Chapter 1127: The Strange Path of Cause and Effect

The cultivator wrapped entirely in a black robe, whose aura was strange and voice indistinct, making his identity hard to discern, merely said hoarsely, "A great event is imminent; one must not recklessly meddle with karma."

The Sect Master of Canglang Sect said in a deep voice, "Two elders and six disciples of my Canglang Sect have disappeared without a trace. It's highly probable they were silenced. And one of those two elders is my nephew."

"The person who acted covertly possesses considerable cultivation and extraordinary methods."

"I suspect this person is targeting not only the Canglang Sect but also me."

"If the killer's identity isn't investigated thoroughly, I fear—"

The Sect Master of Canglang Sect's gaze darkened slightly, "...a great disaster will ensue."

The so-called "great disaster" was left unsaid by him, but the black-robed cultivator clearly understood.

His expression instantly turned serious. After a moment of contemplation, he slowly nodded. "Very well. Before a grand plan, one should naturally be cautious and thorough, never taking things lightly."

"I will perform a divination."

The black-robed cultivator glanced at the Sect Master of Canglang Sect and asked, "Do you have any personal belongings of your nephew?"

The Sect Master of Canglang Sect was clearly prepared. He took out a jade pendant and a brocade pouch. Inside the pouch was a lock of hair, which he presented to the black-robed cultivator.

"Leave a bowl of your blood."

The Sect Master of Canglang Sect took out a dagger, cut his palm, and let his blood drip into a bowl until it was full.

With all items gathered, the black-robed cultivator nodded. "You may withdraw for now."

The burly Sect Master of Canglang Sect, resembling a fierce wolf, nodded slightly and obediently retreated outside the hall.

He knew in his heart that "Mister Wu" was about to perform divination.

This was an extremely profound secret cultivation art.

During divination, no one was allowed to disturb or observe. Even the Sect Master of Canglang Sect was no exception.

After the Sect Master of Canglang Sect left, "Mister Wu" pointed at the brazier, and a green flame ignited.

In the fire, vengeful spirits seemed to struggle, accompanied by the horrifying howls of demonic wolves, chilling to the bone.

When the fire's temperature turned cold, Mister Wu took out a tortoise shell and threw it into the green fire.

The green fire surged, burning cracks onto the tortoise shell.

Mister Wu seized the opportunity to throw the jade pendant and brocade pouch into the fire, burning them all together. Then he also threw the Sect Master of Canglang Sect's blood into the brazier.

The blood, carrying a familial connection, turned green when burned by the green flame. Then it seeped into the tortoise shell, forming "karma lines" that twisted and extended into the past.

Mister Wu's spirit immediately invigorated. He quickly chanted an incantation, then cut his palm and directly plunged his hand into the brazier, grasping the tortoise shell.

He allowed his own blood to merge with the green blood.

In this way, his divine sense could peer into the karma lines of the past, to find out what truly happened and who the "culprit" was.

Amidst the hazy obscurity, the face of the young man in wolf robes emerged in the green firelight.

His face was filled with shock and bewilderment, as if he hadn't expected to die until his very last moment.

Mister Wu frowned, questioning, "Who killed you?"

The young man in wolf robes was enveloped in green fire. He seemed to want to speak but dared not.

Mister Wu's gaze darkened.

Since he wouldn't speak, Mister Wu could only see for himself.

He exerted force with his right hand, allowing more blood to flow into the tortoise shell, intervening more deeply into this layer of karma, and began to retrace the young man in wolf robes' life backwards.

Soon, he locked onto a figure.

This figure was very blurry, black-grey all over, and emanating firelight, appearing somewhat eerie.

Mister Wu frowned. Only at this moment did a hint of unease arise in his heart. He felt his action might have been rash, wondering if he had—

—divined about someone he shouldn't have?

Mister Wu felt a desire to withdraw. But it was already too late; he had already seen that eerie figure.

And he had touched the karma of the "culprit" behind it all.

In an instant, a dense mist spread.

Mister Wu felt as if he were in a deep mountain shrouded in thick fog. The surroundings were a vast expanse of white; he couldn't see his own hand outstretched.

"This is heavenly secret mist?" Mister Wu's heart trembled. He looked around, his expression somewhat incredulous.

"Such powerful heavenly secret mist—it's so dense!"

"Whose doing is this, exactly?"

Mister Wu was shocked to his core.

He continued to walk forward along the mist, but after walking for a long time, he still couldn't discern his direction.

The scope, density, and profoundness of this mist, as well as the sophistication of the heavenly secret methods it contained, far exceeded his expectations.

The more Mister Wu observed, the more horrified he became.

