At the entrance of the cave dwelling, Qin Feng had no interest in even sparing another glance at the Chentang Pass general at the foot of the mountain, who was nearly scared out of his wits.
A self-important fly was not worthy of making him personally crush it.
His gaze had already pierced through thousands of miles of mountains and rivers, landing upon the mortal city of Chentang Pass.
Above the General's Mansion, immense power of fortune was gathering. A crystalline Spirit Pearl containing endless violent and murderous aura slowly descended from the Ninth Heaven, ignoring every restriction around the manor and precisely entering Lady Yin's womb.
The Spirit Pearl reincarnated, and Nezha was about to be born.
Another protagonist of the Investiture of the Gods Calamity was about to make his entrance.
Shi Ji stood beside Qin Feng. Seeing the thoughtful, amused expression on his face, she was filled with curiosity.
"Fellow Daoist, what are you looking at?" she could not help asking softly.
"A play whose script has already been written."
Qin Feng withdrew his gaze and smiled faintly, though a deep interest flashed through his eyes.
"However, I am not particularly satisfied with this play's ending. Why not... deduce it myself and see exactly what kind of show this so-called Heavenly Dao has arranged?"
Before his words had even faded, Qin Feng's entire aura abruptly changed.
He formed no hand seals and chanted no incantations. He merely stood there casually, his eyes half closed.
Yet an aura far more terrifying, ancient, and supreme than when he had refined the magical treasures earlier spread from his body.
It was a mighty power that seemed to stand above all Dao, command the flow of time, and overlook the rise and fall of eras!
The Law of Time!
Shi Ji's pupils suddenly contracted, and her delicate body began trembling uncontrollably.
To her horror, everything around her had come to a standstill.
The wind no longer blew, the clouds no longer moved, and even the Magic Power surging through her body was forcibly frozen in that instant.
She felt like a mosquito trapped in amber, frozen within eternal stillness. The only thing that could move was her mind.
Yet even her thoughts were now being drowned in a terror that rose from the depths of her soul.
Beneath the aura surrounding Qin Feng, she felt an unprecedented sense of insignificance and helplessness.
It was the absolute despair one felt before the Heavenly Dao and fate.
It was as though an invisible hand had long planned everything for her. From life to death, from glory to humiliation, every moment and every choice had already been determined, allowing no resistance.
And at this moment, Qin Feng seemed to have become that invisible hand plucking at the strings of fate.
Supported by his Quasi-Saint cultivation, his consciousness controlled the damaged Time Law Fragment and instantly broke through layer upon layer of heavenly secrets. Following the river of fate that had long been laid out, he looked downstream.
Scenes of the future flashed clearly through his mind like a revolving lantern.
He saw Lady Yin of the Chentang Pass General's Mansion carrying her child for three years and six months before finally giving birth to a massive ball of flesh.
He saw Li Jing fly into a rage, believing some demon had been born. With one slash of his sword, he split open the flesh ball, and a fair, jade-like child leaped out holding the Universe Ring and wearing the Hunyuan Silk.
He saw the child, naturally mischievous, playing in the waters along the East Sea Coast. He stirred the Dragon Palace into turmoil with the Hunyuan Silk, then used the Universe Ring to strike down Ao Bing, the Third Prince of the East Sea Dragon King, who had come to demand an explanation.
He saw the Four Dragon Kings gather at Chentang Pass, summon wind and rain, and flood the entire city to force Li Jing to hand over the culprit.
Then the scene shifted to the most tragic moment.
Upon the walls of Chentang Pass, Li Jing held a pagoda in his hand, his face cold and resolute as he angrily rebuked his own son.
The child named Nezha had tears in his eyes. Filled with unwillingness and resentment, he finally let out a mournful laugh.
"Father, I shall strip my bones to return them to you and cut my flesh to return it to Mother. From this day onward, we shall have nothing to do with one another!"
As his words fell, the short sword in his hand flashed. Bone was stripped away inch by inch, flesh fell piece by piece, and a living life vanished into the wind and rain.
Yet the tragedy had not ended.
Qin Feng's vision continued onward, and the scene of heavenly secrets abruptly changed.
He saw a beautiful female immortal in Daoist robes standing outside Golden Light Cave of Mount Qianyuan with grief and indignation written across her face, seeking justice for her disciple's tragic death.
That female immortal was Shi Ji.
Before her stood Taiyi Zhenren, his face full of contempt and disdain. As if crushing an ant, he casually brought out a magical treasure.
It was a golden divine cover entwined with nine dragons and blazing with flames.
The Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover!
The divine cover descended upon her. No matter how Shi Ji struggled or urged her Magic Power, it was useless.
The raging Divine Fire of the Ninth Heaven completely devoured her.
Within the endless flames, her billions of years of cultivation turned to ash, her peerless beauty became dry bones, and in the end, not even her Primordial Spirit escaped. She was burned alive, fulfilling the thread of true name written upon the Investiture of the Gods.
From beginning to end, that so-called Chan Sect Golden Immortal had not shown even a trace of pity.
