Longzang

Chapter 1204 Resetting Destiny
Qi (vital energy) is a mysterious and profound thing, the source of all wonders.

This is a description of fortune from ancient Taoist texts. Fortune is a mysterious and unpredictable concept. Ancient cultivators often attributed their extraordinary, albeit illicit, encounters to fortune and morality. The classic sayings, "This thing is rightfully mine" and "This thing belongs to the virtuous," originated from this.

Ancient books and Daoist classics contain many records about destiny. However, ten out of ten authors didn't really understand it. In ancient times, destiny was even less apparent, and the emergence of a child with destiny was a momentous event. By today's standards, a child of destiny in ancient times was at most eight or nine feet tall, which would be considered above average in the Taichu Palace.

Because fortune is scarce and highly sought after, many ancient cultivators who knew a little about it liked to write a book about fortune in order to show off their cultivation and leave their mark on history.

However, they don't really understand, and can't articulate many valid points, so they can only fill their pages with long passages, or even entire books, of ornate language. But upon closer inspection, only a few sentences are truly useful; the rest is essentially meaningless.

Therefore, the Taoist canon concerning destiny that Taichu Palace was able to collect totaled more than seven thousand volumes, which Wei Yuan read through in three days, gaining some insights from unofficial histories and miscellaneous accounts.

The biggest takeaway is that these guys are not as good as me.

There is also a special book among them, a handwritten copy by the founder of Taichu Palace, containing the founder's insights on the Dao of Qi and Destiny. This handwritten copy is naturally of extraordinary value, and only the abbots and hall masters of the Three Views and Twelve Halls are allowed to see it. Even those of the highest rank, such as Zhidan Sanren and Chuhe Laodao, are not qualified to see it.

This handwritten book has been read by almost all the high-ranking officials of the Taichu Palace throughout the ages, and they have all read it only once, including Su Chan and Xi He.

Wei Yuan was initially very curious, but after he returned to the mountain gate in his true form and spent the whole night in the Ancestral Hall, he decided not to watch it a second time.

The founder of Taichu Palace certainly had his own unique insights into fortune.

The patriarch believed that when one is blessed with good fortune, one experiences all sorts of mysteries, adventures, and extraordinary signs. These are all paths, and ultimately, they only make one's Taoist magic more powerful and one's immortal sword more ruthless in its attacks.

As for the power aspect, the founder broke it down into a few simple factors such as speed, accuracy, whether the attributes are mutually exclusive, and whether it hits a vital point.

Therefore, the patriarch believed that mediocre cultivators in the world acted vaguely and unclearly, failing to pinpoint the enemy's weaknesses and unable to even hit a slow-moving enemy.

At this point, the effect of luck becomes apparent. A cultivator might unleash a sword strike without even realizing it, and it happens to hit the enemy right in the groin. This is called being blessed with good fortune, or colloquially, having incredible luck.

But for the patriarch, his move was always perfectly timed, unleashing its full power and striking directly at the vital point, so luck was completely useless.

The author seemed to be very busy when writing this book, challenging a powerful force and engaging in continuous battles. Therefore, every ten or so pages, a sentence would be added at the bottom of the page:
"Today we have slain a chosen one of destiny;"

Today another chosen one of Heaven's will has been killed;

Today I encountered a guy who claims to be the chosen one of heaven, the chosen one of the planes, the orthodox one of heaven and earth, and the protagonist of all books. He wants to use me as a whetstone to cut me down to prove my Dao and ascend to the immortal realm.
This guy may have been bragging a lot, but he's actually quite skilled. It took me three sword strikes to completely destroy him, and I had to finish him off with one more strike before he could be reincarnated.

Since this person claims to be the protagonist of destiny, why was he not reborn into the human race but instead born into a different race? This is truly inexplicable, nonsensical, a waste of a gem, and a maggot infestation of the mind!
And this guy is just a mere late-stage Imperial Realm cultivator, yet he dares to come and fight me, unaware that I have already reached the late-stage Dharma Aspect realm. He's practically courting death! Is all this luck of his just a prelude to sending him here to deliver treasures? How did he know I'm currently short of resources?

Therefore, it's clear that luck or fortune is utterly useless!

This is a rare instance of the patriarch using profanity in the book, which shows how annoyed he was during that period by killing the chosen ones of destiny, the chosen ones of the plane, and the chosen ones of fate.

