Chapter 153: Karmic Calamity
Chapter 153: Karmic Calamity
After watching the Heaven-Mending Peak Master depart, Lv Yang’s smile slowly faded, replaced by a flicker of genuine perplexity in his eyes.
“This doesn’t add up,” he murmured.
Could the man really have believed him so easily?
Truthfully, Lv Yang hadn’t expected the Heaven-Mending Peak Master to trust him outright. A seasoned cultivator of such seniority shouldn’t be so gullible.
Yet the outcome had defied his expectations. From start to finish, the Heaven-Mending Peak Master had shown no suspicion. He’d accepted the Subduing Dragon’s Golden Body Relic with evident satisfaction, then hurried back to Chen Xin’an, seemingly eager to use it to aid his Foundation Building breakthrough.
This was hardly the conduct of a True Man from a Holy Sect.
“Avarice clouds judgment,” Lv Yang muttered, tapping his fingers in calculation, his mind torn between surprise and unease.
The Heaven-Mending Peak Master’s odd behavior was indeed strange—but also easily explained.
—A catastrophic loss of Karmic Merit, with calamity clinging to his very soul.
Under the divine punishment of Skull Mountain, Zhao Xuhe had perished instantly, the Subduing Dragon Arhat had been condemned to ten lifetimes as livestock, and the two True Men of the Divine Martial Gate had become sacrifices for the Avici Sword.
Only the Heaven-Mending Peak Master had survived.
Yet survival didn’t mean exemption. After losing most of his Karmic Fortune, he was now shrouded in karmic calamity.
“When calamity veils the soul and defilement stains the mind,” Lv Yang mused, his breath turning cold, “even matters once clear as daylight become mysteries. Obvious anomalies go unnoticed, rash decisions multiply, and tempers flare. Unless aided by a higher power, one might enjoy fleeting glory, only to meet a tragic end.”
A chill ran down his spine as realization struck.
“This eight-hundred-mile land vein is practically a Karmic Merit bomb. The explosion itself was deadly enough, but the lingering effects… are even worse than I thought.”
Worse still, these effects were imperceptible to the victim.
Even the cunning Heaven-Mending Peak Master had fallen prey to its influence.
The thought unsettled Lv Yang. A bitter question surfaced in his mind:
“What about me?”
The next moment, he clenched his fingers into a spell seal. A radiant light erupted from his Dao Foundation, washing over his body like a cleansing spring, washing away filth and miasma.
【Differentiate Sameness】!
As his divine ability activated, clarity returned to his eyes. Suddenly, he recalled an obvious issue he’d previously ignored:
“Did I give him the relic too easily?”
By the standards of a Holy Sect, his best move would have been to demand a steep price for the relic. That would’ve made the Heaven-Mending Peak Master less likely to suspect deception.
But what had he done?
No haggling. No pretense. Just handed over the Subduing Dragon’s Golden Body Relic freely. Had he been the Heaven-Mending Peak Master, he’d have grown suspicious immediately.
“Could 【Differentiate Sameness】 have failed to sever the Karmic Causality entirely?”
“No… it’s just my cultivation’s insufficient. The ties were severed, but not cleanly. Lingering traces remain.”
Lv Yang inhaled sharply, his face paling as cold sweat trickled down his brow. After a long pause, he steadied himself, his heart heavy.
“Looking on the bright side, as the mastermind behind Skull Mountain’s destruction, I’ve suffered less than the Heaven-Mending Peak Master. That’s 【Differentiate Sameness】’s doing. And swallowing the Divine Martial Gate’s Karmic Fortune gave me a fighting chance to stay lucid.”
The Heaven-Mending Peak Master, now fully ensnared, might never awaken again.
Truly, the heavens’ power was terrifying.
The surge of pride Lv Yang had felt after manipulating Karmic Causality to kill the Subduing Dragon Arhat now deflated instantly. A bone-deep chill gripped him.
Karmic Causality was not so easily fooled.
Even with his life-bound divine ability’s unique advantage, the old adage applied—those who swim skillfully drown, those who ride well fall. Playing with fire would, inevitably, one day burn oneself alive.
“What a cursed place.”
Until now, Lv Yang had revered the Golden Core Sovereign without question, still vividly recalling how the Sovereign had seized the sun and moon like mere trinkets during the Dao Contention War.
But now, he reconsidered.
The Golden Core Sovereign was formidable, yet even a True Monarch had hesitated to destroy Skull Mountain’s land vein when annihilating the Wugui Sect’s entire sect.
Evidently, even the Golden Core Sovereign’s power was constrained—at least slightly—by Karmic Causality and Karmic Fortune. If not, then the depth of this world’s Karmic Laws was unfathomable.
“Lucky for me, the Heaven-Mending Peak Master’s plight is worse than mine.”
This was the twist of fate’s brilliance.
Had another Holy Sect True Man faced him, the slightest slip-up would’ve been fatal. But this time, fate favored him—because he’d absorbed the Divine Martial Gate’s Karmic Fortune, his life was spared; the Heaven-Mending Peak Master, however, had exhausted his.
“Wrapped in calamity, his reckoning is yet to come.”
At the Heaven-Mending Peak, within the Sea of Clouds Connecting Heaven, the Heaven-Mending Peak Master had barely returned when the world spun. He found himself whisked into a grand hall, where a finely dressed maid bowed respectfully:
“Master, the lady requests your presence.”
“She wants to see me?”
Frowning, he almost refused—but the maid’s unyielding stance made it clear: refusal wasn’t an option.
With a sigh, he followed her deeper into the palace.
Soon, they reached a Meditation Chamber. Eighteen attendants stood silently along its walls, their postures frozen like statues.
At the chamber’s center stood a woman, her back turned.
Her black hair was coiled into a bun, pinned with a snake-shaped hairpin. A crimson gown draped her figure, revealing glimpses of ivory skin. Beneath the hem, a gentle breeze lifted her skirt, exposing fair thighs. Barefoot, her jade-like feet stepped on swirling clouds, silver anklets chiming with each step.
The air filled with sandalwood.
Yet the Heaven-Mending Peak Master’s expression turned impatient: “Is this still about that matter? If it is, let’s not waste time.”
At last, the woman turned.
Her face was a portrait of beauty and dignity—graceful, yet subtly alluring. Her voice softened, coaxing, and laced with sorrow:
“You insist on sending Shu Qian to bear the calamity?”
The words, though gentle, felt like silken chains, tugging at the soul.
But the Heaven-Mending Peak Master scoffed.
“Don’t play that game with me. You wish to use Qian’er to overcome prenatal amnesia after Reincarnation, just as I need her to bear my calamity.”
“Hmph!”
Her voice turned icy, like spring snow melting: “Chen Tahe, you know this, yet you still sabotage my Reincarnation?”
“A foolish worry,” he replied flatly. “When I break through to Foundation Building’s late stage and attain True Manhood, I’ll locate your Reincarnation body and guide you back.”
“But if you fail?”
Her voice darkened: “If you perish and Shu Qian dies too, I’ll have no time to cultivate another vessel. How then will I break free of prenatal amnesia?”
She stared into his eyes, hoping for a solution.
But his reply was final:
“I won’t fail.”
Her gaze flickered with disappointment, then hardened into ice: “Chen Tahe, you’ll regret this.”
A cold chuckle escaped him.
“Ruoxiang, don’t forget—I am the Heaven-Mending Peak Master of this generation!”
(End of Chapter)
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