Qi Fei's Attempt

Just as Qi Fei was about to go over and introduce himself to Linley, that bizarre world disappeared.

His vision returned to normal.

As his vision faded, a deep thirst arose in Qi Fei's soul. At the same time, the exhaustion brought on by his depleted spiritual energy washed over him.

Qi Fei fainted on the spot.

"Senior Brother? Senior Brother?"

Harvey hurriedly caught Qi Fei by the collar to keep him from falling face-first to the ground.

"What is this—has he used up all his soul power?"

Only after examining him carefully did Harvey realize that Qi Fei's condition was far more dangerous than it seemed.

He quickly took out a Soul Gold Bead.

It was a special item that could only be refined by those who cultivated the Rules of Death. Inside, it stored a large quantity of purified Soul Essence.

Once absorbed and refined, Soul Essence could strengthen one's soul without any risk.

In the Coiling Dragon Universe, this thing—which sounded like something straight out of a demonic cultivation manual—was considered no more than a somewhat rare cultivation resource.

That was thanks to the Coiling Dragon Universe's unique circumstances.

The Coiling Dragon Universe had no complete system of reincarnation.

Unless something unusual happened, living beings who died would automatically go to the Netherworld and be transformed into Undead.

When Undead died, however, they died for good—their souls scattered and vanished.

But once an Undead reached the Saint Realm, it gained Eternal Life and would never die of natural causes.

The incomplete reincarnation system, combined with the nearly infinite number of living beings across the countless planes of the Coiling Dragon Universe, meant its total number of souls kept increasing at a frenzied pace.

Killing living beings to refine their souls might not earn one the universe's praise, but it wouldn't bring any punishment, either.

The demonic cultivators of the xianxia worlds would have called that unfair.

Harvey placed the Soul Gold Bead in front of Qi Fei. The next moment, the golden Soul Essence inside floated out and flowed into the Sovereign Artifact Qi Fei wore.

Under the effect of the Soul Defense Overgod Artifact, the Soul Essence was refined with ease, and Qi Fei's complexion visibly improved.

But one Soul Gold Bead clearly wasn't enough. In just a few seconds, all the Soul Essence inside it had been used up.

Harvey quickly took out a box and set it beside Qi Fei.

Rich Soul Essence streamed out of the many crystal balls inside, forming a dense golden mist that almost completely enveloped Qi Fei.

Across from them, Linley noticed what was happening.

With a reminder from his companion in the Ring, he was also able to get a rough idea of what the power surrounding Qi Fei was.

So he decided to leave in another direction, away from someone who was obviously not to be trifled with.

"Please wait a moment, friend."

Nourished by the Soul Essence, Qi Fei quickly recovered and came to.

But the moment he opened his eyes, he saw Linley getting ready to leave, so Qi Fei called out to stop him.

"Senior Brother, are you all right?"

When he heard Qi Fei's voice, Harvey hurried over to him.

That sudden turn of events had given him quite a scare.

"I'm fine now. Thank you for saving me, Senior Brother."

Qi Fei thanked him.

The empty crystal balls beside him and the golden power nearly overflowing from his Sovereign Artifact gave him a pretty good idea of what had happened after he fainted.

Hearing that, Harvey finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's nothing. What did you do just now to use up so much soul power?"

He asked curiously.

"I saw my future through the Rules of Fate."

Qi Fei didn't answer aloud, instead sending the words to Harvey through spiritual energy.

"Your future through the Rules of Fate? That kid from the Dragonblood Family?"

Harvey's mental reply carried a note of surprise.

He didn't doubt that Qi Fei was telling the truth.

Before those who cultivated the Rules of Fate comprehended the laws and became Highgods, most of them were a little eccentric.

By their standards, Qi Fei was perfectly normal.

What Harvey found strange was whether there was something special about that kid from the Dragonblood Family beyond being an equal partner to a God-Devouring Rat.

"That's right. It was him."

Qi Fei recalled the world he had just seen.

The fate surrounding Linley was like a Black Hole. For Qi Fei, it was the finest possible textbook on the Rules of Fate.

If he could observe it more often, he might become a Fate Low-God within a year.

He couldn't let this chance slip by.

"Then let's talk to him."

Harvey ended their exchange with those words.

Then the two of them walked over to Linley.

Linley and Alice looked confused, with a trace of panic.

One of the basic facts everyone on the Yulan Continent knew was that only magical beasts of the Saint Realm could speak.

