A Trap Within a Trap

Fate and Karma exchanged a glance and attacked once more.

The Law of Fate transformed into chains that filled the sky, coiling toward Yang Mei from every direction. The Law of Karma condensed into countless transparent threads, silently infiltrating the void to strike at Yang Mei's vitals from every blind spot.

The two supreme laws intertwined and coordinated, sealing off every possible escape route for Yang Mei.

Yang Mei's figure shifted rapidly. The Law of Space condensed into a layer of silver-white light armor on his skin, allowing him to forcibly withstand the entanglement of the Fate chains. With a backhanded swipe, he tore open a spatial rift in front of the Karma Demon God, swallowing all those transparent threads whole.

But the Fate Demon God lunged forward directly, a Spear of Fate piercing through the void to strike straight at Yang Mei's chest. Yang Mei barely managed to dodge sideways, the spear tip grazing his ribs and drawing a trail of golden blood beads.

Yang Mei steadied himself, his breathing beginning to quicken.

To trade for that Great Dao Prohibition Decree, his origin had already been insufficient. Now, fighting two against one for such a long time, his reserves were reaching their limit.

The Karma Demon God noticed this as well. His offensive grew more urgent, his laws surging like wave after wave of a tide, giving Yang Mei not a single moment to catch his breath.

Yang Mei gritted his teeth, struck both of them back with a palm, and used the momentum to retreat.

His hand pressed instinctively against the jade tablet hidden in his robes.

The Great Dao Prohibition Decree.

Once unleashed, anyone locked onto would be banished into the Chaos Void for several hundred million Chaos Epochs.

During this period, their origin Dao would be sealed, their cultivation would not advance an inch, and they might even suffer a drop in realm due to the sealing of their origin.

For a Chaos Demon God pursuing the Great Dao, there was no punishment more cruel than this.

And the user would also suffer severe damage to their own origin as a result.

Yang Mei's fingers traced the cold surface of the tablet, a flicker of struggle crossing his eyes.

The Chaos Demon Gods were of the same root and origin, like brothers. Although he was not close with Fate or Karma, they were, after all, fellow travelers who had experienced the creation of the world together. To personally banish two fellow Demon Gods into the Chaos Void was something he truly could not bear.

He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Alas... Shichen, I regret ever knowing you as a friend."

He opened his eyes, and the hesitation was gone. His hands formed seals, ready to unleash the Great Dao Prohibition Decree.

Just then,

BOOM!!!

A River of Fate suddenly surged from the void. Amidst the churning waves, a figure in green robes rose slowly from the river.

The figure was identical to Shichen, though his form was slightly illusory, and he held a cyan clock-disk in his hand.

The moment the figure appeared, the vast Law of Time crashed down upon the Karma Demon God!

The Karma Demon God had never expected this. All his attention had been on Yang Mei; he was completely caught off guard.

That terrifying power of time slammed solidly into him, pinning his entire body into the void, unable to move.

"Pfft!"

The Karma Demon God spat out a large mouthful of golden blood, his face turning deathly pale in an instant.

He had already consumed a vast amount of origin in the previous battle, and this strike was a disaster on top of a calamity, causing the Law of Karma within him to fall into chaos.

On the battlefield, all the Demon Gods were stunned. They stopped their hands in unison, staring blankly at the suddenly appearing figure in green.

"Shichen's... avatar?"

A Demon God muttered in disbelief.

"How could Shichen's avatar appear in the River of Fate?"

The Karma Demon God clutched his chest, his expression hideous. He stared fixedly at the green-robed figure, then suddenly whipped his head toward the Fate Demon God. A terrifying thought surfaced in his mind.

The expression on the Fate Demon God's face was now completely different from before.

The previous fierce and ruthless look had vanished entirely. In its place was a calm and unhurried composure, with even a faint, elusive smile at the corners of his mouth.

The Karma Demon God's voice trembled: "Fate... you... you plotted against me? I treated you like a brother, and you actually plotted against me!!"

The Fate Demon God shrugged: "Yin the Fifth, don't try to deny that you weren't plotting against me?"

He pointed to the surroundings: "To prevent you from escaping via karma, I fought alongside you with all my might, waiting until Shichen arrived to lay this Fate Dao Net around you. It's not easy to escape, you know."

Hearing this, the Karma Demon God felt a jolt of shock and hurriedly sensed his surroundings.

Sure enough, all around him, dense lines of fate had been laid out at some unknown time. Those lines were layered and stacked, wrapping him within a cage.

If he made even the slightest move, those lines of fate would immediately tighten, trapping him firmly.

The Karma Demon God's face turned completely black: "You... aren't you the one who hates Shichen the most? Why would you cooperate with him to plot against me?"

The Fate Demon God put away his smile and said solemnly: "I want to snatch his throne as number one, that has never changed. But I want to beat him fair and square."

His gaze swept across the Chaos, which had been battered into a riddled mess, then looked toward the direction of the Primordial World:

"Moreover, the Primordial World is our shared hope. The appearance of the system can allow the future of the Chaos world to go further. I did this not for Shichen, but for the Chaos."

Yang Mei stood to the side, listening to these words from the Fate Demon God, his expression incredibly colorful.

He slowly lowered the Great Dao Prohibition Decree he had been about to unleash, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

Good grief.

Fate had been acting the whole time.

He was an ally.

You damn well should have said so earlier!

