Calamity of Tomorrow

Hearing Li Zhengdao's words, Zhou Bai's face flickered with confusion, "What do you mean?"

But Jiaojiao said in her heart, "This guy is most likely trying to stir up trouble between us, don't listen to his nonsense. Can you still use the ability you used before to lure him out of the Luotian Realm?"

Jiaojiao was referring to Time Reverse; Zhou Bai had previously used the ability of Time Reverse to lead Li Zhengdao towards the firing line.

Zhou Bai responded through the mechanical kin in Jiaojiao's ear, "Not now, this ability can't be used just anytime and anywhere."

Zhou Bai had, after all, extensively studied the abilities of Time Reverse.

After all, he had practiced Time Reverse every day with Zheng Wentian, which gave him a profound understanding of all its various functions.

Thinking of this, Zhou Bai sighed in his heart; those were truly simple and joyful times when he didn't need to think about anything and just focused on practicing.

"Alas, with age, one always yearns for the days of their studies."

Time Reverse could only affect the target once per day; once the target completed the action of "borrowing," then for the next 24 hours, it could not be used on the target again, or to put it another way, using it would be ineffective.

This was a limitation Zhou Bai had understood early on, otherwise he would not have chosen to "borrow" from Zheng Wentian only once a day. He would have done it several dozen times a day if he could.

After the kin shared Zhou Bai's Time Reverse, it too could only be used once in total per day.

Moreover, Zhou Bai knew without trying that Li Zhengdao would undoubtedly be on guard now; using Time Reverse directly like this would not be able to lure the opponent out.

However, Zhou Bai didn't explain the specifics of Time Reverse to Jiaojiao at the moment but just mentioned that it couldn't be used for now.

On the other side, standing within the Luotian Realm, Li Zhengdao observed everything through the transformation of the Yingtian Realm which rendered all the visuals into simple ink-and-wash effects, and all sounds became smooth and waveless, like those of a machine.

After such a separation, though observing was a bit uncomfortable for Li Zhengdao, it basically eliminated all kinds of attacks aimed at the five senses.

He spoke again, "Zhou Bai, do you know? The void is influenced by the existence of intelligent life, which then affects the Material World."

This was the first time Zhou Bai had heard such a claim, and his eyes sharpened as he listened seriously.

Li Zhengdao continued, "The more intelligent life communicates with the void, the more it uses the power of the void, the more active it becomes, the more it responds, and the stronger its interference with the Material World."

At this point, Li Zhengdao sighed, "Guess what would happen if no one communicated with the void?"

Zhou Bai was slightly startled, and Li Xiuzhu, who was beside him, also heard this for the first time and couldn't help but speak up, "Could it be that there would be no void?"

Li Zhengdao said with pity for the world, "If no one communicated with the void, then the void would not disturb the Material World, there would be no distortion of the Heavenly Dao over a hundred years ago, and there would be no existence of Mutated Flesh."

"Then who was the first to communicate with the void and start this disaster?"

Li Zhengdao replied, "Qing Yunzi, the founder of the Three Pure Dao Sect, was the first person in history to communicate with the void, the source of all tragedies. It was because of his presumption that the void came into being, leading to the distortion of the Heavenly Dao years later, leading to the Mutated Flesh."

Li Zhengdao sighed, "Unfortunately, by the time the Heavenly Court became aware of this, it was too late. The power of the void had reached a point where it could not be stopped."

Zhou Bai listened in surprise to Li Zhengdao's words and immediately asked Jiaojiao through the mechanical kin in her ear, "Great Elder, is what he said true? The nature of the void, and the matter of Qing Yunzi being the first to communicate with the void."

Jiaojiao's tone also seemed to carry a trace of surprise, "Regarding the part about the void becoming active due to communication and use... I'm also hearing this theory for the first time today."

Zhou Bai, "So Qing Yunzi is really the first person in history to communicate with the void?"

Jiaojiao hesitated and then said, "I don't know. I fell into a deep slumber after the distortion of the Heavenly Dao and slept for too long. After my Master woke me up, he took his own life, and although I took over as the Sect Leader... To tell you the truth, many secrets of the Three Pure Dao Sect might have been lost in transmission."

