi tree sway, the golden spring emerge, the refining and blooming, and the auspicious clouds rise and fall.
I saw a huge Wheel of Reincarnation, slowly turning!
He was drenched in sweat when he suddenly remembered the name Zhang Fusheng; he recalled hearing it somewhere before.
"World-Honored Tathagata, Buddha Ancestor Fusheng!!"
The man in black robes felt a chill run down his spine and turned to flee, his divine sense wanting to immediately withdraw and escape, to leave this period of time, to leave this past!
But he saw this part of the past suddenly distorted and fragmented.
Then there was a large river.
Then there was that terrifying [Buddha Ancestor Fusheng], its head emerging from the great river, silently gazing at me.
Upstream, there appears to be a magnificent imperial palace.
The man in the black robe felt a chill run down his spine.
A deadly trap!