Chapter 4 The Third Calamity of Karma

Space collapsed, shattered into fragments. Some powerful cultivators within this small space roared in fury, trying to break out.

"What's happening?"

"Heavens!"

"A Bu!"

Countless mortals were completely bewildered. They watched the scene of heaven and earth splitting apart, utterly powerless to resist. Cries of terror, anxiety, and anguish filled the air.

"Mother, Second Mother... no, no..." The youth was also stunned. He saw his mother and second mother, the most important people in his life, directly torn apart and killed by the fragmented space.

They were the most important people in his life.

"Mother!"

"Second Mother!"

The youth was in agony, filled with hatred and unwillingness, then his consciousness went dark.

Under Ji Ning's possession, the youth's emotions also struck him. Over ten years of possession had made Ji Ning develop feelings for those two women, as if they were his own mothers. When they died, Ji Ning felt endless anger, unwillingness, and even... self-blame. He couldn't help but feel self-blame.

If only I hadn't shattered that Qiankun Pearl back then, how wonderful it would be.

"Poor child, poor mothers." Ji Ning, after all, had reached the Iceheart Realm. He quickly suppressed that trace of self-blame and completely detached himself from the state of 'that youth.'

…

"Listen to me, you fool, my sister is not worthy of you." A burly man stepped on a young man, roaring angrily, "Stay away from now on, don't come near my sister again. Otherwise, next time I catch you, it won't be so simple. There are plenty of demon beasts in the deep mountains outside. If I throw you in, you'll be devoured clean in less than a night, not even a scrap left."

The burly man kicked him twice more before turning and leaving.

Ji Ning felt the pain all over his body, stood up, his face swollen, his forehead bruised.

"Possessing a young man?" Ji Ning thought to himself.

The young man limped, turned, and trudged back to his dwelling.

That evening.

"Ji." A young girl quietly arrived, saw the young man lying on the bed, and tears of heartache flowed down, "It's all my fault, all my fault..."

"Yu Wei?" Ji Ning was startled when he saw the girl.

Too similar.

Too similar, almost identical to Senior Apprentice Sister Yu Wei. But Ji Ning quickly came to his senses. Among the billions of mortals in the Chenyu Mountains, it was normal to find a girl who looked exactly like Yu Wei. Looking closely, he could see that this girl was more innocent and simple, lacking the transcendence of a cultivator.

The girl helped the young man clean his wounds, applied ointment, and even fed him the meat soup she had brought.

"We need to be more careful from now on. Don't let my brother see us again, and don't let anyone else in my family see us either." The girl said quickly.

"A Fu, believe me, I will cultivate and become a Xiantian lifeform, and marry you openly and honorably." The young man said earnestly.

"Mm." The girl nodded gently.

…

"You brat, look at yourself! You're utterly overreaching. A nobody like you, not even a Xiantian lifeform, and my sister—what a beauty she is, like a fairy descending to the mortal world, one of the top beauties in all of Dongqu City. Plenty of people want to marry her." The burly man said angrily, "And you think you're worthy? I warned you last time. This time, don't blame me for being ruthless. Men, tie him up and send him into the mountains to feed the demon beasts."

"Yes."

Two servants responded.

Pinned to the ground, a cloth stuffed in his mouth, the young man's arms and body were quickly bound. He made sounds of unwillingness, but the burly man watched coldly.

The young man was taken out of the city and sent deep into the mountains.

"Just leave him here. He'll be eaten soon enough." The two servants threw the young man down.

The bound young man fell onto the gravel-covered ground. A protruding stone jabbed into his chest, and he spat out blood, writhing in pain on the ground.

"Am I going to die? Die here?"

Fear filled the young man's heart.

Time passed.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..." A sound came, and the young man's heart tightened. A demon beast? Even an ordinary wild beast could easily devour him.

"It's over here, that's right."

"You led us wrong just now. If you're wrong again, you'll die with that brat."

"I got lost in the dark mountains before, but this time I'm definitely right."

Accompanied by voices.

The burly man appeared with two servants.

"Mm, mm." The young man's mouth was stuffed, unable to speak, staring in shock and anger at the three who appeared.

The burly man laughed in fury: "Still not dead? You're really lucky. I don't know what tricks you used to make my sister threaten to kill herself. Come on, take him away."

The young man later learned...

As soon as A Fu learned that 'Ji' had been sent into the deep mountains to feed demon beasts, she was stunned. Then this girl, who had always been innocent, obedient, and well-behaved, went wild, threatening with death: "If I don't see Ji by dawn tomorrow, I will follow him." Holding a knife to her own heart, she, who had always been timid before her Xiantian-perfect father, refused to back down this time: "Father, you can take away my knife, you can tie me up, but if I want to die, you can't stop me."

Her strong-willed father also gave in.

After this incident.

A Fu's father and brother no longer obstructed them. Instead, they began to teach and train 'Ji,' providing him with good cultivation techniques. With the help of his father-in-law and brother-in-law, Ji actually broke through and became a Xiantian lifeform.

"What?" The young man's Xiantian true yuan sensed A Fu's belly, and a look of joy appeared, "This, this..."

A Fu also smiled.

"I'm going to be a father! Hahaha, I'm going to be a father! Great! Hahaha..." The young man was ecstatic.

