Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Celestial Evolution Ephemeral Life proficiency +1.
...
Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Celestial Evolution Ephemeral Life proficiency +1, Celestial Evolution Ephemeral Life Rank increased to: Level Five, you comprehended the Divine Ability: Resonance of Tianyan.
Ding, you consumed one free proficiency point, Celestial Evolution Ephemeral Life proficiency +1.
...
Li Mu raised the divination Cultivation Technique, Celestial Evolution Ephemeral Life, to Level Seven in one go, and subsequently acquired four more Divine Abilities related to Karma and Years.
Each of these Divine Abilities contained unfathomable profundities, greatly enhancing his divination effects and combat capabilities.
The first Divine Ability, Divination Manifestation, allowed Li Mu to observe divination hexagrams more clearly, directly penetrating to the essence of the hexagrams.
The second Divine Ability, Manifestation Insight, not only allowed Li Mu to observe the surface of divination thoughts but also enabled him to use this Divine Ability to foresee and discover the short-term Context directions of all things in advance, possessing the ability to trace back to the source.
The third Divine Ability, Manifestation Evolution, allowed Li Mu to discern the Karma relationships between events, foreseeing the chain reactions that a certain action might trigger.
When used to observe an opponent, it had the effect of predicting the enemy's moves.
The fourth Divine Ability, Resonance of Tianyan, allowed Li Mu to perceive hidden information and omens in the world.
This information might be closely related to major events in the future, providing richer material and deeper basis for divination.
The fifth Divine Ability, Resonance of Tianyan, allowed Li Mu to temporarily resonate with the Law of Karma and the River of Years, thereby interpreting more accurately and improving the accuracy of divination hexagrams.
A long time later, Li Mu opened his eyes, a silver light flashing through his pupils.
His Divine Sense recovered from the massive amount of divination arcane art experience, feeling as if he had Transmigrated through time and space, personally experiencing the careers of countless divination Great Masters, and drawing endless wisdom from them.
The vast amount of divination experience gave Li Mu a deeper understanding of Celestial Evolution Ephemeral Life, realizing that divination was not simply predicting the future, but rather discerning the operational Laws of all things in the world.
From these vast divination experiences, Li Mu summarized four core concepts: Human Factors, Age Force, Karma, and Celestial Evolution.
Human Factors: refers to the important influence of human factors in divination; everyone's fate is affected by their own personality, behavior, choices, and other factors.
Age Force, on the other hand, is the power of time; everything is in constant change, and the long River of Years has countless tributaries, making it impossible to truly glimpse the whole picture.
Karma is the Law of interconnectedness of all things in the Universe; every event has its cause and will bring corresponding results.
Karma is unpredictable, and by inferring along the Karma, one can predict the development trend of events and possible outcomes.
Celestial Evolution, as the most core part of Celestial Evolution Ephemeral Life, is not just a divination technique, but also a deep understanding and application of the Heavenly Dao Law.
It requires the diviner to deduce unknown results based on known information and Laws, through rigorous logical reasoning and flexible analogical thinking.
At this moment, Li Mu's heart was filled with awe for the power of the Heavenly Dao; the more he knew, the more he understood his own insignificance and ignorance.
He had also stepped into the hall of divination, becoming a true divination Great Master.
Li Mu took a deep breath, retrieved the Time Luck Spirit Turtle from the nine storage spiritual pearl, and gently stroked its shell, feeling the traces of Years and Karma patterns flowing on it, filled with the mysteries of Karma and Years Dao Laws, gaining a clearer understanding of its abilities.
The Time Luck Spirit Turtle sensed the changes in Li Mu, its eyes slightly brightened, and its Spirit Treasure conveyed a hint of joy.
As a Spirit Treasure connected to Li Mu's mind, the Time Luck Spirit Turtle could sense the improvement in its master's state of mind and Cultivation Realm.
Its master cultivating a Cultivation Technique that matched its abilities would allow it to better exert its power, reduce its spiritual consumption, and even enable its own spirituality to grow.
Li Mu decided to divine for himself again, fully utilizing the newly learned divination Cultivation Technique—Celestial Evolution Ephemeral Life—to verify what Realm his strength combined with the power of the Time Luck Spirit Turtle could reach.
Li Mu sat cross-legged, the Time Luck Spirit Turtle suspended before him, his mind as calm as water, and began to circulate the Celestial Evolution Ephemeral Life Cultivation Technique.
As the Cultivation Technique circulated, a mysterious mist seemed to permeate around Li Mu, a sign of the condensation of divination phenomena.
Immediately after, Li Mu cast the Celestial Evolution Ephemeral Life Divine Ability—Resonance of Tianyan, injecting a vast amount of Spiritual Qi into the Time Luck Spirit Turtle.
The Divine Ability, Resonance of Tianyan, allowed Li Mu to easily resonate temporarily with the Time Luck Spirit Turtle's Karma Tree and River of Years.
