Chapter 2 Karma Collection

"At the age of forty-eight, I first met my fate, the recited secrets brought immediate success.

A single Golden Core, the color turning richer, shining crimson atop Jade Light Peak."

A forceful, vigorous voice reached his ears as an ethereal figure approached from afar and entered Jiang Li's body.

In an instant, a current surged through his entire body like a tide, cleansing his flesh and bones, causing Jiang Li to burst into sweat, with clouds of steam rising from the top of his head.

The world became crystal clear in his eyes, every tiny detail visible, even the fine dust was seen with unparalleled clarity.

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Li had undergone a rebirth.

[Seeking Truth: Complete in practice and righteousness, with a clear heart and unobstructed body, resistant to external demonic intrusion.]

[Dual Cultivation of Life and Spirit: 'Life' is spirit, 'spirit' is energy. When life meets spirit, it is like birds ride on the wind, gracefully and effortlessly soaring, saving strength with ease. The balance of essence, energy, and spirit supports and enhances one another.]

[Three Teachings Unification: The Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist schools resonate, the Three Teachings have always followed the same ancient ways. The broader the knowledge of the Three Teachings, the higher the comprehension of their cultivation techniques, particularly noticeable in Daoist cultivation techniques.]

The capabilities of a Daoist are maintaining a tranquil state of mind with [Daoist Heart Clarity] and enhancing comprehension of Dao techniques with [Dao Skill Mastery], which are both covered by [Seeking Truth] and [Three Teachings Unification], and even includes an additional [Dual Cultivation of Life and Spirit].

At a mere glance at these abilities, an aura of a formidable being confronted him.

So powerful, indeed powerful.

As Jiang Li primarily cultivated magic, his Divine Essence and Qi Element were above his Essence Element. Now balanced, it was not about compensating for deficiencies but elevating the Essence Element with the power of the Dao Fruit, making his Essence Element no weaker than his sectmates who harbored the Heavenly Weapon Dao Fruit.

"Hahahaha!"

Seeing this, Jiang Li let out a hearty laugh, his right hand reaching into his sleeve, pulling out a row of talismans.

Giant Power Talisman, Spirit Protection Talisman, Rejuvenation Talisman, Wind Repelling Talisman, Godspeed Talisman, and also replenishing the already broken Vajra Talisman.

Pure True Qi flowed like river water in his meridians, but at the fingertips, it turned into threads, shooting into each talisman.

At this moment, with a mental state as clear as crystal and control over True Qi incredibly detailed, he was like the Quanzhen Sect founder, entirely transformed in spirit, body, and talent.

Ten talismans added to his person, Jiang Li stomped the ground, shooting towards Zhou Mingyun like an arrow, tearing through the fiery cloud, sending a wave of heat into the opponent's perception.

Zhou Mingyun, like a viper striking its prey, immediately sprung up, his hands shining coldly like snake fangs, but Jiang Li countered with a palm strike to his wrist, pushing it aside, and heavily pressed down on his chest.

'Wind Chasing Palm.'

Zhou Mingyun, recognizing the move through the heat, identified it as one of the basic techniques of the Dinghu Sect, primarily focusing on agile and unpredictable movements, yet in Jiang Li's hands, it was both swift and fierce, an incessant force like a river flood.

Bang!

With the strike, fine patterns of snake scales appeared on Zhou Mingyun's skin, diffusing the strength, yet still, he was sent flying backward with the palm strike.

"How could he be so strong?" Zhou Mingyun exclaimed in disbelief.

He had already manifested the snake scale protection, his defensive power not inferior to someone who has greatly mastered horizontal martial arts, endowed with the flexibility of snake-like resilience, yet still was sent flying by a mere Wind Chasing Palm.

This is truly not mysticism!

"Obviously, because I've worked hard enough."

Jiang Li laughed heartily, his progress swift as an arrow, a punch empowered by the Giant Power Talisman exploded with a booming sound.

Zhou Mingyun hurriedly dodged, his hair standing straight like needles, sweeping like a spiked club, but was blocked by multiple defenses around Jiang Li.

This punch was the effort of a Yikun year!

Thud!

Zhou Mingyun, once again against his will, was sent flying, caught by Jiang Li with a grappling move, pulled around, and harshly smashed against the mountain wall.

Bang!

Zhou Mingyun felt his organs churning as if the river overturned, his mouth gaping and his tongue flicking out long, his face contorted with pain.

And Jiang Li was about to exert force again.

"Wait, my uncle is..."

Bang bang bang bang bang—

Before he could finish his sentence, Jiang Li delivered an eighteen-bang throw, slamming the person in his hands to death, his body beaten into a bloody pulp, and then he finally stopped, panting for breath.

"I know you and the Outer Disciple elder are distant relatives, but what does that have to do with me?" Jiang Li let go, the light from the talismans fading one by one.

In a life-and-death fight, there was no room for holding back. Jiang Li wouldn't hesitate, not even if his opponent was a distant relative of an elder from the Outer Disciple, or even the sect leader's own son.

