Chapter 1221: Fate's Direction

The super root pulsated rhythmically in the air, its world-ending pressure filling every corner of Wushan Town. It resembled a killing machine collecting information from another world. Once it finished surveying its surroundings, utter devastation awaited everyone.

A Sword of Damocles hung over everyone's heads, and the shadow of death spread rapidly.

"Damn it..." Sun Bumian felt the world-ending aura emanating from the super root, and a surge of anxiety climbed into his eyes, which were nested with colorful rings.

In an era where sixth and seventh-tier beings were already considered powerful, the appearance of a ninth-tier world-ender was undoubtedly an absolute dimension-reducing strike. No one in the world could resist the Turbid Catastrophe; even Sun Bumian felt as tiny as an ant in its presence.

They had struggled so hard to get this far, to bring a glimmer of hope to all of Wushan, only to be met with an insurmountable despair.

"Is there really no way to deal with that thing?" Sun Bumian murmured to himself.

"You cannot fight against fate, Sun Bumian," Sukhee said slowly. "With your speed, if you escape now, you might still have a chance to get out of that monster's attack range..."

"Damn it, aren't you annoying?!" This time, Sukhee's passive-aggressive remarks truly infuriated Sun Bumian. He cursed rarely but vehemently, "Always saying we can't fight this, can't fight that... The Ghost Path is still the path of humans! Now an alien species is running rampant here, and you're still bickering over trivial achievements?! Weren't you human in life?! What? Do you have to wait until humanity is completely wiped out before your Ghost Path Ancient Treasury is happy, is that it?!"

Sukhee was stunned by this, opening his mouth but unsure how to retort. Kongwang, standing nearby, fell silent, staring at the distant super root.

If the deaths were caused by humans slaughtering each other with nuclear weapons, Sukhee and Kongwang wouldn't have cared, as life and death were choices humans made for themselves. But how to define the casualties caused by these monsters, clearly not of this world, was something neither of them was quite clear on.

"But there's no denying that no one here can deal with it," Kongwang paused. "Death is inevitable."

Sun Bumian remained silent for a long time. "That may not be the case."

Suddenly, a dream he had last night flashed through Sun Bumian's mind. He hadn't dreamt of his master in too long, yet last night, he had seen him again. At the time, Sun Bumian thought it was just a coincidence, but now it seemed his master might have intentionally used a dream to guide him.

"Bumian, your reincarnation is a dormancy, yet also a weapon... What you contend with are the natural cycles of life and death, an unalterable fate. Each of your reincarnations accumulates a sliver of power against the heavens... Eventually, all your accumulated power will become the key to changing everything."

Sun Bumian's gaze was complex. He looked at the super root emerging from the distant rift and murmured to himself: "Master... did you mean 'changing everything' refers to this very moment?"

The moment Sun Bumian's words faded, fragmented memories, as if guided by some force, resurfaced in his mind. He felt his vision blur, and he seemed to be back beside that ancient city wall. That was Sun Bumian's first slumber.

"Bumian... you must die amidst a cacophony of gongs and drums." The familiar words echoed in Sun Bumian's mind. He looked up, bewildered, to see a familiar figure standing before him.

Sun Bumian naturally wouldn't forget that figure; he had dreamt of this scene countless times in earlier reincarnations. But for some reason, this time, he saw something different.

The ancient city wall stood upon the barren land. Far from where the two stood, beneath the corner of the wall, a figure in a large red opera robe had appeared at some unknown point. He stood far away, inconspicuous, so much so that Sun Bumian seemed never to have noticed anyone else there. The person also seemed to be gazing in this direction, looking at Sun Bumian and the old man standing by the pit, confusion and bewilderment in his eyes.

"It's him...?" Sun Bumian recognized the person's face, and shock appeared in his eyes. How could he be in this era??? Was he originally there, or were his memories distorted?

The sight of Chen Ling undoubtedly shattered Sun Bumian's understanding. There were thousands of years between this moment and Chen Ling's era. Was he also a reincarnated immortal? No, that's impossible... Then why was he seeing him? Why now, of all times??

Sun Bumian knew he wouldn't suddenly experience inexplicable hallucinations. Only one person had the power to do all of this. As if understanding something, he looked again at the old man before him.

"Master..." "You said my power would become the key to changing everything, not referring to a specific point in time... but to a specific person?" "I'm not meant to change the fate of a certain moment, but rather, to change the fate of a person?"

The old man smiled. It was a smile that had never appeared in Sun Bumian's memories. In that moment, he seemed to step out of the predetermined dream, standing personally before Sun Bumian, his gaze flickering with a hint of admiration.

The next moment, the scene before Sun Bumian's eyes receded like a tide, and his consciousness abruptly returned to Sukhee and Kongwang.

In Sukhee and Kongwang's eyes, Sun Bumian had been momentarily dazed. Just then, the surface of the super root hovering in the air began to churn out large amounts of steam. A low rumble echoed from above. The root of the Turbid Catastrophe seemed to have completed its environmental scan, its massive body beginning to writhe rapidly, a strange shadow obscuring the sky.

"It's going to attack," Kongwang said in a low voice, seeing this scene.

Sukhee moved his gaze from the root, only to suddenly realize no one was standing before him. He was startled. "Huh? Where's Sun Bumian??"

The hem of the large red opera robe flapped in the strong wind. Beneath the shadow of the Turbid Catastrophe's root, their gazes were more solemn than ever. Chen Ling stared intently at the colossal shadow about to crash down, shaking his head helplessly: "You're overthinking it... I can't stop it."

The current Chen Ling only had an expectation value of 40, nowhere near enough to sustain even a single death, let alone enter Soul-Slaying mode or unleash Mockery of Calamity. Against a world-ending disaster at its full power, he simply couldn't win now. He didn't know what his future self had done to give Ying Fu such an impression, but without a doubt, his current self truly couldn't do it.

Ying Fu's brows furrowed, and he was about to speak again when a series of loud roars erupted from within the grey-shrouded rift. The root of the Turbid Catastrophe, raised high against the sky, plunged straight down towards them!