He was certain that within this mist lay hidden some extremely vast and precious karma. Otherwise, no master would go to such lengths to lay down such an unfathomable mist to conceal this heavenly secret.

This was the work of a powerful Heavenly Secret expert!

Mister Wu's expression was grave, and he wandered aimlessly like a headless fly in the mist for a long time.

But this mist was simply beyond his ability to break through.

As the green fire was about to extinguish and the tortoise shell's divination technique about to dissipate, Mister Wu still gained nothing and could only frown and leave this karmic mist.

After returning to the real world.

In the brazier, the demonic fire had died out, and the tortoise shell was covered in cracks.

Mister Wu was lost in thought. After an unknown period, he said, "Come in."

The Sect Master of Canglang Sect walked in and asked, "Mister Wu, how did it go?"

Mister Wu shook his head. "A complete mist. I couldn't discern the karma, the cause of death, or trace the killer."

The Sect Master of Canglang Sect frowned, clearly not expecting that even the extraordinary Mister Wu couldn't divine the killer's identity.

"Then this matter—" the Sect Master of Canglang Sect said.

Mister Wu said calmly, "It's alright. The art of karma is inherently obscure and complex. It's normal to gain nothing from a single divination."

"Allow me to consult the ancient texts of my clan to find a divination method that can pierce through mist and uncover secrets. Then all the truth will naturally come to light."

The Sect Master of Canglang Sect cupped his hands and said, "In that case, I'm greatly indebted to Mister Wu."

Mister Wu nodded and said, "I am weary."

The Sect Master of Canglang Sect wisely stood up. "This Duan will not disturb your rest, Mister." After speaking, he quietly departed.

Mister Wu closed his eyes to rest for a moment. Once his divine sense had slightly recovered, he took out several worn and yellowed ancient parchment scrolls from his wolf-skin storage pouch and began to peruse them intently. He needed to find a way to break through that mist.

Meanwhile, inside the guest room.

Mohua also had a strange expression.

"Just now, was someone divining about me?"

"Who?"

This was the first time he had such a clear and distinct feeling of his karma being "calculated" by someone else.

He had certainly been divined about before.

Mohua knew this well.

He was Mister Zhuang's direct disciple, with a special identity. And in the Qianxue State Realm, he had caused such major commotions in numerous incidents, both before and after. There must have been a multitude of people secretly deducing his karma.

But Mohua hadn't had a very obvious feeling before.

One reason was that he was very well protected.

Old Mister Xun cherished him greatly, even giving him the Grand Void Two Poles Lock.

Mister Zhuang, whose life force was like a flickering candle, had laid down mist. Although much of it had dissipated, a portion still lingered in the karma.

The mist in Mohua's fate had condensed into an extremely powerful heavenly secret barrier, like the thick fog in the depths of Daheishan Mountain, concealing all terrifying portents of misfortune deep within the mist.

Ordinary heavenly secret cultivators simply couldn't break through this layer of mist.

Secondly, because in the Qianxue State Realm, most of the cultivators deducing Mohua's karma were at the late Golden Core stage, or even Feathered Ascension, or even Cavernous Void realm experts.

This was a group of people, calculating him together.

These people had too high a cultivation, and their methods were very subtle.

Therefore, Mohua couldn't detect anything when these people deduced his karma.

But now it was different.

Away from the Qianxue State Realm, with no more disturbances, Mohua's karma became much clearer.

And ever since the malevolent aura entered his body, Mohua's fate became increasingly sensitive, and his perception of karma grew more subtle.

Just now, he clearly and distinctly sensed that someone was deducing his karma.

This person's cultivation realm wasn't much higher than his own.

Although his karmic art wasn't bad, it lacked refinement.

Clearly, they were also a "rookie."

Moreover, their location wasn't too far from his own.

In his originally peaceful fate, one person, a heavenly secret "rookie," close to him, divining his karma—

It would be difficult not to notice.

"No wonder Old Mister Xun warned me not to casually divine about others' karma," Mohua mused to himself.

When you peer into karma, karma also peers back at you.

If your divine sense path and karmic arts are inferior to others', rashly divining about others is like offering yourself into their mouths. In the end, only you will die.

"Karma truly is dangerous."

Mohua sighed inwardly. Yet he didn't realize that he himself was the most dangerous karma.

Mohua then felt somewhat perplexed.

He could now vaguely perceive that someone was "calculating" him using karmic arts.

"Then what? What should I do?"

Mohua frowned, pondering deeply for a while. Suddenly, he realized that he seemed—to be able to do nothing.

Up until now, his "defenses" in karma seemed to have all been "passive."

They were arranged for him by Old Mister Xun and his master.

As for his fate, even more ominous and terrifying things seemed to lie dormant within it.

