52: Heaven's punishment, a glimpse into karma

Liuyun Fang City, a hundred miles away, was a long and tedious journey for Mortal merchant caravans.

The wheels rumbled through the mud, emitting dull creaks that mixed with the hushed laughter of the guards.

Lin Gou, dressed in the most ordinary gray short-sleeved attire, leaned against a cart laden with cloth, his eyes half-closed as if in a doze.

His aura was as faint as a stubborn rock by the roadside.

The surrounding guards chattered and boasted, spitting everywhere, yet subconsciously avoided his position.

It was as if he was naturally the background of that area, not worthy of any extra attention.

This was the ingenious use of the "Presence Weakening Aura."

A comforting sense of being forgotten by the world, bringing peace of mind.

He enjoyed this feeling.

As a qualified Cultivator of the Dao of Gou, being ignored by everyone was, in itself, a powerful defense.

He quietly introspected his Dantian Qi Sea.

That flawless Dao Foundation, like a dormant purple star, quietly floated.

But only he knew what kind of violent thunder and lightning power was contained within this star.

This power gave him unprecedented confidence, and also made him more cautious in concealing all his sharpness.

The caravan slowly entered a wilderness where the terrain became increasingly open.

The air changed without warning.

The originally warm sun seemed to be covered by an invisible gauze, and the light became dim and cold.

The wind also became sharp, no longer blowing, but wailing like a sob, stirring up the dust on the ground, emitting a mournful cry.

Broken weapons began to appear on both sides of the road, and rusty fragments of armor were deeply embedded in the soil.

A tattered black banner was obliquely inserted into a nearby dirt mound, swaying weakly in the wind, like a Ghost Hand summoning Souls.

"It's the Black Wind Ancient Battlefield."

An elderly guard captain, his face solemn, exhaled a turbid breath, his voice extremely low.

"Everyone, stay alert! This place is eerie!"

The clamor in the caravan instantly disappeared.

Everyone subconsciously tightened their grip on their weapons, their eyes filled with awe and unease, vigilantly scanning their surroundings.

Even the horses pulling the carts began to paw restlessly, snorting occasionally, as if they had seen something unclean.

"Chief, isn't this just a ruin? What else could there be?" a young guard asked, emboldened.

"Shut up!" the guard captain reprimanded, "Legend has it that hundreds of thousands of soldiers died here back then, their grievances soaring to the sky. At night, you can still hear the roars of a million troops."

"Before, there were caravans who didn't believe in evil and spent the night here. The next day, both people and goods disappeared without a trace, leaving only dried up humanoid husks on the ground."

The young guard's face instantly turned pale, and he dared not say another word.

Lin Gou opened his eyes.

What he felt was not some ethereal grievance.

But a more fundamental, residual Law, mixed with slaughter, unwillingness, and death.

These remnants were deadly poison to ordinary people, but to him... perhaps a unique tonic.

His "courting death" radar began to hum slightly, like a shark smelling blood.

Just then.

An abrupt change occurred!

In the sky, there were no gathering dark clouds, no ominous rumbling of thunder.

A deep purple Heavenly Tribulation lightning, as thick as a water bucket, appeared out of thin air, tearing through the dim sky, and with an undeniable will to obliterate everything, it crashed down!

The target was not the strongest guard captain in the caravan.

Nor was it any seemingly powerful guard.

Instead, it was an inconspicuous, slightly plump silk merchant in the team.

The merchant had been wiping cold sweat from his forehead a moment ago, and the next moment, his pupils dilated to the extreme due to overwhelming fear.

"No..."

A single word had just left his lips.

The lightning had already completely engulfed him.

There was no scream.

No struggle.

Only a momentary flash of extreme purple light, and a deafening roar that seemed to shatter the Soul.

The lightning dissipated.

The merchant, along with his mount, vanished from the spot.

As if he had never existed.

Only a wisp of extremely fine, black ash slowly dispersed in the air.

And a Storage Ring, completely charred but eerily preserved, dropped with a "thud" onto the muddy ground.

