After guarding the gates for a hundred years, I drove the Heavenly Saint to madness.

After Guang Chengzi's defeat and flight, time seemed to stand still outside Jiepai Pass.

For dozens of days, the Xiqi army remained as silent as if it were dead.

The large camp, nestled against Qishan Mountain, was so quiet that, apart from the daily cooking smoke, not even a single drill call could be heard.

This unusual silence gradually turned the initial excitement of the garrison inside Jiepai Pass into a sense of unease.

"General, could it be that Xiqi is plotting some kind of world-destroying method?"

Xu Gai stood on the city wall, gazing at the desolate camp in the distance, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap flies.

Xiao Wuji sat cross-legged on the eaves of the city tower, toying with the Fantian Seal, which had been completely renamed.

"Of course I'm holding it in."

He casually tossed the Heaven-Turning Seal upwards, watching it spin wildly in the air, radiating a heart-palpitating pressure, before it gently landed back in his palm.

"However, we should meet force with force and water with earth. If they don't move, it's because they're not confident."

Xiao Wuji spoke in a relaxed tone, but his eyes were clear and lucid.

He wasn't really idle these past two months.

While the daily system rewards aren't as impressive as the node jackpots, they're plentiful and satisfying.

He stuffed the innate spiritual liquid, the ten-thousand-year-old vermilion fruit, and even a few wisps of sparse chaotic energy into the Twelve Capital Heavenly Gods and Demons Formation and his own stomach.

Today, the foundation of Jiepai Pass has sunk a hundred feet. It is not a collapse, but rather it has been compacted by the evil energy and earth vein power condensed by the formation.

The Five Elements Pine Tree had grown to a height of three hundred feet, its enormous canopy resembling a five-colored canopy, protecting the entire General's Mansion from wind and rain.

Time slipped away quietly amidst the monotonous practice.

The sixtieth day.

As the first wisp of purple mist rose in the east at dawn, Xiao Wuji sensed something and slowly opened his eyes.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have successfully defended Jiepai Pass for sixty days.]

[The bi-monthly milestone has been achieved.]

[Bi-monthly Grand Prize Giveaway: The Great Karma Technique, one of the Three Thousand Great Dao Divine Powers!]

hum-

This time, there were no earth-shattering phenomena, nor was there an infusion of vast magical power.

Xiao Wuji felt a slight coolness between his brows, as if a drop of clear dew had fallen into the depths of his sea of ​​consciousness.

Then, the world before my eyes changed.

The once clear city walls, sky, and flowing clouds now appeared somewhat illusory. In their place were countless dense, crisscrossing lines.

Some threads are as thick as a child's arm, signifying deep karmic ties; others are as thin as a spider's thread, representing fleeting encounters.

Red lines represent blood ties and kinship, black lines represent hatred and bloodshed, and gold lines represent merit and good fortune.

This is the Great Law of Cause and Effect. Among the Three Thousand Great Daos, fate is paramount, but cause and effect reign supreme.

This is a supreme law that directly points to karmic retribution and karma.

Xiao Wuji took a deep breath, his eyes seemingly filled with countless intertwined threads.

He tried to activate the great supernatural power he had just acquired, casting his gaze toward the distant west.

"That is..."

Xiao Wuji's pupils suddenly contracted.

In his vision of the world of cause and effect, on the western horizon, there was an astonishingly thick black line of cause and effect, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, rapidly approaching him in an extremely insidious manner.

Above that black line, there swirled an intense, impenetrable aura of death, mixed with a nauseating demonic energy and a cursed power.

Without the Great Cause and Effect Technique, even if he had cultivated to the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm, he would be completely unaware of this.

This method bypasses the Five Elements and the principles of Yin and Yang, directly influencing destiny in the unseen realm.

"Such a heavy killing intent, such a vicious method."

Xiao Wuji's lips curled into a cold smile, and the five elements in his eyes instantly transformed into cause and effect, birth and death, and he immediately thought of the corresponding situation.

"A curse carrying demonic energy, coming from the west once again. It seems that the three-legged golden crow finally couldn't resist descending the mountain."

……

March 1st.

At the foot of Mount Qi, behind the Xiqi camp, lies a secluded valley.

This area has been designated as a forbidden zone. Within a radius of ten miles, no one is allowed to approach except for Jiang Ziya and a few trusted confidants.

In the center of the valley, an earthen platform was built.

On the platform stands a thatched hut, inside which is a table.

On the altar, there was a straw figure that had been made long ago. The straw figure was extremely crudely made, yet it exuded an evil aura, with three large characters written on its body in cinnabar and blood—Xiao Wuji.

Above the straw figure's head and at its feet, a dim oil lamp was lit, its light a strange, ghastly green that was particularly glaring even in the daytime.

Lu Ya Dao Ren stood below the earthen platform, still holding the wine gourd in his hand, watching Jiang Ziya busy on the platform.

"Jiang Ziya, have you remembered the steps?"

Lu Ya took a swig of wine and said lazily, "Bow three times a day without fail. After twenty-one days of bowing, that kid's soul and spirit will be slowly nailed to death by these seven small arrows."

Jiang Ziya was dressed in a robe, his hair was disheveled, and he held a sword in his hand. His expression was extremely solemn, but if you looked closely, you would find that there was sadness and helplessness deep in his eyes.

After he paid homage to Zhao Gongming to death last time, he learned that the Seven Arrows of Nailhead had a huge side effect and would have a tremendous impact on his own fortune.

However, as the chief general in the campaign against King Zhou, he was the best candidate for both the Chan Sect and the Xiqi faction, so only he could take on this task.

That is why Guang Chengzi's expression was very complicated when he talked about Lu Ya.

"Rest assured, Daoist Lord, for the sake of overthrowing King Zhou, even if I bear such sinister karma, I will not flinch."

Having said that, Jiang Ziya stepped forward and respectfully bowed to the straw figure.

"One bow is to worship the soul of the spirit, for the soul is not attached to the body."

As Jiang Ziya bowed, the oil lamp on the straw figure's head flickered violently, its light dimming slightly.

……

Jiepai Pass, the secret room.

Xiao Wuji, who was meditating on the Great Cause and Effect Technique with his eyes closed, suddenly shuddered.

A strange and obscure power appeared out of nowhere in his mind.

The feeling was as if an invisible hand was trying to forcibly pull his soul out of his body.

If it were in the past, he would probably be restless by now, or even start to hallucinate and fall asleep.

but now……

"They're here."

Xiao Wuji suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze not showing any panic, but rather the excitement of a hunter seeing his prey fall into his trap.

In his eyes, the black causal thread extending from the west was now tightly wrapped around his soul.

This was originally a sure-kill trap, but in front of Xiao Wuji, who had mastered the Great Cause and Effect Technique, this thread was no longer a death warrant, but a fishing line connecting the caster.

"Lu Ya, Lu Ya, your Seven Arrows of Nailhead is indeed powerful, killing people without them even realizing it."

Xiao Wuji slowly raised his hand and gently flicked the invisible black causal line with his fingertips.

"But you shouldn't have used this on me at this time."

"Now that the connection has been established, you can no longer decide the cause and effect."

Xiao Wuji formed hand seals and activated the Great Karma Technique at full power.

Instead of severing the thread, it actively separated a wisp of its divine soul power and silently flowed upstream along the causal thread.

What he needs to do is not to defend, but to follow the clues and turn the tables.

"Jiang Ziya is worshipping me? Fine, then let him worship me."

"I'm afraid that after the twenty-first day, once this bow is performed, it's still unknown who will die."

In the dim light of the secret room, Xiao Wuji's smile was even more chilling than the green flame on the straw man's head.