Chapter 30: The Concept of Fate
Chapter 30: The Concept of Fate
“You consumed three Heart-Cleansing Blood-Refining Pills?”
By the time the Old Madam’s raspy voice spoke, Li Si was already drenched in cold sweat, his mind flooded with terrifying images like fierce ghosts devouring human hearts.
“Re… Reporting to Master, yes.”
Li Si replied trembling, while sneakily glancing over. That hand was still there—extremely… pale… But this couldn’t prove the Old Madam was a normal person, because this hand really had emerged from her body.
It was a third hand!
“You’ve had unusual encounters before?”
“This… this disciple doesn’t know.”
“You also mastered the Devil-Sealing Curse?”
“This disciple admits his mistake. The nights were too cold, and this disciple was a bit lazy, so he activated the Devil-Sealing Curse, cultivating while sleeping.” Li Si finally calmed down by now—no, he confirmed the three-handed Old Madam had no intention of eating him.
Meanwhile, that hand still rested on his wrist, and a power he couldn’t understand at all coursed swiftly through his body, surprisingly making him feel quite comfortable.
“Alienation Contamination Degree decreased by 5%.”
“Bloodline and Bone Evolution Progress increased by 1%.”
“Heaven-Turning Scripture second-level cultivation progress increased by 1%.”
Lines of information quietly appeared, and Li Si was completely reassured. Was the Old Madam actually helping him cultivate?
Just as his thoughts were wandering, the Old Madam spoke again.
“Your foundation is quite good. Your current cultivation level is no less than Ji Chang’s or Xu Shen’s. With only three Heart-Cleansing Blood-Refining Pills, you achieved such cultivation. If it were a thousand years ago, you would have the qualifications to aim for the True Immortal realm.”
Li Si was utterly confused. Was the Old Madam praising him?
“However, the world today cannot accommodate a rare cultivation talent like you. At most in three years, you will surely die a violent death, because your Fate is too weak—only a thread protects you. Someone like you is a great tonic for Evil Spirits.”
“Fate?”
Li Si was horrified, almost thinking his Fate Forge was about to be exposed, because the Old Madam’s third hand kept touching his wrist, clearly with ill intentions!
So the question arose: should he resist to the death, or just go along with it?
But soon, the Old Madam retracted her third hand as if nothing had happened. Immediately after, her aged arms moved, quite nimbly, and she casually retrieved a green pearl from somewhere, presenting it before Li Si.
Then, she flicked the green pearl toward Li Si’s forehead. It vanished instantly, and the next moment, a line of information appeared.
“Acquired ten portions of Gray Fortune.”
Damn!
What was going on?
The Old Madam actually gave him ten portions of Gray Fortune!
Before Li Si could ponder further, the Old Madam spoke leisurely, “Your Senior Sister Jiang wanted to request two more Heart-Cleansing Blood-Refining Pills for you, saying you had a chance to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Her heart is in the right place, but she’s too naive. Five Heart-Cleansing Blood-Refining Pills alone are far from enough.”
“This Master now shares some Fate with you to help you build a better foundation. This way, your chance of successfully building your foundation reaches eighty percent. But you need to understand, in the world today, the difficulty of continuing cultivation is hundreds of times harsher than a thousand years ago. Your ultimate cultivation achievement will likely stop at Foundation Building.”
Hearing this, Li Si completely understood. So it was because Jiang Ying had requested more Heart-Cleansing Blood-Refining Pills for him that the Old Madam decided to personally examine his body. Then, upon discovering his surprisingly solid foundation, she added more support.
He immediately knelt and bowed in thanks.
“Thank you, Master, for your support. This disciple will definitely not let you down.”
The Old Madam chuckled lightly, “Heh, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just do what you can. If you truly have the heart, in the future, you might take better care of your Senior Sister Jiang.”
“Alright, this Master must continue seclusion to face this calamity. If you have any other questions, ask them all now.”
“Thank you, Master. This disciple wants to know, what is Fate?” Li Si hesitated briefly before choosing this question.
Although he could obtain Fate daily through the Fate Forge, he was still very confused about what use Fate had in this world controlled by the Evil God.
He also worried that once the Evil God noticed him, it would be hard to gain Fate anymore.
“Fate is an illusory thing—unseen and untouchable—but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
The Old Madam answered promptly, her tone certain, clearly having deep understanding of Fate.
“Opposite to Fate is the Mortal Realm, which is visible and tangible.”
“The Mortal Realm and Fate are like the trunk and leaves of a giant tree.”
“The Mortal Realm is the trunk, standing firm like a mountain, providing support and nourishment for the leaves, allowing Fate to grow more abundant and spread wider.”
“Fate is the leaves, also providing some irreplaceable nourishment to the trunk, while shielding it from wind and rain.”
“The stronger the Mortal Realm, the more abundant, dense, and powerful the Fate becomes.”
“The more Fate there is, the more favorable the Mortal Realm becomes, rarely suffering major disasters, or even if one occasionally occurs, it can quickly be soothed, weakened, and eliminated.”
“The reverse is also true.”
“Neither the Mortal Realm nor Fate can be missing; if either has a problem, it can cause total collapse. For example, the Evil God’s invasion a thousand years ago—though to this day this Master doesn’t know where the problem lay—it must be related to the Mortal Realm and Fate.”
“From a broad perspective, looking at the details, Fate itself also varies, just like the Mortal Realm.”
“Every being in the Mortal Realm is an individual, so every being has its own individual Fate.”
“The Mortal Realm has families, so there is family Fate.”
“The Mortal Realm has cities and towns, so there is regional Fate.”
“The Mortal Realm has dynasties and nations, so there is national Fate.”
“The Mortal Realm has sects, so naturally there is sect Fate.”
“The Mortal Realm is a world, so there is also the Fortune of Heaven and Earth.”
“These various Fates converge like rivers flowing to the sea or like a towering mountain accepting earth and stones, forming together into the Fate of the Mortal Realm.”
“Based on this, there’s also the concept of ‘suppressing Fate’ in the Mortal Realm. This ‘suppression’ isn’t negative; it means binding, locking, anchoring—like ballast and an anchor in a ship braving the waves.”
“And now, our world has been invaded by the Evil God. The Mortal Realm has become the Evil God’s domain, and the Fate in the Illusory Void is even more precarious. Because without the Mortal Realm to suppress it, no matter how much Fate there is, it’s like willow catkins in the wind, a rootless duckweed.”
“So, this Master and eleven other True Immortals of the Mortal Realm joined forces, using our own cultivation, lives, and souls as anchors of the Mortal Realm to suppress Fate. This is the last hope of this world, the collective wish of all past living beings.”
“While suppressing this Fate, we also promised each other to do our best to restore and support the development of the Human Race. Even if we can only establish one village, one town, one city, until we can stage a comeback and rebuild the world.”
“But three hundred years have passed. Not only have I failed to advance the Human Race even slightly, but the Fate I’m responsible for suppressing is also in peril. If I cannot survive this calamity, my own death and loss of cultivation don’t matter, but the Fate I’m tasked with suppressing must not be lost.”
Here, the Old Madam fell silent. After a long while, she sighed deeply, “Ji Chang, Xu Shen, and Jiang Ying are the most outstanding disciples I’ve accepted over the past three hundred years. But even they cannot bear this responsibility. You—also cannot.”
“It’s not that I’m overly harsh. First, this portion of Fate is too significant to be lost; second, if virtue doesn’t match the position, it leads to quick death. The Evil God is always watching.”
After speaking, the Old Madam waved her hand, signaling Li Si to leave. She probably wanted some quiet…