Where Did the Karma Destined by Fate Come From?

Li Zhengyuan rode the Fire Luan, wandering in all directions and searching for a long time, all to find a secluded place where he could refine the Southern Bright Purple Flame Qi transformed from Vermilion Bird's true form.

Upon the mysterious and profound path of cultivation, once one successfully achieved Five Qi Returning to Origin, it meant they had stepped onto the road of attaining a Dao Fruit and becoming a respected Dao Lord.

Upon reaching this realm, one could independently create a unique world within the endless Void Sea, establish a lineage of one's own, and reign as its master, freely unfolding one's own Dao Fruit.

One had to know that the Void Sea was everywhere, spread across the entire Primordial Land. Yet despite its boundlessness, ordinary people could neither touch its existence nor even catch sight of it.

Only peerless experts who had endured countless hardships and cultivated to the Dao Lord realm had a chance to behold its true face.

It was then that they could lodge their painstakingly nurtured Dao Fruits within it and carve out a brand-new world belonging solely to themselves.

Within this world created by their own hands, all living beings possessed limitless possibilities for fortune and transformation.

And the creator naturally became the Dao of Heaven sovereign of that world, controlling the life, death, reincarnation, and fateful paths of all beings.

If one continued climbing the path of cultivation and advanced another step, reaching the supreme realm of Three Flowers Crowning the Summit, one would be elevated to a Dao Venerable.

At that point, the Dao Fruit would have already been nourished into three leaden flowers, symbolizing the supreme majesty of a Dao Venerable.

After attaining Dao Venerablehood, one could not only serve as the great Great Dao that opened a world, but also shoulder the duty of nurturing countless living beings, fully expressing the essence of the Great Dao one had comprehended.

Should one advance still further and develop the world one had opened into a vast and boundless Great Thousand World, one would be qualified to attain the rank of Heavenly Venerable, standing at the peak of existence and looking down upon all beings.

Li Zhengyuan could not help counting on his fingers, sighing inwardly. Alas! Right now, I am no more than an insignificant ant.

Even if time flowed as swiftly as seas turning to mulberry fields, if I cannot attain the Dao and become immortal, I will ultimately be unable to escape death!

Thinking this, he hurriedly forced down the tangled thoughts in his heart. As he searched for a suitable place to settle, he adjusted his breathing and drew in the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, hoping to break through his present predicament soon and advance toward a deeper realm of cultivation.

One day, the Fire Luan happened to fly to a mountain. With a single glance, Li Zhengyuan knew its name. This was the territory of Tang Mountain. The Earth Book recorded the great and small earth veins, mountains, and rivers of the Primordial World; how could he fail to recognize it?

Tang Mountain stood seventy thousand ren high, towering from the earth, foremost among the clustered peaks. It answered the roaming clouds and came and went through the heavy south. Ebony grew upon it; rafts made from it could drift upon Weak Water without sinking.

Li Zhengyuan observed for a long while, then looked around for a moment before deciding to enter seclusion here and seek a breakthrough. Entering the mountain forest, he stirred heaven and earth, casually opened a Cave-Heaven, then used the Earth Book to lay down an Innate concealment restriction outside it. Thus, he hid himself within the mountain's belly.

He gave the Fire Luan another round of instructions, permitting her to guard the Dharma outside. She was only allowed to patrol the surrounding area and was forbidden from traveling far. Her very life was in another's hands; how would she dare act recklessly? She hastily agreed.

Li Zhengyuan sat cross-legged in the void and took out the Southern Bright Purple Flame Qi from his Purple Abode, letting it float in midair. He half-closed his eyes and used his mind to guide it, comprehending the intent of fire. The four qi in his chest had long been delighted and eager, yearning for completion.

As Li Zhengyuan slowly refined the flame qi and comprehended the intent of fire, he condensed Fire Qi within his chest. The Five Qi gradually reached completion, forming a perfect closed cycle.

"Perhaps this is Five Qi Returning to Origin, but how do I transform it into a Dao Fruit?"

Li Zhengyuan suddenly realized that after Five Qi Returning to Origin, one could generate a Dao Fruit and cultivate into the Dao Lord realm. Yet he did not know how to turn it into a Dao Fruit.

"Damn, this is bad."

After grumbling again, he remembered that the Fire Luan was in the Dao Lord realm, so he summoned her over and questioned her.

"Reporting to Master, I was born a Dao Lord, so I do not know how one attains Dao Lordhood," the Fire Luan said weakly, raising innocent eyes.

The moment Li Zhengyuan heard that, he was completely thrown into chaos. What was he supposed to do now? He began condensing it himself again, figuring that if he merely gathered the Five Qi into one mass, he should be able to attain a Dao Fruit.

He tried it, only to discover that gathering the Five Qi into a single mass did not turn them into any sort of Dao Fruit.

He then had the Fire Luan summon her world from within the Void Sea and reveal her Dao Fruit, which he studied without pause.

Only then did he discover that a Dao Fruit was one's own understanding of the Dao. The Five Qi had to unfold one's own Great Dao and weave together its principles before a Dao Fruit could condense.

Having understood what a Dao Fruit was, Li Zhengyuan felt somewhat better.

He began sorting through his own Dao. Since transmigrating here, countless years had already passed. From Five Villages Temple to encountering Hun'e, from Hun'e to the Heaven-Earth Daoist, then journeying south and meeting the Fire Luan—who knew how many ages had gone by? He had met innumerable beings and observed their Daos.

Yet he had never examined his own Dao. Zhen Yuanzi's was merely the Earthly Dao and the Earth Dao, but knowing did not mean comprehending, and skilled application did not mean seeing through their mysteries.

He had been wrong. He had never considered remaining in the Primordial World. He had only wanted to become a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, observe his own River of Time, understand karma, and return to the future twenty-first century.

Zhen Yuanzi was Li Zhengyuan, but Li Zhengyuan was not Zhen Yuanzi. Relying on knowledge from later generations, he had gained quite a bit—at the very least, he had obtained much Merit, and through fortunate coincidence acquired several spiritual treasures. But what was the meaning of any of it?

What was his own Dao? The Earthly Dao was heavy and profound, and he had also come to understand compassion, but that was the Earthly Dao, not Zhen Yuanzi's Dao.

What was my Dao? Why do I seek the Dao? Was Zhen Yuanzi an Innate Divinity, or was Li Zhengyuan an Innate Divinity? Am I Zhen Yuanzi, or is Zhen Yuanzi me?

If I am Zhen Yuanzi, then it means I transmigrated here and replaced Zhen Yuanzi. Li Zhengyuan is Zhen Yuanzi.

If Zhen Yuanzi is me, then I was also Zhen Yuanzi when I transmigrated here. Zhen Yuanzi is simply Zhen Yuanzi.

At this moment, Li Zhengyuan fell into endless paradox, accepting his own interrogation.

His aura rose at times and sank at others. Within the Cave-Heaven, the flow of time could scarcely be felt. There were no changing seasons, no turning of day and night. It was exactly as it had been upon entering, and remained exactly so now. Not even a wisp of Qingfeng stirred.

Li Zhengyuan continued thinking. Was this turn of karma predestined by fate, or was it...?