Chapter Fifteen: The Kind Stranger Passing By

To switch to the ancient path of the Qi Refiners, one must first seek out and absorb the corresponding Immortal Spirit Qi. This method is only available after attaining the state of Human Immortal, where one can divine cause and effect and deduce origins. Yet, paradoxically, once someone reaches Human Immortal, the possibility of changing paths is lost.

If not, knowing this path could help escape calamity, why would those mighty Earth Immortals not choose it? If everyone could return to the ancient path of Qi Refiners, why would immortals and demons need to wage war every fifteen hundred years? Wouldn't it be better if each minded their own business, and conflict was avoided?

This is a paradox—whether the chicken came first, or the egg.

After obtaining the powers of a Human Immortal, one cannot switch cultivation paths; those who wish to do so lack the means. However, Ji Feichen had his own ideas. After parting ways with the Heavenly Fox, he stayed alone in Tiger Departure Mountain to deduce his own fate.

Ji Feichen cultivated the "True Explanation of the Supreme Dragon Cloud Micro Jade," which included a method called "Jade Micro Divination Sutra," a scripture used to calculate the greater trends of heaven and earth, a marvel for observing the Dao of Heaven. Naturally, Ji Feichen’s current realm was insufficient; he could only divine others, not himself. Only after reaching Human Immortal could he calculate his own fate.

At this moment, the dragon scale he brought with him from his transmigration became useful. Its origins were mysterious, but the power of the Golden Lake Dragon Lord could instantly suppress it and help Ji Feichen conceal his own fate; its true nature was certainly no less than Earth Immortal or even Heavenly Immortal.

He suspended the dragon scale before him. On its black surface, the patterns of heaven and earth’s Dao were distributed evenly, flowing like some special law of nature.

With a surge of his magical power, the black dragon scale flashed brilliantly. The clear, pristine scale projected Ji Feichen’s image. His fortune billowed like clouds, with a mass of dark blue water light merging into his own luck.

This dragon scale had the ability to observe fortune and inspect cause and effect. Ordinary people’s fortune was like smoke, diffuse and unsettled. Those of immense wealth or destined for cultivation had fortune gathered like clouds, concentrated and robust. At a higher level, fortune could form visions of treasures, weapons, and other phenomena. If one’s fortune formed the image of a treasure basin, it signaled wealth beyond measure, enough to rival a nation. If fortune was like blades or blood, it foretold a butcher or someone about to face a killing calamity.

Ji Feichen had once secretly used the dragon scale to observe the people of the Nether Sect. His master’s fortune was dense as black clouds, with the shadow of a flying snake within. Xiao Ying’s fortune was a white rainbow piercing the azure sky. As for several Earth Immortal elders, Ji Feichen couldn’t see their fortune directly—he only sensed pillars of multicolored fortune connecting heaven and earth, unmoving for a thousand years.

Currently, Ji Feichen’s own fortune condensed into a mysterious cloud, within which twenty-four streams of light flickered. The qi of the primordial yellow suppressed his fortune, making it higher than ordinary disciples in the Mundane Shedding realm. Beside the mysterious cloud, the mass of dark blue water light belonged to Tiger Departure Mountain’s fortune. After the demon fox was slain and its treasure claimed, the mountain’s fortune automatically attached to Ji Feichen. Yet these were external forces, not his own; when the treasure vanished, so would the borrowed fortune.

"The fortune gained from suppressing with a treasure is similar to what the sect bestows. It’s tied to the cave mansion and sect—when the sect collapses, it will affect my life."

At present, the Nether Sect’s fortune was thriving, but who could guarantee it would not someday decline? So, it was best to extricate himself early!

Ji Feichen tapped the projection, and fine threads of red light emerged, densely tangled like a net, binding his image tightly.

His eyelids twitched, shocked: "Why do I have so many threads of karma?" These threads were the ties he had formed with heaven and earth; for every bit of demonic qi he drew from the world, an equal thread of karma entwined his soul.

