Chapter 3355: Karmic Cause And Effect

Could it be just an unbelievable coincidence?

"Show me the person that you saw," Lu Yin ordered Tian Ci.

Tian Ci silently made an image of Yan Gang.

Everyone stared at the image. Yan Gang looked perfectly ordinary, and according to Tian Ci, the man was even less significant than an ant. At least an ant would need someone to step on it to kill it, while this man did not even warrant that much.

Lu Yin took a deep breath. "It really is him."

"Dao Monarch, do you know this person?" Garan Zhiluo asked.

Lu Yin nodded. "He was one of my first enemies. When I first started cultivating, he was a fierce opponent. It’s been so many years since then, and all of my enemies from that time have either been defeated or simply forgotten. I never expected him to reappear. It’s no wonder why he kept a Nest hidden. It appears that he’s seeking revenge."

Wu Tian wondered, "Karma?"

Lu Yin was taken aback. "Karma?"

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Wu Tian explained, "Karma is a power even more mysterious and incomprehensible than time and space. It’s hard to understand. There are legends that the secrets of karma exist within the Mirari Realm. People often speak of karmic retribution, or how karma must have altered certain civilizations, with effects passing down from one generation to the next. However, to this day, no one has ever fully understood karma. The closest to understanding it is you, Dao Monarch. You have used the power of time and karma before, using actions in the future to alter the present. Other than that, there’s also Master Qing Cao’s karmic chain."

In order to fight against Wei Nu, Lu Yin had once borrowed the Origin Progenitor's sword from the future, sending it back through time. Later, in order to resolve this temporal karma, he had made it a point to restore one of the Origin Progenitor’s swords and send it back in time to Virtue Archives. The karma surrounding that event had been clear: Lu Yin had created the cause, which then required him to fulfill the effect.

As for Master Qing Cao's karmic chain, even its mere existence was nothing more than speculation.

Did karma even actually exist?

Lu Yin still remembered the innate gift that Seruzen had acquired from the Arboreal Realm. It was called Karmic Fruit. It could allow the guilt in one’s heart to manifest and then be used to counterattack. It was quite the miraculous innate gift, and it was quite similar to karma.

The causes that a person sowed created a sense of guilt and sin, which would subsequently be reaped by them.

When Lu Yin had learned about the Karmic Fruit, Seruzen had said something that caused Lu Yin to ruminate.

"I have started to think that the reality we know is a quantifiable existence. Whether it's power levels, behavioral predictions, emotions, past events, or even virtue and sin, everything can be measured. Anyone, any organism, plant, animal, or inanimate object, can be measured, or rather, designed.”

"Everything that you have ever experienced will be recorded on some sort of unseen, higher level. And I, by chance, am able to see that record."

Could that be karma?

Karma was the record of all that could be quantified in the megaverse, and those who could read that record were able to understand karma. If Seruzen could see that record, then was he also able to see karma?

Lu Yin stared at the image of Yan Gang. There was a karmic connection between the man and Lu Yin. Without Lu Yin’s interference, Yan Gang would likely still be on Firesmelt Planet, following Yan Feng. The man would have probably spent his entire life within Frostwave Weave. Firesmelt Planet would likely still exist, and Yan Feng might have even married Jenny Auna, if everything had been allowed to play out naturally.

But because of Lu Yin, Firesmelt Planet had been destroyed and Yan Feng had died. After that, Yan Gang had aimlessly wandered about the universe.

Right or wrong were not important, as there were no moral absolutes in the world of cultivators. Lu Yin was what had made Yan Gang into the man he had become. Lu Yin’s actions had also caused the Nests to appear, which had resulted in Yan Gang obtaining one. Driven by his hatred, he had hidden that Nest, which had led to the current situation.

The appearance of Verdant King was Yan Gang’s method of revenge. Even though Yan Gang was truly nothing more than a tool, one that could be discarded at any time, his revenge was already complete.

Had the karmic connection between Yan Gang and Lu Yin been severed with Verdant King’s birth?

Karma and time were both unfathomable powers. Lu Yin could not see through either one, and neither could the Origin Progenitor. Could someone who had reached the Immortal realm perceive such things? Could that be why Master Qing Cao had a karmic chain on his wrist? Because he could perceive karma? Was he able to manipulate karma?

