I Am the Fated Villain

Chapter 1834. The Lord of Reincarnation, Speculations About the Unfathomable Power Hidden Within Fortune and Faith

“I have already examined him. The Lord of the Heaven-Defying Alliance does not possess the Authority of Creation, yet he knows how to make use of creation. A great secret is hidden within him.”

“Perhaps it truly is as you all said—the third path.”

“Within the fortunes and faith of living beings lies some power that we have never been able to fully comprehend, a power that concerns the most fundamental principles of existence.”

After the World Lord appeared, the entire expanse of spacetime seemed to freeze. All time and all aura appeared to be completely locked at a certain stage.

This was a realm that neither the past, the future, nor even the present had ever reached. No one could investigate or discover their conversation, nor could any karma leak out.

The Calamity Lord and the Fortune Lord were both inwardly alarmed. They knew very little about the True Road Realm, yet they could clearly perceive the immense gap between themselves and beings of that domain.

Although they were all existences that bore the title of “Lord,” before the World Lord, they had absolutely no power to contend.

A dark light flickered within the Fortune Lord’s eyes.

He had always believed himself to be extremely close to that realm. He was determined to obtain the Dao Fruit of this era, but now it seemed that he had overestimated himself.

No wonder Ancestor Xu had always regarded his plans with a casual and dismissive attitude.

“Fortune is an elusive and intangible thing. I once used the art of fortune to scheme around the Shaking Light Ancestral Court, attempting to carry my Dao path through fortune itself, but in the end I still failed.”

“The birth of fortune is itself something mysterious beyond description. Does it originate from living beings themselves, or is it bestowed by heaven? No one can truly explain it…”

The Fortune Lord’s gaze deepened as countless thoughts flashed through his mind. He was called the Fortune Lord for a reason.

The Dao he carried was the Dao of Fortune. Otherwise, he would not have sought to seize the fortune of the Shaking Light Ancestral Court, nor would he have laid out plans over countless years, leaving contingencies within civilizations and factions such as the Immortal Chu Vast Lands, the Uncentral Immortal Dynasty, and the Ancient Nanzhao Kingdom.

Unfortunately, even after reaching this point, he still could not advance a single step further.

Only then had he concluded that he had already reached the pinnacle of the End-of-the-Road Realm and possessed the qualifications to compete for Authority.

Yet when facing Ancestor Xu, he still felt that the latter was unfathomable. He was certain that Ancestor Xu had never stepped into Supreme Shattering and had never obtained an Authority.

Could it be that even within the End-of-the-Road Realm, there were still higher and deeper distinctions?

“The Lord of Reincarnation has long been waiting for the World Lord in the depths of reincarnation.”

At that moment, the Calamity Lord spoke.

Towards the World Lord, who, like the Lord of Reincarnation, controlled an Authority, he showed great respect.

Within the vast Boundless Expanse, all beings who possessed Authority were truly invincible existences, wielding endless and terrifying methods. They stood within the True Road Realm and overlooked countless living beings.

Throughout all ages, only a handful of figures had ever been qualified to stand alongside them. Any True Road Realm existence could casually erase an entire True World with a single palm strike.

To them, newborn True Worlds, ancient True Worlds, and supreme True Worlds were not fundamentally different.

They stood at the peak of the Dao Realm.

A single thought could traverse countless spacetime dimensions. They could freely draw upon the energy of heaven and earth. To them, every living being in the Boundless Expanse, regardless of cultivation level, held no secrets.

The deepest part of the Ancient Hidden Civilization was, in truth, a vast and boundless moon. Its light was brilliant yet gentle, as though nurturing inexhaustible life.

This was the only true moon in all the Boundless Expanse. Every moon within every world and timeline was merely a reflection cast by it.

Beneath this moon stood a towering divine tree. Its branches and leaves swayed gently. Every leaf hung with world particles and chaotic matter.

As the wind blew, sounds like worlds colliding echoed forth. Those world particles resembled dandelion seeds scattered by the wind. They continuously drifted towards every corner of the Boundless Expanse, taking root within chaotic currents.

Over the course of endless years, they gradually evolved into worlds. This was the Epoch Tree. Deep within its crown lived the Epoch Cicada Clan. Around the moon floated one ancient star after another.

Each star was comparable to an entire True World.

Even the surrounding star belts were inhabited by countless billions of living beings. Small worlds connected to larger worlds, overlapping one another like bubbles.

The sight was extraordinarily mystical.

Surrounding the Epoch Tree was an endless silver ocean. Ripples rose across its surface at every moment.

