69: A sharp blade conceals its edge to avoid cause and effect; fellow Daoist, please bear the calamity first.

Lu Qingxuan stepped out of the core of the Guixu Sea Eye and returned to the accretion disk. His Nine-Orifice Dao Foundation was stable, and the Primordial Origin flowed within him. His aura became increasingly restrained and profound, like an ancient well without ripples. After this trip behind the "gate," he knew deeply that he had been drawn into an ancient chess game involving the survival of the Universe. The tribulation of the Void Abyss could never be averted by the power of one person alone. The Dao Ancestor once said: "Heaven and Earth are unkind; they treat all things as straw dogs." In the face of such a great tribulation, an individual is so insignificant. Preserving oneself is the foundation for seeking the Dao. Lu Qingxuan was no savior of the world; he was merely a traveler on the path of seeking the Dao. His primary task was to seek good fortune and avoid calamity, hiding his sharp blade.

His footsteps appeared leisurely, but they actually aligned with the stellar orbits, allowing him to escape toward the outer perimeter at great speed. His Divine Sense, however, was like an invisible spider web, far exceeding the scope of Soul Transformation, quietly spreading out to cautiously scout the path ahead.

Sure enough, before he had completely escaped the most dangerous area, the scene ahead made his gaze tighten slightly.

He saw that about a thousand miles away, in the Void Realm, a chaotic battle was in full swing. The participants were the very parties that had been lurking on the periphery when he left the bronze light gate—the Ice Soul Divine Palace, the three great interstellar bandits, the Myriad Realms Merchant Alliance, and some scattered Loose Cultivators. They seemed to be fighting fiercely over the bronze light gate entrance, which now had little value, or perhaps they had discovered some broken Magic Treasure fragments ejected from the core area.

The light of Divine Abilities shone, Laws collided with a roar, and roars and screams were endless. Fairy Hanli of the Ice Soul Divine Palace commanded an Ice Phoenix, clashing head-on with the giant blade of Blood Butcher Balong; Ghost Blade Moying's figure was ghostly, weaving through the battlefield, reaping lives; Poison Lady Meiniang's poisonous mist permeated the area, corroding Magic Treasures and Physical Bodies; Jin Wanxiang of the Myriad Realms Merchant Alliance, under the protection of Old Shadow, appeared to be skirmishing, but in reality, he was constantly drawing valuable fragments into his sleeves. As for those Loose Cultivators, they were like cannon fodder, struggling bitterly in the aftermath of the experts' clashes, with people being obliterated in body and soul from time to time.

The scene was chaotic and tragic.

Lu Qingxuan's figure suddenly stopped, hiding behind a turbulent flow of energy. His aura was completely restrained, merging with the surrounding violent environment, as if he were a meteorite drifting with the waves. He watched the slaughter in the distance with an indifferent gaze, his heart devoid of sorrow or joy.

"Being brave in daring leads to killing; being brave in not daring leads to living." What benefit was there in forcibly intervening in such meaningless fighting, other than exposing himself and inviting more trouble? These people fought for profit and died for greed; it was their own Karma, and they deserved to endure this tribulation.

It was not that he lacked the ability to quell this battle, but it would require him to make a move, to reveal his strength, and to bear the unpredictable subsequent Karma triggered by doing so. Perhaps he would be thanked, but it was more likely that he would be targeted by more powerful existences, or even detected by the "Reapers" hiding in the shadows. Before thoroughly digesting the gains from this trip and possessing enough strength to protect himself or even crush everything, exposing himself to the forefront too early was truly unwise.

"The reason I have great suffering is because I have a body; when I have no body, what suffering do I have?" At this moment, he carried the secret of the Primordial, and his Nine-Orifice Dao Foundation was the foundation of his own transcendence, which could not be lost. What did the life and death of these people have to do with him? If he could use them as bait to divert the gaze of potential hidden observers, or let them consume the strength of potential enemies first, that would be for the best.

With his mind made up, he no longer paid attention to the chaotic battle. His Divine Sense extended like tentacles, searching for a path that could bypass the battlefield and allow him to leave silently. He was like the most experienced hunter, avoiding all energy fluctuations and spatial wrinkles that might attract attention.

However, things in the world do not always go as one wishes.

Just as he was about to bypass the edge of the battlefield, a disheveled streak of light was accidentally smashed fiercely in the direction of his hiding spot by a powerful shockwave. The light dissipated, revealing the figure within—it was actually the Green-Clad Sword Cultivator he had saved earlier—Lin Feng!

