Kao Dao Ji stared at the Heavens above.
His expression slowly settled.
He had too little time to realise the true nature of things, but he figured enough to enable his main body to escape from the deception some day.
And now.
His focus returned to the present.
The poison within his body had yet to be activated.
He had far less than a week.
The fight, while seeming to last a bit, had actually taken quite a long time.
Furthermore, they simply did not magically appear there; the poison had been consumed a few days ago.
But there was still time.
His gaze fell upon Heavenly Court on the horizon.
Before settling in the intruder inside his mind.
"Fang Yuan…What do you know about the methods of burning the lifespans of others?"
Fang Yuan fell into deep shock.
Before laughing heartily.
"Hahaha! Are you still not satisfied with the current outcome? You still want to give more trouble to Heavenly Court before you die?"
Kao Dao Ji laughed heartily.
"Of course. They destroyed everything that I ever loved and everybody I cared about!
Besides. I am already ought to die soon anyway. So, unless you are willing to change that, I do not see why I should not do that." He winked whilst speaking those words.
Fang Yuan merely crossed his arms while replying.
"You can forget about that. Anything but that. This current body of yours is far too meddlesome.
Considering the potential of your main body, if you add the current body you have into the mix.
Even if I were to resurrect at the next moment, your speed of growth would outpace even mine.
I would stand no chance against you. So why would I tell you?"
Kao Dao Ji shrugged.
"Figured that much." Fang Yuan was willing to give away things to guarantee his resurrection, which in turn was for the sake of pursuing his lifegoal.
If that goal was deemed impossible or unattainable by helping him, why should he help the enemy?
He would rather explode his own Will and leave his enemies with nothing than to live knowing that he betrayed his own pursuits.
That was just the kind of person Fang Yuan was.
Coincidentally, that was also the kind of person he was.
"Heheheh...I guess all that is left for me is to fulfil this last capricious wish of mine."
Fang Yuan paused.
The rage in the heart of that man was truly too great.
In that moment, he understood fully.
He was never hoping to come out of there alive.
Those deep emotions could be exploited by him.
Which made him add.
"Of course, I am willing to tell you the former. But before I do, you haven't forgotten what you have to do for me?"
"I want to be resurrected. And I already have the method in mind is very simple. And we can use the souls which are already here to refine Nascent Soul Gu Rank 6."
Kao Dao Ji raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Nascent Soul?"
"That is just a tiny trick I developed on my own. Anyway, upon being activated, it will act like a second soul for my Will. Through it, I will be able to traverse the void.
And find another body to resurrect.
Speaking of which. Once I attempt to resurrect, neither you, your main body, nor your friends are allowed to pursue me or try to track me afterwards."
"If you agree to that, I am willing to give you countless inheritances under your grasp.
I can even give you the inheritances of most Venerables!
Of course, there is a limit; if you ask for 'everything' I know. I will have no other choice but to refuse."
Kao Dao Ji frowned.
"Fine. But in exchange. You will resurrect in the body of a newborn, of the human species."
Fang Yuan raised his eyebrows.
"You are trying to buy yourself a few years before I awaken my aperture? Fine. I can oblige to those terms, but in exchange.
You will not be allowed to learn about the location of Secluded Domains of Heaven and Earth in our deal."
Kao Dao Ji nodded immediately.
"I can agree to that."
"However. I will add another term. You will give me the recipes of all the Spring Autumn Cicada Gu and its variants you know."
Fang Yuan snorted coldly.
"And why would I give you a method as powerful as time travel?"
"Because I will not be able to use it. I am not stupid. You already have enough counters to deal with them as it is. But I do not. If you get your hands on that Gu, I am pretty much dead.
But if I have those methods and I try to use them on you, you will simply steal my place or some shit.
So, I will not dare to use it lightly."
Fang Yuan curled up his lips into a smile.
In reality, he already knew that he would ask for this.
The only reason why he acted like this was to discern how much he knew about him.
If he could lower the amount of other things he would receive, or better yet.
Could convince Kao Dao Ji that using Cicada was safe.
He would laugh out in his dreams.
Whenever he tried to use them, he would simply blow him out completely in one go, effortlessly.
What a shame that Kao Dao Ji seemed aware of this, which is why he gave up on this issue.
