Chapter Ninety-Eight: Peering into Destiny (Delivered at Dawn—Please Bookmark and Recommend!)

“The difference between the second and third tribulations by thunder is not that great, but we still can’t be sure whether the other party has truly undergone the third tribulation!” Xu Cheng mused. The cultivation levels of the three of them were confirmed, but what about that mysterious figure?

“There’s no use overthinking it; it’s just that we lack the divination techniques to discern heavenly secrets! It is truly a matter of timing and fate!” Chrysanthemum sighed bitterly, unable to suppress her complaint.

Hearing the mention of divining heavenly secrets, Xu Cheng’s eyes lit up. “Wait, what did you just say?”

“It is truly a matter of timing and fate!” Chrysanthemum replied dazedly.

“No, not that line, the one before it!” Xu Cheng urged.

“It’s just that we lack the techniques to divine heavenly secrets!” Chrysanthemum said cautiously.

“That’s the one! Who says we don’t have such divination techniques!” Xu Cheng chuckled.

Indeed, he possessed the art of divining heavenly secrets. Back in the days of the Xuantian Sect, he had learned the Eye of Dharma technique, which could peer into heavenly secrets and even fate. Later, he advanced to the Heavenly Eye and Thousand Eyes techniques. However, after the Yellow Springs Seal transformed it into the Yellow Springs Eye, he had not used it since.

“Nine Nether Yellow Springs Eye, divine fate reconnaissance!” Xu Cheng shouted fiercely, black light swirling in his pupils.

His consciousness plunged into darkness, followed by countless streams of colorful light. Amidst the flowing radiance, memories of the past surfaced—the earliest days when he was a child displaced by war, struggling daily to survive without shame, and later becoming a Taoist.

There was Yi, Liao Zhen, Ling Xu, and Ling Yu—unchangeable past events leading to the present situation.

With a thought, Xu Cheng sought to glimpse the whereabouts of that mysterious person.

Within a swirling black-red halo appeared a pair of eyes, imbued with myriad emotions and boundless weariness.

At a mere glance, Xu Cheng sensed the complex and profound emotions of the other.

Suddenly, those eyes emitted an intense radiance, as if piercing through Xu Cheng’s consciousness, directly assaulting his primordial spirit.

“Ah, my eyes!” Xu Cheng screamed in agony. Severely injured, he awoke from the divine fate reconnaissance with two black tear streaks running down his face.

“Xu Cheng, Xu Cheng, how are you?” Yan Mengdie cradled his head anxiously.

He hadn’t expected that merely probing fate would result in such grievous injury. How formidable must that person’s cultivation be?

His thoughts scattered chaotically, unable to gather. Desperately, he poured the merit golden light he had not used for some time into his primordial spirit as if it were free.

But the primordial spirit continued to fracture, seemingly beyond repair.

Seeing Xu Cheng’s dire condition, Yan Mengdie hurriedly fed him various elixirs from her spatial magic.

Yet his condition worsened. Thoughts of despair arose: “What use is this technique? What use is this power? Dust returns to dust, earth to earth; the messenger of the Yellow Springs should become a handful of soil and return to the underworld.”

“No!” Xu Cheng shouted, “Great Light Infinite Wisdom Immortal Technique—Great Wisdom Seal!”

He desperately activated the Great Light Infinite Wisdom Immortal Technique, striving to resolve this calamity through supreme wisdom.

With a hum, a faint chanting of monks filled the space. Under this chant, Xu Cheng felt his primordial spirit improve considerably.

Clear-headed, he contemplated the past, present, and future like a sage.

The past as eternal and unchanging truth, the present as impermanent and ever-shifting essence, and the future as the eternal truth that dwells in the heart.

After a long moment, these words surfaced in Xu Cheng’s mind—a passage he had once seen in a sutra at the Great Zen Temple.

At that time, he had not fully understood it; now, it proved invaluable.

Past, present, and future—their meanings, like mighty bells and gongs, suppressed the disintegration of his primordial spirit.

What was once cracked and on the verge of shattering began to heal. Moreover, under the supreme wisdom bestowed by the Great Light Infinite Wisdom Immortal Technique, Xu Cheng’s primordial spirit grew significantly stronger, nearly reaching the realm of the Transformed Primordial Spirit.

Perhaps this was the legendary destruction that leads to rebirth.

A hundred miles away, a figure cloaked entirely in black suddenly awoke, speaking coldly, “How dare someone spy on me? Seeking death!”

“Master, what happened?” a humanoid monster by his side asked gruffly.

“Nothing. A petty thief tried to uncover my identity—reckless, courting death! No need to bother about him. My primordial spirit was attacked by my Supreme Ghost Eye technique; how could he survive?”

...

Three days later, at noon, Xu Cheng slowly regained consciousness.

Leaning on the bedside was a giant humanoid beast—Yan Mengdie. She had not crushed the wooden bed, having evidently cast a lightness spell upon herself.

Xu Cheng smiled faintly, waking Yan Mengdie.

“How are you? Are you alright?” she asked anxiously.

“Lucky, I’m fine!” he replied, flashing a set of pearly white teeth.

“That’s good, that’s good. But what exactly happened to you? How did you get hurt so badly?” she pressed.

Bombarded with questions, Xu Cheng quickly explained, “I tried to use divine fate reconnaissance to find out who that mysterious person was. But upon seeing a pair of eyes, my primordial spirit collapsed from a single glance. I fear his cultivation level is far beyond what we guessed—not just someone who has undergone three tribulations by thunder. To be injured from afar by a pair of eyes, nearly annihilated—his cultivation must be at least at the seventh, possibly even the eighth tribulation!”

“The eighth tribulation!” Yan Mengdie gasped. Such a figure was akin to a supreme ancient ancestor!

“Forget it. Following behind him to scavenge leftovers isn’t bad. If we really faced him head-on, even the three of us, let alone ten, wouldn’t stand a chance!” Xu Cheng sighed deeply. If only the person were like the Celestial Elder, we might have a chance to gauge his temperament. But merely looking at him once and wanting to kill me—he must be a god of killing, unrivaled and supreme. The best strategy is to stay far away.

“So what should we do next?” Yan Mengdie asked after a moment’s thought.

“Just follow behind him and pick up whatever ghosts we can catch. There’s no other way,” Xu Cheng said dejectedly.

“Right Hand Envoy, feeling better?” Chrysanthemum returned just then.

“Much better!” Xu Cheng nodded.

“What exactly happened to you that day?” Chrysanthemum asked immediately.

Fully restored in spirit and vigor, Xu Cheng recounted the entire incident.

Chrysanthemum listened in astonishment. None had imagined the mysterious one conjuring ghosts everywhere was such a terrifying figure.