Aksai cast an invisible barrier around him and Naisha so that their conversation would remain private. He then urged the young girl to speak freely.
Naisha, now fully conscious and focused, looked up at Aksai with a serious expression.
“Big brother, I saw… well, nothing. It’s not just me; even my master wouldn’t be able to predict your future.”
Aksai’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “What do you mean? Why can’t you see my future?”
Naisha sighed and took a deep breath. “You don’t have a future bound by the Threads of Fate. You’re what we call an anomaly of the highest order in the boundless cosmos.”
Aksai still didn’t understand, his confusion evident. “An anomaly? What does that mean?”
Naisha nodded. “Yes, let me explain. My cultivation technique is special. It allows me to glimpse into others’ futures by observing the Threads of Fate attached to them. Every mortal has these threads, which shape their destiny for the most part.
These threads bind mortals, making it difficult to go against their fate. Even the Spirit cultivators are shackled by the Threads of Fate to some extent. The day we break these shackles is the day when they become True Immortals. At least this is what my master said to me.
Anyway, all of us Spirit cultivators are anomalies to some extent. So I have to spend my lifespan to trace back the minimal amount of Threads of Fate that still bind them to some extent.
However, I don’t have to spend my lifespan as fuel to see mortals’ destinities. It is straightforward for me to see mortals’ fate. I can predict their future with maximum accuracy for the most part.”
Aksai nodded, still processing the information. “So, are you saying mortals can’t defy their fate?”
Naisha shook her head.
“Not impossible. Threads of Fate restrict, but they don’t prevent anyone from doing what they want. It is possible for mortals to defy their destiny for as long as they can by becoming more liberated from these threads. The more one resists their fate the more it would be easy for them to rewrite their destiny. The more liberated they get from the Threads of Fate the less they would be bound by the rules of destiny.
However, it’s not easy to challenge fate for most mortals. Only a few manage to do it.”
Aksai nodded in understanding. “So fate is like a set of possible outcomes that can be predicted based on various factors. It’s not absolute, but it can give a general idea of what might happen.”
Aksai was a bit skeptical about the things Naisha said. Or rather, he wanted to stay skeptical about these things so that he would have the power to make his own decisions. He didn’t want to rely on destiny for his success or blame it for his failures as it would take the power away from him to make his own decisions.
However, Aksai also understood that things wouldn’t go away just because he denied their existence. He also understood that the so-called fortune telling was nothing but a mathematical concept that someone had turned into an applied math experiment.
This experiment used the external factors affecting the target as the variables to derive a fixed set of possibilities. Then an algorithm based on “selection by elimination” would be applied to these sets of possibilities to come up with what’s known as the future. As outlandish as it might sound, it was possible in theoretical physics and math.
Aksai believed that the concepts of his old worlds were applied differently by Naisha using her cultivation technique. She might not understand what theoretical math is but she had her own ways of using its concepts all the same.
Naisha looked thoughtful. “That’s one way to put it, big brother. Reading someone’s fate isn’t absolute, and there can be differences between what I see and what actually happens. However, the Threads of Fate are tricky. They bind even those who have escaped their clutches after some time, forcing them to encounter Crossroads of Fate.”
Aksai tilted his head. “Crossroads of Fate?”
Naisha nodded. “Yes, these are pivotal moments that everyone encounters, whether they are bound by the Threads of Fate or not. They force everyone to face certain decisions or events that can alter their path.
It is Fate’s way of hitting reset on any form of deviancy. Once this happens, even those who have escaped fate’s clutches might get shackled by the Thread of Fate once again.
Usually, I look for these Crossroads of Fate to predict someone’s future. But you, big brother Aksai, are a rare exception. Your destiny doesn’t have fixed Crossroads of Fate. That’s why I couldn’t read your future.”
Aksai, still perplexed, leaned back and looked at Naisha. “I’m still a bit confused. Can you explain what this all means? And some of the terms you used?”
By this point, Naisha had prepared two cups of tea. She offered one to Aksai, who took it gratefully and took a sip of her own cup, relishing the warmth and taste of the tea.
“Sure, big brother,” Naisha began, her voice calm and steady.
“Spirit cultivators like you, me, and everyone else are seen as anomalies by the Eyes of Fate. Some more than others depending upon their base of cultivation as well as their nature.
You see, mortals are bound by the Threads of Fate because they live their lives without much interference in the natural order. They follow the natural course of life, death, and rebirth.
But Spirit cultivators are different. We stop being mortals and try to extend our lifespans by tapping into the life force present in nature. We wield supernatural powers and bend the laws of nature to follow our wills.”
Aksai sipped his tea, feeling its warmth spread through him. He nodded, encouraging her to continue.
“In doing so, we free ourselves from the Threads of Fate to some extent,” Naisha continued. “This allows us to exist outside the control of Fate. Why do you think the high-level cultivators attract tribulation? The tribulation is one of the many Crossroads of Fate that a Spirit cultivator would need to visit no matter what they do. As long as they keep walking further in their cultivation journey, this Crossroad of Fate will find them.
The Threads of Fate is part of the worldly dao and it tries to bring everyone under its control using many methods of which the tribulation is a part. Think of it as a neutralizer that you add into an unstable concoction in your alchemy experiment.
It is very difficult for mortals to change their fate because the outcome of what they get is somewhat fixed when they visit the crossroads. In exchange, the so-called punishment that fate brings upon them is also lighter. Mortals won’t have to worry about tribulation from the heavens that the SPirit cultivators face because it is not meant for them.
The Spirit cultivators find it easy to change the outcome of their fate when they visit the crossroads. However, even Spirit cultivators, who are seen as anomalies, are still bound by the laws of fate. This means we are still forced to visit the Crossroads of Fate from time to time in our lives and we can not skip visiting them.”
Aksai inhaled the tea’s aroma, his mind deep in thought. “What exactly are these Crossroads of Fate? I mean what is your definition of it?”