"Fine. If there is nothing else you wish to add, let us discuss the remaining details…"
…
…
…
A long time passed.
Almost an entire hour passed whilst the two finalised their deal, and another six in which Kao Dao Ji clumsily tried to refine Nascent Soul Gu.
Plus, the other twenty minutes in which he allowed Fang Yuan to escape into the void, and the additional time he employed in finalising a few other things.
Regardless.
He still had quite a bit of time remaining.
He took a deep breath.
He coughed down several times before finally saying.
"People of the Five Regions, and people of the Two Heavens. I. Kao Dao Ji stand and speak to you.
You may not know of me, but you may recognise the body I currently hold.
I hold the body of Blue Lead Immortal. The Dao Lord of Genesis Lotus.
But I am no him.
I used Cicada to be reborn, and here I stand again, alive." The man clenched his fist as he spoke those words with conviction.
"I also should mention I do not hold fondness towards Heavenly Court. Nor towards humanity.
I am a Featherman; my love is towards my race, and towards any other Variant Human of this world.
You may not believe in my identity, but I will repeat again it is the truth."
Suddenly he raised his tone.
"And I have to say!"
He hit his own chest as he shouted.
"You have been deceived!"
"All of you!"
"You have heard countless tales of why humans are superior and why Variant Humans cannot become Venerables, I am sure.
And history itself seems to prove you right, in the long story of human and variant kin.
Not a single Variant Venerable has been born as of yet.
But that is the deception of Heavenly Court.
Through aeons foretold, when Star Constellation faced death. She refused to return to the natural cycle and instead became one with the heavens, you see.
From that day onward, she was able to observe anything that happened within the world, and within certain boundaries, manipulate causality and Fate.
In other words.
Variant Humans cannot become Venerables because Heavenly Court does not allow for this possibility.
But despite her efforts. Wu Shuai, a Dragon Man, almost succeeded.
And to prevent the true Fate from coming, the treacherous Duke Long destroyed his own race." After saying those words.
He took a long pause.
"After hearing those words, you may have grown into even deeper despair. How can one face the Heavens and try to survive?
But Heavenly Court is not as invincible as it appears.
And the cracks are already showing."
He stretched his hands and palms onto the air as he added.
"For every action there must come a consequence. Every time Star Constellation deliberately altered Fate. Therein came a cost.
When she tried to stop the apotheosis of Wu Shuai, Fate Gu was damaged.
And it was not the only time.
As of recent history.
Spectral Soul Demon Venerable.
I do not need to speak of him for you to understand. He was a demon thoroughly.
But he was born due to the Heavenly Court!
Because they could not accept a Variant Human sitting on the golden throne, the Will of the world allowed him to appear.
His actions weakened humanity to the utmost, whilst preserving the foundation of Variant kind.
Not to mention the endless tragedies and pointless suffering his existence brought.
And all of this came because Heavenly Court could not accept a non-human becoming a Venerable."
He smirked widely.
"Don't you see the trend? The more Star Constellation defies Fate, the greater the backlash becomes on every occasion.
As of now, Heavenly Court is at its weakest in history! Across this long battle.
How many of their members have perished? How much of their information has leaked? Even Star Constellation must have expended herself to sustain a battle of this magnitude. Furthermore, it is through the people of Heavenly Court that her mind is sustained. Now that so many of her people have died, how much more weakened will she become?"
Whilst his words seemed bullshit.
He already verified their accuracy after asking Fang Yuan.
In fact, Le Tu's existence was proof of this idea.
How could Heavenly Court tolerate and protect a half-breed? A non-human Venerable?
Because they had no choice but to settle for him.
Whilst Kao Dao Ji was not one of those 'Venerable Seeds', there had been others like him.
One could only imagine what would come if somebody with his mentality ascended to such a level.
Thus. Star Constellation settled down for Le Tu.
Not only that, but she deliberately arranged his life for him to develop a peaceful and pacifist nature.
A half-breed could never be regarded as the 'One True King' of Variant kind through peaceful means.
And a peaceful monk could not bring an end to the institutions that prolonged their suffering.
Of course, Le Tu eventually realised the trap he had unknowingly fallen into, but by that time he was already thousands of years old, and too stuck in his ways to change.
