55: Cut off cause and effect

"Burning Heaven Demon Venerable."

These four words, carrying the demonic power of 'what is said is done,' fell, and the Devilish Qi of the entire Burial God Abyss completely boiled over.

Ye Chen's declaration completely shattered the last illusion of escape for the three Nascent Soul Old Monsters.

Sacrifice the key.

Release the Demon Venerable.

This was Ye Chen's true scheme.

All of them, from beginning to end, were merely sacrificial offerings in this ten-thousand-year-old conspiracy.

"Stop him!"

The old man from Myriad Sword Manor reacted first, his voice sharp and distorted.

He no longer cared about his Nascent Soul demeanor; the long sword in his hand erupted with a sky-piercing Sword Intent, carrying the might to sever mountains and rivers, and he was the first to charge at Ye Chen.

The beautiful woman from Profound Ice Palace and the Red-haired Elder from Demon Flame Valley also attacked at the same time.

In the face of life and death, the three Nascent Soul magnates, who had been mortal enemies not long ago, were forced to form the most solid alliance.

They had only one goal.

Stop Ye Chen!

Boom!

Nascent Soul-level spiritual power collided violently, and the turbulent energy tore countless black cracks in space.

Ye Chen was completely engulfed in madness under the siege; the Devilish Qi on his body transformed into substantial armor, actually enduring most of the attacks.

His body was shattering inch by inch, demonic blood splattering, but he didn't care.

The suction from deep within the great formation pulled him, bringing him closer and closer to the nine-segment demon suppression key.

Just at this moment, a power intervened, clear and aloof, causing the boiling Devilish Qi to freeze.

Han Yuexi had made her move.

A translucent ice lotus bloomed from her fingertips.

The ice lotus appeared delicate but exuded a restraining force originating from the level of rules.

The power of a fallen immortal.

The ice lotus precisely imprinted itself on Ye Chen's Devilish Qi armor, emitting a "sizzling" sound of dissolution.

Ye Chen let out a pained grunt, his forward momentum effectively curbed for the first time.

Han Yuexi became the main attacker in this interception battle.

The entire battlefield was in utter chaos.

Everyone was drawn into this gamble that would decide the fate of billions of lives.

Except for Lu Yuan.

He stood at the edge of the storm, his expression unchanged, his eyes calm.

In his retina, a translucent light screen quietly hovered.

The Great Dao Options Exchange.

He didn't look at the Divine Plant that determined everyone's fate, nor did he look at the three desperate Nascent Soul Cultivators.

His gaze fell on a newly refreshed golden listing on the light screen.

"Tradable asset: Burial God Abyss Demon Suppression Grand Formation."

"Call Option: 'The Seal will not completely collapse within the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn,' premium: 5000 karma points."

"Put Option: 'The Seal will completely collapse within the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn,' premium: 1 Karma point."

Lu Yuan's mind stirred, and most of the karma points he had just gained from "revealing the truth" in his account were invested.

"Buy call option."

"Transaction successful. Contract in effect."

He bought himself the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn.

After doing all this, he looked up, his gaze piercing through the chaotic battlefield, landing on Su Qing nearby.

"Su Qing."

His voice, through his Divine Thought, echoed directly in Su Qing's mind.

"Do you see the crack on the 372nd formation pattern in the lower-left corner of the grand formation?"

Su Qing was startled and immediately looked in the direction indicated.

"Inject all your Taiyin spiritual power there."

Su Qing immediately complied.

Pure, gentle spiritual power shot from her fingertips, precisely landing in that inconspicuous crack.

This power was as minuscule as a drop of water in the ocean compared to the vast Demon Suppression Grand Formation.

But it temporarily mended the gap in the formation pattern.

The speed at which Devilish Qi leaked from beneath the grand formation paused for a split second.

The process of the Divine Plant being attracted by Devilish Qi and sacrificed into the grand formation was also met with an imperceptible hindrance.

Now!

In Lu Yuan's eyes, the supreme Sword Intent, lurking for a long time and originating from an ancient Dao of the Sword Legacy, erupted with a roar.

"Sever Karma!"

This Sword Intent did not take any form.

It was silent, cutting towards no one, nor towards any physical entity.

When it appeared, it had already transcended the physical dimension, entering a more profound level.

In Lu Yuan's conceptual world, between the nine-segment demon suppression key and its nine leaves, nine threads of Karma, interwoven by fate and rules, were connected.

His Sword Intent transformed into an invisible, cold pair of scissors.

"Click."

A soft sound echoed only in the depths of his Soul.

He cut one of the threads of Karma.

That thread connected the Divine Plant's main body to a leaf flowing with nine-colored auspicious light.

It was cut.

However, this was not the end.

Lu Yuan activated his Sword Intent, making an even crazier move.

He made another cut.

This cut severed the Karma between "the leaf being taken" and "the Seal weakening as a result"!

The next moment.

Under the incredulous gaze of the old man from Myriad Sword Manor.

In the horrified eyes of the beautiful woman from Profound Ice Palace.

In Han Yuexi's suddenly constricted pupils.

A nine-colored leaf quietly detached from the main body of the nine-segment demon suppression key.

It didn't cause any spiritual power fluctuations.

It transformed into a streak of light, passing through all turbulent energies, ignoring all spatial blockades, and flew directly into the hands of the Foundation Establishment Cultivator in the distance.

Lu Yuan had obtained what he wanted.

At the same time, an even stranger scene occurred.

A portion of Ye Chen's out-of-control Devilish Qi, as if forcibly guided by some invisible power, actively surged into the Seal's void created by the detachment of the Divine Plant's leaf.

That formation eye, which should have become even more fragile, temporarily stabilized as a result.

"No—!"

Ye Chen let out a roar mixed with severe injury and endless unwillingness.

His plan, his foolproof sacrifice ritual, had failed.