Chapter 382 - 356: The Ten Gods
The 29th year of Yuan Jia.
After reuniting with his family for two days, Chen Li informed everyone that he was entering seclusion.
The reason was simple. While his trip to Nanjiang had been perilous, the rewards were astonishing.
The greatest of these rewards was not the dilapidated Little Grotto Heaven, nor was it subjugating Feng Suiyun, Hua Wuxin, and the others. It was the diary of the Seven Kills Ancestor.
When he first obtained the diary, Chen Li didn’t have high hopes for it.
’After all, what kind of respectable person keeps a diary?’
He assumed it was just an ordinary notebook where the Seven Kills Ancestor recorded daily trifles and sinister plots, likely containing little useful information.
However, as he studied it carefully on the way back to Lingxi, he was shocked to realize just how wrong he had been!
’This wasn’t a diary at all!’
It was clearly the lifelong Cultivation insights and secret lore left behind by an old monster!
Many of the insights and conjectures recorded within completely overturned Chen Li’s preconceptions about the Seven Kills Association, opening a new door of understanding for him.
To Chen Li, its value surpassed everything else.
By organizing and piecing together the scattered information in the journal, Chen Li gradually formed a clear picture of the history of the Seven Kills Association and the Seven Kills Ancestor.
The origins of the Seven Kills Association were lost to time; the journal only vaguely mentioned that it was founded by a figure from over a thousand years ago.
To Chen Li’s surprise, this assassination organization, which had been a persistent headache for Jiangzhou and even the Court, did not begin as a group of killers. Instead, they originally made their living through Astrology and Divination.
The so-called seven methods of killing—premeditated murder, assassination, robbery-murder, sport killing, death in combat, accidental killing, and manslaughter—which gave the terrifying Seven Kills Hall its name, were merely contrived labels. The Seven Kills Ancestor created them after re-establishing the Seven Kills Association as a far-fetched justification, a convenient cover for his true activities.
Its true core had always been one thing and one thing only.
The Seven Killings Life Chart.
The journal recounted that the founding ancestor of the Seven Kills Association, Ancestor Seven Kills, was an unparalleled powerhouse of shocking talent who had reached the Dharma Realm.
This Ancestor Seven Kills believed that among the Heaven and Earth Laws, Destiny reigned supreme.
Destiny itself was one of the fundamental Laws of heaven and earth.
From the astrological and divinatory arts passed down through the world, he glimpsed the profound use of the Ten Gods and, from them, blazed his own trail, comprehending a Law that was uniquely his: the Seven Kills Law.
The so-called Ten Gods are: Competition, Looted Wealth, Food God, Injuring Officer, Side Fortune, True Wealth, Seven Killings, True Official, Liaison Officer, and True Seal.
In the theories of Astrology, each of these symbolizes different interpersonal matters, temperaments, and fortunes.
And Seven Killings is one of these Ten Gods.
What is Seven Killings?
The "killing" here refers to an "evil qi."
The journal described the Seven Killings Formation in detail.
Seven Killings in the Year Pillar signifies ancestors dying young and a weak foundation.
Seven Killings in the Month Pillar signifies poor relations with siblings and a difficult marriage.
Seven Killings in the Day Pillar signifies a weak and sickly body, prone to unforeseen disasters.
Seven Killings in the Hour Pillar signifies a poor connection with one’s children and a miserable old age.
It is truly an inauspicious star that brings harm to one’s six closest relations.
However, the way of the heavens is to ebb and flow, taking from the surplus to supplement the deficit.
While having Seven Killings in one’s Life Chart is indeed ominous, Ancestor Seven Kills believed that precisely because this baleful star brought so much harm to a person, Destiny would provide extremely powerful compensation in other areas.
This could manifest as a tenacious will, decisiveness in killing, or perhaps extraordinary talent in fields like the Martial Dao, Magic, or strategy.
A person with the Seven Killings Formation possesses an extremely ominous evil qi. Though its name is grim, it is in fact a noble chart with the potential for greatness.
One only needs to "control the killing to make it useful, turning misfortune into fortune." By doing so, they can transform the Evil Qi into a tool for their own use and achieve a truly noble destiny.
Therefore, when Ancestor Seven Kills founded the sect, he established a rule.
All disciples had to possess the Seven Killings Life Chart.
