The First Immortal of Destiny

"Fellow Daoist Guan, I still have some lingering doubts in my heart. Would you be able to clarify them for me?" After signing the oath, Shen Mo did not rush to leave, but instead asked Guan Ling for advice.

"Please go ahead."

"As far as I know, you have mastered the mystical properties of time and space and can freely traverse through time and space. Why didn’t you go back to the past to rescue your master from powerful enemies? Or at the time of your master’s calamity, take her to different times and spaces in the past or future to help her escape? Or perhaps take your master from different times and spaces to help fend off the enemies?"

Upon hearing that the owner of Death Jaw was killed by an enemy, Shen Mo was extremely surprised and found it strange that an entity like Death Jaw couldn’t protect its master.

Now that an oath has been made with Guan Ling, there was no longer a need to worry about her leaving him and Chen Mengze in the cultivation world or sending them to the Withering Realm, so he expressed his doubts.

Guan Ling smiled faintly, personally brewed a pot of spiritual tea, and invited the two to enjoy it. Then, while savoring the tea, she slowly opened her mouth and said, "What you can think of, how could my master’s enemies not think of? They used great power to seal off the time and space when my master was in distress, so neither my past self nor my present self could freely traverse it!"

"Moreover, it seems you have some misunderstanding about the properties of time and space. Even I cannot achieve the extent of what you envisaged."

"Your realms are still a bit low, so it’s hard to explain clearly. To put it in terms you can understand, ’this very moment’ is singular and unchanging, and can be described as ’true’!"

"The ’past’ and ’future’, however, are either mere glimpses in the river of time or exist in chaos and obscurity, which can be called ’false’."

"The true is unchanging. The false cannot alter the true!"

"My master’s enemies sealed that time and space to prevent my past self from escaping their encirclement, not to guard against me at this moment."

"Even if that period of time wasn’t sealed off, and I returned to the past as you described, or took my master from different times and spaces to provide support, and successfully rescued my master from the enemies, it still would not have any effect on the ’truth of this very moment’..."

Listening to this, Shen Mo and Chen Mengze were dizzy, and after drinking several cups of spiritual tea that cleared their minds and obstructions, they gradually recovered and roughly understood Guan Ling’s meaning.

"Huh, that’s not right!"

"Then why, in the past, after I took all the spiritual items and resources from the treasure hall of the Abandoned Ghost Country, including the Suanni Armor, Nine-Extreme Crystal Sand, and Flawless Dharma Eye, did they still appear on me afterward and did not disappear?"

"The Soul Ghosts collected by the Soul Refining Flag are the same."

"Moreover, after coming out, the flag also had half of the soul mark of Ghost General Zhang Taian, who seemed to remember that I once saved his life while he was immersed in the Ghost Country!"

"According to what fellow Daoist Guan said, existing in the river of time, the Abandoned Ghost Country is ’false’, and should be unable to affect the ’true’."

As he said this, Shen Mo took out the Soul Refining Flag and summoned the Possession Ghost Horse Groom Lv (Yang Chengxiong) and many other powerful Soul Generals refined in the Abandoned Ghost Country, to show Guan Ling.

Guan Ling chuckled, looking at Shen Mo with deep meaning and said, "That’s the reasoning!"

"The moment you left the Abandoned Ghost Country, the Soul Generals you refined, the magic artifacts and spiritual items you obtained, even the cultivation you gained and the improvement in your skills, should have vanished like a bubble."

"However, for reasons even I am unaware of, all your experiences turned into ’truth’!"

"Such a reversal of cause and effect, turning false into true, is a method even I and my master cannot achieve, nor have I ever heard of someone who can. As for the specific reason, perhaps fellow Daoist Qingyun can explain it better than I can."

Upon hearing this, even Chen Mengze, by Shen Mo’s side, cast curious glances at him.

Shen Mo’s heart jolted, chills swept from the soles of his feet up to the top of his skull!

"Could it be due to the Destiny Panel?"

[You repaired the profound level lower-grade inner armor "Red Carp", during the repair you gained much experience and insight into the Forging Path, your understanding deepened, Forging experience +20.]

[You repaired the profound level middle-grade magic robe "Blue Soul", during the repair you gained much experience and insight into the Forging Path, your understanding deepened, Forging experience +100.]

...

[You performed the refining method, beginning to refine the high-grade profound artifact "Flawless Dharma Eye," and successfully refined it into your Lifebound Magical Artifact.]

...

[You attempted to refine the Possession Ghost Horse Groom Lv with the Soul Refining Flag. Under heavy suppression, the Possession Ghost couldn’t resist, and you successfully refined it into a Soul General.]

[You attempted to refine the Gold Piercing Ghost with the Soul Refining Flag. Under heavy suppression, the Gold Piercing Ghost couldn’t resist, and you successfully refined it into a Soul General.]

[During the refining of the Gold Piercing Ghost, you unexpectedly gained a fortuitous opportunity, Destiny Point +1.]

...

[You used Destiny Points in an attempt to upgrade Destiny "Monster Identify", and succeeded. Congratulations, you obtained a new Destiny "Examine (Purple)".]

[You attempted to spy on the information and weaknesses of the early-stage Class III Soul Ghost, Heaven Abandoned Ghost King, which required consuming one hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones.]

...

[During your bloody battle with the Heaven Abandoned Ghost King, past experiences, encounters, and insights all surfaced in your mind, leading to the unexpected enlightenment of the "Carefree" sword intent.]

For Shen Mo, the experiences in the Abandoned Ghost Country, though real, were ultimately just scenes existing in the river of time, essentially ’false’; after he left the Abandoned Ghost Country, everything obtained, including magic artifacts, spiritual items, Soul Generals refined, increased cultivation, understanding in cultivation methods, and skills in forging, would all vanish instantly!

However, due to the existence of the Destiny Panel, transcending the realm of understanding possessed by a powerful being like Guan Ling, these falsehoods were all turned into truth.

"..."

In a matter of moments, Shen Mo grasped the key point.

Though he felt waves of shock in his heart, his face showed no sign of it, lest Guan Ling discover anything and confirm her suspicions.

"You jest, fellow Daoist Guan. If even a being like you doesn’t know what’s happening, how could a mere Divine Bridge Realm cultivator like me possibly understand?"

Guan Ling raised an eyebrow, a teasing expression flicked across her face: "If you say you don’t know, then you don’t know. I didn’t intend to probe into your secrets anyway."

"Otherwise, I would have acted against you years ago, instead of waiting until now."

"However, my master’s enemies are not as easygoing as I am. They are a group of madmen, who in pursuit of the Great Path, wish to destroy even this universe to return it to its original chaos, hoping to glimpse the primality of the Great Path!"

"If they were to discover your anomaly, they would undoubtedly try to capture and examine you to find the source of the anomaly! Stripping skin, pulling bones, extracting soul, and refining the spirit would be the least of it."

Hearing this, Shen Mo’s eye twitched uncontrollably, and he couldn’t help but ask, "I wonder, to what realm had your master cultivated? Just what kind of people were those who killed and dismembered her?"