"What exactly does the Alliance Leader of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance want to do? Does he want to raise the power of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance to a level sufficient to resolve the Black Calamity Catastrophe in the shortest time?"
"And how exactly does he accomplish all this? Just by spreading faith and attracting believers, he has caused so many experts to emerge in the Heaven-Slaying Alliance in such a short time, their fortunes like dragons, surging endlessly..."
"This method has been attempted before, but those Divine Dao Civilizations of the past, the Ancestral Gods who grew strong by absorbing faith and incense power, never reached this extent. This is already changing the entire strength of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance by one person's power."
"Could it really be as Progenitor Xu said, that he holds the third path in his hands..."
In the Ancient Treasure Civilization, a figure located in multiple dimensional latitudes had been observing the changes in the Heaven-Slaying Alliance over the years.
He wore a Daoist robe, his hair in a Daoist topknot, but his expression was grave, and his slightly thin face could not conceal his shock and incredulity.
It was precisely the Master of Fate who had come with Progenitor Xu to the Ancient Treasure Civilization.
After the Alliance of Righteous Unity collapsed, Gu Changge did not trouble him. The Master of Fate, hiding for many years, gradually relaxed, thinking Gu Changge might not have taken him to heart.
Thus, during this period, he had been closely watching the actions of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
He personally witnessed the Heaven-Slaying Alliance signing a covenant with the Dark Clans, non-interference, the Dark Clans continuing the Grand Sacrificial Ritual, while the Heaven-Slaying Alliance spread its doctrinal tenets, increasing believers, and in many universes and territories, the sounds of chanting and prayers rang out all day.
The power of faith, silvery and vast like an ocean, covered the sky and earth, and even across distant spacetime, one could feel its blazing, boundless intensity.
However, what shook the Master of Fate was not the faith power itself, but the changes brought about by the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
He could not fathom at all how Gu Changge accomplished all this, continuously creating lucky encounters and fortunes, altering the great trends of heaven and earth, making the entire future murky and obscure.
Those Fortune's Favored Children, the Protagonists of Heaven and Earth, appeared madly within the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, and centering on the Alliance, spread rapidly like a spiderweb across the entire Vast Expanse.
This caused the waters of the entire Vast Expanse to be thoroughly stirred up. The futures they could originally glimpse became completely blurred, and nothing could be perceived.
Thus, the fortune of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance continuously soared, and this caused various changes in the fortune of the entire Vast Expanse, the most obvious of which was... that the Epoch Cataclysm would arrive ahead of schedule.
The Master of Fate no longer had many opportunities to lie low and prepare. At the same time, he very much wanted to know how Gu Changge achieved all this, creating so many lucky encounters and fortunes with just the strength of one person.
Was he bestowing his own power? Or was he seizing power from elsewhere and then granting it as lucky encounters and fortunes?
This already does not conform to the laws of all things in heaven and earth. This power cannot come from nothing. Could it be that he obtains it from the faith power of those believers...
The Master of Fate felt he had grasped the most crucial and important point.
This is very likely the root of the third path that Progenitor Xu spoke of!
Unfortunately, in the depths of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, Gu Changge was in charge, and he dared not spy. Now he could only watch the changes in the Alliance from across distant spacetime.
"Faith power and fortune power are indeed very magical and profound, containing things we have always been unable to understand or deduce through investigation..."
Suddenly, a ripple emerged beside the Master of Fate, and Progenitor Xu's figure walked out.
The place where the two were currently located was a desolate planet, with only some very ancient life forms existing.
"The birth of Dark Matter was also like this back then, created by him out of thin air. He possesses a method I have never been able to understand, capable of creating something from nothing."
"But I have painstakingly researched it all along, yet I know nothing."
"Therefore, I am certain that he indeed possesses secrets unknown to any living being in the entire Vast Expanse..."
Progenitor Xu, before appearing, had heard these words from the Master of Fate. Upon hearing them, his vague and indistinct face revealed a meaningful smile.
