I Outworked the Entire Cultivation World
Chapter 565 - 515: Chenzhou
"Young lady, people, you know, their temperament determines how far they can go. It’s like these two words—some see the momentum of ’breaking the cauldron and sinking the boat,’ while others see the ominous fate of ’ship destroyed, people perish.’"
"Everything born under heaven has both Yin and Yang sides, and your destiny lies between these two aspects. Breaking the cauldron and sinking the boat is to break without establishment, establish after breaking, neither live nor die!"
Boom!
The clear sky suddenly roared with thunder, a fierce wind whipped up, causing the flag near the fortune-telling stall labeled ’Iron Mouth Direct Decision’ to flap noisily, yet the paper on the stall remained unmoved by the wind.
Buxu Wanderer stroked his goatee, as the gust gradually calmed.
Jiang Yuebai turned her head to gaze at the sky. Earlier, the Supreme Elder had demonstrated that whenever her destiny was peered into, changes like wind and thunder would ensue.
The Supreme Elder said that in the Upper Realm, even those especially protected by the Mahayana Immortal Monarchs would have their destinies shrouded to prevent others from peering into them.
Whenever these individuals’ destinies were scrutinized, similar phenomena would occur; she wasn’t an exception.
Now, just one clap of thunder and everything was calm again—what did this mean?
Was it really that her connection with Lu Xingyun had been truly severed, or was it because...
Jiang Yuebai turned her head to look at the yawning Buxu Wanderer.
Was it because of him?
Jiang Yuebai mulled over what he had just said, feeling he had spoken much, yet also feeling he hadn’t said anything at all.
"Senior, for a person, life itself means neither living nor dying. If one does not cultivate, living means moving towards death, simply struggling to live longer and better."
Buxu Wanderer’s hand paused in stroking his beard, "This young lady sees through things quite clearly. To mortals, the old man’s words might be nonsense, but you are not a mortal. If you can break the cauldron and sink the boat, and bravely move forward, naturally you can obtain the blessings of heaven and earth and break free from the shackles of life and death."
"Just breaking free from the shackles of life and death?" Jiang Yuebai probed.
Buxu Wanderer had an understanding yet withheld expression, "In all one’s life, many things bind oneself—family, friends, obsessions, perspectives. These are all constraints that hinder those who cultivate like us. Even if you break these shackles, you’d still become a pawn on the Heavenly Dao chessboard."
"But you need not be afraid. The Heavenly Dao changes constantly, the chess game varies greatly, and people’s destinies cannot be concluded by mere birth date elements alone; every calculation differs based on time, location, and people encountered."
"If I calculate now, the result will differ from fifteen minutes ago, and if calculated again after another fifteen minutes, it would again differ from the current one. Like the words ’Chenzhou,’ they depend on the present situation—whether it’s sinking one’s own boat to die or sinking another’s boat to live. Life and death destiny all lie in personal choice."
Buxu Wanderer placed the Golden Paper in front of Jiang Yuebai, who furrowed her brows.
She certainly still disliked discussing things with these fortune tellers, there was nothing straightforward, always making one guess around.
But Buxu Wanderer was correct, her destiny was in her own hands; even if used as a pawn by the Heavenly Dao or someone else, one day she would overturn this chess game!
No one could decide her life or death, not even the Heavenly Dao!
Rumble!
Thunder cracked again, the fierce wind returned.
The paper on the fortune-telling stall fluttered and scattered away, Buxu Wanderer scrambled to collect the scattered sheets using the Object Manipulation Method.
"Young lady, you see the wind has kicked up, and the rain seems imminent. Could the young lady kindly escort this old man a bit? I won’t charge you any money."
Jiang Yuebai’s eyes brightened slightly upon hearing there was no charge, nodded and stood.
Buxu Wanderer tapped twice on the fortune-telling stall’s table, and immediately, everything on the stall automatically gathered, the surface folding inward and, after several transformations, became a bookcase that could be carried by hand.
Jiang Yuebai picked up the bookcase, finding it quite weighty. Once, this weight would’ve meant nothing to her, but since advancing her Cultivation in the Dragon God Transformation, it’s been as if her Essence Qi was drained by a spirit, her strength diminishing.
Once, her arm bore the Black Python Strangling Gu gifted by Yun Shang, but after her body was destroyed under the Purple Sky Divine Thunder, nothing but her spinal bones remained. Though she could reassemble the Nine Great Fire Talismans from the Fire Refining Sky Secret Scripture, she lacked the power to create living things like Gu, neither was her Chaos Body of use.
Clearly Bai Jiuyou also possessed the Cultivation of Dragon God Transformation, yet Bai Jiuyou had the strength to move mountains, quite opposite to her.
But this wasn’t entirely without benefit; her strength waned, yet her body turned into a Heaven-Swallowing Cauldron, capable of absorbing almost anything.
A butterfly might resist her punch, yet she could swallow an entire sea of flowers.
Buxu Wanderer tidied his attire, supporting himself on the ’Iron Mouth Direct Decision’ flagstick, smiling as he asked, "Look now, doesn’t it resemble those mysterious experts in Mortal World tales walking the Jianghu? Doesn’t it have a particular air of mystery?"