155: A Preliminary Exploration of Cause and Effect Through Reverse Destiny
Since that night, after making a promise that was almost illusory, Mo Chen's life underwent another subtle yet firm transformation.
He was no longer content with merely tempering and purifying the dormant Demonic Essence, nor was he solely immersed in comprehending the rules of heaven and earth. He began to pick up the most basic and primitive practice of the Qingyuan Realm once more—Martial Dao.
In the early morning, while the valley was still shrouded in mist, he had already risen and was practicing the most rudimentary boxing and kicking techniques in the courtyard, move by move. Horse stance, punching, kicking... his movements were clumsy but earnest, completely out of sync with the hidden, mountain-shaking power within him. He discarded all nameless fist techniques derived from instinct and deliberately suppressed the pure Annihilation Demonic Essence, using only the Qi, blood, and bones of this mortal body to feel and remember.
Su Wan initially didn't understand, thinking it was just a passing whim. But seeing him persist day after day, rain or shine, with a focus even more solemn than when he first Cultivated that strange fist technique, she silently suppressed her worries, simply offering him a warm towel and tea when he returned from his practice.
Mo Chen knew very well that with Liu Qingtian's Foundation Origin, this mortal body's Martial Dao talent was extremely poor. But he didn't care. What he needed was not quick success, not an increase in strength, but an 'anchor point'—a Foundation that belonged entirely to the identity of 'Mo Chen' and was unrelated to that monstrous demonic nature.
Through this most basic Martial Dao, he wanted to re-acquaint himself with this body, understand the patterns of Qi and blood circulation, and grasp the essence of how strength is generated.
At the same time, his vast and dormant Divine Sense was not idle. Like a core with infinite computing power, it began to use this mortal body as a blueprint, his five years of comprehension of the rules of heaven and earth as a reference, and the true meaning of Wither and Flourish Annihilation contained in that nameless fist technique as variables, performing incredibly complex, almost frantic deductions.
He deduced billions of possible paths for Qi and blood circulation, searching for a route that could both strengthen himself and avoid triggering Demonic Essence backlash, or even subtly harmonize its essence.
He deduced countless ways for the Physical Body structure to interact with the energy of heaven and earth, attempting to find an indirect method to bypass the 'Life Conception Taboo'.
He even began to attempt to deduce... Karma.
This thought flashed like lightning in his day and night deductions. Since directly changing the essence was impossible, could he create a tiny 'exception' from the level of 'Karma'?
This idea was extremely bold and extremely dangerous. The Dao of Karma was profound and unpredictable, involving time, space, and destiny. Even at the peak of his Xuanxu Demon Venerable realm, he had only superficially touched upon it and dared not delve deeper. A slight misstep could lead to self-destruction, even implicating Su Wan.
Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, the dormant demonic thought was startled once more.
"Are you insane?!" The demonic thought's voice carried a hint of shock and anger. "Deducing Karma? With your current meager Dao cultivation? If you want to die, don't drag this body down! That's a Domain even the main body needs to tread carefully in!"
Mo Chen's Divine Thought remained exceptionally calm amidst the endless stream of deduction data: "There is no other way."
"Way? I told you, the only way is to abandon this meaningless obsession!" The demonic thought roared. "You're playing with fire! Karma backlash is enough to instantly annihilate this Divine Thought of yours, leaving no chance to return to the main body!"
"Then let it be annihilated." Mo Chen's reply was flat, without a ripple, as if he were speaking of something unrelated to himself. "If I can't even try, what difference does it make whether this Divine Thought exists or not?"
"You...!" The demonic thought choked, its blood-red light churning violently, finally turning into a cold warning, "You will regret this!"
The demonic thought receded again, no longer dissuading him, seemingly having foreseen the inevitable failure.
Mo Chen was unmoved. His Divine Sense, like the most precise instrument, began to construct an extremely fragile, extremely subtle Karma line, taking his bond with Su Wan as the 'cause' and 'bearing offspring' as the 'effect'.