A Saint Realm rodent, accompanied by a junior brother whose strength was unknown, had inexplicably called them over.

That clearly didn't bode well.

Alice was simply frightened, but Linley was different.

His experiences training in the Magical Beast Mountain Range had gradually restored his composure.

He was ready.

If the other side had any ill intentions, he would take Alice and run. As long as they could make it to the Radiant Church, they probably wouldn't be killed on the spot.

Linley wasn't the only one who was prepared.

Doehring Cowart, the old man in his Ring, was also ready to burn his soul.

Although he had only a soul now, with no Magic Power to control the elements of the world, burning his soul would still let him cast Earth-style Magic almost on the level of the Saint Realm.

That should be enough to buy Linley time to escape.

But contrary to the master and disciple's expectations, the man facing them wore an extremely friendly expression.

No, "friendly" didn't begin to describe it.

He looked at Linley less like a person and more like an unparalleled treasure.

Doehring Cowart couldn't help thinking of some unsavory possibilities.

As a former palace mage, he had seen his fair share of things.

Just as Doehring Cowart was wondering whether to warn Linley, Qi Fei spoke.

"Hello. You must be Linley Baruch, the famous heir of the Baruch Clan and the number one genius at Ernst Magic Academy, right?"

Qi Fei smiled and held out his right hand.

"That's right. May I ask who you are?"

Linley honestly shook Qi Fei's hand.

"Qi Fei Cadmus. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Qi Fei enthusiastically shook Linley's hand.

As he observed Linley, he managed to open that vision again and tried to interfere with the threads of fate around him.

But no matter how much he shook Linley's hand—until it was almost numb—Qi Fei still couldn't move those threads of fate.

Qi Fei could only let go with a regretful expression.

"You're a little weak. You don't have anything like the strength the Dragonblood Warriors of old were supposed to have."

To match his expression, Qi Fei said this.

"..."

Although Linley had been called weak, he didn't argue.

His mind was in complete disarray.

Linley clearly remembered that the powerful man who had gone after Clayde for revenge had called himself Cadmus.

In other words, this man was the murderer of King of Fenlai.

After committing murder in the Holy Union, this man hadn't fled. Instead, he had wandered around Fenlai City.

And after running into Linley, he had even identified the origins of the Baruch Clan.

Why?

"Let's see... Take this as payment for you."

Qi Fei tossed Linley the Space Ring he had taken from Clayde.

A trace of Qi Fei's Dou Qi was hidden on the Space Ring.

As it fell into Linley's hand, Qi Fei's Dou Qi cut his skin, instantly making the Ring acknowledge him as its owner through a drop of blood.

According to the original story, this Ring was supposed to be something Linley gained after killing Clayde.

Thus, the Ring and Linley were connected on some level.

Using the Ring, Qi Fei successfully sent his power into the Black Hole of Fate within Linley, bringing him to within a step of the threads of fate.

Qi Fei took a look and found that the threads connected to Bebe, Doehring Cowart, and Alice were the clearest.

Without hesitation, Qi Fei chose Alice.

From the thread of fate tied to Alice, Qi Fei could see her future.

She would abandon her first love, Linley, and get engaged to her childhood friend, Kalan, but she would never marry.

It matched the story in the original novel.

The only thing Qi Fei noticed was that Linley's name wasn't stable. It flickered now and then.

That was probably because Linley was a man whose Destiny was uncertain, and because his relationship with Alice hadn't been firmly established yet.

Qi Fei decided to try touching that thread of fate.

As for adjusting the thread or changing someone's fate, Qi Fei hadn't even considered it.

Anyone with common sense could tell that changing fate wasn't something a nobody like him could do. Even after becoming a Chief God, it was anyone's guess whether he could manage it.

So this time, he would just touch it.

Boom—

A tremendous force of recoil surged through the thread, shattering Qi Fei's internal organs and most of his muscles.

Qi Fei became a fountain of blood, spraying it from every part of his body.

"Holy crap."

Harvey was so shocked he started swearing.

Even he couldn't tell how Qi Fei had been injured. It was terrifying.

Harvey hurriedly cast healing magic on Qi Fei and had his Divine Clone call his father, Beirut.

There was something seriously wrong with this kid.

Linley and the other two were also stunned by Qi Fei's performance.

Linley even forgot about the strange pain that had suddenly appeared in his hand.

Doehring Cowart, who had always prided himself on his knowledge and experience, no longer dared to do so after seeing this.

Who gives someone a gift and ends up like that?

