Karma

Beneath the blood-red mist, a barrier that turned from soft to solid stopped his fingers, preventing him from probing any deeper. Li Weiyi peeled away the layers of blood-red mist with his hands, catching a faint glimpse of the outside. He found that the towering, majestic Divine Fusang Tree and the boundless Tanggu Sea flashed past before his eyes, replaced instead by a brownish-red desolation. Just now... he must have been seeing things! He walked in several other directions, but likewise could not get out, confined by the blood mist to a cramped space. It measured merely a few zhang across. Senior Tablet did not know exactly what was going on either, but analyzed, "It should be because your mind force is still not strong enough. To walk farther and fully master the mysterious power of Shaoyang Star, you need more spiritual light and a higher realm." Li Weiyi asked, "Three Masters, how did you board Shaoyang Star back then? Why did you assemble here, and what was the great war a thousand years ago all about?" There was a long silence. As before, it was Senior Coffin who spoke first. "Knowing too much right now is not actually a good thing for you. Just focus on cultivating with your feet on the ground." Master Jar was even more blunt. "To tell the truth, we don't know much either." Senior Tablet said, "Indeed. Though the three of us understand a few things, our knowledge is half-baked at best, and speaking of it might only mislead you. Whether you think of it as a planet or a Buddha relic, you must walk further along the spirit god path before you can uncover its secrets. "This is your path, and you must feel your own way forward." Senior Coffin thought of something and added, "There are two points, however, that can be shared with you. The first is that all participants in that battle back then can return to Shaoyang Star to nurse their injuries or nourish their souls. The prerequisite is that you must personally guide them in." "That's right!" Master Jar was just as agitated as he had been at the start. "Bury my ashes in this bloody mud to nourish them, then mold them into a human shape, and in the future I might be able to grow bones and flesh, attaining an alternate new life. Slim as the chance may be!" Senior Tablet said, "I cannot do that! My physical body was reduced to ash and dust; only a sliver of a remnant soul remains." Senior Coffin said, "You walk the spirit god path yourself and cultivate mind force; the physical body is not so vital. A remnant soul can also be nourished and strengthened on Shaoyang Star, walking the cultivation path of a departed spirit. Over these past thousand years, if the Bronze Ship hadn't malfunctioned and been cut off from the outside world, we might have escaped this wretched state long ago." *** Listening to their conversation, Li Weiyi was dumbfounded. He found it harder and harder to fathom what kind of existence this planet... or rather, the Daozu Taiji Fish, truly was. The karmic ties behind this felt beyond imagination. Li Weiyi asked, "Just how many people on the Bronze Ship aren't completely dead? Why not bury them all on Shaoyang Star? Wouldn't they all have a chance at an alternate rebirth?" Senior Jar sighed deeply. "Those not completely dead are just the three of us, plus Chanhai Guanwu and Yu Tuonan. Otherwise, why would the master of the Bronze Ship dispatch the three of us to serve as your guides? Because we need your help as well, slim though the chance is." "A thousand years ago, we should have been buried on Shaoyang Star, but the Bronze Ship ran into trouble. Its master's condition also seemed off," Senior Coffin said. Senior Tablet said, "The great war a thousand years ago had countless participants. What was carried aboard the Bronze Ship was merely one percent or one-thousandth of them. There were many survivors, and many who lingered on the brink of death like us... All those who took part in the war are your karma. You certainly cannot comprehend this now, but in the future you will understand. Perhaps some survivor from back then will seek you out of their own accord... Whether that brings fortune or calamity is impossible to tell." Senior Coffin said, "The second point I know regarding Shaoyang Star is that it possesses extraordinary spatial properties. "In an extremely short time, the light speck particles you absorbed rivaled what a peerless genius of the spirit god path absorbs in seven days, blasting open your Yintang spirit realm. A large part of the reason for this was surely the aid of Shaoyang Star's spatial power. "It was this spatial power that frantically dragged the light particles from the surrounding space toward your side." Senior Tablet said, "Simply put, with the aid of Shaoyang Star's spatial power, your mind force cultivation speed will be more than ten times that of those so-called geniuses. Of course, once you reach the level of a spirit mind master, your speed will inevitably slow down. By then, it won't be as simple as merely absorbing light particles." "More than ten times... Wouldn't catching up to ten years of someone else's bitter cultivation still take an entire year? And catching up to a century of their bitter cultivation would take ten years? What a long and arduous road!" Li Weiyi could not see the three masters grinding their teeth—which was genuinely the case, as he could see nothing of them. He secretly guessed that his Divine Fusang Tree visualization method probably provided a boost as well, leaving him joyful, astonished, and uneasy all at once. His unease stemmed from the fact that he remained rational and would not get carried away. While spatial power could make the spirit god path much easier to tread, absorbing vast amounts of light particles inevitably caused drastic changes in the surroundings—such as dimming the light across the surrounding area. That made him far too easy a target! Unless he cultivated exclusively in remote, desolate places where no humans set foot. "By the way, three Seniors, if Shaoyang Star is a planet, why does it carry no weight when hung around my neck? And... how do I go... back..." Before his words had finished falling, Li Weiyi felt an intense wave of weightlessness wash over him, and his