Looking at the long string of text appearing in his mind, Li Hanfeng was momentarily speechless.
Great Karma—the highest level of karmic entanglement.
And this Great Karma could reproduce!
In just a few breaths, it had spawned over a hundred types of karma, ranging from Great Karma to Weak Karma.
This was the first time he had witnessed such a peculiar transformation.
Looking again at what these karma names represented:
Powerful offspring, pursuit, sect destruction...
'So this is what's waiting for me here!'
He had already mentally constructed a protagonist's growth story!
This Great Karma was the Chosen One route, commonly known as the "protagonist."
Whether to accept the karma, Li Hanfeng only considered for an instant.
If it were other matters he might consider, but for this matter, he didn't need to think.
He silently celebrated his caution in always reserving one chance to sever karma each day, precisely for situations like this.
"Sorry Mingyue, I'm close to a breakthrough and need to seclude myself for a few days. I'm afraid I don't have time to accompany you down the mountain."
Upon hearing this, Wang Mingyue's brow showed disappointment, her voice downcast: "Alright, breakthrough is important..."
Mysterious text appeared again.
[Refuse invitation, no karmic entanglement, obtain one Qi Refining Pill]
The protagonist route was indeed excellent—this path represented abundant opportunities.
But equally, it also represented abundant troubles.
If one truly possessed the Chosen One's fortune, encountering troubles would naturally turn peril into safety, and even so-called perils were merely ways to deliver opportunities.
However, Li Hanfeng dared not guarantee he was the protagonist.
After all, in this life his family was complete, his parents were still alive, and his body was healthy.
Of course, the real reason was that after understanding his golden finger's function, he had decided to make good use of the karma-detecting ability to act cautiously—he had this advantage. As long as karmic entanglement was triggered, he could discern the danger level of events from the karma about to be generated.
Undoubtedly, the danger level of Great Karma [Path of Destiny] was unimaginably high.
Betting that his fortune was prosperous enough to overcome all risks and obtain all opportunities?
Possible, but unnecessary.
"Then Mingyue, I'll leave first. Also, missions involving descending the mountain are dangerous—consider carefully."
His severing of karmic entanglement didn't mean the matter would disappear, but would manifest in other ways.
Wang Mingyue's ability to trigger karma likely made her a key figure, perhaps the so-called "female lead," who might face danger.
Being from the same village with a close relationship, he instinctively reminded her.
Upon hearing this, Wang Mingyue immediately shook her head, saying sweetly, "If you don't have time, Hanfeng, I won't go either!"
Her mountain descent mission had ulterior motives from the start.
Since she was refused, there was naturally no need to continue with the mountain descent.
Li Hanfeng was stunned again—both the "male lead" and "female lead" were gone!
After bidding farewell to Wang Mingyue, he returned to the probationary disciples' courtyard.
The wealthy Shushan Sect, even with nearly three thousand probationary disciples in his cohort, could still provide each person with a private room, with every four people sharing a courtyard. Each courtyard had a small spirit-gathering array, providing excellent cultivation conditions.
It was said that some smaller sects didn't provide such treatment even to formal disciples, let alone probationary disciples whose final retention was uncertain.
Entering the courtyard, he could feel abundant spiritual qi washing over him, making his entire being feel relaxed.
At this time, all doors in the courtyard were tightly closed, which was normal. With only two months remaining until the assessment, except for a few people, most were working very hard—either in secluded cultivation or completing missions to earn resources.
Over the month, Li Hanfeng had barely seen his three neighbors, only knowing their names and nothing else.
However, he didn't pay much attention to this. Using his probationary disciple identity jade token, he entered his room.
Since others were cultivating, he naturally couldn't waste time.
Especially after triggering Great Karma today.
"I severed the karma, seemingly avoiding many things, but in reality some things are unavoidable. After all, those events will still occur—for instance, Small Karma [Sect's Difficulty]. Will the Shushan Sect face calamity in the future?"
Though he had only joined the Shushan Sect for over a month, Li Hanfeng had a very good impression of it.
As a righteous sect, it truly protected the mortals within its sphere of influence. While still studying in the village, he frequently saw Shushan Sect disciples descending the mountain to eliminate demons and evil.
After entering the sect, though he hadn't met many formal disciples, they all treated people warmly and were very willing to help probationary disciples like them, truly worthy of being called "Senior Brother."
For example, Senior Brother Zhou Xuan from the Mission Hall—even though he himself felt his behavior was outrageous, Zhou Xuan remained very patient.
And Zhou Xuan was not unique in the Shushan Sect.
Yet such a sect seemed to face destruction?
If the Shushan Sect encountered trouble, it wouldn't affect only the Shushan Sect.
Therefore, he hoped the Shushan Sect wouldn't face problems.
After remaining silent for a while, he shook his head and mocked himself: "I've just begun cultivation—am I qualified to worry about such things? Rather than adding unnecessary worries, it's more urgent to honestly cultivate and break through to the middle stage of Qi Refining."
The cultivation path, before achieving immortality, could be summarized in one passage:
[Qi Refining is the beginning, followed by building the immortal foundation, forming the Golden Core, achieving the Nascent Soul embryo, transforming the primordial spirit, then returning to the void realm, seeking spirituality, uniting spirit and flesh, and attaining the Great Vehicle path.]
He was currently at the beginning of cultivation—the Qi Refining Realm.
The Qi Refining Realm was divided into nine layers: the first three layers were the early stage, the middle three layers were the middle stage, and the final three layers were the late stage.
Upon reaching the ninth layer of Qi Refining, one could attempt to build the immortal foundation.
According to what he heard from teaching elders, in ancient times, the Qi Refining Realm didn't have such detailed nine layers, only early, middle, and late stages. However, great powers, to make cultivation more convenient and to communicate with countless other great powers, eventually changed it to the nine-layer Qi Refining method.
The current early, middle, and late stages of the Qi Refining Realm were name inheritances, already very different from the ancient method.
This method was continuously perfected with the development of the cultivation world.
The current nine-layer Qi Refining method had completely surpassed the old method. Not only was cultivation more convenient and stable, but the foundation after breakthrough would also be deeper, reducing the difficulty of foundation building.
According to estimates, the foundation from completing today's Qi Refining was at least twice as deep as the old method's Qi Refining completion, with twice being only the lower limit—the specific amount varied by individual.
This difference was accumulated layer by layer through the nine-layer Qi Refining method.
Among these, the transitions from the third to fourth layer of Qi Refining and from the sixth to seventh layer were qualitative changes that would add substantial foundation, similar to the ancient method.
And now, Li Hanfeng was about to break through from the third to fourth layer of Qi Refining.
Before breaking through, he first organized his resources.
"Including today's karma-severing Qi Refining Pills plus those saved previously, I have five total. Adding the three received from the sect, that's eight pills—more than enough for breakthrough."
The Qi Refining Pills obtained from severing karma were of much better quality than those from the sect, so Li Hanfeng hadn't used the sect's Qi Refining Pills, saving all of the month's allocation.
Placing all the Qi Refining Pills before him for easy access, he swallowed one fragrant Qi Refining Pill and began cultivating using his technique.
As soon as the technique activated, with each breath, he seemed to return to being an infant in the primordial womb, each inhalation and exhalation of spiritual qi like refining innate qi.
This divine state came from the cultivation technique he practiced.
Embryonic Breathing and Qi Absorption Method!