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Destiny?

Shen Shanshui's pupils contracted slightly, and his brows furrowed involuntarily.

When Shen Qingfeng was alive, he would talk about cultivation and destiny with Shen Shanshui in his spare time.

The word "fate" is self-contained yet clearly distinct.

Practitioners often talk about luck and fortune, but rarely about fate, as the saying goes, fortune can be changed, but destiny is hard to alter.

Luck is not static. Even if someone is born with great fortune, some unique variables may cause their luck to dissipate, and they may become just another ordinary person.

The process of spiritual practice is actually a process of gradually accumulating good fortune.

When a cultivator reaches a high level of spiritual practice, they will naturally sense something in their heart. It is not because of good fortune that their cultivation goes smoothly, but rather because their cultivation goes smoothly, and good fortune will come to their aid. The two complement each other.

This is what cultivators often refer to as the strong always being strong; powerful cultivators themselves possess extraordinary luck and destiny.

But destiny... can only be called mysterious, because its existence violates the principle that cultivation is going against the heavens.

Cultivation defies the heavens, fate is determined by heaven, and there is no reason for the left and right brains to fight each other, giving birth to a being that goes against its own nature.

Legend has it that among the ancient cultivators, there were those destined to become immortals. However, the final fate of these cultivators is unknown, and whether they have actually become immortals is also unknown.

"To cultivate oneself to become an immortal... Do immortals really exist?"

Shen Shanshui gently shook her head, no longer thinking about it.

As Han Wuming slowly began circulating his internal energy, he officially embarked on the path of cultivation.

As Han Wuming slowly opened his eyes and met his master's gaze, he inexplicably had the illusion that he had been completely exposed.

……

Three days later, Tianyi Mountain, which had been bustling for a while, returned to calm.

Li Daniu was allowed to go down the mountain to visit his brother in the village. Qian Duoduo couldn't wait to go with him and paid the price of a year of hard training to earn the right to go down the mountain.

Shen Shanshui sat upright in the main hall of the Immortal Sect, surrounded by a dense spiritual energy that surged forth and transformed into a turbulent vortex.

Within the Qi Sea, wisps of fire without source quietly appeared.

Shen Shanshui slowly opened his eyes, his deep eyes filled with both anticipation and solemnity.

The three calamities of Foundation Building are each a significant challenge. If it weren't for the sudden change in the Qi Sea caused by the previous wind disaster, Shen Shanshui truly wouldn't know how to stop it.

This calamity of Yin Fire is now directly scorching the soul; if it cannot be stopped, then things will truly be terrible.

Shen Shanshui did not deliberately trigger the outbreak of the Yin Fire Disaster, but chose to wait silently and let nature take its course.

"It shouldn't be that unlucky. I've already been blessed with good fortune to reach the Foundation Establishment stage. I haven't done anything against the laws of nature or wasted my good fortune before."

Without further thought, Shen Shanshui closed his eyes again and began to circulate his energy, immersing himself in the lonely and tedious practice.

……

Winter has passed and spring has arrived, with the weather fluctuating between warm and cold, and life in the world is slowly beginning to revive.

Under the administration of two powerful officials, Qingyang County remained peaceful as always.

The ripples caused by the fact that a Foundation Establishment True Person of the Heavenly Dao Sect had accepted a disciple have gradually subsided.

Those young people who failed the test also spread the story of how the Heavenly Dao Sect recruited disciples. In particular, Tang Yan's invincible talent at the peak of the fourth level of Qi Refining, which swept away a group of ordinary teenagers, was the most talked about.

After all, there are very few cultivators who are willing to set aside their dignity and bravely fight against those of higher levels.

However, before Tang Yan's matter could gain traction, it was overshadowed by another explosive piece of news.

The Dragon Lord's Mansion of Qianlongjiang dispatched its younger generation to explore the Jiangnan region!

This news instantly ignited the cultivation world of Jiangnan Prefecture.

