The quiet echo of footsteps resounded through the grand, obsidian-veined halls of Li Xuan's estate as he walked with a cold, unwavering expression. Each step he took was filled with purpose, each breath a reminder of the distance he had covered—and the distance yet to go. The Lower Realms, once a world he merely navigated, were now his dominion, woven into the vast web of his karmic control.
His thoughts were razor-sharp, honed through endless cycles of cultivation, strategy, and ruthless decisions. The auction house he had constructed—its pillars soaked in fortune, betrayal, and power—now stood as the center of realm-wide politics. To the outside world, it was a place of trade. To Li Xuan, it was a battlefield of unseen wars, where destinies were bought, stolen, or sold under his watchful gaze.
Today's auction, however, was unlike any other.
It was not wealth or influence being traded.
It was karma itself.
The first lot shimmered beneath the radiant formations that lit the auction hall—a golden relic pulsing with ancient energy, sealed within three layers of karmic runes. The gathered crowd—comprised of nobles, sect masters, beast overlords, and hidden powers—held their breath. Even the air grew dense with spiritual pressure.
Li Xuan stood behind the curtains above the stage, his presence masked but absolute. He was the god of this theater, the scriptwriter of this chaos.
With a silent command, the auctioneer—a puppet tied to one of his seven elite generals—began the event. His voice rang out like a divine bell: "Opening bid—one Hundred Thousand Upper-Grade Spirit Stones!"
The hall burst into energy. Bids rose like waves crashing in a storm. Yet Li Xuan's gaze wasn't on the treasure.
It was on them.
Dozens of powerful factions, each harboring ambitions, secrets, and grudges. Through his karmic vision, each was a tapestry of golden and black threads—some glowing with recent fortune, others tainted with betrayal. He wasn't here to make a sale.
He was here to see which threads snapped first.
"Four Hundred Thousand!"
"Five Hundred!"
"Seven!"
The crowd roared, but Li Xuan's mind was elsewhere, silently channeling the Voidheart Enlightenment Sutra.
Invisible strands of karma uncoiled from him like mist. They slithered across the auction hall, unseen, unnoticed, wrapping around bidders, inspecting their fate lines. He saw their darkest regrets, their deepest ambitions, the sins they tried to bury. He could taste their fear.
Pain spiked into his soul like black lightning. The Sutra demanded sacrifice. His consciousness trembled—his soul screaming as knowledge clawed at the walls of his sanity. Images poured into him: the moment a sect leader murdered his blood brother, the instant a young heir poisoned his master, the second a righteous elder sold a child for a spirit fruit.
Li Xuan didn't flinch.
He devoured the karma.
One by one, the fates of those below him were copied, twisted, severed.
By the time the golden relic sold for an astonishing 1.3 million spirit stones, Li Xuan had already enslaved the fates of over thirty cultivators—each unaware they were now entangled in a web they could never escape.
His seven generals stood by the stage, each with their own tasks. General Xu monitored the bidders, gauging emotional resonance. General He oversaw the transmission formations. General Lin—silent as ever—watched for traitors. Though absolutely loyal for now, even they were merely tools to Li Xuan.
His gaze landed on General Lin for a moment.
Even you… will one day be discarded.
The next item was brought out—a soul orb said to contain the memory fragments of an Ancient Realm Saint. Gasps rippled through the hall. This was the highlight. Li Xuan's trap had been set.
He focused inward again.
The Voidheart Enlightenment Sutra surged. Blood trickled from his nose. Veins in his temple throbbed. But he pressed on, tearing deeper into the karmic plane. He saw future ripples—wars, betrayals, sects falling, alliances breaking. Each decision made in this auction would spark dozens of karmic explosions across the Lower Realms.
And all of it would feed him.
The soul orb began a bidding frenzy. But suddenly, Li Xuan intervened.
He sent a silent command.
General Xu raised his token and bid ten million spirit stones.
The crowd fell into stunned silence. No one could match it.
The auctioneer stammered, then shouted: "Sold!"
Chaos erupted. Furious cultivators questioned the fairness. Hidden powers rumbled with killing intent. But the auction rules were clear—and enforced by the very realm law itself.
And so, with one bid, Li Xuan shattered expectations and seeded dozens of grudges—all of them aimed at each other.
Later, those factions would fight, bleed, and die.
He would watch. And when their karma bloomed at its peak…
He would harvest it.
The auction ended in a tense silence. The crowd dispersed. Outside, alliances began forming, revenge was sworn, assassins hired. But inside the grand hall, Li Xuan sat alone, cultivating. Each new war he incited deepened his understanding of karma. Each death, each betrayal, was a sacrifice to his path.
When he opened his eyes again, something had changed.
His karmic threads now shimmered with a faint violet hue. A new realm of understanding had opened—barely—but it was there.
The cost? His mind burned like it had been branded. His soul trembled. Even now, the pain threatened to drive him mad.
But Li Xuan smiled.
Because he knew the truth:
Only those who suffer beneath the weight of the world… can one day hold it in their hands.