Successful Sign-in

Chapter 42: Sign-in Successful

The incident with the overturned cushion was like a stone thrown into a stagnant pond, sending ripples outward that took a long time to subside.

Hongjun was still preaching, his voice as smooth as water that had flowed through mountain streams for millennia, undisturbed. But the two to three hundred people in the hall had long since let their minds wander.

Taiyi stood there, his eyes on Hongjun, his face wearing an expression of earnest listening—his brow furrowed slightly, and he occasionally nodded gently, as if understanding something crucial. Inside, however, his mind was in turmoil.

He was waiting.

Waiting for the System's reaction.

That moment just now—the overturned cushion, Zhunti's flushed, angry face, Hongjun's sweeping gaze—throughout the entire process, he could clearly feel something deep within his sea of consciousness being stirred. It was like a sleeping beast awakened, opening its eyes in the darkness.

But after waiting for a long time, there was no movement.

Hongjun was currently discussing "the taboo of entrusting spiritual treasures to the Three Corpses," his voice flowing slowly through the hall: "...Spiritual treasures tainted by karma cannot be entrusted with good thoughts; spiritual treasures with excessive malevolent energy cannot be entrusted with evil thoughts; spiritual treasures with unstable origins cannot be entrusted with obsessions..."

Many people in the hall frowned as they listened. These requirements were too strict; where could one find such suitable spiritual treasures?

Taiyi listened too, but his mind was mostly elsewhere.

He was thinking about the feeling he just had—that tremor deep in his sea of consciousness, it couldn't be wrong. The System must have been triggered, but why was there no response?

Was it delayed? Or was it "confirming" something?

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Wait.

Since it was triggered, it would definitely come.

Time ticked by.

Hongjun went on to explain the specific methods for "entrusting good thoughts": "...One must use the origin of their own good thoughts to nurture the spiritual treasure for forty-nine days, refining it daily with vital blood and connecting with it through their spirit..."

Some people in the hall began to secretly gasp—this method consumed too much mental energy; one wrong step could damage their origin.

Taiyi also tried to deduce it, but as soon as he mobilized his magic power, his sea of consciousness trembled violently!

It wasn't an illusion; it was a real, tangible tremor. Like a stone dropped into a deep well, ripples spread from the very bottom, expanding outward layer by layer.

Immediately after, a cold, chaotic torrent, carrying an ancient, taboo aura, surged from the deepest part of his sea of consciousness without warning.

Taiyi grunted, his face instantly paling.

Fortunately, everyone else was focused on listening to the sermon, and no one noticed him—except Di Jun. His elder brother glanced at him and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Taiyi forced a smile, "I just expended a lot of mental energy deducing the method."

Di Jun frowned, looking at him for a moment, then handed him a bottle of pills: "Just focus on listening to the sermon; don't be too eager for success."

Taiyi took the pills and thanked him, but didn't eat them.

He closed his eyes, focusing all his efforts on stabilizing his mind.

The torrent was rampaging through his sea of consciousness. It wasn't spiritual energy, nor magic power, nor even "information" in the usual sense. It was something more fundamental—distorted, reverse fragments of cognition about "karma" itself.

He "saw" it.

Not with his eyes, but with some deeper perception.

Countless fragmented images flashed in his consciousness—

He saw Hongyun giving up his seat, Zhunti taking his place, Jieyin sitting beside him—that was the "predetermined fate" that should have happened.

He saw himself knocking over the cushion, Zhunti furiously attacking, the two of them fighting in Zixiao Palace—that was another "possibility."

He saw the cushion knocked over and then righted, Zhunti sitting on the fifth cushion, Jieyin on the sixth, but a subtle crack appeared on the karma threads connecting them to the cushion—that was the "reality" that was unfolding.

These images intertwined, overlapped, and collided, finally exploding with a "boom" and transforming into countless fragments of runes shimmering with dark golden light.

Those fragments swirled and danced in his sea of consciousness, like a flock of birds returning to their nest, finally converging in one direction—the deepest part of his Three Flowers Dao Foundation.

[Ding--]

It wasn't a sound, but a tremor that directly affected his Primordial Spirit.

