https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-172-The-Ephemeral-Nature-of-Gathering-and-Parting/12590291/
Chapter 173: The Anomaly of the Gate to All Worlds
Chapter 173: The Anomaly of the Gate to All Worlds
Against the backdrop of the vast cosmos, the Master of the Gate Sect stood in silent confrontation with the Yang Tianhao.
Even though the mechanical armor loomed several times taller than him, the Master exuded an incredibly strong 'presence', almost overwhelming the machine before him.
"Xu Sanyang... Your talent has evoked pity even in the heart of my master, and so the gospel was bestowed upon you... But after all these years, you still fail to appreciate the greatness of my master." The Master of the Gate Sect's eyes flickered with a complex emotion.
"Do you think I will confess?" he asked.
"No!" Xu Sanyang replied. And with that, a bizarre sword appeared in the mechanical armor's hand, ripping through the void as it slashed towards the Master. "So... I can only bring your brain back and see if anything useful can be extracted from it."
A loud snap echoed as the Master of the Gate Sect snapped his fingers, and a strange, illusory door appeared, blocking the mechanical sword's path.
"A bunch of Martial Saints, mechanists, and those old fogies from the Prevention Bureau have been chasing me, and though I'm already severely injured, I'm not someone a lone Martial Saint like you can afford to provoke." The Master manipulated the very fabric of space, causing the surroundings to ripple with an unseen force.
However, before he could unleash any sinister divine art...
He realized with shock that the universe had 'changed'.
No, it wasn't the universe that had changed, but he himself was being 'reduced in dimension', as if he was about to become a character within a book.
Terror filled the eyes of the Master of the Gate Sect as he stared at the unadorned sword.
"Armor Art: Duality Sword!"
The sword in Xu Sanyang's hand seemed to be a paintbrush, lifting the very fabric of the universe, rolling it up like a scroll.
The Master of the Gate Sect's face remained fixed in an expression of shock and fury as his body turned as thin as paper, and he, too, was rolled up within the scroll.
"This achievement should be enough, right?"
"It's a pity that I'm only imitating, and haven't truly mastered the Duality Sword... Even so, the chances of the Master of the Gate Sect surviving are slim to none."
"Who said we're keeping his head? Oh right, it was me... Never mind, it's normal for such a formidable opponent to accidentally end up as a pile of mush when faced with such a powerful attack."
Xu Sanyang sheathed his sword and gazed into the distance at the azure planet. "Although the Federation orchestrated this scheme... the fact that various heretical sects worked together still signifies a problem. The fact that believers of these disparate heretical sects could unite implies that there is a 'source' or 'pillar' among the extradimensional evil gods that they all follow. Hmph, those big shots in the Federation are going to have a headache over this... Is there truly an unknown realm above the Upper Dominators? How intriguing..."
...
Blue Star University.
Within the shelter.
Fang Xing, using his Earth Escape Talisman, hid in a corner, contemplating how to emerge and, more importantly, how to explain his sudden appearance.
After all, the sudden presence of an extra person in the shelter would undoubtedly raise suspicions.
'If all else fails, I'll have to say that I awakened an Earth Escape or Invisibility-type ability... With some hidden talismans, I might be able to bluff my way through...'
'Either way, it's better than being outside. There's no way to explain how I survived that level of darkness...'
Just then, Fang Xing reached up and touched his brow.
Within his sea of consciousness, a 'seed' had somehow taken root and sprouted, forming a 'door'!
This moment coincided with the Master of the Gate Sect being slashed by the Duality Sword in the depths of space.
"As expected... This is the aura of the Gate Sect's ability!"
The shadow of the Master of the Gate Sect stepped out from the door, appearing to be quite satisfied with Fang Xing's sea of consciousness.
His words echoed in layers, carrying an extreme corrupting power as he intended to refine Fang Xing into his avatar: "You managed to survive the Moon God's Glance, and there's indeed something peculiar about you... This 'Great Sun Secret Mantra'... I wonder which bishop you learned it from. It saves me the trouble of remodeling your sea of consciousness."
This Master of the Gate Sect seemed extremely confident.
And he had good reason to be, as the abilities of the Gate Sect all had backdoors that he could easily control!
Just like Gu Jiantong's 'Great Sun Exalted God Fist', which Gu Jiantong believed he had painstakingly comprehended on his own.
In truth, it was a divine seed that had been planted in his subconscious, blooming and bearing fruit.
"Now..."
The Master of the Gate Sect raised his hand... but nothing happened!
Not only that, within Fang Xing's sea of consciousness, the Great Sun Tathagata Mantra manifested as a crimson sun, like a terrifying furnace, trapping the Master's spiritual avatar and instantly 'igniting' it!
