Chapter 682: The Origin of Fate

Isn't it perfectly reasonable for a card game to include one or two banned cards?

"Hurry up and come play!"

Only after Su Lin, addicted to the game, repeatedly swore an oath—even risking their friendship—did the few who had been shouting agree to return and play with him.

Sorry, we're playing a rune card game.

"What are they so worried about?" Bo Li Byakuren Lingmeng Lingmeng observed from the side: "The danmaku and rune cards only deliver impact, not real damage."

"Heh. Who knows?" Peng Lai Shan Huiye glanced away with a sneer: "Perhaps it's a dark game where lives are wagered."

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan placed both hands on Li Huowang's shoulders and said solemnly: "Same as always—if anything goes wrong, kill me first."

"." Li Huowang nodded.

If you're this scared, just don't go, Brother Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan. No need to risk your life just to play with Brother Su.

"I must seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

All emotion in Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan's eyes turned to battle intent; his rune card was activated by spiritual force.

【Rune: Buddha's Wrathful Reincarnation】

A ring formed from multiple strange fires contained the power of reincarnation; countless dense projectiles of strange fire, each with different attributes, obscured the sky and sun.

Clearly grasped the essence of the rune card game: danmaku must be dense and always fired in circles.

"Rude bastard." Su Lin's eye twitched.

【Buddha Rune: Only I Am Supreme】

A faint, brilliant, pure glow emerged from empty space—radiant, untainted, the divine body pure and serene—as the majestic, formless Buddha body was fully constructed.

He pointed one finger to heaven, one to earth, muttering: "Above heaven and below earth, only I am supreme!"

Buddha light blazed forth, dispelling darkness; unlike Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan's strange fire danmaku, countless "wan" characters and sacred maxims floated within the Buddha's palm, filling heaven and earth.

Each "wan" character collided with the strange fire, unleashing dazzling light-pollution effects.

"Is that guy a Buddhist monk?" Byakuren Lingmeng Lingmeng was startled.

More like a Buddha himself than a mere monk.

Ye Fan stared, dumbfounded, at the Buddha body radiating pure lustrous light, exuding Wu Haoran's aura, with chanting Buddhist sounds triggering celestial phenomena: "There's really nothing else mixed in?"

"So rare," Song Shuhang felt tears welling up: "It's a once-in-a-century battle style—normal Su Lin Senior!"

As the original owner of the Black Hole Washing Machine Revival Premium Edition, Song Shuhang now saw the Buddha's golden body without translucent cloaks, no eerie smiles on its lips, no writhing "wan" characters—and felt overwhelming emotion.

【Rune: Flame Sea, Lotus Pond】

【Dao Rune: Swallow the Sun, Devour the Yin】

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan upgraded his strange fire danmaku; the strange fires devoured and fused into terrifying lustrous lotuses, each petal blooming outward.

Then Su Lin unleashed Nine Dragons Return to Origin, embracing yin and holding yang, wielding a divine blade, transforming into a rainbow, with earth, wind, water, and fire guarding and protecting his body—clearly embodying the posture of Fu Shen Jun.

"After the skin change, is it free or in the card pool?" Xing opened his wallet and checked.

"I want to buy osmanthus and carry wine, but it's never like the days of youth," Kleine sighed: "It's merely fleeting, youthful innocence."

Lu Mingfei jabbed his Desert Eagle into Kleine's head and yelled: "You left as a good kid, came back like this—your world bears at least half the blame!"

Everyone was focused on different things.

Logically, the difference isn't that big—but normally, when seeing this guy manifest power, everyone stays cautious. Yet now, Su Lin somehow looked cool.

"Why is everyone's attention fixed on you?" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan's expression was numb, almost vacant.

It's a two-person match, yet no one seems to care about Emperor Flame's rune display.

"Probably because you didn't hit your timing today," Su Lin's mouth twitched sideways, suppressing the urge to blast the danmaku into the audience.

"No problem—as long as I win you!" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan blocked Su Lin's blade with Mystic Weight, cackling: "You're out of rune cards. Don't blame me for winning unfairly."

Everyone crafted the same number of rune cards, but Su Lin banned two himself; without differences in realm or stats, the number of cards, strategy, and martial technique became the keys to victory.

In a flash of thought, Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan saw Su Lin had only one card left—and simultaneously activated 【Divine Technique: Strange Fire Dragon Transformation】 and 【Fatal Move: Golden Core Fire Refines the Cosmos】, aiming to crush him outright.

The world seemed to become a vessel within Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan's palm, strange fires replacing heavenly qi to form dragons; the massive golden core fire fell like meteorites.

"He really only has one card left."

