Chapter 346: The Eighth Scripture Scroll, Destiny Fools Men!

The Heavenly Craft Cave Abode, the former ruins of the Great Rebellion, was now abruptly filled with boundless celestial light. All kinds of spiritual materials were scattered across heaven and earth.

Among them were Magical Treasures, scripture scrolls, and Spiritual Treasures.

Most had nothing to do with Wang Ping. After all, he couldn't take these things out. Yet within this cave abode, they could unleash infinite might.

Right then, Baohu moved.

Her Grand Vow Golden Body had not been trapped within the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode, and the only Spiritual Treasure she had brought in was the Seven Hearts Linked Gourd, leaving her no room to resist.

The karmic deed forced upon her by 'the gentleman should hide his implements at the right time' compelled her to burn through her entire body's magical power and circulate her Divine Powers. She threw herself with all her might toward the dazzling array of spiritual materials in the Heavenly Craft Cave Abode, while the young Daoist on the profound seat simply watched with cold detachment.

"Boom!"

Within the heavenly abode, several Earth Yang Fire Spiritual Treasures awakened of their own accord. They blasted Baohu away, and her graceful body instantly flared with scorching, golden flames.

Yet, she still couldn't resist.

A second later, she launched another attack, crashing headlong into the cave abode once again. This time, half her body was reduced to pitch-black charred coal.

'He wants to kill me...'

At this moment, Baohu completely understood Wang Ping's intentions. He had no tender feelings for her, nor any desire to capture her alive and refine her into a protector wisdom consort.

There was only pure killing intent.

For an instant, Baohu's consciousness blurred. In a daze, past events and memories of her cultivation journey involuntarily surfaced in her mind.

It was a reflection on a past so distant that even she found it unfamiliar—her Daoist name, Baohu, had not been chosen at random, but derived from her origins. She was a gourd born with spiritual intelligence within the Zen forest of the Willow Leaf Palace, a pure land under the Master of Secret Traces, after hearing a Bodhisattva preach the dharma.

Because of her karmic connection to Brahma, she was able to reincarnate as a human.

The Seven Hearts Linked Gourd was the companion Spiritual Treasure born alongside her. After that, she was taken in as a disciple by an Ascetic Monk who also served under a Bodhisattva.

From her very first day of cultivation, she knew.

'I am different.'

Her master had once explained to her:

"The various cultivators of the Brahma Nation are divided into three categories: those under a Wisdom King, those under an Arhat, and those under a Bodhisattva. Each type of cultivator has their own tasks and duties."

"Those under a Wisdom King are the gears within this blissful pure land of the Brahma Nation; most are insignificant, yet indispensable. Those under an Arhat are more important components, bearing more of the domain's imagery. However, only those under a Bodhisattva are the true leaders of the Brahma Nation."

The disciples under the Four Great Wisdom Kings often suffered from internal strife.

The disciples under the various Arhats of the heavens also engaged in fierce competition.

Only among the disciples under the Eight Bodhisattvas was there absolutely no competition. Each of them shouldered an important heavenly duty bestowed by a Bodhisattva.

And the heavenly duty of Baohu's lineage was to 'Restore the Marks'.

In the past, the Great Rebellion destroyed the thirty-two marks, causing a massive shift in the Brahma Nation's cultivation system. 'Restoring the Various Marks' had always been the absolute priority of the Brahma Nation for many years.

'I was born for this.'

Because of the weight of her responsibilities, Baohu didn't dare slack off for even half a day. After enduring countless trials and perils, she finally succeeded in cultivating the Deep Blue Eyes Phase.

Yet, she was always one step short.

Without that final karmic deed, the Deep Blue Eyes Phase could not reach perfection... That was why she had actively volunteered after learning about the incident at the Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle.

Originally, as a disciple under a Bodhisattva, her status was so exalted that she had no need to participate in something like the Immortal-Brahma Sword Battle. However, that day, when Great Monk Bukong was in the pure land searching for someone to secure a decisive victory in the sword battle, she understood the cause and effect and actively proposed to her master that she host the battle.

'To think that I would face a day like this...'

Baohu sighed inwardly.

Not only had she failed to perfect the Deep Blue Eyes Phase, but she was going to die here, sending thousands of years of her master's nurturing, vast resources, and blood, sweat, and tears down the drain.

"Boom!"

A deafening Daoist chime shattered the life-flashing memories in Baohu's mind. The Daoist on the profound seat had moved, his abundant magical power flowing everywhere within the heavenly abode.

Wherever the power passed, the several Earth Yang Fire Spiritual Treasures within the heavenly abode fully awakened, seemingly enraged by her repeated provocations. In a flash, a blinding light as bright as the sun erupted from the deepest depths of the cave abode, swallowing her body in an instant like a bursting dam.

How could she block it? What could she block it with?

"Excellent, excellent..."

Faced with the boundless light about to fill her vision, Baohu showed not a hint of panic. Even though half her body had turned to charred coal, she still stood perfectly straight.

Then, she closed her eyes.

Her infinite vitality was snuffed out just like a dying candle. Her once-beautiful body, now barely resembling a human shape, crumpled to the ground.

In an instant, golden lotuses bloomed across the ground, and a sparse drizzle fell from the sky. This was Baohu's magical power dissipating, her Divine Powers unraveling, and her sea of consciousness collapsing inch by inch. Wang Ping stood on the profound seat, reaching out to catch the rain, and realized that the phenomena resulting from her fall actually shared a subtle resonance with the qi of heaven and earth.

'It feels a bit like water qi... yet not quite.'

At first glance, the Brahma Nation's cultivation seemed completely unrelated to the qi of heaven and earth. In reality, however, the Brahma Nation's understanding of the qi of heaven and earth was no less than that of the Immortal Gate.