"Ah!"
A miserable scream echoed.
Fang Xing felt his mind fill with a vast amount of unexpected memories and knowledge. He shook his head, "Besides Wanfa, you're the second one to fall into my trap... Indeed, while my performance in the darkness may have deceived the teachers of Blue Star University—their eyes couldn't pierce the darkness—it seems I can't hide anything from these heretics.
"I was actually planning to look for you... to obtain the energy to open the Gate to All Worlds, but now it seems that's no longer necessary..."
On the attribute panel, the symbol representing the 'Gate to All Worlds' began to change rapidly.
But Fang Xing had no time to pay attention to such details.
The vast knowledge of the extradimensional evil gods, the rituals of the Void Gate, and even the member lists of the Gate Sect across various planets failed to spark his interest.
Fang Xing's consciousness was drawn directly to a piece of refined information.
'This Master of the Gate Sect had three great divine seeds as avatars, and now that the main body and two avatars have perished... does that mean that after the last one died here, he has completely ceased to exist, his soul and body annihilated?'
'He still had many arrangements at Blue Star University, many of which even the administrators were unaware of, all for the sake of hiding his identity. He was indeed adept at manipulating people...'
In the memories of the Master of the Gate Sect, there were also hidden identity techniques he intended to use to leave Gu Jiantong and randomly possess a student!
Fang Xing used the Earth Escape Talisman to leave the shelter and head to another location.
There was more than one shelter at Blue Star University; there were also small shelters in the faculty dormitory and the student dormitory.
Fang Xing arrived at a metal door with an ancient mechanical keypad. After entering a string of characters, the door opened with a boom, revealing a tiny space of just a few square meters.
In the center of the room was a 'life support pod'.
He directly altered the program and then closed the shelter door before lying down inside.
This pod belonged to a public shelter, but due to its outdated model, it hadn't been used much.
More importantly, it was not connected to the network, and the records of the support pod could be modified! Fang Xing had just changed the time record to show that he had entered the pod before the darkness fell.
Such a hiding technique had been set up by the Master of the Gate Sect in several locations at Blue Star University, obviously as backup plans.
Alas...
'I turned out to be the biggest trap for him? The Great Sun Tathagata Mantra, after being purified by the attribute panel, doesn't recognize the Master of the Gate Sect and simply burned him up...'
'Although the Master of the Gate Sect died in this incident... it seems that the Gate Sect still has many remnants left, which can be harvested later.'
Lying in the pod, Fang Xing suddenly felt a sense of security.
Although this life support pod was an old model, it was sufficient to sustain a martial artist without food or water for several years.
Moreover, it could seal off the five senses and isolate various pollutants...
He prepared to fall into a deep sleep and thoroughly digest the knowledge he had gained from burning the Master of the Gate Sect's memories.
'The greatest contribution the Master of the Gate Sect made to me this time should be this, right?'
Fang Xing looked at the last line of the attribute panel and couldn't help but smile:
[Gate to All Worlds: 1/100 (Locating)]
...
Several days later.
Blue Star University Hospital.
Fang Xing carried a fruit basket as he walked into a ward.
There was only one bed in the ward, and Pan Xiong, looking utterly dejected, sat on it, staring at the TV screen.
The TV showed footage of the federal relief efforts in various places.
Then the scene changed, and the image of the highest executive officer announcing his resignation was played...
"Teacher, I've come to see you."
Fang Xing placed the fruit basket on the table and looked at Pan Xiong, who was wrapped in bandages like a mummy.
Pan Xiong had reverted to his child form, looking sickly, with black blood seeping through the bandage gaps.
This was indeed a bizarre situation.
With the Federation's technology, such physical injuries could be healed using a treatment pod, and it shouldn't have dragged on until now.
Unless...
There was simply no solution.
"You're here..."
Pan Xiong tried to move but immediately grimaced in pain. "Damn it... that Moon God really went for the kill... Luckily, this body of mine was able to trade for the life of an extradimensional evil god. Worth it!"
He also knew about the news of the Federation killing the Moon God's main body.
It was the hottest topic recently.
"Teacher, about your injuries..."
Fang Xing wanted to offer some words of comfort.
"The pollution of an evil god's main body is something that even a Source Sea-level treatment pod is powerless against... I can only slowly recuperate."
Pan Xiong seemed to have come to terms with his situation. "Fortunately, I'm at the Adamantine Realm. If it were another student or even a follower of the evil god... I would have become that Moon God's meal."
He was right! That Moon God had devoured many followers along with its main body.
It was unclear if it had lost its sanity or if such evil gods were inherently irrational.
