"Does having too much karma really affect cultivation?"
"Hard to say. In any case, I don't think so, but plenty of people do." The Immortal Fairy shrugged. Her views had always differed from the conventional wisdom. "You remember that the immortal characteristic is forgetting, right? Don't you think that's rather similar to what's happening now?"
With this reminder from the Immortal Fairy, Lu Yang realized it was indeed true. In a certain sense, the immortal characteristic was like a manifestation of severing karma.
"The immortal characteristic... was meant to sever karma?"
"Spot on. Immortal Ying Tian and the others all believed that only by severing all karma could one's cultivation advance a step further. But I don't think that way—I feel that the more karma you have, the higher your cultivation will be."
"Advance a step further?" Lu Yang felt as if he had just heard an earth-shattering phrase. "An immortal can advance even further?"
"The five of us deduced it using our Dao fruits. In theory, it's possible, but none of us succeeded, and no one knows whether it's truly possible to take another step. Immortal Jiuchong was the first to become an immortal. At the very least, none of the five of us succeeded, and no one before us succeeded either.
"'Immortal characteristic' was actually a term coined by Immortal Ying Tian and the others. The four of them became immortals first. When they condensed their Dao fruits upon ascending to immortality, they chose forgetting as the characteristic of their Dao fruits. That was how, without consulting me, they dubbed forgetting the 'immortal characteristic.'
"I was the last to become an immortal, and when I did, I didn't choose forgetting. That's why I don't have an immortal characteristic."
"So the immortal characteristic isn't a mandatory attribute for an immortal, but the result of each immortal's personal choice?"
"Right! Look at that immortal who wields national destiny—he chose the forgetting characteristic too."
"But isn't his Dao fruit related to the power of national destiny and Great Xia? The karma he bears is overwhelmingly heavy, unmatched by anyone. Why would he choose this path?"
"It's very simple. If he wants to take that next step, can't he just transfer who bears the karma when the time comes?
"Didn't you say it yourself just now? The origin of the Third-in-Command's statue was originally ironclad proof of his existence; karma linked the Third-in-Command to his statue. Now that's been replaced with the Cult Master having a dream, establishing karma between the Cult Master and the Third-in-Command's statue.
"The Third-in-Command set the goal of expanding and strengthening the barbecue shop, and all of the shop's subsequent actions followed that goal. Karma tied the Third-in-Command to every single subsequent action. Now that's been altered into a goal set by the Cult Master, meaning the Cult Master has borne the karma of all those actions.
"This is an example of shifting who bears karma. Replacement is another form of forgetting."
Lu Yang faintly grasped a thread of logic, but the Immortal Fairy had said so much, and there seemed to be so many clues, that he was at a loss for where to begin.
"Alright, enough of that for now. Let's save the Third-in-Command first."
"Save him how?" Lu Yang asked, puzzled. He hadn't even found a trace of the Immortal Celestial yet.
The Immortal Fairy rested her hands on her hips and ordered Lu Yang, "Go call Girl Yun over. Where is the sense in letting subordinates slack off while this sect master does all the work?"
Under the overbearing tyranny of the Acting Sect Master, Lu Yang had no choice but to head to Prison Peak to find Eldest Senior Sister.
Eldest Senior Sister was currently interrogating Venerable Black-White on Prison Peak.
When Lu Yang arrived at Prison Peak, Eldest Senior Sister was lashing Venerable Black-White with a whip. Though Venerable Black-White looked like an old man, he had a sturdy frame; he was screaming in agony, but the whipping showed no sign of killing him.
"Junior Brother, is something the matter?"
Eldest Senior Sister halted. She cracked the whip in the air, folded it thrice, and gripped it in her hand with practiced ease.
"It's like this..."
Lu Yang recounted everything he had discovered, along with the Immortal Fairy's deductions.
Listening from the side, Venerable Black-White was frightened out of his wits. He had spent a lifetime secretly studying what the Imperial Preceptor's rudimentary Dao fruit was, yet failed to figure it out. How had they pinpointed it in just a few sentences?
From the sound of it, the Dao Seeking Sect also had a half-immortal, and Lord Imperial Preceptor was currently locked in a fierce battle with him?
And why did the target of their mission—Lu Yang, who was merely in the Golden Core stage—know all of this?
What kind of ungodly place was the Dao Seeking Sect?
"Senior, please come out."