This process was incredibly difficult, like weaving a spider's web on the edge of a cliff in a storm. He needed to avoid the natural repulsion and distortion of his own demonic nature on this Karma line, resist the invisible suppression of the Qingyuan Realm's Heavenly Dao rules against such Heaven-Defying behavior, and, even more carefully, avoid touching the subconscious taboo deeply hidden in the Soul Origin, belonging to Liu Qingtian.
Time flowed silently in the deductions. Mo Chen visibly thinned, his eyes sunken, but they glowed frighteningly bright, as if countless star trajectories were being born and extinguished within them, and countless threads of destiny were intertwining.
His movements in practicing basic Martial Dao became increasingly fluid, subtly forming a rhythm. The suppressed Qi and blood within him, under this most primitive tempering and the indirect influence of endless deductions, became exceptionally pure and full of vitality, forming a strange, non-interfering balance with the dormant Demonic Essence.
Who knows how long passed, perhaps a month, perhaps half a year.
On a starry night, Mo Chen was still sitting in the courtyard, deducing. His Divine Sense was almost exhausted, his spirit utterly fatigued, but the 'Karma line' he had condensed from countless data, rules, and a sliver of weak hope, finally touched the edge of that faint 'effect'.
The moment that touch occurred—
Boom!
His consciousness felt as if it had been thrown into a bizarre river of light! Countless blurry images, fragmented sounds, and intertwined emotions surged into his mind like a broken dam!
He saw... the future!
Not clear scenes, but fragments of countless possibilities!
He saw an infant giggling in Su Wan's arms, its eyebrows and eyes holding her gentleness and a hint of his own sternness.
He saw a young boy practicing swordplay in the valley, his sword light clear and sharp, yet subtly carrying a hint of Annihilation Concept.
He also saw Su Wan collapsed in a pool of blood, her eyes vacant, a blurry figure shrouded in demonic flames standing nearby, letting out a cold laugh.
He even saw the valley collapsing, stars falling, a scene of apocalypse... These fragments of the future conflicted and overlapped, indistinguishable between true and false, yet all carried a heart-pounding sense of reality!
At the same time, he clearly felt an extremely subtle, almost imperceptible 'line' connecting him to a certain 'possibility' among those countless future fragments. That was the 'Karma' he had tried to create!
He succeeded?!
No!
Almost at the instant the Karma line connected, a backlash force, immense beyond description, utterly cold, and filled with destructive and negating will, surged back along that fragile Karma line!
That was... Liu Qingtian's subconscious taboo power! It was the absolute repulsion to the existence of 'descendants' engraved in the Origin of his Demonic Soul!
This power did not actively attack, but its pure existence alone was like a massive, cold 'nothingness', aiming to completely erase that 'possibility' Mo Chen had painstakingly connected to! Along with this Divine Thought that attempted to defy destiny, it would all return to void!
"Pfft—!"
In the courtyard, Mo Chen suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his face instantly turning ashen, his aura rapidly weakening. His frighteningly bright eyes quickly dimmed, as if his life force had been drained in an instant.
He staggered and leaned on the stone table nearby, barely managing not to fall.
In his Sea of Consciousness, the demonic thought's cold voice echoed, carrying a hint of indifference as if it had long anticipated this:
"Do you see? This is the price of defying destiny. You touched a Domain you shouldn't have, inviting the Origin's backlash. That Karma line is destined to break. Your so-called 'method' is nothing but self-deceiving futility."
Mo Chen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, feeling the excruciating pain from the depths of his Divine Soul, as if pierced by billions of needles, and the Karma line, connected to faint hope, being rapidly erased by an invisible force.
He did not despair. Instead, in that extreme pain and weakness, he struggled to lift his head, looking towards the warm lamp still lit in the house, and a faint, yet incredibly stubborn, curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"At least... I saw it..."
He saw a glimpse of hope, a possibility for the future, and also... the most solid barrier, named 'Liu Qingtian', standing in his path.
This time, he was no longer lost.