However, after reading the patriarch's handwritten letter, Wei Yuan felt deeply that the Azure Sky Hall seemed to be the true lineage of the patriarch...

Of course, Wei Yuan and the patriarch had different views on the uses of Qi Luck. Qi Luck has a wide range of uses, not just for fighting and swordsmanship.

Take Wei Yuan himself as an example. No matter how difficult the math problem is, whether he can solve it or not doesn't affect his ability to know the correct answer, and that's enough. Is there anything more important than the answer? Wei Yuan doesn't think so.

Back in the day, the Umbrella Corporation, which dominated its own territory, all had a motto: Give me results.

Those who cultivate to the level of a patriarch naturally don't need luck. But although the world is vast and history is ancient, how many patriarchs have there been? All other cultivators are mediocre cultivators with clumsy hands and slow fingers, as described by the patriarchs, and naturally they need luck.

It could even be said that as long as one is not a founder, luck is useful, and very useful.

Among the sages of Taichu Palace throughout history, the Three Immortals are self-evident; they were promoted from among several disciples by the patriarch, who was nearing the end of his life. Su Chan and Xi He were extremely ambitious, but they lacked confidence in extricating themselves from the "clumsy and slow" label, so they didn't read it a second time to avoid shaking their resolve. As for the others, there's no need to elaborate further.

Wei Yuan also gleaned some details from this manuscript. In Qingming's current parlance, the patriarch was a true humanist.

Moreover, the patriarch was aloof and detached from reality, completely unaware of the hardships of ordinary cultivators. Being his disciple would probably be quite painful.

But in Wei Yuan's eyes, it was precisely because of these virtues of his ancestor that he now had the opportunity to write his book! This matter is a merit in the present and a benefit for thousands of years to come; countless years later, people in many small worlds will still be reciting Wei Yuan's name...

Therefore, after Wei Yuan returned to Ganzhou, his main body continued to refine the immortal mountain. Once he took charge of the grand formation, he would be unable to move, which allowed him to use his divine sense to carry out the important task of re-establishing the destiny.

To redefine and categorize fortune, it is necessary to distinguish the differences between various types of fortune. Based on Wei Yuan's many years of experience, the number of mortal fortunes is vast, but their uses and effects are relatively limited, only playing a role in refining weapons and elixirs, and predicting the outcomes of certain events.

Judging from its form, the fortune of ordinary people is loose and scattered, like a wisp of smoke. Even if hundreds or thousands gather in one place, its essence is probably still difficult to compare with the basic fortune of each individual.

The foundation of one's destiny is like a drop of water, light and floating, but a single drop is equivalent to the smoke and vapor of a thousand people.

The aura of a Dharma form is thick and viscous. If the aura of a Dao foundation is like clear water, then the aura of a Dharma form is like heavy oil. When the Dharma form is perfected, it becomes so thick that it is like solid matter, much like flowing magma. A single ordinary aura of a Dharma form is roughly equivalent to the aura of over a hundred Dao foundations, or the fortune of ten thousand people.

The Imperial Realm is another realm, with tremendous changes from the initial stage to the perfect stage. The Imperial Realm Qi is like a jade pillar, which Wei Yuan perceives as already solid, but it begins to burn in the middle stage, and at the perfect stage it is a burning purple aura, with only the core remaining solid.

If we consider the essence of destiny, then mortals are in one category, and those with Dao foundation and Dharma form are actually in the same category. The difference between the two combined is not as great as the difference between the early stage of the Imperial Realm and the stage of perfection.

As for the fortune of immortals, that's another matter. So far, Wei Yuan has actually obtained two immortal-level fortunes, both of which came from the self-powered witch.

Having determined the ranks and forms of Qi, the remaining task is to observe Qi. The emphasis of observing Qi naturally lies in the word "observe," which, besides form, refers to color. In fact, Wei Yuan's biggest complaint about the patriarch's method of observing Qi was its focus on color.

The flow of energy is extremely loose, with almost nothing special about it, which makes it very easy to handle. Just use white; it's just a matter of whether it's a little darker or lighter, it's all just a wisp of white vapor.

The middle section is also easy to handle. From the Dao Foundation to the Imperial View, they are respectively designated as green, blue, and purple. When the Imperial View is perfected, the Spiritual Palace is formed, and the True Spirit is awakened, it is designated as a single sky blue color.