If one had to be an Immortal to manipulate karma, then if a person could master the secrets of karma that were hidden in the Mirari Realm, then would they be able to become an Immortal? Was that the path to Immortality that the Mirari Realm hid?

If that was actually the path to Immortality, then Wei Nu had not lied.

Many thoughts ran through Lu Yin’s mind in that moment. He felt like he had just grasped something, but at the same time, he had not understood anything either.

"Why did Yong Heng attack you?" Lu Yuan asked again.

Tian Ci glanced at Lu Yin, who was staring at the man. Tian Ci answered softly, "Because of my mirebound artifact."

"Your mirebound artifact?" This was not something that Lu Yuan had expected.

Only then did everyone remember that Tian Ci supposedly possessed a mirebound artifact, which they had learned from Garan Zhiluo. During the battle in the Second Scourge, Tian Ci had publicly claimed that his mirebound artifact was his sword, the Three-Foot Edge. That matched what Lu Yin and the others had learned from Garan Zhiluo, but everyone had been deceived. Only later had they discovered that the sword was not actually a mirebound artifact.

"Just what is your mirebound artifact?" Garan Zhiluo could not resist asking. She was very curious, as she had already been deceived once.

Tian Ci helplessly replied, "A spirit seed."

"What kind of spirit seed?"

"One of my Spirit Nidus’s spirit seeds," Tian Ci admitted, his expression turning bitter. "In the Spirit Nidus, cultivators start out with a Spirit Ignition. Later, we have a single chance to experience a Spirit Rebirth. You should be aware of this much. My spirit seed granted me a chance to undergo a second Spirit Rebirth."

Everyone was surprised to learn the truth.

For powerful cultivators from the Spirit Nidus, a Spirit Rebirth would often allow them to undergo a Spirit Transformation, granting them either a Spirit Weapon or an innate gift. Either one was an extremely formidable boost. A second Spirit Rebirth could let someone obtain a second Spirit Weapon or an additional innate gift, both of which be a significant metamorphosis.

Regardless of the megaverse, an innate gift was always synonymous with power. When Lu Yin had first started cultivating, he had learned that anyone with an innate gift was unconditionally allowed to join the Ten Arbiters Council, regardless of their personal strength. The Ten Arbiters Council had been an organization that everyone in the younger generation had dreamed of joining. It had given them authority very early on, and it had also offered them the opportunity to stand at the peak of the universe.

Anyone who joined the Ten Arbiters Council had been respected by all.

Tian Ci had pretended that his Spirit Weapon was his mirebound artifact, and he had done so without raising any suspicions. This amply demonstrated the strength of Spirit Weapons. Essentially, Tian Ci’s mirebound artifact was equal to another Spirit Weapon or innate gift, either of which would grant him another chance to improve his strength.

There was no more suitable mirebound artifact for a person from the Spirit Nidus.

"Did Yong Heng attack you just to take your spirit seed? But he isn’t from the Spirit Nidus, is he? A spirit seed is useless to him," Hongyan Mavis said.

Wu Tian shook his head. "Yong Heng doesn’t care about the spirit seed itself, but rather the fact that it is a mirebound artifact. Mirebound artifacts are all bizarre objects, and it’s possible that Yong Heng wants to gain something from it."

Lu Yin added, "He’s always wanted to steal Uncle Jiang’s three mirebound artifacts—he’s quite obsessed with them."

Tian Ci gritted his teeth, seething with resentment. "I thought that I’d deceived him! I used a fake mirebound artifact to trick him into taking me to see Yuan Qi. I didn’t think that Yong Heng would see through it and even attack me."

"Yuan Qi?" Questions filled everyone's eyes.

Tian Ci explained, not questioning a thing, "Yuan Qi is with Yong Heng and the others. No, they likely aren’t physically together, or else Yuan Qi would have never allowed Yong Heng to attack me. After all, Yuan Qi and I are both from the Spirit Nidus, and he has no reason to target me."

