There is no cause without reason, no effect without cause, and no meeting without predestination.
A meeting in this life may be the result of five hundred glances exchanged in a past life.
Such is the nature of encounters.
Be it joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness, love, hatred, affection, or enmity—it is no exaggeration to say that everything in this world has a traceable cause and effect.
Yes.
Everything, even the Cataclysm of the Myriad Heavens, has a traceable cause and effect.
Karma is a profoundly mysterious existence. It is both the Great Dao and a Law, yet it is neither the Great Dao nor a Law. As for what it truly is, no one can say for certain. Gu Qingfeng could not explain it, nor could the Old Monk residing within the Bone Jade of Annihilation.
Gu Qingfeng only knew that not only does everything have a traceable cause and effect, but every existence is also within the web of karma.
All beings between heaven and earth are no exception, including the Old Man of Heaven who presides over the Heavenly Dao.
The notion to investigate karma did not strike Gu Qingfeng on a sudden whim, nor could it be said he had planned it for a long time. Rather, after arriving at Yunxia Sect, meeting certain people, and experiencing certain events—especially during his recent interactions with Huode—he had been deeply moved, contemplating how he might make amends for the faults changed by his own actions in the past.
That was his initial thought, and he intended to act upon it. Later, upon further reflection, he realized that since the Calamity had just passed, the Origin was renewing itself, and karma was being re-derived, why not seize this opportunity to investigate his own karma?
Gu Qingfeng had once studied karma for a very long time, even nearly losing himself within his own sea of consciousness in the process...
He clearly understood that from the day any life is born, a seed of karma is planted. As one grows day by day, encountering people and events, this karma seed gradually grows—sprouting, becoming a seedling, branching out, spreading leaves, bearing fruit...
This is the so-called Karma Tree.
For every turning point in your life, a corresponding branch will sprout on your Karma Tree.
Each life turning point gives rise to countless karmic threads, and on that branch, just as many leaves will unfurl.
Unfortunately, this thing called the Karma Tree cannot be seen, touched, sensed, or even imagined.
Gu Qingfeng recalled the many turning points in his own life.
If one were to speak of the first major turning point, it was at Yunxia Sect.
Back then, Gu Qingfeng's aptitude and spiritual roots were poor. Although he dared to challenge other geniuses with his peerless comprehension, his cultivation level at the time was not high, especially during the late Ancient Era when spiritual energy was extremely scarce. Wanting to absorb even a mouthful of spiritual energy, even if it was turbid, was exceedingly difficult.
Later, his cultivation was able to advance by leaps and bounds, thanks largely to Huode.
In those days, Huode was fond of researching formations and often tricked disciples into testing them for him. Many disciples had been deceived by him, and Gu Qingfeng was one of the victims.
Back then, tricked by Huode into testing a formation, Gu Qingfeng was thoroughly tormented. In a fit of rage, he stole many of Huode's treasured resources—pills, talismans, he took quite a few—then promptly sold what he could and consumed what he couldn't.
Among them was a strange red stone. Gu Qingfeng didn't know what it was. He couldn't sell it, nor dared he eat it. After tapping, knocking, and studying it for a long time, somehow, that strange stone suddenly caught fire. The flames were fierce, igniting him on the spot.
At the time, Gu Qingfeng thought he would be burned to death. Yet when he awoke again, not only was he not dead, but his body had undergone an incredible transformation. His skin, muscles, bones, and meridians all contained a very violent fiery spiritual essence.
Back then, Gu Qingfeng didn't understand what had happened. He only knew that from then on, his cultivation began to advance by leaps and bounds.
It wasn't until after he was expelled from Yunxia Sect that Huode told him the stone he stole was the sect's treasure, the Heart of the Blazing Sun, and that Gu Qingfeng had turned misfortune into fortune, having his body tempered by the Heart of the Blazing Sun.
Thinking back on it now, Gu Qingfeng reckoned that his cultivation's rapid advancement after being expelled from Yunxia Sect was largely thanks to that stroke of fortune born from misfortune. That should count as the first major turning point in his life.
The Old Monk said that to investigate karma, one must find the root of life's turning points.
And that Heart of the Blazing Sun should be the root of that turning point, the first karmic branch sprouting from Gu Qingfeng's Karma Tree.
