Omnipresence (Please Vote)

A moment later.

After Fang Qing heard Luo Dacheng recite the Prime Quality Black Ridge Observation Book once, rage shot straight to his head, and he kicked Luo Dacheng.

"Ah, spare my life, Master, spare me! What have I done wrong? Please tell me, Master. I'll change! I'll definitely change!"

Luo Dacheng had been drilled into obedience like a little dog. Even after being kicked, he was still thinking of how to please his master, a fawning smile appearing on his swollen face.

"What kind of godforsaken place is this? This damned technique nearly got me killed!"

Fang Qing's nose nearly twisted with anger. "That Luo Family is truly worse than beasts. Not only does the technique they sold have flaws and can easily be restrained by the genuine version, even the contents after the Sixth Layer of Qi Ingestion have omissions. It is extremely difficult to break through into Late Qi Ingestion! Not to mention condensing a Dao Foundation or anything of the sort..."

"No wonder I've been trapped at the bottleneck of the Sixth Layer of Qi Ingestion for so long. It turns out my cultivation wasn't lacking... In fact, my cultivation might be quite high. It feels as though I could almost use my own cultivation to fill those traps and forcibly advance to the Qi Ingestion Seventh Layer!"

He exhaled a long breath, then viciously kicked Luo Dacheng several more times before his mood calmed somewhat. "Your Luo Family... why were you raising so many mortals in Three-Water Hollow? Don't tell me it was to gather Moonlit Flow..."

"Of course not. How could my family care about those few wisps of qi gathered by mortals?" Luo Dacheng repeatedly kowtowed. "One of my Luo Family ancestors once cultivated a Dao Foundation of divination. He possessed considerable power in physiognomy and fate-reading. After finding that mortal ancestor, he discovered that his descendants would flourish and that they possessed considerable destiny... Thus, he forged an immortal opportunity and raised them in Three-Water Hollow, so that my Luo Family could feed on their fate! By consuming their flesh and blood, we obtained their destiny. The cultivators in my Luo Family who cultivated Winnowing Basket Water indeed continued to increase... But our ancestor also left instructions: if that family broke this method, it would certainly backlash against our household, bringing the calamity of household ruin and clan extinction. Thus, we had to remain vigilant at all times..."

"So that was it... They were eating my family's fate? There would surely be the calamity of household ruin and clan extinction? They certainly calculated it clearly... But divine abilities could not defeat the will of Heaven."

Fang Qing sneered inwardly and continued questioning, "Earlier, when the Black Blight Sect released the plague and caused the Fang Family to flee... were you the ones who sent people to clean up the loose ends?"

"Precisely."

Luo Dacheng was still somewhat puzzled as to why his master cared so much about a mere mortal family.

But very quickly, the doubts in his heart were dissolved by Fang Qing, and he became increasingly loyal.

"Where are the last descendants of the Fang Family?"

Thinking of his old uncle, Fang Qing felt somewhat desolate.

"A few of the old ones were directly killed and refined into pills. As for the scattered few children... the clan believed it would be better to keep raising them in Three-Water Hollow, so they could provide fate for our household."

Luo Dacheng answered uneasily.

Sensing that he was not lying, Fang Qing could not help falling silent.

"Old Uncle... no matter how one looked at it, he could not be considered 'young,' could he?"

"This Heavenly Water Luo Family should be destroyed. In fact... I cannot even wait until I have a Dao Foundation."

Though he wanted to wipe out the Luo Family, Fang Qing knew the disparity between enemy and self well. He immediately asked, "Does your Heavenly Water Luo Family have any mortal enemies? And... tell me every major event that has occurred in the commandery recently!"

"Major events in the commandery? Those lowborn troops have already been ordered to halt their advance. The Pu Family and the Black Blight Sect may be negotiating peace... Before that, Zhao Wuxu, the Luo Family's favored son of heaven, challenged Li Rulong to a sword duel. All our families know that Li Rulong is as good as dead. The family previously sent word for me to make a trip and take away the blood qi that had been gathered..."