As if knowing what Zhou Bai was thinking, Li Zhengdao continued to say, "What I have said is also a secret within the Heavenly Court, one that even many immortals are unaware of. Perhaps due to historical reasons, it had not been passed down even within the Three Pure Dao Sect, but it is all a matter of indisputable fact."

"Qing Yunzi was just the beginning. We only found out afterward that the appearance and usage of the Five Great Divine Skills further triggered the Void's response."

"And as the Five Great Divine Skills emerged, the Void's response became more active. Consequently, more and more cultivators and immortal gods began to sense the existence of the Void. Countless people marveled at the mysteries of the Five Great Divine Skills and the Void, which led to the creation of various techniques that harnessed the power of the Void, resulting in all sorts of anomalies."

"It's precisely the emergence of the Void that affected the operation of the Heavenly Dao, leading to its distortion a hundred years ago, and the appearance of aberrations. This caused humanity's tragedy today."

Li Zhengdao sighed and said, "So do you understand now, Zhou Bai? The root of all the tragedies is the Three Pure Dao Sect, the Five Great Divine Skills."

Listening to Li Zhengdao's words, Zhou Bai's brain kicked into overdrive, "The Void came about like this?"

Based on what Zhou Bai had learned previously and deduced, the Void should have appeared after the first great war between humans and demons. The emergence of the Void caused deterioration to the environment, leading to the disappearance of demons and Spiritual People from Earth. This was followed by the appearance of Homo sapiens and the gradual restoration of the environment, allowing Spiritual People and demons to return.

Li Zhengdao didn't mention the first great war between humans and demons," Zhou Bai pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Christina, have you heard about these things he's saying?"

Christina shook her head, "I don't remember these events. Could he be deceiving us, trying to stir discord between you and the Three Pure Dao Sect intentionally? He hasn't mentioned the first great war, the appearance of the Void, or the dispersal of Spiritual Power."

"He might not have spoken about these matters either because he doesn't know them or because he believes I'm unaware of them," Zhou Bai said. "It could even be a test to see if I have learned this history from the Heavenly Demon."

Christina just felt her head spinning—it was too confusing.

Jiaojiao and Christina didn't know any relevant information, and Zhou Bai realized that it was pointless to guess, so he probed Li Zhengdao, "You claim it was Qing Yunzi who brought all this upon us, and you have this theory about the Void's response. Do you have any proof? How do I know you're not tricking me?"

"Evidence?" Li Zhengdao appeared as if he had anticipated Zhou Bai's question and casually replied, "The era of Qing Yunzi is too far removed from our own, and after so many catastrophes, history has been forgotten time and time again. It's indeed hard for humans with such short lifespans to know of his deeds."

"But the Heavenly Court has records of him."

With that, Li Zhengdao gestured with his hand, and a small booklet flew out from the depths of the Luotian Realm, then crossed through the gate and gently floated toward Zhou Bai, "Take it and look, no need to thank me."

After saying this, Li Zhengdao's figure, along with the closing of the gate, slowly disappeared, leaving only his last words lingering in Zhou Bai's ears.

"One day you'll realize, we may be on the same side."

Watching the vanishing Li Zhengdao, everyone remained on their guard because of the immense pressure from the opponent.

Zhou Bai was hardly at ease either. After all, as one of the top figures in the four divisions of the Heavenly Court, Li Zhengdao's strength was overpowering to mere mortal cultivators.

Had it not been for the ability of Heaven Man Nine Catastrophes to variously constrain, lay out plans and prepare, had they faced him head-on, Zhou Bai probably would have been defeated within a matter or minutes.

Although to others Zhou Bai seemed to have easily blocked Li Zhengdao, he knew that he had reached his limit. Should Li Zhengdao have wished to leave, he couldn't have stopped him.

"Still not strong enough," Zhou Bai silently thought to himself, "Many of my mechanical followers broke this time; they all need repairing when I get back. However, this battle allowed me to implement many of the tactics I had considered before. There are still many areas that can be improved; the mechanical followers have a lot of potential for adjustment and enhancement."

It wasn't until they returned to Donghua City and confirmed that Li Zhengdao was truly gone—he didn't even return to Donghua City—that the group slightly relaxed, but still, they didn't let down their guard completely, wary of the possibility that the opponent might return for a surprise attack.

Jiaojiao said, "There shouldn't be a problem now. Since he has lost, Li Zhengdao is not the type to make senseless trouble. He's probably in a hurry to go back and treat his injuries and restore his cultivation."