"From nothing to something?"
The Master of Fate's brows furrowed. At their level, they could of course create worlds, but they needed to rely on chaos.
Similarly, they could also bestow lucky encounters and fortunes, but could not create them out of thin air; they needed to use their own power, or strip power from others, and then confer it.
If one could truly create something from nothing in the true sense, then gestating life, creating the myriad heavens, and then creating a world like the Vast Expanse would be effortless, wouldn't it?
This already does not conform to the natural laws of the Vast Expanse, and contradicts the Great Dao they cultivate and acknowledge, running counter to it.
"It cannot be said to be from nothing to something entirely; rather, what exactly is this 'nothing'?"
"As long as we clarify this, we might also reach the level of the Lord of Heaven's Proxy," Progenitor Xu said.
The Master of Fate finally somewhat understood why Progenitor Xu was so obsessed with studying the Lord of Heaven's Proxy. After all, the more one came into contact, the more one discovered the anomalies and secrets about him.
No matter which it was, it was a tremendous shock to them living in the Vast Expanse, because it completely contradicted the laws of all things in nature.
The Master of Fate, thinking carefully, was deeply horrified, and also felt chills all over.
"Was the emergence of Dark Matter and the Dark Clans precisely for such a reason? Even before the Innate Era, no one had ever heard of these clans. And these clans' reproduction does not rely on bloodlines..."
"Why did the Black Calamity Era leave such a profound mark in the vast history of the Vast Expanse, and why do the Dark Clans not disappear during the Epoch Cataclysm unlike other clans that once appeared?"
The most important reason is Dark Matter, a substance that even the Epoch Cataclysm cannot erase.
Regarding the birth of Dark Matter, opinions vary, conjectures abound. Some believe it was created by the Lord of Heaven's Proxy, some think it came from the Land of Truth, others say it came from an unknown era of nothingness and was excavated from chaos...
But now it seems, it should be the creation of the Lord of Heaven's Proxy.
"We paint on a sheet of paper. To that paper, we are the creators, able to create whatever we wish, and all we need is ink and brush. But to the figures in that painting, they cannot understand what the things that appear out of thin air are. They can only see suddenly, inexplicably, a river, a city, a world appearing beside them..."
"But how these things came into being, they cannot comprehend."
"We are now essentially the most powerful beings in that painted world, but we still cannot reach the world outside the painting..."
Progenitor Xu said slowly.
This is the sense of their own limitations and fear of the unknown that they foresee after reaching this realm.
Hearing this, the Master of Fate's Dao heart was indeed greatly impacted. Before witnessing the changes in the Heaven-Slaying Alliance with his own eyes, he would not have believed Progenitor Xu's rhetoric so readily.
And now, he was already somewhat swayed.
"Tell me, why is it that only during each Epoch Cataclysm do the so-called Authorities appear? And could it be that those who claim to have seized and replaced the Authorities merely happened, at that moment, to touch the descending brush and ink, thereby gaining the ability to paint on this blank paper..."
Progenitor Xu suddenly revealed a strange smile and asked him.
The Master of Fate's expression turned ugly, and he coldly shouted, "Do not try to disturb my Dao heart!"
Progenitor Xu chuckled, "Why be like this, fellow Daoist? I was only expressing my understanding. At our level, everyone's view of this world is different. Why should you care about what I say?"
"I came to find you because I have something to discuss with you. The Calamity King has matters to discuss with both of us. The Lord of Heaven's Proxy intends to bring the Epoch Cataclysm ahead of time, which has already greatly displeased a certain entity..."
Hearing this, the Master of Fate's expression eased slightly.
The Calamity King that Progenitor Xu mentioned was the king of the Calamity Clan, one of the five great royal clans of the Ancient Treasure Civilization, also an extraordinarily ancient existence.
Although the Ancient Treasure Civilization was ostensibly ruled by the Ancient Treasure Imperial Family, there was also the Divine Hall of Rituals transcending beyond, where the Grand Priest held an extremely transcendent and special status, above even imperial authority.