Countless silver points of light drifted down from every spacetime dimension. This was the destination of all living beings.

The dwelling place of the dead. The place where the true souls of all creatures slumbered after death and entered reincarnation.

The Sea of Reincarnation was boundless and infinite. Even the slightest ripple upon its surface was broader than an ordinary universe.

It was one of the most mysterious places in all of creation.

At the same time, it touched upon a supreme law and principle. Even Dao Realm beings would be restrained and suppressed here.

They could not even fly. The shores of the Sea of Reincarnation stretched endlessly in every direction.

Every day, countless beings instinctively guided the drifting soul lights into the sea.

The cycle repeated endlessly as they awaited the day someone would take over their duty. At that moment, above the Sea of Reincarnation, spacetime blurred.

A crack appeared.

The World Lord, the Fortune Lord, and the others arrived.

The calm sea suddenly began to ripple.

Terrifying storms emerged.

Countless soul lights, guided only by primal instinct, trembled under the influence of these auras as though about to shatter. However, the World Lord raised the staff in his hand and lightly tapped it once.

The storm immediately subsided.

Then, beneath the sea, a dark and profound passage appeared. It resembled a vortex leading toward an endless abyss underground.

The group stepped forward and quickly vanished into it.

On the shore of the Sea of Reincarnation, atop a cold and desolate reef, stood a pale-faced woman in green robes. She was calming the frightened and chaotic soul lights disturbed by the earlier storm.

Only afterward did she turn her gaze towards the depths of the sea. She was exceptionally beautiful.

Detached from the mortal world and gentle in temperament. Her eyes were tranquil and peaceful, like warm, flawless jade or a perfectly pure moon.

Beside her stood a silver-haired girl. Her features were exquisite. Her eyes resembled crystal glass.

Yet both she and the silver-haired girl wore special shackles around their ankles. The flesh around the shackles was torn and bloody, unable to heal.

“Master, how much longer do we have to endure this punishment…?”

The silver-haired girl looked pitifully at the woman in green.

“I don’t know either…”

The woman shook her head and gently stroked the girl’s hair.

“It was I who dragged you into this.”

The depths of the Sea of Reincarnation presented another strange scene. The silver, crystal-clear sea appeared suspended in the heavens. Palaces and pavilions rested beneath the ocean floor. They were magnificent and solemn, radiating ancient authority and grandeur.

No one knew how many ages they had existed. As the World Lord and the others arrived, the silent and secluded seabed suddenly seemed to awaken.

Many powerful and terrifying auras swept through the area. This was the deepest core of the Ancient Hidden Civilization.

Countless secrets of all worlds were buried here. Even ordinary Ancestor Dao Realm experts were unqualified to enter. However, when those auras swept over the Calamity Lord, they immediately withdrew.

The Ancient Hidden Civilization possessed Five Great Royal Clans. The master of the Calamity Clan was none other than the Calamity Lord before them.

He stood at the End-of-the-Road Realm and was also one of the Five Reincarnation Ancient Emperors of the civilization.

As for the World Lord, his expression remained calm and indifferent throughout. Standing there, no one could even perceive his existence. Unless one was on the same level as him, or unless he deliberately revealed himself, even End-of-the-Road experts could not detect the slightest trace of his aura.

At that moment, at the very end of the underground palace, a pair of ancient eyes opened. It was as though an ancient sun had risen from infinite darkness.

Terrifying.

Vast.

Boundless.

Time, space, laws, and universes all perished within those eyes.

“Please, come in.”

His voice was ancient and calm. It sounded as though he were speaking for the first time in endless ages. Yet only the World Lord and the others could hear it.

Space twisted.

A Great Dao emerged from the darkness and void, extending beneath their feet. It quickly carried them into the palace.

Inside the hall, darkness reigned. But as they entered, light gradually appeared. It illuminated a magnificent golden divine palace.

The place resembled the residence of an ancient heavenly emperor.

Dense Dao substance and chaotic mist permeated the air. Standing in the center of the hall was a figure wearing a crown and a black-and-red cloak.

He appeared elderly. Yet in the next moment he seemed more youthful than childlike.

Faces from every stage of life constantly shifted across his body, as though he existed within an endless cycle of reincarnation. Simply standing there caused the expressions of the Fortune Lord and the others to change.

“The Lord of Reincarnation…”

Only the World Lord remained completely unchanged.

Both possessed Authority. Both stood within the same realm.

Ordinarily, even End-of-the-Road beings rarely met face-to-face. Yet this era was exceptionally special. Figures who appeared only once every several hundred epochs had successively emerged and entered the stage.

