Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 4

Volume 6 Chapter 4: Divination of the Path (Part 3)

There are only three chances, each one incredibly precious, and by doing this, Xu Qingfan would undoubtedly waste another one.

However, Xu Qingfan was determined to decide what to do. Mr. Liu’s support, Master Jiuhuan’s mysterious schemes, and Zhang Hualing and Li Yuhan’s plots made Xu Qingfan feel that his future was not in his own hands. Moreover, as he encountered more and more dark things, he inexplicably felt a panic, a fear of straying from the right path and being betrayed by his loved ones.

So, even though there was only one more chance to use this magical item for divination, Xu Qingfan couldn’t help himself.

He wanted to see what his future would be like.

As the black turtle shell began to crackle in the Phoenix Spirit Fire, Xu Qingfan’s mind gradually merged with the divination turtle shell. As the cracks in the shell grew more numerous, the mysterious secrets began to clear up in Xu Qingfan’s mind.

Just like last time, a scene slowly appeared in Xu Qingfan’s mind.

Xu Qingfan was still a bystander, but this time, he did not appear in the scene.

In the scene, a black-robed cultivator was howling at the sky. Above his head, countless "Dark Crows" representing death circled around him. His face was covered in black totems, and he was surrounded by a chilling demonic energy. His eyes glowed with blood-red light, and his imposing presence was greater than anyone Xu Qingfan had ever seen, standing there as if he were at war with the heavens, like a fierce demon come to the world.

In his left hand, he held a black long sword, exuding a terrifying aura of death and malice. In his right hand, he held a curved short staff that was emerald green, with the staff’s top featuring the very green skeleton Xu Qingfan had obtained earlier; around the staff was a suffocating atmosphere of death.

Opposite the black-robed cultivator were numerous other cultivators charging at him, their faces filled with hatred and determination, as if they had a deep-seated vendetta against this cultivator. At the feet of the black-robed cultivator lay countless corpses piled high. He stood on top of the corpses, appearing incredibly tall and dominating the space around him, and in his shadow, under the overwhelming demonic energy, those charging cultivators seemed to be going to their doom willingly.

However, Xu Qingfan carefully observed the characters in the painting, but he could not find his own body anywhere—neither among the cultivators rushing towards the dark-clad villain nor among the corpses at the villain’s feet.

The scene continued to move slowly, as if time had slowed down a thousand times; Xu Qingfan watched the changes in the painting in silence, eagerly waiting for the moment he would appear.

Yet, from beginning to end, his figure never appeared.

"What is happening? Did I die at that time?"

Xu Qingfan suddenly thought of a possibility, and he was filled with shock.

As Xu Qingfan observed, a sharp pain began in his mind; he knew the Phoenix Spirit Fire had started to burn his spirit. Time could not be wasted any longer. Xu Qingfan sighed in regret and was about to exit the painting.

But suddenly, Xu Qingfan seemed to discover something. His mind jolted, and despite the intense pain caused by the spirit fire burning his heart, he focused intently on a particular spot in the painting.

It turned out that with the changes in the painting, the dark-clad villain became clearer and clearer in his eyes. Xu Qingfan was horrified to find that the largest Dark Crow above the villain was indeed his spirit pet, Little Black. Below Little Black, even though the dark-clad villain’s face was covered in dark totems and his eyes glowed with blood, he looked exactly like Xu Qingfan.

"Will I become such a villain in the future?"

It was incredible what Xu Qingfan thought.

※※※※

After becoming a cultivator, one will always encounter various internal demons. In a way, a cultivator’s internal demons are similar to the dreams of ordinary people. Everything in dreams is just subconscious worries or desires, and those dreaming do not always realize this when they wake up.

According to Xu Qingfan’s original idea, he should learn the most orthodox cultivation method and progress step by step like every other righteous cultivator. After becoming a cultivator, he would take sixty years to a hundred years to break into the Condensed Core Stage, then take eight hundred to a thousand years to reach the Mahayana Stage, and then slowly improve until he reached his peak, after which he would live a mundane life and pass away.

Xu Qingfan was indeed someone who craved stability.

However, this was not the case. After entering the cultivation world, Xu Qingfan first practiced the incomplete "Withering and Flourishing" and then unintentionally evolved it into the "Formula of Life and Death," where the "Withered qi" always held the upper hand and carried a hint of malevolence.

