Hongjun's voice continued to flow through the great hall of Zixiao Palace, but Taiyi's mind had long since drifted away from those profound methods of "merging the Three Corpses" and "harmonizing origins."
Three months.
Ever since refining the three Karma Reversal fragments and obtaining the three abilities of disrupting heavenly secrets, Disrupt Causality, and Causality Vision, Taiyi had spent three full months doing one thing—
Testing the waters with utmost caution.
Testing the limits of those three abilities, testing the limits of Hongjun's tolerance, testing the "cracks" in this world.
At this moment, he sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. His expression was no different from the other listeners around him, his brows slightly furrowed as though he had gained some insight. In truth, his Causality Vision had quietly opened long ago. Those "new eyes" were "seeing" the other side of this world in a way ordinary people could never comprehend.
In his eyes, the hall was no longer a palace constructed of bricks and stone.
It was instead an intersection point in a vast, precise, and dizzyingly complex "web of karma."
Hundreds of Karma Threads, varying in thickness and color, rose from everyone in the hall. They passed through the dome of Zixiao Palace and extended into the depths of the unseen Heavenly Dao, or connected to all manner of existences across the Great Wilderness. These threads were not still. Like living things, they slowly writhed, intertwined, collided, and underwent subtle adjustments and reorganizations at every moment.
Taiyi's gaze first settled on Zhunti.
This future Western Saint sat upon the fifth meditation cushion, his palms pressed together and a compassionate expression on his face. Yet under Causality Vision, the primary Karma Thread upon him—that thick dark-golden line connecting the cushion to his future Saint position—was trembling faintly. Fine cracks covered its surface, particularly near the end connected to the cushion. From time to time, tiny gray-black "karmic fragments" fell from those cracks and dissipated into the void.
Those were the traces left behind by the "overturned cushion" incident three months ago.
The traces were being slowly repaired by some force. Taiyi could "see" pale, colorless, transparent Order Force flowing down from the depths of the Heavenly Dao, trying to seal those cracks like glue. Yet the repairs were slow, and some stubborn "foreign substance" seemed to remain deep within the cracks, preventing them from fully healing.
Was it because I used Disrupt Causality? Taiyi pondered inwardly.
After that incident, he had secretly attempted a basic use of Disrupt Causality, targeting the thread between Zhunti and the meditation cushion. Although the effect had been weak and lasted only an instant, it seemed to have left behind some kind of contamination that was difficult to eradicate.
He shifted his gaze toward Jieyin.
Jieyin's Karma Threads were tightly entangled with Zhunti's, almost inseparable. Yet Taiyi noticed that at the node where their threads intertwined most deeply, a small patch was abnormally dim, even somewhat insubstantial. Within that area, the paths of the Karma Threads had deviated slightly and no longer completely followed their predetermined trajectories.
Is this... a "loophole" seen by Causality Vision? Taiyi's heart stirred.
He focused his attention and examined that abnormal region, attempting to decipher it.
His vision penetrated the surface and delved into the internal structure of the Karma Threads. They were not solid, but woven from countless finer secondary karmic filaments, like optical fibers. Under normal circumstances, those filaments were neatly arranged and flowed without end. Yet in that abnormal area, their arrangement had become chaotic. Some had even snapped or knotted together, forming a tiny "void."
The void was not large, only about the size of a needlepoint, but it truly existed.
Through that "void," Taiyi vaguely "saw" something else—
It was not the Order Force of the Heavenly Dao, nor the flowing paths of karma, but some deeper, more fundamental... "background."
It was pure "disorder," the "reverse side" of rules, the undying Chaos Background beneath the operating logic of the Great Wilderness. At the edge of the void, extremely faint gray-black mist slowly seeped out, attempting to erode the surrounding karmic structure. Yet it was quickly neutralized and annihilated by the passing Order Force.
So that's how it is... Taiyi suddenly understood.
The order of the Heavenly Dao was not a flawless slab of steel. Friction would inevitably arise during its operation, leaving wear and tear and forming minute cracks. Most of those cracks vanished in an instant, automatically repaired by Order Force. But some, due to various reasons—such as outside interference, internal conflict, or logical paradoxes—temporarily remained and became "loopholes" in the web of order.
And his Causality Vision could, to a certain extent, "see" those loopholes.
Perhaps... the essence of the Disrupt Causality ability he had just obtained was to artificially create similar "karmic loopholes" within a short period and a limited area?
This discovery made Taiyi's heart pound fiercely.
If he could locate loopholes more precisely, or even create them himself, did that mean he could pry open a sliver of room to maneuver beneath the Heavenly Dao's strict surveillance?
He suppressed his excitement and continued observing.
This time, he turned his gaze toward the hall itself—Zixiao Palace.
