Karma Divine Art and Warning!

Independent spacetime, Divine Machine City.

Upon the Bell Mountain Throne, the Boundless True God suddenly noticed several red hairs growing from his arm.

The hairs wriggled like worms. The Boundless True God immediately raised his brows and stared at the three red hairs. They emitted a faint red glow, representing an evil cause.

"Who are A Su Long, Wu Zhen, and Jian Ling?"

"Oh, so that's how it is. They suffered setbacks, and the Divine Generals behind them traced cause and effect to calculate who Han Bing was—"

"Hmph. Overestimating themselves."

The Boundless True God casually slapped down.

Smack!

The three red hairs snapped.

Powerful divine power traveled through karma, crossing countless spacetimes before descending upon the three Divine Generals behind A Su Long, Jian Ling, and Wu Zhen.

Rumble—

The expressions of the three Free Divine Generals changed drastically. Statues in countless temples shattered one after another to resist the counterattack descending from hidden spacetime.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!!

No one knew how many temples exploded before the three Divine Generals finally managed to neutralize it.

"Petty scattered gods, rootless and adrift, and you dare trouble me?"

The Boundless True God's mechanical, icy voice echoed through the different spacetimes of the three Divine Generals.

The Divine Generals behind A Su Long, Jian Ling, and Wu Zhen were so frightened that they barely dared breathe.

They had merely wanted to see whose subordinate Venerable Han Bing was, so they traced cause and effect until they found the Boundless True God.

They had not expected him to be so unreasonable. He attacked without a word and beat them up instead.

"Let all their karma return to me."

This was one of the protective measures the Boundless True God had prepared for Zhao Xing.

Using the Karma Divine Incantation and Zhao Xing's relationship as his worshipper, he transferred the karmic burden Zhao Xing accumulated after traveling through spacetime onto himself.

The Karma Divine Incantation was built upon the broader framework of the river of spacetime, and it was quite particular.

If Zhao Xing encountered karma of the same level, it would not activate. Those on the same level were merely Demigods. Whether such karma was good or bad, Zhao Xing would bear it himself.

If Zhao Xing encountered god-level karma, especially someone trying to trace Zhao Xing's origins, then that Karma Thread would ultimately connect to the Boundless True God.

The Boundless True God had too many incarnations and too many matters to handle. Thus, to remind himself whenever such a situation arose, hairs would grow on his body.

Red hairs represented evil causes and evil results. Golden hairs represented good causes and good results, great opportunities—though those were equally worth being wary of.

The gods behind A Su Long, Wu Zhen, and Jian Ling had come aggressively, intending to demand answers.

But when the Boundless True God saw that the three red hairs were so tiny, he knew his opponents were not strong. Since he had never heard their honored names, they clearly had no major backing and were merely insignificant little gods.

So he simply slapped back.

The three Divine Generals were relatively weak. After being struck by the Boundless True God, they did not even know who had attacked them.

They could only swallow the grievance in silence. They no longer dared spy on him, allowed the Karma Thread to break, and never dared pursue the matter again.

The Boundless True God paid it no mind and continued meditating upon the Bell Mountain Throne.

Zhao Xing had no idea that after A Su Long and the others left, the Divine Realm behind them calculated his whereabouts and was then thoroughly beaten by the Boundless True God.

He told Bowei about his identity change. Within his Inner World, Bowei emerged from the Transmission Realm with a somewhat strange expression.

"Your identity changed to Mount Penglai Guardian?"

Bowei had changed into another outfit today, dressed like a martial artist.

Bowei seemed terribly bored within the Inner World and played dress-up with different professions every day.

"Are you the Moon God Palace Master's illegitimate son? Don't tell me you're a descendant of the Reincarnation Hall Master?"

"Why would Elder say that?" Zhao Xing also found it strange. "Is something wrong?"

"Of course there is." Bowei sneered. "Bi Luo died, Bifang was severely wounded, and as the instigator, you have already changed the course of the opportunity event."

"Logically, any identity change for you should be a demotion. In terms of plot time, such a major incident happened at the Sacred Mountain, so you, the chief Mountain Patrol Envoy, should definitely have been dismissed."

"It would be perfectly normal if you became a Mount Penglai servant or an ordinary disciple."

"A Guardian is practically a lateral transfer. The Profound Spirit History Book Replica must be protecting you."

"Replicas of the Profound Spirit History Book vary in quality. If the Moon God Palace Master did not give you special treatment, then the Reincarnation Hall Master must have pulled strings for you."