Deathly silence.

The entire caravan fell into a death-like stillness.

Everyone froze in place, their expressions solidified into sculptures of horror.

After a few breaths, hysterical screams finally erupted.

"Heavenly Punishment! The evil spirits of the ancient battlefield have attracted Heavenly Punishment!"

"Run!"

The entire caravan instantly descended into Chaos, people scattering like mad.

Lin Gou did not move.

His mind was equally shocked by the scene just now.

But what shocked him was not the talk of ghosts and gods.

But the power contained within that purple Heavenly Tribulation lightning.

That power had a fundamental difference from the Chaos Divine Lightning he encountered during his Undergoing Tribulation.

His Heavenly Tribulation was a test, a screening, a "Heavenly Dao's Test" that gave him a glimmer of hope.

But that lightning just now was judgment, obliteration, a "Law's Punishment" from a higher level, allowing no resistance!

His gaze was fixed on the Storage Ring that had fallen to the ground.

A wisp of faint, ink-black aura was entwined around the surface of the ring.

That aura made him feel a deep aversion from the depths of his Soul, and... a tremor.

Curiosity.

Unparalleled curiosity, accompanied by the impulse of his "courting death" instinct, instantly overwhelmed his reason.

He wanted to know what that power was.

He wanted to know what it felt like to be killed by that kind of power.

And what kind of reward he could get?

He took a deep breath, and taking advantage of the Chaos, he pretended to be scared out of his wits, stumbling towards the ring.

With every step, his heart pounded.

It was extreme fear.

And also extreme excitement.

He finally arrived before the ring.

He bent down and stretched out his slightly trembling right hand.

His fingertip was about to touch the charred surface.

A residual, destructive energy, filled with the meaning of "Heavenly Dao's rejection," surged fiercely into his body along his fingertip!

[Ding! You have been killed by the 'Heavenly Punishment Aftermath'!] [Detected special energy 'Karma', reward: 'Karma Perception' (Elementary)!] [Cultivation has slightly increased!]

In the last moment before his consciousness plunged into darkness, Lin Gou's lips curved into a satisfied arc... Cold.

Damp.

Water droplets dripped from the stalactites overhead, making crisp "drip, drop" echoes.

Lin Gou suddenly opened his eyes.

He sat up and found himself in a dark underground cave.

This was his second resurrection anchor point.

The familiar resurrection experience, this time, was accompanied by an unprecedented palpitation.

He savored his recent death.

It wasn't pain.

But an ultimate solitude and nothingness of being rejected and erased by the entire world, by all rules.

"Karma..."

He whispered the unfamiliar term and immediately called up his System panel to check the newly acquired skill.

[Karma Perception (Elementary): Can initially perceive the lines of Karma entwined around living beings.]

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Gou immediately activated this skill.

In an instant.

The world in his eyes completely changed.

It was no longer just matter, but an added layer of ethereal yet truly existing "lines."

He focused his mind, trying to "look back" at the location of the ancient battlefield ruins.

A blurry scene emerged in his mind.

He saw the scattered caravan members, and on each of them, more or less, were entwined some gray-black fine lines.

Some people only had a few strands, faint as wisps of smoke.

Others were entangled with dozens or hundreds of strands, dense as ink, like persistent parasites.

And the spot where the merchant struck by lightning had been was a complete "void," but at the edges of the void, countless broken, black threads, even deeper than ink, remained and were slowly dissipating.

Lin Gou's heart sank little by little.

This world was far more dangerous than he had imagined.

There was an invisible Law silently recording the "sins" of every living being.

When sins accumulated to a certain extent, Heavenly Punishment would descend.

This was the true "Heavenly Dao's Reckoning."

A chilling thought, uncontrollably, rose from the bottom of his heart.

He subconsciously aimed the "Karma Perception" ability at himself.

Himself... this guy who had relied on "courting death" and accumulated countless death experiences.

Was he also entangled with those black lines of Karma, representing the Heavenly Dao's judgment?