Su Lin drew 【Divine Rune: Primordial Light】 and smiled sweetly: "But there are differences among cardmakers. There are no useless rune cards—only useless duelists."

The fire dragon raged, the golden core fire swelled—but the world suddenly darkened, not like Tian Mo manipulating the stars, but simply plunged into utter blackness.

A crimson glow, like ancient totemic wings, rose behind Su Lin and unfurled—spreading over thousands of meters in length.

【Universal Cardmaking Rules: From Beginner to Grave】: Daily cards, energy cards, summoning cards, martial technique cards, magic cards, support cards, recovery cards, attribute cards, item cards—everything can be made into a card.

"I compressed an entire deck into one new rune card."

Skill copy from Primordial Light: Arad Swordsmanship skill loaded.

"WDNMD!" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan's eyes widened.

【Dark Sky Fluctuation Eye】

Su Lin opened his closed eyes and barked: "Open!"

Rings of light and sharp stingers flooded the world; after violent ripples, countless massive blood-red eyes emerged in empty space, filling every corner.

Crack

A sound like shattering glass rang out—all danmaku on every "screen" was wiped clean.

"Your rune cards seem insufficient. Don't blame me for winning unfairly."

Swordlight slashed open and closed—another awakened technique contained within.

Su Lin retracted his rune card, stretched his limbs, and said contentedly: "Lao Xiao, play again tomorrow?"

"Go to hell!" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan rolled his eyes.

He'd almost forgotten this guy's techniques are countless—the spells in the Water Mirror Peak's Heavenly Dao Library are a compilation from multiple worlds, but Su Lin always just used that one trick—'Let there be light' and 'cheat methods'—making him overlook this.

"Then follow the rule: the loser must fulfill the winner's condition." Su Lin said: "I want to see your wedding."

"I refuse Japanese-style." Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan interrupted.

"I want to see Zi Yan at your wedding."

"?"

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan didn't know if the guy was serious, but he remembered how Zi Yan would randomly hold up a copy of *Dou Po Cang Qiong* and ask, "Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan, when are you going to take me?" while Cai Lin stood beside her, watching him coldly—he involuntarily shivered.

Su Lin raised the card in his hand and asked, "Anyone else want to play talisman cards?"

He found this thing quite useful: during brief recovery periods, he could turn skills into cards, then transform a full set of cards into talisman cards.

If needed, he could also pull them out directly to inflict real damage.

If he added a bit more hinting or quest assignment, it would be practically indistinguishable from an Ardean Warrior system and skill panel—he'd make one someday when he had time.

Byakuren Lingmeng walked up, puzzled: "Are you related to that gap demon?"

"Huh?" Su Lin had assumed the other wanted to play a match.

"Those eyes you just created."

"They just look similar."

The demonic eye in Eight Cloud Zi's gap is Laplace's Demon—the one among the Four Divine Beasts of Physics.

His starting world wasn't Gensokyo, nor had he been transported there and turned into a shikigami by Eight Cloud Zi; even if the system could exchange for identical abilities, he had no intention of changing his protagonist name to Eight Cloud Lin.

"Really?" Byakuren Lingmeng waved her hand, not caring much:

"Looks like you're familiar with talisman cards too—so don't casually use your powers to fight while staying in Gensokyo. What if your strength weakens? That'd be troublesome."

"Why would it weaken?" Su Lin didn't understand.

"Huh? Isn't that common knowledge?" Byakuren Lingmeng scratched her head, slightly impatient.

Pata

A thick, dull stack of bills slammed onto the donation box.

"Ahem." Byakuren Lingmeng adjusted herself, clasped her hands before her chest, and smiled:

"It's because the outside world isn't suitable for demons and gods to survive, and the reverence and faith generated by humans in Gensokyo aren't enough to sustain the losses from battle."

"Let me explain," said Teacher Huiyin with a faint smile. "Actually, this is all recorded in the history book I gave to that Meng… Mr. But he seems to have returned."

She glanced upward, her expression growing complex.

Meng Qi felt as if he'd just awakened from years of deep slumber, his body weak, a limp, soggy sensation pervading him.

"Why do I feel like I drank fake liquor?"

Aside from his head not hurting, everything else felt off. From past experience, this must be discomfort caused by his mortal body struggling to endure immortal qi.

"Master, you're awake."

A low, muffled moo startled Meng Qi—he realized he was now atop a bull.

"Xiao Si, how did you get here?"

"Master, you sent a message via the Ten-Thousand-Worlds Communication Talisman, telling me to come pick you up, so I shipped myself over to fetch you."

The green ox spoke in human voice, slowly kneeling on all four legs so Meng Qi, who was trying to turn, could set his feet on the ground.

