Three Fates Compendium

The maid obediently withdrew.

Only the two of them remained in the rear hall.

Fang Hong had never expected to see "Fang Qing" again so soon.

Or rather, Rogue Person Xuanyin, Jin Huaiyuan!

It turned out that this great Golden Core cultivator was actually the master of the Yin-Yang Sect's Dharma Transmission Hall.

He had a bulging belly, a round face, and large ears. With his Buddha-like features, he resembled a laughing Maitreya. Where was even a trace of the sinister air of a demonic-path overlord?

Fang Hong dared not be remiss. He approached the table and looked at the Romantic Painting Album.

This page depicted a young married woman with a languid, alluring air, her cloudlike hair swept by the wind and her figure graceful. She knelt on the ground, the curve of her waist taut yet lush, setting off the full peaks of her breasts and making her look all the more exquisite.

After a moment's thought, Fang Hong offered a compliment. "Hall Master, your brushwork is exquisite. The woman in the painting possesses both form and spirit, her charm entirely natural."

"Haha!" Rogue Person Xuanyin seemed pleased. "This woman is Yan Suyue, a Golden Core elder of the Heaven-Reaching Sword Sect. I observed her in secret for many days before daring to paint her."

With that, he pointed at the album again. "You and I share no shallow affinity. This album is yours as well."

Fang Hong took the album, unsure what medicine Rogue Person Xuanyin was selling in his gourd, and hastily thanked him. "Thank you, Hall Master."

Rogue Person Xuanyin set down his brush and stroked his large belly, saying leisurely, "I left an illusion divine ability imprint in that painting just now. You might as well give it a proper try later. That is the true way to use the Romantic Painting Album."

Fang Hong did not understand, but thanked him again nonetheless.

Rogue Person Xuanyin looked Fang Hong up and down a few times, then suddenly dropped a startling remark. "Which transmigrator company was so unreliable as to send you into this realm? If I hadn't helped conceal you, those Golden Core cultivators from the Shangqing Sect would have searched your soul and refined your spirit long ago."

What?

Fang Hong looked at Rogue Person Xuanyin in disbelief. "You're also... a transmigrator?"

Rogue Person Xuanyin nodded and casually gestured for Fang Hong to sit, sneering, "Some transmigrator companies are sinking lower and lower these days. In cases like yours, they know full well that sending you in means sending you to your death, yet they still insist on shoving you in."

Fang Hong's thoughts churned, and he could not help asking, "Senior, why is this world so hostile toward transmigrators? Or is it like this throughout the myriad worlds?"

Rogue Person Xuanyin explained mildly, "The native cultivators in the vast majority of realms don't know about transmigrators. This realm alone is somewhat special."

"According to Canghuan Heaven's calendar, it was roughly two thousand years ago. A transmigrator company rooted in this realm had its dirty dealings exposed, and the native cultivators rose against it. The two sides fought a great war."

"At first, although the company had few people, transmigrators had obvious advantages, after all, and could still keep the native cultivators suppressed. Later, an unparalleled genius emerged among the native cultivators. He took over a transmigrator's body in a reverse possession and controlled him, then used the conveniences aboard the Myriad Worlds Ancient Boat to cultivate all the way to the peak of Spirit Transformation."

"Under that man's leadership, the native cultivators of this realm slaughtered almost all the high-level cultivators among the transmigrators. The few company executives who escaped never dared return."

"Ever since then, many of Canghuan Heaven's foremost sects have joined forces, ordering all the major sects under heaven to hunt down and kill transmigrators on a massive scale. That made this realm a distressed asset in the eyes of other transmigrator companies."

Digesting the information in Rogue Person Xuanyin's words, Fang Hong asked next, "May I ask how that company's dirty dealings came to light?"

Rogue Person Xuanyin chuckled. "There were plenty of reasons. From some realm or other, they acquired a batch of cultivation inheritances with serious hidden dangers and secretly spread them here. Once the native cultivators used them to form Golden Cores and Nascent Souls, they went in to harvest them."

