Tianmen Peak, an elders' consultation was underway.
Five elders stood around Meng Jingzhou, clicking their tongues in wonder.
"Martial Nephew Meng's curse is quite interesting."
"Isn't it? In my more than two thousand years of life, this is the first time I've ever encountered such a bizarre curse. Even during my travels in Huangzhou back in the day, I never ran into anything like it."
"This curse is hardly an issue for Martial Nephew Meng, anyway. He possesses a Bachelor Spiritual Root, and besides, the curse will wear off on its own after a while."
"Fret not, Little Meng. You were harmed by Qiu Jin'an, so I will definitely get even on your behalf!"
"Good disciple, how are you feeling right now?"
"Huangzhou is steeped in witchcraft and Gu sorcery—the very source of curses. Fourth Brother, you're the only one among us who has been to Huangzhou and studied curses. What do you make of this?"
The four elders, Meng Jingzhou, and Lu Yang all turned in unison toward Fourth Elder, who was gently swaying a feather fan.
Lu Yang recalled what he knew about Huangzhou.
Huangzhou lay on the western edge of the Central Continent, bordering Liangzhou and the Western Regions Buddhist Kingdom. It was renowned for shamanic Gu sorcery and corpse-driving arts. Its people were rugged and bold, its ancient heritages ran deep, and it was also Man Gu's homeland.
Fourth Elder wore a troubled expression. "Back when I was afflicted by Gu, I did study curses for a time. For instance, I can tell that Martial Nephew Meng will only be able to dispel this karmic backlash if he shatters his core and forms his nascent soul, reaching the Nascent Soul stage. Of course, that's merely a possibility. If he can't dispel it even upon reaching the Nascent Soul stage, then he'll have to wait until he breaks through to the Soul Formation stage. The instant he breaks through to the Soul Formation stage, it will definitely be resolved."
At these words, Meng Jingzhou's face turned completely pale.
Reaching the Nascent Soul stage would be one thing, but if it took the Soul Formation stage, how many years would he have to cultivate?
"I can lift some simple curse arts that only scratch the surface. For example, when you fellows get cursed by people every day, I'm the one who resolves them. But the level of Martial Nephew Meng's backlash is far too high; it is beyond my cultivation to dispel."
"If I could reach the Tribulation Transcendence stage, I'd have a good chance of taking care of it."
Old Ba rolled his eyes. "You, reach the Tribulation Transcendence stage? Get in line. Do you think your cultivation progress can keep pace with Eldest Brother and Ninth Brother?"
Fourth Elder spread his hands. "Then I have no other ideas. Wait, couldn't we ask Master for help?"
Seventh Elder did not think much of that suggestion. "Although Master is at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, he doesn't understand curse arts either. Besides, he is suppressing Prison Peak and cannot afford to be distracted."
"Disciple, why don't you hit Old Second Ba with another round of the Bachelor Curse Fist? Perhaps two backlashes will cancel each other out and resolve it?"
Meng Jingzhou hurriedly shook his head. Was he joking? That wouldn't be canceling each other out—that would be stacking the backlashes!
"Actually, Martial Nephew Meng needn't be too anxious. Your curse isn't as severe as you think," Fourth Elder consoled him.
"Could Fourth Elder please elaborate?"
"The karmic backlash was incurred by both you and Qiu Jin'an, so it was split in half: you bear half, and Qiu Jin'an bears half. Only bearing half a karmic backlash makes it much easier to resolve than a complete one."
Meng Jingzhou's eyes lit up. "So Fourth Elder, you have a solution?"
"Not at all."
Meng Jingzhou: "..."
"I hear Martial Nephew Li can regenerate severed limbs. By continuously replacing parts of his body, he swapped out his entire physical form to evade karma. Could that method work on Martial Nephew Meng? For instance, Old Seventh, could you concoct a miracle medicine for limb regeneration and feed it to my disciple?"
Third Elder was referring to Li Haoran's Rebirth Golden Core.
