"Master Feng, could you explain innate fate-patterns and karmic luck in more detail?" Wei Yuan felt as if he had returned to the classroom of earlier days.
Feng Chutang replied, "As the saying goes, 'First fate, second luck.' Those two words—destiny—determine the entire lives of most mortals. Fate is an innate pattern, something everyone is born with. Luck is acquired karmic luck, which may shift over the course of a lifetime.
"Everyone is born with their own fate-pattern, and for the vast majority of people, that pattern essentially dictates their life. For instance, the child of a displaced refugee and an imperial prince born to royalty have the divide between their lives decided virtually at birth. That is why so many say ten years of bitter study at a cold window cannot compare to being born well.
"As for karmic luck, it influences the kind of fortunes a person encounters, the people they meet, and the events that cross their path. More often than not, you must have the opportunity first before there is any room for effort.
"Take those children born deep in the mountains. Many never leave the mountains their entire lives, much less learn to read and write. No matter how hard they try, their efforts amount to nothing more than chopping a little more firewood or watering their fields a bit more. That kind of effort is as good as nothing. Without the fortune to walk out of the mountains and sit for the Immortal Sect Unified Examination, they remain mere insects for the rest of their days. From this, one can see that destiny is of utmost importance.
"We cultivators go against the heavens to seize the fortune of heaven and earth. In truth, this can also be described as continually altering our own fate-patterns along the way, which is why some say cultivating immortality is defying the heavens to change one's fate. Yet if you wish to defy the heavens and change your fate, you must first enter the gates of the immortal sect. That is to say, you need at least a baseline of fate-pattern and karmic luck to even have the chance to defy the heavens and change your fate. And this single threshold filters out ninety-nine point nine-nine percent of the world."
Wei Yuan asked again, "Then who decides everyone's fate-pattern?"
"Heaven and earth, of course."
Wei Yuan grew thoughtful. "Heaven and earth are unfeeling yet supremely fair. If it is their decision, then naturally nothing is amiss."
Feng Chutang smiled faintly and said, "Having cultivated to where you are today, do you still believe heaven and earth are truly unfeeling yet supremely fair? Look at the domain of the Wu, and look at the domain of the Liao. In which of those realms are heaven and earth not longing to put our human race to death?"
Wei Yuan naturally knew this, but did not understand the underlying principle. When he had asked Zhang Sheng back then, even Zhang Sheng could not give an answer.
Seeing Wei Yuan inquire, Feng Chutang shook his head. "I only know that heaven and earth are unfair, but I do not know why. Perhaps only immortals know a thing or two about it. Yet among the numerous immortals throughout the ages, those whose Great Dao was related to destiny were vanishingly few to begin with, and every single one was exceedingly secretive on the matter. Even before passing away, they refused to leave behind a single word concerning the path of destiny.
"The methods of every immortal who specialized in destiny were unfathomably deep; practically the moment they achieved immortality, they stood at the very pinnacle of immortals. But everything comes at a price. As time went on, all manner of problems would inevitably arise for them. Some problems were virtually unsolvable; having one's entire kin wiped out was considered a minor matter."
*There are actually immortals who specialize in destiny?*
For some reason, hearing of this path for the first time sent a chill through Wei Yuan's heart, and he faintly sensed something exceedingly perilous lurking in the unseen.
He pondered for a moment before asking, "Then which immortals in the present age specialize in destiny?"
Feng Chutang said, "There is no harm in telling you now. In the contemporary era, there is only one known immortal who specializes in the path of destiny—the Palace Master of our Palace of Grand Beginning."
Wei Yuan suddenly recalled that this mysterious Palace Master had been in secluded cultivation all this time. Even when Immortal Monarch Tinghai fought Xu Wangu and fell into a desperate crisis, the Palace Master had never shown himself. A shiver ran through Wei Yuan's heart, and he could not help but think back to Feng Chutang's words: *All manner of problems would inevitably arise for them.*
Wei Yuan did not press further, returning instead to the original topic. "Then why is it that some people can contribute karmic luck, while others cannot?"
Feng Chutang said, "This is actually hard to explain clearly, but in general, the higher a person's standing and cultivation, the more human karmic luck they can generate. For example, at identical levels of cultivation, the human karmic luck the King of Jin could give you is entirely incomparable to that of a county magistrate. Likewise, between two commandery governors, one at the Dao Foundation realm and one at the dharma idol realm would yield different amounts of karmic luck. That is roughly how it works."
Wei Yuan's intuition aligned with this, yet he habitually asked, "Is there any evidence for this?"
Feng Chutang said, "The evidence is all in the history books. If you read them carefully, you will see it for yourself."
Wei Yuan pondered, then said, "Yet this seems to run contrary to karmic debt. When I kill ordinary mortals, or Shamans and Liao, it more or less generates karmic debt. But as long as the opponent doesn't possess Great Fortune, killing them once they reach higher cultivation actually incurs no debt. Above the dharma idol realm, slaying them even brings a bestowal of heaven and earth."
Feng Chutang said, "Karmic debt indeed runs contrary to human karmic luck. Perhaps we can look at it this way: karmic debt is heaven and earth's attitude toward all living beings, whereas human karmic luck is our human race's attitude toward the world."
