Chapter 184 - 183: Golden Immortal Beast (3)
Lin Yuan stepped completely through the illusionary rock, and Jin Rou hurriedly followed him into the cavern beyond.
The interior of the cave was breathtaking. It was bathed in a warm, pulsing, golden light that completely banished the oppressive gloom of the pocket realm.
Resting in the center of the cavern was the Golden Immortal Beast.
It was a magnificent, and beautiful creature. It resembled a Qilin, covered entirely in thick scales of gold. Arcs of crackling golden lightning danced continuously across its muscular flanks. But its most striking feature was the single, jagged horn protruding from its forehead, forged from gleaming silver.
"The silver horn," Jin Rou whispered proudly, bowing deeply as they approached the majestic creature. "It is the indication of their rank. The silver iron signifies that this beast has achieved Rank 5. Only a Rank 8 beast possesses the legendary Celestial Jade horn."
As Lin Yuan stepped closer, a strange, profound phenomenon occurred.
A heavy, incredibly potent spiritual pressure rolled off the beast. It was not a hostile attack, but an intent. Lin Yuan suddenly felt a strange, deeply buried compulsion welling up in him, a subtle urge to drop to his knees and worship the creature.
Lin Yuan’s eyes narrowed, his own intent immediately flaring to crush the invasive compulsion.
Such powerful cultivation this beast must possess, Lin Yuan thought, genuinely impressed. To passively force thoughts of worship into the mind of a Spirit Severing cultivator....
He looked at the creature, finally understanding the true tragedy of the Golden Diting Province.
If only Golden Diting was a province blessed with high-grade spiritual veins and filled with enormous, ambient Qi like the upper provinces of the Central Continent, its cultivators would undoubtedly be at the Spirit Severing realm and above, not merely stalled at the Nascent Soul stage!
Furthermore, the cruelest irony of all was that the Golden Diting cultivators couldn’t even make use of their own beasts’ ability to refine Immortal Energy. To safely absorb and utilize Immortal Energy as a catalyst to force one’s cultivation required a cultivator to be, at the very least, at the Profound Stage (Sixth Step) of Dao Resolve. Because of this harsh reality, even with the Golden Immortal Beasts at their absolute disposal, the Golden Diting cultivators were not as individually profound as the elites of the Upper Division.
But that did not mean the province was looked down upon in the outside world. One needed to think twice, and then a third time, before daring to cross paths with the Golden Diting Province. With Rank 8 Golden Immortal Beasts residing in their ancestral halls—beasts that possessed raw martial prowess entirely equal to actual Soul Transformation experts—going to war with it was tantamount to going to war with an Upper Division province.
Lin Yuan’s gaze shifted to the back of the cavern.
Laying in the shadows, carefully wrapped in layers of white silk, was a massive, unmoving shape.
It was the corpse of a dead golden Immortal Beast. Its golden scales were dull and flaking, and a horrific, gaping hole had been violently carved into its chest, its precious core entirely missing.
"I found it three days ago," Jin Rou said, his voice breaking as he looked at the corpse. "It belonged to my martial sister. The Chu cultivators killed her beast, took the core, and left the carcass to rot in the mud. I took the corpse and brought it here. I dropped it in this cavern... it is a sign of respect to the immortal beast."
Lin Yuan then walked towards the beast corpse and with a flick of his wrist, an empty jade slip appeared in his palm. He channeled a thread of Qi into the artifact, executing a flawless visual record. He captured the image of the dead beast, specifically focusing on the violently harvested chest. It was irrefutable proof of the capital crime.
Lin Yuan pocketed the jade slip and turned to face Jin Rou.
"Jin Rou," Lin Yuan said. "I have a favor to ask of you."
Jin Rou stood up straight, wiping his eyes. "Anything, Senior Lin."
Lin Yuan nodded and continued, "I want a complete record of your soul memory from the past five days."
Jin Rou froze, the color completely draining from his face.
He understood Lin Yuan’s intentions immediately. Lin Yuan wanted to use the memory of the chase, the torture, and the admission of Chu Ying regarding Chu Kuang’s direct orders as a weapon.