The man then looked at Lu Yin. "Lord Lu, I must kill Yong Heng! Give me the chance to help you eliminate him. I want to tell the Spirit Nidus what Yong Heng did, so that they can also go after him."

Lu Yin did not care. The fact that True God had dared to act indicated that he was not scared of the Spirit Nidus learning about it. Did that mean that, for True God, opposing the Spirit Nidus was not as important as obtaining a mirebound artifact? Was Uncle Jiang in danger?

Tian Ci had no idea that Yuan Qi was the Heavens Sect’s prisoner, and Lu Yin saw no reason to inform the man. Of course, Tian Ci was not immediately executed. Even if Lu Yin intended to do so, such things could not be done carelessly.

After all, Tian Ci was an Ortuser who had once dared to attack even the Origin Progenitor. His death would carry a different level of importance than the other Spirit Nidus cultivators who had died.

Tian Ci and Yuan Qi were imprisoned separately. The two men and Palace Master Yao were all confined within a sea of death energy.

Several of the young cultivators from the Spirit Nidus who had been captured had also started cultivating Cloudflow’s power. Lu Yin sat on the mountain behind the Heavens Sect and raised his hand, bringing out his die. There was no need to interrogate anyone from the Spirit Nidus when he could simply Possess them instead.

A finger tapped the die.

In four die rolls, Lu Yin failed to get Possession. However, he did manage to roll Timestop twice, and he spent almost two years in his Timestop Space, which was enough for the Rivers and Mountains Painting to shrink by more than half. At the same time, both the Heaven-Devouring Umbrella and the Eightfold Nexus shrank. More sequence particles had appeared in Lu Yin's inner universe, and with them, the laws of Near and Far, Eight-Gate Seal, and Devouring all appeared. Now, Lu Yin had more sequence particles than most sequence powerhouses.

The Rivers and Mountains Painting had been used in several battles, and Progenitor Chen had also drained it with his Linked Palm, but the sequence base still possessed an astounding number of sequence particles. Despite how powerful it was, the Rivers and Mountains Painting was much weaker than before, unlike the Eightfold Nexus and the Heaven-Devouring Umbrella. If Lu Yin could completely decompose these three sequence bases into their sequence particles, he would possess a truly extraordinary number of sequence particles. It would most likely compare to what the Great Sovereign had once possessed.

No, Lu Yin’s sequence particle count would surely surpass the Great Sovereign’s.

After all, digesting the sequence bases would essentially grant Lu Yin the sequence particles of over a hundred cultivators.

If he could also decompose the Impression Realm, then things would become absolutely incredible.

The Rivers and Mountains Painting had been formed from the sequence particles of seventy-seven individuals, the Eightfold Nexus from fifty-one people, and the Heaven-Devouring Umbrella from sixty-two cultivators. In contrast, the Impression Realm had been formed from the sequence particles of 359 powerhouses. That was more than twice the number of the other three sequence bases combined.

Unfortunately, the Impression Realm had been taken back by the round-faced old man.

Lu Yin wanted to decompose even more sequence bases. They offered him what very might well be a completely unique path, one that no one else could walk.

After ten days, Lu Yin rolled his die again. This time, his second attempt landed on six pips. However, there was not a single ball of light to be seen in the strange dark space. Proximity to a potential target was not enough to guarantee that Lu Yin would find an orb of light. His most recent Possession of the Verdant Immortal had been pure luck.

He shook his head and exited the dark space so that he could continue rolling his die.

Another ten days soon passed, and he rolled Possession again. Upon entering the dark space, he once again found nothing. It was unfortunate, but he simply continued.

Ten days later, Lu Yin rolled Possession once more, but he still found nothing. His subsequent roll was also six pips, and yet he still could not find a single orb of light.

Lu Yin fell deep into thought. Something was not right. He had entered the dark space four times without finding any balls of light. This was completely outside of his expectations. Was he simply unlucky, or was there something separating him from the Spirit Nidus cultivators when he tried to Possess them?

Lu Yin looked towards the Innerverse and stood up. With a single step forward. he appeared above the Astral River. Another step allowed him to arrive at the Tower of the Fifth, though he was unnoticed by anyone.

He was very close to the elites from the Spirit Nidus, and he would try again at this location.