Even after six consecutive wins, Chen Xuantian wasnât all that happy. I mean, think about the kind of matches he used to fight. Sure, it was usually Tie Dan doing a big damage dump to push the enemy to the kill line, then heâd come out at the end to clean up and last-hit or whateverâbut the opponents back then were all top-tier Sect Leader/Sect Hierarch level figures, okay?
This timeâs sword fighting didnât even have any realć©çäșć€ș, it was just that the Old Xuan Sect had bullied them, so he was bullying their juniors in return to vent a bit. But those last two bouts in a row actually left Chen Xuantian at a loss; he started pinching the formula to do some secret calculations and fell silent.
Can a personâs fate really be changed this easily?
Xu Dongyang, Wei Lingfengâstrictly speaking, in Huangfu Yiâs dream they were named, had faces, had lines, proper side characters. Could they really just die under his sword today? And if they did, what would the world look like fifty years from now?
But thinking of it that way, hasnât that ancestor hiding behind the Kunâs back been harping on the same thing all along? Saying his previous life was Lingxuâs Three Corpses this and that, Tie Danâs last life this and that. Could the Qiankun really be reversed?
But then earlier he also said there was no saving Huangfu Yiâwhat was that supposed to mean? Is it that Huangfu Yi is too weak so thereâs nothing to be done, while he, Chen Xuantian, is still relatively strong so he can go Reversing Fate, chop off the butterflyâs wings and calm the coming storm?
For a moment Chen Xuantianâs mind was a tangled mess. Shadows flickered through his thoughts; all he sensed was the Heavenly Mechanism in Chaos. Vaguely it was like heâd grasped something, yet also completely didnât get it. Unconsciously he brought out all kinds of divination arts to deduce...
Golden Fish Head leaned over to take a look,
"Eh? Little brother, how come you know my Songshan Mountainâs Taiyi Divine Calculation?"
Chen Xuantianâs chance for Enlightenment was abruptly broken. Snapped back to himself, he glared at him unhappily,
"Ye Rong and Wang Cheng taught me."
Golden Fish Head suddenly understood,
"Ah, so thatâs how it is."
Triangular Eyes was baffled,
"I never taught you that though?"
Golden Fish Head glared at him,
"Ye Rong and Wang Cheng taught him."
"No, I really didnât."
"We all know you didnât! Ye Rong and Wang Cheng taught him!"
"But I... oh, OOO, right right right, Ye Rong and Wang Cheng, Ye Rong and Wang Cheng!"
With them fooling around, Chen Xuantian had no mood left to Enlighten on the battlefield. He just watched the two of them doing their crosstalk routine with cold eyes while chewing on an Elixir to restore essence and nourishing Qi, and said,
"Theyâre your senior brothers?"
Golden Fish Head laughed,
"No no, those two donât actually exist. Theyâre just a pair of universal fake names everyone uses during the tribulation."
Chen Xuantian frowned,
"Fake names? And âuniversalâ ones at that?"
Triangular Eyes nodded,
"Our Taiyi Dao also has Inner Sect and Outer Door. For the Outer Door you just pay a bit and youâre in. Inner Sect requires crossing the tribulation, and thatâs pretty tough, so most of us are halfway convertsâpeople from all walks of life.
We were all Mixed Cultivators who couldnât get into the Mystic Sect, and had no connections to enter the Immortal Palace. Our backgrounds are... less than spotless. Plus, our Daoâs Nine Calamities and Eight Passes are counted by years, not by how many tribulations you pass. So everyone just wants to grit their teeth and endure it; nobody wants to casually reveal their true name and attract more karma.
Later we heard there was a pair in the Jianghu calling themselves the Songshan Wanderer, Ye Rong and Wang Cheng. They often repaired bridges and paved roads, offered medical help, preached and spread the Daoâdoing all sorts of good deeds, and their reputation was pretty decent. So everyone else started, one after another, piggybacking on their accrued good karma. As for who they really are, only Heaven knows."
Chen Xuantian was curious,
"Oh? Since youâre from Loose Cultivator backgrounds, why didnât you big brothers go join the Divine Sect instead?"
He had originally thought they had some grudge against the Divine Sect, but Golden Fish Head just snorted,
"The Divine Sect is what really scams people. Iâve seen their Blood Godâs sonâs great methodâitâs flawed from the Innate stage, incomplete, the back half isnât even written.
And the Blood Godâs Son they condense can Body Seizing someone else, or be snatched and used by someone else. It simply belongs to whoeverâs Primordial Spirit is strongerâit canât count as truly yours at all.
To put it bluntly, the Divine Sectâs Dao can only accomplish the very top Supreme; as for the masses below, the grassroots Cult Members, even if they refine to the limit theyâre nothing but other peopleâs Split Soul Blood Beast, Food Dao Foundation.
But even if you do train to the heavens, become the head of the whole sect, the Ten Extremes Leader, transform your body into an endless blood seaâso what? No matter how strong your Primordial Spirit is, you still canât out-grab that true master of the Divine Sect, can you?
If one day the Divine Lord returns, or the Holy Daughter awakens, all your lifetime ofèŠäżź, every bit of your Cultivation, will inevitably be melted down in an instant, digested and absorbed, fused into one with them.
By then ten thousand years of Cultivation and countless sufferings will all be just the bridal gown for someone else. Iâd have to be brain-dead to go bow to the Divine Sect."
Chen Xuantian was stunned,
"Thereâs... that kind of angle to it too..."
Triangular Eyes grew solemn,
"And itâs not just hearsay. Weâve personally seen plenty of lower-ranked Cult Members get Body Seizing by higher Dharma Kings. Master also said the Divine Sect might look mighty and domineering now, but itâs a massive late-game pit. If little brother aspires to reach a higher realm, youâd be better off coming to our Taiyi Dao to further your studies."
Chen Xuantian was about to press himâwhatâs so great about your Taiyi Dao anyway, just how high can you go, you look down on even the Divine Sect, can you fly all the way to Heaven? But suddenly, three streaks of falling stars dropped from the cloudsâit seemed the Mystic Sect was opening up the battlefront again, and he had no choice but to shelve the topic for now.
Mm, three stars. The next three contestants for the sword fighting appeared directly, their Dao Bodies completely shrouded in layer upon layer of Treasure Light, bright as brilliant stars. Just at a glance, you could tell their Qi Power bars were fully chargedâthey were going all out.
The Treasure Light even dazzled Chen Xuantianâs eyes. He blurted, holy shit, and thought, the hell, we agreed on a sword fight, right? How much pay-to-win gear did these guys load up with? Theyâre straight-up launching rockets here?
I mean, come on, everyone be honest. Up to now he hasnât really used many dirty tricks, has he? Hasnât it all been proper moves and forms? And these useless bastards, with their own shaky foundations, get oneshotted in a single round and suddenly theyâre panicking and crying, pulling out the family ancestral hardware? Mad, Iâm actually jealous...