With an expressionless face, Eldest Senior Sister invited the Immortal Fairy out. Like a child caught doing something wrong, the Immortal Fairy shrank back timidly upon seeing Eldest Senior Sister.
Then another thought struck her: wait, that wasn't right! She was the Acting Sect Master—what did she have to be afraid of?
Eldest Senior Sister looked calmly at the head-bowed Immortal Fairy. "I believe I told Senior before: Lu Yang is still young, and his cultivation is insufficient. Matters of immortals and Dao fruits are far too remote for him. Do not speak of such things, lest he aim too high and harm his cultivation. You spoke far too much this time."
"I was wrong." As the Acting Sect Master, the Immortal Fairy was adaptable, knowing when to yield, and readily admitted her fault.
"May I ask how Senior plans to find the Immortal Celestial whose karma has been erased?"
Eldest Senior Sister naturally still remembered the Immortal Celestial's existence.
"Heheh, anyone else might be hard to find, but finding the Third-in-Command is easy!"
The Immortal Fairy gave a proud grin, brimming with confidence in her own Dao fruit. She had Lu Yang take out the statue of the Immortal Celestial he had obtained from the barbecue shop, and then recited the Third-in-Command's title and name:
"Immortal Celestial Bu Yaolian."
...
Inside a makeshift spatial pocket, two figures were panting heavily.
"He's bloody tough to deal with. What on earth is this bastard's rudimentary Dao fruit?" The Immortal Celestial possessed the collective memories of all the Immortal Cult's believers—a vast trove of recollections—yet possessed zero knowledge of battles at this caliber. Even now, he had not figured out the Imperial Preceptor's rudimentary Dao fruit.
Self-detonating repeatedly for ten whole days was something even a rudimentary Immortal Dao fruit could barely sustain.
Had it been a complete Immortal Dao fruit, blowing himself up any number of times would have caused no harm. Regrettably, the Immortal Celestial's rudimentary Dao fruit had only been condensed half a year ago, still far from a complete Immortal Dao fruit.
To fight to such a standstill against the Imperial Preceptor, who had condensed a rudimentary Karma Dao fruit ten thousand years ago, was truly remarkable.
Disheveled as the Immortal Celestial was, the Imperial Preceptor was in an even worse state. He had lost count of how many times he had been blown up over these ten days; not an inch of his body was left unbattered.
He had encountered stronger opponents before, but never one this vexingly persistent.
It wasn't that he hadn't tried to flee midway through, but the moment he disappeared and erased his karma, this maniac would self-detonate, shaking space so violently that not even a single void fissure could be opened.
"What rotten luck! To run straight into the Dao Seeking Sect's true Dao Protector!" Even-tempered as the Imperial Preceptor was, an ordeal like this drove him to unleash a barrage of curses.
"True Dao Protector? I've only been at the Dao Seeking Sect for half a year!"
"Half a year? A mighty half-immortal expert like you, holed up in a tiny place like this? What is there here worthy of you staying? I admit my mistake—I shouldn't have attacked you. How about this: let's turn our fight into friendship. If you have nowhere to go, you can come to our Great Yu! I have a way to help you restore your physical body!"
The Imperial Preceptor assumed the other party remained here to restore his fleshly body. There was no need for a fight to the death between them; they could cooperate.
The Immortal Celestial looked at the Imperial Preceptor with an unfriendly scowl, finding him utterly insidious. "I'm a prisoner! Are you inciting me to escape?"
"A prisoner?!"
The Imperial Preceptor felt his blood run cold. Who could imprison a half-immortal?
Suddenly, the Immortal Celestial froze, and a smile crept onto his lips. He sensed the First-in-Command calling for him.
Taking advantage of the split second when the Imperial Preceptor was stunned, he lunged forward and locked the Imperial Preceptor in a death grip.
*Not good!* the Imperial Preceptor thought. He had given him the opening to self-detonate at point-blank range!
Whenever the Immortal Celestial had self-detonated previously, he had relied on the power of his rudimentary Karma Dao fruit to dodge far away.
If he were caught in a few point-blank blasts, he would have been blown to smithereens long ago.
To his surprise, the Immortal Celestial did not choose to blow himself up. A spatial portal materialized behind him, and gripping the Imperial Preceptor tightly, he took a step backward.
*Thud.*
Both half-immortal level powerhouses tumbled onto Prison Peak together.
The Imperial Preceptor stared blankly at the cold, aloof Eldest Senior Sister and the smirking Immortal Fairy.
Chapter 503