Chapter Four: Linking Turbidity

In the Tribulation Divination vision, at the final moment before death, Li Fuchan employed the Light-Devouring Method, feeding both the Illuminating Light and Golden Light to the Treasure Light. Then he died in that great tribulation of heaven, earth, water, and fire.

In reality.

Watching that vision of death shatter in his mind, Li Fuchan could not help exhaling a breath of turbid air.

[Consciousness]: Eighty-six days + a wisp of your ashes

[Magical Treasure]: None

[Cultivation]: Outer Scenery - Lower Beast

[Methods]: "Three Lights Purifying Tribulation Curse," "Light-Devouring Method," "Turbidity-Linking Method"

Li Fuchan glanced over it a few times and murmured, "The word 'false' is gone. My guess was right."

Treasure Light was the nature of the Dharma: harmonizing creation to perfection, falling into neither existence nor nonexistence, encompassing the outer reaches of the great void and guarding the inner apertures. It could dispel delusions that could not be dispelled and perfect fruits that could not be perfected.

Treasure Light possessed the power of perfection. It could remedy flaws in cultivation, bring the Dao Fruit to fruition, and fulfill vows and practices.

In this death drawn upon in advance, he had used the Light-Devouring Method to make the Treasure Light swallow the other two lights. Its nature of perfection had grown enormously, and his cultivation had naturally advanced with it.

"Cultivation."

The moment the word left his lips, violet-gold radiance surged and churned within Li Fuchan's chest and abdomen. Beneath the illumination of the Treasure Light, the two lights at his brow and crown refused to yield in the slightest, instead adding to the brilliance.

Under this Illuminating Light, Li Fuchan's formerly withered body gradually filled out and regained its vigor. The discomfort in his belly from drinking the filthy water here also began to subside.

Only then did Li Fuchan settle his mind and consider what he had gained from this Tribulation Divination.

"According to Huaqing, Outer Scenery involves cultivating the Heaven-and-Earth Yang Image, external light, and external spirit. Strictly speaking, this realm has four stages: preservation, manifestation, Transformation, and truth."

"I'm still at the preservation stage, having cultivated only external light. Cultivating the Heaven-and-Earth Yang Image requires collecting it through an exceedingly exacting method. Even setting aside the fact that I can't collect yang images here, the Three Lights Method itself contains no method for cultivating them. I wonder whether that Old Flood Dragon has held back any cultivation formulas that could let me advance further."

Li Fuchan silently considered his present circumstances. Judging by the last Tribulation Divination, Huaqing would come to see him in about ten days.

As for why she had not come now, he suspected that Huaqing had not devoured the golden light and treasure light with her Illuminating Light from the very beginning,

but had only accomplished it sometime after those ten days. Only once her Illuminating Light flourished had she discovered the signs that he had mastered the Three Lights Method.

That was why she had come to discuss a grand undertaking with him.

That phrasing was rather strained. To put it more plainly, after discovering that he had mastered the Three Lights Method, Huaqing had come to make him her weapon and puppet.

But he did not care about that right now. At this moment, Li Fuchan's mind was filled entirely with the sight of heaven and earth erupting into the great tribulation of water and fire in his previous vision of death.

"How could there really be a great tribulation?"

He had originally thought the so-called great tribulation was merely something Huaqing had invented to deceive him. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that the Heaven-and-Earth Cataclysm truly existed.

"Facing a tribulation like that, even if I escape Flying Autumn Cave, I probably won't survive. What do I do now?"

Li Fuchan had neither the means nor the breadth of understanding he needed. Though he had reached Outer Scenery through Tribulation Divination fueled by Tribulation Qi, he was now a blank-slate Outer Scenery cultivator with nothing to his name.

The only thing he could rely upon was the perilous process of Tribulation Divination with Tribulation Qi.

At that thought, Li Fuchan sank his consciousness into his mind and examined the five visions of death lying in chaos. Not a single one revealed any sign of the Heaven-and-Earth Cataclysm.

It was as though the Heaven-and-Earth Cataclysm did not exist at all.

Yet he had witnessed that world-annihilating tribulation of descending water and fire with his own eyes. He had no choice but to believe it.

"My cultivation is too low and my perspective too narrow. Obsessing over this won't accomplish anything. I should consider something else. Perhaps that will give me some inspiration."

"That Old Flood Dragon is so enormous, with such profound cultivation. Would it really sit by and let Huaqing steal its treasure for herself before the Heaven-and-Earth Cataclysm? Or does it think her theft won't affect its pill refinement, and might even help?"

Li Fuchan could find no answer, however much he pondered. But he understood that his mastery of the Three Lights probably did not constitute much of a variable to the Old Flood Dragon.

After all, his current cultivation and Three Lights were sufficient to bully the lesser demons, but against Hua Hong, his chances of victory were truly slim.

Whatever he considered now, he ended up in a blind alley.

