Chapter 503: The State Preceptor Who Was Blasted for Ten Days

"Does an excess of karma truly hinder one's cultivation?"

"Hard to say. Personally, I don't think so, but plenty of people do." The Immortal Fairy shrugged, her views always running counter to the prevailing consensus.

"You remember that the characteristic of an Immortal is oblivion, right? Don't you find that somewhat similar to what's happening now?"

Prompted by the Immortal Fairy's reminder, Lu Yang finally realized that this was indeed the case. In a certain sense, the characteristic of an Immortal was like a manifestation of severing karma.

"The characteristic of an Immortal... is it meant to sever karma?"

"Spot on. Ying Tianxian and the others all believed that only by severing all karma could one's cultivation advance further. But I don't see it that way. I believe that the more karma one possesses, the higher their cultivation can become."

"Advance further?"

Lu Yang felt as though he had caught a glimpse of an extraordinary concept: "An Immortal can advance even further?"

"We once calculated it using five Dao Fruits, and theoretically, it is feasible. However, no one has ever succeeded, and no one knows for certain if that next step can truly be taken. Nine-Layer Immortal was the first to achieve immortality, and at the very least, none of the five of us succeeded, nor did anyone before us."

"The 'characteristic of an Immortal' is actually just what Ying Tianxian and the others called it. The four of them attained immortality first. When they condensed their Dao Fruits, they chose oblivion as their fruit's characteristic. Thus, without my input, they came to call oblivion the 'characteristic of an Immortal'."

"I was the last to attain immortality, and I did not choose oblivion when I did, so I do not possess the characteristic of an Immortal."

"So, the characteristic of an Immortal is not an inherent necessity for an Immortal, but rather the result of each individual Immortal's choice?"

"Exactly. Take that Immortal who holds the state providence, for instance. He chose the characteristic of oblivion as well."

"But isn't his Dao Fruit connected to the power of state providence and the Great Xia? The karma weighing upon him is heavier than anyone else's, so why would he choose this path?"

"It's quite simple, really. He wants to advance further. When the time comes, can't he just switch the bearer of that karma?"

"Didn't you say it yourself just now? The origin of the Third Master's statue was originally ironclad proof of the Third Master's existence. The Third Master shared karma with his statue. Now, it has been altered so that the Sect Master dreamt it, meaning the Sect Master and the Third Master's statue have generated karma instead."

"The Third Master established the goal to make the barbecue shop grand and prosperous, and all subsequent actions of the barbecue shop followed this objective. The Third Master shared karma with every future action. Now, it has been altered to a goal established by the Sect Master, which means the Sect Master bears the karma for all of these actions."

"This is a manifestation of switching the bearer of karma. Substitution is merely another form of oblivion."

Lu Yang felt as though he were faintly grasping a thread, but the Immortal Fairy had revealed so much that the clues seemed overwhelming, leaving him at a loss as to where to begin.

"Alright, let's not speak of this anymore. First, let's save the Third Master."

"How do we save him?" Lu Yang asked in bewilderment, as he had not even found a trace of the Immortal Immortal yet.

Hands on her hips, the Immortal Fairy ordered Lu Yang, "Go and call Girl Yun over. Since when does a subordinate idle about while the Sect Master does all the work?"

Forced by the tyrannical authority of the Acting Sect Master, Lu Yang had no choice but to head to the Prisoner Peak to find his Eldest Senior Sister.

Eldest Senior Sister was currently interrogating the Black and White Venerable at the Prisoner Peak.

When Lu Yang arrived at the Prisoner Peak, Eldest Senior Sister was lashing the Black and White Venerable with a whip. Though the Black and White Venerable looked like an old man, his constitution was remarkably robust; despite crying out in agony, he showed no signs of dying from the lashes.

"Little Junior Brother, is something the matter?"

Eldest Senior Sister stopped her hand. The whip cracked through the empty air before being deftly folded into three sections and held in her grasp, her movements exceedingly practiced.

"It's like this..."

Lu Yang recounted the situation he had discovered, along with the Immortal Fairy's deductions.

Listening from the side, the Black and White Venerable felt his heart leap with terror. He had spent his entire life covertly studying the Grand Preceptor's embryonic Dao Fruit without ever discerning what it was, yet these people had determined it in just a few words?

Judging by their words, the Dao Seeking Sect also possessed a Half-Immortal, and the Grand Preceptor was locked in a fierce battle with him?

Furthermore, why did Lu Yang—who was only at the Golden Core stage and the target of their journey—know all of these things?

What kind of monstrous place was the Dao Seeking Sect?

"Senior, please come forth."