Moreover, since Zhou Mingyun was wanted, it only showed that Elder Sun was not competent enough. What difference would killing him make?

Everything Jiang Li did adhered to the sect's laws. Even in killing Zhou Mingyun, it was because Zhou Mingyun resisted these laws. Could Elder Sun possibly justify putting him on the wanted list too?

Jiang Li curled his lips and looked down.

At that moment, a faint luminescence emerged from Zhou Mingyun's corpse, revealing a python-shaped shadow coiled like a serpent formation, which slowly floated up and then dissolved into the dagger in Zhou Mingyun's hand.

Jiang Li shifted his gaze to the dagger, which was porcelain-white throughout and did not seem to be made of metal. It resembled a giant snake's tooth.

He took the dagger in hand, focused his mind, and communicated with it. The image of the python appeared in his mind, and information about the Dao Fruit was presented in a way Jiang Li could understand.

[Ninth Grade Dao Fruit: Long Snake

Category: Demon

Fitting Conditions: A heart of greed and brutality

Promotion Ceremony: Within seven days, devour a hundred pounds of meat from beasts like tigers, deer, and sheep. Sleep for three days.

Abilities: Long Snake Hundred Feet, Mane like a Pig]

Though he had not yet absorbed the Dao Fruit and could not fully understand its abilities, viewing the information allowed Jiang Li to guess most of it.

Classic of Mountains and Seas Praise·Long Snake: "Long Snake Hundred Feet, its mane like a pig. Flies among the flocks and herds, devouring everything in sight."

Zhou Mingyun was so tenacious, struggling for a long time before dying, probably because of the Dao Fruit ability "Long Snake Hundred Feet." The other ability must be the source of his hair becoming rigid.

It was said that the Long Snake could grow up to three hundred meters, or "Hundred Feet," and its hair resembled pig bristles. Zhou Mingyun, having absorbed the Dao Fruit, naturally made great progress in this aspect, and if Jiang Li hadn't been promoted, it would have been difficult to overpower him.

"Demonic Attribute Dao Fruits are indeed as rumored, easy to promote, but this promotion ceremony..."

This method of promotion was indeed distasteful, the mere thought of it was nauseating.

Furthermore, if Jiang Li wasn't mistaken, this Dao Fruit would intensify a heart of greed and brutality, leading one's nature to align more with demons. Zhou Mingyun's violations, such as robbing and killing, stemmed from this.

Promotion was easy, but the side effects were severe, a common issue with Demonic Attribute Dao Fruits.

Jiang Li held the dagger, looking towards the book only he could see.

An ancient-looking book was flipping its pages automatically from front to back, then closing itself. Three large characters gradually appeared on the yellow cover.

—Karma Collection.

The diary finally had a name, and with it, a burst of information entered Jiang Li's head, enlightening him.

Two and a half years since his transmigration, his Golden Finger was finally officially activated.

Besides solidifying causality, ensuring Jiang Li's efforts always bore fruit and prevented regression, the Karma Collection also gained the ability to rewrite causality.

Typically recording what Jiang Li experienced, it was in fact collecting causality. The broader Jiang Li's actions impacted, the more causality he gathered.

These causalities would take effect upon touching the causal imprints, rewriting causality and transforming it into another form.

Just like a Daoist becoming Wang Chongyang, still a Ninth Grade and also a Daoist, but the latter was far stronger than the former. Not only did he have an extra ability, but the overall impact was also vastly superior.

'So, are Dao Fruits some form of causal imprint? And it was officially activated when I absorbed the Dao Fruit. This Karma Collection seems to be something from this world, not my transmigrator's Golden Finger. Was it on me even before I awakened?'

'But Wang Chongyang is not a character from this era, and I'm the only one who knows of his existence in this world. So, is this transformation of the Dao Fruit according to my memory?'

'Forget it, I won't think about it anymore. Since it's useful, I might as well use it.'

Jiang Li stared at the Karma Collection for a while, then lowered his gaze, 'At least, if I want to establish myself in this world now, I can only rely on it.'

He lacked a system, an encyclopedia in his brain, and a grandfather figure; having a Golden Finger was already good enough.

Exploring the origin of the Karma Collection wasn't something he should be doing now.

'Just means there'll need to be some changes in how I conduct myself from now on. Besides barely surviving, I also need to collect causality. Of course, I should collect causality only when divination is favorable.'

If he hadn't divined beforehand this time, Jiang Li might have fallen straight into Zhou Mingyun's ambush.

Divination, truly a specialty skill for barely surviving.

Having made up his mind, Jiang Li used the Snake Tooth Dagger to sever Zhou Mingyun's head, then found the yellow horse that had run off, and took quicklime from the saddlebag to prepare the head.

He was never short of quicklime or talismans; he always made sure to carry a heap whenever he left.

After completing these tasks, Jiang Li rode his horse back to the sect, humming a tune.