Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 503: The Imperial Preceptor Who Got Blasted for Ten Days
“Does too much karma really hinder one’s cultivation?”
“Hard to say. I don’t think so, but plenty of others do.” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy shrugged. Her views had always diverged from the mainstream. “You remember that the defining trait of an immortal is oblivion, right? Doesn’t it feel somewhat similar now?”
Only after the Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s reminder did Lu Yang realize it was the case indeed. In a way, the immortal trait resembled the manifestation of severing karma. “So...the immortal trait is meant to sever karma?”
“That’s right. The Heaven Mandate Immortal and the others believed that only by cutting off all karma could one advance a step further in cultivation. But I disagree; I think the more karma one has, the higher their cultivation can reach.”
“Advance a step further?” Lu Yang’s eyes widened as if he had stumbled upon something monumental. “Immortals can still advance further?”
“The five of us once deduced it using five Dao Fruits. Theoretically, it’s possible, but no one has succeeded. Nobody knows if the next step truly exists. The Nine-Layers Immortal was the first to become an immortal. At the very least, none of us five managed to do it, nor did anyone before us.
“The term ‘immortal trait’ was coined by the Heaven Mandate Immortal and the others. The four of them ascended to immortals first, and when they condensed their Dao Fruits, they chose oblivion as the trait of Dao Fruits. That's why they named oblivion as the ‘immortal trait’ without consulting me.
“I was the last to become an immortal, and I didn’t choose oblivion when forming my Dao Fruit. This is why I lack the immortal trait.”
Lu Yang asked, “Is that to say that the immortal trait isn’t an inherent and necessary trait of immortals, but rather the result of each immortal’s individual choice?”
“Yes. For example, that immortal who wields the national fortune also chose the oblivion trait.”
“But isn’t his Dao Fruit related to the national fortune and Great Xia? The karma he bears is heavier than anyone else’s. Why would he choose this path?”
The Everlasting Immortal Fairy replied, “Simple. He wants to advance a step further. When the time comes, he can just change the bearer of karma and shift the burden of karma to someone else.
“Didn’t you just say the origin of the third-in-command’s statue was once an irrefutable proof of his existence? There was karma between him and the statue. But now, it’s been altered to the creed leader’s dream, thereby establishing karma between the creed leader and the third-in-command’s statue. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
“The third-in-command set the goal of expanding and strengthening the barbeque business. Every action the barbeque shop took was in pursuit of that goal, developing karma between the third-in-command and future deeds. But now, it’s been changed to the creed leader’s goal, which implies that the creed leader bears the karma of all those actions instead.
“This is what it means to change the bearer of karma. Replacement is another form of oblivion.”
Lu Yang vaguely felt he had grasped some clues, but the Everlasting Immortal Fairy had said too much. The plethora of clues left him unsure where to even begin.
“Enough of this. Let’s save the third-in-command first.”
“How?” Lu Yang was puzzled. He hadn’t even found any trace of the Everlasting Immortal yet.
The Everlasting Immortal Fairy planted her hands on her hips and ordered Lu Yang, “Go fetch Lass Yun. How could subordinates slack off while this sect leader does all the work?”
Under the tyrannical authority of the acting sect leader, Lu Yang had no choice but to head to Incarceration Peak to look for Yun Zhi.
~~~
Yun Zhi was in the midst of interrogating the Black-White Venerable Lord.
When Lu Yang arrived at Incarceration Peak, Yun Zhi was lashing the Black-White Venerable Lord with a whip. Despite his elderly appearance, the man’s physique was unnaturally tough. No matter how much he howled in pain, he showed no signs of dying from the flogging.
“Little Junior Brother, is anything the matter?” Yun Zhi paused, flicking the whip in the air with a sharp crack before folding it neatly into thirds in her hand, her movements executed with practiced ease.
“Here's the thing...” Lu Yang recounted his discoveries and the Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s conjecture.
The Black-White Venerable Lord listened in horror, his heart almost leaping out of his chest. I’ve spent my entire life studying the nature of the Imperial Preceptor’s Incipient Dao Fruit to no avail; how did they infer it in mere sentences?
From the sound of it, the Dao-Seeking Sect also has a half-immortal, and the Imperial Preceptor is currently locked in a gruelling battle with him?
And why does our target for this mission—Golden Core cultivator Lu Yang—know all this?
Just what kind of monstrous place is the Dao-Seeking Sect?
