Revealing the Secrets of Cultivation 16: Discussing the Future Development of Xiao Hua's Karma Clone Through the Dao of Karma

Summary: Xiao Hua was a man of immense fortune. To borrow his own words, "My luck is simply too good." After all, the fortune spoken of by Confucian Cultivation was nothing more than a fart from his Dragon Cultivation clone. In the first part of Exiled Immortal, Forgetting Each Other in the Jianghu, Zhang Xiao Hua, while at the Qi Refining stage, not only comprehended the "Heavenly Dao," but also, on a deserted island and through a loophole left by a senior of the Immortal Dao, comprehended a trace of the Dao of Life and Death, ranked first among the Three Thousand Great Daos. Even more fortunately, Zhang Xiao Hua comprehended the Dao of Karma, which stood shoulder to shoulder with the Dao of Life and Death. He first comprehended the Hand of Karma, then the River of Karma. This allowed Xue Xue, at the Huang family of Heavenly Gate Mountain, to see Xiao Hua's extraordinariness from the cocoon of light formed as he cultivated the Dao of Karma, and later to see her own destiny within the karmic river of flowing sand that Xiao Hua comprehended in the Qianghe Sea. It also allowed the two immortals, Xu Zhi and Star Moon Fairy, to sense the profound and obscure fluctuations that only a Celestial Venerable could emit. Among Xiao Hua's twelve great clones, "Karma Xiao Hua" stood second only to "Heavenly Dao Xiao Hua." His achievements far surpassed those of clones such as Huang Tong, Feng Wu, and the Demon Lord. This article will discuss the Dao of Karma in Exiled Immortal and the future path of Xiao Hua's karma clone in the Immortal Realm or Divine Realm.

I. What Was the Dao of Karma?

"With every sip and every peck, there is a fixed number." The inevitability contained within that "fixed number" was the Dao of Karma. It was the foundation of the laws of karma. As the saying went, "Plant melons and reap melons; plant beans and reap beans." When an old farmer planted melons, he could only harvest melons, never beans. That was inevitability. Yet among the melons he planted, some were sweet, some large, some ripened early, and some late. That was contingency. Growing melons was affected by climate, soil, fertilizer, seeds, and many other factors. Only when these various contingent factors became tangled together did every melon differ. Extending the old farmer's melon planting to human affairs—"A family that accumulates virtue will surely have abundant blessings; a family that accumulates evil will surely have lingering calamities." "There is no love without reason, nor hatred without reason." How you treated others was how others would treat you. That was inevitability, and it was also the law of karma. But how a virtuous family accumulated virtue, and how an evil one committed evil, were contingencies. When all these contingent factors piled together, it became what was called, "The cause was a cause from before, and the result was a result that came later"—what was called "planting causes and bearing results."

In Exiled Immortal, the Dao of Karma ranked among the top two of the Three Thousand Great Daos. First was the Dao of Life and Death, which could distinguish life from death, divide yin from yang, and thus bring about the cycle of life and death and the turning of yin and yang. The Dao of Karma, meanwhile, unfolded the myriad mortal forms of past dust, present life, and future life, sorting out the origins of all things in the world and connecting their beginnings and ends. In a single sentence, all things and all matters beneath heaven could not escape life and death, nor could they leap beyond karma. The Dao of Life and Death and the Dao of Karma were the ultimate principles behind the workings of the Heavenly Dao. Such mysteries of heaven and earth were certainly not something that those who strove to outdo others, competed in ruthlessness and bravery, schemed against one another, and knew only slaughter and revenge could easily comprehend. Nor could they be understood by those who cut themselves off from the mortal world, shut themselves away to build a cart behind closed doors, and cared only for their own cultivation. Thus, from one perspective, Zhang Xiao Hua was not merely lucky. To become True Person Xiao, he needed a broad and magnanimous heart, a courageous and righteous spirit, and the sense of mission to sacrifice himself for others and hold the common good as high as heaven! Just as in "Forgetting Each Other in the Jianghu, Chapter 843: The Heart Oath of Becoming a God"—he would not betray his original heart, would never damage virtue and morality, and would do only deeds of vast righteous qi beneath the Heavenly Dao. I believe this was the greatest foundation and firmest basis for True Person Xiao to become a Primeval God.

II. The Dao of Karma in Exiled Immortal

In "Forgetting Each Other in the Jianghu, Chapter 797: Dao of Karma," Zhang Xiao Hua comprehended a trace of the Dao of Karma from Qiu Tong's words: "With every sip and every peck, all is the Dao of Karma!" When he comprehended it, the starry sky within the image of the Heavenly Dao erupted once more with thunder and lightning. The Dao of Karma revealed only its outline, giving Zhang Xiao Hua the feeling of flowers in a mirror and the moon in water—somewhat real, yet also somewhat ethereal!

In "Forgetting Each Other in the Jianghu, Chapter 798: Fulfilling Ding Chao," Zhang Xiao Hua realized that by relying on the Dao of Karma, he could not only "anticipate the enemy before they moved," but could also "follow the vine to find the melon" when handling matters. It was precisely this realization that gave Zhang Xiao Hua several sudden stirrings of the heart, or "a sudden sense of danger," allowing him to avoid several life-and-death crises. For example, "Chapter 1066: First Encounter with the Secret Land."