There was only contempt for those "covered in fur and bearing horns," along with the natural assumption that such "aberrations" should be eliminated.
Scene after scene, cold and cruel, clearly outlined two tragic paths of fate that had long been predetermined.
"Heh."
A soft scoff brimming with endless mockery slipped from Qin Feng's lips.
He slowly opened his eyes.
The terrifying pressure of the Heavenly Dao that had enveloped Shi Ji's heart and made her feel as though she had fallen into an icy abyss instantly vanished without a trace.
The frozen space and time around them began flowing once more.
Shi Ji's delicate body went limp. She gasped for breath, her lovely face deathly pale and covered in fragrant sweat, as though she had just escaped the most terrifying nightmare.
She stared at Qin Feng in horror, her voice trembling.
"F-Fellow Daoist, what was that just now?"
Qin Feng did not answer. He merely turned his head and quietly looked at her, an indescribable emotion in his deep eyes.
Under his gaze, Shi Ji's heart inexplicably panicked.
From Qin Feng's eyes, she read a trace of... pity?
Pity?
Why would Fellow Daoist look at her that way?
Just as she was at a loss, Qin Feng suddenly smiled.
That smile was cold and domineering, filled with contempt for all things.
"Shi Ji."
He spoke slowly. His voice was not loud, yet it exploded through Shi Ji's heart like thunder.
"Do you know that the fate arranged by the Heavenly Dao is merely a script written by Saints?"
Shi Ji was utterly stunned.
A script?
"In that script, Nezha will kill your disciple. When you go to reason with his master, Taiyi Zhenren, he will mercilessly burn you alive with the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover. Billions of years of bitter cultivation will turn to ash in a single day."
Qin Feng's tone was as calm as if he were speaking of something entirely unrelated to him, yet every word was like a heavy hammer smashing violently into Shi Ji's heart.
Boom!
Shi Ji's mind buzzed, turning completely blank.
She stared at Qin Feng blankly, all color draining from her exquisite face in an instant.
Burned to death by Taiyi Zhenren...?
Though she did not know who Nezha was, the name Taiyi Zhenren and that helpless feeling of being controlled by fate made her instantly understand that Qin Feng was telling the truth!
That was her... destiny!
An icy, bone-piercing despair instantly swallowed her whole.
So her ending had long been decided?
So no matter how she struggled, she could not escape that destined calamity?
Just as Shi Ji lost control of herself and her Dao Heart was on the verge of collapse, Qin Feng's domineering voice sounded again.
"Unfortunately, I hate it most when others arrange things for me."
He reached out and gently gripped Shi Ji's chin, forcing her to raise her head and meet his eyes.
Within those eyes burned an arrogance and disdain that looked down upon the entire world.
"I do not like this script."
"So, I will tear it apart and write a new one!"
Rumble!
Shi Ji's entire world was utterly overturned in that instant!
She stared blankly at the man before her, at that wildly arrogant smile on his face, and listened to his domineering declaration that treated the Heavenly Dao as nothing and the Saints' script as waste paper.
The icy despair that had just swallowed her was completely shattered and incinerated by an unprecedented torrent of scorching magma!
Fear?
Despair?
No!
Replacing them was an excitement and trembling that made the blood throughout her body boil!
Tear apart the script!
Rewrite fate!
How could there be such a domineering, arrogant, and... reassuring man in this world!
He had not only seen her tragic destiny, but he was willing to defy the supreme Heavenly Dao for her and tear apart the script personally written by Saints!
At that moment, admiration and affection both seemed far too shallow.
The way Shi Ji looked at Qin Feng contained only the purest, most fanatical faith.
It was as though he were her heaven, her Dao, her everything!
The instant the thought of defying fate and changing destiny arose in Qin Feng's heart, a cold mechanical notification sounded in his mind right on cue.
[Ding! Detected the host's strong desire to interfere with the greater trend of the Heavenly Dao and alter the destinies of key figures. Special mission triggered!] [Special mission issued: Defy Fate and Change Destiny!] [Mission objective: Take the destined one, "Nezha," as a disciple. Alter his tragic fate of "stripping his bones to return them to his father and cutting his flesh to return it to his mother," protect his growth, and free him from his identity as a Saint's chess piece.] [Mission reward: Karma Law Fragment x1, massive merit!]
A Karma Law Fragment?
Qin Feng raised an eyebrow slightly, and an even more amused curve appeared on his lips.
This was quite a good thing.
Karma was both poison and a weapon. If one could control it, it possessed endless uses.
He released Shi Ji's chin and looked at the peerless female immortal before him, who had recovered from her shock and was now gazing at him with near-obsession. He smiled faintly.
"Let's go."
"Ah? Go... where?"
Shi Ji had not yet fully recovered from the tremendous shock and asked instinctively.
Qin Feng turned around, his gaze once again falling in the direction of Chentang Pass. His lofty bearing made him seem like a king about to inspect his own territory.
"To Chentang Pass, to take on a disciple."
He paused, then turned his head and gave Shi Ji a wicked smile.
"While we are at it, I will let you see with your own eyes what true 'defiance of heaven' means!"
Before you continue