"That can happen?" Zhao Xing took out the History Book Replica but did not notice anything unusual about it.

He had never met the Moon God Palace Master or the Reincarnation Hall Master, and Lu Ya had not given him any special instructions.

Zhao Xing simply stopped thinking about it. "So is this change good or bad?"

Bowei said, "Of course it's a good thing. The Penglai inheritance is another major opportunity event. If you had to climb up from being a servant, it would be far too inconvenient. And even if you could climb that high, it would be completely unreasonable."

"Where would there be so many stories of nobodies rising to the top?"

"With your identity changed to a Mount Penglai Guardian, even if you perform a little outstandingly, nothing will seem amiss."

"Even if you display god-level talent or combat strength, your identity probably will not be exposed. That is the nature of inheritance-type events."

"As long as it isn't bad." Zhao Xing nodded in satisfaction.

The Penglai Divine General's Inheritance had originally been one of his targets. This event would occur in the 354th year of the second Solar Year.

It was now the 578th year of the first Solar Year. There were still more than seven hundred years before it began.

The event itself was simple: the Penglai Divine General sensed that his end was near and would choose a fated person to inherit his legacy.

Before long, Zhao Xing casually asked, "Elder, have you been studying some kind of martial technique lately?"

Bowei did not answer and simply walked into the courtyard.

"Last time he dressed as a Fate Master, and today he dressed as a martial artist. I wonder what Bowei is studying now, and whether he's made any progress."

"What a pity it wasn't today."

Getting free knowledge from Bowei was one of Zhao Xing's joys.

Golden Cicada True Form: Dual Body had been obtained through a trade, but the Thousand Thread Fruit had been purely free.

There were also various theories, such as the True History Faction's Space-Time Theory. They had broadened Zhao Xing's horizons and given him a deeper understanding of this world.

"After chatting with people from different spacetimes like Chu Ji, Liu Qingci, and Xu Huai, I discovered that their eras also had no god-level scholars. There were court historians, but they could not be considered scholars in the true sense."

"Bowei being a god-level scholar made him extraordinarily valuable across multiple spacetimes."

"The Human Race higher-ups were willing to let me use him and have Bowei become my Dao Protector. They really think highly of me."

After silently thanking the higher-ups of the Desolate Territory Faction, Zhao Xing's consciousness left his Inner World.

The identity change was somewhat like an advance prediction, but history had not yet changed. He was still within the Mountain Patrol Divine Department.

Zhao Xing took stock of the gains from the three opportunity events.

"First opportunity event: 9,734 cubic units of Earth God Crystal, one Sky God Blade, and one Divine Vein Ark belonging to the beast god Tibu."

"Second opportunity event: 15,748 cubic units of Earth God Crystal, with no other gains."

"Third opportunity event: 38,232 cubic units of Earth God Crystal, and an identity change."

"A total of 63,714 cubic units of Earth God Crystal and two divine artifacts."

"If all of it were converted into Contribution Points, it would be roughly 64.7 billion. But I need to keep at least eighty percent of the Earth God Crystal for myself." Zhao Xing considered the transformation of his Inner World, the cultivation of the Keyang Divine Tree, and the expansion of Extreme Land. The stronger the foundational source of a Free God, the better.

"Former Mountain Patrol Divine Department Chief Envoy Han Bing, Deputy Envoy Xu Huai, Deputy Envoy Yu Sheng, and Deputy Envoy Zhuo Hua, heed this order!"

"The four of you are being transferred together to Penglai Mountain to assume new positions."

Within the Mountain Patrol Divine Department, the Fire Pond blazed as it spat out four divine decrees.

They flew toward Zhao Xing, Liu Qingci, Xu Huai, and Zhuo Hua.

In the winter of the 578th year, due to the fall of the Bi Luo Free God, General Yue Nan of the Mountain Patrol Divine Department dissolved the Mountain Patrol Divine Department in the As Sea Region.

The few who remained received new appointments.

Zhao Xing, Liu Qingci, and the other two were all sent to Penglai Mountain.

The other Deputy Envoys were sent to mountain regions in other sea regions.

Based on their karma points, even those assigned to the same place received different appointments.

Zhao Xing became the Five Spirit Peak Guardian of Penglai Mountain, Liu Qingci became the West Altar Master, and Zhuo Hua became the Sixth Service Deputy Director.

"Five Spirit Peak Guardian? Isn't that a cushy post?" Liu Qingci and Zhuo Hua both stared at Zhao Xing in shock.