In the end, his influence was fleeting.
Star Constellation was truly Star Constellation.
No matter if almost every Venerable stood in her way, she still found a way to preserve the interests of humanity with her whole being!
Such a figure may have been admirable had he been born of her race, but he had not.
All there was, was profound hatred.
But then his lips curled up into a wide smile.
"All stars in the skies someday will die no matter how bright their shine is!
And today the most brilliant star of all will witness her empire crumble.
I will make sure of it.
And for that, let me weaken the final tool in the hands of Heavenly Court. Fate Gu!"
As he spoke those words.
Across Treasure Yellow Heaven.
Countless methods propagated.
Methods to turn oneself into an immortal zombie, methods to return to living after turning into a zombie.
Even the life-death aperture was in sight.
All those methods which would have been priceless at any other time.
Were sold at the lowest price for 25,000 Immortal Essence Stones.
This method was truly brilliant.
In a world where Fate Gu was damaged, people sought to live long past their supposed death.
Unfortunately, to become a Zombie was a path with very little hope.
It would merely give a few centuries of a pointless existence, in which everything they ever worked on would degrade.
Many chose death before becoming zombies, because at least their apertures would not be damaged and their clans would inherit them.
But what if there was hope?
What if even if you turned yourself into a zombie, it was still possible to return your aperture to its previous state?
What if, like Da Chou Jidan had made, they decided to purposefully turn into a zombie to survive a Tribulation they never held any hope of beating?
Then.
Afterwards, revive themselves.
While that would later on bring the ire of the Heavens, it also brought hope of survival.
With just one move.
Kao Dao Ji knew that the number of Fate escapees in the world would multiply a hundredfold in the coming years, perhaps even months.
He touched his hips whilst smiling to himself.
Even without doing anything else.
The mere fact that the world now knew about Star Constellation.
And that the number of Fate escapees would multiply endlessly, would bring a huge headache to Heavenly Court.
But this was not yet his finishing stroke.
"TODAY MARKS THE END OF HEAVENLY COURT!" He shouted openly for the world to hear.
At the next moment.
He charged.
Countless Immortals witnessed.
Be it in Treasure Yellow Heaven or even through their own eyes.
The sight of Blue Lead creating a massive blue trail as he charged towards Heavenly Court.
The scene was breathtaking.
Qin Jiji, or at least the Spiritual Flame, who had already taken hold of her body.
Held a cup in her hand, which could not help but fall to the ground.
Their jaw was open widely.
Da Chou Jidan too witnessed the scene in shock.
Was that brat he considered irrelevant a mere Land Spirit truly the bringer of such a change in the world?
He clenched his fists before shouting.
"DO IT!"
"DO IT!"
"DO IT!"
Countless of Variant Humans shouted; they raised their fists into the air.
Whilst the Immortals of Central Continent fell into panic.
The atmosphere was tense.
As the minutes went by.
At Heavenly Court.
Star Constellation was forced to make yet another sacrifice.
She gritted her teeth.
Without any other choice, she woke up Duke Long.
Who slowly opened his eyes.
The atmosphere was solemn and even somewhat tragic.
Upon noticing the gaze of his two compatriots, Duke Long immediately asked.
"What is the situation?"
…
Kao Dao Ji finally reached the location of Heavenly Court, or more accurately the Ten Great Sects.
As he stopped in place.
There was an enormous shockwave.
As his flight distance from the ground was relatively low.
Countless innocent mortals lost their hearing almost immediately.
Whilst millions of birds had perished under his long road.
One could even trace his trail by merely following the corpses of birds along the way.
The expression of Kao Dao Ji was extraordinarily calm.
He placed his hand on his hips, whilst smirking devilishly.
"Star Constellation Immortal Venerable!"
"When you marked my people for execution, did you imagine this day would come?"
He snorted coldly.
"Immortals of Central Continent. I know you are still in your turtle shells. And I am not dumb enough to step into your Formations. So instead. I will declare here.
I will eradicate every mortal of Central Continent! Stop me if you dare!"
Upon declaring those words.
He opened his jaws.
And from them.
Intense blue flames came out.
With one single action.
A hundred thousand of mortals died.