Not only him—every cultivator in the world bore such karmic threads. If you absorb a strand of Immortal Spirit Qi, and someone else absorbs the accompanying demonic qi, a bond forms, and a thread of karma connects the two.

The threads of karma stretched far, allowing Ji Feichen to sense, at the other end, a connection to various Daoist cultivators.

"Too many." Ji Feichen’s face darkened; how could he possibly kill them all? Many threads were tied to powerful Human Immortals.

Upon reflection, it made sense. The Immortal Spirit Qi absorbed today by one person could be absorbed tomorrow by another in a different place; vital energy drifts throughout the world. One person could form enmities with thousands, which was only logical.

This also explained why, during the battles between immortals and demons, everyone fought ruthlessly, fearing they might be killed before others.

Most of the karmic threads on Ji Feichen were faint, like fine silkworm threads, nearly broken yet still lingering. This meant those Daoist cultivators weren’t his direct counterparts. If a demon were to kill those Daoist feathered ones, his own karmic threads would naturally break.

"Should I hope a benevolent soul wipes them out during the immortal-demon calamity?" Ji Feichen gradually understood: "So that’s why there’s talk of killing three to escape calamity. Why most Earth Immortals choose to take disciples and establish sects."

Because personal karma is too hard to shed, one can only select three threads, kill three peers to escape calamity. Alternatively, transfer the karma to disciples and let them bear the calamity in one’s stead, thus gaining fifteen hundred years of peace.

Ji Feichen summoned jade light, using the "Jade Micro Divination Sutra" to sort his karmic threads. The minor ones he disregarded; three major threads remained—one wrapped around his neck, one around his wrist, one around his waist.

The thread at his neck was tangled like a rope, dark red, but its other end connected to nothing.

"Heavenly treasures!" Ji Feichen thought. By drawing demonic qi, some corresponding Immortal Spirit Qi formed heavenly treasures elsewhere. If he could seize them first, he could escape the calamity.

The thread at his waist was scattered like clouds; its other end landed in Moon Sun Courtyard. He often hid there to cultivate, locking some Immortal Spirit Qi within; later, he could simply collect it.

As for the third... Ji Feichen examined the thread at his wrist: "This connects to a Daoist cultivator? Looks like I’ll have to go kill him." Killing one is easier than killing many.

With his plan made, Ji Feichen immediately set traps in Tiger Departure Mountain.

The Nine Element Demon Bottle gathered the mountain’s spiritual energy, containing toxic water essence that killed invisibly. Ji Feichen placed the bottle atop a stalactite, striking it hard with the Demon Dragon Mace.

With each dragon's roar, cracks appeared on the bottle, and dark blue water light slowly fused with the stalactite.

"Jade Micro Myriad, Divination Sutra!" Ji Feichen pointed, using a method of karmic substitution to transfer Tiger Departure Mountain’s fortune into the stalactite, linking the treasure’s fortune to the mountain’s veins, and then activated the Nine-Curve Weak Water Demon Array to lock down the entire mountain before hastily departing.

He had barely left when immortal light descended onto Tiger Departure Mountain.

Within the light appeared an elder with the appearance of a child and the hair of a crane. He wore a bright red crane robe, a pure yang square cap, and held a dragon-headed cane, standing among the clouds.

He Yunweng was born of the Daoist sect and had deep karma with the Black Moon Demon Fox. The Immortal Spirit Qi the demon fox refined was half attached to him. The old immortal intended to keep the demon fox for a millennium as his calamity scapegoat. But now, a sudden change had occurred. Sensing their karmic thread had snapped, he hurried to investigate.

The immortal entered Tiger Departure Mountain, seeing rolling demon clouds and bitter black winds, with a treasure bottle suspended in the sky masking the mountain’s aura.

