Chapter 191: Three Calamities and Nine Difficulties Suddenly Clear, Cause and Effect Observed Like Patterns in the Palm

The sound of the Dao murmured.

Light and color hung and shone all around.

"Only today do I know the profound mystery of a Golden Immortal~"

After contemplating for a long time, Fang Longye opened his eyes, which shone with a brilliant light, and he was filled with deep emotion.

Once one enters the Golden Immortal realm, no matter what aspect of power it is, it surges instantly~

It is not just a change in quantity, but a transformation in quality.

Primordial Spirit, Dharma power, Qi and blood, Grotto-Heaven, divine abilities, and so on, all obtained an unprecedented transformation during this process.

Touching the Green Lotus Dao Mark that was constantly coiling and changing between his brows, Fang Longye sensed it for a moment and murmured: "It will probably take another year or so."

Ever since the Yuanyang Sect, the Pure Lotus Divine Ability had begun to brew a mysterious and indescribable transformation at its deepest level, and until now, as he attained the Golden Immortal realm, he had finally accumulated enough in this regard.

He sank into the changes, and in another period of time, it would be fully brewed.

"I wonder what kind of changes this Pure Lotus Divine Ability will produce?"

Fang Longye only had a vague realization, but as for the specifics, he was naturally ignorant.

However, he did not spend much thought on this, and his attention soon shifted to his own celebration cloud.

He saw that the celebration cloud above his head was an acre in size, with clear light shining brightly.

Amidst the dense five colors, there were three flower buds that were like lotuses yet not lotuses, swaying gracefully within, crystal clear and translucent, each presenting the three colors of gold, silver, and lead, exuding an indescribable Divine Light.

Transcendent and refined, it did not seem to belong to this world at all.

"Three Flowers at the crown!"

Fang Longye's gaze was heavy as it fell upon these three flowers.

The Three Flowers are the three splendors.

This is the product of the condensation and gathering of a cultivator's essence, Qi, and spirit; the Three Flowers Gathered at the Crown also align with the Dao of the three talents of Heaven, Earth, and Human.

Profound upon profound, mysterious upon mysterious.

As the saying goes, Three Flowers Gathered at the Crown, Five Qi Towards the Origin. This is a hallmark characteristic of a Golden Immortal.

If one says that the cultivation of a True Immortal lies in putting effort into condensing the Five Qi in the Chest.

Then, after achieving the Golden Immortal realm, the object of refinement falls upon these Three Flowers at the crown.

At present, these Three Flowers at the crown are merely in the form of flower buds; when he continuously improves his cultivation and the Three Flowers at the crown fully bloom, he will have reached the realm of a consummate Golden Immortal.

And to have the Three Flowers at the crown fully bloom, besides the cultivation of essence, Qi, and spirit, it requires the nourishment of the principles he himself has realized.

However, Fang Longye does not need to consider the latter for now. Just as the True Immortal stage is divided into several levels by cultivation steps, the Golden Immortal realm is naturally no exception.

As a cultivator of the 'Heavenly Immortal Path' who has just become a Golden Immortal, the first barrier Fang Longye must face is the Three Calamities.

Although the sky above his head was clear and no signs of Tribulation appeared, he had already sensed a shadow in his heart.

In the dark, his spiritual sense warned him.

One thousand five hundred years!

When the Three Calamities arrive, there is no avoiding them.

Cultivators ascend from mortal to immortal and change their own fate, so they naturally have layers of Tribulations following them.

For example, the various pursuits, treasure-snatching, and fights encountered in daily life, and so on, are all manifestations of Tribulations.

As the saying goes, natural disasters and man-made misfortunes.

This kind of obstacle and predicament caused by other living beings is what is called a human Tribulation.

It is also referred to by cultivators as an Outer Tribulation.

This kind of human Tribulation basically follows cultivation like a shadow; it cannot be shaken off, can arrive anytime and anywhere, and is difficult to predict completely.

This is only because such human Tribulations are determined by cause and effect and karmic connections.

They are impossible to cut and difficult to sort out.

As long as your thoughts are active, you may trigger a human Tribulation.

As the common saying goes, Three Calamities and Nine Difficulties; the 'Nine Difficulties' here refers to human Tribulations.

"Nine" is not a literal number, but a vague one. Nine is the extreme of numbers, referring to the fact that such Tribulations are numerous and uncountable.

And the 'Heavenly Immortal Path' as a path, goes without saying.

By defying the creation of Heaven and Earth and secretly encroaching upon the mysteries of the sun and moon, one naturally invites the jealousy of Heaven; not only does one have the layers of Tribulations encountered by other paths in daily life, but one also has disaster-Tribulations generated by Heaven and Earth themselves.

Therefore, even though he clearly sensed that his own lifespan was infinite and endless.

There were still three disaster-Tribulations that divided the fifteen hundred years starting from today into three segments.

If calculated carefully, he had five hundred years left before he would have to cross the first of the Three Calamities—the Thunder Calamity.