"I'm fine. It's only a minor injury, nothing fatal."

As Fountain Qi Fei spoke, he coughed up a few more pieces of his internal organs.

The cough made the blood spurting from his wounds gush even harder, and soon it spread across the ground.

"I'm begging you—please stop talking."

Harvey hurriedly sealed Qi Fei's mouth and continued casting healing magic on him like mad.

The aura of Fate in Qi Fei's body was already interfering with the healing. He was making things even harder for himself on top of that.

Harvey really didn't dare let Qi Fei keep messing around.

If he did, Harvey was afraid Qi Fei would die right in front of him.

Qi Fei looked at Harvey with an apologetic expression.

In truth, he hadn't acted rashly.

Qi Fei had used his understanding of the Rules of Fate to confirm that he wouldn't face any fatal danger before he tried touching the power of Fate around Linley.

As for the danger involved—

When even the Chief Gods couldn't see something, wasn't it only natural for an Level 8 Warrior like him to face danger when he tried to touch it?

Besides, it wasn't fatal. He could try it, and since his Senior Brother was right there, any injuries could be treated on the spot.

It was just that Qi Fei hadn't expected the backlash to be so severe.

Just as Qi Fei was feeling guilty toward Harvey, Beirut arrived.

Even Beirut, a Chief God, couldn't help being surprised by Qi Fei's injuries.

To have such a dense aura of Fate and be injured without dying was something even an ordinary Fate Highgod would find difficult to accomplish.

Where had an ordinary person like Qi Fei gotten it?

Although Beirut couldn't make sense of it, he landed beside Qi Fei and took over the healing from his son.

With Beirut's help, the aura of Fate inside Qi Fei was cleared away, and his injuries vanished instantly.

"You're fairly lucky. That aura of Fate interfered with Harvey's healing, but it also happened to keep you alive."

Beirut waved his hand to block out the surroundings and spoke with a complicated expression.

No, he still couldn't understand how such complicated injuries had happened.

"Today, I was fortunate enough to begin learning the Rules of Fate. When I saw this young man from the Dragonblood Warrior Clan, I realized that he embodied the direction my future studies of the Rules of Fate would take."

Qi Fei reported honestly.

"I was so eager to try out what I'd just learned that I ended up hurting myself instead, and caused you and Senior Brother to worry. Please forgive me, Master."

With that, he bowed deeply to Beirut and Senior Brother.

He had indeed been rather reckless.

"You managed to begin learning both the Laws of Fire Elements and the Rules of Fate today. I'm delighted—why would I blame you?"

Beirut helped Qi Fei to his feet.

The faster Qi Fei cultivated, the sooner Beirut could escape his prison.

"Still, I hope you'll think about your own safety before trying anything next time."

Beirut meant every word.

Thinking back, he and Qi Fei had known each other for less than two days, and Beirut had already treated him three times.

The first time had been because of the Supreme God of Destruction. The other two times had been entirely Qi Fei's own doing.

Beirut was genuinely worried Qi Fei might accidentally kill himself.

"Yes, Master."

Qi Fei answered seriously.

At least until he became a god, he wouldn't touch Linley's Thread of Fate again.

"By the way, you said you saw the direction of the future in this young man?"

Beirut looked at Linley beyond the barrier of Divine Power.

"Yes."

Qi Fei nodded.

"Ha. This is probably the Supreme God of Fate's little joke."

Beirut sighed.

He had been hesitating over whether to kill Linley and set Bebe free.

Now he could no longer bring himself to do it.

"Master, is something wrong?"

Qi Fei asked, pretending he had no idea.

"Nothing. I was just thinking that this young man seems to have quite a connection to us."

Beirut answered casually.

"I told you before that I'm not human, but a special kind of Divine Beast."

Right—he had told him that just this morning.

"Could it be that you mean...?"

Qi Fei looked at Bebe, perched on Linley's shoulder, in surprise.

"If nothing unexpected happens, he's probably one of my kind."

Beirut looked at Bebe too, his eyes full of affection.

It had been tens of thousands of years since he'd seen one of his kind.

"Go talk with them. I'll wait outside."

Beirut knew that he would only get in the youngsters' way if he stayed.

So he vanished, leaving Qi Fei and the others some space.

"Farewell, Master."

Qi Fei said respectfully.

As soon as he finished speaking, the barrier Beirut had left around them gradually disappeared.

Linley and the others could once again see Qi Fei, along with the mouse.