Returning to this familiar place, Jing Qian's circumstances were vastly different this time!
He still remembered when he first set his fate upon the sea; his initial set of Fate Choices was two white and one green. Fairly ordinary, nothing remarkable.
But now, with his far greater reserve of Life Essence and the aid of the sixth-rank Violet Life Furnace, the choices before him had transformed into two blue and one violet.
For any cultivator, this would be considered an outstanding result!
As long as he kept his mind steady, he could seize a Violet-Eye rank Life Pattern enough to establish a firm foundation for his cultivation path.
Yet for Jing Qian, it didn't matter how satisfied he felt. Deep within him, the black jade stele that had taken root was not the least bit content!
The stele appeared once more, showing no courtesy as it struck the three Life Patterns aside.
The void around him trembled, whispers echoing in his ears, indistinct but unsettling. Still, none of it could resist the stele's pressure, and under compulsion, the space yielded up three new choices: two violet and one gold.
Already, at the very first round, he had reached what had been his final result the last time.
Jing Qian now stood before a choice no weaker than the Sumeru-class Life Pattern.
And his Life Essence was still abundant, more than enough to stabilize this strange realm.
This gave the black jade stele even more room to act!
It struck again, sending the two violet and one gold patterns flying away. In their place appeared two gold and one violet, a small but clear improvement.
Still dissatisfied, the stele surged forward once more, smashing those away too.
This time, three golden Life Patterns emerged.
But the stele continued to reject them.
Again it struck and again, only three gold returned.
It raged, striking harder still three gold.
Again, furious three gold.
On and on the battle went, the stele in a frenzy of rejection, but the realm refusing to yield anything higher.
…
Jing Qian dared not interrupt, shrinking into a corner, quietly watching this strange tug-of-war unfold!
The black jade stele was overpowering, taking advantage of his still-plentiful reserves to mercilessly squeeze this anomalous space for more.
But it was too greedy!
For a small cultivator of ordinary blood, were three Golden-Root Patterns not already incredible?
Jing Qian himself did not know what exactly the stele was seeking.
With the knowledge he possessed, Life Patterns and Life Essence at most reached the Golden Root rank. Beyond that lay the limits of his understanding.
All he knew was that this struggle could only benefit him.
The clash escalated further, pulling at both sides.
Jing Qian's Life Essence was being consumed at a terrifying pace; his reserves, ten times greater than most mortals, were already more than half spent.
Yet the strange space around him also showed signs of collapse.
Facing the stele's relentless oppression, constantly cycling new Life Patterns, it too was exhausting itself.
Jing Qian could feel that this realm was unraveling, fracturing at its edges.
The unseen whispers hidden in the void grew increasingly frantic.
But the black jade stele remained immovable, like a mountain, smashing back every single Life Pattern offered.
Twenty-seventh attempt.
Thirty-first attempt.
Forty-sixth attempt.
Jing Qian counted silently in his heart.
It was the only thing he could do.
...
In a cramped study inside the Hunzhou Prefecture Office, Qian Yuan was furiously writing:
"Nephew Qian Jin,
Jing Qian has already arrived at the yamen. You and the others should continue stalling with the Cao family, buy more time, and wait patiently for a turning point.
The Hunyi has sent back word that it has successfully shaken off the pursuit of the great demon and is returning safely.
For now, persuade Qian Xi to return to the Jing family's main store and await Wu Yan's return.
Our Qian family has been laying out this plan for many years. At last, the day of landing ashore has come."
When he finished, he folded the letter, tied it to the leg of a great seagull, and released it.
This seabird was of the White Fang grade; from within the yamen, it soared upward, slipped easily through the nostrils of the dragon-serpent guardian, and headed toward the Hunzhou trading port.
Qian Yuan calculated the time. By now, the Jing family boy should already be undergoing his Fatebinding.
He had buried a hidden trap for him; there was no way he would succeed!
Though it had cost him a precious sixth-rank Fate Fire, it was a price worth paying.
...
Meanwhile, the black jade stele proved unyielding, wrenching the strange space to its will.
On the ninety-ninth clash, the cycle finally shifted. The Fate choices that reappeared before Jing Qian suddenly transformed into two golden and one white.
Jing Qian was baffled. After all this struggle, how could the quality of the Destinies decrease?
But when he looked again at the black jade stele, it seemed satisfied at last, as though it had finally claimed what it wanted.
A spark of intuition struck him. He instantly moved his divine sense, latching onto the newly appeared white Fate, binding it tightly and pulling it into his sea of consciousness.
Immediately, a strange vitality surged out from within him, first gathering at his heart, then pulsing outward through his blood until it spread across his entire body.
His second Fatebinding was a success. Jing Qian began reaping its fruits.
...
Outside, Tao Yong reclined casually in a chair, silently calculating the time.
The head of the Maritime Office, Lord Zhu, hailed from the Zhu clan, one of the Twenty-Four Proper Stores.
Their heritage included the mystical Reincarnation Innate Fate Method, a secret art that allowed a cultivator, during Fatebinding, to absorb a second Fate Fire, upgrading the first Fate into something greater.
Though exceedingly difficult to master, if successful, it forged an unparalleled foundation, bringing limitless benefits in the future.
Across the whole of Hunzhou, countless people longed for even a glimpse of this secret law, but none could obtain it.
This Jing family boy was truly fortunate.
Though Tao Yong appeared nonchalant, he was watching the room closely. He couldn't see inside, but through long years of experience, he could judge success or failure from the ripples of the Fate Fire.
Thus, when Jing Qian, after immense struggle, finally succeeded a second time…
Tao Yong did not hesitate; he injected the second sixth-rank Fate Fire into the chamber.
...
Inside, Jing Qian was still basking in the tidal feedback of vitality, his flesh and mana being replenished.
Suddenly, without warning, a second Fate Fire descended so abruptly it nearly made him cry out in shock.
To face Fate Fire unprepared, one hardly needed to say how fatal the risk was.
A great tribulation had fallen upon him.
But at that life-or-death instant, Jing Qian's mind grew razor-sharp.
Just as the fires roared down, he shifted his divine sense and placed his newly awakened Fate upon the jade stele, using the very last Casting Opportunity to secure it there.
Then, with his freshly restored three White Fang Life Essences, he braced himself to meet the inferno.
The secret method was activated
The third Fate Fire, binding anew, began right then and there!
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