Chapter 830: The Cause and Effect

The Underworld.

With a gentle flash, he returned to this land.

The Six Paths of Reincarnation slowly revolved once more in the dark sky.

"Your Majesty, how are your injuries?" Meng Po Shangguan Man asked urgently.

"I am exhausted, but there are no major issues," the Emperor said, his face calm, as he sat on the Imperial Throne.

Upon hearing this, Meng Po, the Black and White Impermanence, and the others felt a great sense of relief. Their destinies were now linked to the Lord of the Underworld, and severe injuries would inevitably bring about unforeseen complications. After all, the combat power he had just displayed was simply too extraordinary.

"While the Six Paths of Reincarnation yielded considerable benefits, there were still many casualties," the Emperor stated calmly. "The process of reincarnation still needs to be maintained."

Meng Po and the others nodded. Indeed. The reincarnation of Li Sansheng, Abandoning Heaven Emperor, Su Huanzhen, and others was still necessary. Moreover, their reincarnated arrival would cause immense upheaval. Although their world seemed to be one of the least affected in this great war, this war among the heavens still required post-war matters to be addressed.

After reporting on the situation, Meng Po and the others departed to begin maintaining order on the Yellow Springs Road.

Soon, only the Emperor remained in the empty Hall of Reincarnation, seated in his original spot.

He had told Meng Po and the others that his injuries were not severe, but in reality, only Xu Zhi knew the truth: his injuries were exceptionally dire, to the point of being utterly exhausted and beyond recovery. His three avatars, working together, appeared to have achieved a narrow victory, but in truth... they had been defeated.

A voice murmured:

"I defeated them because I was not afraid of death, burning my life force... The fact that I am able to return now is due to sheer perseverance; in reality, I am already..."

*Rustle—*

With a faint sound, only a black dragon robe remained on the Imperial Throne; the Emperor had vanished without a trace. His body perished, his soul extinguished!

A generation's Emperor had fallen in a quiet, unnoticed corner. However, his accomplishments in life were astonishing. To single-handedly contend against three invincible beings, each capable of ushering in a new era, was truly unimaginable. He was indeed the ultimate life form, with every realm perfected.

*Whoosh!*

A flash of light ignited. A brand new flesh-and-blood avatar was reborn, its body fair and delicate, like a perfect deity from ancient times. It descended into the Hall of Reincarnation and, with a gentle wave of its hand, donned the imperial robe and once again sat upon the Imperial Throne.

All wounds, exhaustion, and severe injuries vanished. He now exuded vitality, appearing full of vigor. If he were to walk out, Meng Po and the others would surely be stunned, and players like Cat Jump would once again be numb with fright.

They would surely exclaim:

"He recovered completely in such a short time?"

"Could it be that he wasn't severely injured at all? Was his previous severely wounded state merely a pretense, deliberately shown to deceive people from other worlds?"

Xu Zhi, naturally, had no intention of going out, to avoid causing another stir.

"They were actually able to beat my three avatars to death, working together. It's truly terrifying," Xu Zhi couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. Only he understood how exaggerated that combat power was.

"The three avatars are bodily flesh and blood tissue self-split from my main body. Except for not being able to cultivate the complete Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique and lacking nine internal spaces... their flesh, meridians, combat power, and cultivation are essentially identical." In simple terms, it's akin to a small finger severed from Xu Zhi. At the same physical size, what appeared to be an avatar was, in reality, almost equivalent to Xu Zhi's main body in combat, lacking only the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique, without a massive, world-altering disparity.

At this moment, even with the three avatars fighting desperately, they could only achieve a pyrrhic victory at the cost of their lives. If Xu Zhi's main body had intervened, and everyone were of the same physical size, even if he were slightly stronger, it would likely have been a costly victory against the three of them, just barely allowing him to survive upon returning.

"With the same physical size, my perfect foundation has allowed me to reach the ceiling in all realms, yet they could still beat me to such a state..." Xu Zhi found it terrifying. He was indeed the pinnacle of ultimate beings. He had studied all three of their systems; theoretically, he was equivalent to a fusion of all three, plus two additional extraordinary systems that they did not possess! Even so, the battle had been remarkably fierce... It was clear how formidable their combat power and talent were.

So why did he intervene?

It was simple. In fact, it was inevitable.

Firstly, Di Qi had broken through first. If he hadn't intervened to suppress him, what outcome would have resulted from natural development? Di Qi would directly suppress the Three Pillar Gods and Caroline! Perhaps he wouldn't kill them, but he would certainly restrict, suppress, and employ various tactics against them. This would be detrimental to the development of the era. A three-way standoff, with mutual competition and a strong sense of crisis, was ideal, rather than one individual dominating by suppressing others with their realm advantage... Therefore, regardless of whether Di Qi was the first to break through, Xu Zhi had always intended to intervene.

Secondly, as mentioned earlier. At that time, they were racing to break through quickly, which severely impacted their foundations. Admittedly, this was a natural trend of survival of the fittest, a cruel reality where whoever broke through first could directly suppress everyone else.

To die, or to choose an emergency breakthrough with inherent flaws? Which would they choose? It was obvious. Did they not understand the pros and cons? Even Xu Zhi could see it clearly, so naturally, they understood as well. But the situation was beyond their control; the arrow was on the string, and it had to be loosed. And he was there to interrupt and curb their unhealthy race to breakthrough!

Xu Zhi said leisurely, "Presumably, many powerful beings in countless universes, just like Di Qi and Caroline, are forced to break through, no matter how monstrous their talent!" But that was the cruel universe of nature, governed by the law of the dark forest. With powerful enemies at hand, who had time for refinement? Among the powerhouses of the same era, whoever broke through first would directly suppress their generation, sweep aside all foes, and become the sole Eternal Emperor across all heavens!

However, the situation here was different. Xu Zhi, however, could interfere with the development of this universe, thus naturally fostering the best possible developmental model. "If I had truly let them break through directly, their talents might not have been completely stunted, but the subsequent realms would undoubtedly be much harder to traverse, requiring more effort to compensate for earlier deficiencies in their cultivation."

This was the second reason. And the third reason, naturally, was that Xu Zhi felt an itch to test his strength. He had cultivated for so long, and he wanted to see just how strong the combat power was of his five perfect genes, each cultivated to its peak.

"At the same time, this was likely my only chance in the short term to have a combat power close to theirs and thoroughly defeat them," Xu Zhi said with a calm expression. "This is a very short convergence point. They have been on the Ninth-Tier path for too long, and I've only just caught up to their realm. However, I will soon embark on that long Ninth-Tier path myself. When they fully break through to become truly complete Ninth-Tier beings, a major realm difference will separate us... and I will only be able to observe from afar again."

"Taking the opportunity to contend with them before they break through is a rare chance..." Xu Zhi said leisurely, taking a quiet sip of tea. "Soon, they will once again forge ahead, pioneering the path to the Ninth-Tier realm."

After all, the Ninth-Tier path was not yet fully developed. Someone was certainly needed to pioneer the cultivation system and path ahead. Otherwise, how could Xu Zhi achieve perfection by cultivating an immature system? How could he continue to forge a flawless Dao foundation for transcending realms?

"A new era of civilization is about to be born," Xu Zhi mused, gazing into the distance. He knew this was a qualitative transformation for an era, and a historic moment was approaching. Everything would be different. The Ninth Tier and Eighth Tier represented completely different world civilizations on the grand sandbox.