361: The will of Heaven cannot be defied!

Meanwhile, far away in another spiritual and blessed land—the Heavenly Secret Zhuge Clan.

In the center of the ancestral land, a towering and extraordinary giant tower rose from the ground, piercing straight into the clouds.

The entire tower was built from a strange stone that was neither metal nor jade, with a warm color like ivory white.

It was ninety-nine stories high, with flying eaves and bracket sets, its construction exquisitely ingenious yet carrying a mysterious and unfathomable feeling.

On the surface of the tower, countless complex and profound silver runes flickered in and out of sight, like the trajectories of stars or the veins of fate, brightening and fading with the flow of sunlight and moonlight, emitting an unpredictable Aura.

This tower was the Foundation upon which the Zhuge Family had stood in the Profound Spirit Domain for thousands of years, a supreme treasure created by the wisdom and blood of generations of Heavenly Secret predecessors—the Star Gazing Tower!

Internally, this tower could gather and suppress the Luck of a clan; externally, it could communicate with heaven and earth, peering into the mysterious trajectories of heavenly secrets and the entanglements of Karma.

The "Heavenly Secret Pavilions" established by the Zhuge Family in various places in the outer domains were all miniature imitations of this Star Gazing Tower's architectural form, which could be considered a tribute.

And at this very moment, on the highest point of the Star Gazing Tower, within the ninety-ninth floor that was only open to core clan members.

An elderly man with white hair and a youthful complexion, his face lean and refined, was sitting cross-legged in the center of the tower upon a profound formation map paved with Star Sand.

He wore a simple gray robe, and while no powerful spiritual energy fluctuations emanated from him, there was a strange rhythm that faintly resonated with the surrounding space.

He was the only living Golden Core Perfection Old Ancestor of the Zhuge Family today, Zhuge Xuanji!

Suddenly, the meditatively seated Zhuge Xuanji opened his eyes without any warning.

Those eyes were unlike a Mortal's; there were no pupils to be seen, only countless tiny points of starlight floating and rotating within them, as if a starry sky existed only within a mustard seed!

But at this moment, that starry sky was like the Milky Way pouring backward, flickering uncertainly.

Clearly, the fluctuations in Zhuge Xuanji's state of mind were not as calm as they appeared on the surface.

Because in that very instant, he clearly sensed that the "Clan Luck" suppressed within the Star Gazing Tower—which was connected to his mind and carried the Luck of the Zhuge Family—had undergone an extremely faint and hard-to-detect disturbance and decline!

Zhuge Xuanji slowly raised his head, casting his gaze toward the very center of the Star Gazing Tower's dome.

There was a groove about a foot square, seamlessly integrated with the tower's body.

But at this moment, that groove was empty!

Obviously, an important object had once been placed here.

If a core member of the Zhuge Family were here, they would surely recognize that the groove was the mounting position for the Family's inherited treasure—the "Heavenly Secret Luck-Suppressing Eight Trigrams Mirror"!

And this treasure had been requested and taken away by Zhuge Mingyi not long ago.

"As expected, something has happened..."

Zhuge Xuanji murmured to himself, his voice so flat it lacked even a hint of a ripple, and no expression of anxiety or anger could be seen on his face.

This was not because he was cold-natured or indifferent to the safety of his clansmen.

Rather, it was because the Law of Karma he primarily cultivated, combined with his long-term residence at the top of the Star Gazing Tower communicating with heaven and earth with his mind, had inevitably caused him to be tainted by the Aura of the Heavenly Dao.

The Heavenly Dao is ruthless, perfectly impartial and selfless, viewing all things as straw dogs.

By being "accompanied" by the Heavenly Dao year after year, Zhuge Xuanji's Heart-Nature was also subtly and gradually trending toward the "Heavenly Dao."

Or rather, it had a tendency toward "Dao-transformation."

This caused his emotional fluctuations to be greatly suppressed, and he viewed all things more from the perspective of "Karma" and the "General Trend."

The benefits were obvious; he was naturally more likely to receive the "favor" of the Heavenly Dao, and the resistance and backlash he faced when deducing heavenly secrets were far less than those of other Heavenly Secret Masters, and his fortune was often deeper than others.