At this moment, Lin Feng was covered in blood, his aura withered, and the long sword in his hand was broken; he had clearly suffered heavy injuries in the chaotic battle just now. He sensed that there seemed to be a relatively calm area ahead and rushed towards it desperately as if grabbing a life-saving straw, but he never expected to crash headlong into Lu Qingxuan's area of concealment.

"Sen... Senior!" Lin Feng saw the familiar green shadow standing quietly in the energy flow. He was stunned for a moment, then a strong light of survival burst forth in his eyes, and he shouted hoarsely: "Save me!"

This shout was not particularly loud on this chaotic battlefield, but it was enough to attract the attention of certain interested parties!

Blood Butcher Balong, who was entangled with Fairy Hanli, gave a sinister laugh. The aftermath of a bloody saber light seemed to grow eyes, turned a corner, and slashed fiercely toward Lin Feng, along with the area behind him! He was clearly red-eyed from killing and didn't care what was there; he would clear it all out!

Fairy Hanli frowned slightly but did not stop him; she was happy to have someone share the pressure and also wanted to use this to test the reality of that area. Jin Wanxiang and the others also cast meaningful glances.

The crisis descended in an instant!

Lin Feng's face was ashen. Feeling the Body Integration stage bloody saber light, he closed his eyes in despair.

Lu Qingxuan's brows furrowed imperceptibly.

Trouble had found its way to him after all.

Save him, or not?

If he saved him, he would be exposed immediately, drawn into the trouble before him, and might attract more attention.

If he did not save him, this person had after all received a small favor from him, and his life and death did not affect the big picture. However, watching him die because of being caught in the crossfire while he himself was hiding seemed... against his original intent? No, it was not against his original intent, but it might leave some insignificant traces. More importantly, this person might... still be of some use?

In a flash of lightning, Lu Qingxuan had already made his decision.

He did not appear, nor did he use any obvious Magic power or Dao domain.

Just as the bloody saber light was about to devour Lin Feng, a tiny, almost imperceptible distortion occurred in the space where Lu Qingxuan was hiding. It was like a small pebble being thrown into a calm lake, with ripples spreading out.

The moment the violent bloody saber light touched this distorted space, its internal structure seemed to be silently "corrected" by a more Advanced rule. Its direction deflected slightly, and its energy trajectory experienced a disturbance that was almost negligible.

It was this slight deflection and disturbance that caused the originally fatal blow to graze Lin Feng's clothes and blast a huge meteorite in the distance into powder! As for Lin Feng, apart from being blown away by the dissipated force of the wind and spitting out a mouthful of blood, he had luckily saved his own life!

The whole process was incredibly fast. Apart from the person involved, Lin Feng, who felt as if he had walked through the gates of hell, and a few Mahayana Stage Mighty Ones with extremely keen senses (such as Fairy Hanli and Old Shadow) who vaguely sensed the fleeting spatial anomaly, the vast majority of people only thought that Lin Feng was lucky, or that Blood Butcher Balong had missed.

"Eh?" Blood Butcher Balong himself was also stunned for a moment, feeling somewhat baffled.

Having survived the disaster, Lin Feng gasped for breath, looking suspiciously at the energy flow that was still empty. Although he had his suspicions, he dared not be sure, and even less dared to make a scene. He just took a deep look, then forced himself to take a breath, turned into a streak of light, and fled for his life in the direction away from the battlefield without looking back.

Lu Qingxuan remained hidden in the same place, as if he had done nothing at all.

"To want to contract it, one must first expand it; to want to weaken it, one must first strengthen it." He understood this principle deeply. The move just now was not to save Lin Feng, but to "weaken" the investigation into his hidden state that might have been caused by Lin Feng's death. With the smallest cost and in the most inconspicuous way, he resolved the risk of exposing himself. As for whether Lin Feng lived or died, that was just an incidental result. If he died, so be it; since he didn't die, and seemed to have added more awe, perhaps he could still be of some unexpected use in the future.

After this small interlude, he did not stay any longer. Taking advantage of the momentary stagnation of the battlefield due to the previous event, he was like a slippery fish, following a pre-calculated path, passing silently through this chaotic airspace, and completely leaving the slaughter and screams behind him.

Life and death are fated, wealth is decreed by Heaven. Fellow Daoists, you may slowly fight over it here; as for the muddy waters of the Guixu Sea Eye and the upcoming Void Abyss tribulation, I ask you all to take the first step and bear them on my behalf.

His figure accelerated, turning into a glimmer of light that almost merged with the starry sky, speeding away toward the direction of the Grand Void Holy Land. The destructive vortex and the bloody battle of the Cultivators behind him all became a background painting that gradually faded away on his path of the Dao.