On destiny

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Chapter 35: On destiny

"Yes, yes." Chen Beiwu took a low-grade spirit stone from his pocket and offered it with both hands.

Beside him, the wealthy Xu Ziqing took an anonymous Spirit Origin gold card from her storage ring and offered it just as respectfully.

Han Liangcai glanced at the Spirit Origin card without accepting it, then turned his gaze to Chen Beiwu. "Young friend, to have reached the seventh layer of Qi Refining at such a tender age, you likely have an affinity with the Darkwater Spirit Turtles."

As soon as he finished speaking, the spirit stone in Chen Beiwu's hand vanished without him noticing, replaced by a small, grayish-brown fragment of turtle shell.

"This is a fragment of an old shell shed by a Mysterious-Water Nether Turtle. Hold on to it, and the young spirit turtles in the lake won't hide from you."

"As for whether you can win a Darkwater Spirit Turtle's recognition, that will depend on the depth of your destiny."

With that, Han Liangcai and the Mysterious-Water Nether Turtle vanished in a streak of rainbow light.

Xu Ziqing stared blankly at the Spirit Origin card in her hand, a glimmer of realization and surprise appearing in her eyes.

This Golden Core True Person acted as he pleased. He really had not come for spirit stones.

At that thought, she glanced at Chen Beiwu with a radiant smile.

Every gesture of an existence like a Golden Core True Person carried profound meaning. Whatever he did surely had some ineffable reason behind it.

Could Chen Beiwu still be hiding secrets she had yet to uncover?

My eye for people really is extraordinary. Xu Ziqing's smile grew sweeter.

Chen Beiwu looked at the token in his palm, bewildered and uncertain. What's going on? Why would a Golden Core True Person take notice of me?

Since nine-breath chaos could evade the perception of the Immortal Alliance's Nine Heavens Star Array Realm-Suppressing Immortal Formation and help him travel freely between worlds, its power had to be boundless, far beyond that of a Golden Core True Person. It could not possibly have left any flaws.

I must be overthinking it. Chen Beiwu forcibly suppressed his suspicions.

Looking at it another way, he had nine-breath chaos anchoring his fortune and possessed unmatched aptitude. It was perfectly normal for a Golden Core True Person to take a liking to him and intend to test him before accepting him as a disciple.

"Do you want to come into Four Seas Lake with me?" Chen Beiwu invited her as he usually did.

"I'll wait here. Go on, don't worry about me," Xu Ziqing declined.

She had no token. Following Chen Beiwu into the lake would only hold him back, so she might as well wait on the shore.

"Then I'm off."

Chen Beiwu tightened his grip on the token and leaped.

Splash!

Watching the figure gradually sinking into the water in the distance, Han Liangcai looked intrigued. "Do you think he could be that hidden dragon of Fallen Dragon Prefecture?"

Fallen Dragon Prefecture lay where the clear and turbid energies of heaven and earth converged. During the Primordial Era, a True Dragon had fallen there, giving the prefecture its name.

As dragon blood seeped into the earth, dragon bones became mountain ranges, and the dragon soul merged with the spiritual workings of heaven and earth, Fallen Dragon Prefecture developed a unique hidden dragon in the abyss configuration, which nurtured a hidden dragon every thousand years.

Bear in mind that "hidden dragon" here did not refer to a demonic beast with the chance to transform into a dragon. It referred to exceptionally gifted geniuses whose talents had yet to awaken, who needed fortune to bless them before they could become a hidden dragon ascending from the abyss.

The Mysterious-Water Nether Turtle shook its head restlessly.

Heaven's secrets were difficult to fathom.

Through the ancient bloodline hidden within its body, it could sense a sliver of opportunity to advance to Demon King, but it could not narrow that opportunity down to a particular person or event. It could only determine a general direction, and Fallen Dragon Prefecture was the place where it would attain the Dao, as calculated by its master through a glimpse into heaven's secrets.

If it could successfully find that peerless hidden dragon in the place where it would attain the Dao and help that dragon ascend from the abyss, it could use this karmic connection and the Heavenly Fortune Secret Art in the Supreme Cavern Mystery Numinous Treasure Scripture to borrow fortune and alter its fate. Its cultivation would soar, giving it a chance to break through to Demon King.

Yet Fallen Dragon Prefecture's previous hidden dragon had already appeared: the now-renowned True Lord Still Abyss.