"The demon fox is refining magic? Does he seek to ascend to Human Immortal and sever his karma with me?" He Yunweng grew anxious, tapping his cane to knock down the suspended “treasure.”

The treasure existed only in form, not substance, merely a condensation of the mountain’s fortune, linked to the stalactite. When the elder struck the bottle, the stalactite exploded, beams of immortal light burst forth, turning Tiger Departure Mountain into ruins.

"Not good!" The immortal sensed something amiss the moment he acted. He tossed a golden ring to ensnare the mountain, ensuring only Tiger Departure Mountain was destroyed while the surrounding veins remained unharmed.

Though the mountain had few living creatures, damaging the earth’s veins incurred heaven’s wrath. As dust filled the sky, a muffled thunderclap resounded; rolling black qi wrapped around the immortal, diminishing his fortune by thirty percent and increasing his future calamity.

"Scoundrel! Daring to scheme against me!" He Yunweng’s face darkened with rage and he immediately cast spells to divine the cause. But with Ji Feichen wielding the dragon scale—capable of reversing yin and yang—ordinary Human Immortals could not discern its origins.

Helpless, the elder descended to inspect the mountain’s ruins. He found traces of Luo Qingyi’s battle with the demon fox. Though he couldn’t trace Ji Feichen, he could deduce Luo Qingyi’s whereabouts and thus understand the Nether Sect’s movements.

"The Nether Sect’s Black Pool Demon intends to ascend to Earth Immortal?" The immortal was startled, growing alert: "The Nether Sect is already a top sect among the ten demon paths; if another Earth Immortal emerges, it will disadvantage my Daoist sect. Moreover, there are traces of Heavenly Heart Demon Sect’s magic here—could they have intervened as well?"

With matters involving two major demon sects, the elder could not concern himself with the demon fox. He hurried back to report to his sect, seeking to prevent Black Pool’s ascension.

The internal strife of the Nether Sect, lightly set in motion by Ji Feichen, now stirred a great movement across the Daoist sect, adding uncertainty to Black Pool’s path to ascension.

"No matter who comes to Tiger Departure Mountain, once they trigger the traps I left, the mountain will be destroyed." Ji Feichen mused while traveling, "Since I didn’t do it myself, the karmic burden won’t be mine. But who will be the kind soul to set it off? Hopefully it’s Sister Xiao or Sister Luo, or at least another fellow disciple."

Ji Feichen left Tiger Departure Mountain, not returning to the sect. He knew that returning now would mean a crowd of fellow disciples blocking his way. So, he decisively went to Moon Sun Courtyard to recuperate and prepare to escape calamity.

"This trip gives me an excuse to escape the sect’s surveillance. Once I cultivate the Human Immortal Dao Fruit, I’ll return to the mountain gate." After all, he knew the process for refining the demon fox’s heart blood into pills.

Thus, he leisurely crafted Black Heart Pills in Moon Sun Courtyard, meanwhile gathering all the Immortal Spirit Qi scattered in his cave mansion.

A thread of karma wove through Moon Sun Courtyard, gathering multicolored spiritual clouds from all directions. These clouds were the scattered Immortal Spirit Mist. Ji Feichen used the Jade Tide Pearl to suppress all the Immortal Spirit Qi, finally locking it beneath the Dew Platform.

The Dew Platform could refine qi into dew; within it, the spiritual clouds churned, and droplets of multicolored water settled on a tray. Each drop of dew was Immortal Spirit Qi corresponding to the demonic qi Ji Feichen had cultivated. Calculating carefully, the Immortal Spirit Qi here comprised at least a quarter of his total cultivation.

Ji Feichen clapped and laughed: "Wonderful, wonderful! Once the remaining two threads of karma are severed, I can peacefully seek the yin-yang land to refine the Primordial Unity Qi."

As for the thread coiled around his neck, Ji Feichen already had a guess where it led. Once the Black Heart Pill was completed, he disguised himself as a Daoist cultivator and headed north.