Although Mingyuan was feeling nervous inside, he put on a smile and gestured with his hand.
"What an impressive lineup, how terrifying! Almost scared me to death…" Mingyuan patted his chest.
These ancestors have probably touched the ceiling of this mortal world.
Qi Gathering, Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Golden Core.
Nascent Soul, Dharma Body, True Unity, and Void Breaking.
Returning Void, Dao Integration, and Tribulation Crossing.
These constitute the lower, middle, and upper tiers of cultivation in the mortal world.
If Mingyuan had to guess, all of his current guests had touched the threshold to the upper tier, and some of them might have already stepped into that category.
As for the former clash that shifted heaven and earth—no question about it, definitely top-tier combat strength.
The leading old man frowned, as though he had just noticed Mingyuan's existence.
"You are?" He asked, with an almost dismissive attitude.
Mingyuan didn't clasp his fists as dictated by etiquette. Instead, he slumped down with legs folded and elbows planted on his knees.
Both hands clasped together beneath his chin, and his head tilted slightly as though in deep contemplation.
"You can say I planted a seed of karma with Liu Tianji, but you can also say she planted a seed of karma with me. It depends on the perspective, really."
The old man raised an eyebrow and chuckled at the words. "You're implying your future is so great that this seed of karma can be of help to her in the future? Are you that arrogant or just too ignorant?"
To dare claim he was an opportunity encountered by one of the physiques with the greatest affinity with the heavenly secrets and not the other way around…
How many can boast like so between the heavens and earth?
"You're lucky to have met Heaven's Envoy in this life, and we'll make sure you're well compensated for looking after her."
They could see at a glance that Mingyuan was a Nascent Soul cultivator, not by virtue of their keen insights, but because he allowed them to sense it.
In their eyes, anywhere from Qi Gathering to Golden Core was an ant, and Nascent Soul was just a bigger ant.
Mingyuan understood this mentality very well. As beings who had lived in seclusion for thousands of years, their humanity was nearly nonexistent.
To such cultivators, only their Dao and self-interests can keep them going. Each cultivation cycle is enough for dynasties to rise and fall, let alone normal human lives.
This was also why Mingyuan didn't bother acting polite with them.
"Luck you say, huh? Luck is luck, there is no good luck or bad luck. As I emphasized earlier, the Dao is impartial, and it works in mysterious ways we cannot understand.
"However, impartiality is pretty straightforward, as clear as black and white. Since that's the case, you have the elusive luck, which was excluded from the studies of karma, fate, and destiny for a good reason."
The more Mingyuan spoke, the more solemn the old man's expression became.
Of course, these insights were harvested from the 16x multiplier feedback, and Mingyuan was simply consolidating his gains.
All the lectures and philosophies about karma, fate, and destiny he force-fed Liu Tianji these years were comprehended the moment she opened her eyes.
Of course, Mingyuan harvested great rewards and insights from the feedback.
Add his wealth of reading and research on xianxia lore in his past life, and his affinity with fate from the system, Mingyuan can now claim to be a qualified charlatan.
Mingyuan opened both hands, likening them to a scale, and murmured, "Black and white, good and evil, fortune and misfortune, ups and downs… Heaven's impartiality is straightforward enough. It's balance."
"Balance…" Liu Tianji, standing behind Mingyuan, stared at his hands in a daze.
Dao fluctuations surrounded her body, clearly another state of enlightenment.
Mingyuan lowered his hands and smiled faintly, a gleam of triumph in his eyes.
Spout some philosophical intrigue and leave it to the chosen one to comprehend heavenly truths. As expected of a future heroine.
Hm, if she became Lu Xuan's companion in the future, wouldn't that give him some seniority to leverage over a Dao Lord?
How exciting!
However, deep down, Mingyuan knew he wasn't just talking hot air. The underlying truth behind his philosophy was justified, else it wouldn't trigger an enlightenment opportunity.
A force descended from the sky and concealed Liu Tianji's location, allowing her to experience the enlightenment in peace.
At the same time, an unremarkable young woman appeared before Mingyuan, seated on a meditation futon that appeared as spontaneously as she did.
With a wave, a tea set with cups, a pot, and aromatic tea was placed between the two.
An old man from behind stepped forward and respectfully poured a cup for the mature woman.
"This fellow Daoist as well," she said lightly.
The old man paused, and then, he poured a cup for Mingyuan as well.
"Elaborate, fellow Daoist," the woman picked up her teacup and took a sip. "You said luck is excluded from the three forces, why do you say that?"
Mingyuan reached for the tea with familiar ease, adjusted his posture, and took a savoring sip.
He exhaled lightly, thought for a moment, and answered, "The three forces are both mutually dependent and exclusive. It's a necessary contradiction to achieve perpetual balance. Luck cannot be exclusive, it can only play a supporting role."
The woman raised an eyebrow, took a sip from the Enlightenment Tea, and adjusted her posture once more.
At her level, just a few words or a hint can guide her thinking in the right direction.
The keywords were dependency and exclusivity. Countless calculations and past experiences went through her mind.
The silence continued, and every fifteen minutes, the woman would take a sip of her tea.
She wasn't like Liu Tianji who could enter a state of enlightenment spontaneously, so she humbly asked for Mingyuan's guidance.
The trace of Dao lingered on this cliff, so she decided to take a gamble and attempt to understand.
A while later, she murmured, "I see…"
Her eyes flashed with clarity and her smile blossomed. She understood, and her gains were immense.
"Can I lecture to my disciples on this matter, fellow Daoist?" Asked the woman.
Mingyuan waved his hands dismissively, he really didn't care.
The woman clasped her fists, switched to sit beside Mingyuan at a respectable distance, and began to share her understanding to consolidate her gains.
Why was luck eventually excluded? At its foundation, luck is a process of elimination and probability.
There is a saying, karma begins with the first life, fate ends in this life, and destiny concludes with all life.
Karma is causality from the beginning of existence, unwashed by reincarnation.
Fate is both an identity and a broad template that resets with each life. Fated to be wealthy this life, poor the next.
Karmic debt accumulated in a past life, paid in this one.
As for destiny, it is the final destination of one's existence. It is determined by Heaven's way to balance all things.
Now, why was luck excluded from the equation?
Simple. There is no good or bad luck because luck cannot be exclusive.
If someone fated to be in a poor family had the luck of finding a peerless treasure, that is misfortune disguised as fortune. Keeping this treasure is the same as asking for death.
If someone fated to be born in a powerful family found the same treasure, the fate of his family can contain that luck, and thus it is identified as good fortune.
Luck alone is just probability. As for good or bad? It depends on one's fate, past karma, and future destiny.
It took Liu Tianji just a few words to understand this, the woman needed a few hours and an opportunity, while the others' situation remained unclear.