Immediately after, a scarlet system interface forcibly popped open, filling his entire field of vision:

[Forbidden Sign-in Mission Complete]

[Location: Zixiao Palace (Heavenly Dao Core Radiation Zone)]

[Behavioral Judgment: During Hongjun's sermon on the Dao of Quasi-Saints, completed a 'rebellious act' in a manner not recognized by the Heavenly Dao—interfered with the predetermined trajectory of the cushion's karma, causing the predetermined fate line to deviate]

[Completion Assessment: 93%]

[Requirements Met: 1. Was the act witnessed by three or more future Saints (Three Pure Ones were present)? 2. Did not directly attack Hongjun or damage the foundation of Zixiao Palace? 3. Executed during the most intense karma entanglement of the cushion?]

[Calculating Rewards...]

It's here!

Taiyi's heart pounded, suppressing the almost overflowing excitement. He maintained his posture of closed eyes and listening to the sermon, his expression calm, even carrying a hint of enlightenment—but his hand in his sleeve was clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.

In his sea of consciousness, the system interface refreshed frantically:

[Base Reward: Taboo Points × 1000 (Issued)]

[Calculating bonus rewards...]

[Causality Perturbation Value Assessment: Extremely High]

[Degree of Deviation from Predetermined Fate Line: Moderately High]

[Acquired: Taboo Relic Fragment of Karma Reversal ×3]

[Acquired: Heavenly Dao Loophole Coordinates ×3 (Encrypted and stored in system space)]

[Acquired: Temporary Ability: Karma Insulator (Duration: Twelve Shichen)]

[Current Taboo Points Balance: 1319]

It's done!

Taiyi let out a sigh of relief, but before he could fully exhale, a stronger impact struck.

The crystals formed by the three dark gold rune fragments had now sunk deep into his Three Flowers Dao Foundation. The moment they made contact—

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three muffled tremors exploded in the depths of his Primordial Spirit.

Taiyi felt his consciousness being torn into three parts, each undergoing a different kind of distortion.

The first fragment brought "blurriness."

He could "see" the karma threads extending from his body beginning to lose clarity. The brotherly karma thread connecting him to Di Jun—which had originally been so clear that he could see the Origin connection from the Sun Star's gestation—now became hazy, as if viewed through frosted glass. The tribal karma thread connecting him to the Demon Race—originally thick as an arm and closely linked to the Heavenly Court's fortune—had also thinned and faded. And all the more minute karma threads were becoming blurry.

The second fragment brought "chaos."

His perception of the Heavenly Secrets began to become disordered. The path ahead was unclear, and the path behind was also blurred. Even the most fundamental question of "who am I" began to waver—Am I Eastern Emperor Taiyi? Or Lin Yuan? Or... something else? He felt as if he had been thrown into a thick fog, with white mist stretching out in all directions, obscuring everything.

The third fragment brought... "taboo."

A cold, chaotic power, carrying a certain ancient taboo aura, began to permeate his magical power Origin, his Three Flowers Dao Foundation, and every wisp of his divine sense. That power was transforming him, twisting him, pushing him in an unknown direction.

[Taboo Relic Fragment of Karma Reversal Fusion in progress...]

The system notification popped up coldly.

[Fusion Progress: 1%... 3%... 7%...]

Taiyi gritted his teeth and circulated his cultivation technique with all his might to stabilize his Primordial Spirit. The True Sun Fire surged through his meridians, and the Three Flowers appeared above his head, rotating slowly, attempting to digest this sudden influx of foreign power.

But the power was too bizarre.

It wasn't here to "integrate"; it was here to "overwrite"—like a bucket of ink poured into clear water, not mixing, but polluting, distorting, turning the originally clear substance murky and chaotic.

He could feel his "existence" becoming... elusive.

Like a reflection in water; you can see it, but when you reach out to grasp it, you only get a handful of water.

Just then—

On the high platform, Hongjun's gaze swept over.

It wasn't intentional, just a natural scan during his lecture. His gaze moved from left to right, from the Three Pure Ones to Nuwa, sweeping past Zhunti and Jieyin...

Then, it paused on Taiyi for half a breath.

Just half a breath.

But in that instant, Taiyi felt as if his Primordial Spirit had been seized by an invisible hand.

It wasn't an attack, nor suppression, just a pure "gaze." The gaze was frighteningly calm, like a bottomless cold pool, where you couldn't tell if it held anger, joy, or if it simply didn't care.