To be honest, these transfer orders carried a hint of punishment. They were called lateral transfers, but one only had to look at the assignments to know that the new positions were far less comfortable than being Mountain Patrol Envoys.

Judging by the positions within the Ancient Hill of Antiquity at this time, Earth Altar Masters usually managed the Earth Altar cultivators and ritual preparations involved in opening and sealing mountains.

Of the east, south, west, and north altars, the east and south were honored above the rest, followed by the north. The west altar was simply decorative, because no one performed western rites anymore.

It could only handle manual labor and had fallen to the lowest status among the Four Altar Departments.

As for the Sixth Service Deputy Director, that was even worse. It was nothing but servant work.

"The Sixth Service Department has to handle things like digging tunnels, feeding spirit beasts, opening sealed mines, clearing veins in Earth Palaces, and clearing out waste—fine, whatever."

"And I'm not even the head of the Sixth Service Department, only a Deputy Director. This is ridiculous."

Venerable Zhuo Hua looked at the new appointment and could not help lowering his head in dejection.

Compared to Zhao Xing's Spirit Peak Guardian position, it was not even on the same level.

A Spirit Peak Guardian could freely enter and leave Spirit Mountain blessed lands, manage Mountain Spirits and Wild Monsters as well as disciples and followers, absorb the essence of heaven and earth, and observe the spiritual mysteries of myriad peaks.

This was a position where one could easily encounter opportunities!

Comparing oneself to others really was infuriating.

"Xu Huai, what position did you get?" Zhuo Hua asked Xu Huai, who had remained silent.

Xu Huai held the decree and expressionlessly slapped it against Zhuo Hua. "See for yourself."

"Hundred Stone Peak, Ink Well Guardian. What kind of position is that?" Zhuo Hua did not understand at first.

"Pfft—" Liu Qingci burst out laughing, then realized that was inappropriate and cupped her hands toward Xu Huai. "Sorry, Brother Xu Huai. I truly couldn't hold it in."

Zhao Xing also found it hard not to laugh. An Ink Well Guardian sounded like a guardian in name, but was actually just someone who watched over a mine shaft.

It was like a Divine Emperor enfeoffing water regions throughout the world. Everyone else became East Sea Dragon Kings or West Sea Dragon Kings, while Xu Huai became a Well Dragon King.

A Well Dragon King did not originally have such a low status, but restricting it to a particular region was deadly.

The Hundred Stone Peak Ink Well Guardian position meant Xu Huai could only remain there and could not casually travel between wells.

"Brother Xu Huai, this Guardian position of yours really is—" Venerable Zhuo Hua held back before saying, "worse than not having one."

It was even worse than being a Sixth Service Deputy Director. At least Venerable Zhuo Hua had a wider range of movement.

"Hah..." Xu Huai sighed.

He had once been the Minister of Agriculture of the Celestial Timing Faction, a man who had made the Bai Zhuo Era Genius Ranking, yet he had been assigned to watch an Ink Well!

There was simply no reasoning with this damned place.

But complaints were one thing. If they wanted to stay, they had to follow the rules.

Zhao Xing, Xu Huai, Liu Qingci, and Zhuo Hua immediately set off. They left the As Sea Region in the 578th year of the first Solar Year and arrived at Penglai Mountain in the 563rd year.

"There are still more than seven hundred years before the opportunity event."

"I wonder how many people will come to participate."

If cooperation was still possible in the As Sea Region,

then only one person could obtain the Penglai Divine General's Inheritance. There was no possibility of cooperating with other Descenders.

"There can be no win-win situation. Only one person can obtain the inheritance. Every other Descender is an enemy, and there may even be god-level opponents among them."

Zhao Xing decided that for the next seven hundred years, he would lie low on a Spirit Peak and not leave the mountain until the Penglai Divine General's Inheritance opportunity event was triggered.

"Venerable Han Bing, I am Song Shan from the Blessed Land Department. I manage the cave residences of the various Spirit Mountain peaks. You may choose any cave residence among the five Spirit Peaks." Song Shan wore a coarse green hemp robe, its sleeves rolled to his elbows to reveal wheat-colored forearms tanned by the sun. He looked exceptionally plain.

At a glance, Zhao Xing recognized that this man was also a Descender. His apparent strength was at the Emperor Lord Realm, but he was actually already a Ninth Order Demigod.

"I have no idea how many people are waiting for the inheritance event, yet the first person I meet here is another Descender." Zhao Xing grew even more cautious.

