Chapter 2994: Missing Link in the Chain of Causality

"Not everything in this world can have its answer found from others," the Grand Shaman sighed. "Take the Red General, for example—she truly believed your soul had been dragged away by karma."

That is how the Red General told him.

She did not know that He Lingchuan's body had once changed owners.

Thinking of the Red General, He Lingchuan felt a stir in his heart. The Red General had once experienced a dual-soul phenomenon; before her birth, the remnant soul of the Black Dragon God Sovereign had lain hidden in her sea of consciousness, concealed so deeply that even someone as great as Mitian had not noticed it in the slightest.

He Lingchuan's situation differed from hers—he had taken over this body only after transmigrating. Since the Grand Shaman also gave no answer, he could only speculate: the deceased soul of He the Young Master, for some unknown reason, had not fully dissipated but had instead been pressed deep into the sea of consciousness.

After the battle in the Panlong World ended, the Red General used the Dream Cocoon, intending to preserve He Lingchuan's past memories, but it ended up also taking in the soul of this outsider. Thus karma came in to search, found the dead soul in his sea of consciousness, verified his identity, and took it away. Such a coincidence occurs among billions of beings perhaps once, so karma had no suspicion at the time.

Yet it was not wrong to do so, for according to the contract between the two parties, karma was to take "He Lingchuan."

This time, when karma surged into his sea of consciousness and saw the appearance of his soul, it immediately sensed something was off. Although it knew there must be something fishy here, it could only grudgingly give up.

There were two reasons:

First, karma could not prove that the person before it was the one with whom it had signed the contract.

Second, karma could not discern his origins.

To karma, the current master of this sea of consciousness was merely a stranger of unknown origin.

As long as he did not reveal a flaw, the karma accumulated by "He Lingchuan" in the past could not be attached to him.

He still had a question: "But if my soul was never taken by karma, why was my memory still confused when I first woke?" The Grand Shaman frowned for a long time, also pondering deeply, and only after a while asked him:

"Have you ever burned or damaged your own soul?"

"Oh, yes." At that time, he had to simultaneously face the great battles in reality and the Panlong World, with opponents on both sides being several great heavenly demons. Even the Nine Nether Great Emperor, when at the end of his rope, would pale in comparison—not to mention that the primordial energy of Panlong City had already been exhausted. His only choice then was to burn his own soul as fuel to barely drive his body to continue fighting.

He still remembered: "I used the soul-burning secret technique several times, until finally both body and soul were exhausted. At the time of my death in battle, my soul was also incomplete." The Grand Shaman lightly tapped the table:

"That's it. Although the Grand Vessel summoned supreme power to let you die and be reborn, your soul was shattered and tattered, and since it was reinfused into your body via the Dream Cocoon, overly complex memories were likely directly sealed deep in the sea of consciousness to avoid overburdening your fragile soul. Only after the soul gradually repairs and heals will they be drawn out again."

After He Lingchuan first woke, he was dazed and confused, and Sun Fuling was also surprised, for logically, the Dream Cocoon after being transformed by the Grand Vessel should not have made such a mistake. But she did not know the truth, so she could only speculate it was "memory loss."

At that time, the Grand Vessel had already entered the world and become Dao, so Sun Fuling could no longer communicate with it as its artifact spirit, and thus could not obtain an accurate answer. He gazed at his reflection in the mirror, lost in thought.

Was all this due to chance, or was it carefully plotted?

The Grand Shaman also remained silent, merely sitting quietly beside him.

No one knew how long had passed when suddenly a thunderclap came from not far away.

He Lingchuan seemed to sense something, stood up, and walked to the edge of the dangerous cliff.

The sea of clouds beneath the cliff remained rolling with waves, but it was no longer as unchanging as before. Thick layers of cloud seemed to have been disturbed, within which countless lightning and thunder hid, each louder and more urgent than the last.

Within the dark clouds, something was rapidly taking shape.

This sea of clouds is actually He Lingchuan's sea of consciousness, and also the nursery for nurturing a divine spark. For so many days, he had tried every method to make the sea of clouds churn, but it was like a cup of warm water—no matter how much firewood he added, it simply refused to boil;

now his thoughts were myriad, yet nothing related to this, and yet it chose this moment to stir.

In this situation, only one phrase could describe it:

Intent to plant flowers, flowers do not bloom.

Once the sea of clouds is disturbed, the mountain wind immediately increases, howling as it rushes toward his face. He also heard the Grand Shaman's footsteps:

"The sea of consciousness has moved—your opportunity is finally coming."

At this moment, He Lingchuan recalled what karma had previously said to him:

"Why can't you condense a new fate divine spark? Because your own karma is missing a link!"

This sentence truly awakened the dreamer.

As the master of fate, how could one's own fate be vague and indistinct?

He murmured: "How exactly should this missing karmic link be made up?"

The Grand Shaman chuckled low behind him: "You know in your heart, it cannot be made up."

Facing the original memories again, he understood that this missing karmic link of his could not be made up in this world.

Then what should be done—let it remain forever deficient?

And, "Since this karmic chain is always missing a link, will karma always come knocking?"

Because karma already knew this, karma will always keep its eyes on him.

The Grand Shaman's voice was plain and unadorned:

"Perhaps."

He Lingchuan drew a deep breath, then suddenly asked a completely unrelated question:

"Are you truly the First Shore Immortal?"

The Grand Shaman countered: "Haven't you long since decided that I am the First Shore Immortal?"

He Lingchuan gazed at the lightning and thunder within the clouds below:

"I am not asking about the person of First Shore Immortal Grand Shaman himself—I am asking about you!"

The word "you" was spoken with heavy emphasis.

What he was asking was about the "Grand Shaman" standing right behind him at this very moment.

"I am merely a whisper of your heart, but you already know that, don't you?" the Grand Shaman gave a soft laugh, its lingering echo drifting between the green mountains and dark clouds: "As long as you wish, I can appear in any form."

What does this mean?

He Lingchuan startlingly turned around, yet saw nothing behind him but empty space—where was the Grand Shaman's figure?

He took two steps back to the small cottage, only to see inside a square table and two wooden chairs.

The square bronze mirror was also gone, while that potted tree lamp remained, its shape still twisted, but the light had already gone out.

Did the Grand Shaman's disappearance coincide with the lamp going out?

So, did the First Shore Immortal Grand Shaman truly come here?

Here all is empty and vast—only he and the endless sea of clouds.

He Lingchuan looked out the window.

The originally stagnant sea of consciousness was finally disturbed, and the opportunity to forge a divine form had finally come. But due to the lack in his own karmic chain, he was probably destined to waste this rare opportunity in vain.

Unless...