But Taiyi could feel what was contained within that gaze—it was "seeing."

Seeing his physical body, his Primordial Spirit, the flow of his magical power, the changes happening deep within his sea of consciousness that shouldn't be there.

Seeing the three Taboo Relic Fragments of Karma Reversal fusing.

Seeing the taboo power that was permeating him.

Seeing how his karma threads were becoming blurry.

Seeing how his Heavenly Secrets were becoming chaotic.

Taiyi's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat.

He forced himself to remain calm, maintaining the posture of listening to the lecture with his eyes closed, even keeping his breathing steady and the flow of his magical power at a normal rhythm. But inside, a tempest was raging.

Was he discovered?

No, not necessarily.

Hongjun's gaze only lingered for half a breath before moving on, continuing his lecture: "...Entrusting evil thoughts is even more perilous. One must repeatedly temper spiritual treasures with the Origin of one's own evil thoughts until the spiritual treasure generates malevolence..."

His voice remained calm, betraying no abnormality.

But Taiyi knew the Dao Ancestor had noticed.

He didn't know exactly what had been noticed, but he was certain that "abnormality" had been detected. It was just that Hongjun didn't pursue it, perhaps he didn't care, perhaps he felt it wasn't necessary, or perhaps... he was waiting for something.

He suppressed the turmoil in his heart and refocused his attention on his sea of consciousness.

The fusion was still ongoing.

[Fusion Progress: 12%...18%...25%...]

With every bit of fusion, his perception of karma grew clearer, while his own karma became more blurred. It was a contradictory experience—you could "see" the trajectory of others' destinies more clearly, yet you couldn't see your own.

He tried to "look" around.

The world in his eyes had already changed.

He could "see" the threads of karma extending from everyone—the Three Pure Ones' profound yellow karma threads were as solid as iron chains; Nuwa's creation green light karma threads were full of life; Zhunti and Jieyin's dark golden karma threads were intertwined. Although both sat on futons, Zhunti's thread was noticeably brighter, while Jieyin's was dimmer, as if affected by something. Hongyun's broken karma thread was slowly dissipating, and with every bit that vanished, the gray-black calamity qi above his head intensified...

Even the great powers standing in the back rows had clearly visible karma threads—some thick, some thin, some tangled into knots, some straight as swords.

But when he looked at himself, he saw only... chaos.

Vague, distorted, elusive.

A few main karma threads remained, but the details were all messed up. Like a painting soaked in water, the outlines were still there, but the colors had bled, the lines were blurred, and nothing could be seen clearly.

This is what it means for one's own karma to be blurred?

Taiyi couldn't quite describe the feeling.

Time passed bit by bit.

Hongjun's sermon continued, reaching the difficult point of "entrusting obsessions": "...Obsessions are stubborn, and the object of entrustment must bear significant weight. If the spiritual treasure is too light, obsessions will easily turn into empty talk..."

Many people in the hall listened with furrowed brows—clearly, severing obsessions was harder than severing good or evil thoughts.

Zhunti, sitting on the fifth futon, had a calm expression again. He closed his eyes, hands clasped, dark golden Buddhist light flowing around him. He would occasionally nod gently, as if understanding a crucial point. But Taiyi could "see" that the karma thread connecting him to the futon was trembling slightly—not a stable tremble, but one with subtle cracks, an unstable tremble.

Jieyin sat on the sixth futon, his sorrowful face still expressionless, but his eyelids twitched slightly. His karma thread was also a bit unstable, intertwined particularly tightly with Zhunti's, as if he were being implicated.

On the Three Pure Ones' side, Laozi remained with closed eyes, Yuanshi frowned slightly, while Tongtian observed the entire hall with great interest—especially Taiyi.

Nuwa's gaze also swept over occasionally, filled with inquiry.

Di Jun stood beside Taiyi, his entire attention focused on the sermon. He could sense his brother's aura fluctuating but assumed it was due to enlightenment from listening and didn't pay much attention.

Only Taiyi himself knew that his sea of consciousness was in turmoil.

[Fusion Progress: 41%...53%...67%...]