Luo Dacheng explained everything in detail. "The Luo Family's true mortal enemies were slaughtered long ago. Now, in the commandery, we are merely competitors with the major Dao Foundation aristocratic clans, with grudges between us... If given the chance, the other families would not mind kicking us when we were down. The same goes for my Luo Family."

"Then continue acting as before. Do not reveal even the slightest bit of news about me... I have already planted the Donkey-Demon Vajra Speech Karma Curse upon you. If you leak even half a word, the curse will certainly kill you!"

Fang Qing kicked Luo Dacheng again. "Get lost!"

Luo Dacheng fled in a panicked scramble all the way back to the Nine Rivers Water Pavilion in Jade Heaven Market.

"Young Master Cheng?"

The beautiful married woman came forward to greet him. Seeing the handprint on his face, she looked somewhat astonished. "You?"

Slap!

Luo Dacheng directly gave her a slap. "Get lost!"

The beautiful married woman immediately retreated with her cloudlike hair in disarray. She knew that Luo Dacheng must have encountered a tough opponent, and she felt some regret. Why did he not simply take that man's life?

Luo Dacheng returned to the secret chamber and sat cross-legged, but his heart could not settle no matter what.

He applied ointment, his expression strange as heaven and man warred within him.

His admiration and fear toward his master... the unwillingness in his heart...

But in the end, beneath the terror of death, all of it turned into cowardice and the fervent inclination of a convert...

"This..."

Far away, within the cave abode, Fang Qing connected his consciousness to the Dao-Born Pearl. Seeing this scene, he could not help becoming slightly dazed. "It can even monitor remotely? Wait... this does not seem to be the effect of the empowerment method? Rather... is it the Dao-Born Pearl's own Omnipresence? It can be used like this too?"

Joy welled up in his heart.

Of the Dao-Born Pearl's three great functions, setting aside As If in the Calculation and Revert to Root, Return to Origin, he had originally thought Omnipresence could only allow him to travel between the two worlds.

He had never expected that after Luo Dacheng left, Fang Qing's casual attempt would produce such an effect!

"Is it because I hold his life and True Spirit in my grasp, causing the Dao-Born Pearl to regard him as my subordinate?"

"If I can monitor him remotely, it has far more marvelous uses. It is practically like gaining a Puppet avatar—one with a certain degree of independent consciousness, at that. It can accomplish many things... Still, I hate this fellow too much. Once I am done using him, I will kill him and replace him with another."

"Wait!"

Fang Qing suddenly thought of something, and his mind stirred.

The Dao-Born Pearl turned slightly. Clear and turbid qi emerged and formed into a doorway.

In an instant, he had returned to Jade Island.

Yet as Fang Qing focused completely and sensed the Dao-Born Pearl, he could still "see" the secret chamber where Luo Dacheng was!

"Haha! This is true Omnipresence!"

He laughed heartily. "From now on, I can hide on the Qi Refinement Way side and stir up trouble... Even if a Golden Core True Lord acts over there and captures my Puppet, could they possibly calculate my whereabouts across an entire world? This is a supreme wondrous method for severing Causality! Combined with As If in the Calculation, even in a miserable place like Ancient Shu, I can still ride roughshod for a while..."

Fang Qing silently contemplated further. He felt that not only could he subtly influence Luo Dacheng's actions in Jade Heaven Market from Jade Island, he could even "lend" the power and Divine Abilities of his Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art and Horse-Head Vajra Protector Divine Art across the void!

Of course, he was only at the Qi Ingestion level now. Even if he truly lent it out, it would merely make him a laughingstock and expose his own weakness for nothing.

"This... why does this sound a little like the Wisdom Consort method of the Great Snow Mountain masters?"

He was shocked once again.

