NOVEL NEXT Ch. 35
Chapter 35: On the Fate Pattern
"There is, there is." Chen Beiwu took out a lower-grade spirit stone from his pocket and respectfully offered it with both hands.
At the side, Xu Ziqing, with her wealth and generosity, retrieved an anonymous Spirit Yuan Gold Card from her Crimson‑Void Storage Ring and likewise presented it with reverence.
Han Liangcai glanced at the Spirit Yuan Card but did not take it. Instead, his gaze turned to Chen Beiwu. "For a young one like you to cultivate to the Seventh Level of Qi Refining, it's likely you're fated with the Abyssal Water Spirit Turtle."
As soon as he finished speaking, the spirit stone in Chen Beiwu’s hand vanished without a trace, replaced by a small fragment of gray-brown turtle shell.
"This is an old shell fragment shed by the Mysterious Water Submergent Turtle. With it, the young turtles in the lake will not avoid you."
"As for whether the Abyssal Water Spirit Turtle will acknowledge you, that depends on the depth of your Fate Pattern."
As the words fell, Han Liangcai and the Mysterious Water Submergent Turtle turned into a streak of rainbow light and vanished.
Xu Ziqing stared blankly at the Spirit Yuan Card in her hand, a hint of realization and surprise surfacing in her eyes.
This Golden Core True Person acted on whim—clearly, he had not come for mere spirit stones.
Thinking of this, she smiled brightly at Chen Beiwu.
A being at the level of a Golden Core True Person, every action must carry profound meaning; whatever he did must be backed by an ineffable reason.
Could it be that Chen Beiwu still hid secrets she had yet to uncover?
‘As I thought, my judgment truly is extraordinary.’ Xu Ziqing’s smile became even sweeter.
Chen Beiwu gazed at the token in his palm, his heart filled with uncertainty. ‘What’s going on? Why would a Golden Core True Person take notice of me?’
Since the Nine-Breath Chaos could block the perception of the Immortal Alliance's Nine Heavens Star-Sealing Immortal Formation and allow him to traverse realms freely, its power should be vast, far above the level of a Golden Core True Person. There should be no flaws left behind.
‘I must be overthinking.’ Chen Beiwu forcibly suppressed his suspicion.
Thinking from another angle, he had the Nine-Breath Chaos suppressing his fate, unmatched talent—being noticed and tested by a Golden Core True Person for potential apprenticeship was perfectly reasonable.
"Do you want to enter the Four Seas Lake with me?" Chen Beiwu invited as usual.
"I’ll wait for you here. Don’t worry and go ahead," Xu Ziqing declined.
She had no token on her, and following Chen Beiwu down would only be a burden. It was better to wait at the lakeside.
"Then I’m going."
Chen Beiwu gripped the token tightly and leapt.
Plop!
Watching the figure gradually descending in the distance, Han Liangcai showed a look of keen interest. "Do you think he could be that latent dragon of Fallen Dragon Mansion?"
Fallen Dragon Mansion lay at the intersection of Heaven and Earth’s pure and turbid forces. In ancient times, a true dragon once perished there, giving the place its name.
Because dragon blood seeped into the earth, the dragon’s bones transformed into mountains, and the dragon’s soul merged with the world’s spiritual resonance, Fallen Dragon Mansion formed a unique layout of a latent dragon in the abyss. Every thousand years, a latent dragon would be born.
Note, the term ‘latent dragon’ here did not refer to a beast with the chance to transform into a dragon, but rather a peerless talent—endowed with extraordinary potential but yet to awaken—needing fate’s blessing to rise from the abyss.
The Mysterious Water Submergent Turtle shook its head impatiently.
Heaven’s secrets were hard to divine.
Though it could sense a trace of opportunity to ascend to Beast King through its ancient bloodline, it could not pinpoint a specific person or event. It could only roughly determine a direction—and Fallen Dragon Mansion was the place its master helped it deduce as its destined location.
If it could find the peerless latent dragon at this destined place and aid its rise, it could borrow this karmic tie and, through the fate-manipulating secret method in the Supreme Dongxuan Spiritual Treasure Scripture, shift its fate, elevate its cultivation, and gain the chance to break through to Beast King.
But the last latent dragon of Fallen Dragon Mansion had already appeared—none other than the now-famous Jing Yuan Zhenjun.
