10: Chapter 10 The Great Causal Technique

The large red-lacquered gates were open. Outside, a crowd of Cultivators and Mortals gathered to watch, packed so tightly that not even water could trickle through.

Inside the gates, in the spacious courtyard.

Two groups of people were in a standoff.

Gu Han didn't squeeze into the crowd. She leaped up, landing lightly atop a nearby towering ice-sculpted building. From her high vantage point, she took in the entire scene in the courtyard.

In the center of the courtyard.

A young man dressed in luxurious silk stood with his hands behind his back. His chin was slightly raised, carrying a condescending arrogance. Xiao Chen.

Beside him stood a middle-aged man in a black Daoist robe. A sky-blue snowflake was embroidered on the chest of the robe—the emblem of Xuanming Hall.

Opposite them.

Several Su Family Elders had ashen faces, their bodies trembling slightly.

At the very front stood a young girl.

She wore a faded green dress. Her figure was frail, appearing as if she might be crushed by the wind and snow at any moment.

She didn't cry or make a scene. Her back was held perfectly straight.

"Xiao Chen," the girl spoke. Her voice was clear, without a hint of trembling.

"I agree to annul this engagement."

Inside and outside the courtyard, everything instantly fell silent.

Everyone had expected Su Qianxue to cling desperately or break down in tears. After all, without the City Lord's Manor as a backer, the Su Family's status in Xueluo City would plummet.

Xiao Chen was also stunned. The long speech he had prepared got stuck in his throat.

"However," Su Qianxue took a step forward.

She drew a longsword from the waist of a nearby Su Family Elder.

The blade sliced her palm. Blood dripped onto the snow, a startling sight.

"It's not you annulling me; it's me divorcing you."

Su Qianxue threw the blood-stained sword at Xiao Chen's feet.

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west. Do not look down on a young girl for being poor!"

Her crisp voice echoed over the courtyard.

The entire place was deathly silent.

Gu Han stood atop the ice sculpture, while her true body, Gu Sheng, almost slapped his thigh in the hall.

This vibe was just right.

Even the lines were exactly the same.

This was definitely a Daughter of Destiny.

[Ding.]

The System's notification sounded in Gu Sheng's mind right on time.

[High-concentration fluctuations of Destiny Luck detected.]

[Side Quest Triggered: Invest in the Daughter of Destiny.]

[Quest Requirement: Provide shocking assistance to Su Qianxue at her most desperate moment and take her under your command.]

[Quest Reward: 1,000 Destiny Points, one random Profound Rank Cultivation Technique.]

One thousand Destiny Points. That's enough for a single draw.

Gu Sheng immediately issued a command.

"Prepare to enter."

Inside the courtyard.

Xiao Chen's face turned beet red. Being publicly divorced by a useless person felt worse than death.

"Su Qianxue, you're looking for death!"

Xiao Chen suddenly drew the sword at his waist, his eighth-level Qi Refining spiritual power erupting without reservation. The blade pointed straight at Su Qianxue's throat.

The Su Family members cried out in alarm. Su Qianxue was currently a Mortal; she definitely couldn't dodge this strike.

Su Qianxue stood her ground, not flinching.

Just as the blade was less than an inch from her throat.

*Crack.*

An extremely faint sound of freezing rang out.

Xiao Chen's sword stopped mid-air.

A layer of crystalline frost spread from the tip of the sword to the hilt at a speed visible to the naked eye, freezing Xiao Chen's entire arm.

An aura of extreme cold descended from the sky, enveloping the entire Su Family courtyard.

Everyone looked up at the same time.

The Su Family courtyard.

The wind and snow seemed to freeze in this moment.

Xiao Chen remained in his sword-swinging posture, his entire right arm covered in a layer of dark blue profound ice. The cold seeped into his Meridians, making his teeth chatter in pain.

"Who is it?"

Xiao Chen shouted in terror, his voice sounding exceptionally shrill in the empty courtyard.

The City Lord's Manor guards drew their blades, only to find their legs rooted to the frozen earth, unable to move even an inch.

Su Qianxue stood where she was, her green skirt fluttering in the cold wind. She looked up at the towering ice sculpture.

A figure in pure white drifted down from the roof.

Without the help of a Magical Artifact or spiritual wings.

