Chapter 750: The Strange Phenomenon of the Generous Pot

## Chapter 743: An Anomaly with the Great Flask

The battle had just ended when this fellow arrived. Had he not been with the army, he wouldn't have been so quick.

"Ah, yes, yes," Peng Fang stammered, a cold sweat breaking out on him from the pain. "More and more people have gathered in the military towns across the Yin River over the past few days. It looks to me like a war is brewing. Oh, I'm not a Jinluo person, but I'm skilled in medicine, so I was hired as a military doctor."

He Lingchuan smiled kindly: "How do you usually communicate with God Bilu?"

"He occasionally summons me in dreams."

"And in reality?" He Lingchuan didn't need to enter dreams to converse with God Shinan.

"Reality?" Peng Fang looked bewildered. "I wouldn't know about that. The deities always find me at night."

He Lingchuan hummed, shaking the Dragon Punishment Pillar at him: "Then please relay a message for me. I want to see Bilu. If he wants this back, he'll have to come find me himself."

Just then, two logistics soldiers walked by. He waved them over, pointing to Peng Fang on the ground. "Take him down for treatment and confine him separately from the other captives."

Peng Fang let out a sigh of relief and was carried back to the city amidst his repeated thanks.

At that moment, a few loud claps of thunder suddenly rumbled across the sky, shaking people to their core. He Lingchuan looked up to see that the night sky had, at some point, been covered by a layer of thin clouds, with lightning flashing like electric snakes along the edges of the cloud gaps.

As he watched, the night sky flashed three or four more times in quick succession. The dazzling bright light illuminated both the sky and the thin clouds.

"This...?" He Lingchuan's pupils contracted sharply.

He actually saw an immensely large, whale-like figure moving slowly above the thin clouds. The entire expanse of thin cloud was already vast, yet this giant whale almost filled it.

He asked a nearby soldier, "Did you see that?"

"Cloud... a cloud?" The soldier looked bewildered.

"The thing above the clouds."

The soldier looked carefully for a few moments, then shook his head apologetically. "Commander, I, I didn't see anything but clouds and lightning."

Could it have been an illusion? He Lingchuan stared at the clouds again and again. The colossal object was still there, but it had moved from one patch of thin clouds to others, gliding and swirling. A small patch of the night sky that was free of clouds was, surprisingly, pale red, as if a small piece of a canvas had been peeled away inadvertently, revealing the underlying base color. But against the dark night sky, this slight anomaly was barely noticeable.

Pale red? It was such a familiar color.

He Lingchuan was still deep in thought when this small patch of night sky was quickly covered by drifting clouds.

Footsteps sounded behind him; it was Sun Fuling. He turned and asked, "Did you see the anomaly in the sky?"

"I did," Sun Fuling chuckled. "That's odd. Isn't it a bit early for thunder this season?"

Hearing this, He Lingchuan looked at her carefully. "Perhaps spring came exceptionally early this year?"

"That's a good thing, then." Sun Fuling poked his arm. "By the way, aren't you done with your task yet?"

"My task?"

She reminded him, "Why did you come out in the first place?"

"Right, right," He immediately remembered. "I was supposed to escort Master Sun home, and on the way, I caught a spy!"

He then continued his unfinished task, and the two walked home, chatting along the way. As the last flash of lightning streaked across the sky, He Lingchuan looked up and saw the colossal shadow turn and head deeper into the clouds, disappearing in an instant. The sky had long since returned to calm, leaving only the sound of wind rustling through the trees.

The giant object in the sky earlier, the more He Lingchuan looked at it, the more familiar it seemed: wasn't it the red colossal shadow inside the Great Flask? But it had always roamed the ocean; why was it appearing in the clouds above Panlong City? He had a strange thought: Since the Panlong World was also inside the Great Flask, was the red colossal shadow moving around the Panlong World?

Normally, He Lingchuan couldn't see such boundaries, much less its figure. But tonight was an exception. Had something happened inside the Flask?

By the way, he had gone through great lengths to retrieve the lid of the Great Flask, making the divine artifact whole again, but he never knew what that truly meant. The Great Flask should have changed too, right? The corner of the sky that had just been revealed clearly looked like a glitch, because he actually saw a scene from outside the Panlong World, though only for a few breaths. Based on his experience in another world, this kind of situation likely indicated a system error. Why would the Great Flask, now complete with its original lid, experience such a problem instead?

The Flask always felt to him like a silent living being; it should have its own will, but it never communicated directly with him. Now, what trick was it secretly playing?

Sun Fuling saw him repeatedly looking up at the sky. "What's wrong? Is there something interesting in the sky?"

Now there were only gray clouds, with no stars or moon.

"Nothing," He Lingchuan smiled. "I was wondering, what exactly determines 'Nairuo'?"

Sun Fuling asked curiously, "What is Nairuo?"

"'Fate,' he said, looking at Master Sun. "'Fate' in the divine language."

She shrugged it off. "You look at the sky and think of fate?"

"Isn't there a saying, 'My destiny is determined by me, not by Heaven'?" He Lingchuan exhaled a puff of white mist. "But look at all living beings, whether in Panlong City or Yuheng City, they all seem to walk within the shackles of predetermined fate."

Sun Fuling didn't agree. "Even if they broke free, you wouldn't know. You can't personally witness every individual's life."

He Lingchuan hesitated to speak. How could he not see it? Zhong Shengguang tried so hard, General Hong tried so hard, and the military and civilians of Panlong City tried so hard, but ultimately, they couldn't change the outcome of their destruction.

"So, what truly determines and changes fate?" Of course, he also thought of himself.

"On the surface, the fate of the weak is decided by the strong. How long a pig in a sty lives depends on when its owner decides to butcher it. How long the Kingdom of Xiji's reign lasts depends on when we make our move. See, it's gone now." Sun Fuling blinked. "Of course, if you only think this way, the answer becomes too despairing."

"Oh? Master Sun, please enlighten me!"

"This isn't an exam question; there's no ready-made answer," Sun Fuling chuckled. "But I think, instead of pondering endlessly, it's better to take action yourself. Once you successfully change fate, whether your own or someone else's, the answer will naturally reveal itself."

Change his own fate, change the fate of others; did "others" refer to Sun Fuling, or the military and civilians of Yuheng City? He recalled what National Master Qingyang had said about the ultimate fate of the Bone Flute of Heavenly Centipedes' owner. Now she stood beside him, smiling charmingly, as if all the misfortunes in the world would never befall her.

He Lingchuan pondered for a long time before nodding. He glanced at the sky again.

Peng Fang was not only held in solitary confinement, but medical soldiers also came to reset his joints and mend his broken bones. The medicine applied felt cool, greatly reducing the pain from his injuries. Someone else brought steaming hot food, which surprisingly included one meat dish and two vegetable dishes.