Floating Immortal Order

Chapter 143: Unexpected Gains

Chapter 143: Unexpected Gains

“Do you believe in predestination?” an old man asked, reeling in his fishing rod. There was a golden koi fish struggling on the end of his line. He reached out and removed the fish from the hook before tossing it into the bamboo fish basket at his side.

“Predestination? What’s that?” a black-haired youth said, scratching his head in confusion.

“Predestination is the theory that every person’s fate has already been fixed from birth, such that no matter what choices you make or who you meet, all future outcomes have already been preordained,” the old man responded.

“Huh? Wouldn’t that be really scary?! If every one of my moves and thoughts were already fixed, how would I be any different from a puppet?” the black-haired youth exclaimed.

The old man cast out his line once more and shook his head with a smile. “The doctrine of predestination has already been relegated to mere folklore. Now, all living beings are said to no longer be bound by fate. Every living being has limitless possibilities.”

“Then Primordial Lord, why do you mention this…?” the black-haired youth asked doubtfully.

The old man gazed into the endless domain of water in front of him and chuckled. “I’ve been arduously cultivating the Dao of Divining for nearly ten thousand years now. Many others at the Clone Avatar stage can’t compare with the level of mastery that I’ve reached in this Dao. Last time I did a divination for Refining Heart Saint Lord, I inadvertently perceived that there was a massive change in the constellations.”

“But aren’t the stars in the sky under the control of the Heavenly Court? Is even the Heavenly Court, one of the three heavens, capable of making mistakes?” the black-haired man muttered, looking up at the sky full of stars above his head.

“The constellation map is just like the three suns and three moons in that they are entities of nature. However, the constellations have been expropriated by living beings,” the old man said, reeling in his fishing rod again. This time, there was a small black sea serpent with a high level of spiritual awareness wrapped tightly around the hook. “The three suns, for example, have been refined by the deities into vast domains. These realms were given to the Bodhisattvas to protect.”

The small black sea serpent nimbly uncoiled itself from around the hook and slithered to the ground at the old man’s feet. It bent its body as if it was bowing respectfully to the old man.

The old man gazed at the small black sea serpent at his feet as he continued. “There has never been a change in the constellations before. Also…” he lifted his head and gazed up at the sky full of resplendent stars before continuing, “The Heavenly Court is only in control of the power behind the constellations; they cannot control the inner workings of it. Last time I divined an augury diagram, I noticed that surprisingly, the constellation map was emitting a fading hint of the aura of predestination.

The black-haired youth looked confused, seeming to partially understand what the old man was saying. He smiled awkwardly and said, “Primordial Lord, this…”

“Not willing to listen anymore, is it? You always say you don’t want to learn this, you don’t want to learn that… What do you even want to learn? Your ancestor didn’t send you here to keep this old man company and go fishing!” the old man said. His tone was strict, but he was still a bit helpless towards this youth in front of him.

“I want to learn the Dao of Curses!” the youth said, emphasizing each word with a bright gleam in his eyes.

The old man was a Primordial Lord, but he facepalmed and let out a wry smile. “I’m proficient in several dozens of different types of major Dao. Why did you have to be so insistent on this one Dao?”

“Because I can secretly curse people to death, and they wouldn’t even know it was me!” the black-haired youth exclaimed excitedly, the gleam in his eyes becoming even brighter as if he suddenly thought of something amusing. “I’m begging you, please teach me, Primordial Lord!”

“I only have a cursory understanding of the Dao of Curses, but there is this one spell that would presumably fit well with your tastes…”

“I’ll learn it!”

The old man silently apologized to a certain Clone Avatar Lord before speaking. “Alright. Starting from tomorrow, I will teach you a somewhat famous curse that I picked up in the Shan Mountain region of the Earth Realm known as the Seven Head-Seeking Arrows Scripture.

When the old man stood up, he glanced down at the small black sea serpent at his feet. He released a stream of profound light that landed on its body, then picked up the bamboo fish basket and left with the black-haired youth.

After the small serpent was basked in the profound light, its body started to gradually undergo indescribable changes. It let out a low roar before turning around and diving back into the endless body of water.

… …

“Senior Martial Brother Xu.”

“Respectful greetings, Senior Martial Brother Xu.”

“Greetings, Senior Martial Brother Xu.”

When Xu Disheng landed on Morning Dew Peak, the disciples nearby all looked over at him with reverent gazes and greeted him with respectful bows.

After Xu Disheng had earned a spot in the top 10 in the Sea of Qi division of the Internal Disciple Tournament, he had earned the respect and recognition of all of the ordinary disciples.

“No need to be so courteous,” Xu Disheng said, casually waving a hand. He went directly towards the summit of the Peak. Last time, Peak Master Lu Changge told him that he had arranged a new courtyard for him. He recently notified Xu Disheng that the renovations were complete and he could go there directly if he wanted.

When Xu Disheng looked around at the extraordinary courtyard that was normally the standard for only the Dao Foundation stage Deacons, he gave an approving nod. Then, he opened the barrier of light and entered.

As soon as he went in, his jade identity tablet began to vibrate, and more than a dozen different messages flew in and landed in front of him.

After a rough look through them, he found that the senders were He Junyu, Lu Changge, Bai Zhehua and others from Morning Dew Peak, Li Dan, and Yuan Qi.

The most eye-catching one was the sect jade slip at the top, emitting a green jade light that caused light to forth in a dazzling halo. Xu Disheng reached out and grabbed it, then sunk his consciousness into it.

“The ranking rewards for the Sea of Qi division of the tournament have been issued. Please bring this jade slip with you to Human Affairs Hall on Mountain Affairs Peak to receive the reward.”