Besides the Ancient Treasure Imperial Family, the Ancient Treasure Civilization also had five great royal clans, each with foundations and strength comparable to a Supreme True World.
The Calamity Clan was one of them.
Progenitor Xu had quite a few connections with the master behind the Calamity Clan. This time, the two of them, leading a number of subordinates, came to the Ancient Treasure Civilization, and could be considered as having taken refuge with the Calamity Clan.
"A certain entity behind the Calamity Clan, are you talking about the Calamity Master?"
The Master of Fate's expression was calm. He had heard of the Calamity Master as the sovereign of the Calamity Clan, but the other party's strength was at most on par with theirs, not enough for Progenitor Xu to mention in such a manner.
"It's not the Calamity Master, but a certain existence who controls the Authority of Creation..." Progenitor Xu said.
"You mean the one from Creation Mountain?" the Master of Fate narrowed his eyes, thoughtful.
...
Time passed swiftly, thousands of years flew by in a flash. The fortune of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance rose and grew like the midday sun, increasingly blazing and surging.
Vast faith power, covering the sky and earth, gushed forth from every universe and world, converging toward the depths of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
During this time, experts were as numerous as clouds, constantly emerging like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. The number of Immortal Realm cultivators that appeared in a thousand years far exceeded that of several previous epochs.
Many protagonists with profound blessings and Fortune's Favored Child figures, under the accumulation of opportunities and fortunes, began to charge toward higher realms.
And the Dark Clans, under the watch of all clans and True World civilizations in the Vast Expanse, guided and brought the Land of the Dark Source over.
The moment it fell and touched the Vast Expanse, boundless Dark Matter completely shrouded and enveloped the lair of the dark beings. There, an incomparably terrifying vision appeared, reflecting across all worlds, making everyone tremble with fear.
The phantom of the Coffin of World Burial floated before the Heaven's Proxy Hall, a crack appearing in it, and hazy light gushed out. Even denser Dark Matter, as if a corner of heaven and earth had been torn, poured down endlessly, submerging the entire Nightmare Demon Domain.
No one could see clearly what was happening there, only faintly sensing a terrifying aura that oppressed the entire Vast Expanse, as if about to revive.
At the same time, the Dark Clans also launched their war of erosion against the Land of the Nine Heavens.
The Land of the Nine Heavens, originally hidden in unknown spacetime without a path, suddenly one day had its coordinates exposed to the eyes of the Dark Clans for some reason.
A terrifying pitch-black rift pierced through the spacetime outside the Land of the Nine Heavens, a faint light connecting through that place.
The Dark Clans, dark and dense like a tide, thus invaded and swept over. The Land of the Nine Heavens, transcendent and detached for countless years, after long silence and tranquility, welcomed the fiercest battle.
The entire Nine Layered Heavens began to tremble. Dark Matter, like mist, invaded, blotting out the sky and sun, completely shrouding the spacetime domain there.
The Gravekeeper who guarded before the Land of the Nine Heavens had no choice but to act. His opponents were the four High Priests of the Dark Clans. The four High Priests acted together, a scene extremely rare.
That battle shook all the worlds of the Vast Expanse, the River of Years evaporated, fate was disrupted, and it lasted a long time. Even now, neither victory nor defeat has been determined.
Without the Gravekeeper guarding the entrance, the army of the Dark Clans pressed forward like a torrent, forcing the Land of the Nine Heavens, long accustomed to peace and transcendence, to respond heavily and choose to resist.
Ancient figures secluded in each heaven had to come forward to resist. The battle was fierce, no less than the earlier war between the Heaven-Slaying Alliance and the Alliance of Righteous Unity.
Thus, the Land of the Nine Heavens was exposed to the world.
During this period, the Heaven-Slaying Alliance chose to watch coldly from the sidelines and paid no heed. Also because of the covenant signed with the Dark Clans, it had no intention of intervening.