Looking at his gains from this fight, Zhou Bai secretly said to himself, "Besides the booklet that Li Zhengdao gave me in the end, there is the corpse of a dragon, whose scales could be used to enhance the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor.

Then there's Zhu Yan, this big demon, whom I still haven't figured out how to use.

And there's also..."

Zhou Bai looked at Jiaojiao and couldn't help but swallow, thinking that the biggest gain from this battle must be Jiaojiao, a Jiaojiao who for now need not worry about being plagued by anomalies.

"The Five Great Divine Skills," Zhou Bai looked at Jiaojiao, feeling almost drooling.

When the five great Divine Skills combined into one, as Jiaojiao performed them, it truly broadened Zhou Bai's horizons.

It was an ability that could truly suppress the opponent in direct combat, even forcing Li Zhengdao to have no choice but to hide in the Luotian Realm.

Now, Zhou Bai directly activated the fifth star point of his insane diagram 'Wisdomless - Sacrifice': He could use lazy energy points to extract the knowledge of his followers and turn it into his own.

Zhou Bai had once used this ability to extract the knowledge of his mechanical followers to learn Heavenly Demon technology.

This time, he used it to see if he could extract the five great Divine Skills through Jiaojiao.

Among the dense list of various Daoist arts and martial skills, Zhou Bai quickly found content related to the five great Divine Skills.

Extracting "Ice Soul Freeze Light" would need one million lazy energy points

Extracting "Supreme Mysterious Divine Thunder Breath" would require 1.5 million lazy energy points

Extracting "Great Black Flame Fire Dragon Formation" would need 1.2 million lazy energy points

Extracting "Five Divine Skills Fusion Foundation" would require 5 million lazy energy points

"Does it all add up to over eight million lazy energy points? It seems that after my talents improved step by step, the consumption has become much less."

Zhou Bai had been cultivating in the Heavenly Demon's base during this time. Although he earned lazy energy points quickly, he also spent them just as fast, all towards supplementing the points on his insane diagram. Now, only a few hundred thousand lazy energy points remained on his panel.

"However, if I go all out in selling the Heavenly Demon Organization, I should be able to gather these lazy energy points quickly. It's just uncertain whether the Great Elder will still be my Angel Envoy by then."

Thinking of this, Zhou Bai helplessly shook his head, 'The Great Elder, after all, is not the Mysterious Female. With her deep-seated hatred for the Heavenly Demon, given enough time, she will somehow become less trusting of me. It's inevitable.'

Zhou Bai understood that the demands of the lying followers were too harsh, that kind of 100% trust, believing every single word, was abnormal from the start.

Therefore, he was always ready for Jiaojiao to withdraw from the state of lying followers, and in doing so, leave the Angel Envoy state, thus freeing up a space for another Angel Envoy.

While Zhou Bai was calculating the gains and losses of this battle, Jiaojiao held the book in her hands, her gaze filled with complexity—she wanted to read it but also feared it, worried about discovering some dark history of the Three Pure Dao Sect.

Looking at the slowly dissipating Heavenly Tribulation in the sky, Jiaojiao said to herself, "Let's look at this together when we get back. For now... Zhou Bai, have you thought about what to do next?"

Zhou Bai chuckled, "Just blame everything that happened on me, saying I controlled you to attack the Immortals and Gods, and that all this has nothing to do with Donghua City or the Three Pure Dao Sect."

Jiaojiao sighed, "That's too unfair to you."

Zhou Bai said, "Fairness doesn't exist in this world. Besides, in the eyes of the world, I have already sided with the Heavenly Demon. Compared to that, today's events probably won't seem like much to most people. This at least buys a few more months, preventing the Heavenly Court from dispatching troops against Donghua City."

At this point, unable to help herself, Jiaojiao asked, "Zhou Bai... when do you plan to come back? I don't know how you made the Heavenly Demon willing to follow your orders and cooperate with your actions, but they remain our sworn enemies."

Zhou Bai smiled helplessly, "Don't worry, Great Elder, I have my limits."

Li Xiuzhu, standing to the side, couldn't hear the conversation between Zhou Bai and Jiaojiao. In the moment when the battle temporarily came to a pause, he finally had the opportunity to express his doubts, "Zhou Bai, is Jiaojiao currently under your control? Does she have her own will?"