If he failed to cross it then and turned to dust, it could be said that he only had five hundred years of life left now.

Of course, with his profound foundation, Fang Longye naturally does not need to worry about this.

If he did not want to slow down, he could trigger the Thunder Calamity to descend right now and cross the Tribulation.

The Three Calamities do not mean one must wait five hundred years to face them.

If a cultivator has a profound foundation and is fully prepared, they can completely trigger the Three Calamities themselves and cross the Tribulation in advance.

Because strictly speaking, for a cultivator of the 'Heavenly Immortal Path', the Three Calamities are indispensable.

The Three Calamities are both a Tribulation and a gift.

If you don't cross them, you turn to dust; if you do, there are great benefits.

The Three Calamities are divided into the three of thunder, fire, and wind.

The Thunder Calamity mainly tests the physical body, the Fire Calamity focuses on tempering the Primordial Spirit, and the Wind Calamity is specifically aimed at Dharma power.

Without crossing the Three Calamities, how can one be considered an eternally divine body?

And how can one be considered a qualified Golden Immortal?

Other Golden Immortals on different paths would beg for the chance to survive these "Three Disasters," yet they cannot obtain it! Fang Longye's thoughts were myriad; after a period of deep contemplation, his state of mind became clear. He then set these matters aside for the time being and began to consider other things.

Following his attainment of the Golden Immortal realm, his perception regarding karma and affinity increased significantly.

Although he had not yet reached the level of those great beings who could penetrate all things, view the karma of all living beings, and understand everything clearly, distinctly, and plainly.

Yet, regarding the karma concerning himself, Fang Longye was no longer as vague and unclear as before.

Following the relevant threads, the karma he was involved in was truly revealed in every detail, as if he were observing patterns on his own palm.

With a shift of his mind, the clouds above his head surged, halos of light suddenly expanded, and hexagrams appeared and vanished, brilliant and varied, before finally returning to silence.

Looking at him again, his gaze was deep, and within his calm, unruffled eyes, a look of realization shone through.

After some sorting, aside from a small amount of karma that remained immersed in a fog and was truly impossible to see through,

the rest of the karma was naturally clear in his mind.

"When one thought arises, a hundred affinities begin; when one thought is extinguished, a thousand Calamities end! Indeed, as the Fomen say, the moment a thought turns, karma is born."

Fang Longye let out a long sigh.

Previously, he had never understood why the Dapeng Bird would become the human Calamity he needed to face during his Tribulation.

The two of them had absolutely nothing to do with each other.

Now, he understood.

Long Xuan's Yinglongzhishhen and Peng Mowang's identity were merely external causes.

The true internal cause was already destined the moment he concretized his insights into the Yin and Yang path onto the Yin and Yang Two Qis.

Just think, as a transmigrator, did he truly have no covetous heart for the Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle in the Dapeng Bird's hands? Clearly, for a transmigrator who had always been prone to taking whatever he could, not having such thoughts would be the abnormal thing.

Everyone knows they are in the Journey to the West; which transmigrator wouldn't calculate which treasures they could set their sights on? Originally, such thoughts were nothing.

The Dapeng Bird's strength had not yet reached the level where he could know of someone else's thoughts.

But how does that saying go?

"Judge by deeds, not by intent; if you judge by intent, no one is perfect."

This saying, when reversed, naturally also holds true.

I may not care what you think, but your actions have exposed your intentions.

Fang Longye not only thought this way, he also took action.

Why was the Yin and Yang divine ability he cultivated not something else, but specifically the Yin and Yang Two Qis? Deep in his heart, wasn't it because he was plotting to obtain the Dapeng Bird's Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle? More crucially, Fang Longye knew clearly that he would definitely plot to obtain this Dapeng Bird's Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle in the future, or at least attempt to.

From beginning to end, his intentions were very firm.

That was enough.

For a being like the Dapeng Bird, who was only a step away from the Great Luo, although he could not, like a true Great Luo, overlook the long river of time and know the future like the back of his hand,

it was not impossible for him to occasionally catch a glimpse of future scenes involving himself when a flash of inspiration struck.

Perhaps, in reality, he did not plot to obtain the Dapeng Bird's Yin-Yang Two Qi Bottle in the future, or perhaps he made a move but failed to obtain it...

These were all possibilities; after all, the future is always changing.

The future scene the Dapeng Bird glimpsed was merely one possibility.

But it was clear.

Even if it were him, when facing a future unfavorable to himself, even if it were only a tiny possibility, he would still try every means to erase it completely.

"Not wronged!"

Fang Longye shook his head and evaluated the karma of his encounter with the Dapeng Bird.

Who told him he really did have that thought? But the next piece of karma made him frown.

He couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Truly a disaster for no reason~"

Just like with the Dapeng Bird, he had previously been very puzzled why Long Xuan, this Dongting Dragon Girl, who clearly did not know him at all, would harbor such deep resentment toward him.

She wished she could put him to death.

What hatred? What grudge?

Now he understood.

"What kind of mess is this?"

