Chapter 218: Chapter 76 Eternal Destiny (Part 2)
The ancient Kunlun Sacred Mountain, drifting in the Phantasm Space, traversed the River of Time and Space; no one could locate its specific position, and no one knew its origin.
At the summit, the Observation Platform.
Only the most powerful beings of the Source World were qualified to visit here; even 8-star and 9-star Destiny Masters could not approach it.
However, at this time, the Observation Platform was empty, utterly devoid of any presence. Standing on the platform and looking around, one could see the Rivers of Destiny slanting across the sky, originating from Phantasm Space and ending in Phantasm Space, without beginning or end.
Some of these rivers were large, and others were small; the large ones could span the universe, crossing through ancient and modern times and expanding endlessly. From a distance, they resembled the Star River, brilliant and dazzling with radiant light.
The smaller ones were only a few meters long, resembling slowly crawling caterpillars.
Such small rivers were constantly destroyed in turmoil every day, but many more emerged and grew robustly; however, most did not grow dazzling enough and would vanish.
It’s like Han Xiao’s “Balanced Destiny” and Li Yue’an’s “Betrayal Destiny,” which they comprehended due to their personalities or unique opportunities, but these would also disperse upon their deaths.
As for the large ones, there were eight paths, hovering in the deepest part of the sky, governing all eight directions, like columns that support the world. Countless fragments of the heavens boiled within them, emanating a heart-thudding power.
Common Destiny Masters, not to mention those of the first or second realm—even those of the third or fourth realm who possessed the power of Knowing One’s Fate and Establishing Destiny—would be instantly shattered and torn into dust if they approached any of them.
The strongest eight Destinies of the Source World, each terrifying through the ages, were so powerful that time itself could not escape but was easily suppressed.
These eight paths of destiny were respectively: Origin, Power, Influence, Wealth, Fame, Physique, Spirit, and Luck.
Origin, namely martial arts, was also the precursor to the Heaven Mandate Hall wherever it spread. The people of those places could break the Fate Lock and practice cultivation. As long as there were martial arts practitioners, they could enhance their destiny, making it the most powerful Life Path in the Source World.
Power referred to authority, encompassing many empires and kingdoms, as well as many officials and sects; wherever there was authority, it could enhance its destiny.
Influence referred to power and momentum, controlled jointly by the Four Great Clans of ancient times.
“Wealth” referred to the fortune, represented by the Heavenly Dome Pavilion, which issued the Origin Currency. It amassed wealth from all under the heavens; the Wanxiang Sect was very wealthy, but compared to it, everything else paled.
“Fame” was constituted by the Eight Great Holy Lands.
“Physique” referred to the body, “Spirit” to the spirit, and “Luck” to the path of fortune and luck.
The same involved the three strongest forces of the Source World.
A person could be without power or influence, but not without wealth or body; even if lacking these four, one must at least possess spirit, fame, or luck; otherwise, it was better to be dead.
For this reason, the eight Destinies enveloped the world, from which all beings could neither escape nor break free.
The classification of Destiny.
These eight are what control the tier-1 Destiny of the Source World, also known as Eternal Destiny, suspended in the Hongyuan Tier-1 Empire and have existed since ancient times, lofty and revered. Whoever could comprehend even one of them would leap to become the pinnacle character of the Source World, looked up to by all.
Following that, there was the second-level Heavenly Destiny, such as the Wanxiang Sect’s Statistical Destiny, the Forging Gate’s Forging Destiny, the Buddhist Sect’s Cause and Effect Destiny, and the Daoist Sect’s Natural Destiny…
These Destinies, hanging in the second realm, formed a significant part of the twenty-four most powerful legacies and forces of the Source World.
Then came the grade-3 Destiny, totaling 99 paths, like the Fox Charm Destiny of Qingqiu Mountain and the Painting Dao of the Painting Sect, each of which belonged to one.
The remaining were grade-4, grade-5, up to grade-9… As the levels were too low, they were not worth mentioning.
Like Mo Dao, currently only a grade-7 Destiny.
Even if, accompanied by Elder Bai Ye’s increase in cultivation, it might become a grade-6 Destiny, it was almost at its limit. The tiers of Destiny had massive thresholds every three tiers, especially the upper three tiers, with a fixed number of 131 paths. To advance, one had to eliminate one of them, also known as the battle for Destiny.
It was possible to eliminate small Destinies like “Betrayal” or “Balance” by killing the cultivator, but for upper-tier ones, each represented a power. Competing against them was immensely challenging.
Nearly impossible to accomplish!
Thus, once a Destiny was chosen, trying to change it was extremely difficult.
However, the Destinies between heaven and earth were not complete. For example, the Hongyuan Tier-1 Empire, according to the limit of numbers, should have nine paths rather than the current eight.