But if Jin Rou handed over that memory, he was providing the exact evidence needed to condemn the Chu Province. If Chu Kuang discovered this betrayal, he would instantly crush the soul blood of every captive Golden Diting cultivator. Jin Rou would be indirectly signing the death warrants of his own beloved martial brothers.
The internal conflict was agonizing. Jin Rou looked at the ground, his body shaking with the impossible weight of the decision. To protect his brothers, he had to remain silent. But to remain silent was to allow Chu Kuang to continue butchering their sacred beasts and holding them all hostage forever.
Then, Jin Rou remembered a saying: ’He who accepts the grace of a saved life, and refuses to offer the blade required to protect another, is a man whose Dao Heart is already dead.’
Lin Yuan had saved him. Lin Yuan might even have the power to stop Chu Kuang. The absolute least Jin Rou could do was provide the ammunition.
Senior Lin saved my life. If I cannot even offer this much in return, then what meaning does my survival have?
Jin Rou closed his eyes, and reached up, pressing two fingers to his own temple. He grit his teeth, enduring the agonizing, sickening sensation of forcefully extracting a raw chunk of his own spiritual sea. He pulled his fingers away, drawing out a glowing, silvery strand of pure memory.
He retrieved a blank jade slip from his robes, infused the memory into the stone, and held it out to Lin Yuan. His hand was shaking, but his eyes were resolute.
"Take it," Jin Rou whispered.
Lin Yuan took the jade slip. He could feel the heavy, tragic weight of the trust placed within them.
He now possessed two jade slips. One contained the undeniable image of a murdered Golden Immortal Beast, its core brutally harvested from its chest. The other contained the explicit and irrefutable soul memory of Chu Kuang’s involvement in a crime punishable by death.
Two pieces of evidence.
Two causes.
And Lin Yuan understood the law of karma better than most.
"There is a cause, and there is an effect. What is planted today will inevitably bear fruit tomorrow."
His meeting with Jin Rou had not been an accident.
He had saved Jin Rou’s life.
That act had created a cause.
Jin Rou had repaid that grace by giving him these two jade slips.
That had become the effect.
But the chain of karma did not end there.
Lin Yuan looked at the trembling Jin Rou.
These jade slips could expose Chu Kuang.
They could shake the Chu Province.
They could even determine whether the Golden Diting cultivators whose soul blood are with Chu Kuang lived or died.
That was the next cause.
And whatever effect followed would now fall upon Lin Yuan.
The ancient cultivators had a saying: "One cannot escape karma by closing one’s eyes. What belongs to the heavens will return to the heavens, and what belongs to man will eventually return to man."
Lin Yuan had never believed that karma meant sitting helplessly beneath Heaven and waiting for fate to decide everything.
Karma was a chain.
A cultivator could either allow that chain to drag him forward, or he could grasp it with his own hands and decide where it ended.
Lin Yuan slowly closed his fingers around the two jade slips.
"Jin Rou."
The Golden Diting cultivator raised his head.
Lin Yuan’s voice was calm.
"I will use everything within my power to ensure that your martial brothers do not die because of this."
Jin Rou’s pupils trembled.
"Senior Lin..."
"I saved your life," Lin Yuan continued. "That was the cause. You gave me these two jade slips. That became the effect. Now the lives of your people have become the next cause."
His gaze became firm.
"And I will decide the effect."
Lin Yuan looked toward the entrance of the cavern, his deep purple eyes carrying a cold and unwavering light.
"I will not allow Chu Kuang to kill them."
His expression gradually hardened, "And since I have already accepted this karma..."
Lin Yuan placed the jade slips away.
"...then I will see it through to the end!"
His voice carried the weight of an unbreakable Dao Heart.
"I will not allow the cause I planted to end in the death of innocent people."
Jin Rou stared at him in silence. And for the first time since entering the battlefield, the fear in his heart began to fade.
"If one plants a flower, one may wait for its fragrance. If one plants thorns, one must be prepared to bleed," Jin Rou murmured, understanding the thoughts behind Lin Yuan decision.