A Fu just smiled quietly.

"A Fu, I, Shaoyan Ji, swear that I will take good care of you and our child." The young man said excitedly, "My son will become a truly great figure in the future, even a powerful person in our entire Shaoyan clan."

"Mm." A Fu nodded gently.

…

Possessing the young man, Ji Ning had a strange feeling. A Fu looked exactly like Senior Apprentice Sister Yu Wei. When Shaoyan Ji discovered A Fu was pregnant, his excitement... Ji Ning also felt a special sensation. He was completely possessing Shaoyan Ji, as if his own Senior Apprentice Sister Yu Wei was carrying his child.

"I, Shaoyan Ji, swear that I will take good care of you and our child." When Shaoyan Ji said this, Ji Ning felt the strong sense of responsibility in it.

As a husband, as a father.

This was responsibility.

"Are they also going to..." Ji Ning vaguely saw their future, and his heart ached. This girl, identical to Senior Apprentice Sister Yu Wei, innocent and simple, yet completely devoted to her man. Ji Ning really didn't want to see 'A Fu' die.

Days passed one by one.

A Fu's belly gradually grew. The young man Shaoyan Ji worked hard to obtain various treasures for A Fu to eat: "My child must be born with good talent. He is destined to become a great figure."

Whenever Shaoyan Ji said this with anticipation, A Fu would smile at her man.

This was happiness.

"The entire city, all relocate." An aged voice resounded throughout the city. The young man Shaoyan Ji, who was holding hands with his heavily pregnant wife while taking a walk, was startled.

Then whoosh—

Space shifted.

Shaoyan Ji and A Fu found themselves in a space filled with a large number of people.

"A Fu, are you alright?" Shaoyan Ji was extremely worried.

"I'm fine. This, where is this?" A Fu held Shaoyan Ji's hand nervously.

"Don't worry, I'm here." The young man Shaoyan Ji looked around warily.

Soon.

Whoosh—

They were relocated a second time. This time, the Fufeng Old Demon gathered them together, making the population even denser.

"No..." Ji Ning felt a reluctance inside. He really didn't want to see that scene, that desperate scene.

"Boom—"

Space shattered.

All kinds of terrified shouts and angry roars.

Under the collapsing space, countless people began to die.

"No, no, no..." The young man was completely stunned. He looked around in terror. He had sworn to protect his wife and child. "What to do, what to do, what to do?" He felt intense self-blame. He would rather die himself than see his beloved wife die. He couldn't forget the scenes from their first meeting to knowing each other, through countless hardships, finally being together...

"A Fu." The young man looked at the girl, tears streaming down.

He really had no way!

"Being together is good enough. Our whole family is together." A Fu hugged her man tightly, gently stroking her belly.

Swish—the shattered space showed no mercy, sweeping past. The man, A Fu, and the child in her womb all died.

Space completely shattered.

Ji Ning also 'saw' the huge golden hand outside. It was that golden hand that shattered the Qiankun Pearl, causing the man, A Fu, and the child in her womb to die.

And that huge golden hand... was Ji Ning's own hand.

"Why, why wasn't I more careful back then? Why did I have to shatter it?" When Ji Ning saw A Fu die, it felt as if Senior Apprentice Sister Yu Wei had died. The heart-wrenching pain of the young man Shaoyan Ji also transmitted into Ji Ning's heart, and Ji Ning felt the pain.

"It's my fault."

"I shouldn't have."

"Shouldn't have."

Ji Ning had reached the Iceheart Realm. Although he felt regret in his heart, deep down he maintained absolute calm and detachment. He still completely controlled these external emotions, not letting them affect his true heart.

…

Story after story.

Ji Ning possessed one person after another, sometimes for a few months, sometimes for over ten years. Each one was someone he absolutely did not want to kill, and many resonated with him... This personal possession was like reincarnation. But Ji Ning, having reached the Iceheart Realm, could isolate everything, not letting it affect his true heart.

Yet after many possessions, Ji Ning increasingly felt a longing... If only I hadn't shattered that Qiankun Pearl back then, how wonderful it would be! Although he had this longing, Ji Ning also understood that what was done was done, and nothing could be undone.

…

When this inner emotion kept accumulating, suddenly—

"Mother, Second Mother!"

"A Fu!"

"Nian'er!"

"Master!"

"Junior Apprentice Brother!"

"Why, why..."

"I won't accept this."

"My child, ahhhh."

In an instant.

Ji Ning experienced the intense emotions from a thousand lifetimes. All kinds of unwillingness, anger, pain, regret, heart-wrenching sorrow... all these emotions suddenly converged at once. Before, each possession had brought a strong emotional impact, but it was only a single impact. Now, all the emotions from previous experiences gathered together, forming a torrent of self-blame that overwhelmed Ji Ning like a surging wave.

"It's all you, all you."

"Why did you shatter it? Why?"

"You deserve to die."

"Deserve to die."

"Die."

"Death is liberation."

"Liberation."

The surging emotions, countless voices, completely drowned Ji Ning, even breaking through his Iceheart Realm, flooding every corner of his heart.

This was the last of the three calamities of the Mortal Dust Tribulation—the Thousand-Life Heart Tribulation!

…