Primordial Era: I am a gourd vine, starting with seven gourds combined into one.

Karmic fire is a flame that burns fueled by karma. Lin Yang only saw the twelve-petaled karmic fire lotus and the karmic fire on it.

Instantly, I felt the karma within me being stirred.

"boom!"

A flame suddenly burst into flames on Lin Yang's body. It was the karmic force on Lin Yang's body that had been ignited.

A slight burning and pain sensation came over me.

But Lin Yang smiled.

Everything was as expected. He came seeking the Twelve-Petaled Karmic Fire Red Lotus, firstly in an attempt to combine it with the Twelve-Petaled Pure World White Lotus to create an even more powerful magic weapon.

Secondly, he wanted to use the twelve-tiered karmic fire lotus to see if he could remove the karma on his body.

Lin Yang carries a lot of karma, not only from his killing of Dong Wanggong in Zifu Continent, but also from his annihilation of Di Jun and Taiyi on Taiyang Star.

Most of his karma, on the contrary, is accumulated over time.

These karmic burdens usually don't bother him, but if they continue to accumulate and become increasingly substantial, it's hard to guarantee they won't have an impact.

Therefore, Lin Yang has always wanted to get rid of these karmic burdens, or at least try to make use of them.

However, it is not easy to create a method that utilizes karma. Previously, Lin Yang went to the West and met the Demon Ancestor Rahu in Mount Sumeru. Rahu seemed to have a similar method that could transform karma into his own.

Even if Rahu were willing to teach him, he wouldn't trust Rahu and would take it and use it.

Therefore, before figuring out how to utilize his karma, Lin Yang felt it was more reliable to find the Twelve-Petaled Karmic Fire Red Lotus and use it to remove his karma.

Sure enough, before he even truly obtained the treasure, his karma began to ignite.

Karma was burning fiercely, and a single hair could affect the whole body. Seeing this, Lin Yang did not suppress it, but let all his karma turn into a raging fire and burn.

In an instant, Lin Yang was completely engulfed in flames.

His entire body was engulfed in blazing red lotus flames.

Originally, karma only exists in the soul, and karmic fire also burns the soul.

But Lin Yang is somewhat special. He has a physical body and a primordial spirit that are one, so the karmic fire burns his entire body.

On the Twelve-Grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus, there is a placenta that looks like the size of an infant.

That is the River Styx.

Styx was somewhat stunned as he looked at Lin Yang, whose body was engulfed in karmic flames.

Where did this Taoist priest come from? The karmic burden on him is so profound.

Moreover, aren't karmic fires supposed to burn within the soul? How come his karmic fires are appearing outside his body?

Lin Yang didn't care what Styx thought. At this moment, he mobilized the karma within him and made it burn. At the same time, Lin Yang also kept observing the burning of this karmic fire.

Karmic fire uses karma as fuel. After burning, if one can withstand it, the karma will naturally dissipate. But if one cannot withstand it, the soul will be burned to ashes.

"Karma and merit are mutually exclusive, products of the laws of Heaven. If I can master these laws, can I transform karma and merit for my own use?" Lin Yang's eyes flashed as he carefully sensed the changes in karma transforming into karmic fire, which continued to burn.

His current cultivation level is unfathomable. Even though he is just an avatar, with the support of his true self, he continuously receives the karma from his body, which burns and comprehends. Gradually, Lin Yang has gained a vague understanding of this invisible rule of heaven.

However, this realization was not profound enough, especially since, after a long time, the karmic fire on Lin Yang's body suddenly went out.

His karma was burned away; without karma, there was naturally no more karmic fire.

This round of karmic fire brought Lin Yang considerable gains. The karmic fire tempered his soul, and his soul, body, primordial spirit, and the Great Dao were all one.

Burning the soul is equivalent to burning his primordial spirit, physical body, magical power, and the Great Dao.

This resulted in the complete destruction of Lin Yang's primordial spirit, physical body, magical power, and even the various impurities within the Great Dao.

Although it may not be completely complete, it is now purer. That is the benefit of surviving the burning of karma.

However, what Lin Yang gained the most was his understanding of the rules of karma.

Although not profound, based on these insights, Lin Yang could generate many methods that could utilize karma in an instant.

For example, he can treat karma as merit, accumulate it, and transform it into a golden wheel of karma, which can be activated like a magic weapon.

Of course, this is the Karma Wheel, not the Merit Wheel. When activated, its power is such that even enemies are tainted by its karma.

Such an attack is truly disgusting.

Even powerful beings would never want to be tainted by it, and the deeper one's karma, the stronger the karmic golden wheel that is formed.

Lin Yang somewhat regretted letting the karmic fire burn away all his karma earlier.

However, otherwise, how could he have come to understand the rules of karma?

Moreover, this Karmic Golden Wheel is indeed very powerful.

But as the saying goes, those who play with fire will get burned, and those who play with water will drown. If one truly accumulates karma and cultivates the golden wheel of karma to an incomparably powerful degree...

If one day one loses control and is devoured by this karma, then it's no joke.

Moreover, since Lin Yang was able to comprehend the rules of karma and utilize it.

What about the others?

It's hard to guarantee that others won't learn similar methods, so while this Karmic Golden Wheel can be condensed, it must be kept within one's own control.

Never be tempted by its power and forget the danger.

In addition, we must be wary of being exploited by the enemy and turning it into a weakness.

Therefore, compared to condensing the karmic golden wheel, Lin Yang prefers another method of utilizing karma.