Under Causality Vision, the place where the Dao Ancestor preached displayed a strange duality.
Its physical form still existed. Bricks were bricks, tiles were tiles, jade paved the floor, and golden pillars supported the heavens. Yet at the same time, it was also an enormous "field" composed entirely of pure order. With Hongjun on the high platform as its core, the field radiated outward and enveloped the entire hall. Within it, all karmic flow became more orderly and more regulated, as though an invisible hand were constantly sorting and adjusting it.
Yet even within such a core field of order, Taiyi still "saw" several discordant places.
At the base of a Coiled Dragon Golden Pillar in the northwest corner of the hall, the flow of the karmic field formed an imperceptible "vortex." Whenever Order Force passed through that place, it would detour slightly, as though some invisible obstruction existed there.
At one of the connecting points in the Star Chart on the dome, the Karma Threads crossed in excessive complexity, forming a small "stagnant zone." The flow of Order Force was noticeably slower there.
On the jade floor directly beneath Hongjun's seat, there was an extremely thin, almost invisible "crack" that extended from the edge of the seat all the way to the meditation cushions in the seventh row. At that crack, the scene seen through Causality Vision appeared slightly doubled, as though reality itself had suffered a minute misalignment there.
These were all "loopholes in order" within Zixiao Palace itself.
Perhaps the structure and Dao resonance had failed to fuse perfectly. Perhaps the power Hongjun released while preaching was too vast, overloading local order. Or perhaps... there was some other reason.
But regardless, they truly existed.
Taiyi drew a deep breath and slowly withdrew his Causality Vision.
After maintaining deep observation for less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he already felt some fatigue in his Primordial Spirit, as though he had conducted an intense deduction. This ability consumed an enormous amount of mental strength and could not be used for long.
He turned his attention back to Hongjun's preaching.
The Dao Ancestor's voice remained calm. At this moment, he was explaining the key to severing the second corpse. "...The second corpse must be anchored through the first. Those who have severed their good thoughts may use the good corpse to reconcile evil thoughts; those who have severed their evil thoughts may use the evil corpse to temper their obsessions. The slightest difference in measure leads to an error a thousand miles wide..."
Everyone in the hall listened with rapt attention. Many wore expressions of sudden realization, clearly having gained some insight.
Taiyi listened as well, but the world within his mind had already become entirely different.
Three months of testing had given him a preliminary understanding of his new abilities:
Disrupting heavenly secrets was like a layer of "mist" that could shroud the fate trajectory related to himself, making anyone trying to divine him feel as though they were viewing flowers through fog. The strength of that mist was related to his cultivation and the "price" he was willing to pay—most likely the consumption of that forbidden power. At present, he could at most interfere with divinations below the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, and he could not sustain it for long.
Disrupt Causality, on the other hand, was more like a small blade. Within an extremely brief period and a tiny area, it could "cut," "twist," or "knot" Karma Threads. This ability consumed even more power. With his current cultivation, using it at full force once would likely leave him drained for days. But its effects were also more direct—if used at a critical moment, it might change certain "fated" outcomes.
As for Causality Vision... it was a pair of "new eyes" for observing the world. It did not directly change anything, but it allowed him to "see" what ordinary people could not: the woven web of fate, the flow of opportunities, the shadows of tribulations, and... the loopholes in order.
All three abilities were related to "karma," and all three ran contrary to "order."
They were not meant to "follow" the Heavenly Dao, but to... "pry" at it.
Then what should I do next? Taiyi silently calculated.
Continue concealing himself cautiously, slowly raise his cultivation, wait for the great tribulation to arrive, and seek a sliver of survival through the gaps between changing orders—that had been his original plan.
But now, he had seen the "loopholes."
Those minute cracks that existed now, within Zixiao Palace, and upon the Karma Threads of Saints.
Those cracks might be tiny and fleeting, but they were real spaces in which he could act.
Could he... make preparations before the great tribulation arrived?
For example, could he quietly plant something within the "void" on Zhunti's Karma Thread? Could he make some move by exploiting the areas in Zixiao Palace where order flowed poorly? Could he observe the karmic structures of the other future Saints more deeply and find each of their "weak points"?
The moment that thought surfaced, Taiyi felt his heart leap violently.
It was too bold.
Making such small moves beneath the Dao Ancestor's very eyes, within a core region radiated by the Heavenly Dao such as Zixiao Palace... was simply dancing on the edge of a blade.
But...
He slowly raised his head and looked toward Hongjun on the high platform.
The Dao Ancestor still sat quietly, dressed in plain gray robes, his gaze lowered as though immersed in his preaching. It was as if he understood everything within the hall, yet remained indifferent to it all.