The three dark golden crystals had sunk deep into the Three Flowers Dao Foundation, beginning to intertwine and fuse with his Origin Laws. With every bit of fusion, he felt his "presence" weaken—not in power, but in becoming... elusive.

Finally—

[Fusion Progress: 100%]

[Taboo Relic Fragment of Karma Reversal Fusion Complete]

Taiyi slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

He opened his eyes. Deep within his golden irises, a faint dark golden light flashed and vanished, so quickly it seemed like an illusion.

The world in his eyes had completely changed.

He could "see" the flow of karma threads, the intertwining of destiny's trajectories, the hidden calamities and opportunities within everyone.

But when he looked at himself, there was only chaos.

Vague, distorted, unfathomable.

Is this the price of forbidden power?

He looked up at Hongjun on the high platform.

The Dao Ancestor was still preaching, his voice calm, his expression indifferent. But just as the fragment finished fusing, Hongjun's gaze lingered on him for another moment.

Just a moment.

But in that instant, Taiyi felt as if he had been completely seen through.

From body to Primordial Spirit, from magical power to karma, from past to future—all his secrets were laid bare.

He forced himself to remain calm, maintaining an expression of attentive listening, even nodding slightly as if responding to what the Dao Ancestor had just said.

But his back was already soaked with cold sweat for the second time.

Hongjun soon shifted his gaze and continued preaching: "...The entrustment of the Three Corpses is complete and requires one's own Dao Fruit as a guide for gradual nurturing. Only when the Three Corpses are fully integrated with the entrusted spiritual treasure can one attempt to sever them..."

His voice remained calm, betraying no abnormality.

But Taiyi knew the Dao Ancestor had seen everything.

And yet... he hadn't intervened.

Why?

He didn't know.

Perhaps in Hongjun's eyes, this "abnormality" was not worth mentioning? Perhaps the Dao Ancestor was waiting for something? Perhaps... there were rules he didn't know about?

He suppressed the doubts in his heart and refocused his attention on the sermon.

Hongjun was now reaching the most crucial part:

"...The method of the Three Corpses is the foundation for achieving sainthood. However, the path to sainthood is not limited to this. The Heavenly Dao has flaws. The Great Dao has fifty, Heaven's evolution has forty-nine, and man escapes one..."

The hall fell silent instantly.

Everyone held their breath.

What was the Dao Ancestor implying?

Taiyi also perked up his ears, listening.

But just then, deep within his sea of consciousness, the newly formed, twisted karma thread suddenly flashed.

Immediately after, the system interface popped up automatically:

[Temporary Ability: Karma Insulator Activated]

[Duration: Twelve Shichen]

[Effect: During this period, the host's karma will be temporarily shielded and cannot be traced by the Heavenly Dao.]

Taiyi's heart leaped.

Twelve Shichen...

This meant that for the next twelve Shichen, no matter what he did, the Heavenly Dao wouldn't "see" it?

He looked at Hongjun on the high platform.

The Dao Ancestor continued his sermon, his voice calm and distant:

"...This sermon will last for three years. Today's lecture is only on the method of embodying the Three Corpses. There will be subsequent stages of severing the corpses, nurturing them, and unifying them..."

Three years?

Taiyi was stunned at first, then realized.

Of course, the sermons in Zixiao Palace were never finished in one go. The previous two sermons each lasted for over a thousand years. This time, he was teaching the path of the Quasi-Saint, which concerned the foundation for becoming a Saint. Three years... was probably even short.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart.

Three years, and twelve Shichen of karma insulation...

Perhaps, he could do something.

He closed his eyes and began to listen to the sermon earnestly.

Hongjun's voice flowed slowly through the hall, each word containing the true meaning of the Great Dao.

Meanwhile, in Taiyi's sea of consciousness, the three fragments of karma reversal had completely merged. That forbidden power was slowly seeping into every inch of his flesh and blood, every wisp of his Primordial Spirit.

Karma had become blurred, Heavenly Secrets had become chaotic, and the forbidden power was now in his grasp.

He needed to think carefully about how to proceed from here.

He opened his eyes and looked at the six futons in front of him—Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian, Nuwa, Zhunti, and Jieyin, all seated, their bodies radiating Dao charm.

Deep within his golden eyes, a barely perceptible dark glint flashed.

The sermon had just begun.

The real show was yet to come.