"Making it seem like I'm very happy to marry you~"

Fang Longye complained in his heart.

That's why! Arranged marriages are no good~

"Let's look at the others~"

Fang Longye looked at the karmic threads he had formed with certain figures in the dark, which disappeared into the void like a spider web; they were not sparse, but rather quite intricate.

And this was the result after he had sorted them out; otherwise, it would be even more chaotic. Furthermore, this did not even count the incense karma his Divine Golden Body in Beiju Luzhou was bearing for him.

Following the threads, sensing the karmic connections one by one, he let out a breath.

Thanks to his usual practice of cutting weeds and eliminating roots, most of the karma he was currently tainted with were shallow, good affinities.

"Eh~ Is this the karmic thread between that little bird and me? It seems her opportunity is not small!" Fang Longye stared at a thin, long karmic thread; the direction it disappeared into was a sea of fog, unclear.

The object connected by this karmic thread was Yun Ting, who had disappeared without a trace more than a decade ago.

Given the karmic entanglement between the two of them, the fact that he still couldn't see it clearly only meant that the figures behind her were truly extraordinary.

However~ looking at the thread concretized in his Primordial Spirit, leading to an unknown destination, thin and sparse, seemingly inconspicuous, yet exceptionally sturdy.

Fang Longye smiled to himself; with the "Love Thread" in hand, the kite was still under his control.

This was not the karmic thread observed just now, but the special bond formed when he first practiced Dual Cultivation with Yun Ting.

Because of its characteristics, Fang Longye called it the "Love Thread."

"It's just that I still don't know which great being played this trick."

Fang Longye shook his head, dispersed these probing thoughts, and looked at the other karmic threads.

A long while passed.

After thoroughly examining every strand of karma he had become entangled with, Fang Longye withdrew his focus from the karma and turned his attention to gazing at his own True Spirit.

Deep within his primordial spirit, a glimmer of light, as brilliant as a star yet as illusory as a dream bubble, shimmered incessantly, radiating an aura of immortality.

"True Spirit..."

Fang Longye murmured.

Recalling the scenes he had witnessed when he condensed his True Spirit, ripples stirred in Fang Longye's heart.

The condensation of the True Spirit primarily involves gathering the information and fluctuations that a cultivator has unconsciously emitted into the void since birth, achieving a unification of one's entire consciousness.

It is somewhat similar to the legendary Daluo consolidating their own existence, but it is only a similarity; the two are worlds apart.

The legendary Daluo consolidating their own existence is a consolidation across the timeline, becoming unique throughout the heavens.

Whereas a Golden Immortal condensing their True Spirit to gather their own emitted information merely achieves self-integrity, recognizing the self, and keeping the self unchanged.

It resolves the confusion similar to the philosophical "Ship of Theseus" from his past life.

The soul may differ, the Bloodline may change, and the physical body may be replaced, but as long as the True Spirit remains unchanged, "I" remain unchanged.

Crucially, this caused his thoughts to wander, raising the question of "who am I, and where do I come from?"

If one were to go by his memories, there is no doubt: he is a thorough transmigrator.

But memories can sometimes be deceptive.

Even he, as he is now, could modify the memories of others at will.

What if he were a native-born creature of the Honghuang? What if someone had simply modified his memories and planted a treasure in him, leading him to mistakenly believe he was a transmigrator?

Especially when considering the origin of his Golden Finger, Fang Longye became even more confused about the question of who he was.

Even setting that aside, assuming he is a transmigrator, as he condensed his True Spirit, the information emitted by this body before he transmigrated was also gathered by him. So, who is he now? Is he still purely Fang Longye? Especially considering that future cultivation, as he climbs step by step, will inevitably involve issues regarding the timeline.

When that time comes, how should he deal with it?

For a moment, his thoughts turned a hundred times. The more he thought, the more chaotic his mind became; his thoughts spun wildly, and he began to deduce various hypotheses.

Unable to help himself, he unleashed a divine ability related to Heavenly Secrets deduction to assist.

All sorts of possibilities were generated, overturned, generated again, and overturned again...

In an instant, he was mentally exhausted.

With his Golden Immortal realm, he actually could not withstand the consumption brought about by the deduction, and blood began to flow from his seven orifices.

"Clang—"

The Dragon Chant Bell rang, and the Creation Purifying World Bead continuously showered radiance around his primordial spirit, finally awakening the oblivious Fang Longye.

"Damn! I really fell into a Demon obsession!"

"I actually started pondering the ultimate three questions of life? Is that something a vulgar person like me should be thinking about?"

Fang Longye withdrew his focus, feeling a lingering fear.

Fortunately, he had various Spirit Treasures to protect him, otherwise, he might have become the first Golden Immortal in the Honghuang to perish from overthinking!

"Oh—that's not right either, in the Honghuang they call this 'going into a cultivation deviation'—"

While recovering, Fang Longye muttered to himself, sinking his thoughts on this matter deep into his heart and sealing them away.

(End of chapter)