vision plunged into darkness. It felt as if, in an instant, he had been yanked into outer space or the core of the earth. *** In the dense forest. Xue Zheng had already caught Li Weiyi's scent. Holding a long saber in hand, he circulated dharma power within his body to make his weight as light as possible, advancing with cautious steps. Looking from a distance, he froze. At the end of the tracks and scent, there was no Li Weiyi at all. Only a light-red, bead-like object hovered three feet above the ground, enshrouded by countless light speck particles. "What is this?" Xue Zheng was deeply intrigued. Could the earlier dimming of light across this region have been caused by this very thing? Gradually, the light speck particles around the bead grew fewer and fewer... *Whoosh—* Ripples spread through the space within several zhang. Li Weiyi's body materialized out of thin air, tumbling to the ground with a thump. He immediately checked the Daozu Taiji Fish and found that the Buddha relic had returned to the eye of the bronze fish. Could I truly have been inside this tiny relic just now? There was no time for Li Weiyi to ponder further before he sensed danger. Looking up, he saw Xue Zheng leaping forward in a slashing strike. The blade light shone brightly, surging with profound dharma power. Picking up the Yellow Dragon Sword from the ground, Li Weiyi brandished it to meet the blow. Knowing full well that Xue Zheng's strength was even more terrifying than that of the naturally born titan Yao Zhengsheng, he did not clash head-on. Instead, he employed the sword technique's nimble entangling jin—binding at the slightest touch—before rolling away in retreat. "How did he catch up so fast?" As Li Weiyi fled forward, he cast a glance upward. Only then did he realize. It was no longer early morning. Noon had passed, and afternoon had already arrived. At the same time, he discovered that over merely half a day or so, his injuries had actually healed by fifty to sixty percent. In particular, his internal injuries—the scorching, agonizing tears in his five viscera and six bowels—were gone. The tiny flamelet of spiritual light in his Yintang spirit realm alone clearly lacked such healing capabilities. Xue Zheng pursued closely behind Li Weiyi, his gaze razor-sharp. He naturally realized that the youth ahead possessed an extraordinary spatial treasure. Such a spatial treasure was definitely no mere storage dharma artifact; it resembled more of a legendary, peerless supreme treasure that could, to a certain degree, help martial cultivators open their qi seas and assist mind masters in expanding their Yintang spirit realm upon breaking through realms. What kind of value would that possess? Never mind Yang Qingxi—even the Sui Sect's first chief, Yao Qian, would likely go mad for it. And such an opportunity was known to him alone right now. *Twang!* The twang of a bowstring rang out from the depths of the dense forest. A two-meter-long four-fletched arrow flew faster than sound, piercing past ancient tree after ancient tree, its airflow whipping up swirling vortexes of fallen leaves. By the time Li Weiyi sensed the peril, the hidden arrow was already inches away. He had no choice but to roll sideways in an awkward dodge. His shoulder was grazed. *Boom!* Ahead, an ancient tree as thick as a water bucket was struck by the arrow, its trunk snapping with a crash. Murong Xiao's archery was supreme, augmented further by her dharma artifact greatbow. Concealed in the shadows, she was far more dangerous than when she had been in the sky. Senior Tablet's voice echoed from within the Buddha relic: "Try your mind force. Use the spiritual light flame within your Yintang spirit realm to perceive what lies behind you and in the world outside. From this moment on, your body does not exist." Li Weiyi was exceptionally gifted; even in such a perilous crisis, he swiftly turned Senior Tablet's theory into reality. After clashing blades with Xue Zheng for over a dozen exchanges, Li Weiyi's perception grew increasingly clear. Between his brows, it was as if a lamp had been lit. His cranium seemed to turn transparent, and his vision was freed of all blind spots, beholding every direction all at once. More precisely, it was seen not by his eyes, but by his mind force. The second arrow released by Murong Xiao traversed a distance of dozens of zhang, ambushing him from behind. Li Weiyi did not even turn around; with a mere sidestep, he evaded it cleanly. This was the advantage of cultivating both dharma-martial arts and mind force. For a pure martial cultivator or a pure mind master, dodging that arrow would have been no easy feat. "Your spiritual light flame is currently very weak and sparse; this state cannot last long. End the battle as quickly as possible. If you cannot finish them off, lure them to the Tomb of the Cang King, and I will guide your way. However, my mind force is limited and cannot perceive the outside continuously; I can only direct you once every shichen. Head south first!" Senior Tablet said. "Then I'll end the battle first!" After repelling Xue Zheng once again, Li Weiyi reached for the black iron seal without the slightest hesitation. Pouring dharma power frantically into it, he struck the seal with the hilt of his sword. Li Weiyi had long wanted to deal Xue Zheng a vicious blow, thinking that his metallic Silver Semi-Immortal Physique ought to attract lightning quite well. He hadn't used it during the pursuit at the Sui River because the black iron seal created a massive commotion—at a glance, anyone could tell it was no low-grade dharma artifact, which surely would have drawn Yang Qingxi into personally intervening. *Boom!* Thunder roared. A brilliant flash of lightning shot forth, as thick as a man's wrist. "How does he have yet another dharma artifact...?" Xue Zheng glared with gritted teeth, at a loss for words to describe what he felt. Terrified, he instantly dodged aside, but he truly did attract lightning; the bolt curved mid-air and caught up to him. Even though he raised his saber in time to block, he was still blasted flying, crashing heavily into the fallen leaves. His clothes were reduced to ashes, and his silver-hued arms were scorched black.