Chapter 19

The White Snake Sage took a drag from her pipe, then exhaled a ring of smoke in a leisurely manner before addressing the four snakes.

"Though I am not particularly well-versed in the art of prophecy, I have discovered that this person's fate has been severed. Why do you think that is?"

"Grandmother is lying again. How could someone with a severed fate still be alive?" The white giant python, clearly distrusting the White Snake Sage's words, immediately retorted.

The White Snake Sage looked at the white python with a disdainful gaze and replied with a laugh, "Wu, how old are you? How much could you possibly know? It is true that many cannot survive with a severed fate, but there is a certain type of person who can!"

"Someone who defies the heavens and changes their destiny! By using immense power to alter their own fate—Grandmother, do you really think a child under twenty could achieve all this?"

Manda spoke up with a cold, sinister tone to explain to the other three snakes, finally posing a question to the White Snake Sage.

"That is the very thing I do not understand. Fate cannot be changed by outsiders. If that were not the case, the Sage of Six Paths would not have passed away without cause back then. Yet, this boy's fate has indeed been altered! Since he lacks the ability himself, and I have sensed no one else with such power in the outside world, why is this so?"

The White Snake Sage rolled her eyes, equally baffled. If that chubby toad knew of this, he might be able to figure it out after a single nap. She was not a prophetic sage, so it was impossible for her to understand why such a situation had arisen: a person who lacked the ability to change his own destiny, someone who should have been dead, was still alive and kicking.

"He is of the Uchiha clan; he cannot cultivate senjutsu!"

As everyone fell into deep thought, another black giant python spoke up. It was impossible for Uchiha clan ninjas to learn senjutsu; their bodies could not contain such energy. The power of that clan was naturally concentrated in their eyes—that was the secret technique for which they were famous and upon which their survival depended. In its eyes, the three-day trial was merely a countdown to death that the White Snake Sage was using to toy with Uchiha Mingye.

"That was in the past! Now, his body is like cotton, and his chakra is like kerosene. His body can cultivate chakra now only because the fire is not yet large enough and the oil is cold. But if he were a few years older, or if his chakra refinement were greater, spontaneous combustion would be a certainty!"

The White Snake Sage shook her head slightly, describing Mingye's current state. If one possessed chakra but lacked the ability to release it, then once the volume of chakra within the body reached a certain point...

"Then why have him cultivate senjutsu at all?"

Ara was also quite confused. After all, he was the one who had brought Mingye here; even if the boy were to die, he felt he owed him a reason or an explanation.

"I simply wanted to test him, to see if it is true that Uchiha ninjas lose all their chakra once they go blind after awakening their eyes. If he truly has no connection to the Yin-Yang or the Five Elements, then sensing 'Qi' would be quite simple for him. Taking on such a disciple wouldn't be a bad thing!"

The White Snake Sage understood the situation regarding the Uchiha clan's eye-awakening and voiced the playful reasoning she held in her heart. Strangely enough, she found the boy quite pleasing to the eye, so she naturally gave him a chance to sink or swim.

"If he fails?"

"He is my blood-offering. Manda, you already ate three hundred people last time!"

Just as Manda was about to suggest eating Mingye, Wu, the white giant python, interjected, indicating that Mingye was already his intended meal. The black snake joined in as well, and the three giant pythons collided and fought before departing from the White Snake Sage's dwelling.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Mingye was unaware of what the White Snake Sage had said. Even if he had known, he would have had no power to refuse. Just as she had said, in this era of warring states, the lack of chakra meant he had already been eliminated from the game of black and white pieces. Death was only a matter of time. Madara could protect him for a while, but certainly not for a lifetime. In the end, he would have to rely on himself to survive in this world.

Time passed bit by bit, and Mingye's body began to sense changes in the surrounding environment. Wisps of light seemed to streak before him—not a sign of his vision returning, but because his body had begun to merge with the earth, becoming a part of nature itself.