There was no smoke without fire; there had to be a reason.

'Unlike those under a Wisdom King or an Arhat, the Brahma Cultivators under a Bodhisattva seem no different from immortal cultivators; they all cultivate their own true nature...'

After all, only when cultivators who cultivated their own true nature died and their Daoist magic dissipated could they trigger phenomena of heaven and earth. The Brahma Cultivators he had killed before, such as Kongzhi and Jin Hai, derived their cultivation entirely from their superiors. Upon their deaths, all their mighty power was reaped back, and they never triggered any heavenly phenomena.

'However...'

Thinking of this, Wang Ping's expression remained calm. He stepped down from the heavenly abode's profound seat, his gaze landing on Baohu's completely carbonized corpse.

Soon after, a flicker of peculiarity appeared in his eyes.

Baohu was already dead, heavenly phenomena had appeared, and not a sliver of vitality could be sensed. Yet he showed no intention of lifting the karmic deed from her body.

He just waited patiently.

The time it takes to drink a cup of tea, burn a stick of incense, a quarter of an hour... until finally, a full half a shichen passed before a hazy golden light floated up once more from Baohu's body.

Within the golden light, a woman sat cross-legged with her hands clasped together.

It was Baohu!

Her face held little fear of imminent death, but was instead filled with pity and regret. Only at the very end did she let out a sorrowful sigh before lifting her head to look at Wang Ping.

Up until the last moment, she hadn't given up hope of survival.

Knowing she had no way out, she had immediately switched tactics. She abandoned her magical power, her Divine Powers, and her soul and sea of consciousness, preserving only a speck of her true spirit.

Then, using a feigned death technique and the profound mysteries of the Master of Secret Traces, she hid that true spirit within her corpse. Because it was incredibly weak and at death's door, it could briefly resist the karmic deed afflicting her to some extent. She had intended to pull the wool over his eyes, making Wang Ping lift the karmic deed of his own accord.

As long as Wang Ping lifted the karmic deed.

She could send this speck of true spirit back to the Great Brahma Heaven pure land. There might be a chance for a comeback in the future, or at the very least, a karmic opportunity for reincarnation.

However, Wang Ping hadn't lifted it.

This final shred of hope for survival was ultimately snuffed out—at this thought, Baohu suddenly felt no disappointment, but rather a hint of curiosity:

"Benefactor, how did you find out?"

Wang Ping: "........"

Wasn't it simple? The Taiping Sutra couldn't process your corpse. If you hadn't left behind a thread of life, could my cheat have made a mistake?

"Just being cautious," Wang Ping said lightly.

"Is that so."

Baohu lowered her eyelids and shook her head with a soft chuckle. But before Wang Ping could even finish speaking from the profound seat, a palm had already pressed against the space between her eyebrows.

In a flash, an immense wave of magical power mysteries and the might of his destiny form poured out, like a gale blowing past the faint phantom of her true spirit, dragging her consciousness into an abyssal darkness... Yet even so, a hint of a smile couldn't help but bloom in Baohu's heart.

Because Wang Ping's attitude toward her had remained consistent from beginning to end.

He didn't treat her like a turtle trapped in a jar, nor did he try to refine her into a protector wisdom consort. He had absolutely no intention of negotiating with her or subduing her.

'He truly views me as an enemy of the Dao...'

It was precisely this acknowledgment and this caution that utterly extinguished her chance at life, yet left her unable to feel resentment. She felt only the helplessness and acceptance of being bested in skill.

After all, she hadn't been careless or underestimated her enemy. She had exhausted every trick and used every method she could think of, but in the end, she had still fallen one move short.

Destiny fools men; it truly makes fools of men.

In the darkness, Baohu processed her final thoughts: 'Master, I have disappointed you by failing to complete the karmic deed of restoring the Deep Blue Eyes Phase.'

'However, Master... I have fought a very formidable fellow Daoist.'

At this thought, Baohu suddenly raised her head, locking her eyes on Wang Ping, the cultivator deeply ensnared within a True Person's trap, facing a future of near-certain death.

The sea of suffering was boundless, and everyone was struggling to cross it.

Only in this moment did she cast aside the stance of the Brahma Nation and their hostile relationship. Speaking softly from the perspective of a lower-level cultivator just like him, she said:

"Don't die."

With those words, her Dao crumbled and she perished.

Wang Ping lowered his eyelids. The Taiping Sutra finally roared into motion, absorbing Baohu's completely lifeless corpse and transforming it into a brand-new scripture scroll.

As for the materials for blank scripture scrolls, with the massive Heavenly Craft Cave Abode at his disposal, Wang Ping didn't need to worry at all.

In the next second, his consciousness entered the space of the Taiping Sutra. He watched as completely new writing abruptly surfaced on the towering tome in that world of darkness.

[Scroll Eight: Destiny Fools Men]

[Exchange one instance of thwarted desires for one fulfilled wish. The harder something is to obtain, the more certainly the wish will come true. The Mandate of Heaven is unpredictable; destiny fooling men is exactly thus.]

As the name suggested, the effect of this scripture scroll was to make a wish. One would make a wish and strive for it; if it ultimately failed and went against one's desires, one would constantly accumulate 'destiny' during the process. Once enough 'destiny' was gathered, one could use a 'wish fulfilled' in the future.

The exchange between the two was equivalent.

The more urgent the wish and the more difficult the process, naturally, the more 'destiny' would be gained after failing and having things go contrary to one's wishes.

And the more 'destiny' one accumulated, the greater the event one could directly wish for when using 'wish fulfilled'. The effort and the reward were exactly equal.