"Just selling this realm's Golden Cores and Nascent Souls elsewhere earned them overflowing pots and bowls of profit. They even harvested the fate-chart divine balefuls of this realm's high-level cultivators, refined them into magical artifacts, and sold them aboard the Myriad Worlds Ancient Boat."

"In the end, the affair grew too big and enraged the native Spirit Transformation cultivators. That company's competitors also secretly supplied the native cultivators with a method for identifying the spiritual signatures of transmigrators' fate cards, setting off the great war in this realm in one stroke."

Fang Hong fell silent, his thoughts racing.

If the identity in his fate card had been an ordinary rogue cultivator, it would have been fine. During his one-year probationary period, he probably would not have come into contact with major sects or high-level cultivators, and could still have slipped through unnoticed.

But his identity attribute was "second-generation immortal"!

Right after transmigrating, he had faced the Shangqing Sect's entrance examination. Judging by Rogue Person Xuanyin's account, that had been an almost certain death trap.

Even if he had not gone to the Shangqing Sect, he could not have escaped the eyes of Fang Jian, a great Golden Core cultivator, on Yunchuan Island.

Perhaps Rogue Person Xuanyin's words could not be trusted entirely.

But he believed Su Yao would not lie to him.

The otherworldly wandering souls Su Yao had mentioned also corroborated Rogue Person Xuanyin's account.

He looked at Rogue Person Xuanyin and said sincerely, "Thank you, Senior."

As for the Hetu Company that had recruited him, he had had no dealings with it and would withhold judgment for now.

But he had grown wary of the company and became more guarded.

"It was just a matter of lifting a hand. No need to thank me." Rogue Person Xuanyin waved dismissively. "In all my years in the Donglai Sea Region, I've never met another fellow transmigrator. Having finally found one, if you were in my place, you wouldn't stand by and watch him die either, would you?"

"No." Fang Hong nodded slightly.

Seeing his low spirits, Rogue Person Xuanyin smiled and reassured him. "I used [Concealment Incense] produced by the Azure Firmament Divine Court to conceal the spiritual signature on your fate card. As long as you don't encounter a Spirit Transformation cultivator from this realm, no one can see through you for the time being."

"Just focus on cultivating for now. Once your probation ends and your access to the Myriad Worlds Ancient Boat opens, find someone from your company and pay for transmigration insurance. Then you won't have any worries hanging over you. At worst, you can draw another fate card and start over."

Something else suddenly occurred to Fang Hong, and he asked, "Senior, what was the name of that transmigrator company that fought the native cultivators?"

"Kunxu," Rogue Person Xuanyin said offhandedly. "Why? Are you interested in that company?"

Fang Hong shook his head. "I was just curious."

Rogue Person Xuanyin chuckled and beckoned toward a bookshelf to the side. A jade case immediately flew down.

Smiling, he said, "As it happens, I really do have a secret art developed by the Kunxu Company's research and development center. If you're interested, take it back and have a look."

As he spoke, he handed the jade case to Fang Hong.

It would have been a lie for Fang Hong to say he was not interested.

He had only just obtained the results of the Kunxu Company's research into the "Seven Great Medicines." What was recorded there was enough to drive any cultivator mad.

He opened the jade case and saw a silk manuscript inside. Four large characters stood prominently on its cover-Three Fates Compendium.

Rogue Person Xuanyin said, "This is the result of the Kunxu Company's experiments on countless cultivators in this realm. Once you master it, you can not only perceive cultivators' fate-chart divine balefuls, but also strip them away and transfer them at will."

"Think about it. Apply those auspicious spirits to yourself, and they become supreme blessings and fortune. Apply the inauspicious balefuls to others, and you can harm them without a trace. Supposedly, after the Kunxu Company refined quite a few auspicious spirits and inauspicious balefuls into magical artifacts and sold them to the Azure Firmament Divine Court, they gained tremendous benefits as well."

"But this is a path of defying heaven and changing fate. Comprehension alone won't let you master it; you also need some talent for the principles of fate. In any case, I can't make any sense of it at all. You might as well try your luck."

Without betraying anything, Fang Hong picked up the silk manuscript and began leafing through it.

Within his sea of consciousness, the Fate Mirror trembled faintly, and its candlelight blazed.