314: cause and effect

"Fellow Daoist, please stay a moment."

"Ah!"

Zhou Yan looked at the young man squatting on the ground, covering his eyes, and couldn't help but feel a wave of helplessness.

He had originally been about to leave the mountain gate, intending to catch a few 'family members' to come back and work, to supplement the labor force. Who knew that while still some distance from the gate, he heard that inauspicious phrase called out from behind him.

Recently, Zhou Yan had indeed been harboring thoughts of slacking off. However, Qingxuan and Yuan Chenling weren't fools. If he were purely lazy, the two of them would inevitably have opinions.

The reason they tacitly allowed it was because Zhou Yan had genuinely experienced the power of Karma before. That power was utterly unreasonable. Fortunately, it had only been a false alarm.

Therefore, just to be safe, Zhou Yan had taken a couple of extra days off.

Because of this, he was now most averse to hearing such words.

It just so happened that this person in front of him had neither appeared on his mini-map nor been sensed by his Divine Sense. In his urgency, Zhou Yan instinctively struck out.

Fortunately, he had held back his strength, and coupled with this Senior Brother's not-weak cultivation, nothing major happened, aside from the bruise inflicted by the true attack.

"This... uh, should I address you as Senior Brother?" Zhou Yan spoke up. "Did you suddenly call me to stop for something?"

The other party rubbed his eye socket, looking over with equal surprise, then pointed at his own face and asked.

"Do you not know who I am?"

Zhou Yan's eyes widened slightly, and he was taken aback for a moment.

"Am I... being provoked?"

Hearing this, the man also realized his wording was inappropriate and hurriedly explained.

"No, no."

"I'm somewhat well-known within the Sect due to certain matters. Most new Disciples I encounter know me, so I was a bit surprised to hear you say that."

"You look unfamiliar, and I feel you're also a newly entered Disciple, so it should be this batch, right?"

"I also participated in that batch's recruitment. Logically, you should have seen me before."

Hearing this, Zhou Yan scrutinized him a few more times but truly had no impression.

"I really haven't seen you."

"At the time, I was escorted into the Sect by another Senior Brother, part of the final group, and went to the Prodigy resting area."

The other party then understood, nodding.

"Oh, the final group. That explains it then."

"The Prodigy resting area is very far from the incident location. It's normal you didn't see me."

"After that night, I went into seclusion for a year due to reasons. You truly had little chance to see me again."

"But have you rarely gone out since then?"

"There should be some rumors within the Sect."

"I also just returned from an outside training journey. I haven't spent many days in the Sect this past year. Even when I was here, I mostly stayed in my own residence."

After hearing Zhou Yan's explanation, the other person's expression relaxed, and he clasped his hands with a smile.

"So that's how it is. Then let's get acquainted again."

"My name is Fan Wujiu, an Inner Sect Disciple of the Sword Peak. I called you to stop because I indeed have something to inform you about."

"Just now, I saw you weren't wearing Disciple attire and your face was unfamiliar, so for a moment I wasn't sure how to confirm your identity. I had no choice but to address you as Fellow Daoist."

"Plus, due to some special training, I habitually conceal my aura. That's what caused the misunderstanding. I hope Junior Brother will forgive me."

He then continued.

"This is regarding a Sect activity."

"It's currently the first month of the year. The New Year celebration was held a few days ago. I wonder if Junior Brother attended?"

"And the seventh day of the first month is approaching soon. The Sect plans to organize an event and is currently summoning all Disciples still within the Sect to participate."

"I hear the rewards this time are quite generous. The final grand prize is a Fifth-rank Treasure, which is also quite valuable."

"If Junior Brother has no urgent matters at the moment, perhaps you could stay for today. It wouldn't be too late to leave after the event concludes tomorrow."

A Fifth-rank Treasure?

Zhou Yan's heart stirred. Fifth-rank meant something equivalent to the Soul Transformation level. That was indeed good.

Normally, if he asked for it, he could probably obtain something of this level. However, the recent incident had left him apprehensive, and he was now wary of casually touching many things.

But if he won it openly and fairly through an event, then it should be fine.

Moreover, he recently had to deal with an old fellow who had lost his son. This Soul Transformation-level treasure might come in handy.

"Thank you for informing me, Senior Brother. I'm not particularly busy at the moment, so I'll stay an extra day and will definitely attend tomorrow. May I ask where the location is?"

After informing him of the time and place, Fan Wujiu left first to continue notifying other Disciples.

Zhou Yan, on the other hand, planned to slack off for two more days. After all, he now had a perfect excuse.