During his cultivation, Xu Qingfan used evil methods to transform his body countless times. Although these transformations were not what Xu Qingfan wanted, each of his breakthroughs was closely related to these dark arts. The "Spirit Purging Sutra" brought Xu Qingfan to the Lingji Stage, Zhang Xusheng’s secret technique helped him reach the Condensed Core Stage, the half-evil cultivation method "Formula of Life and Death" allowed him to achieve the Real Golden Core Stage, and Beast Madness Energy brought him to the Golden Core Stage, without exception.

Furthermore, the truly exceptional magical treasures he obtained over the years, whether the "World Defying Sword" or the "Skull," were all items of the dark sect. As for his spirit pet Little Black, that was the legendary incarnation of the Death God on Earth.

Therefore, Xu Qingfan felt inexplicable fear about potentially falling into the dark path in the future because he realized that since becoming a cultivator, he had encountered far too many dark elements, far exceeding what a righteous cultivator should experience.

Moreover, over the years, he has seen too many people fall into the wrong path or about to fall into it, including Ting’er’s father, Nuo, Feng Qingtian, Zhang Hualing, and others.

At the same time, Xu Qingfan discovered that his heart had become colder and more distant over the years; he was more calculating and not as innocent as before, nor was he like the righteous cultivators he had imagined, although in reality this was indeed how righteous cultivators should be.

All of this filled Xu Qingfan with terror.

This fear, Xu Qingfan didn’t even fully understand; it existed in his subconscious. He always felt he was gradually straying from the path he had set for himself, drifting further away, controlled by something called fate, moving in another direction. And Xu Qingfan subconsciously feared this change and the direction he was heading.

So, the fear of falling into darkness was Xu Qingfan’s internal demon; he originally didn’t realize this, but one day this internal demon would burst forth, and then Xu Qingfan would overcome it, allowing his cultivation to reach a new height.

However, the appearance of "Ri" and the infection of "Beast Madness" not only made Xu Qingfan aware of his internal demon but also amplified this fear infinitely.

Zhang Hualing once told Xu Qingfan that in a person’s life, there will always be various worries that never seem to end, and most of these worries will never happen; they are just self-created fears.

In fact, every time Xu Qingfan thought about the possibility of falling into darkness, he always used this saying to comfort himself.

But the images seen during the divination clearly indicated that he would not only fall into darkness in the future but would also become a powerful villain.

Xu Qingfan always thought that even if he fell into darkness, he would only be a lowly servant, easily eliminated by righteous cultivators during their battle against evil. But that scene seemed to suggest that Xu Qingfan would become a great evil in the future, bringing disaster to the world.

However, Xu Qingfan could never imagine how he would become such a great evil. For now, Zhang Xusheng’s secret method had no effect on him, and the "Beast Madness Energy" was already sealed by Xu Qingfan. He couldn’t even begin to imagine having that terrifying dark power and pressure one day.

※※※※

Xu Qingfan didn’t know when this divination ended, only that when he awoke from the shock of that scene, the sky had turned pitch black.

Looking down, he noticed the black turtle shell in his hand, with cracks caused by the Phoenix Spirit Fire slowly healing, and those blurry tiny cracks seemed to form the words "One person attains the Dao, the world is at peace."

"Does this mean I will gain power in the future by sacrificing the world’s benefits? Is this my future?"

Xu Qingfan murmured to himself. Thinking of that scene, he suddenly felt a sense of despair. Since he couldn’t resist curiosity and chose to seek the secrets of the universe, he had to endure the helpless feeling that came after understanding those secrets.

Suddenly, Master Jiuhuan’s words came back to him.

"The number of great changes is fifty, of which forty-nine are fixed, but there is one that is variable. This variable depends on the choices and thoughts of every person on the path. Please remember this."

A moment later, Xu Qingfan’s eyes showed determination as he whispered to himself, "It’s just an image, it doesn’t mean anything. I only need to hold on to my own ‘one.’ The Heavenly Way is forgiving in some ways; it looks like everything is set in stone, but there is still a little room to change within it. My fate depends on my choices and on myself. If I don’t want to become a monster, then I won’t. So why should I worry? Will the Heavenly Way force me to become a monster?"

Thinking of this, Xu Qingfan felt a sense of relief, as if everything had become clear. But he still kept that image hidden deep in his heart, while the shadow of his fear of becoming a monster grew heavier.

"I should just get through the upcoming journey to the Southern Wasteland. There are many, many more things for me to worry about."

Xu Qingfan turned and walked back into his room. As the door closed, darkness filled the room again. He sat cross-legged on the bed and began to meditate, as if the earlier divination had never happened.