Like a small boat swaying alone in a stormy sea, waves of energy lashed against Mingye's body, bringing with them bursts of stinging pain.

It hurts! It really hurts!

Despite the internal lament, he did not withdraw from that state of heightened awareness. There was one thing Ara had not told Mingye, something Mingye only now realized: the Dragon Transformation Pool was never meant for humans to use, and the so-called "Qi" was not meant for human cultivation. Guiding natural energy is smooth and gentle, but nature also has a wrathful side—it is manic and volatile. Qi is that negative energy, and only the snakes, frogs, and slugs of the three great sage regions can integrate and apply such Qi into their own combat systems based on their unique characteristics.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye. A mouthful of blood sprayed from Mingye's mouth. Coughing, he clenched his fists in frustration. Three hours—that was his life's countdown. He would die, and he would die because of his own inadequacy.

"Giving up so soon?"

Suddenly, a voice rang in his ear. Mingye hurriedly knelt respectfully. Upon realizing the other's identity, he spoke with blunt honesty.

"I dare not, but I did not expect that I would be so incompetent."

"Do you know what Qi is?"

The White Snake Sage's voice sounded again, her tone mocking Mingye's ignorance. Mingye frowned slightly and replied, "The origin of senjutsu!"

"A clever boy, yet it is a pity that this origin has been abandoned by you humans!"

Although the words were praise, the tone seemed sarcastic. Hearing the word "abandoned," confusion welled up in Mingye's heart; he did not understand the significance of what the White Snake Sage was saying.

"This sort of thing was never meant for humans to use, was it?"

"Hahahaha! Though all things possess spiritual energy, they may not necessarily develop intelligence. Even those that do are plagued by life and death, drifting in chaos for millions of years without achieving anything. If not for human intellect, how could there be such a thing as 'immortals'? This Qi is a method of achieving longevity that you humans created based on your understanding of all living things! And you think humans cannot cultivate it? Ridiculous, truly ridiculous!" Hearing the White Snake Sage's laughter, Mingye did not know how to respond. Even as a doctor in his previous life, he had some understanding of traditional Chinese medicine or Taoism, but he had never believed that immortals truly existed. Furthermore, the "Qi" he knew of was merely the talk of martial artists seeking self-cultivation. He had read so many novels in his past life, always watching characters travel through time and recall secret manuals they had found in antique shops, but he had never found one himself. Even the ancient medical texts were not cherished by the Chinese people themselves. He had once seen a report online about a European collector who possessed over three or four thousand rare ancient books. While the total could not compare to a whole nation, the realization that the books his ancestors had spent their lives writing were sold by their descendants for money still caused a stinging pain that words could not describe.

"Boy, do not doubt it. A thousand years ago, before the so-called 'evil' appeared, there was no such thing as chakra in this world! Aside from the majority of humans who served as our food, there was a small portion who focused on cultivating Qi. It is a pity that there is no point in saying so much now; they are all extinct."

The disdainful voice sounded again as the White Snake Sage offered Mingye an explanation. Mingye was stunned; he had never expected this logic. In the manga, it was only mentioned that the woman ate the fruit of the God Tree, but it never described what the world was like before she ate it. Chakra was not spread in the time that followed, but rather, it was seeded by the Sage of Six Paths after he defeated his mother and sealed the Ten-Tails. The nine Tailed Beasts were certainly not released into this world without purpose; they absolutely had their own...

"Sage!"

"Hahahaha! Immortal—what is an immortal? An immortal is simply one who lives longer and possesses greater power than ordinary beasts. Enough talk. I came only to give you a small hint: no matter how strong the gale, it cannot move a forest of ten thousand acres; no matter how fierce the fire, it cannot burn the sea dry. The heavens will not change, and the earth will not change; only the myriad living things between them will. Whether you understand or not, I have said my piece. Whether you live or die is up to you, child. Think it over carefully!"