Chapter 1094: Fate

Everything was settled.

“*Heart Realm*—you can learn it at the Fan Clan’s Demon Mountain. As for *Hunyuan’s Path*, just go directly to the imperial palace of the Xiawind Ancient Nation. Someone will receive you there.” Emperor Xia, holding the original copy personally written by Dongbo Xueying, vanished into thin air.

Only three maidservants, Dongbo Xueying, and the Lord of Nanyun remained in the Cloudsoar Hall.

The Lord of Nanyun let out a sigh of relief. Facing Emperor Xia had been quite the pressure.

“Xueying, if you had an even more formidable technique, you could’ve profited far more,” Emperor Xia mused.

Dongbo Xueying smiled. “I still need to discuss it with my sect.”

Ordinary techniques were worthless. But *Hunyuan’s Path*—a terrifying method created by an invincible existence like Emperor Xia, who fused the *Hunyuan Force* from beyond the Source World into the Void Path—was hailed as the strongest of its level! With only two layers, learning it once cost a hundred thousand grand merits. If one possessed the original, they could teach it endlessly, making it far more valuable than the *Nine Revolutions Immortality Art*.

Alas…

The more powerful, rare, and difficult a technique was, the harder it was to create!

“Shall we contact the other five ancient nations now?” Emperor Xia asked Dongbo Xueying.

“No rush. I’ll cultivate these two secret transmissions first before deciding,” Dongbo Xueying replied. The trade for the *Nine Revolutions Immortality Art* had to be handled with utmost caution. It might be ages before he found another technique suitable for sale.

—

That same day.

In the capital of the Xiawind Nation.

“Whoosh.”

Dressed in white robes, Dongbo Xueying drifted through the skies above the capital. As a master of the Illusory Realm of the Void, his aura was ethereal and elusive, making it difficult for others to gauge his strength. Yet, anyone with a discerning eye could tell—this white-clad youth was terrifyingly powerful.

“Hmm?” Originally intending to head straight to the Fan Clan’s Demon Mountain to learn *Heart Realm*, Dongbo Xueying suddenly frowned and turned his gaze in a certain direction.

“Causality?” he murmured.

In a single universe, which was relatively small, the workings of fate and the causal connections between countless lives were easier to perceive.

But a Source World was incomparably vaster, its *Supreme Laws* towering beyond reach. With numerous Cosmic Deities existing within, sensing causality became exponentially harder. However, upon becoming a Cosmic Deity, one’s own *Cosmic Laws* took precedence, causing the Supreme Laws to retreat within their domain. This allowed them to trace all marks—including causality!

Yet, tracing causality had its difficulties.

The farther the distance, the harder it became.

The stronger the target, the more challenging the task. For instance, Dongbo Xueying’s soul was infused with the *Hunyuan Force* from beyond the Source World, making tracing his causality an almost insurmountable feat—far beyond what ordinary Cosmic Deities could manage. Even among invincible existences, not all could track him down.

This was why even the Sacred Master couldn’t locate the Crimson-Browed Mountain Lord’s avatars!

“I sense… within the Xiawind capital… a young one entangled with me in causality seems to be in grave trouble?” Dongbo Xueying focused his senses, turning his gaze toward a distant direction.

*Whoosh.*

With a single step, he vanished without a trace.

—

At the *Windfang Valley Prison*, on the outskirts of the Fan Clan’s Demon Mountain in the Xiawind capital.

“Whoosh… whoosh…”

A bone-chilling wind howled through the canyon, where caves carved into the cliffs served as prison cells, each holding a captive.

In one such cave, Batuo Chen sat cross-legged at the very back, his hair disheveled, his body filthy, lost in silence.

*Thud.*

A guard approached the cell door and tossed in a pile of strange metals, forming a small mountain.

“Refine all of this into purity within a month,” the guard barked before leaving with a sneer.

Batuo Chen lifted his cold, shadowed eyes.

The cell door wasn’t a physical barrier but an intangible formation barrier.

“Kid, you brought this on yourself by offending Young Master Hai. Just accept your fate,” the guard mocked before striding away.

Batuo Chen stared at the mountain of metals before him, his heart burning with fury, his eyes flickering with hatred.

Back then…

When the Batuo Clan was annihilated, and his wife was revealed to have infiltrated their family with ulterior motives, Batuo Chen’s mind had twisted with bitterness. Yet, being saved by Dongbo Xueying and sent to the Xiawind Ancient Nation had rekindled hope in him, stabilizing his psyche somewhat.

But within a single year, he had witnessed the darkest underbelly of the Xiawind capital—the grandest city in the Heart Realm Continent.

