Epiphany

To be honest, revenge didn't feel all that satisfying.

Maybe it was because his former self's father had practically begged for death, or maybe it was because this revenge had taken so little effort.

Qi Fei didn't feel as though he had truly gotten revenge.

As for the various feelings people often described in web novels about killing someone for the first time, Qi Fei hadn't experienced much of that either.

Aside from a small piece of his hand, Clayde's entire body had turned to ash beneath Qi Fei's attack.

In those circumstances, Qi Fei hadn't truly felt as though anyone had died. It had been less thrilling than watching an American splatter film.

If he had to describe it, there was only a slight discomfort from taking a life.

"Is this... a Space Ring? I didn't expect that guy to have one. He's pretty lucky."

Harvey removed the ring from the half of Clayde's hand that remained.

He examined it with interest for a moment, then tossed it to Qi Fei.

Space Rings were quite rare on the Material Plane. Their owners were generally at the Saint Realm.

Clayde had one thanks to the importance the Fenlai Kingdom held to the Radiant Church.

"Speaking of which, how did you notice it?"

Harvey landed back on Qi Fei's shoulder.

Even he hadn't noticed it at first glance.

But when Qi Fei killed Clayde, he had deliberately avoided the hand wearing the ring. He had clearly spotted it.

"I saw him running away without taking any luggage. And Senior Brother Hart had just given me a Space Ring."

Of course, the most important thing was that the original story had explicitly stated that Clayde owned a Space Ring.

As he spoke, Qi Fei pricked his finger and checked what was inside.

Gold coins, Magic Cores, Magic Crystal Cards, and all kinds of fairly rare treasures.

They were worth something, but none of them were useful to Qi Fei.

The miscellaneous junk Second Senior Brother had given him in that other Space Ring was worth more than all of this. He could dig out a random shovel-load and come out ahead.

He had seen the ocean; now, lesser waters held no appeal.

Qi Fei casually tossed the Space Ring into his own, where he kept it alongside a pile of rings he hadn't checked yet.

That was the nice thing about spatial items in the Coiling Dragon World: you could nest them inside one another as much as you liked.

That way, he didn't have to carry a whole bunch of rings around when he traveled.

"By the way, about the Profundity of Explosion... does that move you used have a name?"

Harvey had been about to comment on the move Qi Fei had created and explain how it might develop in the future.

Then he realized that he didn't even know what the move was called.

"No."

Qi Fei answered honestly.

His move was, simply put, to gather power according to the principles of a Profound Mystery, then unleash it in an explosion.

It was so simple and crude that he had no idea what to call it.

"Then how about I name it for you?"

Harvey asked eagerly.

"Let me ask first: what name did you have in mind, Senior Brother?"

Qi Fei decided to hear the name before making up his mind.

If it sounded good, he'd use it. If not, he wouldn't.

"Since it was born from the Profundity of Explosion, how about Flash Flood?"

Harvey thought for a moment and offered a name.

"What does a flash flood have to do with the Profundity of Explosion?"

Qi Fei couldn't for the life of him see the connection between the two.

Besides, he studied the Laws of Fire Elements. Having a move with a name that was obviously related to water felt strange.

"But the way you released all that Dou Qi at once reminded me of a flash flood suddenly bursting forth."

Harvey explained that he'd named it based on its appearance.

But the naming process wasn't important. What mattered was that his junior seemed not to like the name much.

"Then how about another one? Maybe Big Bang?"

Harvey offered a second name.

This time, he didn't even need Qi Fei to answer. Harvey himself thought it sounded a little perfunctory.

"Wait, let me think. I've got it: Flame Explosion. How's that?"

Harvey racked his brains and finally came up with a suitable name.

"Then I'll go with your suggestion, Senior Brother."

It wasn't that Qi Fei thought the name was especially fitting.

He just figured that if he didn't agree now, his senior brother would come up with a whole string of names for him to choose from.

So he might as well call it that.

"Good. Flame Explosion it is."

Harvey clapped his paws together.

"Ahem. Your Flame Explosion is only the most basic application of the Profundity of Explosion."

His senior brother put on the air of a strict teacher.

"You should know that the Profundity of Explosion isn't just about gathering power and then releasing it. It can also make one part of your Dou Qi unleash ten parts' worth of force."

"At the Saint Realm, you'll only have truly mastered the Profundity of Explosion once you can make your Dou Qi unleash several times its power at any moment."

