"Spring Autumn Cicada truly is a bug-like ability," Huang Ting sighed softly. Although in the original timeline, the second playthrough's save point for backtracking was at this very moment, the current changes were immense, and it was uncertain if it was still the same time node.
After all, Lao Mo's attempt at Rebirth this time had actually failed, because the first playthrough ended in a bad ending, with Heavenly Court achieving a complete victory at Yi Tian Mountain, and Supreme Immortal Fetus Gu not being refined.
Therefore, Lao Mo, as a chess piece, had no utility and was immediately abandoned by Heaven's Will, no longer assisted in Rebirth. If not for the Red Lotus's will in the River of Time, Heavenly Court would likely have continued forever.
What if Red Lotus felt he was a great threat and deliberately moved the Rebirth time forward a bit? Then the course of events would change significantly.
"Fortunately, Red Lotus is not Heaven's Will and doesn't have the ability to restore five hundred years and revert me to my original state. Even if she could, I would first destroy all the Venerables' arrangements, resulting in mutual destruction."
Huang Ting's eyes were slightly cold. He now possessed the ability to physically flip the chessboard. If I'm not doing well, I'll destroy all your revival methods. If Fate Gu is destroyed, none of you can revive!
Of course, there was another possibility: after the first playthrough of Yi Tian Mountain ended, Red Lotus would not backtrack time.
In that case, he could only choose to attack Heavenly Court himself, delaying their progress in repairing Fate Gu until he slowly researched the Human Ancestor Body or Supreme Immortal Fetus, achieving the complete Outer Demon.
The possibility of failure in this scenario was high. Regarding a protracted war, it was very clear that his manpower and resources could not compare to Heavenly Court's. This also applied to Lao Mo later on; they could only fight quickly, not drag it out. The longer it dragged on, the stronger Heavenly Court would become, calmly repairing Fate Gu.
Huang Ting mused that given Red Lotus's obsession with Fate Gu, this possibility would be very small.
Therefore, during the coming period, he would not engage in any substantial accumulation of foundation, such as building new immortal gu houses or Immortal Gu formations, further refining the Human Ancestor Body, refining new Immortal Gu, or managing his grotto-heaven, and so on.
Because once time backtracked, all accumulation would start from scratch, which was meaningless.
However, Huang Ting invested all his energy into knowledge-based foundations like killer moves, Immortal Gu Recipes, and immortal gu house construction plans, laying a solid foundation for the second playthrough, striving to quickly convert them into combat power at the very beginning of the second playthrough.
This would elevate his foundation to another level.
At the same time.
After Jiang Jue stole the thatched hut from the Eastern Family's main camp, he inquired everywhere and finally found Qin Baisheng, successfully recalling his split soul memories.
Meanwhile, Feng Jiu Ge's progress was minimal. To understand the truth behind the destruction of True Yang Building, it was best to find the individuals involved, but they didn't know that Hei Lou Lan and Lao Mo had escaped at the last moment of the blessed land's destruction. The only ones who knew the inside story were Ma Hongyun and his companion.
However, unlike the original timeline, Ma Hongyun was captured by White-Eyebrowed Ancestor, not Qin Baisheng.
Even Huang Ming's apparent combat strength, under his alias, was not something Feng Jiu Ge could contend with. Thus, he could only helplessly send a letter back to Heavenly Court, asking what to do.
This led to unexpectedly rapid progress on Qin Baisheng's side. After recovering his memories, he returned to Shadow Sect's base in Northern Plains, using Luo Po Valley to refine Immortal Gu, which was one of the crucial steps for Supreme Immortal Fetus Gu.
Subsequently, a conspiracy was hatched to attack Lang Ya Blessed Land and seize the immortal gu house refinement furnace.
The timeline had undergone earth-shattering changes.
Originally, Feng Jiu Ge's search for clues, coupled with deviations in Wisdom Path deductions, led him to coincidentally clash with Shadow Sect's Qin Baisheng, indirectly disrupting the refinement plan of Supreme Immortal Fetus Gu.
Both sides suffered heavy losses, which allowed Lao Mo to escape.
There was also another matter: Old Ancestor Xue Hu had originally bought Ma Hongyun from Qin Baisheng, which then triggered changes in the Northern Plains' power structure, with undercurrents surging as Centipede Celestial Lord and Medicine Sovereign jointly attacked.