But the disadvantages were equally apparent; he was like an "Overseer" designated by the Heavenly Dao, possessing the title but no actual power.

Many times, even though he knew certain changes would lead to bad results, he was unable to intervene because "Heaven's will cannot be disobeyed."

Just like with Zhuge Mingyi this time!

He had already glimpsed a sign of a "Tribulation" upon Zhuge Mingyi within the mysterious Karma long ago.

After all, as a Late Golden Core Stage cultivator and a mainstay of the Family, Zhuge Mingyi's karmic connection with him, the Old Ancestor, was quite deep.

How could he have no sensing of such a major tribulation concerning Life and Death?

But he knew and did not stop it.

It was not that he was unwilling, but that he was unable, and even more so, he did not dare!

The Heavenly Dao operates according to its own fixed principles.

Zhuge Mingyi's tribulation had already become a link in the "Fixed Numbers" under the operation of heaven and earth.

If one forcibly intervened with human power to change fate against heaven, then the backlash and implications to be endured would not be a matter for Zhuge Mingyi alone.

It could very likely involve the entire Zhuge Family, leading to an even more severe "Heavenly Punishment"!

As the saying goes: Heaven's will is hard to defy; those who follow it prosper, those who defy it perish.

Although he cultivated Karma, he still resided beneath the "Heavenly Dao," so many things were beyond his control.

And now, the abnormal movement of the Star Gazing Tower confirmed without a doubt that Zhuge Mingyi had already "met his tribulation."

"The tribulation has arrived!"

The stars in Zhuge Xuanji's eyes flickered slightly as he murmured to himself.

"The Great Dao has fifty paths, heaven derives forty-nine, leaving one that escapes; in the end, there is a silver lining of life. Whether you can grasp it depends entirely on your own Luck, Mingyi."

However, it wasn't that he could do nothing at all. After all, while the Heavenly Dao didn't allow him to save people, it didn't say he couldn't settle the Karma and avenge his clansman!

At this thought, Zhuge Xuanji's eyes suddenly became sharp.

He slowly raised both hands, his ten fingers like plucking zither strings, tracing paths of profound trajectories in the Void Realm before him.

"Star Gazing Tower, rise!"

A low shout echoed at the top of the tower. The entire ninety-nine-story Star Gazing Tower, from base to tip, saw those dormant silver runes light up one by one!

The vast and majestic power of the stars and the Family's Luck were simultaneously drawn out, turning into an invisible torrent that gathered around Zhuge Xuanji.

"World-Cleansing Divine Eye, open!"

Zhuge Xuanji gave a low shout, his fingers pressed together like a sword, sharply pointing at the center of his brow!

In an instant, the position at the center of his brow suddenly split open, and a wisp of pure light, so extreme it seemed capable of reflecting everything in the world, drifted out, finally transforming into a pure white vertical pupil!

This World-Cleansing Divine Eye was a Divine Ability he could only perform by Cultivating the Law of Karma to a very profound level and combining it with the power of the Star Gazing Tower!

Once this eye opened, one could see Karma and observe fate.

The entanglements of the beginning and end of all things in the world would manifest as clear "trajectories" and "veins" in his eyes!

As the pure white vertical pupil slowly turned, Zhuge Xuanji's gaze seemed to penetrate the thick walls of the Star Gazing Tower, ignoring the distance of space.

Following the last karmic traces left by Zhuge Mingyi, he looked toward the endless Void Realm.

The lines of Karma extended, intertwined, and traced back in his vision... Soon, scenes flashed rapidly in his pure white vertical pupil like a film playing in reverse.

Li Daoxuan, the Duan Family Ancestral Land, the Qingming Immortal Sect, Five Elements True Person Yun Chenzi... the images finally froze in a grand hall where Five Elements dao rhyme flowed incessantly.

In the center of the hall on a prayer mat, a green-robed Daoist sat cross-legged, five-colored radiance rotating around him, with a faint Yin and Yang fish phantom appearing behind him.