Chapter 224: Realman Star-Paying Respects's Opportunity
It was definitely not ordinary.
Chen Yan quickly came to this conclusion.
Especially the nature of an item that could cause the true qi within his meridians to slightly stagnate even while he was operating the Hidden Immortal Art made Chen Yan feel this object was particularly special.
After hesitating for a moment, Chen Yan crouched down and cautiously reached out to touch the black metal box half-buried in the sand.
The moment his fingertip made contact with the box’s surface, the true qi flowing through Chen Yan’s meridians once again became sluggish.
As expected, something was off.
“Mr. You.”
After a brief hesitation, Chen Yan called out to the young man who was still walking ahead.
“What?”
Mr. You turned around somewhat impatiently and asked.
“Please come take a look at this.”
Chen Yan said.
As Mr. You turned, his Daoist robe brushed against the desert at his feet, stirring up a few lines of flowing sand. Then, he strode towards Chen Yan’s direction and cast his gaze upon the black metal box half-buried in the sand.
“Mr. You, the nature of this object seems somewhat peculiar.”
Chen Yan stated.
“Pick it up.”
Mr. You said.
Following the young man’s instruction, Chen Yan picked up the black metal box from the desert.
This black metal box wasn’t heavy, but when Chen Yan’s palm touched it, the feeling of his entire body’s true qi stagnating made him feel quite uncomfortable.
Mr. You took the black metal box handed over by Chen Yan, then slightly frowned.
He raised his hand, seemingly starting to calculate something again, and then his eyes lit up.
“See, what did I tell you? Intuition, it’s all about intuition!”
Mr. You said excitedly:
“This, this is the opportunity left by Star-Paying Respects!”
Chen Yan stood frozen in place.
Although until now, he had always suspected that the so-called Mr. You before him was the reincarnation of an Immortal Ascension Realm great power, he had never had any truly definitive evidence.
An Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator’s opportunity was this black metal box?
Just as Chen Yan was still stunned, he saw Mr. You suddenly grip the black metal box in his palm with both hands—the very thing he called the opportunity left by Star-Paying Respects.
Then, Mr. You applied force with his fingertips. The metal box emitted a piercing, twisting sound, and Mr. You forcefully tore it apart, ripping the black metal box in his hands completely into two halves.
A golden key fell out of the box, dropping onto the desert sand.
Chen Yan instinctively wanted to pick up the key that had fallen to the ground. And precisely at the moment his fingertip made contact with that golden key, a strange sensation washed over Chen Yan’s entire body—
In an instant, all his cultivation completely vanished, as if he had become an ordinary mortal.
A scorching, stinging pain came from beneath Chen Yan’s feet, though this pain was nothing to Chen Yan, who had once endured severe torment.
But he still instantly threw away the key in his hand.
Because he also didn’t want his feet to be cooked.
True qi erupted once more from his dantian, flowing through every inch of his meridians.
A Dao Domain.
Chen Yan suddenly remembered the small grove he had appeared in after losing consciousness in the Jieyou Abyss of Yuanhua Mountain back at the Kongshan Sect.
That was Li Haoran’s Dao Domain.
It could sever cause and effect and reduce one’s cultivation to zero.
And this key…
While Chen Yan was lost in thought, Mr. You discarded the metal box in his hand and bent down to pick up the golden key from the sandy ground.
The key’s properties had absolutely no effect on Mr. You, as if he had simply picked up an ordinary object from the desert.
Then, Mr. You, holding the key in his left hand, began calculating something again with his right hand, seemingly muttering under his breath:
“A pity, it’s not the time yet. Who knows when it will actually be.”
After saying this, Mr. You lightly brushed his hand through the air, and the key vanished into thin air.
Chen Yan said nothing.
Ever since he obtained the Hidden Immortal Art and the Great Derivation Art, his attitude towards the various opportunities existing in this world had been one of indifference.
However, Chen Yan still had other points of confusion.
“Mr. You, this junior actually has a question he doesn’t quite understand.”
Chen Yan asked in Mr. You’s direction.
“What question?”
Mr. You said.
“Realman Star-Paying Respects should have been an Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator of the Star Heaven Sect, right? So why didn’t the Star Heaven Sect keep Realman Star-Paying Respects’s opportunity, instead allowing it to be lost to the world… even this desert named the Tomb of the Star-Paying Respects…”
Chen Yan paused briefly before continuing:
“This junior cannot figure it out.”
“Do you know what Ascending to Immortality represents?”
Instead of directly answering Chen Yan’s question, Mr. You posed this counter-question to him.
“This junior does not know.”
Chen Yan replied.
“That’s why you’re really an interesting kid. Although your cultivation is unfathomable, I dare say you’re definitely not an upper three realms cultivator.”
Mr. You said:
“But saying you’re not an upper three realms cultivator, you can still mobilize spiritual energy.”
Chen Yan remained silent. He certainly wouldn’t voluntarily reveal his trump card to Mr. You.
And although Mr. You was very curious about him, he had never pressed too hard for answers.
He allowed Chen Yan to have his own secrets.
This was also why Chen Yan had a favorable impression of Mr. You.
“Ascending to Immortality represents transcending cause, effect, and fate, yet not being able to truly stand outside of causality.”
Mr. You explained:
“On the contrary, as the time since Ascending to Immortality grows longer, one naturally becomes entangled in more and more causality, especially when attempting to change certain things, which results in bearing more backlash.”
Cause and effect, fate.
According to what Li Haoran had said back then, cause and effect and fate were the fundamental operating logic of this world, from which no one could escape.
The Immortal Ascension Realm represented the ability to transcend cause, effect, and fate.
But as one becomes entangled in more and more causality, one ultimately remains bound by it.
“I can give you an example. The Kongshan Sect once had a Realman at the Immortal Ascension Realm, with the Dao title True Person Caiyun and the true name Kong Yang. Nine thousand years ago, he glimpsed the secrets of heaven and discovered that one day in the future, the Kongshan Sect would be destroyed by a Great Demon of Dao Union Realm that was half a step into Immortal Ascension.”
Mr. You said.
Chen Yan’s heart tightened fiercely, and he spoke:
“This junior has heard of True Person Caiyun’s name before.”
Immediately after, Mr. You continued:
“In order to change this outcome, he planted a cause nine thousand years ago. This cause caused his Dao foundation to suffer severe karmic backlash, ultimately leading to him being severely wounded by that half-step Immortal Ascension Great Demon of Dao Union Realm, which finally resulted in his fall.”
As he spoke, Mr. You paused slightly again:
“This is quite interesting.”
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