The Time Luck Spirit Turtle clearly sensed this mysterious power, its eyes sparkling with bright light, conveying strong joy and anticipation, knowing that this divination would be extraordinary.
The next moment, the Time Luck Spirit Turtle's eyes were crystal clear, and the River of Years and the Karma Tree successively emerged from its eyes, with patterns and hexagrams appearing on its pure white shell.
With the activation of the Resonance of Tianyan Divine Ability, Li Mu felt himself merge with the Time Luck Spirit Turtle, gaining its vision, rapidly browsing the Karma Tree and the River of Years, seeing various scenes from the past, present, and future.
These scenes flashed before his eyes like fragments, yet he captured and interpreted each one.
...
In these rapidly flashing scenes, Li Mu suddenly froze on a future image: he saw his arch-nemesis—the Undying Demon Lord, that face which brought him endless fear and pressure, now appearing exceptionally clear in the divination vision.
The Undying Demon Lord stood on a pile of ruins, surrounded by the corpses of eight Clan Chiefs, their faces still showing the terror and unwillingness of their dying moments.
The Undying Demon Lord's face was ferocious, his demonic eyes staring intently at him.
The scene shifted, and Xue'er seemed to be undergoing her True Spirit Tribulation, amidst dense, surging tribulation clouds, with lightning flashing and thunder rumbling, her face appeared exceptionally resolute.
However, as the tribulation lightning continuously fell, Xue'er's protective shield gradually shattered, and her complexion also turned pale.
Immediately after, the scene changed again, and Li Mu saw a great battle taking place in a land covered in high-temperature magma, countless Cultivators died miserably, and the lights of various Spells and Magic Treasures intertwined into a dazzling picture.
Li Mu saw his own fighting figure, and saw the Undying Demon Lord wantonly slaughtering, with many high-Rank Cultivators dying in agony under his hands.
The scene shifted again, and Li Mu saw the tragic scene of a great war between two Realms.
Countless living beings wailed in the flames of war, and the world was filled with blood and chaos.
At this moment, he felt as if he could personally experience that Killing Intent and endless sorrow.
...
The Time Luck Spirit Turtle also seemed to sense Li Mu's shock and mental turmoil, fearing that he would suffer a backlash from the Heavenly Secret.
A force of resistance surged from its body, and it voluntarily interrupted the divination.
With a soft 'puff!' sound, the Time Luck Spirit Turtle suffered a severe blow as a result, and its originally vibrant body instantly withered.
Li Mu was greatly alarmed at the sight, quickly held the Time Luck Spirit Turtle in his hands, and carefully examined its injuries, discovering several cracks on its shell, from which weak and chaotic Spiritual Qi faintly seeped out.
This was the price the Time Luck Spirit Turtle paid for forcibly interrupting the divination to protect him.
"Time Luck Spirit Turtle, I'm sorry, I made you suffer again!" Li Mu looked at the Time Luck Spirit Turtle with guilt, full of apology.
He hadn't controlled this divination, causing great damage to the Time Luck Spirit Turtle, yet it had unhesitatingly chosen to protect him.
The Time Luck Spirit Turtle struggled to lift its head and glanced at Li Mu, then weakly lowered its head and closed its eyes, falling into a deep slumber.
Li Mu sighed helplessly; because he had excessively pried into the Heavenly Secret, the Time Luck Spirit Turtle's Spirit Treasure was implicated and suffered another severe injury, losing even the ability to respond to him.
He could only think of a way to re-refine it later and inject more powerful Years and Karma forces into it.
Li Mu put the Time Luck Spirit Turtle into his storage slot and silently pondered the precious scenes he had obtained from the divination and prying into the River of Years, as well as the hexagrams that appeared on the Time Luck Spirit Turtle's spiritual shell.
Those hexagrams and future scenes replayed in his mind, causing Li Mu to feel an unprecedented pressure.
The future revealed by this divination was not absolute, but it pointed him in a direction.
Li Mu took a deep breath, calmed his agitated mood, and began to analyze and deduce the hexagrams and future scenes.
In this divination, Li Mu 'saw' many things about his 'future' by prying into the Heavenly Secret.
In the foreseen future, he and the Clan Chiefs of the Eight Great Families explored the Cang Yuan Secret Realm together, but they were attacked by the Undying Demon Lord.
The Clan Chiefs were all killed, and his own fate would likely be no better.
Li Mu frowned, his heart filled with doubt and vigilance.
He couldn't help but wonder why the Undying Demon Lord would appear in the Cang Yuan Secret Realm.
Could it be that the Undying Demon Lord had not returned to the Southern Wilderness Spirit Domain, but had remained in the Central Plains Spirit Domain, secretly observing him all along?
This thought made Li Mu's heart pound.
If this speculation was true, it meant that his every move might be under the Undying Demon Lord's surveillance.