“Senior, please come out.” Yun Zhi summoned the Everlasting Immortal Fairy impassively.
The Everlasting Immortal Fairy was like a child who had done something wrong, cowering in the presence of Yun Zhi. Wait, that’s not right. I am the acting sect leader. What’s there to be afraid of?
Yun Zhi calmly looked at the Everlasting Immortal Fairy, who had her head lowered. “Senior, I believe I’ve told you before that Lu Yang is still young and that his cultivation is insufficient. Matters relating to immortals and Dao Fruits are far beyond his reach. You shouldn’t speak of such things, lest he bite off more than he can chew and affect his cultivation. This time, you’ve said too much.”
“I was wrong.” As the acting sect leader, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy knew how to give and take, admitting her faults without hesitation.
“Senior, may I know how you intend to locate the Everlasting Immortal, given that his karma has been erased?”
Naturally, Yun Zhi still remembered the Everlasting Immortal’s existence.
“Hehe, others might be hard to track down, the third-in-command? Easy.” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy smirked, proud of her own Dao Fruit.
She instructed Lu Yang to retrieve the statue of the Everlasting Immortal from the barbeque shop before proceeding to recite the third-in-command’s title and name.
“Everlasting Immortal Bu Yaolian.”
~~~
Inside a temporarily constructed pocket space, two figures stood panting.
“Damn, he’s a tough nut to crack. What on earth is this grandson’s Incipient Dao Fruit?” The Everlasting Immortal possessed a vast collection of memories from all the Everlasting Creed’s followers, yet none had prepared him for a battle of this level. Even now, he still couldn’t figure out the Imperial Preceptor’s Incipient Dao Fruit.
Ten straight days of self-detonation had pushed even his Everlasting Incipient Dao Fruit to its limits.
A complete Everlasting Dao Fruit could withstand infinite self-detonations, but the Everlasting Immortal’s Incipient Dao Fruit had only coalesced half a year ago. It was still a far cry from the complete Everlasting Dao Fruit. To have held his own against the Imperial Preceptor, whose Karma Incipient Dao Fruit had been formed ten thousand years ago, was truly a remarkable feat.
The Everlasting Immortal was in a sorry state, but the Imperial Preceptor fared worse. He had lost count of how many times he had been blown up these past ten days. Not a single part of him remained unscathed.
Despite having faced stronger foes, it was his first time meeting one this troublesome. He had tried to flee multiple times, but once he erased his karma and vanished, the Everlasting Immortal would self-detonate, destabilizing the space so violently that not even a rift could be opened.
“What cursed luck is this to have bumped into the Dao-Seeking Sect’s true guardian!” Even the Imperial Preceptor’s famed composure shattered under such circumstances.
“True guardian? I’ve only been at the Dao-Seeking Sect for half a year.”
“Half a year? An almighty half-immortal powerhouse like yourself is holed up in this tiny place? What could possibly be worth staying for? Look, I admit my mistake; I shouldn’t have attacked you. How about this? No discord, no concord—friends are often made after a fight. If you have nowhere else to go, you can join us Great Yu. I have a way to help you restore your physical form!” The Imperial Preceptor assumed the Everlasting Immortal had remained here to recover. There’s no need for us to fight to the death; we can cooperate.
The Everlasting Immortal Fairy eyed him suspiciously, finding him treacherous. “I’m a prisoner, yet you’re trying to instigate me into escaping?”
“Prisoner?” The Imperial Preceptor’s blood ran cold. Who would imprison a half-immortal?
Suddenly, the Everlasting Immortal froze, then smiled. I sense the first-in-command calling for me.
Taking advantage of the Imperial Preceptor’s brief stupor, he lunged forward and trapped him in a tight embrace.
The Imperial Preceptor cursed inwardly. Oh no! I gave him a chance to self-detonate at point-blank range!
Until now, he had relied on his Karma Incipient Dao Fruit to evade the blasts from a safe distance. If he had taken a few direct hits at close range, he would have long died from the explosions.
To his surprise, instead of self-detonating, a spatial door opened behind the Everlasting Immortal, and he stepped backward with the Imperial Preceptor still in his grip.
Thud! Both half-immortal powerhouses fell onto Incarceration Peak simultaneously.
The Imperial Preceptor stared blankly at the cold-faced Yun Zhi and the Everlasting Immortal Fairy grinning wickedly beside her.