His cultivation was useless, his abilities insufficient. The road ahead was shrouded in uncertainty, his life and death unknown.

"Was I reborn into this world just to die in despair?"

"I refuse!"

A dim gleam flared in Li Fuchan's gray-black eyes. He abruptly rose and strode over to the cave wall bearing the inscription.

"Unicorn-Hiding Shell Mountain, secretly roosting in Flying Earthworm Cave."

As he studied that line, the Silver-White Illuminating Light at his brow gently flickered. According to the signs it revealed, his chance of survival lay here, in these ten characters.

But no matter what he tried or conjectured, he could not pierce the mystery of that inscription.

While he was pondering it, the Purple-Gold Treasure Light in his chest and abdomen suddenly blazed. He felt his whole body abruptly grow lighter.

Looking down at his hands again, he saw their skin instantly turn as fair as jade. It felt as though something in his mind had been brushed halfway away, and Li Fuchan's expression changed drastically.

"Damn it! The Treasure Light is flourishing. It's going to scour me into an idiot."

Alarmed, Li Fuchan immediately recalled the Turbidity-Linking Method Huaqing had taught him. With it, he could link his turbidity to others and share the Three Calamities, slowing the rate at which the Three Lights scoured them away and ensuring his survival.

Unfortunately, what he had inherited this time was cultivation. Although he had read through the Turbidity-Linking Method Huaqing taught him in the Tribulation Divination, he had not memorized it all.

Without the original text now, there was nothing he could do.

"I can only wait for Huaqing."

Helpless, Li Fuchan could only forcibly restrain the Three Lights and wait until Huaqing reappeared ten days later.

This time, however, Li Fuchan's flourishing Treasure Light forcibly concealed both his golden light and bright light, preventing Huaqing from seeing through his actual condition.

But this did not arouse her suspicions, because she could see the traces of Li Fuchan forcibly stopping the three lights from scouring away the three tribulations.

She knew that Li Fuchan was not nearly as comfortable as he appeared.

This made Huaqing feel that Li Fuchan had something he could use against her, which only reassured her all the more.

This time, however, Li Fuchan did not rush to trade for the Turbidity-Linking Method, nor did he even exchange the Light-Devouring Method with her. Instead, he bluffed a piece of information out of her.

According to Huaqing, the region where he now stood had been opened up by an immortal several hundred years ago, and the Old Flood Dragon had also been enlightened by that immortal.

"More and more interesting. Now even immortals have appeared."

According to his understanding of the cultivation system, once a cultivator attained "truth" within Outer Scenery—that is, reached Outer Scenery Great Accomplishment—he could be called a True Person,

and after reaching Outer Scenery Great Accomplishment, he had to refine a treasure rooted in his Nature-and-Fate Root, form the Dao Fruit, and break through into Inner Vision.

Inner Scenery cultivators were also called Great True Persons.

Traditionally, Inner Scenery had no distinction between minor and great attainment. It was merely a process in which cultivators began accumulating the imagery of their Dao fruits and building up their Dharma Power.

Huaqing herself had told him these fundamentals in the previous vision of death.

Li Fuchan raised his head to look at the snake woman before him. Huaqing's gaze was clear, and though she affected a seductive manner, she appeared entirely open and aboveboard, without feeling anything was amiss.

Yet according to the fundamentals she had described, how could anyone in this world dare casually call themselves an immortal?

Huaqing's current demeanor reminded Li Fuchan of the time in the vision of death when she had suppressed his spiritual awareness with her Illuminating Light.

Back then, he too had been dazed and confused, almost as though his own knowledge and perceptions had become a Knowledge-and-Vision Obstruction.

Without much hesitation, Li Fuchan played along with Huaqing. After obtaining the Turbidity-Linking Method from her, he returned to the cave chamber.

Inside, He Liuhun and the other two, who had been struck unconscious, had yet to wake.

Li Fuchan glanced at them, then released the Silver-White Illuminating Light from his brow without another word, dissolving the injuries Huaqing had inflicted when she knocked them unconscious with her spiritual awareness.

A short while later, the three slowly came around and looked about in bewilderment.

They had no Dharma Power and still could not see through the darkness.

But they knew someone was there. He Liuhun, in particular, knew someone was watching him from the dark.

He seemed to sense something vaguely. Afraid of letting this precious opportunity slip past his shoulder, he instinctively spoke:

"You..."

"Hear me out first."

Li Fuchan spoke calmly, interrupting He Liuhun.

"Here in this cave, whether we master immortal arts and become human ingredients, or remain trapped and become food, we end up unable to escape the fate of livestock. Now I intend to stake everything on a chance to live."

"But I'll need your help on this road to survival."

Looking at the three in the darkness, Li Fuchan said, "Next, I'll teach you a formula. Simply using it will allow you to lend me support. But while you use it, the three of you must take knives and injure one another. The more it hurts, the better. The more hatred you feel, the better."

