Against Logic

This was a sword strike aimed at the past!

Hu Fangyuan formed a sword with his fingers, the tips gathering the traces of the Spring and Autumn Dao, intercepting a segment of 'cause' and directly applying it to the "inevitable flaw" in Chen Yi's existence.

The Five-Finger Fist-Heart Sword could only take effect once—the second time, Chen Yi would be prepared, rendering it useless.

But this didn’t mean the flaw had vanished. It still existed within this avatar of Chen Yi, merely concealed beneath an insurmountable barrier.

Yet this finger technique, 'Empty Cicada Leap,' could ignore all defenses, following the threads of causality to recreate the successful outcome of the Five-Finger Fist-Heart Sword!

This was a lethal fusion of the Spring and Autumn Dao with the laws of causality!

If nothing went wrong, Hu Fangyuan would win again, reaping the reward of thirty restored Golden Immortals of the Divine Realm!

"Ding! Ding!!"

A crisp metallic chime rang out.

That glint of causal cold light pierced precisely into Chen Yi’s consciousness!

The Five-Finger Fist-Heart Sword reappeared—five fingers locking the soul, the fist-heart refining the spirit furnace, ten thousand swords of will, all directed at the core of self!

"Not bad. This move has some substance, but repeating old tricks is pointless!"

Chen Yi shook his head, flinging out all the filth that had invaded his primordial consciousness.

"How is this possible?!"

Hu Fangyuan was utterly shocked, his gaze flickering with disbelief as he stared at Chen Yi, who seemed completely unaffected.

Causal attacks had no effect on him?

Why?!

For every cause, there must be an effect. If the effect exists, the cause must persist!

Chen Yi’s avatar harbored a fatal flaw—this was the cause. The Five-Finger Fist-Heart Sword annihilating the lingering will within his primordial consciousness was the established effect. Now that the cause was reapplied, why was the effect absent?!

Unless...

This bastard had no past?!

No traces left in time, causality dissolving instantly, only the present eternal, observed and renewed in real time?!

Holy shit?!

And this is just an avatar?!

This ability surpassed even the variants of nothingness!

As if struck by a terrifying realization, a flicker of fear flashed in Hu Fangyuan’s eyes.

Meanwhile...

Fang Fan, observing the battle, felt his brain overheating.

"This part I understood—a sword strike aimed at the past, acting through the path of causality, impossible to defend against!"

"But now I’m lost again. How did the Venerable One counter this causal attack? He didn’t seem to do anything—just shook his head, and that was it?"

Little Huanhuan was also short-circuiting, her eyes flashing with frantic spiritual light, yet still unable to make sense of it. "I don’t get it either. The Venerable One seems to defy logic, yet he also follows it..."

"Huh?" Fang Fan was even more confused. What kind of nonsense was this?

"Give me an example!"

Little Huanhuan pondered briefly before explaining: "Imagine an omnipotent being who created everything in the myriad realms. Now, can this being create a stone so heavy that even It cannot lift it?"

"Uh... probably?"

"Wait, no—if It can’t lift it, then It isn’t omnipotent."

"But if It isn’t omnipotent, how could It create such a stone in the first place?"

"If It is omnipotent, It should be able to create a stone It can’t lift, yet It should still be able to lift it!"

"Ahhh... isn’t that a contradiction?!"

Fang Fan’s left and right brains wrestled for a while before his mind turned into complete mush. He could almost grasp a fleeting insight, but it kept slipping away!

Fortunately, Little Huanhuan provided the answer: "Fang Fan, this is what I’m trying to tell you—defying logic!"

"If this omnipotent being follows logic, then It cannot create a stone It cannot lift. But if It defies logic, then It can create such a stone while still being able to lift it!"

"Right now, the Venerable One is in a similar state. Logically, Hu Fangyuan’s causal strike is unavoidable unless countered with absolute power."

"But the Venerable One defies logic, entering a unique state of being 'unselectable.' His causality doesn’t apply to himself—or rather, he stands there, yet he is not himself. The 'him' from one moment is entirely different from the 'him' of the next. This is clearly illogical, yet he still operates within logic, as if straddling the boundary..."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Fang Fan clutched his head, cutting her off. "Let’s just focus on Hu Fangyuan’s techniques. The Venerable One is... beyond us."

Little Huanhuan nodded. "Agreed. The Venerable One is a bit too incomprehensible..."

While the two babbled on...

Hu Fangyuan didn’t pause either!

Once he confirmed that repeating the causal attack was futile, he instantly launched a real-time frontal assault!

"Tombstone of Ages!"

With a soft murmur, Hu Fangyuan raised his hands, palms slowly forming a translucent hourglass.

"Time does not pass, true fate flows freely!"

The moment these eight sacred words left his lips, they transformed into pure temporal laws, enveloping the space around Chen Yi!

Above Chen Yi, the void twisted as a massive, semi-transparent tombstone gradually took shape!

Inscribed on it were cryptic runes of time, exuding an aura of decay and oblivion!

This was no physical attack—it targeted the very dimension of time in which Chen Yi’s avatar existed!

Once fully locked on, every trace of Chen Yi’s avatar would be stripped away by the ages, condensed into true-name inscriptions on the tombstone!

The tombstone’s descent seemed slow, but in reality, it transcended and warped time. Its true trajectory was unobservable—it might have already sealed Chen Yi’s fate before even fully descending!

"Gah—!"

Fang Fan sucked in a sharp breath. "This is temporal acceleration, right? It looks like it’s just starting, but it’s already over? Huanhuan, what do you think?"

He had completely given up trying to decipher his Venerable’s methods and instead focused on Hu Fangyuan’s advanced techniques.

But alas, he was still too green. Even after consuming high-grade enlightenment-boosting spirit foods to enhance his mental acuity, he could only grasp the surface—somewhat understanding, yet not quite...

Well, better ask Huanhuan. Though she was also inexperienced, her insight far surpassed his.

"Fang Fan, you did well this time!" Little Huanhuan looked at him fondly. "Indeed, the essence of Hu Fangyuan’s divine killing move is temporal acceleration!"

"Tombstone of Ages, the inescapable lock. He’s trying to use accelerated time to sever the connection between the Venerable’s avatar and his true self. A cunning angle—he really wants to win."

Hearing this, Fang Fan’s expression turned odd. "Huanhuan, as much as I hate to comment on the Venerable... I have a feeling this divine killing move will still fail against him."

Little Huanhuan nodded vigorously in agreement. "Hu Fangyuan’s move is just another variation of his Spring and Autumn Dao. And the Venerable One rarely stumbles twice in the same place."

"Although the Venerable One might occasionally find himself at a loss against supreme rule-based divine abilities, given his utterly illogical and bizarre powers, he could essentially render even the most formidable rule-based techniques completely ineffective—once he had suffered from them just once!"