“Not yet…”

“One day, when I escape… every last one of them will pay!” Batuo Chen roared inwardly, though outwardly, he lowered his eyelids and obediently began refining the metals, biding his time.

*Whoosh.*

Suddenly, Batuo Chen sensed something and looked up.

Beyond the intangible formation barrier, a white-robed youth stepped through the void, arriving before his cell in just a few strides.

“Haha, Batuo kid, how did you end up in such a sorry state?” the youth chuckled.

Batuo Chen gaped at the figure outside. “Senior… Ying Shan Xueying?”

*Whoosh.*

Dongbo Xueying waved his hand, tearing open a spatial passage directly into the cell. “Come out,” he commanded.

Batuo Chen hesitated, staring at the distorted passage. “Senior, I’ve offended Young Master Hai of the Fuyan Clan, who is a disciple of the Cosmic Deity ‘Jade Serpent Monarch’ under the Fan Clan. You don’t need to save me—”

“Just come out,” Dongbo Xueying said lightly.

The moment the words left his lips, Batuo Chen found himself involuntarily rising and stepping through the passage. Only after emerging did he snap back to full awareness, stunned. He glanced back at the cell—how had he walked out so effortlessly? Had he been controlled?

*”Master, this Ying Shan Xueying is terrifying. Even Cosmic Deities would be puppets before him! I’m still too weak—I sense immense danger. I must conceal my presence completely within your soul,”* a voice whispered in Batuo Chen’s mind.

*”Senior Ying Shan Xueying means me no harm,”* Batuo Chen replied inwardly.

“Audacious! How dare you trespass upon the Fan Clan’s Windfang Valley Prison!” A furious bellow echoed as a black-clad burly man flew over, followed by other guards.

The man glared at Batuo Chen with a sneer. “Batuo Chen, surviving the ‘Soul Refinement’ was luck enough. Now you dare attempt escape? Do you think our prison is so easily breached? And this—your accomplice? Quite skilled to infiltrate our prison. Men, kill them both!”

With that, the black-clad man lashed out with his whip.

*Crack!*

The whip, crackling with lightning, arced through the air—only to strike the man’s own body, tearing open his flesh and drawing blood.

The man howled in pain, yet his face twisted into excitement. “See? That’s what you get! Hah!”

He continued flailing the whip, each strike landing on himself, alternating between agony and manic glee.

The other guards stared, dumbfounded, some even trying to communicate with him—but to no avail.

“This…” Batuo Chen was speechless. This man had been his tormentor under Young Master Hai’s orders. Yet now, he was whipping himself? And this was a Chaos Realm expert!

Dongbo Xueying stood calmly in midair outside the cave.

He had no intention of slaughtering his way out—that would disrespect the Fan Clan.

Nor did he care to reveal his identity and waste words with mere guards. The only reason he’d humiliated the black-clad man was because he could *see* the heavy causal enmity between him and Batuo Chen.

“He’s here,” Dongbo Xueying murmured, looking up.

A black-robed figure appeared in the distance, prompting Dongbo Xueying’s brows to rise. “The Great Tearer?”

He *had* informed the Great Tearer of his arrival to learn *Heart Realm*. And he’d mentioned rescuing someone from Windfang Valley Prison—a trivial matter involving just a Unity Realm youth. The Great Tearer had agreed without hesitation.

*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*

Figures materialized rapidly—the true overseers of Windfang Valley Prison, including a Cosmic Deity and several Chaos Realm experts, all tense. The guards, even the self-flagellating black-clad man, snapped back to their senses upon spotting the distant Great Tearer.

“Greetings, Great Tearer!”

They all bowed deeply in unison.

The Great Tearer’s status was supreme—he was the Fan Clan’s chief administrator, standing even above the other five Great Tearers. For him to appear at this lowly prison, situated at the outermost edge of Demon Mountain, was unheard of.

“Guest Elder Flying Snow,” the Great Tearer smiled at Dongbo Xueying.

Dongbo Xueying stepped forward, effortlessly guiding Batuo Chen through the void behind him.

“Just helping a young one with whom I share some karma. I didn’t expect you to come personally,” Dongbo Xueying said.

“Hah! Since you’re already at Demon Mountain, I had to meet you,” the Great Tearer laughed, glancing at Batuo Chen. “This the kid you saved?”

Batuo Chen stiffened, his soul’s other presence holding its breath.

The *Great Tearer*—the Fan Clan’s second-in-command, a being second only to their ancestral progenitor! A figure standing at the very pinnacle of the Heart Realm Continent!

“Shall we proceed to Demon Mountain now?” the Great Tearer asked.

“Of course,” Dongbo Xueying nodded, then turned to Batuo Chen. “Batuo Chen, where do you wish to go?”