Wei Yuan pondered this and said, "I have learned much."
Feng Chutang smiled and said, "In truth, some senior figures enjoy playing in the mortal world, posing as fortune-tellers to secretly examine people's fate-patterns. But if their luck is bad and they happen upon someone born with Great Fortune, they risk suffering a backlash, and the consequences can be catastrophic. Haha, if you ever run into someone like that in the future, you might as well let them divine your fortune properly. Who knows—you might finish them off without even lifting a finger."
For some reason, Wei Yuan felt that Feng Chutang's words held a deeper, pointed meaning.
"One final matter: How is your research on that formation going? I have an idea, though I'm not sure if it's feasible." Wei Yuan then laid out his concept.
Feng Chutang's expression grew solemn. "If you do that, you will be taking another step closer to the Buddhist sects. You must think this through."
Wei Yuan said, "Disciple has thought it through clearly. It is only one small step closer, yet this small step can save several hundred thousand refugees from dying."
"The world holds billions upon billions of people. Today you save several hundred thousand, tomorrow another several hundred thousand; today you take a small step closer, tomorrow another small step. Before long, you'll be fleeing into the empty gate of monastic life."
Wei Yuan smiled and said, "Martial Uncle need not worry on disciple's behalf. Even if I enter the Buddhist sects, it won't affect anything—disciple still has a Great Joy King Buddha ready to inherit."
Even Feng Chutang was stunned for a moment, sighing, "Why does that sound like a reward for you? Ah, forget it. When it comes to karmic debt, you had best discuss it with Monk Peacock. His attainments in that Dao far surpass mine."
Wei Yuan said, "It is rare to hear Martial Uncle hold someone else in such high esteem."
Feng Chutang remarked blandly, "We cultivators should look upon the world with a humble heart. When someone is better, one must acknowledge it; there is no shame in that. After all, aside from karmic debt, that monk falls far short of me in every other aspect."
Wei Yuan understood immediately: that last remark was Feng Chutang's true thought.
Walking out from Feng Chutang's residence, Wei Yuan's thoughts had cleared considerably, but his compassion for mortals had deepened. From Feng Chutang's words, he understood that the destiny of most mortals was set at birth, and throughout their entire lives they were not even afforded the opportunity to struggle. It seemed that in life, being born well truly took precedence over all else.
Wei Yuan went straight to Peacock Buddha Mother's dwelling and conversed in detail with Peacock Buddha Mother for two full hours. In the end, Peacock Buddha Mother chanted a Buddhist invocation and said, "Benefactor Wei's undertaking is a boundless act of goodness; this poor monk believes it feasible. I hope Benefactor will soon enter our Buddha Mother and partake in ultimate bliss. When that time comes, it will be far beyond anything as simple as holding a beauty in each arm."
"Master must be joking."
Yet although this monk was far from proper, he spoke those words with utmost sincerity and normality, scaring Wei Yuan into beating a hasty retreat.
With matters settled, Wei Yuan returned to the Nether Cold Realm to continue chipping away at Shu Li's foundation.
The moment he entered the Nether Cold Realm, Wei Yuan saw the nether iron overhead drooping downward, as though drawn by some unseen pull deep beneath the earth. Fortunately, the cavern he had initially hollowed out was large enough, and the remaining space was still ample for him to move freely.
Beside Wei Yuan, Longying appeared.
Wei Yuan cast the Gold-Melting Dao Scripture against the overhead nether iron, feeling the material properties of the nether iron loosen as expected. Then Longying blew out a wisp of true fire. Under the unrelenting blaze of his true fire, a chunk of nether iron gradually began to glow red. With a slice of Wei Yuan's Crimson Night Immortal-Slaying Sword, a watermelon-sized block of nether iron was sheared away.
With the Gold-Melting Dao Scripture, the efficiency of cutting nether iron was indeed drastically increased. Fortunately, Longying's dharma idol carried a sliver of the sacred beast Vermilion Bird's bloodline, enabling him to breathe Nanming Li Fire, which was on par with the True Fire of the Sun. Longying was also in the late dharma idol realm, so it took him merely the time to drink a cup of tea to heat the nether iron to the point where it could be cut.
Having gained initial experience, Wei Yuan did not wait for the nether iron to turn red the second time; he struck directly and indeed managed to slice it off, boosting their efficiency even further. Working in seamless coordination, Wei Yuan and Longying soon cleared out a space ten feet square.
Wei Yuan deliberately cut several square blocks of nether iron, stacking them into a pillar, and had Longying breathe fire to fuse them into a single column, propping up the sagging nether iron ceiling.
By this time, Wei Yuan's Dao power was depleted, so he withdrew from the Nether Cold Realm to rest. Two hours later, once his Dao power had fully recovered, Wei Yuan returned. This time, his scholar dragon guard manifested, assisting Longying in heating the nether iron with fire Dao arts.
Although the scholar dragon guard only possessed the power to melt ordinary steel, with his initial heating laying the groundwork, Longying only needed to provide the final burst of heat, speeding up the process considerably.
Block after block of nether iron fell continuously. By the time Wei Yuan's Dao power was spent once more, a room-sized cavern had opened up underground.
Chapter 547