Information Mapping

Lu Yan's idea was not without basis.

It had been more than two months since his return to the Urban Version. Besides cultivating during this time, Lu Yan had also conducted research in other areas, the most crucial being the relationship of Information Mapping between different versions.

In the Xianxia Version, Steward Chu had chosen Lu Yan to enter the Spirit Talisman Shop. Yet after returning to the Urban Version, those three months of work at the Spirit Talisman Shop had become, in the old folks' telling, a period when he had entered a Mega-corporation and gone to Myanmar to strike it rich.

Lu Yan had even taken the time to specifically ask Grandma Xu about the Mega-corporation, but all he got were vague answers like "I heard" and "seems like it." She could not provide a single concrete detail.

It was as though Lu Yan's experiences at the Spirit Talisman Shop had been mapped into the Urban Version as something like background information.

Some people had a certain understanding of Lu Yan's experiences, and the information within them would be substituted into the backgrounds of different versions. But when asked to clearly explain the specifics, most people found it difficult to answer.

This situation appeared almost exclusively around Lu Yan. He could only attribute it to the special nature of being an Unchanging One.

Considering the characteristics of Information Mapping, Lu Yan had killed Steward Chu in the Urban Version. Once he returned to the Xianxia Version, there would inevitably be corresponding Information Mapping. The demonic path would surely come knocking then, which was why Lu Yan was in such a hurry to deal with the Demonic Path Cultivator.

There was only one cultivator in the Urban Version—Lu Yan himself. No matter how powerful one might be in the Xianxia Version, upon arriving in the Urban Version, one could only become an ordinary person. This place was therefore Lu Yan's home ground.

Even if I'm the only cultivator, I can't rely on my cultivation advantage to run wild in the Urban Version. On the contrary, I need to be even more cautious.

Low-level cultivators possess miraculous methods ordinary people cannot comprehend, but modern firearms are no joke.

I'm only at the First Level of Qi Refining. In a direct confrontation, a squad of police armed with automatic weapons could probably suppress me, let alone powerful modern armies.

A cultivator's advantage absolutely does not lie in direct confrontation!

So I need to keep the disturbance from searching for the Demonic Path Cultivator as small as possible, lest some strange information be mapped over during later Version Updates.

Before I begin searching, I should bolster my cultivator methods first. I'll learn a few spells before anything else.

With that thought, Lu Yan waved his right hand and took out the "Red Lotus Karma Fire Sutra" once more.

Upon reaching the First Level of Qi Refining, one could normally begin learning some low-level spells.

The Minor Golden Light Technique, Invisibility Technique, Spirit Fire Technique, and Light Feather Technique were all first-order spells sold in Bamboo Forest Market. One could even spend thirty Spirit Stones on a copy of the "First Order Spell Compendium" and learn all these first-order spells.

Although Lu Yan had Spirit Stones, he had no channel through which to purchase them. Naturally, these basic spells were beyond his reach.

Fortunately, as a high-grade cultivation technique, the "Red Lotus Karma Fire Sutra" recorded several exclusive spells. They could only be learned after cultivating the "Red Lotus Karma Fire Sutra," neatly making up for Lu Yan's lack of spellcraft.

This cultivation technique contained only the Qi Refining Stage portion, so Lu Yan found only two Qi Refining Stage spells within it.

First-order high-grade spell: Karma Entanglement

First-order Supreme-Grade Spell: Red Lotus Karma Fire

Supreme-Grade Spell?

Lu Yan froze for a moment, then delight immediately appeared on his face.

He had previously devoted himself to studying Qi Guiding Circulation and needed to keep his state of mind steady, so he had not examined the later contents of the "Red Lotus Karma Fire Sutra."

Today was the first time he had looked at these two Qi Refining spells. He had never expected one of them to be a Supreme-Grade Spell.

Most spells circulating through ordinary markets are low-grade or mid-grade. High-grade spells are firmly controlled by sect cultivators, which is why cultivators from sects can so thoroughly overpower Rogue Cultivators.

