"Those who deceive the people cannot long stand in this world. I have said my piece. The Sanqing Temple shall stand in the bustling city. Those who are fated to may find it, and they may co of their own accord."
The voice ca to an abrupt halt. On the live stream, the fearso old man slowly raised his head, his ancient, weathered face revealed to the world.
The entire East Continent fell silent.
All beasts prostrated on the ground, all birds circled in the sky, and all people bowed in utmost reverence.
"Slander!!"
A furious roar erupted from the Sakata Heavy Industries Headquarters, booming for thousands of miles.
Instantly, a sweat-drenched Sakata Shindo brazenly thrust a hand toward the boundless night sky. A Golden Great Dao unfurled, and in a flash, his entire arm crossed a hundred thousand li, appearing in the skies above Langya City!
The massive palm smashed through the clouds. Bathed in the cold moonlight, it descended toward the Daoist School under the horrified gaze of countless citizens and dia outlets!
Through the live broadcast, countless people across the East Continent witnessed the scene. Their breath caught in their throats, their hearts pounded, and sweat beaded on their forebrows!
"Watch out!!" soone outside the Daoist School instinctively cried out in alarm.
The next instant.
The massive palm clearly overshadowed the entire Daoist School, yet it was simultaneously contained within it. The sight was a stark contradiction, a jarring conflict, utterly bizarre.
It was obviously larger than the Daoist School, yet simultaneously smaller. It clearly covered the entire Daoist School, yet was also contained within it...
The sight, which defied all logic and subverted cognition, made everyone who witnessed it deeply uncomfortable. A wave of nausea washed over them, and their minds reeled in confusion.
The next mont, faithfully recorded by every cara, the great palm descended completely, pressing down to crush the old man!
The old man raised his head, his expression completely serene. He simply said in a soft voice,
"Insolent."
As his voice fell.
The fla of the Cyan Lamp suddenly flared, surging to a height of three feet. The Daoist School itself, infused and tempered by the endless Thoughts of All Living Beings from the hundreds of billions of souls across the East Continent, and thus possessing a myriad of divine mysteries, trembled slightly.
The old man made no visible move, but his indifferent voice was heard once more:
"To strike this place with your palm is an act of great disrespect. Your punishnt shall be to have never possessed this hand."
’What... what does that an?’
Many people were utterly baffled, filled with confusion and doubt.
At that mont, the terrifying Dharma Aspect swayed gently and chanted three mysterious, profound words.
[Dao Generating One].
The old man also softly recited an Ancient Scripture:
"The Dao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things..."
Amidst the chanting, bathed in the candlelight of the Celestial Venerable Cyan Lamp,
the great hand that had pierced the clouds and moonlight vanished abruptly. It was as if it had never arrived, or rather... as if it had never existed at all.
The night wind remained cool. It blew gently, and with a soft sigh from the old man, pushed the great doors of the Daoist School shut.
The next mont, the entire [Sanqing Temple] grew hazy and indistinct. It was clearly still standing on this bustling street, right in the middle of the Red Dust of the mortal world,
and the countless people outside could still ’see’ the Daoist School with its closed gates, yet they could no longer perceive it, no longer find it.
It was visible to the eye, but not to the mind.
"Where’s... where’s the Daoist School?" soone asked, bewildered. The scene before them was too sudden, too bizarre. The Daoist School was there, but it also wasn’t there. It was visible, yet it couldn’t be seen.
One person, mustering their courage, walked forward, trying to reach out and touch where they rembered the Daoist School to be. But their steps would mysteriously veer off course.
Or rather, they didn’t veer off at all, but simply found themselves walking naturally to the front of the shop beside the Daoist School.
The crowd exchanged glances, their hearts filling with a mixture of awe and terror.
Just then, the Mansion Master, who had been silent all this ti, suddenly snapped back to his senses. He swallowed hard and muttered to himself,
"That hand from before... was that Chairman Sakata of Sakata Heavy Industries?"
Everyone else ca to the sa realization, their hearts seizing. If that was the case, then what did the old man’s words—"to have never possessed this hand"—truly an?
’Could it be...?’
"But..." another person said, confused. "Isn’t Chairman Sakata... missing an arm?"
The crowd was speechless, then a collective jolt of horror ran through them.
They clearly rembered the head of Sakata Heavy Industries having both hands, yet their perception insisted he was one-ard. This... this...
Connecting this to the words of the Sanqing Temple Master from within the Daoist School, a profound dread seized everyone’s heart.
「anwhile.」
Sakata Heavy Industries Headquarters, on the top floor of the skyscraper.
Sakata Shindo stared blankly at where his left hand used to be—it had vanished into thin air. A look of terror slowly crept over his face.
"My... where’s my hand?"
’According to my senses, to my own mory, it was as if I’d never had a left hand. As if I’d been born with only one arm... No, that’s not right! That’s not right!’
Sakata Shindo gasped for breath, his expression a mask of fury and terror. He channeled his Primordial Qi and Divine Essence, and flesh and blood began to regenerate, bit by bit. Blood vessels, ridians, bones, and skin started to form.
At first, everything seed to be proceeding smoothly. But the mont the hand was fully ford, the mont it was whole again, the entire left arm instantly disintegrated!
It was a collapse on a fundantal level—not even a single microscopic particle remained!
"Impossible... It’s impossible..."
A chill ran down Sakata Shindo’s spine. He had completely lost the composure befitting a Grand Grade expert. He tried again and again to regenerate his left arm, but failed every ti.
He even tried to form an incomplete arm, deliberately leaving off a finger or two. While this version didn’t collapse on a fundantal level, he couldn’t perceive it in the slightest.
It was just like the Daoist School: existing to the eye, but not to the mind, not to any of his senses.
Sakata Shindo staggered back several steps, the panic on his face intensifying.
"Lord Sakata..." The Little Monk, though his cultivation was low, was vastly knowledgeable. He sighed softly. "Give up."
After a pause, he continued, his gaze profound,
"Your hand was erased on the level of Cause and Effect. The very [Cause] of your arm’s creation has been ’killed.’ Without the [Cause] of its creation, how can there be the [Effect] of its existence?"
An unending chill crept up Sakata Shindo’s spine. He asked numbly,
"Such a thod... actually exists in this world?"
"It does. I’ve heard the two Tower Masters speak of it." The Little Monk was trembling slightly as well. "To sever Cause and Effect with a single sentence... Is that the power of an Immortal? Or sothing even beyond an Immortal?"
He shuddered violently. Then, as if to comfort Sakata Shindo—and perhaps himself—he said,
"Rest assured, an Existence of that level is not permitted in this current era. He most likely cannot leave that Daoist School... If you hadn’t reached your hand into the Daoist School, Lord Sakata, you wouldn’t have been hard—at least not on the level of Cause and Effect..."
He had barely finished speaking when, suddenly...
SMACK!
The massive floor-to-ceiling window shuddered.
The two of them glanced over in astonishnt. A bird was ramming itself violently against the glass.
Then, through the window, they saw innurable birds crashing violently toward the Sakata Heavy Industries tower. Below, countless stray cats and dogs, along with a massive, furious crowd, had surrounded the entire skyscraper!
A sudden realization dawned on Sakata Shindo, and his expression changed drastically.
"We’re finished!"
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