Even worse, the Undying Demon Lord might be lurking within the Cang Yuan Secret Realm, waiting to ambush him.
Li Mu's brows furrowed tightly, instantly realizing the seriousness of the situation.
After a brief contemplation, Li Mu had a plan in mind.
If the situation was indeed like this, Li Mu decided to take the initiative; he could choose to fight fire with fire!
He would invite Sword Master Feng and Sword Master Chen to go to the Cang Yuan Secret Realm together, and with their strength, completely resolve the hidden danger of the Undying Demon Lord.
Thinking of this, Li Mu felt slightly relieved, but his mood quickly became conflicted again.
In another future scene, Xue'er failed her Seven-rank True Spirit Thunder Tribulation, meaning she would die under the Lightning Tribulation, which was precisely something Li Mu could not accept.
Regarding Xue'er, Li Mu had long regarded her as Family.
If Xue'er really died in the Lightning Tribulation, how would he feel then?
Li Mu's face showed a grim expression; he could not sit idly by and let such a thing happen.
Therefore, he could no longer let Xue'er's cultivation go unchecked; he had to be strict from now on.
Next, some other future scenes were also not good: the war in the Southern Wilderness Spirit Domain was more difficult than imagined, with heavy casualties; they failed to stop the Demon Abyss forces' invasion; the war between the two Realms broke out; and so on.
All sorts of terrible futures made Li Mu's heart pound, causing him to sink into deep thought, leading to the Time Luck Spirit Turtle's exhaustion and backlash, suffering severe injuries, during this divination.
However, it was still worth it; knowing these situations in advance still offered a chance to change them.
The Karma Tree has endless branches, and the River of Years has countless tributaries; even a small change could greatly alter his destiny.
Just as Li Mu was immersed in divination, prying into the Heavenly Secret, and contemplating methods of resolution, the Eight Great Cultivation Families of the Central Plains began intense preparations for the upcoming exploration of the Cang Yuan Secret Realm.
Among them, the most eye-catching was the ranking competition for refining Dao Soldiers.
The Eight Great Families decided to have three of their most outstanding Soul Transformation Stage Disciples compete on the same stage to determine who was superior.
This competition not only concerned the honor of the Family but also determined the priority of refining Dao Soldiers, enhancing the Family's strength and resistance opportunities.
As the competition began, the Core Disciples of the Eight Great Families displayed their Divine Abilities, and fierce battles unfolded on the arena.
For a time, Spells flew and Sword Qi crisscrossed, dazzling the spectators and making their blood boil.
Just as the Eight Great Families were focused on the ranking battle, an undercurrent was surging in a corner of Ji Yun City.
Ji Wuheng, an Elder of the Ji Family, was lured out of the Family by information about a discovery of a great treasure.
His figure rapidly traversed the city streets, as if an important person was waiting for him.
However, this hurried rendezvous was a carefully designed trap.
When Ji Wuheng arrived at the agreed location, a sinister aura suddenly surged around him, and the Undying Demon Lord emerged from the shadows, a ferocious, cruel smile on his face.
"You, you, you are the Undying Demon Lord!"
Ji Wuheng, a Body Integration Realm demonic Cultivator, recognized the other party's identity at once, saying in fear and despair.
"Ji Wuheng! Hehe, I want to borrow something."
The Undying Demon Lord smiled ferociously, his smile revealing deep malice that sent shivers down one's spine.
"Borrow what?!"
Upon hearing this, Ji Wuheng's face turned ashen, already realizing that he had fallen into a dangerous situation.
However, as an Elder of the Ji Family, he would never give up easily.
Ji Wuheng swiftly mobilized the Spiritual Qi within his body, preparing to cast an escape Spell.
"Borrow your head and identity for a while," the Undying Demon Lord said with a grim expression.
As soon as his voice fell, the Undying Demon Lord gently waved his hand, and a powerful dark energy instantly erupted.
That Devilish Qi rapidly condensed, forming a pitch-black blade that, carrying sharp Killing Intent, fiercely slashed towards Ji Wuheng.
Ji Wuheng released several Magic Treasures from his storage ring, including a round spiritual shield and protective spiritual talismans, doing his utmost to resist.
However, the power released by a Body Integration Cultivator was simply too strong.
The black demonic blade easily cut through his defensive spiritual armor, round spiritual shield, and talisman shield as if cutting tofu, slashing towards his neck.
The Undying Demon Lord's strength, however, far exceeded his imagination.
Although Ji Wuheng fought with all his might, the Rank gap of a major Realm made it difficult for him to sustain, his defenses were repeatedly broken, and his body suffered continuous severe injuries.
Finally, under a heavy blow from the Undying Demon Lord, Ji Wuheng fell heavily to the ground, completely losing the ability to resist.
In less than a hundred breaths, this crushing battle ended with Ji Wuheng's Divine Soul being invaded, his main consciousness demonized, and extinguished.
