Interesting?
Whether it was Li Haoran or Mr. You currently standing before Chen Yan, whenever he heard content related to so-called cause and effect and fate, he found it utterly abstract and quite difficult to understand.
"I still don't quite understand, Senior."
Chen Yan said.
"Kongshan Sect is to be destroyed by a half-step Immortal Ascension Great Demon of the Dao Union Realm, that is the 'effect'."
Mr. You said slowly:
"And the 'cause' leading to this effect was personally sown by Kong Yang nine thousand years ago. The reason he sowed this cause was because he glimpsed the effect..."
Chen Yan was completely lost.
"So, ultimately, was it because Kongshan Sect was destroyed that Kong Yang went to hunt that Black Flood Dragon;
or was it because Kong Yang went to hunt that Black Flood Dragon that Kongshan Sect was destroyed?"
Suddenly, Chen Yan shuddered.
A cycle of cause and effect?
"But... Kongshan Sect wasn't destroyed..."
Chen Yan said.
"Because the effect Kong Yang glimpsed was false."
Mr. You said thus:
"All myriad fates are cause and effect. Cause and effect will never change, they are completely fixed within the long river of time... This world has one and only one correct answer."
The one and only correct answer...
Moreover, this phrase, "All myriad fates are cause and effect," was not the first time Chen Yan had heard it.
"The one and only correct answer is the Heavenly Dao Fate."
Mr. You said while casting a meaningful look in Chen Yan's direction:
"Only the Heavenly Dao Fate points to the true cause and effect, points to that one and only correct answer. Everything else is falsehood."
If so-called cause and effect are the entrance and exit of a maze, then fate is the myriad paths within the maze.
Only the Heavenly Dao Fate leads to the true cause and effect;
all other paths are falsehood.
Reincarnation Save Point.
Why, after dying in the Fallen Sword Mountain Range in his first life, did he return to that point when he was fifteen?
Was everything he experienced in his first life falsehood?
If only by following the predetermined Heavenly Dao Fate could he advance the Reincarnation Save Point, then what meaning did all his actions have?
Chen Yan struggled with these thoughts in his mind.
Mr. You merely stood smiling in the desert, quietly watching Chen Yan.
"What's wrong, you seem quite troubled."
Mr. You said.
"I have one last question, Mr. You."
Chen Yan's lips moved as he asked:
"If everything in this world develops according to the one and only Heavenly Dao Fate, then what meaning do all the choices and efforts made by people in the world truly have?"
"How could they have no meaning?"
Mr. You laughed:
"Before you make a choice or put in effort, do you already know what the one and only predetermined result is?"
Hearing this, Chen Yan was slightly speechless.
"And also..."
Mr. You clasped his hands behind his back, raised his head, and looked directly at the blazing sun in the sky:
"Why do you think people cultivate immortality?"
"To defy heaven and change fate."
Chen Yan said thus. This was the most classic explanation for cultivating immortality from various movies, TV shows, and novels in his previous life.
"Why do you think the fate you change is not the fate originally destined?"
Mr. You shook his head with a smile.
"Please enlighten me, Mr. You."
Chen Yan said.
"To become the Heavenly Dao, to become the definer of cause, effect, and fate, that is the ultimate pursuit of all cultivators."
Mr. You said thus:
"But before that, we must first see what effect the Heavenly Dao Fate points to."
...
Chen Yan followed behind Mr. You, continuing to traverse this desert located at the border of the Great Yi Dynasty.
Immortal Ascension Reincarnation.
He was almost certain of Mr. You's true identity;
he must be the reincarnation of some Immortal Ascension Realm great power.
Because Mr. You's understanding of cause and effect, fate, and the Heavenly Dao was even higher than that of Supreme Pivot Elder Li.
And Li Haoran, at the peak of the Dao Union Realm, was already the Dao Union Realm cultivator in this current era with the most profound understanding of cause and effect and fate.
As for why Realman Star-Paying Respects perished in this desert and why Star Heaven Sect allowed his opportunity to drift into the world, Mr. You also gave an explanation.
It was Realman Star-Paying Respects's own will.
"Perhaps Realman Star-Paying Respects, who died thirteen thousand years ago, did so precisely so that you today could obtain that key. That is fate."
That's what Mr. You said.
"What exactly is the use of this key?"
Chen Yan asked.
"I don't know."
Mr. You replied:
"However, when the opportunity arrives, you will naturally know. Until then, just follow me obediently..."
Suddenly, Mr. You's words cut off abruptly.
He stood motionless in the desert, swiftly raised his right hand, and began rapidly calculating something with his fingers, murmuring words under his breath.
Immediately after, his left hand also quickly rose, joining in the calculation.
Then, all his movements stopped.
Mr. You slowly turned around. This cultivator who looked very young wore a brilliant smile on his face, his eyes fixed on Chen Yan's direction.
Chen Yan suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
"Mr. You?"
Chen Yan tentatively called out to him.
"It's here."
"What's here?"
Chen Yan asked again.
Mr. You didn't answer Chen Yan's question, only the smile on his face grew even wider:
"You'll know in a moment."
Before Chen Yan could even react, in the blink of an eye, Mr. You vanished without a trace from before him.
"What in the world..."
Just as Chen Yan was muttering to himself, the true qi in all the meridians throughout his body suddenly began to boil, and his spiritual sense became highly tense.
Danger.
The desert beneath his feet suddenly began to tremble. Chen Yan hastily took to the air and looked back down at his feet.
A gigantic black scorpion claw suddenly emerged from the desert, lunging toward Chen Yan.
Xun Wind Step!
Chen Yan hurriedly activated his movement technique to dodge, but the moment he dodged, another scorpion claw attacked from the sand on the other side.
So fast! It was as if it had already predicted his dodge direction.
Chen Yan's heart sank.
Due to the inertia from just using the movement technique, he couldn't use the Xun Wind Step again to dodge this second attacking claw.
No choice, he had to meet it head-on.
Chen Yan swung out a palm, clear light swirling around it—this was the Clear Rainbow from the Hidden Immortal Art.
The moment Chen Yan's palm strike collided with the scorpion claw, Chen Yan was immediately sent flying sideways, crashing heavily into the desert.
Immediately after, from the spot where Chen Yan fell, a sharp spike rapidly drilled out from beneath the sand.
Chen Yan hastily rolled to dodge, almost getting skewered through the heart.
He stood up, his expression grave as he looked at the two gigantic scorpion claws waving in the sky like pillars holding up the heavens.
At the very least, it was a Fifth Realm Great Demon.