Gu Han's toes lightly touched the snowflakes, like a falling leaf returning to its roots, as she landed silently in front of Su Qianxue.

"Foundation Establishment Stage? No, Qi Refining Perfection?"

The middle-aged man in black beside Xiao Chen's face changed drastically. He was a deacon of the Ice Spirit Sect, with a cultivation of the second level of Foundation Establishment, yet the moment this woman arrived, he felt the spiritual power in his body slow down.

That was the absolute suppression of a superior Physique over a lower-Rank Cultivation Technique.

"Who might Your Excellency be?" The black-robed deacon took a step forward, suppressing the trepidation in his heart, and cupped his hands. "I am Zhou Tong, an outer sect deacon of the Ice Spirit Sect. The City Lord's Manor and the Su Family are handling private matters today. I ask that Your Excellency does not invite trouble."

Gu Han ignored him.

She turned around, her gaze landing on Su Qianxue.

Observing from up close, although Su Qianxue's face was pale, her eyes were startlingly bright. It was a resilience forged by falling to the bottom after experiencing the Peak.

Gu Sheng, in the Tianxuan Peak Hall, watched this scene through the System's light screen and couldn't help but think: "That look, those lines, that aura—she's a perfect template for a future Empress. System, are you sure she's just a useless person right now?"

[Target character Su Qianxue detected. Luck Rank: Extremely High. Current Status: Eve of Awakening. It is recommended that the host completes the investment as soon as possible.]

Gu Han spoke, her voice as cold as the wind on an ice plain: "Do you want to become strong?"

Su Qianxue was stunned.

She had considered countless possibilities—perhaps an enemy of the Su Family kicking them while they were down, or some passing Senior watching the show.

She had never expected someone to ask her if she wanted to become strong at a time like this.

"Senior..." Su Qianxue gave a self-deprecating smile. "My Meridians are destroyed and my Dantian is withered. I am already a useless person."

"If I say you can, you can."

Gu Han raised her hand, a slender finger tapping Su Qianxue's forehead.

A strand of extremely pure Taiyin Spiritual Power surged in through her fingertip.

Su Qianxue's body jolted.

Her previously dead Meridians actually let out a crisp hum when they came into contact with this spiritual power.

At that moment, a simple black ring Su Qianxue wore on her chest flashed with a faint, obscure light.

"Eh?"

Gu Sheng let out a soft sound of surprise from his main body's side.

Just now, he felt the spiritual power his Clone was transmitting get "bitten" by something.

"A ring grandpa?" A playful curve appeared on Gu Sheng's lips. "As expected, you'd be embarrassed to call yourself a Child of Destiny without a resident old man."

"Presumptuous!"

Zhou Tong, who had been ignored, finally couldn't take it anymore.

As a deacon of the Ice Spirit Sect, he had always walked tall in Xueluo City. Although the woman before him had a strange aura, her revealed cultivation was only at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

He was in the Foundation Establishment Stage!

"No matter who you are, if you dare interfere in the affairs of my Ice Spirit Sect, you must pay the price!"

Zhou Tong barked, his hands forming seals.

In the void, countless snowflakes gathered into a ten-foot-long ice spear, which shot toward Gu Han's back with a piercing whistle.

"Fairy, watch out!" several Su Family Elders cried out.

Gu Han didn't even turn her head.

She simply tapped her foot lightly.

*Crack!*

With her as the center, the ground within a ten-zhang radius instantly shattered, and countless profound ice spikes erupted from the earth.

When that ice spear came within three feet of Gu Han, it actually disintegrated on its own, turning back into a flurry of snow.

"This is impossible!" Zhou Tong's eyes nearly popped out.

His technique's control had actually been stripped away by the opponent?

"Noisy."

Gu Han turned around, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.

She made a grasping motion toward the void.

Cold Moon True Interpretation, First Form: Spirit Sealing.

Zhou Tong felt the surrounding air instantly solidify. The previously docile ice-attribute Spiritual Qi became incredibly violent, binding him tightly like chains.

The Foundation Establishment spiritual power within him was actually frozen solid inside his Dantian!

"Bang!"

Zhou Tong flew out like a broken sack, crashing heavily into the Su Family's large screen wall. He spat out a large mouthful of blood, which froze into ice shards before it even hit the ground.

Deathly silence filled the area.

Xiao Chen was so terrified that his sword fell to the ground, his legs shaking.

