Journey of the Fate Destroying Emperor

Chapter 1721: The Shackles of Cause & Effect

Wang Wei calmly watched Sovereign Dao Eyes’ fate. A saint just died. A being who has placed so much pressure on him was just killed due to his machinations. For a moment, he felt the Saints were not all that, but he soon dismissed this idea. Sovereign Dao Eyes died because it was the right moment and the right time: without the existence of the Heaven and Earth Origin Cycle Array and this current chaotic war, the latter would not have died so easily. The Qi of Calamity would have brought him to his lowest point and may have even sent him to Limbo, but he would never have been completely erased.

’This man’s death should serve as a reminder,’ Wang Wei thought. ’Before I become a [True Transcendent], death is always looming over my head.’ Just as Wang Wei can plot against Sovereign Dao Eyes to lead to his death, someone else can do the same as him. So, he reminded himself that even after sanctifying, he should always remain vigilant and not let his guard down — he should not let the power get to his head.

”Hmm?” Wang Wei muttered as he noticed something. His vision changed, and he saw his Qi Luck Dragon. A decent part of it had already turned transparent, but that was not his current concern. He saw a dark spot on one of the dragon’s spots, and the darkness was rapidly spreading.

’Is this the backlash for using the Qi of Calamity?’ he swiftly analyzed. ’The level of calamity not only influences someone’s mind to ensure they always make the wrong decision, leading to their downfall or death. It also instantly placed a terrifying Curse of Misfortune.”

Wang Wei did not hesitate to activate his Luck Dao to combat the terrible backlash. However, his efforts were useless. That level of Qi of Calamity is not something ordinary people can wield without consequences. Ordinarily, if he were dealing with a normal person, his methods might be effective, but he dealt with a Primordial Saint. In the eyes of the universe, Wang Wei’s actions could be viewed as blasphemous; thus, he must pay the consequences.

Numerous thoughts flashed through Wang Wei’s mind as he deduced a solution. He remembered an old ability he had almost forgotten since he rarely used it. Long ago, when he first entered the Duyi Realm, he gained the ability to turn his Qi Luck Dragon completely black. In that state, his luck entered a state of emptiness, preventing any outside influence from affecting it.

After so many years, Wang Wei has long understood that the battle between his future self and Grand Dao has influenced his entire cultivation journey. From when he was a mortal and Grand Dao took over the test from the Ninth Layer of the Pagoda in an attempt to destroy his will and spirit, to the difficulty of creating his Heavenly Physique, entering the Duyi Realm, and the Black Qi Luck, were all a result of that battle.

Wang Wei frowned. This tactic was only semi-successful. The black aura stopped spreading and was even neutralized. But it did not dissipate as he anticipated. He glanced at the chessboard before him and placed his hands on a few pieces. He easily transferred a small portion of this Doom Curse to a few people, but did not go overboard.

The Tribunal Lords and Cardinals are the true leaders of this expedition. If he started using all the Primals and Paragons of the expedition as chess pieces, they would definitely stop giving him face on account of his future self. However, even sharing a small amount with many people was not enough to deal with this issue, so Wang Wei targeted a whale: Emperor Kong.

By using the latter’s unique destiny, Wang Wei successfully removed the last trace of this backlash/curse of misfortune. As for Emperor Kong? Well, he should thank Wang Wei. As a Chosen One, Emperor Kong will immensely benefit after surviving the ordeal from the bad luck, thus drastically increasing his strength and the foundation of his academy. More importantly, Wang Wei’s actions will also activate Kong’s destiny, bringing it to an ideal state for the final step of the grand plan.

Some sense of elation or relief should have washed over Wang Wei after dealing with such a pesky situation. Yet, as he watched his completely normal-looking Qi Luck Dragon, a sense of unease loomed over the back of his mind. He knew better than to ignore his intuition, so he did a quick divination. However, even using the boost from the Heaven and Earth Origin Cycle Array, the result was nothing.

’There aren’t many things that can completely block divination about myself,’ Wang Wei thought. He is used to returning empty-handed when dealing with other individuals’ divination, but when it comes to his life — to his safety — there is always a sliver of information. ’The primary one is information about my Time Nexuses.’

This was terrible news for Wang Wei. If the backlash for using the Qi Calamity on a Primordial Saint affected his Time Nexus, then it would not be worth it. Hesitation was not a part of the vocabulary, so Wang Wei prepared to try another approach to get to the truth. But as he was about to execute it, he felt a pain in his head that made him groan. His soul already couldn’t bear the use of the array, so he swallowed a few Soul Nourishing Pills of the highest quality.

With a flick of his hand, he summoned the artificial River of Fate. However, he momentarily paused. His divination concerned his [Time Nexus], so Wang Wei must consider the possibility that the Erudite Duchess can nullify all divination made using her creation.

’Based on the battle I saw, I know that at some point, news about my multiple [Time Nexuses] will be revealed, but the longer I can hide, the more chances I will have at closing the loop,’ Wang Wei thought. He did not know whether Grand Dao would be the one to reveal it directly, or whether she would follow the rules and plot so that the information would be slowly revealed. Regardless, Wang Wei wanted to take as many precautions as possible.

Wang Wei briefly surveyed this River of Fate. As expected, he couldn’t detect any hidden methods. However, he observed that this grand construct was easier to manipulate than the genuine one. ’This one lacks certain grandeur, certain mystery. However, I reckon it may be a great training method to accelerate Paragon’s mastery of true Grand Constructs,’ Wang Wei commented.

Now was not the time for all this analysis. With a thought, a brilliant moon hung over the River of Fate, revealing the physical manifestation of his Fate Star Status. With the boost from the array and the power of a Fate Star to counter divination, Wang Wei felt much more confident in hiding the truth from the duchess or any other Tribunal Lords.

However, he still did not directly divine the truth, and it was not just out of caution. As a master of Fate, he knew information about his [Time Nexus] was heavily protected, so he would have to beat around the bush to retrieve some minor information and deduce the rest with his intelligence and wisdom.

’Is the sense of unease I’m feeling because of something that will occur at a unique event in my life that can cause death to my true self?’

[Yes]

’As expected,’ Wang Wei thought as he saw the result of the divination. In this dangerous expedition, many events could lead to his death, but only one is unique and corresponds to his true self —a reference to himself and his future self combined—his Time Nexus.

’I want to complain but can only blame myself,’ Wang Wei sighed. Who knew killing Sovereign Dao Eyes using the Qi of Calamity would increase the difficulty of his Time Nexus? What’s done is done, so Wang Wei did not dwell on it. Now that there was a problem, he focused on finding a solution.

”What is the cause of the increase in difficulty? A general answer is acceptable.”

[Cause and Effect]

Wang Wei’s eyes immediately lit up. He immediately used a more potent form of divination to look through Sovereign Dao Eyes’ life. Even in death, the latter’s status as a Saint protects his information. As such, Wang Wei could not see every single moment of his existence from birth until death. However, he could see enough — especially since he focused on people participating in the expedition who had any connection to Sovereign Dao Eyes and might want to avenge him.

Finally, Wang Wei stopped on a particular memory and paused for a good second. ”Cause and effect, karma, call it whatever you want, but no one can truly escape its shackles.” The person he was observing was an ”old acquaintance” of his, despite the fact that they had never truly met:

”The Black Order Assassin Saint,” Wang Wei muttered as he remembered that naive assassin Blue Ember.