Chapter 129: Destined Through Three Lifetimes

Xie Fangyun mused to herself, finding it amusing; curiosity was truly a strange thing. She found herself coveting the very things possessed by Guo Xiaojing, and with that thought, she stepped into the void and departed.

By now, Ge Qian had ceased using the Whirlwind Great Displacement technique, opting instead for standard flight, standing upon his flying sword while lost in deep contemplation.

He had entered the Dao through the study of karma, seeking the ultimate truths of the Great Way, yet he remained trapped by the entanglements of romantic fate. Who was that beautiful woman? Were they truly husband and wife in a past life? In the cycle of the Six Realms, the truth was unpredictable; if he could only comprehend the entirety of his past existence, the power of the King of the Six Realms would increase manifold.

As he pondered, he found it impossible to calm his restless mind—how could he ever hope to pierce through the fog?

Traveling in this manner was no solution. The image of the woman and the heat of that intimate encounter left him with a lingering, intoxicating sensation that refused to fade.

Finding a secluded mountain, Ge Qian excavated a temporary cave dwelling and set up protective formations. Behind him, a flash of golden light revealed a massive phantom: ten feet tall, with three heads and six arms, as imposing as a mountain. Its body was covered in scales the size of fists, wreathed in flowing runes and dancing with countless flickers of lightning.

Of the three heads, the central one was identical to Ge Qian’s, while the two flanking it remained mere outlines, lacking facial features. Behind the figure, wings shimmered with six-colored thunderous light.

This was the King of the Six Realms. With a flick of his mind, Ge Qian commanded the entity to guard the cave entrance.

Having made his preparations, Ge Qian sat cross-legged and brought out his Confucian classics, hoping to find answers within. He had benefited immensely from his dual cultivation with the mysterious woman; not only was his sword qi now at its peak, awaiting only the perfection of the other twelve strands to condense his Golden Core, but to his surprise, the pure energy he had absorbed from her during the process had pushed him to the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

Both his spiritual sense and magical power had more than doubled. He hoped that three days of study would provide him with the insights needed to resolve these matters and prevent the formation of a heart demon.

He trusted that Qian Huixian had her own motives for approaching him, and she was unlikely to harm Bai Ruyu and the others in the short term.

With his mind settled, he cast his spiritual sense into the Confucian texts, eventually uncovering a specific technique.

It told the story of Li Shiyin, the daughter of a wealthy household, and her passionate, earth-shaking romance with a servant named Yang Yuanqing. Because the disparity in their social standing was too great, Li’s father and their clan obstructed them at every turn. Heartbroken and unable to abandon their true love, the two cast themselves into a river to die together, vowing to be husband and wife in the next life.

This profound sincerity moved the laws of heaven and earth, transforming their souls into a pair of dancing colorful butterflies, inseparable and forever joined in flight.

Later, a Confucian sage passing through the mortal realm took pity on them and guided them. From then on, the two butterflies consumed the essence of the sun and moon and refined the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. After ten thousand years of arduous cultivation, they finally attained the Dao, achieved immortality, and took on human form, roaming the world as a pair of celestial lovers, forever devoted until the end of time.

One life as humans, fate sealed; two lives as butterflies, never parting; three lives as immortals, fruition finally achieved—a perfect tale of "Fate Sealed Across Three Lives."

Ge Qian opened his eyes abruptly. He felt a glimmer of understanding; though still slightly hazy, he had found a thread to follow, and he had learned the divine ability: "Fate Sealed Across Three Lives."

So long as he locked onto his target, he could find them even if they fled into the past or the future. Furthermore, no matter the distance, he could strike them through their aura, killing them from thousands of miles away.

Ge Qian formed a seal, cast a sound-transmission talisman, and, sensing the aura of Qian Huixian, invoked the "Fate Sealed Across Three Lives" technique to launch the talisman directly toward her.

Qian Huixian had settled the three awakened captives in a room, trapping them with a formation. She had only told them the basics: if Ge Qian did not return within three months, it meant he had perished in the Red Fiend Desert, and they would be required to pay the three high-grade spirit stones themselves. She had then returned to her own room to meditate, waiting for the situation to quiet down before going to the Red Fiend Desert to investigate what had transpired.

Today was the seventh day. With no sign of Ge Qian coming to claim his companions, she felt a sense of unease. Suddenly, a sound-transmission talisman appeared before her in a spectral manner, startling her so much that her expression shifted.

Fortunately, it was only a talisman. Had it been a spiritual weapon, she would surely have met a miserable end while caught off guard.

Qian Huixian let out a long breath and scanned the talisman with her spiritual sense. It was Ge Qian’s voice: "Many thanks, Fellow Daoist Qian, for your immense help. My friends have escaped safely. Due to severe injuries sustained that day, I am currently recovering in a secluded location. I estimate it will not be long before I arrive at Sanlong City to meet you."

Qian Huixian beamed with joy, thinking, "It seems my spirit stones haven't gone to waste! That kid must have left the Red Fiend Desert long ago, or he wouldn't be alive to send this. Regardless, my efforts have finally paid off. But how did he deliver a talisman into my room like that? What secret technique did he use?"

Sensing the shift in the talisman, Ge Qian knew Qian Huixian had received his message, thereby securing the lives of Bai Ruyu, Yingxue, and Ye Feng.

Ge Qian brushed the dust from his robes, retracted the King of the Six Realms into his body, recalled his formation flags, and departed on his sword.

He had not traveled far when he sensed the intense fluctuations of magical power from a battle ahead.

Scanning with his spiritual sense, Ge Qian discovered four mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Heavenly Confucian Sect surrounding a young novice monk.

The novice was clearly already injured, gasping for breath and in a sorry state. "We agreed to subdue the demon together," the monk said. "I suffered grave wounds to drive the demon away—why are you turning against me now?"

The leader of the Heavenly Confucian Sect, a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator standing over a meter tall with a golden jade flute floating above his head, sneered coldly: "It’s true that you wounded the demon, but you let it escape! Who is to pay for the spiritual weapons we lost? Be sensible and hand over the treasures you carry for us to divide, or I’m afraid you won't be leaving here today."

"That’s right, you stinking monk! You must compensate us for our losses!" added a short cultivator with a vicious expression.

"You leave me no choice," the novice said. "As a man of the cloth, I should not commit slaughter, but since you are so obsessed and unwilling to turn back, we shall perish together!" Saying this, the novice produced a golden Buddhist bead that shimmered with holy light.

He cast a spell and hurled it at the leader of the Heavenly Confucian Sect.

The four men scrambled to dodge, while the novice mounted his sword and fled in haste.

After the light of the Buddhist bead faded, nothing happened; it simply fell to the ground and shattered into several pieces.

The leader roared, "Bastard! How dare you trick me! When I catch you, I’ll skin you alive! He’s wounded and won't get far—chase him!"

The others followed suit, pursuing him on their swords.

The novice’s wounds were bleeding continuously, the blood as black as ink. *Is he poisoned?* Ge Qian wondered. Scanning with his spiritual sense, he felt a jolt. There was something strange about this monk; the aura within his body was faint and flickering, bearing a striking resemblance to the deepest, most ancient essence hidden within the Confucian classics.

*Better to save him and uncover the truth,* he thought. *If I can unravel the mystery hidden deep within those classics, it will surely be of immense benefit to me.*

With that, Ge Qian spurred his flying sword and sped toward them.