The Qianlong River is the largest river running through the entire Yunzhou, and the Dragon Lord's Mansion, in Yunzhou, a large state dominated by human cultivators, nominally controls all the waterways in Yunzhou.

How could such a massive demonic cultivation force not cause a huge uproar in Jiangnan Prefecture?

Following this incident, another piece of news quickly spread.

Inside Jiangling City, inns and taverns were filled with people discussing the matter.

"What are those demon cultivators from the Dragon Lord's Palace doing in our Jiangnan Prefecture?"

"Although our Jiangnan Prefecture is famous for its martial arts battles and is known for being ruthless and fearless, its overall strength is at the bottom."

"I heard that it's because our Jiangnan Prefecture Immortal Craftsmanship Sect is about to produce an immortal treasure. The current young master of the Dragon Lord's Mansion has reached the perfection of Qi cultivation and wants to use this immortal treasure to step into the Foundation Establishment stage."

The Immortal Craftsmen of Muyun Prefecture, as the superior sect in Yunzhou, seems to disagree with this matter, which is why the Dragon Lord's Mansion is turning to put pressure on our Jiangnan Prefecture instead.

"Tsk tsk, a celestial treasure... This kind of treasure is not much worse than top-grade spiritual objects of heaven and earth."

If it can be refined into a natal treasure, comparable to the Foundation Establishment stage of the Heavenly Dao, and since immortal treasures possess spirits, and can be nourished with spiritual objects later, the future potential is simply unimaginable.

"Stop resting. We low-level Qi cultivators, doing manual labor for others, only earn thirty low-grade spirit stones a month. What does that have to do with us?"

"Hey, you're right."

"However, the Dragon Lord's Mansion is really domineering. Knowing that the Governor of Muyun Prefecture is in charge, they dare not offend him, but they still come to torture our Jiangnan Prefecture."

The Immortal Dynasty is now dominated by human cultivators, while demon cultivators are in decline. Therefore, even these low-level rogue cultivators have a strange sense of superiority when talking about demon cultivators.

However, just after that person said those words, an invisible pressure instantly forced the rude person to the ground.

Chaos erupted inside the tavern as a stunningly beautiful young woman, flawless in every way, entered, surrounded by a group of strangely-looking demon cultivators.

The group of rogue cultivators were so frightened that they dared not even breathe. They had been chatting and laughing just moments before, but now they were all silent.

"Ha, aside from being good at empty talk, trash is always trash. In ancient times, humans were nothing more than food for our race."

Beside the girl, a strangely handsome young man with striking features smiled wickedly, looking at the rogue cultivator who was pinned to the ground with a mocking expression.

The crisp sound of bones cracking echoed through the tavern. The burly man stammered, unable to speak, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, and copious amounts of blood gushing from his seven orifices.

Faced with this scene, many rogue human cultivators clenched their fists.

Jiangling City is the capital of Jiangnan Prefecture, yet a group of demon cultivators are so arrogant! This burly man didn't even say anything too outrageous, yet he still wanted to take the other's life!

They completely disregarded the laws of the Celestial Dynasty and the city of Jiangling!

Before anyone could speak up, the long-bearded old man with half his face covered in scales, who was following behind, said in a low voice, "A lesson is enough. This is Jiangling City after all, with a True Lord in charge. We can't be presumptuous."

"If you ruin the young lord's important plans, your Dragon Crocodile clan cannot bear the consequences."

"Ha... The law of the jungle is the way of nature, and I'm nothing but an ant. Humans are hypocritical, creating so-called laws that are completely superfluous."

The promising young man snorted coldly, his words still sarcastic, but he withdrew the oppressive aura he had directed at the burly man.

After the group left, someone in the tavern helped the burly man, who was bleeding from all seven orifices, to his feet and quickly took him to a clinic.

The remaining drinkers, still shaken, quickly dispersed. They dared not discuss the Dragon Lord's Mansion any further, fearing they might suffer the same fate as the burly man.

……