Everything has cause and effect.
It can be said that cause and effect are the fundamental laws governing the operation of this world.
And fate operates within the basic framework established by cause and effect.
Fate is strong cause and effect.
It is not absolutely impossible to interfere with, but once destiny is altered, something external must bear the karmic retribution that was originally meant to be borne, or even suffer backlash more severe than the original.
Fortune is weak cause and effect.
Compared to destiny, the changes and shifts of fortune are much more arbitrary. Perhaps just a single thought, or a single action, could cause a deviation.
All things begin with a cause and end with a result.
Supreme Pivot Elder Li Haoran of the Kongshan Sect stepped into the peak of the Dao Union Realm three thousand years ago, making him the actual number one figure in the immortal path on the Chenping Continent.
But the immortal path on the Chenping Continent had been completely severed.
Regarding this point, no one alive in the world today understood it more clearly than Li Haoran, who had reached the peak of the Dao Union Realm.
And no one could comprehend the despair Li Haoran felt when he stepped into the peak of the Dao Union Realm.
He had reached the end.
From then on, there was only one thing left for Li Haoran to do.
That was to wait for death.
He had no room for improvement left, and the lifespan of a Dao Union Realm cultivator was, at most, only fifteen thousand years.
Li Haoran simply needed to wait for death in the long years to come, waiting for his own cultivation and divine sense to be worn away by time.
He was unwilling.
Which cultivator dared to say they did not wish to ascend to immortality when they first set foot on the immortal path?
Cultivating immortality, is it not all for that one word, 'immortal'?
Thus, Li Haoran attempted to walk a completely new path.
Peering into cause and effect.
Seven thousand years ago, Li Haoran, who had just entered the Dao Union Realm, found it difficult to truly comprehend the cause and effect spoken of by Su Hongzhen.
But now, Li Haoran, who had reached the peak of the Dao Union Realm, could already glimpse a corner of it.
It was an existence of immense mystery and complexity.
The destinies of countless living beings, the fortunes of countless living beings, were all tightly intertwined.
Just one glance nearly caused Li Haoran's Dao foundation to completely collapse.
Even to this day, he still suffered from the backlash of cause and effect.
Therefore, he unfolded this Dao Domain in a corner of the Kongshan Sect to resist the backlash of cause and effect.
A Dao Domain is a special field formed by a Dao Union Realm cultivator combining their own will with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Cultivators at the Myriad Transformations Realm and below who find themselves within a Dao Domain will have their cultivation level completely suppressed.
Even their bodies and thoughts are affected.
At this very moment, Chen Yan was within Li Haoran's Dao Domain.
With a cultivation level merely at the Qi Sea Realm, Chen Yan was even less able to comprehend the essence of cause and effect and fate.
His attention was more focused on the "Death Omen" that Li Haoran had just mentioned.
Chen Yan had heard Lin Qifeng say that great beings at the Dao Union Realm and above could already, to a certain extent, peer into the secrets of heaven.
"The meaning of what you just said, Supreme Pivot Elder Li, about showing a Death Omen, refers to..."
In fact, Chen Yan already had a rough guess in his heart.
"Naturally, it means death."
Li Haoran replied.
But, Supreme Pivot Elder Li had just said that the person showing the Death Omen wasn't only himself.
"Of course, I will die too."
As if stating the obvious, Li Haoran said with a smile.
Just as Li Haoran said, the original version of himself had not shown a Death Omen.
Because in the previous nine cycles of reincarnation where the Kongshan Sect was destroyed, Chen Yan had survived.
In this cycle of reincarnation, Chen Yan would die.
Either die in the Outer Court Cataclysm, or die in the destruction of the Kongshan Sect.
"What is destined to come will eventually come, it cannot be avoided."
Li Haoran said.
"You mean, life and death?"
Chen Yan asked.
"Not that."
Li Haoran shook his head.
"The cause that was sown, the fruit that is borne."
From the day nine thousand years ago when True Person Caiyun, Kong Yang of Qingchan Peak, failed to slay the Black Flood Dragon, the cause had already been sown.
And the Outer Court Cataclysm is the manifestation of the fruit.
All destinies are cause and effect.
No matter what, where there is a cause, there must be a result.
All so-called fate serves cause and effect. Even through countless cycles of reincarnation, countless different choices, one can never escape the shackles of cause and effect.
It is precisely because of this that Chen Yan struggled continuously, sinking deeper and deeper.
"Why, must it be me?"
Chen Yan did not understand.
"Through a strange combination of circumstances, you are now the cause, and the fruit will inevitably stem from you."
Supreme Pivot Elder Li said.
"If you evade destiny, you will ultimately suffer the backlash of cause and effect. What cannot be avoided, simply cannot be avoided."
Chen Yan actually understood what Li Haoran was saying.
The Outer Court Cataclysm is an inevitable destiny.
If he evades it, he will suffer the backlash of cause and effect.
Back on Yuanhua Mountain, Xiao Bo'an had told him that forty-six days later, he would undoubtedly die.
But in the previous nine cycles of reincarnation, Chen Yan had escaped this destiny.
The resulting outcome was the destruction of the Kongshan Sect.
Only if he dies will the Kongshan Sect not be destroyed.
Supreme Pivot Elder Li, who could peer into the secrets of heaven, could naturally calculate this.
But why didn't he let him go to meet his death, to fulfill the cause and effect, instead trapping him here?
"Because I am gambling."
Li Haoran, as if seeing through what Chen Yan was thinking, said this.
"Gambling on what I believe to be the most correct path among these countless destinies."
"This disciple does not understand."
Chen Yan said.
"It's fine if you don't understand."
Li Haoran said with a smile.
"Because, I have already won the gamble."
...
A gentle breeze blew, lifting the hem of the pure white Daoist robe, the gilded cloud crane patterns on the sleeves moving rhythmically with the wind.
Two tokens, one wooden and one jade, hung at his waist. One was engraved with "Kongyuan Chief Seat," the other with "Kongshan Imperial Law Court."
Chen Yan suddenly snapped back to reality.
Only then did he realize he was no longer in front of the thatched cottage in the small grove, but in a place both unfamiliar and familiar to him.
The outer court of the Kongshan Sect.
Calculating carefully, adding together all the years Chen Yan had experienced across all his cycles of reincarnation, he was now probably over four hundred years old.
For the first two hundred-plus years, he had idled his time away here.
For the latter hundred-plus years, he had been drifting outside.
Everything felt like a dream.
Chen Yan walked on the streets of the outer court. Usually, inner court disciples were a rare sight in the outer court, and people couldn't help but glance a few extra times in Chen Yan's direction.
Naturally, quite a few outer court disciples recognized Chen Yan, because in the outer court competition over two years ago, Chen Yan had also made quite a "splash."
Chen Yan paid no mind to these gazes, he just quickened his pace.
"Senior Brother Chen?"
Suddenly, a surprised voice came from the side of the street.
This voice also struck Chen Yan as slightly familiar.
Chen Yan followed the direction of the voice and found only a young man and a young woman standing there, both wearing outer court Daoist robes.
"... Zheng Fei, Li Xiuxiu?"
After a moment of thought, Chen Yan called out their names, almost as if talking to himself.