Second-level Heavenly Destiny should have 27 paths, not the current 24.
Grade-3 Destiny should have 108 paths, not just 99.
Of course, these so-called full numbers are just speculations. To spontaneously emerge and occupy these spots would be even more challenging than eliminating one of them!
It would require facing the pressure of the heavens and earth and combating the calamities brought by the Dao of Heaven. A slight oversight could result in total annihilation of body and soul.
Thus, through the countless years in the Source World, numerous extraordinarily talented individuals, rather than relying on the spontaneous emergence of a special heavenly mandate, would rather contend for the heavenly mandate itself.
“Man” can be opposed, “Heaven” how can one contend?
Contending with men, there still lies a chance of survival; contending with heaven, hardly one in ten thousand survives.
At this moment, at the center of the tranquil Tier-1 Heavenly Domain universe, a filament resembling a fishing net suddenly came into existence. Unlike other heavenly mandates that shimmer like the Star River, dazzling in their brilliance, this one was dense and slender, convoluted and intricate, with a heart of intertwined threads.
Not only that, it was very small, merely the size of a palm, hidden within the dazzling Star River. Even with careful observation, it was difficult to notice.
The legendary ninth Eternal Destiny thus abruptly came into being.
…
“The affection of master and servant, of brothers, of teacher and student, of parents, of lovers, of all living beings…”
Zhang Xuan fell into a unique state, his sword ceaselessly moving in his hand, displaying the previously comprehended Pathos of Heaven, move by move.
“A Heart of Intertwining Threads, with a heart of intertwined threads.”
“How could it be unexpected, when filial piety deeply stirs one’s guts and heart?”
“The silkworm exhausts its silk till death do us part, the candle burns out to express unwavering loyalty!”
“Who says the heart of a blade of grass, can repay the sunshine’s three feet?”
“Even love forever has its end, this hatred is endless!”
…
As the sword art flourished, zhenqi roared within his body.
The Origin qi was too domineering; when he first came to the Source World, his strength and physique were too frail. Forcibly practicing the Pathos of Heaven cultivation technique could easily lead to annihilation by the heavenly path.
Thus, he was compelled to practice the Heaven’s Path Divine Art again.
Practicing this type of cultivation method required collecting cultivation technique manuals and then compiling them… a very troublesome process.
But now, having reached the Ninefold Source Pool Travel Realm and having comprehended a fair amount of heavenly mandates, his understanding of practice had deepened. When he restarted the Pathos of Heaven cultivation technique, the refined Heaven’s Path zhenqi immediately transformed and spread densely, resembling emotional threads.
Whoosh!
The Library of Heaven’s Path shuddered, a stream of water similarly floated up, hanging right in the center, dense like a fishing net.
The previously comprehended Mo Dao Destiny and Flowing Light Heavenly Destiny were connected by fine threads, like a spider web linking two pendants.
Rustling!
Along with the emergence of this thread of thought, countless books containing Heavenly Mandate Vitality simultaneously flew out, streams of pure Heavenly Mandate Vitality being madly infused into them.
In the blink of an eye, a total of 5 million Heavenly Mandate Vitality were consumed.
From the 1000 Destiny Plates just obtained from Han Qianchou, in just one day, all were exhausted, without a single drop remaining…
With the addition of these 5 million channels of Heavenly Mandate Vitality, the thread-like stream gradually solidified and took shape, emitting a powerful force.
Mo Dao Destiny and Flowing Light Heavenly Destiny, staying quietly on one side, shivered violently, like a mouse seeing a cat, a rabbit seeing a fierce tiger.
This was a repression stemming from a difference in levels, they dared not contend at all.
However, Zhang Xuan was unaware of this at the moment, still immersed in his sword technique.
It had been a long time since he had indulged in such an enjoyable display, perfectly pouring out all his insights.
The sword qi he controlled traversed back and forth within the room, forming line after line of fine threads, constantly wandering, the Heaven’s Path zhenqi under the refining of Pathos of Heaven zhenqi became more tenacious and stronger in power.
If the previous Heaven’s Path zhenqi were compared to a wire, then the zhenqi refined by the Pathos of Heaven cultivation technique would be the “Flying Blade” from the trilogies.
The two concepts are fundamentally not the same.
Of course, Zhang Xuan was immersed in the enlightenment of cultivation and was unaware of these facts, and he also did not know that with the appearance of the Eternal Destiny, a catastrophe had already unfolded in the heavenly path, with lightning tribulation boiling across the sky, ready to descend the most potent strike at any moment.
Looking at his current level of cultivation, let alone ten or a hundred, even if thousands were stacked together, they would be instantly annihilated, leaving no trace behind.