As for himself, he possessed an exceptionally rare and fierce chart with Seven Killings in all four pillars. The baleful qi of his fate soared to the heavens.
Using this as his foundation, he poured his heart and soul into creating the peerless Seven Kills Heart Scripture.
In Chen Li’s view, the Cultivation method of the Seven Kills Heart Scripture was bizarre and cruel.
Even with the Seven Kills Ancestor’s notes and the Sixteen-Character Eight-Character Plate Book as references, it took Chen Li several days of repeated study to barely grasp its internal logic.
The opening of the Heart Sutra clearly stated its most core and fundamental Law.
"That which restrains me, and is of my same destiny—that is the Seven Killings."
This single, short sentence was the central tenet of the Seven Kills Heart Scripture.
The simplest interpretation is that, in terms of Destiny, a person who can restrain you but is also of your same kind is your "killing evil."
Finding and killing this person is to "shatter the evil."
After shattering the evil, you can plunder the Seven Kills Evil Qi contained within the victim’s Life Chart, turning it into sustenance for your own Cultivation. Your Cultivation will then advance by leaps and bounds.
The principle was proper control—making the evil serve you.
This was a nakedly cannibalistic path, built upon plundering the very source of others’ Life Charts.
It also explained why Peng Anmin and the others could cultivate at such a bizarrely fast speed without needing large amounts of Medicinal Cuisine.
The foundation of their Cultivation was never the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, but the destined luck of others.
According to the Seven Kills Ancestor’s conjecture, by continuously finding and devouring those with the Seven Killings profile who restrained his own Life Chart, he could accumulate Seven Kills Evil Qi.
When the accumulated Seven Kills Evil Qi and his comprehension of the "restraining me" rule reached a certain peak, he would be able to completely master the Seven Kills Law and become a Dharma Realm Powerhouse.
He even proposed an almost fanatical deduction in his notes.
Seven Killings was merely one of the Ten Gods.
If he could use Seven Killings as a base to gradually comprehend and master the Laws of the other Ten Gods, perhaps he could glimpse the true face of the Destiny Law.
At that point, he could ascend to the Dao Realm, a state that existed only in legends, a realm that even Dharma Powerhouses could only look up to in awe.
Only then did Chen Li finally understand why the Seven Kills Ancestor had spared no effort to search for people who possessed the Seven Killings Life Chart.
The story of this Seven Kills Ancestor, the very one Chen Li had slain, could be considered a legend in its own right.
He was born into poverty. His parents died young, leaving him orphaned and alone. He could only struggle to survive at the bottom of society, fighting with stray dogs for food and brawling with local thugs.
Later, relying on his ruthlessness and cunning, he joined a small local gang called the Xinghe Bang, starting from the very bottom as a grunt.
Within the gang, he clawed his way up. He was daring and fought hard, and he knew how to read people. Gradually, he began to distinguish himself, eventually rising step by step to the position of Hall Master.
What made him even more complacent was his success in marrying the Xinghe Bang’s Leader’s only daughter. For a time, his prestige was unmatched, and it seemed he was the gang’s designated successor.
But Destiny’s mockery came without warning.
A mere seven months after their wedding, his wife gave birth to a son.
Having seen his fair share of filth, how could the Seven Kills Ancestor not understand what this meant?
He had been thoroughly cuckolded, made into a complete and utter fool.
There could be no greater humiliation.
But at that time, his own power was not yet established and his strength was lacking. Facing his Gang Leader father-in-law, he knew that resistance was as futile as an egg smashing against a rock.
So, he chose to endure it. And he endured for seven long years.
Seven years of plotting.
He used every means at his disposal to secretly develop his own power base, befriending dissatisfied elders, bribing key figures, and even going so far as to secretly collude with rival gangs.
Finally, on a dark and windy night, he assassinated the Gang Leader with lightning speed. Immediately after, he personally dealt with his wife and that "son" who was not his own, seizing control of the entire Xinghe Bang in one fell swoop.
Unfortunately, though he was calculating and ruthless, his own Cultivation was decidedly mediocre.
The Xinghe Bang was just a third-rate gang in a single commandery. The former Gang Leader’s Cultivation had only been at the Spirit Realm Second Level Profound Acupoint Level, and the Cultivation Technique he passed down was crude and incomplete.