Now even existences who controlled Authorities had no choice but to reveal themselves. The World Lord and the Lord of Reincarnation had known one another since many epochs ago.

Among all the renowned True Road Realm figures in the Boundless Expanse today, the two of them could be considered allies.

“This epochal reckoning will begin ahead of schedule.”

“I have already sensed the omen.”

“The Five Great Royal Clans will soon gather their armies and cooperate with the descending envoys to carry out the Great Purge.”

The Lord of Reincarnation spoke.

“I already know of this matter,” replied the World Lord.

“The Epoch Tribulation has arrived much earlier than in previous eras.”

“If not for the existence of the Heaven-Defying Alliance, the tribulation would have been delayed for much longer.”

“This should be the purpose of the Heaven-Defying Alliance Lord.”

The Lord of Reincarnation calmly asked, “Have you seen him?”

The World Lord shook his head.

“I have not met him personally, but I observed him several times from outside the Heaven-Defying Alliance.”

The Lord of Reincarnation seemed to sink into thought before asking,

“What do you think of the plan he is carrying out?”

“He should possess a method unknown to us.”

“Perhaps it truly represents a third path.” The World Lord answered.

“A method of creating something from nothing?” The Lord of Reincarnation asked with a nod.

At that moment, Ancestor Xu stepped forward several paces and calmly interjected,

“Rather than calling it a method of creating something from nothing, it would be more accurate to say that he can refine from the essence of faith and fortune a substance even closer to the origin itself.”

“That substance has never been mastered by any of us.”

“Nor do we know how it can be obtained.”

The Lord of Reincarnation looked toward him.

“You followed the Heaven’s Representative Lord for quite some time. It seems you discovered something from him.”

Ancestor Xu glanced at the World Lord and spoke directly:

“The World Lord has controlled the Authority of Creation for countless years. Surely he understands that creation itself is a process of transformation.”

“Through a certain substance, energy and essence are absorbed and transformed into another substance.”

“The creation of worlds, life, opportunities, and fortunes all follows this principle.”

The World Lord’s expression remained unchanged.

This was no secret. Even he could not truly create something from nothing.

Whether creating a great world or a multiversal cosmos, he still needed to draw energy from heaven and earth and then fundamentally reorganize and transform matter.

This was a natural law. Neither energy nor matter could emerge from nowhere. Therefore, after witnessing the explosive rise of opportunities and fortunes within the Heaven-Defying Alliance over this period of time, he became even more convinced that its leader possessed a path unknown to them.

The seemingly impossible creation he performed relied upon the power of faith and fortune.

Within faith and fortune there absolutely existed secrets they were currently incapable of understanding.

That was also why he had come to seek the Lord of Reincarnation—to discuss and investigate this mystery together.

“Could it be that the Lord of the Heaven-Defying Alliance possesses some unknown supreme treasure, one with powers similar to an Authority?” The Lord of Reincarnation asked.

The two existing paths within the Boundless Expanse had been discovered through the efforts of countless predecessors over endless ages.

To suddenly claim that a third path existed was difficult to accept. Thus, he preferred to believe that Gu Changge possessed some unknown treasure. After all, before the birth of the Boundless Expanse, before heaven and earth were divided, mysteries already existed within this world that remained unexplained even now.

Some individuals, despite not possessing Authority, still had means capable of rivaling those who did. Such treasures were known as Authority Treasures.

Yet no one knew how they had come into existence. Even the Lord of Reincarnation merely knew of their existence and had never personally encountered one.

“I can state with certainty that he possesses no such treasure.”

“He has always relied solely upon his own methods and strength.”

“That has never changed.”

“If the two of you still doubt me, then take a look at this.”

Ancestor Xu seemed to have anticipated this reaction.

Smiling faintly, he raised a hand.

Dense black light surged forth. Within it floated terrifying particles of matter. Even within this space, suppressed by the combined presence of several supreme beings, those particles faintly showed signs of breaking free.

“Flesh and blood?”

The Lord of Reincarnation’s gaze landed upon it, and his expression seemed to tighten slightly. At the same time, deep within the crown of the Epoch Tree in the Ancient Hidden Civilization, magnificent ancient palaces stood tall.

A woman in colorful robes sat cross-legged with her eyes closed. Seven-colored mist enveloped her body. Threads of chaotic mist spread outward as she breathed.

Countless miniature worlds flickered into existence and vanished within her inhalations and exhalations.

The scene was dazzling, magnificent, and extraordinary.

“Second Sister…”

Standing before her in the great hall was a woman dressed in black. On her cold and beautiful face was a trace of complicated emotion.