He did not look too closely and casually chose a cave residence.

"All right, I'll take this one. I don't like being served. I prefer doing everything myself, so there's no need to assign attendants or servants."

"Yes, no problem. I guarantee that no one will come disturb you."

"Let me first introduce the cave residence to you." Song Shan enthusiastically invited Zhao Xing inside and began his introduction.

Zhao Xing saw that the man refused to leave, constantly flattering him while carrying an expectant look. He could not help finding it amusing.

"Song Shan thinks I'm an event character whose favor he can farm. Is he hoping I'll reward him with something?"

But Old Master Zhao's wool was not so easy to fleece. Besides, Zhao Xing had plenty of gold on him, but no loose silver, so it was not convenient to use any of it as a reward.

Thus, Zhao Xing maintained an indifferent attitude. After listening to Song Shan ramble for a while, he began ushering him out.

Song Shan remained enthusiastic and smiling as he took his leave.

But once he was far from the cave residence, his expression immediately changed.

"Bah! Where did this poor bastard come from?"

"I flattered him for so long, and he didn't give me a single thing!"

"What a waste of my time."

Song Shan had thought he could obtain some opportunity from Zhao Xing, but after all that effort, he got nothing.

Still, this was not the first time it had happened. Song Shan did not take it to heart, merely branding Guardian Han Bing as poor and stingy in his mind.

"If you want to wait for the Penglai Divine General's inheritance opportunity, you need to understand what the Penglai Divine General's Dao is. You even need to study some of his preferences. Only those of like mind can obtain his inheritance."

"If you are the opposite, then no matter how talented or powerful you are, you will never obtain the Penglai Divine General's inheritance."

Within the Inner World, Bowei was giving Zhao Xing a lesson. Today, he was dressed as a Minister of Agriculture, wearing the Solar Golden Plume Robe commonly worn by old-fashioned Celestial Timing Institute Ministers of Agriculture.

"According to historical records, the Penglai Divine General mainly cultivated the Earth Treasury path. He was not the sort of Minister of Agriculture who engaged in Fighting and Killing." Bowei said, "He studied under the Earth Treasury Divine King. Before joining the Cosmic Ark Project and defecting, he was the God King best at farming."

"The layout of the Twelve Mountains during the Spirit Domain Era of the Ancient Hill of Antiquity was basically arranged according to the Earth Treasury Divine King's Earth Treasury Mountain Sea Scripture."

"After he defected, the classics remained, but the Earth Treasury Department of the Ancient Hill of Antiquity gradually declined."

Zhao Xing sighed. Major powers underwent different changes in different eras. The departures of the Earth Treasury Divine King and Zhoushan Divine King had a profound impact on the Ancient Hill of Antiquity.

Especially the Earth Treasury Divine King. Without his guidance, the later geniuses of the Earth Treasury Department always struggled to understand his Jinglun, let alone reach his level.

If no one taught them and they had to learn alone, progress would naturally be much slower. They might even fail to break through altogether. For example, with the Life Earth Palace, if Divine General Lanchuan had not taught him, Zhao Xing might not have mastered it so quickly.

"As the Earth Treasury Divine King's disciple, the Earthly Advantage Faction arts the Penglai Divine General knew were mainly the Earth Treasury Art, followed by the Mystic Earth Art, Earth Palace Art, and Spirit Mountain Law."

"Having grown beneath the Earth Treasury Divine King's protection, he had hardly experienced battle, but he was exceptionally skilled at farming."

"As for his personal preferences, the Official History in my memory only mentions that he 'loved planting bamboo and enjoyed raising elephants.'"

"He also had two nicknames. One was the Sea Elephant God, and the other was Bamboo Scholar Ning. The latter was a title he gave himself."

"As for the former, he liked the Sea Elephant Race, so he often transformed into a Sea Elephant Race member. Over time, the Sea Elephant Race regarded him as a god, and he was happy to accept the title Sea Elephant God."

He liked planting bamboo and raising walruses? As Zhao Xing flipped through the Penglai Divine General's records, he found it rather novel.

History was as vast as smoke. If Bowei had not told him, Zhao Xing would never have understood it in such detail.

But now, he had a direction.

"Over the next seven hundred years, you can learn more spells of this kind. I can't teach you those; they are Ancient Hill of Antiquity's exclusive arts.

"I only know their names, not their methods."

"However, Primal Epoch Mountain contains them. You are allowed to take it through space-time precisely so that you have time to study."