But these things were also beyond his control. In fact, not only were they uncontrollable, but they might also be significant "hidden dangers."

These defenses stemming from "hidden dangers" were also "passive."

This made Mohua feel very insecure.

He couldn't rely solely on others to protect his fate.

He needed the ability to protect his own fate autonomously, alter it, and even defy it.

"My own destiny must be held in my own hands. My own fate must be controlled by myself—"

"But how to control it?"

Without relying on his master, Old Mister Xun, or those 'hidden dangers', relying only on his own abilities, how could he "counter" others' karmic prying?

Mohua found this somewhat difficult.

His divine sense was very strong. He possessed two supreme heavenly secret calculation methods, and his karmic foundation was terrifyingly deep.

But unfortunately, regarding heavenly secret karmic arts, he lacked the most "basic" learning.

His foundation was strong, but his basics were "weak."

To the extent that, apart from derivation calculation and sinister calculation, he knew very little about even the most basic karmic arts and methods for karmic balance.

While in the Qianxue State Realm, Mohua had once subtly sounded out True Lord Situ, wanting to learn some karmic methods.

True Lord Situ was from Xuanji Valley.

And Xuanji Valley's very foundation was its "karma" inheritance.

But True Lord Situ stammered, clearly not quite agreeing.

First, the sect rules were strict. These karmic methods were exclusive transmissions of Xuanji Valley, and non-members of Xuanji Valley were not permitted to learn them.

Second, he truly didn't dare teach Mohua.

The karma on Mohua's person was simply too immense.

Once he learned Xuanji Valley's karmic art, that "karma" would become too deeply bound.

Mohua's fate contained monstrous malevolent aura and was in an extremely delicate balance. If his fate were to "revert" in the future, and Mohua were to "fall" and become a great demon, then Xuanji Valley would be "aiding evil" and committing a grave mistake.

For all these reasons, True Lord Situ simply dared not teach Mohua anything lightly.

Mohua had no choice.

He also understood True Lord Situ's difficulties.

But precisely because he lacked means of "karmic counter-control," when someone was deducing his karma just now, Mohua could only watch from the side and do nothing.

He realized this wouldn't do.

He had immense divine sense power, yet couldn't wield it.

Mohua didn't like this feeling.

"To perform karmic counter-control by myself—"

"How to counter it?"

Mohua lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling with open eyes. In his mind, he reviewed all the knowledge and experiences from his cultivation journey, wondering if there was anyone's method he could directly "copy."

First, he couldn't copy his master's.

Because he hadn't actually seen how his master used heavenly secret derivation to operate heavenly secret arts.

Then, besides his master, the only one he could "copy" was his martial uncle.

"My martial uncle is terrifying. His terrifying nature lies in the fact that ordinary cultivators don't even dare to utter his name."

"Unspeakable, unseen, even unthinkable. Otherwise, it would trigger a certain karma, leading to my martial uncle's sinister thought manifesting, bringing about trouble worse than death."

This karmic ability certainly had many restrictions, such as time, space, cultivation level, divine sense strength, and so on.

Mohua couldn't fully comprehend it yet, but this "sinister thought manifestation" path seemed like something he could "take notes from."

After all, his martial uncle's divine sense was strong, and so was his own.

His martial uncle cultivated unparalleled heavenly secret sinister calculations, and he himself happened to have learned a bit of heavenly secret sinister calculations.

The foundation and framework were the same.

His martial uncle was a master among masters.

So if he learned from him, even if he didn't become a master among masters, he should at least be able to become an ordinary "master."

Mohua pondered.

"My martial uncle's heavenly secret sinister calculations are more profound and incredibly sophisticated. He can differentiate sinister thoughts and transform his divine sense into thousands."

"This, I cannot do. I can only differentiate 'sinister thought afterimages'. But these afterimages, when draped over divine sense, can only amplify calculation power; they cannot be completely differentiated and sent out."

"If I can't differentiate, then I can't generate independent 'sinister thought avatars' to 'descend' through karma.... Then this still won't work."

Mohua frowned, racking his brains, then suddenly shook his head.

"No, that's not right. My approach is wrong—"

"My martial uncle is too formidable. I certainly can't be as powerful as him, making others merely speak my name to have my thoughts 'descend' and my divine sense possess them—"

"Moreover, I don't need to differentiate 'sinister thought avatars' right now."

"That's an advanced method of heavenly secret sinister calculations; it's too difficult—"

"What I need to do now is merely 'karmic counter-control', to protect my own fate with my own abilities and make others not dare to easily 'calculate' me."

"Or at least, when others calculate me, I can detect it and 'trick' them in return—"

"How to counter? Divine sense transforming into a sword?"

Mohua thought about it and shook his head.