Xu Disheng’s eyes twitched when he thought of the generous rewards promised by the tournament. He had placed 4th in the entire Mountain Range, so the resources he could obtain… it was simply unimaginable.

Aside from the standard issue reward of a Magic Treasure, there were also many rare treasures to be had. When he swept through the list of rewards, he felt moved by what he saw despite the fact that he had several tens of thousands of spirit stones in wealth at the moment.

He immediately put away the jade slip and left his courtyard, flying towards Mountain Affairs Peak.

As he flew on the black and white Yin Yang Diagram, many disciples either bowed to him or greeted him along the way. As a result, the short distance to Mountain Affairs Peak ended up taking him as long as the time it took an incense stick to burn.

When he landed on Mountain Affairs Peak, there were even more disciples coming to speak to him and bowing to him in greeting. Many of them had reverent gazes, while some felt happy but envious inside when they looked at him.

These kinds of gazes were usually reserved for people like Yu Yangyao, Jian Liangbi, and He Junyu, but now Xu Disheng was among them too.

However, Xu Disheng didn’t act aloof and detached towards them. He nodded to them in greeting and sometimes responded. Under the gaze of many, he made his way towards Human Affairs Hall at the summit of the Peak.

“Lord Deacon, I came to receive the reward from the tournament,” Xu Disheng said, taking out the green jade slip and handing it to the Dao Foundation stage Deacon, who had been silently cultivating in the hall.

“Sea of Qi division, 4th place Xu Disheng?” the Deacon said, looking deeply at Xu Disheng. “This is your reward.”

A simple and unadorned interspatial ring slowly flew over to him and hovered in front of Xu Disheng.

“Thank you,” Xu Disheng said, reaching out and grabbing the interspatial ring. When he peeked inside, his pupils constricted slightly in surprise.

“Something from Celestial Tide Spirit Master is also in there, which I am giving to you now on his behalf along with the other rewards from the tournament,” the Deacon said flatly, as if he knew what Xu Disheng was thinking.

“Thanks again for your troubles, Lord Deacon,” Xu Disheng said gratefully. He pondered for a moment before taking out a storage pouch and placing it next to the Deacon. Then, he cupped his hands politely and left.

Not only were the generous rewards bestowed by the sect contained in that interspatial ring, but there was also a fully intact array diagram quietly floating within.

The array diagram was clad in a thick killing intent, and there were four exquisite swords revolving around it endlessly. Each sword emitted a different color radiance, the four colors weaving together into a beautiful spectacle. It was none other than the Demon Punishing Array Diagram, which previously belonged to Kou Zun!

Xu Disheng was fully aware of the might of this array diagram. It was even stronger than the White Lotus Array Flag. After all, it was only a thread of spirituality short of being a Psychic Magic Treasure, which meant it was truly an outstanding weapon.

However, the reason why it was short by just a hint of spirituality was because this array diagram was actually an imitation of a heaven-shaking, paramount treasure which still existed somewhere out there. As long as this paramount treasure still existed, a counterfeit of it wouldn’t be permitted to gain a spiritual ego. This was a mysterious rule of nature that had existed throughout time and spoke volumes about the fearsome power of this genuine, original treasure.

After Xu Disheng left Human Affairs Hall, he took out the Demon Punishing Array Diagram and the reward he received from the tournament, a top-grade Magic Treasure known as the Dharma Breaking Sword. He put his spiritual mark on both of them to bind them to him before placing them in his sea of consciousness.

The Dharma-Breaking Sword had an extremely high attack power, and it had the ability to break sealing arrays. The description was simple. But from the profound light revolving around it, it was clear that it wasn’t ordinary. It could be seen from its appearance alone that it was a top-grade Magic Treasure oriented towards bloodshed and slaughter.

At this moment, Xu Disheng already had five Magic Treasures in his sea of consciousness, which was the maximum that someone at the Sea of Qi stage could hold. It wasn’t possible for him to bind and use a sixth Magic Treasure.

Among the five Magic Treasures bound to him, the Demon Punishing Array Diagram was the strongest. The White Lotus Array Flag and the Smoky Cloud Screen were slightly inferior to it, but nonetheless, both of them were still at the peak among top-grade Magic Treasures.

Below those were the Yin Yang Diagram and the Imperial Demon Brush. Both of them were quite good for Magic Treasures, but they fell short when compared to Magic Treasures at the grade of the White Lotus Array Flag and the Smoky Cloud Screen.

However, Xu Disheng’s cyan jade flute wasn’t subject to this five Magic Treasures limit. At this point, Xu Disheng could already control it to some degree, and activating it would cause it to transform into the Black Sky Yellow Earth Pagoda for a certain amount of time.

A special red jade slip flew towards Xu Disheng with great speed and stopped right in front of Xu Disheng, vibrating in place.

Xu Disheng picked it up and carefully looked it over. There was an interspatial space in this jade slip, so it was like half an interspatial ring while still serving its purpose as a way of passing on messages. In other words, it was an extremely expensive means of communication.

Placed neat and tidily inside that interspatial space were over 20,000 spirit stones. A man’s voice was transmitted into his ears.

“Dear esteemed customer, the sales of the six Magic Treasures that you consigned to our Spirit Karma House have been completed. The Remnant Rainbow Sword and the Silver Silk Net have been sold for 7,900 spirit stones and 6,850 spirit stones respectively. The other four ordinary Magic Treasures have been sold for a total of 8,360 spirit stones. In total, the sales amount comes out to 23,110 spirit stones. After subtracting our commission from this sum, we are now sending you 20,799 spirit stones via this special scarlet storage jade slip.”

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