Mentioning this, the atmosphere became silent for a while.
Blue Star University had suffered heavy losses in this incident. As far as Fang Xing knew... Yin Henzhen had died, and her death had been particularly tragic.
Such was the fate of a young master of a financial conglomerate; despite his many resources, they were of little use against a malevolent deity.
Gu Jiantong still clung to life, but his future remained uncertain.
"Teacher, you mustn't give up. I know of a Jin Gang Realm martial artist who survived corruption by the main body of an evil god and recently broke through to become a Martial Saint..."
Fang Xing offered words of comfort.
He had already been in touch with Gu Yun and Song Jin Gang, confirming their safety.
"Are you talking about Xu Sanyang? He can't be considered completely fine..."
Pan Xiong shook his head. "Moreover... to break through to Martial Saint while bearing the taint of an evil god requires exceptional talent... Even then, there's no guarantee that he will remain a Martial Saint and not become a high-ranking subordinate or even a progeny of the evil god..."
He exuded a strong sense of despair.
Fang Xing couldn't tell if this was his true sentiment or the influence of the evil god's corruption on his body.
"Then, Teacher, get some rest. I'll be going now..."
He nodded and turned towards the door.
"Go ahead... Remember this in the future: don't get involved in politics. You can't play their game," Pan Xiong waved his hand.
In this state of mind, he seemed to have lost his usual caution.
Fang Xing remained silent and left the room, only to let out a long sigh once he was outside.
'It seems that Pan Xiong also has an inkling that the federal higher-ups were aware of the impending attack but chose to let it happen... Despite achieving a major victory by slaying the Moon God and having a high-ranking official take the fall and resign, they can't hide their guilt when they see the state of Blue Star University.'
'Even if I had revealed everything and bared my soul to the federation, it probably wouldn't have made a difference. They already knew, or perhaps even planned it this way?'
Fang Xing was still unaware that his close friend, Liu Wei, had been 'recruited' by the federation, which would have added further weight to his suspicions.
He sighed and prepared to leave the hospital.
Suddenly!
The door of an upscale ward exploded, showering the hallway with shards of glass and medical equipment.
"Get out! All of you, scram!"
A man's enraged roar accompanied the outburst of qi.
Hearing this voice, Fang Xing, who had been about to leave, paused and turned towards the shattered ward, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes.
"The patient is agitated and has turned violent... Administer a sedative immediately!"
A doctor rushed over and, with the activation of his Martial Domain, rescued the two nurses inside.
Inside the ward was a mummy-like figure—Wei Shentong! But at this moment, his eyes were filled with rage and pain.
Even a Great Jin Gang Realm martial artist, with half of his golden body devoured, would suffer a significant decline in his cultivation.
Moreover, there was the taint of the evil god.
'This person... is completely ruined. But is this outburst of rage and subsequent despair an outward manifestation of spiritual corruption?'
Fang Xing had intended to frame Wei Shentong and even released his cultivation clone for this purpose.
However, he later decided to call it off, as the federation would eventually uncover the truth, only serving to delay Wei Shentong's cultivation progress.
But now, all that was unnecessary.
Without his intervention, Wei Shentong had already become a broken man, which was the best outcome.
'Not everyone is like Xu Sanyang...'
Fang Xing watched as Wei Shentong was subdued by a doctor with a Martial Golden Core-level cultivation and injected with a sedative, rendering him as limp as a corpse on the bed.
The two rescued nurses, however, were indignant. "I thought university counselors were supposed to be nice people... This guy's attitude is terrible. Who does he think he is?"
"Hmph, he's just upset because the chief physician told him they couldn't cure him. He's taking it out on us," one of them said.
"Not only that, I heard he was a genius, but now he's become a waste... Apparently, he received a phone call and just lost it. Something about being abandoned or dumped by his girlfriend, I guess..." the other nurse added.
"That's quite unfortunate..."
...
Fang Xing stood outside the ward, his gaze calm as he looked at Wei Shentong, his eyes carrying a hint of pity.
Wei Shentong noticed him and paused before catching sight of the pity in his eyes. Then, he began to struggle violently again.
"Bad! The patient's agitation is worsening. Double the dosage!"
The doctor shouted in response to Wei Shentong's outburst.
'As expected... He can't handle being looked at with pity by someone he thought he could manipulate at will?'
Fang Xing left the Blue Star University Affiliated Hospital, feeling much better.
'If I had continued to hold a grudge against him, he might not have had such an outburst...'
'Pride can be one's downfall.'
'However... My hatred towards him hasn't diminished. One day, I'll finish him off... Preferably when he has regained his strength and regained hope!'
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