The Great Snow Mountain's lineage was strange. Dao Foundation-level masters could elevate several "Wisdom Consorts." It was said that they likewise possessed formidable power and could suppress Qi Ingestion Perfection cultivators, though they were still inferior to Dao Foundation cultivators.

And now, Fang Qing felt that if he had already forged a Dao Foundation, he could likewise grant Luo Dacheng Dao Foundation-level power and Divine Abilities!

"This is the method of 'bestowal,' emphasizing that what is borrowed must be returned... So-called disciples and Wisdom Consorts are merely vines clinging to a great tree. Once the great tree falls, they are immediately dragged down with it!"

"But the Esoteric Sect followers over at Great Snow Mountain could not possibly each possess a supreme treasure like mine. So... do they jointly use some treasure or Divine Ability of extremely high rank as a relay? Or perhaps... the mystery lies in the Fruit Seat itself?"

"With the Dao-Born Pearl, I cleansed the Great Sun Empowerment Secret Art, which is equivalent to opening the source code of Great Snow Mountain's technique. I also have a treasure of extremely high rank to replace it... I could practically establish another Little Snow Mountain and become the 'Lord of Little Snow Mountain'... Of course, if the one atop Great Snow Mountain discovers this, it will certainly be a fight to the death. Better to keep a low profile..."

"Could this be the true meaning of that earlier divination, the omen where fortune and misfortune were mixed?"

Land of Ancient Shu.

Rebel Army camp.

Although Li Rulong had already been regarded as a futures corpse by the cultivation world, the mortals beneath him knew nothing at all.

In their eyes, Li Rulong was still Marshal Li, the man who had led them through a hundred battles and a hundred victories, pacifying chaos and quelling rebellion!

Wherever he went, he received gazes filled with reverence and admiration.

Li Rulong made a circuit of the military camp. Upon returning to the main tent, he saw Guo Tianhong.

"Big Brother... are you truly going to duel Zhao Wuxu with swords?"

Guo Tianhong was somewhat worried.

"Yes... the sword-duel letter has been accepted. There can be no changes. It will be three days from now."

Li Rulong smiled. "After I die, bury my body on Seven Heroes Mountain... That was where the seven of us swore brotherhood. To begin there and end there is not bad either."

"Big Brother will definitely win!"

Guo Tianhong's eyes reddened. She still wished to say something when the tent flap was lifted and another person entered—it was Luo Dacheng!

"Fellow Daoist Li, I am here to collect the blood qi!"

Without even looking at Guo Tianhong, Luo Dacheng spoke with an ashen face.

"Hm? Why has this man changed his temperament? Could it be that he encountered some demoness from the Harmonious Bliss Sect while out?"

Li Rulong found it odd, but did not ask. He merely nodded, took out a blood-jade box, and handed it to Luo Dacheng.

Without saying a word, Luo Dacheng left directly.

"Look... now that the disciples of every family have taken their things and left, they are plainly convinced that I am about to die..."

Li Rulong smiled at Guo Tianhong beside him, then had his sister withdraw. Alone, he sat upright in the marshal's seat, lifted a vermilion brush, and seemed to ponder.

"Someone came from Cliff-Top, the Pu Family withdrew their hand, and I am a used-up chess piece, as well as a pledge of allegiance..."

"If I were from a Dao Foundation household, then even after wavering before, I would still have value and could still surrender... But I am certainly doomed to die. Not only must I die, I must become another's cultivation resource—a Human Pill! Truly, every last thing is put to use!"

"If I want to live, I cannot rely on the Pu Family no matter what. It may even be that their household wants me dead! I have offended the Black Blight Sect too deeply; the same is true there..."

"In the entire Land of Ancient Shu, Cloud-Touching Cliff is heaven!"

Li Rulong now truly understood what it meant to be unable to control one's own fate.

If he did not die, his friends, relatives, and family would all die!

Therefore, even if he had to die, he had to die willingly, with a smile on his face!