A Foundation Establishment deacon was actually insta-killed by a Qi Refining woman with a casual move?

This defied everyone's common sense.

"You... who exactly are you?" Xiao Chen asked with a trembling voice.

Gu Han ignored these ants and looked back at Su Qianxue.

"Take this Jade Slip."

Gu Han pulled a white Jade Slip emitting a faint cold air from her robes. It was the simplified version of the Cold Moon True Interpretation that Gu Sheng had just exchanged from the System mall.

"I will return in three days."

"If you can sense the Qi within three days, I will take you as my disciple."

Su Qianxue reflexively took the Jade Slip, the coolness from her fingertips clearing her mind.

She looked at the mysterious woman in the white dress. An unprecedented intuition told her that this was her only chance in this life to turn things around.

"Thank you, Senior!" Su Qianxue bowed deeply.

Gu Han nodded slightly, then her figure blurred, turning into an afterimage that vanished into the swirling snow.

"System, teleport back."

Gu Sheng issued the command.

[Teleportation array activated. 10,000 exchange points deducted.]

Tianxuan Peak Hall.

With a flash of white light, the Clone Gu Han reappeared in the center of the hall.

Gu Sheng cut the Divine Soul link and let out a long sigh.

"This kind of dual-line operation is quite tiring."

He rubbed his temples, looking at the notification popping up on the System panel.

[Side Quest: Invest in the Daughter of Destiny (Phase One) completed.]

[Reward: 500 Destiny Points.]

[Current Destiny Point Balance: 1,000 points.]

"Finally, I can draw cards."

Gu Sheng stared at the Destiny card pool and rubbed his hands together.

"System, don't give me any of that fluff. Give me a Destiny ten-pull!"

[Host, this System reminds you again that a single draw in the Destiny card pool costs one thousand, there is no discount for a ten-pull, and the probability is extremely low. It is suggested the host washes their hands first.]

"Cut the crap, I'm going all in!"

With a thought from Gu Sheng, the one thousand Destiny Points were instantly cleared.

The light screen vibrated.

A blinding purple-gold light exploded within the hall.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, Host! You've hit the jackpot!]

[Obtained Heaven Rank Passive Skill: Great Karma Technique (Incomplete Manual).]

[Obtained Special Building: Enlightenment Tea Tree (Sapling).]

[Obtained Profound Rank Magic Treasure: Thunderclap Wood.]

[Obtained...]

Gu Sheng's breathing grew rapid.

A Heaven Rank skill!

Even if it was an Incomplete Manual, it was still Heaven Rank!

He quickly clicked on the description for the Great Karma Technique.

[Great Karma Technique (Incomplete Manual): Passive skill. The host can perceive Karma lines related to themselves. Note: When someone mentions the host's name or harbors hostility, the host will gain a sense of it. The higher the level, the clearer the perception.]

"Is this the legendary 'whim of the heart'?"

Gu Sheng stroked his chin.

This skill is practically a god-tier skill for those following the path of caution.

As long as someone wants to harm him, he'll know in advance.

Just as he was thinking, a thin red line suddenly flashed through Gu Sheng's mind.

One end of the red line was connected to him, while the other pointed toward the Piaomiao Holy Land.

"Someone is plotting against me?"

Gu Sheng's eyes turned cold.

Meanwhile.

Piaomiao Holy Land, Main Peak.

Mo Cangtian sat in a secret chamber, an ancient bronze mirror floating before him.

The image shown in the mirror was exactly Tianxuan Peak.

However, the surface of the mirror was blurry; one could only vaguely see that Tianxuan Peak was shrouded in a thick layer of purple mist.

"Holy Lord."

A white-haired old man stood behind Mo Cangtian and said in a low voice, "I have performed deductions for seven days and nights, yet Gu Sheng's fate remains a complete void."

"A void?" Mo Cangtian frowned.

"There are only two possibilities," the old man said gravely. "Either he is a Mortal with no cultivation, whose fate is too weak to capture... or there is a terrifying existence standing behind him, capable of obscuring the secrets of heaven."

Mo Cangtian recalled the Void Refinement Stage phantom he had seen that day and let out a cold snort.

"A Mortal? Have you ever seen a Mortal who could have a Void Refinement Stage expert as a Dao Protector?"

"Then the Holy Lord means..."