387: It's driving me crazy!

"Dammit, I didn't even have time to fully activate my 'Heaven-Expanding True Art' before I was kicked out!"

Yue Hanshan spat fiercely, the muscles on his face twitching.

As he spoke, he moved his somewhat stiff shoulders, a look of lingering disbelief in his eyes.

Hearing this, Evergreen Elder could only stroke his beard with a bitter smile, the spiritual light of the whisk in his hand appearing to have dimmed slightly.

"This old Daoist originally thought that since he had just entered the Dao Realm, he had only taken half a step forward. While his strength would have improved, it should have been limited. But now it seems this old Daoist was looking at the sky from the bottom of a well."

This was no half-step; he had clearly stepped onto an entirely different level.

Although the Five Elements Dao Palace was Yun Chenzi's home field, and he could exert greater power there, this was still a bit too exaggerated. They were not some weak Mortals who couldn't even lift a chicken.

And this was while Yun Chenzi harbored no hostility. If he had truly wanted to strike just now, within this Five Elements Dao Palace, even if the four of them joined forces, they likely wouldn't have fared well and might have even been suppressed one by one.

Su Ruoli gently brushed her sleeves, dispersing the residual dao rhyme on them. A flicker of something unusual passed over her cold face, but she said nothing.

A shadow simultaneously fell over the hearts of all four.

Although they knew Yun Chenzi's strength had increased after his Breakthrough, they had subconsciously still placed themselves on the same level, believing the gap was understandable and within reach of catching up.

But having experienced it personally just now, they realized with a shock that the seemingly small Breakthrough in Realm had brought about a chasm in strength that might already be beyond imagination.

"But what exactly happened to make him suddenly become so irritable?" Pei Lingxu suddenly spoke, his sword-like brows slightly furrowed.

Recalling the piercing killing intent that had instantly erupted from Yun Chenzi just now, he felt many points of confusion.

The conversation was going so well, so why did it suddenly turn like this?

Yue Hanshan scratched his large bald head, indicating he didn't know.

Su Ruoli also shook her head slightly: "Senior Brother Yun's thoughts are deep and difficult to fathom."

Evergreen Elder pondered for a moment, then his eyes flashed as he said, "Could it be the Li Family?"

Yun Chenzi seemed to have had such a reaction precisely upon hearing about the attack on the Li Family.

Could it be that this matter is connected to him?

The few of them discussed in low voices, talking about Yun Chenzi's abnormality just now.

However, their information was incomplete, like looking at a flower through a fog; it was hard to see the whole picture.

Finally, Evergreen Elder let out a long sigh and lightly swayed his whisk.

"Forget it, thinking more is useless. Junior Brother Yun has his own decisions; we should not be meddlesome!"

The others all understood his underlying meaning.

If Yun Chenzi hadn't broken through, they might have tried to pry into his secrets to see if they could gain any benefits, or even interfere and scheme against him.

But now that Yun Chenzi had displayed strength far exceeding their estimations, they shouldn't harbor any petty thoughts.

Since they had decided to ease the relationship, there was no need to cause further complications.

After all, in the face of absolute strength, any scheming appeared pale and laughable.

"Senior Brother Changqing is absolutely right." Pei Lingxu was expressionless, but his voice lowered slightly: "Let's watch and see. The Xuanling Secret Realm is about to open, and variables will arise. Perhaps we also need to make preparations early."

Yue Hanshan gave a heavy huff. Though he didn't speak again, it was clearly a silent agreement.

Su Ruoli gazed deeply at the now calm Five Elements Dao Palace and said softly.

"A storm is coming. Fellow Senior Brothers, take care!"

The four said no more and returned to their respective dojos with complex and indescribable emotions.

Outside the Five Elements Dao Palace, the clouds gathered and dispersed as if nothing had ever happened... "Aaaah, this is too hard!"

Deep within the Immortal Cave, Lu Ming looked at the dense, pale golden light screen before him, which flowed with profound runes and diagrams. He felt the veins in his temples throbbing, his face twisted in pain.

This was precisely the 'simplified' version of the Heavenly Mandate Compilation and Fortune Diagram Record, which the Wonderful Brush Scholar had repeatedly analyzed, reconstructed, and extracted from the Zhuge Family's core Legacy using his own Comprehension Ability.

"I never thought that one day, getting something for nothing would be such an ordeal!"

At this moment, Lu Ming finally deeply understood why so few people in the Cultivation World dared to truly specialize in the Dao of Heavenly Secrets and Karma.

This stuff was like the baldness-inducing advanced mathematics of his previous life.

No, it was even more abstract and more disgusting!

It didn't involve the accumulation of spiritual power or the construction of Divine Abilities, but rather the understanding and calculation of the intangible yet real 'connections,' 'trends,' and 'possibilities' of all things in the world.

Without that innate spiritual wisdom and unique affinity for the Great Dao, no matter how hard you studied, you likely wouldn't even touch the threshold.

If not for the existence of an 'external brain' like the Wonderful Brush Scholar, who chewed up those concepts as obscure as heavenly scriptures and then poured them into him in the most intuitive way.

Lu Ming probably wouldn't even have the qualification to glimpse the edges of this Great Dao.

However, pain was pain, but the harvest was real after all.

After this period of what could be called 'force-fed' comprehension, the mysterious Heavenly Mandate Compilation and Fortune Diagram Record had finally allowed him to officially enter the door.

Lu Ming focused his mind internally, sinking his consciousness into that nascent realization, and the profound scriptures of the Mind-Cultivation Technique naturally flowed through his heart.

【All phenomena are connected; movement and stillness contain opportunity. Fate is like silk, ceaselessly entangled.

See the big in the small, trace causes to seek effects. Tamper with one thread, and the whole situation can be moved.

Heavenly Mandate is not fixed; fortune can be shifted. A single thought of the human heart is also a heavenly secret.

Reflect the Dao with the heart, weave the net with thoughts. Catch shadows and grasp the wind to see the true interpretation.】

In just a few words, a door to a brand-new world seemed to open before his eyes.

"Truly extraordinary and profound!"

Lu Ming let out a long breath, the fatigue in his eyes vanishing, replaced by a shock and excitement of sudden enlightenment.

Previously, his understanding of the Dao of Karma mostly stayed at shallow levels like 'deduction and divination' or 'predicting good and bad luck.'

Now that he had truly entered the Heavenly Mandate Compilation and Fortune Diagram Record, he realized with a shock that this Dao was vast and profound beyond imagination!

Karma was far more than just 'cause' and 'effect'.

It was the invisible warp and woof that constituted the world, one of the underlying logics that drove the operation of all things.

Cultivating this Dao allowed one not only to peer into the past and future but also to interfere with, guide, and even—to a certain extent—tamper with the weaving of these threads in a clever way!

For example, the 【Altering Cause and Changing Effect】 that Zhuge Mingyi had once used was to exchange or distort 'cause' and 'effect' in a short time to achieve the effect of the weak defeating the strong and winning by surprise.

And that was only one of the many profound Divine Abilities recorded in the Heavenly Mandate Compilation and Fortune Diagram Record.

There were others such as 【Karmic Mist】: which could disturb one's own or a target's destiny trajectory, making them difficult to track via divination.

【Karmic Backlash】: guiding an opponent's own evil Karma to erupt prematurely.

【Severing Cause and Effect】: temporarily cutting all connections with a certain event or person, becoming untainted by all Laws.

Every single Divine Ability involved a different understanding and application of the Law of Karma, exquisite, profound, and inconceivable.

For a moment, Lu Ming watched as if entranced, like a child who had just received a new toy, immersed in the excitement of exploring infinite wondrous uses.