Zhao Xing nodded. As the mountain head of Ancient Hill of Antiquity, the Primal Epoch Mountain he carried contained many of Ancient Hill of Antiquity's secret spells.

However, learning them would not be easy. First, he lacked the divine power of the Earthly Advantage Faction. Second, without anyone to teach him, his progress would be slow, or he might not even be able to get started.

Bowei knew which spells Ancient Hill of Antiquity possessed, but he did not know their specific cultivation methods.

Ancient Hill of Antiquity was not afraid of losing Primal Epoch Mountain either, because this divine artifact possessed a unique trait: no matter where it was lost, it would always return to Ancient Hill of Antiquity.

With a direction in mind, Zhao Xing entered a state of cultivation.

A World Core floated within the cave dwelling, while his physical body entered his Inner World.

Rather than study under Bowei's watchful eye, he went to the Yin-Yang Star System where the Keyang Divine Tree stood.

"For Earth Treasury Arts, the Primordial Earth Treasury Scripture is the foremost choice. I once learned the Reincarnation-level Secret Technique, Primordial Earth Treasury, which came from this scripture."

"The spell I learned was mainly used to awaken dead Earth Veins and restore their vitality. But Primordial Earth Treasury contains far more than that single effect."

"I rarely use this spell in ordinary times. Over these seven hundred years, I should properly study the Primordial Earth Treasury Scripture."

Zhao Xing summoned a stretch of land. With a wave of his hand, it was neatly divided into eight hundred thousand grids.

Each grid exceeded one million square kilometers. Different combinations of Earth Veins gave the soil within every grid distinct properties.

Zhao Xing cultivated the Primordial Earth Treasury Scripture within those eight hundred thousand grids.

The Primordial Earth Treasury Scripture contained many spells, as well as theories and principles, such as the Yang Year Soil Extraction Method, the Yin Moon Soil Extraction Method, Dao Manifestation Layer Soil Transformation, Elephant Manifestation Divine Soil, and more.

Every three years, Zhao Xing would awaken once to fulfill his duties as a guardian, striving to keep his fortune value at a high level.

Three years passed after another, and before long, Zhao Xing had spent one hundred and twenty years in his cave dwelling on Moon Spirit Peak.

On this day, Zhao Xing finished cultivating and prepared to go out for an inspection as usual.

Suddenly, a gentle breeze blew past, and there seemed to be a voice within it.

"Zhao Xing~ Zhao Xing~"

The breeze entered his ears, and so did the voice.

Zhao Xing showed no reaction and continued flying.

Soon, he landed on a mountain peak and began inspecting the mountain range. Yet amid the rhythm of the Earth Veins, he heard another message: "Zhao Xing, Zhao Shennong, please respond if you can hear this~"

Zhao Xing still did not react, pretending not to have noticed.

After making a round and returning to his cave dwelling, a thought flickered through his mind.

It was a sign that someone was making offerings to him.

And it was none other than He Chengzi, who had previously offered him five thousand years' worth of true-spirit incense and faith.

"Zhao Shennong~ Please do not answer! Do not answer!"

"This is a warning. Many gods are tracing your temporal afterimages and searching for your Footsteps."

"I am currently in the Desolate Territory, 341 epochs before the present, aboard the Cosmic Ark. I am sending this message only to warn you."

Zhao Xing snuffed out the thought and did not respond to He Chengzi.

His expression darkened. He had not expected the Evil God Faction to begin searching for him in such a way.

Was it Heavenly Ji Thunder Mother of the Five Abyss Thunder God Department, Bookless Divine King City, or perhaps the forces of the Heavenly Mountain Beast God and the Undying Nether God?

Zhao Xing could not tell. Since he had created the Ten Directions Mountain Scripture, any Evil God would likely want to find him.

"Trackers have even appeared aboard the Cosmic Ark. There are probably trackers in the other Space-Time Territories as well. This is truly a massive search." Bowei laughed. "The effort spent tracing Qing Yuzi was probably no greater than this."

Zhao Xing was not worried at all. Instead, he replied easily, "If no one pursued me, wouldn't giving me a protector have been pointless?"

"I've never seen an elder take action. I'd actually like some pursuers with real weight behind them to come."

"Elder, handling ten opponents of the same rank shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"

1

Seeing that Zhao Xing was not worried in the slightest, Bowei's smile vanished instead. "You had better hide yourself more carefully and not expose your identity. If I have to act, the situation you face will become far worse."