# 1671
Chapter 1671: Concealing Causation
Torrential thunderbolts poured into the mortal world from the center of the temporal vortex, with destruction filling every corner of heaven and earth.
Within the blazing thunder explosion field, a figure barely held himself upright. One palm pressed against the earth, with a thread of causation extending from the [Predestined Fruit], connecting him to the ground.
All the lightning that struck him, fifty percent was transferred to the earth beneath his feet. It was precisely because of this that the land beneath him rapidly melted in the thunder field. In just a few breaths, Lin Qiye had already sunk who knew how many meters underground...
The remaining thunderlight battered his flesh, nearly tearing him apart. Unprecedented agony surged through his heart!
Even the damage transfer of [Predestined Fruit] had its limits. The [Key to the Gate], at the cost of expending resources, had crossed the river of time to make this strike—it was determined to erase him from this era entirely. Even if he was merely a Human Apex, even if a Chief God like the Queen Mother of the West or the Jade Emperor himself had come, it would have been nearly impossible to survive this lightning strike.
Facing an attack of this magnitude, Lin Qiye could only transfer fifty percent of the damage—this was already his limit... If his Hongmeng Lingtai divine physique hadn't far exceeded the strength of an ordinary Chief God, even after reducing fifty percent of the damage, he would have been dead for sure!
But even so, Lin Qiye couldn't hold on much longer.
His body gradually hunched under the bombardment of the thunder field, large patches of charred black appearing on his skin's surface. While Lin Qiye gasped heavily, his mind raced at lightning speed...
No,
if this continues, even the Hongmeng Lingtai will be shattered... What else can I do?!
All his survival abilities had already been deployed. Being passive and taking hits meant certain death. To live, he had to take the initiative!
But setting aside that he was separated from the [Key to the Gate] by the entire river of time, even if he could locate the [Key to the Gate]'s true form, with his current Human Apex strength, it would be a fool's errand to try to kill the [Key to the Gate]!
What else can I do... to solve this problem from its root?!
Within the rolling thunderlight, Lin Qiye seemed to think of something. He looked down at the two spheres of light in his left and right hands, and a sharp gleam flickered in his eyes!
"[Causeless Cause], [Predestined Fruit], all answers to difficulties lie between cause and effect... So that's it, I understand... I understand everything!"
A bolt of lightning struck Lin Qiye's back, sending him coughing up a mouthful of blood, but his eyes grew increasingly bright!
As he gradually brought the spheres of light from his left and right hands closer together, dense threads of causation extended from within Lin Qiye. One end remained in his body, while the other connected into the void.
Those were all the threads of causation belonging to him, Lin Qiye—proof of his existence in this world. These causations pierced through the past, present, and future...
Lin Qiye gazed at these threads of causation belonging to him, his eyes narrowing slightly. Guided by the two spheres of light, these threads were forcibly pulled from the void, intertwining, connecting, and gradually coalescing into a tightly wound thick rope, floating before Lin Qiye's chest.
"You can monitor me, find me, because I've left traces of myself in the river of time... Since that's the case, as long as I withdraw all the causation belonging to me from time and conceal it... you'll never be able to observe my existence!"
Lin Qiye's eyes erupted with blinding light. The thick rope woven from the threads of causation floating before him, its head and tail automatically connected, forming a self-rotating ring.
The instant this ring took shape, his connection to the world vanished completely. Whether in the past, present, or future, there was no longer a single trace of his figure, Lin Qiye!
In that instant, the world-destroying thunder domain ceased abruptly!!
...
At the same time,
Above the churning river of time, a mass of gray mist churned violently. At the center of this gray mist, a massive, vortex-like eye suddenly froze!
This eye hung in the infinite distance above the river of time. Even if someone stood on the river of time and looked up, they would only see a tiny speck like a star. Precisely because of this, the seemingly vast and endless river of time appeared as merely a small dot in this eye.
At the center of this vortex-like eye, an ancient and grand portal stood巍然like a pupil, resolute and unmovable.
"Hm?"
A low sound of surprise escaped from the eye.
This vortex eye stared intently at the river of time like a tiny dot, as if searching for something. After a long moment, that low voice spoke again:
"Gone..."
...
In the sky above, the temporal vortex wreathed in thunderlight slowly stalled.
Residual arcs of electricity wandered through the air. On the barren earth, a bottomless black abyss was revealed from within the dissipating electrical arcs.
Supporting himself with his spear, Huo Qubing stumbled to the edge of this abyss, his expression slightly shaken.
This abyss had a radius of several miles. Looking down, one couldn't see the bottom. It was so dark and cold it seemed to connect to the underworld... This scale of terrain transformation exceeded human comprehension, belonging to the category of divine miracles.
"Lin Qiye..." Huo Qubing spoke hoarsely, his voice echoing endlessly within the abyss, eventually fading into howling wind, utterly indistinct.
The depths of the abyss remained deathly still.
Huo Qubing's expression gradually turned despondent. He took one last look at this endless abyss, turned around, and walked dejectedly toward Chang'an City...
He didn't believe Lin Qiye could survive such a terrifying attack—not even a god could.
However, just as Huo Qubing took a few steps, a bout of coughing sounded from behind him.
Huo Qubing froze, turning to look, only to see Lin Qiye in tattered clothes, somehow already standing at the edge of the abyss. His body was almost completely charred black, but his pair of eyes shone bright as stars.
"You..." Huo Qubing, seeing Lin Qiye had actually survived walking out of the abyss, wore a rare expression of shock on his face.
He was actually still alive?!
"Marquis." The disheveled Lin Qiye smiled at Huo Qubing.
Huo Qubing studied Lin Qiye for a long while, then said with a mix of helplessness and relief, "It seems this Marquis is no longer the tallest pillar among all beings... Now, the tallest one is you."
"Marquis overstates my abilities." Lin Qiye said softly, "Thank you, Marquis, for coming to see me despite your severe injuries... I know you have many questions, but let's wait for now..."
Lin Qiye slowly turned his head, gazing toward the direction of Chang'an City. His bright eyes narrowed slightly.
"I'm going to kill someone first."