However, it was only after the two had walked some distance apart that they each realized something was off.

"Wait..." Fan Wujiu covered his eye socket, feeling his mind was a mess. "He said he's a new Disciple, and I only sensed he was at the ninth layer of Qi Refining. How did his punch hurt so much?"

Meanwhile, Zhou Yan was astonished by the other's name.

"Wait... what did he just say his name was?"

"He dares to casually get involved with this kind of Karma? How audacious!"

On the other side, Zhou Yan sat in his reclining chair, also feeling somewhat dazed.

This Fan Wujiu was precisely that Senior Brother who had been imprisoned for calling Sect Master Qingxuan narrow-minded.

Having undergone rigorous training during his confinement, and having just been released, his mind hadn't fully adjusted. He neither detected the abnormality in Zhou Yan's cultivation nor recognized him.

After all, on the day Zhou Yan entered the Sect, he had just been locked up.

As for Zhou Yan, because he had done something foolish a few days ago that nearly got himself into trouble, his thoughts were still somewhat sluggish these past couple of days. The only thing he was exceptionally sensitive to was anything involving Karma.

He stared at the panel's entry "Karma Law Comprehension: 2%" and fell into deep thought.

Previously, he had just initially established the Netherworld system. Upon first dispatching Souls back to Taiyi City, he received a large amount of faith and a more stable labor force.

So, Zhou Yan wanted to establish a festival, a day each year to uniformly allow Souls to return home to visit relatives. He planned to use the Blue Star's name for it, calling it the "Zhongyuan Festival."

At first, it was just a thought. But when the words "Zhongyuan Festival" surfaced in his mind and he intended to put them into practice, an indescribable force suddenly descended upon his Sea of Consciousness.

It was as if he had suddenly stood at the edge of a cliff. One more step forward was a bottomless abyss. Yet, behind him, a gentle pushing force lightly urged him forward.

That feeling was extremely bizarre.

The abyss ahead and the pushing force behind seemed to exist in different times and spaces.

The pushing force was gentle and positive, difficult to resist, like a mother gently patting her child to sleep.

But the abyss clearly indicated that taking one more step forward meant certain death.

The two interwoven, akin to a child crying from hunger, while the mother mistakenly thought it was having a nightmare. She merely soothed it to sleep, doing what she thought was right, yet was actually pushing the child toward the abyss.

This experience of being unable to speak, almost like sleep paralysis, indeed gave Zhou Yan quite a shock.

It was precisely because of this that his long-stagnant Law comprehension finally gained a new entry.

Qingxuan, after all, had broad experience. After extensive calculations, he told Zhou Yan.

He had likely triggered some kind of major Karma.

And that Karma, Zhou Yan indeed had the ability to fulfill. Moreover, accomplishing it would bring enormous benefits, which was why his instincts were so strong.

But Zhou Yan's Dao Heart was firm. He wasn't swept away by impulse. Instead, he clearly perceived the price required behind the benefits, allowing him to resist the temptation and ultimately escape.

However, Qingxuan was ultimately a Book Spirit. If not for Zhou Yan, it might have remained trapped in the book repository forever.

Therefore, it only had theory and found it difficult to truly understand what Karma was. So it could only provide an explanation, not a solution.

After all, having long resided in the book repository, it hardly touched Karma.

Its first contact with this concept was through data summaries after the Eastern Region Incident.

This was precisely why Qingxuan and Yuan Chenling were willing to let Zhou Yan rest.

Because Karma was too profound and mysterious; no one could predict its influence. If not for Zhou Yan's firm Dao Heart, a tragedy might have already occurred. So, to prevent sudden accidents, it was better to rest properly for a couple of days.

After this incident, Zhou Yan was filled with lingering fear, and he also harbored some unspoken thoughts.

The Zhongyuan Festival held significant meaning in Huaxia. And this world indeed had a Netherworld. He just didn't know if it originally existed and was later occupied by Guixu, or if it was simply built by Guixu.

In any case, this world had no Zhongyuan Festival, nor did it have Shangyuan or Xiayuan Festivals. Yet the Netherworld truly existed.

Seemingly, there was a force pushing Zhou Yan to complete this festival, even if it was just a name.

Through this, Zhou Yan gained a bit more understanding of the world, though the price was still heavy.

This also meant that in the future, Zhou Yan would probably have to personally visit the Netherworld, and this matter was difficult to avoid.

Because after comprehending a small amount of the Karma Law, Zhou Yan understood that this wasn't over yet.

"But is there really a connection?" he silently thought. "I've only just touched upon these things, and I encounter such a particularly notable name..."