With an expressionless face, Eldest Senior Sister invited the Immortal Fairy out. The Immortal Fairy looked like a child caught in a misdeed, appearing timid and shrinking back upon seeing Eldest Senior Sister.

But then she had a second thought: wait, that wasn't right. She was the Acting Sect Master, so what was she afraid of?

Eldest Senior Sister looked calmly at the head-lowered Immortal Fairy: "I believe I told Senior before that Lu Yang is still young and his cultivation is insufficient. Matters regarding Immortals and Dao Fruits are far too distant for him. You should not speak of these things, lest he aim too high and neglect his foundations, affecting his cultivation. You have said far too much this time."

"I was wrong." As the Acting Sect Master, the Immortal Fairy knew when to yield and when to stand tall, admitting her mistake immediately.

"May I ask how Senior intends to locate the Immortal Immortal, whose karma has been erased?"

Eldest Senior Sister naturally still remembered the existence of the Immortal Immortal.

"Hehe, others might be hard to find, but finding Third Master is easy."

The Immortal Fairy smiled triumphantly, a manifestation of pride in her own Dao Fruit. She instructed Lu Yang to take out the statue of the Immortal Immortal obtained from the barbecue shop, and then she chanted the Third Master's title and name.

"Immortal Immortal Bu Yaolian."

Within the temporarily constructed space, two figures were panting heavily.

"Truly difficult to deal with. What on earth is this grandson's embryonic Dao Fruit?" The Immortal Immortal possessed the entirety of the memories of the Immortal Sect's believers, a vast archive of knowledge, yet he knew absolutely nothing about battles of this caliber and had still failed to figure out the Grand Preceptor's embryonic Dao Fruit.

Sustaining self-detonations for ten whole days was something even an embryonic Immortal Dao Fruit could barely withstand.

Were it a complete Immortal Dao Fruit, detonating any number of times would be of no consequence, but unfortunately, the Immortal Immortal's embryonic Dao Fruit had only been condensed half a year ago, far from being a complete Immortal Dao Fruit.

To be able to fight to such a state against the Grand Preceptor, who had condensed his embryonic Karma Dao Fruit ten thousand years ago, was no small feat.

While the Immortal Immortal was in a wretched state, the Grand Preceptor was even more miserable. He himself had lost count of how many times he had been blasted over these ten days, leaving not a single unblemished spot on his body.

He had encountered stronger opponents before, but this was the first time he had met one so utterly relentless.

It was not as if he hadn't attempted to flee halfway through, but the moment he tried to vanish and erase his karma, this fellow would detonate himself, causing the space to fluctuate so violently that not even a single rift could be opened.

"What wretched luck, to directly stumble upon the true Dao Protector of the Dao Seeking Sect!" Even with the Grand Preceptor's good temperament, encountering such a situation made him want to curse aloud.

"True Dao Protector? I've only been at the Dao Seeking Sect for half a year."

"Half a year? A grand Half-Immortal expert like you, nesting in a tiny place like this? What is there here worth your stay? I admit my mistake; I should not have taken action against you. How about this: through conflict, we come to know each other. If you have nowhere to go, you can come to our Great Yu. I have a way to help you restore your physical body!"

The Grand Preceptor assumed the other party was staying here to restore his physical body, believing there was no need for them to fight to the death and that they could cooperate instead.

The Immortal Immortal looked at the Grand Preceptor with an unfriendly expression, thinking this man was incredibly sinister: "I am a prisoner, and yet you are inciting me to escape?"

"A prisoner?"

The Grand Preceptor felt a chill run down his spine. Who could possibly imprison a Half-Immortal?

Suddenly, the Immortal Immortal froze, a smile spreading across the corners of his mouth. He sensed the Eldest Master calling out to him.

Taking advantage of the instant the Grand Preceptor dazed out, he struck like lightning, locking the Grand Preceptor in a death grip.

The Grand Preceptor secretly cried out in dismay, realizing the fellow had seized the opportunity to detonate himself at point-blank range!

In the past, whenever the Immortal Immortal detonated, the Grand Preceptor had relied on the effects of his embryonic Karma Dao Fruit to hide far away.

If he were blasted at close range a few times, he would have been killed long ago.

To his surprise, the Immortal Immortal did not choose to self-detonate. A spatial portal appeared behind his back, and holding the Grand Preceptor tightly, he took a step backward.

Thud.

The two Half-Immortal level experts tumbled onto the Prisoner Peak simultaneously.

The Grand Preceptor looked with utter bewilderment at the cold-faced Eldest Senior Sister and the smirking Immortal Fairy.