Game Within a Game

Fate and Karma exchanged a glance, then charged again.

The Law of Fate transformed into chains that filled the sky, winding toward Yang Mei from every direction; the Law of Karma condensed into countless transparent threads that silently slipped into the void, stabbing at Yang Mei's vital points from every blind spot.

The two supreme laws intertwined and worked in tandem, sealing off every possible route of escape for Yang Mei.

Yang Mei spun sharply. The Law of Space formed a layer of silver-white light armor over his body, forcibly withstanding the Fate chains' entanglement. Then he slashed backhandedly, tearing open a spatial rift before the Karma Demon God and swallowing all those transparent threads whole.

But the Fate Demon God lunged directly at him, a Spear of Fate piercing through the void and thrusting straight for Yang Mei's chest. Yang Mei barely twisted aside. The spearhead grazed his ribs, scattering a string of golden droplets of blood.

Yang Mei steadied himself, his breathing beginning to grow ragged.

To obtain that Great Dao Prohibition Decree, his origin had already been depleted. Now, facing two enemies alone after fighting for so long, his exhaustion was nearly at its limit.

The Karma Demon God saw this as well. His assault grew fiercer, laws surging in wave after wave like a tide, giving Yang Mei no chance to catch his breath.

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

His hand unconsciously pressed against the jade token in his robes.

The Great Dao Prohibition Decree.

Once activated, anyone locked onto by it would be banished into the chaos void for hundreds of millions of Chaos epochs.

During that time, their Origin Great Dao would be sealed, their cultivation would be unable to advance, and their realm might even fall due to the sealing of their origin.

For Chaos Demon Gods pursuing the Great Dao, there was no crueler punishment.

The user, however, would also suffer severe damage to their origin.

Yang Mei's fingers brushed the token's icy surface, and a trace of struggle flashed through his eyes.

Chaos Demon Gods shared the same origin, like brothers and sisters. Though he was not close to Fate and Karma, they had still been fellow travelers who had experienced the creation of heaven and earth together. He truly could not bear to personally banish two Demon Gods into the chaos void.

He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Alas... Shichen, I should never have befriended you."

He opened his eyes, and all hesitation was gone. Forming seals with both hands, he was about to activate the Great Dao Prohibition Decree.

Just then—

BOOM!!!

A River of Fate suddenly surged out of the void. Amid its churning waves, a figure in azure robes slowly rose from the river.

The figure looked exactly like Shichen, though his form was somewhat illusory. He held an azure clock disk in his hand.

The instant the figure appeared, boundless Law of Time crashed down upon the Karma Demon God!

The Karma Demon God had never expected this. All his attention had been focused on Yang Mei, and he had been completely unguarded.

That terrifying power of time struck him squarely, pinning his entire body motionless within the void.

"Puh!"

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

He had already expended a great deal of his origin in the earlier battle. This blow only worsened things, throwing the Laws of Karma within him into disorder.

Every Demon God on the battlefield froze. They all stopped fighting in unspoken agreement and stared blankly at the azure-robed figure that had suddenly appeared.

"Sh... Shichen's avatar?"

One Demon God muttered in disbelief.

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

The Karma Demon God clutched his chest, his expression incomparably ugly. He stared hard at the azure-robed figure, then abruptly turned to look at the Fate Demon God as a terrifying thought surfaced in his mind.

The Fate Demon God's expression was completely different from before.

The vicious look he had worn earlier had vanished without a trace. In its place was calm composure, with even a faint, almost imperceptible smile at the corner of his mouth.

The Karma Demon God's voice trembled. "Fate... you... You set me up! I treated you like a brother, yet you set me up!!"

The Fate Demon God shrugged. "Yin the Fifth, don't deny that you never plotted against me."

He pointed around them. "To stop you from escaping through Karma, I risked my life fighting alongside you. I finally waited until Shichen arrived, then laid this Fate Dao Net around you. Escaping won't be easy."

The Karma Demon God's heart jolted. He hurriedly sensed his surroundings.

Sure enough, dense Fate threads had somehow filled every direction around him. Layer upon layer, they wrapped him inside a cage.

The slightest movement from him would make those Fate threads tighten at once, trapping him firmly in place.

The Karma Demon God's face darkened completely. "You... don't you hate Shichen the most? Why would you work with him to plot against me?"

The Fate Demon God put away his smile and said seriously, "I want to take his top position. That has never changed. But I want to defeat him fairly."

His gaze swept over the Chaos that had been battered full of holes, then turned toward the Primordial World.

"Besides, the Primordial World is the shared hope of us all. The system's appearance can take the Chaos World's future even farther. I did this not for Shichen, but for Chaos."

Yang Mei stood to the side, his expression extremely colorful as he listened to the Fate Demon God's words.

He slowly lowered the Great Dao Prohibition Decree that he had nearly activated, took a deep breath, then slowly let it out.

Well, damn.

Fate had been acting the whole time.

He was an ally.