Divine sense transforming into a sword is a power from the divine sense world, like the Sea of Consciousness or Dream Demons.

But heavenly secret karma is another set of grand Dao principles.

Mohua hadn't delved deeply into it and couldn't explain it clearly for now. He only felt it was a grand Dao system where subjective and objective intertwined, divine sense and matter coexisted, illusionary realms and reality were maintained, and vows and karma merged.

Although related to divine sense, it wasn't directly equivalent.

"Pure divine sense killing arts can't be used for now—So, should I use my martial uncle's 'demon seed in the Dao heart'?"

Mohua followed this line of thought and continued to ponder.

"The principle of 'demon seed in the Dao heart' is to differentiate a 'demon seed' and plant it in the 'Dao heart'."

"In reality, one needs to use words as a 'bridge' to plant the 'demon seed' in another's heart, allowing it to take root and sprout, influencing their thoughts."

"But in fate karma—"

"I can't talk to the 'intruder'. I can't directly use words as a 'bridge', and without words, there's no 'demon seed'—"

Mohua's brows furrowed, pondering without a solution. He could only put himself in his "martial uncle's" shoes and imagine how the terrifying martial uncle would handle this problem in such a situation. After a long while, Mohua's mind jolted. Two words emerged in his mind:

"Malevolent aura!"

He had a premonition: if his martial uncle were in his current situation, he would definitely find a way to use the "malevolent aura" refined from monstrous bloodshed as a medium to create a "demon seed."

This was an inexplicable tacit understanding between a martial uncle and his nephew from the same sect.

After all, in Mohua's fate, the karma of the Corpse King and evil embryo was completely beyond his control; Mohua himself wasn't even clearly aware of it.

Mohua himself couldn't penetrate the mist formed by Old Mister Xun, Mister Zhuang, and the Grand Void Two Poles Lock.

All things considered, the only thing he could potentially control was the "malevolent aura" from the bloodshed he personally committed.

This was also the only cultivation power in his fate that he could possibly manipulate.

"Combining the malevolent aura of slaughter with heavenly secret sinister calculations, using 'demon seed in the Dao heart' as a form, to merge into a special karmic sinister path method to counter those who want to scheme against me through karma—"

Mohua's eyes gradually brightened.

After that, he eagerly began to experiment, cultivating step by step:

"First, use heavenly secret sinister calculations to differentiate a wisp of sinister thought—"

"Then, use 'demon seed in the Dao heart' to transform this 'sinister thought' into a 'demon seed'—"

"Then, merge this wisp of sinister thought, transformed into a 'demon seed,' with the malevolent aura in my fate—"

"After merging, then use—demonic path aura transformation—no, that's an external transformation. I should use the Blood Prison Eye Technique to activate the malevolent aura, then let the malevolent aura backlash—"

"Because the malevolent aura summoned is small, the backlash will be within a tolerable range."

"After the malevolent aura backlashes, it will naturally flow backwards, entering my fate."

"In this way, the malevolent aura will act as a 'bridge', bringing the sinister thought I refined into a 'demon seed' back into my fate. Anyone who deduces my karma, as long as they touch this malevolent aura, will be 'demon-seeded in their Dao heart' by me—"

This entire process, while simple to describe, involved too many divine sense methods, too profound and too complex.

Heavenly secret sinister calculations, demon seed in the Dao heart, the divine sense Dao transformation of the Heavenly Derivation Art, plus divine sense manipulation, and the malevolent aura in his fate, and two types of malevolent aura dissipation and transformation methods.

To profoundly understand all these methods, then dissect, break down, and piece them together according to his own ideas.

Even for Mohua, putting it into practice felt incredibly difficult.

He set aside everything, and only after three full days and nights of arduous attempts did he finally manage to refine a sinister thought "demon seed" according to his own wishes.

Mohua let out a long sigh of relief, and then felt a surge of anticipation.

After that, he lay on his bed, closing his eyes to rest his mind, waiting for someone else to "calculate" him again.

Sure enough, as evening fell and midnight passed, an unusual movement came from his fate again. It seemed someone was prying into his karma using a secret method.

The person divining his karmic fate, Mohua estimated, should be from the Canglang Sect.

Most likely, it was the person the Sect Master of Canglang Sect had invited to deduce the cause of death of the young man in wolf robes.

And this person, so gloomy, was probably the "advisor" the Sect Master of Canglang Sect kept hidden in the shadows.

Mohua followed his plan. He used the Blood Prison Eye to activate the malevolent aura, drawing a backlash from it, and integrated a wisp of sinister thought into the malevolent aura.

Within the sinister thought, a "demon seed in the Dao heart" idea was hidden: "I'm a good-for-nothing, might as well die—"