Tangled Karma

It wasn't a matter of power.

It was a matter of understanding the laws of time.

Chu Ming knew the true nature of those afterimages.

They were not real entities, but manifestations of the laws of time.

Their "present" depended on their "past." As long as their "past" was erased, they would dissipate on their own.

Blood Butcher realized that Chu Ming's understanding of laws ran far deeper than he had imagined.

This was not a level someone who had only just entered the Dao Lord realm could attain.

Such insight into the essence of laws required the accumulation of long years, comprehension of many different laws, and countless probes at the brink of life and death.

The two continued deeper.

Along the way, they encountered another three afterimages.

Each was stronger than the last.

Their bodies were more solid, their speed faster, their attacks fiercer.

The third afterimage even instinctively tried to twist the timeline the instant it was struck by the finger-light, hiding its "past" deeper away. Chu Ming dissolved it in the same manner.

Not only was his power of order not weakened within the domain of time, it became even more condensed through its clash with the laws of time. Every time a finger-light shot forth, a trace of fragments from the laws of time was captured by the power of order and merged into his Dao Fruit.

Upon the Dao Fruit's surface, a new, exceedingly fine line appeared among its patterns.

It was the imprint of the laws of time. Though still faint, it was growing.

Three days later, the two passed through the domain of time.

The chaos ahead was no longer still.

The gray mist began to flow again, drifting slowly and languidly through the void.

But the chaos was no longer a