Looking at Li Xiuzhu, Zhou Bai felt somewhat helpless. To accomplish the Time Reverse, he had to absorb the other's divinatory energy.

If it weren't for the divinatory energy being absorbed, Li Zhengdao would not have been injured so severely.

Jiaojiao thought, "Tell him, for now, Li Xiuzhu can still be trusted."

After thinking, Zhou Bai first transmitted a message to the Mysterious Female aside, "Help me back in Donghua City. I need your power."

The Mysterious Female nodded, taking the Emperor Sword and the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor, soared up into the sky, and flew towards Donghua City.

Sensing that the upcoming conversation would be better kept from the Xuan female, Zhou Bai dismissed her before he said, "Jiaojiao has her own consciousness, we are essentially allied now."

Jiaojiao nodded, corroborating Zhou Bai's words, "What Zhou Bai said is true, he is helping me now."

After Qian Wangsun hurried over from a distance, he sighed in relief upon hearing this, reassuring himself, 'Good, good, the Great Elder is safe.'

Li Xiuzhu stated gravely, "Jiaojiao, Zhou Bai, can you provide support to the Sky Flipping Sect now? The Heavenly Court has dispatched ten great immortal gods to surround and attack the Sky Flipping Sect, and our research into the mutated weapons has reached a critical moment—they urgently need your strength."

Li Xiuzhu's purpose for coming to Donghua City this time was originally to assassinate Li Zhengdao and then to turn Jiaojiao into a mutated weapon so as to salvage the situation at the Sky Flipping Sect.

Unfortunately, things had not gone according to his plan. Although he eventually saved Donghua City and defeated Li Zhengdao, it was clear Jiaojiao would no longer be willing to be used as a mutated weapon, which meant that this victory here did little to alleviate the situation for the Sky Flipping Sect.

However, in this battle, both Jiaojiao and Zhou Bai had exhibited tremendous fighting power, so Li Xiuzhu looked at them expectantly, hoping they could assist the Sky Flipping Sect.

But Jiaojiao shook her head regretfully, "I cannot leave Donghua City for too long or travel too far, otherwise there'll be problems with the mutated flesh I've expelled."

Zhou Bai asked, "What exactly is happening at the Sky Flipping Sect? Have you managed to successfully develop the mutated weapons?"

Li Xiuzhu considered for a moment, feeling there was no need for secrecy, and presented the Blood Transformation Divine Sword to everyone, "The Blood Transformation Divine Sword that we snatched from Lord Yan Zhen last time, we have already learned how to use it. Next, we aim to produce new mutated weapons."

"Relying purely on the power of the immortal way or the strength of demonic bloodlines is insufficient to contend with Heavenly Court. Only by mastering mutated weapons and possessing more and stronger mutated weapons can we have more say."

...

While Jiaojiao, Zhou Bai, and Li Xiuzhu were in discussions,

Over a hundred kilometers up in orbit, a satellite was constantly conducting various detections in the direction of Zhou Bai and the others, collecting data on several human cultivators.

Within the communication network of the Heavenly Demon, vast quantities of data were being sent from near the battlefield to the databases of the Heavenly Demon kings,

"Most assuredly, it is the power of the void."

"The queen is right; Zhou Bai's existence is special."

"Search for any information related to Qing Yun, this person's intelligence might be extremely valuable."

"Let's compile Zhou Bai's abilities and see if we can discern any patterns."

Meanwhile, on Mars, a sandstorm that had lasted for several months was still blowing over the metallic base.

Dense machinery and metal covered thousands of square kilometers, forming a forest-like complex structure.

And at the center of this metallic jungle, over three hundred meters below ground, a girl who looked nearly identical to the Xuan female sat motionless on the ground. Her lips trembled slightly from time to time, as if she was whispering something,

"Fragile flesh."

"Inefficient brain structure."

"And the various signals constantly influencing my rational thinking."

"The human body is ultimately too limited."

As the girl lamented the inadequacies of her body, a flash of light appeared, and an old man's image materialized before her.

If Zhou Bai were here, he might immediately recognize that the old man on the screen was one of the two pillars of Heavenly Court, the master of Wanxian Island, Supreme Heavenly Venerate.

"Bo Xun, how goes it? What do you think of my proposal?"