"As for the reason?"

"It's very simple. The foundation of Ji Tianxing's collaboration with Taiyi is to explore the Path to the Other Shore."

"And Ji Linyuan is Taiyi's 'Other Shore.'"

Jing Qiu's pupils contracted sharply. Even hearing that the seven of Master He were reincarnations of the Netherworld Lord did not shake his heart as much as this moment.

Grandfather is Taiyi's 'Other Shore'?

What kind of claim is this?

'Other Shore' can be... a person?!

"The origin of Taiyi is problematic," He Donghuang said indifferently. "His original foundation was that of an Innate God. Innate Divine beings are not within the Bitter Sea, so how can they see the Other Shore and Lingshan? Taiyi also doesn't dare to enter the Bitter Sea in person, thus he only has the path of Reversal of Acquired Nature."

Reversal of Acquired Nature...

Normally, it should be a Reverse Innate, but for Taiyi, it's from Innate to Acquired...

"Of course, these are just my speculations, not proven, but it might very well be close. Ji Linyuan is merely Taiyi's experiment. However, later on, another one appeared— you."

Jing Qiu had heard early on that his grandfather, as a child, had been watched by the gaze of [Taiyi], bringing misfortune.

But he never expected the relationship between Taiyi and his grandfather to be like this!

Jing Qiu suddenly felt his pupils shrink again: "Grandfather left the Netherworld and entered the [Ephemeral Palace]. Could it have been arranged by Taiyi and Marshal Ji?!"

If Grandfather had stayed in the Netherworld, given the current environment there, Taiyi would never risk entering the Netherworld.

"Perhaps." He Donghuang offered a noncommittal reply. "If you can guess this, Ji Linyuan naturally can too. Frankly, I quite admire him; among the future generations of the Federation, he's the most like me."

Jing Qiu exhaled lightly: "Zhang Tiancheng was arranged into the Federation, probably to obtain the inheritance of you seven, Master He?"

"That's correct."

He Donghuang stated calmly,

"His talent is indeed outstanding, but unfortunately all seven of us didn't think highly of him. Despite lying low in the Federation for thousands of years, he merely treated the place as a stepping stone, so how could he earn our recognition? Later, his resentment towards the Federation, I suppose, is because of this."

Jing Qiu remained silent.

The conversation with Master He clarified many 'past events,' but also brought new doubts.

Once, upon gradually understanding Taiyi and Marshal Ji's actions, Jing Qiu had an unspoken concern.

Even Hel, who almost never had the chance to betray him, hadn't heard him mention it.

It was about his past life.

Jing Qiu had feared the possibility that Taiyi and Marshal Ji might have had their eyes on him from his birth.

If this guess was true, the worst conclusion would be Taiyi and Marshal Ji having long discovered his reincarnated identity and thus zeroed in on him early.

At best, they were unaware of his past life and simply saw him as one 'born to know.'

Otherwise, why would these two have targeted him from the start?

But as he gradually realized that neither scenario was particularly unusual in this world...

The worry faded away.

Though rare, there are always a few anomalies when expanding the region infinitely.

And reincarnated identities... not to mention the Sea of Realms, even within the Netherworld, are nothing remarkable, and indeed quite ordinary.

He just learned that even the Seven Marshals were entangled with the reincarnated identity of that Netherworld Lord.

While his past life might have been peculiar, in the eyes of those two, it's just another strange world, hardly extraordinary.

So then...

Why did those two set their sights on him?

Was it his response to the Evil Poison Disease that made Taiyi discard the original 'location of the Other Shore' and turn his attention to him, thinking he had a better chance of becoming his... Other Shore?

He pondered this in his heart, asking Wuzhou and Hel both, but they had never heard of Taiyi's 'Other Shore.'

Boom! 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

In Heaven and Earth, the radiating waves from the battle between those two masters of Time and Destiny caused the Time River and the River of Destiny to intertwine deeply, each collapsing a segment!

In a fleeting glimpse, Jing Qiu could discern a hint with his current realm.

Amid the slaughter between Master He and the opponent, all branches of Time converged and consolidated; infinite futures of Destiny contracting from boundless to limited, eventually traveling toward Unity.

They fought across endless spacetime and infinite futures, guiding the outcome toward what each of them wished to see... an end.

"You should go now," He Donghuang said slowly.

Before leaving, Jing Qiu asked one last question:

"In Master He's eyes, what is the Other Shore?"

He Donghuang's body gradually expanded immensely, and with a wave of his sleeve, the Time River appeared beneath him, as if meeting him to return to his place.

He stepped into it, infinite might gathering in his being, as if lifting himself within the Time River, overpowering everything, becoming the Other Shore.

"Mu Shitian says the end of the Bitter Sea is the Other Shore, simply cross it to see beyond. Yet I believe that where one overpowers the Bitter Sea, that's the Other Shore I seek!"

Jing Qiu seemed to have understood something.

All life is suffering because all are in the Bitter Sea. Crossing it naturally leads to the Other Shore, but how does one cross the endless Bitter Sea?

Is turning back the path, or is facing forward the path?

Once one breaks free to the Other Shore, how does one guide others from the Bitter Sea?

Master Mu and Master He seem to have provided... seemingly contrasting answers to this.

...

After being sent out by He Donghuang, Jing Qiu found himself near the Federation.

With a thought, he harmonized with the local Heaven and Earth.

The will of the Great Universe united with his consciousness, informing him of the changes that had occurred in the Great Universe during his absence.