Back then, the Mirror Lake Sword Sect, one of the Seventy-Nine Upper Sect, had managed to snatch up this overlooked gem. In just over three hundred years, he had shattered his core and formed his nascent soul, successfully advancing to Nascent Soul True Lord. Even the master of the World Affairs Hall had praised him as possessing the potential to reach Spirit Transformation.

It was no exaggeration to say that, among the twenty-four hidden dragons recorded in Fallen Dragon Prefecture, True Lord Still Abyss was likely the one with the most terrifying comprehension and the most formidable fortune.

Some Spirit Transformation Venerables even believed that True Lord Still Abyss's rise had exhausted the reserves Dragonfall Land had accumulated over tens of thousands of years.

For the next ten thousand years, most hidden dragons appearing in Fallen Dragon Prefecture would likely be "little dragons," nowhere near as formidable as a True Dragon like True Lord Still Abyss.

At that thought, the Mysterious-Water Nether Turtle could not help letting out a low growl.

By rights, Fallen Dragon Prefecture should have needed to wait another seven hundred years or more before the next hidden dragon emerged in answer to fortune. Yet it trusted the stirring of that trace of primordial Black Tortoise bloodline within its body, and its master's calculations, even more.

Its future Dao path was at stake. Even if there was only a one-in-hundreds-of-millions chance, it had to do its utmost to try, searching the vast Fallen Dragon Prefecture for traces of the hidden dragon.

"Enough. Stop making noise." Han Liangcai waved his sleeve, and a large quantity of low-grade spirit stones instantly appeared on the stone table before him. They formed a small mountain, among them the spirit stone Chen Beiwu had offered.

"Forget it. You're a dabbler I can never count on. To find traces of the hidden dragon, I'll still have to rely on the treasure Master bestowed on me."

According to ancient records, a hidden dragon whose destiny could allow a Mysterious-Water Nether Turtle to defy heaven, alter its fate, and awaken yin-yang qi had to possess at least a northern heaven five qi destiny.

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sp;What was a northern heaven five qi destiny?

Northern heaven symbolized the Northern Black Emperor, the Mysterious Elder, while the five qi represented the spiritual energies of the five directions. The bearer of this destiny was born with primary and secondary seals, with great fortune and great calamity existing side by side. Even as fortune favored them, the other five elemental powers within their destiny could easily interfere and give rise to ominous signs.

Thus, the life of someone with a northern heaven five qi destiny was bound to be intimately connected to water-element spiritual energy. They could attain the Dao through the water element, but were also vulnerable to its backlash.

Take True Lord Still Abyss, for example. When he first entered the Mirror Lake Sword Sect, he was unremarkable and his talent mediocre. Only after surviving two tribulations in the True Martial Realm and successfully becoming the sword sect's chief disciple did he begin to make a name for himself in the Immortal Alliance.

Afterward, Fang Shanglong progressed at tremendous speed. As the sword sect's chief disciple, he defeated the Cavern Mystery Immortal Sect's chief disciple in one fell swoop at the Grotto-Heaven Grand Tournament, astonishing everyone with a single feat. A Spirit Transformation Venerable publicly declared that he had the potential to reach Nascent Soul, and the Sword Abyss Immortal Sect, one of the Thirteen Immortal Sects, even made an exception to admit him.

After the event, Han Liangcai's master used a magical treasure to calculate Fang Shanglong's destiny, determining that he was Fallen Dragon Prefecture's previous hidden dragon and possessed a northern heaven five qi destiny.

His primary seal was flying dragon in the heavens, a True Dragon that had leaped through the Dragon Gate. His secondary seal was abyssal fish chasing the moon, an abyssal fish pursuing the moonlight.

Because his primary and secondary seals clashed, his destiny was terribly ominous. Over the course of his life, he would have to pass the Northern Black Emperor's tests and endure five water-element tribulations before he could turn calamity into fortune and soar into the heavens.

Sure enough, three hundred years later, Fang Shanglong overcame all his tribulations, broke the Immortal Alliance's record for the fastest advancement, and attained the rank of Nascent Soul True Lord.

At that thought, a trace of emotion could not help appearing in Han Liangcai's eyes.

He sought karmic connections from all those mortal Qi Refining cultivators not to obtain money, but to establish a sliver of karma with the spirit stones' owners.

With that sliver of karma connecting them, Han Liangcai could use the magical treasure his master had bestowed upon him, the [Yin-Yang Reincarnation Mirror], to illuminate the threads of karma, calculate the destiny of the person behind each thread, and find that hidden dragon who had yet to soar into the heavens.

(End of chapter)