The many members within the Heaven-Slaying Alliance were likewise. When the Dark Clans had once eroded all worlds, the Land of the Nine Heavens had never intervened. Now that its hidden land was exposed and faced such invasion, the other True World civilizations naturally had no intention of helping.
In just a few thousand years, the strength of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance grew rapidly. This gave the various clans and True Worlds, who originally had little confidence in resisting the Black Calamity Catastrophe, a lot of confidence.
Even many Dao Realms figures, during this time, abandoned their former cultivation methods and wholeheartedly researched faith power, continuously increasing believers for the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
It was precisely thanks to this benefit that their bottleneck realms, which had not changed for a long time, began to loosen.
Gu Changge had refined the World Orb, having long perfected various rules within it. Those who could bring him more believers, while condensing into Immortal Substance and Creation Substance, would correspondingly receive feedback in the form of cultivation.
Thus, this was the most direct positive feedback. Coupled with the Summoning Scripture he bestowed, many members of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance had the illusion that they too could gain cultivation through faith power.
Of course, this was only for ordinary Dao Realms cultivators.
As for those existences who had long stepped into the Ancestral Dao Realm, they had already seen through the essence of Gu Changge's actions, so they would not actively engage with faith power.
But because the Alliance of Righteous Unity had collapsed, it had become extremely difficult to accumulate war merit as before and exchange for those two substances in the Hall of War Merit.
To improve their cultivation, they could only grope forward step by step as before. However, the changes in the fortune of the entire Vast Expanse also made it easier for them to perceive their own path and the Great Dao.
Relative to ordinary cultivators, those who had stepped into the Dao Realms had firmer hearts, firmly believing in their own strength, unwilling to rely on external things. They believed that the cultivation brought by faith power was merely a castle in the air, flowers in a mirror or the moon's reflection in the water, which could collapse at any time.
Gu Changge did not bother with them, nor did he force everyone to accept the doctrinal tenets of the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
Now, within the Heaven-Slaying Alliance, there were countless True Worlds of all sizes, and the intelligent beings in each world could be described in the billions.
With such a massive base, it could bring him sufficient faith power.
The fortune changes across the entire Vast Expanse were also undergoing earth-shaking transformations in a way that suited his wishes.
During this period, he used the two substances to transform the Dao Chang True World and did not detect anything unusual, but all living beings in the Dao Chang True World benefited as a result.
Gu Changge also noticed that many years ago, the Ancestor of the Gu Family had already left the Dao Chang True World. Now, the Gu Family in the Dao Chang True World only had those former clansmen.
In addition, Dao Realms existences had begun to emerge.
Jiang Chuchu, Wang Zijin, and even Yin Mei broke through to the Dao Realms one after another, their lifespans and strength undergoing earth-shaking changes. Gu Changge did not force their growth.
To him at present, whether their strength was at the Dao Realms or not had no impact on him.
Over these thousand years, Gu Changge also paid attention to the changes in Yue Mingkong's aura. Although she was in slumber, her aura was continuously changing and growing.
During this time, Zi Wanhe, the master of Purple Mist Mountain, came to find him. Because of the Dao Chang True World, he voluntarily spoke of the past transaction between the Dreamghosts Clan and him.
Zi Wanhe had no choice; he could not go against the agreement with the Dreamghosts Clan, nor did he know why the Dreamghosts Clan was searching for the two words "Dao Chang."
But now, the existence of the Dao Chang True World was no longer a secret in the Heaven-Slaying Alliance.
However, after he informed the Dreamghosts Clan of the Dao Chang True World's existence, the Dreamghosts Clan seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
When Gu Changge learned of this from Zi Wanhe, he was not surprised. He had long sensed some aura of the Innate Era on Yue Mingkong...
And the reason the Dreamghosts Clan was searching for "Dao Chang" was actually to find Yue Mingkong.
Yue Mingkong had always been by his side, so the Dreamghosts Clan naturally did not dare to appear easily.