Finally, there's the celestial aura. When setting it up, Wei Yuan suddenly thought of the Molten Dragon. He had almost watched him gain the approval of the Desolate Realm, be granted the authority of Heaven and Earth, and then generously go to his death, perishing together with the Heavenly Pillar.

In fact, the Molten Dragon had secretly placed a wisp of fortune on Wei Yuan long ago. If Wei Yuan had finished reading "A First Exploration of the Desolate Realm" or mastered the Five Tones of the Desolate Roar, he would have noticed it much earlier. Unfortunately...

Only after he gained power in the Desolate Realm and occupied a significant portion of the Heavenly Witch positions did he belatedly realize why the Desolate Realm had accepted him as a human.

As for the fortune that Jiumu borrowed later, Wei Yuan never knew how to repay it, so he didn't intend to. This actually raises another question: how did Jiumu borrow the fortune in the first place?

From this origin, Wei Yuan sighed softly, pointed his finger lightly, and from then on, all immortal-level fortune turned into a translucent golden-red.

With the system divided, the final step is to define its functions. The most common way for cultivators to improve their fortune is to seek good luck and avoid misfortune, or, as the patriarch said, to give way at just the right time.

In this respect, the same level of luck is effective for cultivators of the same level, has a miraculous effect on those below, but has little effect on those above, requiring a large accumulation of luck.

The fortune of cultivators is easy to understand, but the fortune of immortals is basically incomprehensible, so Wei Yuan left this section blank for the time being.

There is no such thing as multiple paths to immortal fortune; each path is extremely difficult. If you want to obtain immortal fortune, it is probably easier to ascend to immortality on your own.

Immortals possess lightning-fast divine senses and can be multitasking, even in a game of chess, they are no match for Wei Yuan. Therefore, Wei Yuan's reputation as a master chess player and chess saint is only useful for bullying ordinary Yu Jing; he cannot use that to deceive an immortal's fortune.

Human fortune is the easiest to understand; it has some use, but not much. However, when the amount exceeds a certain level, it will produce inexplicable changes. For example, one hundred million units of human fortune can slay immortals. When Wei Yuan personally killed Liu Miao, he vaguely felt that when the endless human fortune disappeared, it also took something from Liu Miao, which led to his demise.

Otherwise, an immortal's body would have no weaknesses or vital points. Even if Wei Yuan slashed her with his sword, or even if she were chopped into pieces, she could recover in the blink of an eye. However, after her life force dissipated and she took that little bit of her essence with her, Liu Miao's demise was particularly swift.

The same was true for Lü Changhe and Xu Shutong; both of them had their last chance of survival taken away by others.

Wei Yuan doesn't understand this mechanism yet; he'll probably only grasp it after ascending to immortality. For now, he can only leave it blank. But this blank won't prevent Wei Yuan from compiling the preceding content into a book and then starting to come up with a title.

Then... Wei Yuan got stuck at this step. He thought of hundreds of names but was not satisfied with any of them, so he had to put them aside for the time being.

Wei Yuan also revised the six basic methods of body forging, replacing the part on the ancestral master's observation of qi with his own created techniques. Only then was he considered to have achieved initial success.

At this moment, the fortunes of all realms have changed. Above a sea of ​​white clouds, there is a green lake, next to which is a blue spiritual spring, and there is also a purple ancient tree, with several balls of blue light burning quietly at the treetop.

Wei Yuan suddenly had a strange thought: what was the nature of his own destiny? Once this thought arose, he could no longer suppress his curiosity.

This might be difficult for others, but it was actually quite easy for Wei Yuan.

He arrived before the statue of the Creator Immortal in the bustling world, used his supernatural powers to clear the surroundings and isolate himself from heaven and earth, and then silently recalled his life's deeds. The more he thought about it, the more he admired himself.

In the blink of an eye, the earth trembled, the grottoes shone brightly, and the various spiritual palaces were filled with immortal light, faint music, rain of flowers, and the profound mysteries of the Great Dao!
Amidst a dazzling array of extraordinary phenomena, a beam of black light slowly descended and landed within the statue of the Creator Immortal.

Before Wei Yuan could even be shocked, a sudden tremor ran through him, and his primordial spirit instantly returned to its place. At that moment, a vast expanse of golden-red, scale-like tribulation clouds stretched for ten thousand miles above the ancestral mountain of the Lü clan—the heavenly tribulation had arrived!
(End of this chapter)