At the time, he was picked up by Mirror‑Lake Sword School, one of the Seven-Nine Upper Sects, and within just over three hundred years, shattered his core to form a Nascent Soul, successfully advancing to Nascent Soul True Person. The Temple of Accord's Hall Master even praised him as having the potential for Soul Transformation.
It was no exaggeration to say that among the twenty-four recorded latent dragons of Fallen Dragon Mansion, Jing Yuan Zhenjun was likely the most terrifying in perception and strongest in fate.
Some Soul Transformation True Venerables even believed that the rise of Jing Yuan Zhenjun had exhausted the foundation accumulated over tens of thousands of years in the Land of Dragonfall.
In the next ten thousand years, the latent dragons born in Fallen Dragon Mansion would likely be mere “little dragons,” far inferior to a true dragon like Jing Yuan Zhenjun.
Thinking of this, the Mysterious Water Submergent Turtle couldn’t help but let out a low growl.
Logically speaking, Fallen Dragon Mansion shouldn’t produce another latent dragon for another seven hundred years, but it trusted more in the tremor of its ancient Black Tortoise bloodline and its master’s divination.
This concerned its future path—no matter how slim the chance, it had to try its utmost to find traces of a latent dragon within the vast Fallen Dragon Mansion.
"Enough, stop growling." Han Liangcai flicked his sleeve, and a large number of lower-grade spirit stones appeared on the stone table before him. These stones formed a small mountain, among them the one given by Chen Beiwu.
"Forget it, you’re always unreliable. If we’re going to find the latent dragon’s traces, we’ll have to rely on the treasure bestowed by Master."
According to ancient records, for the Mysterious Water Submergent Turtle to defy the heavens and awaken Yin-Yang Qi, the latent dragon’s Fate Pattern must at least be the Northern‑Heaven Five‑Qi Fate Pattern.
What was the Northern‑Heaven Five‑Qi Fate?
The Northern Heaven symbolized the Northern Black Emperor Xuan Lao. The Five Qi represented the spiritual energies of the five directions. The master of this Fate Pattern was born with both direct and indirect signs—great fortune and great misfortune coexisting. While favored by fate, they were also prone to disasters caused by interference from other elements in their Fate Pattern.
Thus, those with the Northern‑Heaven Five‑Qi Fate Pattern were destined to be deeply connected to water-type spiritual energy. They could attain the Dao through water, but also risked being devoured by it.
Take Jing Yuan Zhenjun as an example. When he first joined Mirror‑Lake Sword School, he wasn’t outstanding—his talent was average. Not until he endured two tribulations in the True‑Martial Realm and rose to Sword School Chief did he begin making a name for himself in the Immortal Alliance.
Later, Fang Shanglong advanced swiftly. In the Grotto-Heaven Grand Competition, he defeated the chief of Dongxuan Immortal Sect in one strike, earning great renown. A Soul Transformation True Venerable publicly declared him to have the potential for Nascent Soul. Sword‑Abyss Immortal Sect, one of the Thirteen Immortal Sects, even broke convention to accept him as a disciple.
Afterward, Han Liangcai’s master used a treasure to divine Fang Shanglong’s Fate Pattern and confirmed him as the last latent dragon of Fallen Dragon Mansion—with a Northern‑Heaven Five‑Qi Fate Pattern.
His direct sign was Flying Dragon in the Sky—a true dragon leaping over the dragon gate. His indirect sign was Abyss Fish Chasing the Moon—a deep-sea fish pursuing moonlight.
As the two signs conflicted, his Fate Pattern was extremely inauspicious. His life required five water-attribute tribulations under the trials of the Northern Black Emperor to transform misfortune into fortune and soar to the heavens.
Sure enough, three hundred years later, Fang Shanglong overcame all tribulations, setting a new record in the Immortal Alliance for the fastest advancement and achieved the title of Nascent Soul True Person.
Thinking of this, Han Liangcai’s eyes couldn’t help but reveal a touch of emotion.
He sought fate ties from various ordinary Qi Refining cultivators not for money, but to establish karma with the owners of the spirit stones.
With that sliver of karmic connection, Han Liangcai could use the treasure his master bestowed—the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Realm—to reflect the karmic threads and deduce the owner’s Fate Pattern, thus locating the latent dragon who had yet to soar.