"If you can endure it, once I succeed, I'll naturally take you out with me. If any of you can't endure it, but also don't want to cling to life just to become food for a Monster, I'll help you find release now. Either way, it's better than becoming Monster dung, with a swarm of earthworms burrowing through you."

The sounds of swallowing rose in the darkness.

But soon there was silence again, as though even Li Fuchan's earlier words had never been spoken.

After an unknown stretch of time, He Liuhun's voice rang out. "Immortal master, are you confident?"

Li Fuchan shook his head. "Like I said, it's still better than becoming Monster dung, isn't it?"

Hearing this, He Liuhun licked his cracked lips and said quietly, "In that case, I, He Liuhun, am willing to try."

After saying this to Li Fuchan, he turned toward the two sitting beside him.

Though he could see nothing, he still stared fixedly at them and asked, "Qifu Zhen, what about you?"

Qifu Zhen licked his cracked lips with difficulty. "You've got guts enough to get yourself killed, and you just have to drag me into it. If I hadn't listened to you back then and gone off to enlist at the frontier garrison, none of this damned mess would've happened."

He looked up toward where Li Fuchan stood in the darkness and pleaded, "Honored immortal master, I heard that ugly demon gave you a bag with plenty of food inside. Whether we live or die, surely we should get a full belly before setting off?"

Li Fuchan nodded. "That's fair."

As he spoke, he took the food from the bag. The three immediately crowded around, wolfing it down and feasting ravenously.

While the three ate together, Li Fuchan took the opportunity to teach them the Turbidity-Linking Method.

He could have proceeded gradually with this formula, but the Treasure Light was about to scour Li Fuchan into an idiot. Nor could he continue Tribulation Divination with Tribulation Qi forever. If too many chaotic visions of death accumulated, who knew whether they would suddenly erupt and drag him into a state beyond all redemption?

Perhaps he still had some hope of surviving in this Demon Cave, but before that Tribulation Qi, he could only await death.

Thus, he had to find a way to break the deadlock. Even if the ultimate outcome was still death, he had to try again.

And the first step toward trying was ensuring that using the Three Lights would not scour him into an idiot.

So he devised a way to intensify these men's turbid tribulations, enabling them to support him.

He knew only one way to intensify tribulation turbidity: mutual injury.

Under intense pain and hatred, the three men's Three Calamities would grow heavier. As long as Li Fuchan linked his turbidity with theirs, the Treasure Light's power to scour away the Three Calamities would no longer be borne by him alone, but shared among all four.

He had only done this because he could tell that He Liuhun and the other two possessed uncommon resolve. With anyone else, they might well have reported him to the demons.

Just then, Qifu Zhen grabbed a steamed bun and stuffed it into his mouth. Through tear-blurred eyes, he said, "Motherfucker. If only we had some wine."

Before his words had faded, he suddenly picked up the knife Li Fuchan had brought and left on the ground, and stabbed it into He Liuhun's arm.

The sudden pain made He Liuhun cry out despite himself.

Under the effects of the Turbidity-Linking Method, Li Fuchan also felt a stabbing pain in his arm, as though someone had knifed him.

At that moment, the Purple-Gold Treasure Light in his chest and abdomen flickered, scouring away the tribulation turbidity. The stabbing pain in his arm instantly vanished without a trace.

But the wound in He Liuhun's arm was still bleeding, and Li Fuchan soon felt the same pain again.

Moments later, the Treasure Light in his chest and abdomen flickered again, scouring away this layer of tribulation turbidity. As one ebbed, the other rose; as the other rose, the first ebbed.

The fading of his memories finally stopped.

Overjoyed, Li Fuchan said, "The Turbidity-Linking Method worked."

By then, He Liuhun had also adjusted to the pain in his arm. He likewise picked up a knife and stabbed Qifu Zhen.

After each had stabbed the other once, they both turned toward the remaining man. Qifu Zhen grinned savagely. "Li Yuanji, your turn."

Li Yuanji swallowed his last mouthful of steamed bun and said through gritted teeth, "Come on."

The two exchanged a glance and struck together, their knives piercing Li Yuanji's two arms.

Soon, the smell of blood filled the cave chamber.

Li Fuchan watched silently. By his estimate, with wounds like these, the three would probably die within four hours.

So within those four hours, Li Fuchan could either abandon them and find a way to escape alone, or use that time to seek a way to break the deadlock.

Of the two choices, the latter was clearly more troublesome and more difficult.

Yet Li Fuchan did not hesitate. Since He Liuhun and the others were willing to trust him, even to die for him, Li Fuchan would not cling to his own life either.

"Besides, seeking a chance to live on the razor's edge between life and death in this Demon Cave is more interesting, isn't it?"

Li Fuchan immersed his mind, looking at the five visions of death still lying in chaos deep within his consciousness. With a thought, he plunged into one of them without hesitation.

Another Tribulation Divination.

And in that instant, the visions of death became eleven.