If he could make his Dou Qi unleash hundreds of times its power in an instant, while still keeping it fully under control, he would be close to comprehending this Profound Mystery completely and becoming a god.

"I understand, Senior Brother."

Qi Fei nodded.

When he'd first begun to grasp this Profound Mystery, he'd felt that he could make his Dou Qi unleash greater power.

But his senior brother had given him the information too quickly, and he hadn't had time to experiment.

"Senior Brother, please keep the flight magic going. I'm going back to test this out."

Qi Fei spoke with barely contained eagerness.

If he incorporated this method of channeling Dou Qi into his Dou Qi, Flame Explosion would become even more powerful.

At that point, it would be fair to call it a proper signature move.

He just didn't know whether other versions of Qi Fei could use a move derived from the Laws.

"Huh? Going back already? How about we wander around Fenlai City for a bit?"

Harvey wore the expression of a schoolboy who wanted to play a little longer on his way home.

"Don't worry about the time. I'll carry you on the way back. I can fly much faster than you can with magic."

Apparently, he thought Qi Fei might be worried about getting back too late, so he offered a solution right away.

"...All right, let's take a look around."

Qi Fei sounded rather unenthusiastic.

But he quickly perked up again.

In the few months since crossing over, Qi Fei had done nothing but cultivate. Exploring a city in another world sounded pretty nice.

As for refining his signature move, his senior brother had already planned out the time. A little detour wouldn't matter.

Just as the two of them were discussing where to start, Heidens landed near Qi Fei with several Saint Realm experts.

"Now that you've killed Clayde, why are you still lingering here?"

Perhaps because he was in a bad mood, Heidens's tone was a little harsher than usual.

Harvey's tone was even worse.

"What's it to you?"

Heidens was so angry his teeth ached, but he still managed to force a smile.

"May I ask what you plan to do next? Perhaps the Radiant Church could make some arrangements for you."

If it weren't for that person in the Forest of Darkness, would I let two little brats like you insult me so freely?

Harvey couldn't be bothered to deal with Heidens at all.

He was nothing more than a Saint Realm expert at the peak, forcefully elevated by the power of the Overlord of Light. Who was he to give Harvey attitude?

Harvey was only in a good mood today. Otherwise, he would have slapped him to death.

So Harvey ignored Heidens completely and directed Qi Fei toward Fenlai City.

Qi Fei glanced at Heidens's rapidly changing expression, then turned and left the palace.

He wondered whether Linley would still cross paths with this man now that Clayde was no longer around to provide information.

The Overlords of Light and Darkness in the Coiling Dragon World possessed a special treasure called the Angel Reincarnation Pool. It could transform souls into pure weapons of war: Angels.

The strength of an Angel depended on the purity of the soul it was transformed from.

For that reason, the Radiant Church and the Dark Church gathered highly pure souls for their Overlords across the various planes.

Linley's mother had been kidnapped and killed by Clayde for that very reason.

Because Linley's mother's soul had been exceptionally pure, the Overlord of Light had bestowed an unprecedented reward upon the Radiant Church.

Clayde had been raised from a sixth-level warrior to a ninth-level warrior, and had also received a Saint Realm-level magic scroll: Fate Guardian.

It was the transparent ripple that had appeared around him when he faced Qi Fei just now.

In the original story, Linley had learned this information from Clayde just as he was about to kill him.

Without Clayde, Linley would have to find the information elsewhere.

Qi Fei thought of Beirut.

Since Beirut had been able to uncover what Clayde had done to his former self's father, he must have searched Clayde's soul.

Then Beirut would naturally know why Linley's mother had died.

And as the companion of the second God-Devouring Rat, Linley could easily get the information from Beirut.

When the time came, Linley would still end up opposing the Radiant Church.

What if Beirut didn't tell Linley, either?

The thought surfaced in Qi Fei's mind.

But that seemed unlikely.

Beirut doted on Bebe, the second God-Devouring Rat. If Bebe asked, Linley would certainly get the information from Beirut.

And Qi Fei, the only one who knew about this, couldn't think of a good reason to stop him.

Even if Qi Fei did stop him, Linley could still learn the truth from the Radiant Church.

The Radiant Church had been sacrificing souls for years, and would continue doing so in the future.

Linley had been born in the Holy Union. With his talent, he could rise to a high position there even without joining the Radiant Church.

So sooner or later, he would probably discover the soul sacrifices.

Then Linley would naturally notice that Clayde had once sent a woman there at a certain point in time.