As for Supreme-Grade Spells, they can only appear in great sects with long inheritances.

The greatest characteristic of Supreme-Grade Spells is that they are not restricted by rank. They grow along with the cultivator's cultivation realm.

When used during the Qi Refining Stage, it is a first-order Supreme-Grade Spell. Once one reaches the Foundation Establishment Realm, it becomes a second-order Supreme-Grade Spell. Its power far surpasses spells of the same rank.

Seeing this Supreme-Grade Spell named Red Lotus Karma Fire, Lu Yan suddenly realized that the grade of this "Red Lotus Karma Fire Sutra" was likely far higher than he had imagined.

At first, he had believed that this cultivation technique, which contained only the Qi Refining Stage portion, had been passed down by the Demonic Path Cultivator behind Steward Chu, intended to tempt Steward Chu into helping refine the Soul Banner.

But now it seemed that the "Red Lotus Karma Fire Sutra" contained a Supreme-Grade Spell. Even if the Demonic Path Cultivator truly had been plotting over the Soul Banner, he could not possibly use such an important cultivation technique as bait.

The thought flashed through his mind, and Lu Yan began examining the two spells.

Karma Entanglement was a curse technique. When facing a powerful enemy burdened by grave slaughter and sin, one could cast Karma Entanglement to detonate the sins upon the enemy, plunging them into Karma Entanglement.

Depending on the sins of the target, Karma Entanglement could produce different effects. At the mildest, it might cause spiritual power to circulate poorly, talismans to fail, or magical artifacts to be damaged. At the worst, it could bring unexpected attacks by demon beasts, sudden natural disasters, or even draw down a lightning tribulation.

This curse technique was highly targeted and extraordinarily effective against Demonic Path Cultivators steeped in slaughter. Unfortunately, it required Late Stage Qi Refining cultivation to cast.

Red Lotus Karma Fire, meanwhile, was a killing art. Using Karma as its catalyst, Red Lotus Karma Fire burned all things.

Even a Buddhist Golden Body or a Daoist Nascent Soul could still hardly withstand the burning of Red Lotus Karma Fire.

This Supreme-Grade Spell had no cultivation requirement. Even Lu Yan, now only at the First Level of Qi Refining, could attempt to cast it.

But cultivating Red Lotus Karma Fire required something else: Karma!

Whether one committed monstrous sins through slaughter or threw the court into turmoil until all living things suffered, Karma would cling to one's body.

The "Red Lotus Karma Fire Sutra" could turn Karma to its own use. The greater one's Karma, the more powerful the Red Lotus Karma Fire one could wield. At the peak of cultivation, a single thought would create a scene of hell forged from karmic fire.

But the current problem was—

Where am I supposed to get Karma?

Lu Yan wore a thoroughly gloomy expression.

This "Red Lotus Karma Fire Sutra" truly deserved to be called a high-grade demonic path cultivation technique. Its core spell, Red Lotus Karma Fire, was designed to make cultivators actively accumulate Karma in order to strengthen the flames.

Whether through boundless slaughter or by destroying order and bringing calamity upon the common people, it was unmistakably the path of the demonic way.

It could be said that anyone who cultivated the "Red Lotus Karma Fire Sutra" would inevitably embark upon the road of slaughter.

But for Lu Yan, this road was clearly impossible.

Setting aside the fact that over a decade of education had made it impossible for him to accept killing at will, the stable order of the Urban Version alone meant that if he began killing on one day, the military would likely come to surround and suppress him before the next.

The second route, however, could be attempted across the ocean.

He could back a fool in running for president. If that fool were elected, perhaps it could achieve the goal of bringing calamity upon all living beings. Unfortunately, it would take far too long, and several Version Updates would have to pass in the meantime. Once a Version Change occurred, who knew what trouble might arise.

By then, the Information Mapping left behind would be far too extensive and would inevitably bring disaster upon subsequent versions.