Chapter 869: Karma

Li Pin's thoughts churned.

Time

....

He had always believed in one principle—time could prove everything. With adequate time, eventually everything and anything would reveal an answer. Perhaps that answer would not always be satisfying, but it would nonetheless pierce through the fog of confusion and provide clarity at long last.

At this moment, Li Pin understood another truth—just as time could prove everything when it stretched adequately enough, it could also wash away everything in time.

In this world, nothing was truly immutable. Even so-called permanence would shift over a long enough timeline.

In this world, no one was truly undying. Even beings as powerful as Supremes, Transcendents, and Tyrants would struggle to survive a disaster like that of the ancient Astral World. Just like how the dazzling and prosperous cultivation civilizations of the ancient Astral World were almost wiped out overnight.

Li Pin revealed a smile.

Did these changes matter to him? Not at all. All he had ever wanted was a marker in his life. But perhaps it was finally time to transcend the very notion of setting his own markers.

If no one in this world were immortal and eternal, then... let him become the first immortal being, the first... Eternal.

To become an Eternal, the first step is mastering time, and then to surpass time.

Li Pin turned his gaze toward Li Yunyao, his smile soft. "Thank you."

Li Yunyao was slightly confused, even a bit at a loss.

Li Pin stepped forward and gently patted her head. This gesture made Li Yunyao tremble slightly.

If she still retained her mortal body, she would surely have stiffened completely, afraid to move.

However, when she met Li Pin's gentle gaze, her stiff shoulders relaxed.

It was as if through this simple motion, she had once more found the familiarity she had once known in him.

"The current Astral World is in the midst of a great catastrophe. The environment is hostile. Even with Cosmic Radiance protecting your surroundings, you are still vulnerable to the erosion of the Eternal Oblivion Force. The only one who can truly prevent this is yourself."

Li Yunyao nodded. "

Mm.

"

She had long since realized that relying on others was never as good as relying on herself. That was the truth she had understood over the years.

"I won't let you down..." she said.

"Good."

Li Pin took out the peak Cosmic Radiance Divine Weapon, the Illusory Pagoda. "This treasure may not aid you much in cultivating insights, but for mastering power and refining your Perfect Realm, its effects will be immediate."

Looking at the item Li Pin took out, shock appeared on Li Yunyao's face. "This is..."

She was no longer the novice who had just ascended to the Astral World. In the vast Astral World, every Solar Flare was a recognized figure. Back in the Gaian era, they would have been akin to martial grandmasters, members of the elite.

Further up would be the Cosmic Radiances, who rivaled Extreme Martial Saints and Astral Cultivators, exalted figures far above reach. They existed in a realm entirely apart from ordinary Astral Gods.

Yet, even if a Cosmic Radiance sold themselves, they still wouldn't be worth as much as a peak Cosmic Radiance Divine Weapon.

Li Pin actually intended to give this treasure to her?

After a moment, Li Yunyao pursed her lips. She murmured softly, "Brother... I can't—"

"You may feel unworthy to accept this, but this represents the hope I've placed upon you," Li Pin interrupted with a smile. "I hope that once the Astral World Disaster is over, you will live eternally as a Cosmic Radiance cultivator. Even if I one day leave for distant lands, vanishing for epochs, tens of epochs, without a single message, if I return and can still see your gentle smile, then all my years of effort and sacrifice will not have been in vain."

Li Yunyao looked at Li Pin, looking a little lost and puzzled. Only after a long pause did she ask, "Has something happened?"

Li Pin's palm swept over her smooth hair, experiencing a sensation reminiscent of his mortal days, a feeling of... what it meant to be alive.

He said, "Perhaps something will happen, perhaps nothing will. But regardless of the outcome, this is very important."

"Very important?" Li Yunyao's eyes sparkled. "Me?"

Li Pin nodded slightly. "Yes."

Although delighted, Li Yunyao was also fearful. She stammered, "Why?"

"I don't know." Li Pin shook his head. "It's just a premonition."

Glancing at her and recalling the insight he had just gained from her presence, he said, "Perhaps... it is related to time."

"Time?"

Li Pin nodded. "Time."

He tilted his head and gazed into the distance, his eyes unfocused, as if piercing through matter, energy, and space to reach the essence of time itself.

"Time represents the measure of life. It is like a river, constantly changing. Perhaps a single thought from us can stir a ripple in the river of time, changing its course and creating a new tributary. And as we travel down this new branch, more thoughts emerge, giving birth to even more tributaries..."

He spoke in an oddly detached tone. "When countless tributaries intersect, densely filling every direction of life's scale, we gradually forget the direction the river's main current was meant to flow. This continues on until we are completely drowned in endless branches, not even knowing where we should go, or what we should be doing."