That point in time would match the moment when Clayde and his younger brother had kidnapped Linley's mother.

And so Linley would inevitably turn against the Radiant Church and personally send it to its doom.

In other words, no matter what happened, the Radiant Church on the Yulan Plane was destined to fall at Linley's hands.

Was this Fate?

Faced with the course of destiny set by the universe, Qi Fei felt powerless.

Could his transmigration really change anything?

Such thoughts rose in Qi Fei's mind.

But the next moment, he crushed them.

Clayde had died by his hand. Linley wouldn't be captured by the Radiant Church for attacking Clayde.

Nor would he later die while continuing to hunt Clayde, taking the old man who accompanied him with him.

Fate was in his own hands.

Qi Fei's thoughts grew clearer, and a strange fluctuation gradually radiated from him.

Harvey, standing outside, was nearly dumbfounded.

I just wanted to wander around somewhere crowded. And you've already started grasping the Rules of Fate?

You've grasped the Laws of Fire Elements and the Rules of Fate in less than half a day. Is there something wrong with your talent?

Harvey felt that he'd truly learned something new today.

He blew toward the road ahead, pushing aside the crowds who had come to the palace to watch the spectacle, so they wouldn't disturb Qi Fei's epiphany.

Qi Fei walked aimlessly along the road.

With every step, the aura of Fate around him grew stronger.

After he'd taken several hundred steps, Harvey didn't even need to clear the crowds anymore.

The aura was so powerful that everyone knew Qi Fei was no ordinary person. They moved away from him of their own accord.

Just as Harvey began to wonder whether Qi Fei was about to become a god right there and then, the aura of Fate gradually faded.

Qi Fei came to his senses.

"Congratulations. What does it feel like to have begun grasping the Rules of Fate?"

Harvey's voice drew Qi Fei's attention away from his confusion.

"...How should I put it? It feels less clear than the Laws of Fire Elements. I can't quite get a sense of where to go."

Qi Fei sounded a little bewildered.

"That's how it is. The Four Rules don't have distinct Profound Mysteries, so they're more troublesome to comprehend."

Harvey began explaining the difference between Laws and Rules.

"And you're comprehending the most elusive of them all, Fate, so that feeling will be even stronger."

It was precisely because of this that Deities with the Fate attribute were relatively rare.

But those who gained some understanding of Fate generally weren't too bad.

"Ethereal and elusive."

Qi Fei's gaze was drawn to a young man in the distance.

A wondrous world unfolded before Qi Fei's eyes.

In this world, the young man himself seemed like a void, as though Fate itself had nothing to do with him.

Yet a great many threadlike strands of Fate gathered around him, intertwining to form a massive vortex around the void.

Was he really comprehending the Fate attribute of the Coiling Dragon World?

Why didn't it feel like it?

Qi Fei couldn't help feeling puzzled.

"Who are you looking at?"

Harvey followed Qi Fei's gaze.

It seemed to be a young couple on a date.

The girl didn't matter much. It was the young man who caught his attention.

A small black rat sat on the young man's shoulder, and Harvey recognized it.

It was the second God-Devouring Rat to appear across the countless planes in tens of thousands of years—the one his father had been investigating all day yesterday.

Harvey immediately felt like going over to chat with it.

And Harvey guessed that Qi Fei would probably want to talk to the young man, too.

"Qi Fei, that young man over there is a member of the Dragonblood Family—the Dragonblood Warrior Clan your ancestors once fought against."

He spoke to Qi Fei in a low voice.

"Then let's go talk to him."

Qi Fei had already suspected as much.

As expected, this Black Hole of Fate was Linley.

In the Coiling Dragon cosmology—or, more precisely, in the universes born within the Hongmeng Space—there was a concept known as the "Unfathomable Destiny Individual."

Only such people had even the slightest chance of transcending the universe.

After all, if the universe fixed someone's Fate, then that person's limits would naturally lie within the universe.

Since Linley would transcend in the future, his Fate was, of course, not fixed by the Coiling Dragon Universe.

Qi Fei could now be fairly certain that what he had comprehended was definitely not the ordinary Rules of Fate, but something on a deeper level.

Practitioners of the ordinary Rules of Fate couldn't possibly see these things.

In the original story, the Overlord of Destiny had always wondered whether some being was manipulating everything in the universe.

If he could see things from Qi Fei's current perspective, he wouldn't have to wonder.

It was obvious that someone was manipulating everything.