Taiyi suddenly recalled the fragmented information conveyed by that dark-golden eye while he refined the fragments:
[Order operates... cycling without cease... yet all things have their limits... the great tribulation restarts... yin and yang invert... karma falls into chaos... Heavenly Dao surveillance... drops to its lowest point...]
Heavenly Dao surveillance would drop to its lowest point.
But that would be during the great tribulation.
What about ordinary times? What about now, when order operated steadily?
Was Hongjun's "gaze" truly constant and without blind spots?
Taiyi did not believe so.
The Heavenly Dao might be close to omniscient, but Hongjun was one who had Merged with Dao, not the Heavenly Dao itself. He needed to preach, cultivate, maintain the operation of Zixiao Palace, and organize the order of the Great Wilderness... His attention had to be limited.
And there were hundreds of listeners within Zixiao Palace, each with their own karmic fluctuations, shifts in cultivation, and changing thoughts. This chaotic "information" itself would form interference.
Then, if his movements were subtle enough, hidden enough, was it possible... to accomplish certain things within Hongjun's blind spots?
Like a drop of ink falling into a rushing river, instantly swept apart, diluted, and unnoticed.
This thought spread wildly through Taiyi's heart like weeds.
He knew it was dangerous, but he also knew that waiting obediently for the great tribulation was equally dangerous. It might even be more dangerous—because there would be too many variables then, and he might not have the ability to seize that fleeting opportunity.
Rather than place all his hopes upon that uncertain future "crack," it would be better to start now and carve out several "observation holes" and "fulcrums" of his own in the solid wall of order.
Even if they were only the size of needlepoints.
With that thought, Taiyi made up his mind.
He closed his eyes again and reopened Causality Vision, but this time, his target was very clear—
The vortex of order at the base of that Coiled Dragon Golden Pillar in the northwest corner of the hall.
With extreme care, he separated a thread of extraordinarily faint divine sense and mixed it with a wisp of newly refined forbidden power, so thin it was nearly nonexistent, drawn from the Karma Reversal fragments. Like the gentlest spider silk, it slowly drifted toward the vortex.
His divine sense did not touch the vortex directly. Instead, it slowly circled around it, sensing the rhythm of Order Force and searching for the least noticeable "gap between fluctuations."
One breath, two breaths, three breaths...
Just as Hongjun finished a passage, paused slightly, and prepared to begin the next—
Taiyi's divine sense moved.
Like a fish giving a light flick of its tail, it slipped into a "gap" in the flow of Order Force and adhered to an extremely tiny area at the edge of the vortex, where the karmic structure was somewhat loose.
It caused no ripple.
It altered no order.
It merely left behind a "mark."
A mark formed from Taiyi's original divine sense mixed with forbidden power, so tiny it was nearly nonexistent. This mark possessed no active function. Its only purpose was to serve as an extraordinarily faint "coordinate" and point of sensory extension whenever Taiyi needed it in the future, allowing him to observe the karmic flow within this small area more clearly.
The instant he finished, Taiyi immediately severed most of his connection with that thread of divine sense, retaining only the faintest and most concealed trace of perception.
The entire process took less than half a breath, and the forbidden power consumed was negligible.
He held his breath and waited.
One breath, two breaths...
Hongjun's voice sounded again as he began explaining the taboos of nourishing the Primordial Spirit after severing the corpses.
The Dao Ancestor's gaze did not sweep toward the northwest corner.
The flow of the order field within the hall did not display the slightest abnormal fluctuation.
He had succeeded.
Taiyi let out a long breath inwardly, but he did not dare relax in the slightest. He knew this was merely the first step, the most insignificant step. The mark he had left behind was incomparably fragile. It could be washed away by Order Force at any time, or discovered by Hongjun.
But at least he had proven that even under absolute and rigorous surveillance, there was still room to act, so long as he was cautious enough, patient enough, and understood the operating laws of order well enough.
He slowly withdrew Causality Vision and began listening to the Dao in earnest.
Yet within his heart, a bolder and more meticulous plan was gradually taking shape.
There were still two years and nine months left of the preaching at Zixiao Palace.
During that time, not only did he need to digest the Great Dao Hongjun taught and consolidate his cultivation, he also needed to... silently leave behind more "marks" and "fulcrums" belonging to himself within this core land of the Heavenly Dao.
To lay the first insignificant foundation stone for the future struggle that would inevitably come against the Heavenly Dao's script.
On the high platform, Hongjun's gaze seemed to sweep over the northwest corner of the hall for an instant, as though intentionally or unintentionally.
But it quickly returned to the content of his preaching.
As though he had noticed nothing.
Or as though everything remained within his grasp.
The sound of preaching continued to flow steadily through the hall.
Before you continue