In "Forgetting Each Other in the Jianghu, Chapter 857: Dream, Hand of Karma," Zhang Xiao Hua's Dao of Karma became the "Hand of Karma"—transforming into an enormous palm. That palm stood within the Heavenly Dao in the misty starry sky, its fingers forming an incomparably complex hand seal! And in "Forgetting Each Other in the Jianghu, Chapter 818: Qiankun Hall of Floating Hill Peak," the Dao of Karma, which had only just glimpsed the entrance, could actually drive the Big Dipper Divine Fist to advance. In "Forgetting Each Other in the Jianghu, Chapter 1067: River of Karma," Zhang Xiao Hua comprehended the River of Karma. This River of Karma subsequently appeared on the beach of the Qianghe Sea in Volume One of Part Two, "Light Escape in Xiaoyu Continent," and upon Hou Ming and Yuan Tongtian in Volume Two of Part Two, "Light Escape in the Four Great Continents." In "Light Escape in the Four Great Continents, Chapter 3224: Nine-tailed Fox of Qingqiu Mountain," the immortal Xu Zhi connected the Dao of Karma with the inheritance of Qingqiu Mountain and Jiu Xia's Sun Obscuring Art.

III. The Future Direction of Xiao Hua's Karma Clone

As a profound mystery of the Heavenly Dao capable of standing equal with the Dao of Life and Death, the future achievements of Xiao Hua's karma clone would be beyond measure. However, for the karma clone to reach great completion, it had to possess the following conditions:

1. Dao of Life and Death: Xiao Hua had to at least master a portion of the Dao of Life and Death. Karma might be a cause from a previous life bearing fruit in this life; it might also be a cause from this life bearing fruit in the next.

2. Dao of Reincarnation: Since the Dao of Karma could sort through the beginnings and ends of past dust, present life, and future life, it certainly required mastery of the Dao of Reincarnation.

3. Dao of Yin and Yang: The Dao of Karma was tangled and complex. Cause and result opposed and transformed into each other, so one needed to understand the Dao of yin and yang's mutual complement, coexistence, contrast, and change.

4. Dao of Divination: To examine all of past dust, present life, and future life, or to anticipate the enemy before they moved, required a certain degree of the Dao of Divination.

5. Heavenly Eye: Both the Heavenly Eye and Mind Reading were Buddhist Sect methods. Zhang Xiao Hua had used them when he examined Hou Ming throughout the River of Karma. However, his understanding was very shallow.

6. Means of offsetting backlash: According to "Forgetting Each Other in the Jianghu, Chapter 1197: Cooperation Between the Big Dipper Sect and the Ethereal Sect (I)," Zhang Xiao Hua suffered backlash when he used the Dao of Karma's techniques. Therefore, for the Dao of Karma to reach great completion, there had to be means of compensating for backlash. For example, the Karmic Fire Red Lotus could reduce backlash through the power of Karmic Obstacles. The Dao of Karma involved the Primordial Spirit and lifespan. Zhang Xiao Hua's body was condensed from Primordial Violet Qi, so he lacked no lifespan. He needed to cultivate techniques that strengthened the Primordial Spirit. What Jiu Xia gave Zhang Xiao Hua was the Sun Obscuring Art, and it was even an incomplete copy. In the Immortal Realm, it might as well be upgraded into the Sun Obscuring Sky Supporting Art.

IV. The Specific Functions of the Karma Clone's Dao of Karma:

1. Comprehension and cultivation: The role of Xiao Hua's karma clone had already been discussed during the Xuanhong exposition of the Dao, so it would not be repeated here.

2. A life-preserving method: The Dao of Karma could reflect upon one's own karma, allowing one to anticipate enemies before they moved and evade danger in advance.

3. A tracking method: The Dao of Karma possessed divination techniques. By examining an opponent's karma throughout the River of Karma, one could trace the source and track them down.

4. An offensive method: Borrowing the River of Karma to examine the magnitude of an opponent's karma, then, according to that magnitude, using the Hand of Karma to sever their karmic threads. Regarding an opponent's karmic threads, one could refer to "Light Escape in Xiaoyu Continent, Chapter 837: Stabilizing the Realm." When Xiao Hua cultivated the Dao of Karma, Xue Xue saw the cocoon of light. Severing the golden threads of that cocoon meant severing karma. This would greatly damage the opponent's strength.

In short, life and death had reincarnation, and heaven and earth had creation. No matter or thing could escape the reincarnation of life and death, nor could it break free from karma. To cultivate into a Primeval God, to become a Saint Who Defied the Light and transcended life and death and leapt beyond karma, Xiao Hua still had a long road ahead. Here, let us borrow Xiao Hua's own words: "Ten thousand kinds of causes may have only one result, and ten thousand kinds of results may have only one cause. Cause after cause, result after result; result after result, cause after cause—all are chaotic... It is precisely this kind of karma that becomes the turmoil of the world." It was precisely this turmoil of the world that made Xiao Hua's life experiences in Cultivation of the Godly Manual: Immortal Realm Chapter so wonderful. We looked forward to that wonder, and even more to that wonder leading us into the Divine Realm.