Chapter 130: My Destiny Is Mine, Not Determined By Heaven
"I spent twenty years—time, in any case, is worthless to an old geezer like me—translating everything I know about the Tianxuan Continent into the script of this world. Originally, I intended to give it to him, whether as a story or a painting depicting the customs of another world, so it could be passed down. But that brat doesn't act like a cultivator of the Dao at all; he spends his days using those Feng Shui and fortune-telling tricks to con and cheat. I truly couldn't trust him with my life's work."
"So?"
"I want to entrust everything to you. I know these things are useless for the cultivation of your planet's human race. At best, they are just spirit arts capable of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, and even then, they are methods you absolutely cannot cultivate. However, they also encapsulate my thoughts on this world over the past century. In exchange, I only hope that if you ever truly reach the Tianxuan Continent, you can carry my sword."
"You trust me, a complete stranger we've never met?"
"Does it matter?"
Bai Mo remained silent, knowing that the old man before him was merely seeking comfort.
Both sides fell silent for a moment.
"Alright." Bai Mo dispelled his invisibility, then nodded.
"Thank you."
"Over a hundred years of futile effort, I've lost the motivation to continue. I'm tired. Moreover, even if I wanted to change paths, I don't have the corresponding cultivation methods. I'm just a lonely wandering soul; it would be better to enter reincarnation sooner."
"Does reincarnation truly exist in this world?"
"Who knows? I'm just a low-level cultivator. All I can see are the three steps of Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core. The so-called Nascent Soul Patriarchs are merely names I've heard. As for the realms beyond that, I can't even say what they truly are, let alone something as ethereal as reincarnation."
"Won't you see him before you leave?"
"That brat promised me he'd return today, so I'll just wait out this day. After all, I've waited so long already."
"Did you plan for today?"
"Perhaps it's fate, a will of heaven in the unseen, but it's also laughable. Many years ago, my master told us that cultivators should live by the creed, 'My destiny is mine, not determined by heaven.' Yet, throughout my life, I feel I've never escaped those four words: 'Heaven's will plays with mortals,' haha." The old man chuckled with difficulty. "He's back."
"Master!" The middle-aged man, who had previously met Bai Mo, rushed through the door, shouting. He completely ignored the glowing figure standing beside him.
"So you finally decided to come back." The old man shakily pointed a finger at the middle-aged man.
For the first time, the middle-aged man noticed that his master, who had been by his side for decades, was actually showing signs of old age before him. This gave him a bad premonition.
"Um... who is that senior?" Only now did he realize there was an unidentified glowing entity beside him.
"It's nothing, just a friend of mine."
"You two talk; I'll take a walk around." Bai Mo understood that the old man was preparing to settle his affairs, so he simply walked out of the village to take a stroll.
"Even though I know he's fundamentally different from humans, it's because his appearance is no different from ours that I feel no repulsion at all. Ultimately, it's still a world that judges by appearance. If he looked like an insect, would I just immediately move to 'fight evil'? I still can't let go of that point." Bai Mo chuckled at himself while strolling outside the village.
After wandering outside for twenty minutes, he estimated the time was right and turned to return to the house.
"...That's all I have to say. Take care of yourself from now on; there's nothing left for me to teach you." When he returned, he happened to hear these words. The middle-aged man sat kneeling to the side, his head bowed.
"My destiny is mine, not determined by heaven! At least my death is my own choice!" The old man bellowed with his last ounce of strength. He plunged the sword in his hand directly into his dantian. Then, his entire body instantly burst into flames, dissipating into ash and dust.
The middle-aged man beside him was just an ordinary person, naturally unable to stop it in time. However, Bai Mo, who had the ability to prevent all of this, merely watched the old man's final curtain call in silence. After bowing slightly to him, he picked up the sword from the ground.
"We meet again."
"Hm." The middle-aged man replied absently. He sank to the ground, lost in thought.
Bai Mo didn't concern himself further with the distraught man. Taking the more than twenty books the old man had left behind, he quietly departed from the small mountain village.
"Spirit Hubs for logistical and support functions are still in short supply. However, the old man came up with quite a few clever saving tricks in this spirit-deprived world. Unfortunately, they are all tailored to the human race's physical structure, and applying them to us would require significant modifications. But it does provide some ideas." Bai Mo, lying leisurely in a grand armchair at the testing grounds, swayed gently as he read the books his avatar had retrieved.
"A Spirit Picture, at its core, is just a collection of Spirit Hubs. The idea that they can combine to produce an additional ability in certain situations is merely a premonition in my mind. But what is the true reason that allows them to achieve a one-plus-one-is-greater-than-two effect?"
"Unfortunately, I have no clue about this problem right now. I should first figure out how to modify the small spirit arts in his books into something we can use. At least there's a framework."
In a blink of an eye, another ten days passed. On this day, a new item in the Contribution Point system once again caught many people's attention: a small spirit art named Spirit Shield Art appeared on the exchange platform.
Initially, this item didn't attract much attention. This was because every day, many people uploaded small spirit arts related to their own Spirit Hubs to the exchange platform. However, these spirit arts were basically meaningless without the corresponding Spirit Hubs, and at this time, the naming and classification of specific Spirit Hubs were still largely blank slates. It was extremely difficult to find a spirit art suitable for one's own Spirit Hub on the exchange platform.
However, people who occasionally clicked around out of boredom, just to see what was there, were surprised to discover that the appearance of this Spirit Shield Art broke the limitations of Spirit Hubs! This was a small spirit art that could be cast simply by manipulating Spirit Energy. Its initial strength and Spirit Energy requirements were both very low. An Ability User at the first level of the Spirit Animation Stage could probably cast a small shield that covered half their body, but could only block a punch from an ordinary person.
Even compared to a newly formed Life Field, such a shield seemed far too fragile. However, its significance lay in its versatility! Anyone with Spirit Energy in their body could use it!
Bai Mo, who uploaded this small spirit art, did so casually. But even he hadn't expected that such a small action would spark a nationwide craze for developing universal spirit arts.
Driven by the temptation of the martial arts tournament's massive prize money, all Ability Users planning to participate wanted to seize this last chance to improve their strength by a few points. However, most of them were struggling without an initial direction, forced to blindly grope their way forward.
At this moment, the appearance of the universal Spirit Shield Art was like pointing them in a direction within the darkness. No matter how dim the guiding light, it represented a breakthrough from zero to one.
"Which bastard uploaded the Spirit Shield Art first?! These universal spirit arts were my trump cards; I was planning to release them after the grand competition to solidify my standing!" Luo Yi cursed under his breath, seething with indignation, after seeing it.
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