"My alcohol tolerance really has deteriorated…" Meng Qi had a vague memory of this; he looked around—and froze.

No sun in the sky, no reduction in light; green grass like a carpet, flowers everywhere; in the distance, a vast sea of clouds could be seen.

"Where is this?"

Return? Return where?

He had assumed the one-horned rhino was pulling him back to the world where the Heavenly Court resided, or at least to some fairyland; if his mind had slipped and he'd somehow returned to the True World, he'd have to make the one-horned rhino lie low.

But then he reconsidered: now that the Cause of All Results was restricted, the Ten-Thousand-Worlds Communication Talisman couldn't transport people, and the one-horned rhino alone couldn't accomplish such feats.

The green ox said: "Master, this is the Doushao Palace of the Immortal Realm—your domain in this realm."

The Doushao Palace of the Immortal Realm?

Meng Qi turned around; his vision was obscured by swirling mist, and faintly visible within it stood an ordinary palace, its center bearing three indiscernible yet instantly comprehensible characters.

"."

This unfamiliar Doushao Palace—why do I have no memory of it?

"How did you find this place?" Meng Qi asked.

"After you said 'return,' a mysterious force guided me here to the Immortal Realm," the green ox replied, his eyes filled with admiration and reverence.

"Where was Hun Tian Di when you brought me here?"

"He was holding a banquet in a temple down in the Lower Realm with various great beings."

The Lower Realm of this realm—

Even after experiencing so much, Meng Qi couldn't help muttering two words: "Again?"

Could these Three Pure Ones be treating me as a shared short-selling asset? If I ever reach the point of reducing to seek emptiness—could I even reduce it?

Meng Qi thought about it only briefly—he shouldn't dwell on such things now.

He walked up the steps toward the Doushao Palace, intending to follow protocol: knock gently, test the waters, perform proper etiquette, and check whether anyone was truly inside: "."

No.

Meng Qi stared at the palace for a moment, then simply gave it a light push.

Behind the door lay a boundless sea of clouds, and above it, a peach forest—the Doushao Palace of the Immortal Realm had become nothing but a single wall.

"How did you know this was the Immortal Realm?" Meng Qi turned and asked.

It wasn't the Immortal Realm's Heavenly Court, nor was it Li Hen Heaven—how could the one-horned rhino, entering here for the first time, possibly know its name?

"I told him," said an old man emerging from the swirling mist nearby, his face filled with confusion and slight unease.

Meng Qi's pupils contracted—he was the old man he'd met fishing by Mist Lake.

"Tai Gongwang bows to Yuanshi Tianzun." Tai Gongwang offered a slight bow.

Just back in the Heavenly Realm, this blue ox arrived wrapped in purple qi, carrying the drunken Meng Qi, nearly making him drop his packed luggage.

"Aren't you the reincarnation and host of the Authority?" Tai Gongwang glanced at the opened door.

"Are you Jiang Shang?" Meng Qi's eyes went vacant for an instant.

So he hadn't imagined it—Tai Gongwang was still chasing him.

Hearing this, Tai Gongwang looked up at Meng Qi: "You don't seem to be the reincarnation and host of the Authority, nor do you remember me?"

"Our master has undergone tribulation and been reborn; all worlds have merged into one. He is now a being of the Three Pure Ones, long since forgotten his past." The one-horned si spoke.

Meng Qi hissed, then slammed his hand hard against the ox's head.

"Shut up!"

This kind of setup comes straight out of too many readings of the Ten Thousand Worlds Forum!

Yet Tai Gongwang's eyes now held a flicker of understanding, and he immediately said: "Congratulations, Tianzun. Hail, Tianzun."

Forget it.

Let the ritual proceed—if any of the Three Pure Ones popped up to object, Meng Qi wouldn't mind admitting fault.

"Don't treat me as the former Taishang," Meng Qi changed the subject. "What did you mean by 'reincarnation and host of the Authority'?"

"It's normal you don't know," Tai Gongwang said:

"After the Mythic Age ended, corruption bestowed upon immortals and gods the concept of 'lifespan.' Some ancient gods perished and vanished utterly; others relied on faith as a buffer against corruption, gradually decaying and losing their essence."

"The authority of those gods reincarnated into living beings, or found new human or demon hosts."

"Faith and fear are not without side effects—once used, they cannot be stopped; if insufficient, they turn back and devour the user. Thus, some immortals and gods became 'demons,' while others decayed, losing their essence even to the point of losing cognition."

Teacher Huiyin said: "Within the Fantasy Realm, you need not fear external corruption—but if power is lost in large amounts, recovery becomes troublesome."

Su Lin: "."

He felt a sudden urge to go out and test it—what was this corruption, anyway?