Now, this naturally came to naught, and the five Rank Eight grand experts remained stable. Only Chang Sheng Tian issued an edict to search for the true culprit behind the True Yang Building incident, and an envoy came to negotiate with 'White-Eyebrowed Ancestor,' which was him.
Huang Ting also noticed this phenomenon and frowned. This was a bit tricky now; with a pincer attack from both sides, Lao Mo might not even survive until Yi Tian Mountain.
How could there be a second playthrough then?
Just as he was preparing to make arrangements, he suddenly detected that Feng Jiu Ge and his party had withdrawn from Northern Plains and returned to Central Continent?
"They ran away? Then Qin Baisheng would be unchecked, and he's still alive, so Shadow Sect's strength has greatly increased."
Huang Ting was surprised and immediately understood that this might not necessarily be a bad thing. Feng Jiu Ge's withdrawal was because Heavenly Court encountered his various aliases and felt the situation in the Five Regions was unfavorable, so they retreated to their main camp first.
If Heavenly Court's strength increased further, and Shadow Sectsuffered heavy losses, the dynamic balance would be disrupted.
Feng Jiu Ge and Qin Baisheng were still destined to have a battle, but this battle would not be in Northern Plains, but in Central Continent, during the period of the great battle at Yi Tian Mountain for refining Supreme Immortal Fetus Gu.
"Luo Po Valley's 'Ghostly Unknowing' killer move, Spirit Affinity House's 'Divine Unknowing' killer move."
Huang Ting deduced for a while, his eyes lighting up. Wonderful! Lao Mo would gain more information in the second playthrough and would certainly not miss the former, though the time of acquisition would be somewhat delayed. And it seemed he could benefit from the latter by fishing in troubled waters.
At this moment, he couldn't help but marvel at the wonder of fate, or rather, the overwhelming trend. History, even without you, would have others standing at that crucial point. The time, people, and place might be slightly different, but the grand decisive battle that was meant to happen would still occur.
"What if Qin Baisheng isn't restrained by Feng Jiu Ge and has no worries, attacking Lang Ya Blessed Land? White-haired Earth Spirit, what solution do you have?"
His expression was strange; he vaguely felt there was a profit to be made there. Moreover, the inheritance condition for the White-haired Earth Spirit was Fleeing Void Immortal Gu, which was much better than the condition for the Black-haired Earth Spirit. He didn't want the White-haired Earth Spirit to be replaced by the latter.
"Sigh, if it really comes to it, I can only suppress it with the 'Stubbornly Ignorant' killer move."
Soon, Huang Ting received news that Chang Sheng Tian's envoy had arrived. With a playful expression, he met the visitor.
His status was surprisingly high, with Tian Jizi leading the group.
In Chang Sheng Tian's hierarchy, the Four Desolations and Eight Extremities, all Four Desolations had Rank Eight cultivation, but they were all in slumber. The Eight Extremities were only at Rank 7 level, with long lifespans, capable of long-term suppression.
"White-Eyebrowed Ancestor, I hope to receive news of the true culprit behind the True Yang Building."
Tian Jizi was very pragmatic. Facing a Rank Eight Peak, the Rank Eight Immortal Gu House Calamity Altar might not be enough. He did not mention reclaiming All Living Beings Luck at all, but instead proposed a soul-searching plan from Ma Hongyun's mind.
Huang Ting, transformed into the White-Eyebrowed Ancestor, laughed heartily and said, "Then what price are you Chang Sheng Tian willing to pay?"
Upon hearing this, Tian Jizi said, "How about a Rank 7 Immortal Gu?"
He said disdainfully, "You underestimate me, a mere Rank 7 Immortal Gu."
The two began to argue back and forth, constantly negotiating.
Suddenly, Huang Ting changed his tone and said quite forcefully, "I'm not satisfied with any of your conditions. No exchange, no exchange."
Tian Jizi's face was grim. He said helplessly, "Then what do you want?"
"How about this: I'll exchange half the content of the Sentient Luck True Inheritance and the news of the true culprit of True Yang Building with your Chang Sheng Tian for the Heaven and Earth Luck True Inheritance?"
"This…" Tian Jizi almost blurted out 'wishful thinking.' Seeing the White-Eyebrowed Ancestor's unfriendly gaze, he had no choice but to swallow his words, taking a deep breath and saying, "I'll go back and discuss this. I cannot decide this matter."