You should have fucking said so earlier!

He had almost activated the Great Dao Prohibition Decree!!

Shichen's avatar ignored Karma's face, dark as the bottom of a pot, and spoke indifferently.

"Karma, you truly are Chaos's number one troublemaker. It seems you should be suppressed at the end of the River of Time and reflect for tens of thousands of Chaos epochs."

The Karma Demon God's face turned green, then white.

He looked at Shichen's avatar, then at the Fate Demon God. Finally, he let out a dispirited sigh and lowered his head.

"I admit my guilt."

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

After speaking, he raised his head and glanced at Shichen's avatar. Seeing no sign that the other man intended to strike, he pointed two fingers toward the sky and solemnly swore.

"I, the Karma Demon God, swear here that from this day onward, I will no longer disrupt Chaos and will take Chaos's future as my goal. Should I violate this oath, may my true spirit return to the Dao. Let the Great Dao bear witness!"

From the void, the Great Dao, which had been silent for a long time, sent forth a vast Dao voice.

"Granted."

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

Shichen's avatar looked at him and nodded. "This time, I will spare you because the Primordial World suffered no damage. Remember your words."

The Karma Demon God kept a dark face and said nothing.

Shichen's avatar then looked toward the Fate Demon God. "The origin of the world Pangu and I found will have a portion reserved for you."

The Fate Demon God's lips curled slightly, and he did not stand on ceremony. "Then I'll gladly accept."

Shichen's avatar finally turned toward Yang Mei.

Yang Mei was covered in wounds, his aura weak, his robes soaked through with golden blood. Seeing Shichen's avatar look at him, he grinned.

Shichen remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking.

"Thank you."

Yang Mei waved a hand. "No need to thank me. Just bring me some good wine when you return."

Shichen looked at him and nodded lightly.

Then his figure gradually faded, finally disappearing completely into the River of Fate.

The Karma Demon God stood where he was in silence for a moment, then raised his hand and waved.

Half of his Karma Great Dao origin transformed into a rain of light that scattered over all the Demon Gods present, as well as the Chaos space that had been battered full of holes.

Wherever the rain of light fell upon the Demon Gods, their wounds began healing at a visible rate. Some Demon Gods even broke through their realms directly.

The shattered Chaos space also began to slowly mend beneath the nourishment of the light rain.

Watching half his origin scatter away like that, the Karma Demon God's heart bled. He shot the Fate Demon God a vicious glare, then turned without a word and fled toward the Karma Temple.

The Fate Demon God watched his departing back and shrugged.

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

"What exactly happened?" Yang Mei asked bluntly.

The Fate Demon God tilted back his head and slowly explained the whole story.

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

After discussing it, the two had devised this scheme. The Fate Demon God would pretend to cooperate with the Karma Demon God while secretly laying down the Fate Dao Net, waiting for Shichen's avatar to descend through the River of Fate and capture the Karma Demon God in one stroke.

"If we hadn't done it this way, with his slippery nature, the moment he sensed anything wrong, he would have immediately fled along the Karma threads." The Fate Demon God spread his hands.

"Only by making him lower his guard could we suppress him directly. Then I could set up the Fate Dao Net around him and completely seal off his escape route."

After hearing this, Yang Mei fell silent for a moment, then wiped nonexistent sweat from his forehead. "So close... so close..."

The Fate Demon God asked curiously, "So close to what? What are you talking about?"

Yang Mei did not answer. He merely tucked the Great Dao Prohibition Decree deeper into his robes.

Creation and Luo Hou, who knew the truth, both wore extremely colorful expressions. Only the Chaos Demon Ape chuckled.

"You almost wouldn't have seen him for a very long time."

The Fate Demon God looked utterly baffled. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Yang Mei waved a hand. "All right, since everything is settled, return and heal."

The army of Demon Gods gradually dispersed.

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

"Tsk, tsk. I knew there had to be something fishy going on. Good thing I didn't join in."

"Being too greedy is no good. What's so great about first place? I only need a spot in the top five. Karma is badly injured now... should I go rob him of his origin?"

Within the Primordial World, Hongjun sensed through the Pseudo-Creation Jade Disk that the battle among the Demon Gods had ended. Only then did he let out a long breath, and his heart, which had been hanging for so long, finally settled.

"So Dao Venerable Shichen left the Chaos World..."

He withdrew his gaze, pondered for a moment, then looked toward the lands of the Primordial World.

There, the conflicts among the Innate Three Clans had already begun to emerge. The Dragon Clan and Phoenix Clan had clashed several times over territory. Though the Qilin Clan was still mediating, the smell of gunpowder was growing stronger and stronger.

According to that transmigrator's memories, the next Tribulation would be the Dragon-Han Calamity, and it would arrive very soon.

Hongjun rose to his feet, his gaze turning resolute.

"This old Daoist should begin spreading the Dao through the Primordial World as well. By the time the Dao Venerable returns, I should have something to show for it."