Gu Qingfeng thought he needed to find Huode and ask him in detail.
This noon.
The sun blazed brightly, the weather was quite fine.
Gu Qingfeng opened his door, glanced at the scorching sun hanging in the sky, yawned, and stretched lazily. Only then did he notice a short, stout man standing at the entrance—none other than Fei Kui.
"Young Master."
The moment Gu Qingfeng opened the door, Fei Kui bowed his head and respectfully addressed him as Young Master.
Gu Qingfeng seemed somewhat surprised. "Have you been standing guard here the whole time?"
"The old master knew you were in seclusion, so he ordered me to stand guard here, worried you might need something, so I could attend to you..." Fei Kui had been standing guard here for three days, ever since he awoke from his stupor. For him, these three days felt like years. The events of the Heir Apparent Banquet kept flashing through his mind, impossible to drive away or disperse.
Erasing Yun Jingshan with a thought, slaying Jinde and Shuide with a palm.
Killing Li Changxin with a flick of a finger, the might of a single shout crippling over twenty members of the Li family.
Punching the Li family ancestor, sweeping a leg to annihilate Bai Yu, Hong Xuan, and five other True Persons who had passed their longevity tribulations, frightening the Three Elders of Yunxia to death...
Even now, recalling it made Fei Kui's heart tremble uncontrollably. He stood there, bowing, not daring to raise his head, much less meet Gu Qingfeng's gaze.
"After I entered seclusion, did anything happen at Yunxia Sect?"
Gu Qingfeng walked over and sat down on the comfortable rocking chair. Fei Kui hurried over to pour wine.
"Before the Heir Apparent Banquet, the old master had already given all the disciples a long vacation. After the banquet, the old master directly announced that Yunxia Sect would seal the mountain for rest and reorganization. Nothing significant has happened."
It had been three days since the Heir Apparent Banquet. For these three days, Rende had been busy with cleanup work, as Jinde and Shuide were dead but their confidants remained. Rende and Huode wielded their authority decisively, dismissing or expelling sect stewards and elders as needed, and winning over those they could.
"That's good."
Gu Qingfeng sat down and took a sip of wine, then asked, "What about the Nine-Hua Alliance?"
"The Alliance hasn't come again..." Just as Fei Kui was speaking, a slovenly old man rushed into the Spirit Seclusion Garden—it was Huode.
"Kid Gu...
You're out of seclusion already?"
"I'm out."
Huode waved his hand, and Fei Kui, understanding the cue, quickly left.
After the events of the banquet, Fei Kui might have been terrified of Gu Qingfeng, but Huode was not. Not in the slightest. Not only was he not afraid, he wasn't even surprised, because he knew that compared to the deeds Gu Qingfeng had committed in the past, the little mess at the banquet was hardly worth mentioning. In Huode's view, Gu Qingfeng's actions at the banquet could hardly be called killing; he hadn't even really made a move. At most, it was just scratching an itch.
This was no exaggeration. Others might not know, but Huode knew perfectly well. Back when Gu Qingfeng roamed this world, every time he made a move, mountains crumbled and the earth split; every time he killed, rivers of blood flowed. Compared to that, the little mischief and the few people Gu Qingfeng dealt with at the banquet were mere drizzle.
Huode didn't care about these things, nor did he mind them.
He only wanted to know what exactly had happened when Gu Qingfeng was establishing his foundation.
"Kid, when you were establishing your foundation, why did dark clouds suddenly gather?
And is the current Great Natural Order Spirit Change in the Qingyang region your doing?"
The so-called Great Natural Order Spirit Change is a phenomenon of mutation, somewhat similar to weather changes. The difference is that after a Spirit Change, spiritual energy becomes very unstable—it might become very pure, or very turbid. That's not the important part. What matters is that every time a Great Natural Order Spirit Change occurs, it gives rise to various spirit veins and resources. More importantly, those hidden grotto-heavens concealed within the Great Natural Order will manifest into the world because of the Spirit Change.
"Oh?
Has a Great Natural Order Spirit Change occurred?"
Gu Qingfeng pondered. When he was establishing his foundation, the Great Natural Order had forced a Multicolored Lotus upon him. It was likely this thing that caused it.
"The surrounding dozen or so regions have been thrown into chaos these past two days. Everyone's scrambling for resources, and grotto-heavens manifest every day..."