That is cultivating the Karmic Golden Body. What is the Karmic Golden Body? It is actually similar to the Karmic Golden Wheel.

It's just that one accumulates karma and uses it as a magical artifact for practice.

One, however, stores karma within the body, using it to temper and refine the body, making it exceptionally powerful, and even imbuing it with the various characteristics of karma—this is the Karmic Golden Body.

There may be loopholes or weaknesses in cultivating the Karmic Golden Wheel that can be countered by others.

However, once one cultivates a body of karmic merit, this risk is much lower.

Of course, low risk does not mean no risk. Moreover, Lin Yang suspected that if the Karmic Golden Body was successfully cultivated, then this person would likely be disliked by the Heavenly Dao.

After all, karma is not a good thing; it is a punishment that the laws of nature use to punish a living being.

With so much karma absorbed by you, how can Heaven still favor you?

However, Lin Yang thought of another way, which was to accumulate merit.

Karma and merit are relative.

Therefore, if you are practicing the Karma Wheel, it is best to also practice the Merit Wheel at the same time.

If one cultivates the golden body of karma, one also cultivates the golden body of merit.

In this way, the two cancel each other out, thus reducing the "hatred" of Heaven.

Of course, this "offset" does not mean actual offsetting, but rather achieving a certain balance.

Therefore, while comprehending the rules of karma, one should also comprehend the rules of merit.

Only by combining these two rules can they be used effectively.

Otherwise, leaning towards either one will cause great danger.

Although Lin Yang has comprehended the Karmic Golden Body and Karmic Golden Wheel, he has no intention of cultivating them now.

After all, he had no karma left on him.

If you really want to cultivate yourself, you should wait until you've accumulated some more karma before doing so.

Lin Yang opened his eyes, looked at the "Nether River" on the Twelfth Grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus, and couldn't help but smile slightly, saying, "Fellow Daoist Styx, is it? Greetings, Creation."

"I apologize for my unannounced visit, fellow Daoist."

Upon hearing this, Styx realized what was happening, but what could he say in response to Lin Yang's statement?

Lin Yang didn't waste any words and directly adopted the method from Longevity Mountain.

And the Styx River quickly yielded.

Lin Yang borrowed all of the Twelve Grade Karmic Fire Lotus, the Yuan Tu Sword, and the Avici Sword.

He went from being a wealthy tycoon to being penniless and destitute.

If Styx hadn't yet taken human form, he would probably be weeping.

Lin Yang was like a bandit who broke into a village and took everything he could from his house.

Is this something a teacher should do?

That's right, Lin Yang also took Minghe as a disciple, making him his fourth disciple.

Interestingly enough, aside from Xuanfeng the monkey, Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun, whom he took in at Wanshou Mountain, are arguably the most famous good-natured people.

Especially the red clouds.

And Styx? On the contrary, he was the most notorious villain and wicked person in the primordial world.

After all, he was a ruthless character who cultivated the path of killing; even if Styx wanted to be less ferocious, he couldn't help it.

But this makes things interesting; Lin Yang's tutelage now consists of disciples with completely opposite personalities.

If I can survive this battle safely, my disciples will surely cause quite a stir in the future.

Of course, Lin Yang didn't just take it for free. As usual, he also gave Styx a copy of the inheritance he had compiled.

In addition, Lin Yang thought of the demonic path he had comprehended during his previous trip to the Western Lands.

They extracted the essence of it, created some legacies, and gave them to the Styx.

Styx was overjoyed to receive this demonic inheritance, for this demonic path could be perfectly combined with his killing path.

"Rahu's demonic path is the Great Heavenly Demonic Path, which is especially adept at manipulating people's hearts and minds, making it extremely strange and unpredictable. If you combine his Heavenly Demonic Path with your path of killing and blood, you will achieve extraordinary things in the future."

Seeing the Styx River in such a state, Lin Yang couldn't help but sigh.

Styx quickly thanked Lin Yang.

Lin Yang didn't say much; he took what he was entitled to and gave what he was entitled to.

But it was time for him to leave.

After reinforcing the Styx formation, Lin Yang withdrew the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation and left the Netherworld Blood Sea.

This time, Lin Yang truly returned to the starry sky.

His gains on this trip were simply unbelievable. If it weren't for the urgency, Lin Yang would have liked to travel to more places to search for other powerful figures who had not yet emerged.

But too much of a good thing can be bad. Lin Yang knew that he was able to find Zhen Yuanzi and Minghe successfully because he had planned ahead.

As for other powerful beings who have not yet appeared in the world, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack if you really wanted to find them.

Moreover, it's really not safe for him to be just an avatar carrying so many treasures all over the world.

I almost got into trouble when I went to the West before.

It turns out that when Lin Yang's avatar went to the West, he already carried the Four Swords of Zhuxian and the Zhuxian Formation Diagram with him.

As one can imagine, if Rahu were to discover this, the joke would be far from over.

Lin Yang was only bold because of his skill. When he saw that Luo Hou really intended to attack him, a mere avatar, he was speechless.

Fortunately, he had made prior arrangements. The Zhou Tian Star Array was prepared well in advance and hung in the western sky, which made Luo Hou give up his idea. Otherwise, Lin Yang might have really had to fight Luo Hou.

Therefore, having learned from this experience, Lin Yang felt that he needed to be more cautious in the future.

Just like this time, I should have sent two avatars. One avatar should have visited Luo Hou and persuaded him to join forces against Hongjun, while the other avatar should have gone to find someone with the Four Swords of Zhuxian and the Zhuxian Formation Diagram. That would have ensured everything went smoothly.