Li Yunyao did not understand, but she could sense that if one truly became lost in such a state, drowned beneath countless tributaries, they would definitely be drowned in a powerless, hopeless feeling.

"So... Brother, you need a marker... something that can anchor you to the main current, right?" Li Yunyao questioned softly.

"Yes." Li Pin nodded slightly. Looking at her, he gave her a gentle yet firm answer. "It's you."

"I understand."

Li Yunyao nodded resolutely. She reached out and accepted the peak Cosmic Radiance Divine Weapon. "I will ascend to Cosmic Radiance soon, achieve ultimate lifeform, and survive this Eternal Oblivion Disaster."

Li Pin smiled and nodded. "Alright."

He did not go look for the Divine Martial Emperor or the others again. Instead, after briefly greeting Qing Yu, who was surprised and delighted, he returned to the cultivation chamber.

Once inside, he did not begin cultivating immediately, but quietly sensed the changes within himself. Or rather, he was calmly experiencing a completely new insight, known as the measure of life.

After a long while, he let out a heartfelt sigh. "Time is the measure of life, of all things in existence..."

At least that was how this universe defined time.

"I thought this bottleneck would trap me for some time, and that I would need to break through it by engaging in a life-and-death battle with the Central Sovereign Heavenly Emperor, Jin'que, using the pressure of that fight to surpass myself... but I didn't expect..."

At some point, a seed had appeared in Li Pin's hand. His gaze fell on the seed, as if he could see through to its lifeline.

He reached out, manipulating that lifeline to change from illusory to real, projecting it directly into the seed.

As the projection occurred, the seed in his hand began growing at an unimaginable speed, blossoming into a radiant, glowing flower in the blink of an eye.

The reason for its brilliant hues was that the seed itself was a high-grade spiritual item.

"This... is time."

Li Pin once again sensed his entire body.

With a single thought, he had already drawn his sword. However, he knew he had not drawn his sword. It was merely a thought in his mind. Yet once this thought arose, the traces and scale of time had already formed.

Next, if he projected those traces and scales onto himself—he placed his hand on the Ruoxi Sword.

Once the full projection of that measure was complete, even without physically drawing the sword, a beam of sword light shot forth. It sliced across the cultivation chamber and landed precisely on the defensive star formation at the far end, sending out ripples through the array.

With a single thought, the measure of life begins to evolve. These evolutionary processes are captured through the traces of time. The deeper the understanding of time, the more complete the evolution of life's scale becomes.

Li Pin pondered silently.

He came to a profound realization that if this ability could be fully developed, it would be unstoppable.

But then, why was the gap between the Heavenly Emperor and Sacred Monarch not obvious?

With that question in mind, Li Pin quietly observed the traces left behind by his own life scale.

At last, he finally understood.

"This scale... does not belong to me!"

This scale belonged to this universe. It came from the workings of the cosmos.

There existed an incredible connection between him and the universe. This connection made it impossible for him to completely sever himself from the universe, no matter what he tried.

Just moments ago, he had used that connection to leverage the laws of the universe, evolving his own life scale, and then using time to manifest the events that had occurred along it.

Thoughts flickered and surged in Li Pin's mind.

This connection... is it matter? Energy? Time? Space?

No! It isn't any of them.

Even Reincarnation, this mysterious and unfathomable cycle, didn't count.

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

This connection...

A flash of insight struck Li Pin, and he muttered, "It's... karma"

It was at that instant that he grasped the core truth. At that moment, his thoughts became clearer, more lucid than ever before.

"It is the karma between me and this universe."

As long as the karma with the universe was not severed, a cultivator could never truly break free from the confines of a universe and attain transcendence.

Li Pin thought of the Supremes. When they cast aside all matter obtained from the Astral World, wasn't it also a form of severing their karma with it?

But what they severed was merely their karma with the Astral World, not the universe itself. The Astral World was only the core of the universe, not the universe as a whole, and thus... none of them was truly "Supreme," nor could anyone truly achieve "Transcendence."

"Matter and energy form mass, carried by the first Great Dao Radiance. Time and space form spacetime, carried by the second Great Dao Radiance. Reincarnation... and karma, form the cycle, carried by the third Great Dao Radiance..."

Li Pin felt as if a storm was surging within the depths of his inner spirit.

Endless inspiration regarding the third and fourth layers of the Phantom Space surged forth with his moment of enlightenment.

"Only by simultaneously mastering mass, spacetime, and the cycle of causality can one truly transcend! Only then can the bond between self and universe be severed, and one be reborn as an entity... a being analogous to the universe itself, capable of truly living, operating independently, and eternally existing within the Void of Chaos."

Only one such being could attain... true immortality.