What the Seven Kills Ancestor had learned at the time was a disorganized jumble, patched together from various sources. His strength was by no means top-tier among his peers.
Having seized power so suddenly, he couldn’t possibly suppress the restless factions both inside and outside the gang.
Soon, under the combined pressure of surrounding rival gangs, the Xinghe Bang collapsed. He himself was forced to flee in a panic, like a dog that had lost its home.
Hunted by his enemies, he lived in constant fear, never knowing if he would see the next day.
On one occasion, forced into a desolate mountain wasteland, he fled blindly into a hidden cave. There, he unexpectedly discovered a skeleton, long dead from meditative cultivation, its age impossible to determine.
Beside the skeleton, he found a complete set of inheritance texts: the Seven Kills Heart Scripture, the Seven Kills Saber Technique, the Seven Fiends God-Seizing Skill, and the Sixteen-Character Eight-Character Plate Book.
Using the plate book to calculate his own Life Chart, he was thrilled to discover that he was a person born with the Seven Killings Life Chart.
This was a perfect match for the requirements of the Seven Kills Heart Scripture.
Compared to the crude and inferior techniques of the Xinghe Bang, this complete and systematic inheritance was undoubtedly a supreme treasure.
He didn’t hesitate for a moment, deciding on the spot to switch his cultivation to the Seven Kills Heart Scripture.
Perhaps because his Life Chart was a natural fit, his transition to the new technique was smoother than he could have ever imagined. In just three months, he successfully converted his foundation, and his Cultivation even improved significantly as a result.
Having gotten his first taste of the Divine Skill’s power, he began to painstakingly study the Sixteen-Character Eight-Character Plate Book. Using it as his guide, he disguised himself as a Jianghu Sorcerer and began to wander.
His goal was by no means to tell fortunes or avert disasters for others, but to find people who possessed the Seven Killings Life Chart—and whose Life Charts specifically restrained his own.
Once he found them, he would kill them and seize their evil qi.
Relying on this bizarre Cultivation Technique, he drifted through the Jianghu for eighteen years. His Cultivation soared, and he broke through to the Spirit Realm Fourth Level, becoming a Divine Hall Grandmaster.
However, the higher his Cultivation became, the more vast and pure the Seven Kills Evil Qi he needed to absorb.
Relying on himself alone to aimlessly search for and hunt down the "restraining" life chart holders was becoming less and less efficient. It was like finding a needle in a haystack.
Moreover, the strength of the life chart holder themselves also seemed to affect the quality of the Evil Qi.
The boost to his Cultivation from the Evil Qi of a commoner with no cultivation was worlds apart from that of an accomplished Martial Artist.
And so, a vast and sinister plan took shape in his mind.
Rebuild the Seven Kills Association.
Instead of exhausting himself searching for them, it would be better to gather them all in one place, fatten them up, and then harvest them.
He gathered people with the Seven Killings Life Chart from all over the world, taught them the Entry-level Chapters of the Seven Kills Heart Scripture, and had them cultivate to increase their strength.
At the same time, he secretly recorded everyone’s detailed birth date and time, constantly calculating and comparing to screen for the "sustenance"—those whose Life Charts restrained his own.
The entire Seven Kills Association, one could say, was essentially a farm he had established for his own Cultivation.
In its early days, the Seven Kills Association was not based in Jiangzhou. Instead, he chose remote borderlands like the Southwest and Northwest where the Court’s control was relatively weak. It developed in secret and expanded with incredible speed.
The Seven Kills Ancestor’s Cultivation rose accordingly. He successfully broke through the pass, reached the Guiyuan stage, and achieved the Grandmaster Realm.
The Law of the Seven Killings Life Chart had even manifested within his Primordial Spirit. He was just one step away from something Magic-Related, lacking only the accumulation of Primordial Qi.
But the heavens are unpredictable.
Eighteen years ago, the Yunzhou Opium case erupted, shaking the Court and the nation.
Because of its involvement in smuggling and selling Opium, the Seven Kills Association was listed as a primary target by the Court and suffered a devastating blow.
The association’s members were almost completely wiped out, and decades of work were nearly destroyed overnight.
The Seven Kills Ancestor relied on his Grandmaster Cultivation to escape with a few trusted disciples, fleeing thousands of miles away.