43: Tiandao Audit

When the first golden lightning bolt struck, Zhao Wuji’s Demonic Body exploded.

The second bolt caused his Divine Soul to begin burning.

The third bolt saw his proud Demonic Technique crumble inch by inch.

From the fourth bolt to the ninth, which brought the end.

Beneath the torn darkness, there was no longer Zhao Wuji, nor any living being belonging to the Blood Fiend Sect.

Only pure light and heat repeatedly scoured the earth, evaporating all sins, Devilish Qi, and even the very traces of their existence, leaving nothing behind.

When the sky regained its clarity and sunlight once again poured down.

In front of the Qingyun Sect's mountain gate, only a huge, charred, vitrified crater remained.

The Qingyun Sect Disciples, who had survived the calamity, stared blankly at this scene, their minds completely empty.

A few breaths later.

Someone, no one knew who, was the first to fall to their knees, heavily kowtowing towards the Sect's Ancestral Master ancestral hall, crying out hoarsely.

"The Ancestral Master has manifested! The Ancestral Master has manifested!"

This cry ignited everyone's emotions.

Desperate silence was replaced by fervent gratitude.

Cries and kowtows echoed as one.

They had witnessed a miracle with their own eyes.

In their hearts, those nine destructive golden divine lightning bolts were the divine punishment sent by the Qingyun Sect's Ancestral Master, who had been silent for a thousand years, at a time of crisis for the Sect... Inside, Lu Yuan's Immortal Cave.

The fervor and clamor outside the window did not affect him in the slightest.

His gaze remained fixed on the illusory light screen before him.

The Blood Fiend Sect's annihilation event has been settled.

Put option settlement in progress...

Congratulations, you have gained karma points: 1.37 million.

The cold numbers refreshed wildly, finally settling.

This was a colossal sum, more than enough to allow him to Cultivate from Foundation Establishment all the way to Golden Core.

However, there was not a trace of joy on Lu Yuan's face.

The very next moment after the string of golden numbers settled.

A blood-red warning, in a dazzling manner, covered the entire interface.

Warning: Your actions have caused a drastic disturbance to the world line, attracting the attention of low-level heavenly dao watchers.

Warning: Karma backlash risk has increased by 1000%.

The world's rejection of you is increasing...

The text was scarlet like blood.

At the same time, Lu Yuan sensed a change.

A change that could not be described in words, yet was undeniably real.

It wasn't that the air had become denser, but rather that an invisible "membrane" had appeared between him and the world.

With every breath, the Spiritual Qi he inhaled carried a filtered, deadened sensation.

Above his Divine Soul, there was an imprint not existing on the material plane.

The clearest sensation came from the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

They were still flowing, but they were flowing around him.

He was being slowly and steadily "isolated" by this world.

He had overplayed his hand.

He immediately understood the problem.

He used the Heavenly Dao to kill, but it was ultimately "borrowing."

The Heavenly Dao had recorded this debt.

It might not be able to immediately find him, this "unregistered user," but it would begin an "audit," using its Laws to repeatedly screen the entire world.

Right now, the administrator had discovered an account anomaly and had begun a full-scale investigation.

He had to quickly find a "legitimate" identity, or a firewall that could block the "audit."

His gaze swept over the heavily damaged Sect.

Finally, it landed on the mountain-protecting formation, which had been dimmed and cracked by the aftershocks of the heavenly lightning.

The description of this great formation from the Exchange's database appeared in his mind.

Qingyun Mountain Protection Array (Damaged): An ancient relic array, one of its core functions is to isolate heavenly secrets.

Repair it.

He had to repair it immediately.

This became his most urgent and only goal at the moment.

Just as his thoughts were racing.

A clear, yet emotionally complex voice, sounded behind him without warning.

"You did it."

Lu Yuan's muscles tensed in a thousandth of a second, then completely relaxed the next moment.

He did not turn around.

Han Yuexi.

She had come.

Even faster than he had expected.

The woman was still dressed in white, her face covered by a light veil, standing quietly in the shadows.

Only her beautiful eyes, which had always been as still as an ancient well, were now filled with undisguised shock, and a hint of... fear, which even she had not noticed.

She had witnessed those nine heavenly lightning bolts with her own eyes.

That was not a power a Cultivator could unleash.

That was the Law itself.

And she had followed the traces of Karma all the way, and ultimately, all clues pointed to this small Foundation Establishment Cultivator whom she had never been able to see through.

Lu Yuan turned around, neither admitting nor denying.

He looked at her calmly and directly stated his needs.

"I need to repair the mountain-protecting formation."

"I lack Materials and manpower."

Han Yuexi's breathing hitched slightly.

She had envisioned countless ways the conversation might begin.

Perhaps his panic, or his staunch denial, or his feigned profundity.

She had never expected him to so directly place a "request" before her.

It was as if he was not a Foundation Establishment Cultivator who could be crushed by her at any moment, but an equal, an opponent engaged in a business negotiation.

This feeling was absurd, yet incredibly real.

Han Yuexi was silent for a moment, seemingly re-evaluating the man before her.

After a while, she spoke, her voice returning to its usual coolness.

"I can help you."

"My Heavenly Secret Pavilion can provide all the Materials for repairing the great formation. I can even personally act to temporarily shield you from the 'Watcher's' lock-on."

"But, you must tell me..."

She paused, then asked, word by word.

"How did you accurately 'predict' the heavenly punishment?"

This was her greatest confusion.

This had already exceeded the realm of "art" and was close to the "Dao."

Lu Yuan looked at her probing eyes, a hundred thoughts flashing through his mind.

One lie requires countless other lies to cover it.

The best answer was half-truth, half-lie.

"I cannot predict."

He shook his head, giving an answer that surprised Han Yuexi.

"But I can 'buy' a probability."

"Buy... probability?"

Han Yuexi furrowed her beautiful brows. She understood the words, but could not comprehend their meaning.

Lu Yuan did not explain further.

Stopping at the right point maintains value.

He changed the subject, throwing out his bargaining chip, one that the other party absolutely could not refuse.

"In return, I promise."

"To increase the probability of helping you find the 'nine revolutions soul returning grass' by fifty percent."

As his voice fell.

Han Yuexi's delicate body beneath her veil trembled violently.

In her star-like eyes, her pupils contracted sharply.

Dao injury.

It was her Heart Demon of a thousand years, the root cause of her stagnation and even regression in Cultivation.

And the "nine revolutions soul returning grass" was the only divine item she had deduced countless times that could possibly heal her Dao injury.

For this, she could give everything.

Increasing the probability by fifty percent... This promise was ten thousand times more valuable than giving her a Magic Treasure or a Cultivation Technique.

She stared intently at Lu Yuan, as if trying to discern a hint of falsehood on his face.

But Lu Yuan's gaze was as calm as a deep abyss.

It contained only the purest composure of a trader looking at a bargaining chip.

After a long while.

Han Yuexi finally exhaled, a breath that carried an imperceptible tremor.

"Deal."

"The core Material for repairing the great formation is called 'Void Realm Crystal,' a substance that has long been extinct in the world."

"There is only one place where it might still be found."

"Ten days later, the 'Beast Valley' Secret Realm, jointly opened by the thirty-six Sects of the Southern Domain."

She paused, seemingly remembering something, and a strange meaning entered her voice.

"Speaking of which, the last person who tried to 'deceive' the Heavenly Dao in this way..."

"His fate is the origin of my Dao injury."