The First Fate Reversal Reward Arrives!

"Move!"

A furious shout suddenly echoed through the valley.

Biyun had just stepped out of White Bone Cave and was still somewhat bewildered when he heard it.

"Who?"

The next second,

the shrill whistle from the sky finally reached his ears.

Biyun instinctively looked up.

A streak of black arrow-light shot down from between the clouds!

It was unbelievably fast.

All color drained from the boy's face in an instant.

He was merely a disciple attendant under Lady Shiji, and his cultivation was nothing remarkable.

Facing that arrow-light now, he did not even have time to dodge.

I'm finished...

The thought had barely surfaced

when a streak of azure sword-light slashed into view from an angle.

Lin Yuan had poured almost all the mana a Late Earth Immortal could muster into his refined iron dharma sword.

He was moving so fast that even he could no longer fully control himself.

There were still ten zhang left.

Too late!

"Move aside!"

Lin Yuan grabbed the flying sword.

His feet slammed heavily into the ground.

Borrowing the force of his charge, he struck the Heaven-Shaking Arrow head-on.

Clang—!

The deafening clash of metal rang through the entire valley.

The refined iron sword in Lin Yuan's hand nearly bent into an absurd arc in an instant.

The web between his thumb and forefinger split open.

Blood splattered.

He was sent flying sideways as though he had been struck head-on by some gigantic beast of the Primordial World.

"Pfft!"

He sprayed a mouthful of blood into the air.

Yet the Heaven-Shaking Arrow, which had originally been flying straight toward Biyun's chest, was forcibly knocked several feet off course.

Boom!

The arrow sank into the mountain wall behind them.

The solid mountain shook violently.

Large chunks of rock tumbled down.

A bottomless black hole appeared in the cliff face.

Biyun's face turned pale at the sight.

If that had pierced his body...

would there have been anything left of him?

There would probably not even be ashes to scatter.

"Senior... Senior Brother!"

Biyun finally came to his senses and hurried toward Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan had crashed dozens of zhang away and felt as though every bone in his body had nearly fallen apart.

His right hand was so numb that he could no longer feel it.

But he had no time to care about his injuries.

The first thing he did was look at Biyun.

Alive.

Intact.

No parts missing.

"Good."

"At least I didn't come here for nothing."

As soon as Lin Yuan finished speaking,

the familiar notification finally sounded in his mind.

[Detected a change in an established Death Node.]

[Target: Biyun.]

[Predetermined fatal calamity: Death by the Heaven-Shaking Arrow piercing the body.]

[Current result: The fatal calamity has been avoided.]

[Fate Reversal successful!]

Lin Yuan's breathing stopped.

It's here!

[Inheriting the target's strongest ability...]

[Congratulations, Host, for obtaining—Innate Spiritual Perception.]

The next second,

an exceptionally peculiar, cool sensation spread from between Lin Yuan's brows.

His consciousness, which had been slightly blurred due to his injuries, became incomparably clear in an instant.

Then the entire world changed.

The faint rustling of leaves as the wind passed through the treetops.

The immortal spiritual aura slowly flowing through the underground spirit veins.

Biyun's nervous breathing dozens of zhang away.

Even the faint sounds made by several small beasts fleeing in panic deep within the forest...

Things that once required him to actively sense with his divine consciousness

now seemed to pour into his mind of their own accord.

Most miraculous of all,

Lin Yuan lowered his head and glanced at the refined iron dharma sword in his hand.

When he had forcibly blocked the Heaven-Shaking Arrow just now, he had used only the most basic Shangqing Sword Art.

Before, he had merely followed the technique as instructed.

But now, as he recalled that strike,

where he had exerted force incorrectly,

where his mana circulation had been wasteful,

and where his sword momentum could have been a fraction faster—

he could see it all with perfect clarity!

Lin Yuan's eyes gradually lit up.

"This is what you call a disciple attendant?"

"This reward is pretty good!"

But Biyun could not understand him at all.