He had almost unleashed the Great Dao Prohibition Decree!!

Shichen's avatar ignored the Karma Demon God's dark, pot-bottom complexion and said in a flat tone:

"Karma, you really are the number one troublemaker of the Chaos. It seems I should suppress you at the end of the River of Time for a few hundred million Chaos Epochs to reflect on yourself."

The Karma Demon God's face turned from green to white.

He looked at Shichen's avatar, then at the Fate Demon God, and finally sighed dejectedly, lowering his head.

"I plead guilty."

"I will offer up half of my Karma Dao origin to repair the Chaos and mend the injuries of the other Demon Gods."

After speaking, he looked up at Shichen's avatar. Seeing that the other party had no intention of attacking, he pointed two fingers to the sky and swore solemnly:

"I, the Karma Demon God, hereby swear that from this day forward, I will no longer stir up chaos and will take the future of the Chaos as my goal. If I violate this oath, may my true spirit dissolve into the Dao, and may the Great Dao bear witness!"

In the void, the Great Dao, which had been silent for a long time, sent down a grand Dao sound:

"Granted."

The Karma Demon God lowered his fingers, his face ashen, but he said nothing more.

Shichen's avatar looked at him and nodded: "This time, in consideration of the fact that the Primordial World suffered no damage, I will spare you. Remember your words."

The Karma Demon God kept a sullen face and remained silent.

Shichen's avatar looked at the Fate Demon God again: "The origin of that world which Pangu and I found will have a share set aside for you."

The corner of the Fate Demon God's mouth curled slightly, and he did not stand on ceremony: "Then I won't be polite."

Shichen's avatar finally looked at Yang Mei.

Yang Mei was covered in wounds, his aura withered, his golden blood soaking his robes. Seeing Shichen's avatar looking at him, he grinned.

Shichen was silent for a moment before slowly speaking:

"Thank you."

Yang Mei waved his hand: "No need for thanks. Just bring me some good wine when you return."

Shichen looked at him and nodded gently.

Then, his figure began to fade, eventually dissipating completely into the River of Fate.

The Karma Demon God stood in place for a moment, then raised his hand and waved.

Half of his Karma Dao origin transformed into a sky full of light rain, sprinkling down upon all the Demon Gods present and the space of the Chaos that had been battered into a riddled mess.

As the light rain fell upon the Demon Gods, their wounds began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye, and some Demon Gods even broke through their realms directly.

The shattered Chaos space also began to slowly repair itself under the nourishment of the light rain.

The Karma Demon God watched as half of his origin was scattered away, his heart bleeding. He glared fiercely at the Fate Demon God, then turned and fled toward the Karma Temple without a word.

The Fate Demon God watched his back and shrugged.

Yang Mei, Creation, Luo Hou, and the other Demon Gods immediately gathered around.

"What exactly is going on?" Yang Mei asked straight to the point.

The Fate Demon God looked up and slowly recounted the ins and outs of the matter.

It turned out that after the Karma Demon God had approached the Fate Demon God that day, the Fate Demon God had secretly passed the message to Shichen via the River of Fate.

After the two discussed it, they set this trap. The Fate Demon God pretended to cooperate with the Karma Demon God while secretly laying the Fate Dao Net, waiting for Shichen's avatar to descend through the River of Fate to take the Karma Demon God down in one fell swoop.

"If we hadn't done this, with his slippery personality, the moment he sensed something was wrong, he would have fled along the lines of karma," the Fate Demon God spread his hands.

"Only by letting him lower his guard could I directly suppress him, and then I could lay the Fate Dao Net around him to completely seal off his retreat."

After listening, Yang Mei was silent for a moment, then wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead: "That was close... just a little bit..."

The Fate Demon God asked curiously: "What was close? What are you talking about?"

Yang Mei did not answer, only silently hiding the Great Dao Prohibition Decree in his robes even deeper.

The informed Creation Demon God and Luo Hou had incredibly colorful expressions on their faces, while only the Chaos Demon Ape chuckled:

"You were almost gone for a long time."

The Fate Demon God looked bewildered: "What kind of nonsense is that?"

Yang Mei waved his hand: "Alright, since it's over, let's all return to heal."

The army of Demon Gods gradually dispersed.

In a corner of the Chaos, the World Demon God sat on the World Tree, swinging her two long, white legs leisurely. She had watched the entire battle from start to finish.

"Tsk tsk, I knew there was something fishy, good thing I didn't participate."

"Being too greedy is no good. What's so great about being number one? I'm satisfied just being in the top five. Karma is seriously injured now, should I go and snatch his origin?"

Inside the Primordial World, Hongjun sensed the end of the Demon Gods' battle through the Pseudo-Creation Jade Disk. He let out a long breath, his heart, which had been hanging for so long, finally settling.

"So Dao Venerable Shichen had left the Chaos world..."

He withdrew his gaze, pondered for a moment, and looked toward the direction of the Primordial land.

There, the conflicts between the three innate clans were already beginning to manifest. The Dragon Clan and the Phoenix Clan had had several frictions over territory, and although the Qilin Clan was still mediating, the smell of gunpowder was growing thicker.

According to the memories of that transmigrator, the next calamity was the Dragon-Han Calamity, and it would arrive soon.

Hongjun stood up, his gaze becoming firm.

"It is time for this old Daoist to begin preaching in the Primordial World. I must strive to achieve some results by the time the Dao Venerable returns."