Stranger Danger

Taoism believed in “Three Flowers Condensing onto the Head” and “Five Qi Gathering unto the Origin”. Such was the case for the “Records of Fortune and Merits” as well. There was a line in the martial arts manual: “When three golden lotuses bloom on thy head, a river of fortune shall lead thou to sagehood.” To put it in simpler terms, it meant that the practitioner who created three Golden Lotuses of Fortune and Merit would gain the qualifications to attain Dao and become a Sage.

That wasn’t all the Golden Lotuses of Fortune and Merit could do, however. Each lotus possessed the power to block a fatal hit exactly once. Since she had three lotuses, that meant that she had three extra lives. That was why Duanmu Longhua was still alive even though she received what should have been a fatal blow. This text is hosted at novel~fire~net

As for why she suddenly turned from a young girl to a middle-aged woman, that too was because of the Golden Lotus of Fortune and Merit.

Attaining the Dao and returning to one’s purest form was a process everyone must go through before they could become a Sage. Every time Duanmu Longhua created a Golden Lotus of Fortune and Merit, she would become thirty years younger. When all three Golden Lotuses of Fortune and Merit were fully formed, she would transform into an infant that was perfectly flawless and pure. Once she attained the Dao, she would be able to reforge her body using the fortune she had accumulated.

Before she ran into Ye Qing, Duanmu Longhua had created two and a half golden lotuses. In fact, she was literally one ritual away from perfecting her third and final golden lotus, which was why she looked like a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl before. Now, she had aged back to her thirties or forties since she had used up one of her golden lotuses to save her own life.

Creating even a single Golden Lotus of Fortune and Merit took an unbelievable amount of fortune. It had taken her decades of effort and careful planning to create just two and a half golden lotuses. It was worth it though. Had everything gone exactly as planned, this last batch of Divine Fate Pills would have completed her third and final golden lotus and pushed her to sagehood in one go.

Alas, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. A cruel twist of fate had caused her to fumble at the last step and even cost her a Golden Lotus of Fortune and Merit. She had been one step away from becoming a Sage, and now, she was practically back at the starting point. Why? Because it costs twice as much fortune to recreate a golden lotus after losing it. It was like she had lost two Golden Lotuses of Fortune and Merit in one go.

That wasn’t the only problem. It had taken her decades to create two and a half Golden Lotuses of Fortune and Merit, and it would take decades more to recreate the golden lotus she just lost. Forget how much work it would take, she might not live long enough to enjoy the fruits of her work. Youth did not equal natural lifespan after all.

What this meant was this one punch had more or less snapped her royal road in half. How could she not resent him? How could she not hate?