"Senior Brother, are you all right?"

"I won't die."

Lin Yuan used Biyun's hand to pull himself to his feet.

He lowered his head and looked at his completely ruined refined iron sword.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

"It's just that I'm stably even poorer now."

Biyun: "?"

Lin Yuan waved a hand.

"It's nothing."

"Tell me first—do you recognize this arrow?"

Only then did Biyun remember the thing that had nearly taken his life moments ago.

The two walked over to the mountain wall.

Most of the arrow had already sunk into the rock.

Lin Yuan gripped its tail and had to exert quite a bit of force before pulling it free.

The arrow shaft was ancient and unadorned.

Several clear ancient characters were engraved upon it.

Heaven-and-Earth Bow.

Heaven-Shaking Arrow.

Biyun's little face immediately darkened.

"Senior Brother, this seems to be the treasure that guards Chentang Pass."

Lin Yuan naturally knew that.

He even knew who had fired it.

But he could not simply blurt all of that out at once.

Just as he was about to speak,

a woman's voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Biyun."

"What happened?"

The voice was not loud.

Yet the moment Lin Yuan heard it, he instinctively straightened his back.

Because his Innate Spiritual Perception was frantically warning him—

the newcomer was powerful.

Far more powerful than him.

He turned around.

A woman in a blue-gray Daoist robe was already standing not far away.

Her features were delicate and her bearing aloof.

Though she was not deliberately releasing any pressure, the aura belonging to a high-ranking Immortal was impossible to ignore.

Biyun hurriedly bowed.

"Lady Shiji!"

"Your disciple was nearly shot to death by an arrow just now. This senior brother saved me."

Shiji's gaze instantly fell upon the Heaven-Shaking Arrow.

Her expression gradually cooled.

"The Heaven-Shaking Arrow?"

She raised a hand in a beckoning gesture.

The arrow flew into her hand on its own.

With just one glance,

Shiji recognized its origin.

"Chentang Pass."

"Li Jing."

Biyun said indignantly beside her, "Lady Shiji, if Senior Brother had not arrived in time, this disciple would already be dead."

Shiji looked at Lin Yuan.

"Whose disciple are you?"

Lin Yuan cupped his hands.

"I am Lin Yuan, the lowest-ranked registered disciple under Master Jin Ling."

At the mention of Jin Ling's name, Shiji's expression eased considerably.

"So you are from Senior Sister Jin Ling's lineage."

"Thank you for saving my attendant today."

"I, Shiji, will remember this favor."

Lin Yuan's eyes flickered.

He could accept the favor for now.

The real work had yet to be done.

Shiji looked at the Heaven-Shaking Arrow again, anger already in her eyes.

"Come."

"We are going to Chentang Pass."

Biyun hurriedly asked, "Lady Shiji, are you going to find Li Jing?"

"Of course."

"I would like to ask him why he used the divine weapon guarding the pass to shoot my disciple for no reason."

With that, Shiji turned to leave.

But Lin Yuan's heart gave a violent jolt.

It was here.

The truly critical thread of death had begun to move.

He had stopped Biyun's death.

But as long as Shiji continued following the original course of events, went after Nezha, and then pursued him to Qianyuan Mountain—

The final outcome might still lead to the Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Canopy.

Lin Yuan immediately spoke up.

"Senior Sister Shiji."

Shiji stopped.

"What is it?"

"You can go to Chentang Pass."

Lin Yuan took a deep breath.

"But there is one place."

"Senior Sister, you must not go there alone."

Shiji's brows knit slightly.

"Where?"

"Qianyuan Mountain."

At the mention of that name—

Shiji's gaze finally changed.

Lin Yuan did not beat around the bush.

He said, word by word:

"If Senior Sister goes alone to Qianyuan Mountain in pursuit—"

"Your life may be in danger."

The valley fell silent.

Biyun froze.

Shiji stared at Lin Yuan for a long while.

"Junior Brother Lin."

"What makes you so certain—"

"That I will die?"