"Concocting a miracle medicine for limb regeneration is simple enough; it's merely a matter of asking the Little Medicine King for a few root whiskers. But the question is, would that method truly work?"
Fourth Elder stepped forward to dismiss the idea. "Martial Nephew Li's Rebirth Golden Core can indeed evade karma, but Martial Nephew Meng's karmic backlash is at far too high a level. It won't work."
Old Ba thought of another approach. "The Heavenly Strategy Sect excels in the arts of karma. Even our Dao Seeking Sect's location was divined by the Patriarch through their people, securing twelve myriad years of blessed fortune. Since they could foresee something like that, their karmic arts are unmatched. Karmic backlash ought to fall within their purview as well. Why don't we consult them?"
Eighth Elder shook his head. "I recall the Heavenly Strategy Sect inherits from the ancient Shi Huang clan. They excel in karmic arts and can perform divination and fortunetelling. However, the Heavenly Strategy Sect believes that karma cannot be erased, only converted from one form to another. That is why they rarely intervene in the mortal world. If they meddle too much and karma clings to them, they lose their ability to divine and tell fortunes."
"I've heard about that as well. I also heard that the Shi Huang clan had a terrible reputation in ancient times. They frequently used their divination abilities to commit murders for wealth, disrupting the world's order to seek cultivation breakthroughs."
"Later, the Shi Huang clan enraged an unknown supreme expert, who dealt them a devastating blow. The Shi Huang clan never recovered from that defeat. Later, they wanted revenge, but that expert had already ascended to immortality. Fearing they might draw the ancient immortal's attention, the Shi Huang clan sealed off their clan and forbade all members from contacting the mortal world, lest karmic entanglement with mortals summon great horrors."
"The Heavenly Strategy Sect inherited what remained of the Shi Huang clan after that catastrophe, becoming a reclusive sect."
"If we ask Heavenly Strategy to resolve this, it will probably turn Martial Nephew Meng from being unable to see women into being unable to see men."
"Then what if we place another curse on Martial Nephew Meng—one that curses him to face peach blossom calamities every single day? Wouldn't the two curses cancel each other out?"
"That sounds like an idea. Who knows how to cast curses? Fourth Brother, do you?"
Fourth Elder rolled his eyes, feeling his martial brothers expected far too much of him. "No. I studied how to dispel curses, not how to cast them on people. If I knew how to cast peach blossom calamities, I would have cast one on myself long ago."
"Fourth Brother, as a dignified Confucian cultivator, why would you want a peach blossom calamity?"
"To emulate the ancients who sat with beauties on their laps without wavering, tempering my character as a gentleman."
"Every gentleman who visits a brothel uses that exact excuse."
"They copied it from me."
"Has anyone learned Gong Tau sorcery from the East Sea? The principle is similar to curses, so perhaps it could resolve this."
"Old Eighth, you went to the East Sea, didn't you? Did you learn it?"
"No. I was constantly being hunted down by the Sea Race the entire time. Where would I have found the time to learn Gong Tau?"
While the elders held their meeting to discuss Meng Jingzhou's curse, Lu Yang continued seeking help from the ancient immortal in his spiritual space.
Logically speaking, having an ancient immortal as a golden finger—and the strongest among them at that—meant she ought to have a way out of any difficulty he encountered.
"Fairy, do you have any other ideas?"
"I do."
"What is it?"
"As the saying goes, when the body dies, the Dao vanishes and all karma is severed. As long as you die once, the karma will naturally disappear!" the Immortal Fairy proposed cheerfully, presenting her thoroughly considered second plan.
Lu Yang felt that given Meng Jingzhou's intelligence, he most likely wouldn't agree to this method.
The Immortal Fairy was displeased with Lu Yang's attitude. She used this method all the time to evade karma, and it worked without fail every single time.
The more Meng Jingzhou listened to the elders' debate, the more unreliable their methods seemed. Relying on others was worse than saving oneself. "How about I make a trip to Huangzhou? Maybe I can find a solution there."
"That's actually a viable idea."
Chapter 399