Chapter 71: The River of Destiny
“Essence: 12.01, Vitality: 12.01, Spirit: 12.01; Fortune: 597, Merit: 153,210, Karmic Debt: 53,310.”
Immersed in cultivating the Divine Elephant’s Strength Art, Lu Sheng suddenly felt a stirring in his heart. As he regained his senses, he saw that the Ruyi, which had just lost contact, once again manifested its data in his mind.
“It seems… brighter than before—”
“It must have recovered significantly!”
Gazing at the slightly more radiant phantom of Ruyi within his consciousness, Lu Sheng mused in his heart. Yet what truly concerned him was what new power Ruyi had gained after absorbing the Dao resonance from the Divine Elephant Crossing the River Painting.
Focusing his mind on the six sets of data, Lu Sheng soon discerned which ability had changed:
“Fortune—”
“It can now be influenced through merit and karmic debt, affecting the fortune of living beings!”
“So this is Ruyi’s new ability?”
Lu Sheng’s understanding of fortune itself was not particularly deep. He only knew that it grew with one’s strength and could be converted into merit.
However, once fortune was consumed, it could trigger unforeseeable consequences—
Out of this concern, Lu Sheng, though he frequently used merit and karmic debt, had never touched his own fortune!
“What exactly does fortune do?”
“And what is the true nature of the Divine Elephant Crossing the River Painting? Why did Ruyi unlock this ability after absorbing its Dao resonance?”
Lost in thought, Lu Sheng became even more curious about the painting.
According to his conjecture, Ruyi was most likely to absorb Dao resonance related to strength, yet it turned out to be fortune!
With this in mind, he commanded in his consciousness,
“Ruyi, comprehend the Divine Elephant Crossing the River Painting!”
Instantly, a mysterious sensation washed over him—Lu Sheng felt as though he had become a divine elephant, appearing within a vast, ever-flowing river imbued with a subtle and profound aura.
The current of this river was not swift—one could even call it slow—but within it was a mighty force that pushed the divine elephant forward.
Yet, this immensely powerful elephant refused to simply drift along.
In the end, by virtue of its unmatched strength and unwavering will, it not only steadied itself amidst the current, but step by step, it walked out of that great river.
———
“So this—”
“Is the true meaning of the Divine Elephant Crossing the River Painting?”
After a long while, Lu Sheng finally emerged from the profound state imparted by the painting. Unbeknownst to him, two streams of tears had fallen from his eyes.
“The source of life, the trajectory of life, and the destination of life—”
“This is the river of fate, formed by the destinies of all living beings!”
Recalling that moment in the river, the sense of returning to his mother’s embrace, Lu Sheng immediately understood—
The river crossed by the divine elephant was no ordinary river; it was the boundless river of fate, woven from the destinies of all living beings.
Thinking of the indistinct silhouettes within the waters, and the droplets that gathered and scattered, ceaselessly born and perishing… Lu Sheng comprehended fully:
“This is the vision of a divine elephant breaking free from the river of fate—”
“A scene witnessed by others and left imprinted for posterity!”
“No wonder the Dao resonance within allowed Ruyi to awaken its power over fortune!”
Fate and fortune—though he did not yet fully grasp the relationship between the two, Lu Sheng could sense that:
In this world, the river of fate was also the river of fortune;
The fortune of each living being was in truth the manifestation of their origin;
Thus, the stronger the being, the greater its fortune—and as its strength grew, so too did its fortune.
When fortune—or rather, one’s origin—became sufficiently formidable, it could break free from the river of fate, just as the divine elephant had.
———
“To break free from the river of fate and take full control of one’s destiny—”
“What manner of existence was this divine elephant, to possess such power?”
Recalling the scene he had just experienced—the divine elephant transcending the river of fate—Lu Sheng’s heart brimmed with boundless curiosity.
To his knowledge, even the greatest grandmasters had never displayed abilities related to fate.
The divine elephant that escaped the river of fate was clearly far beyond their level!
“Though the foundational methods of the Divine Elephant’s Strength Art have spread widely in the Western Regions, legends regarding the divine elephant itself are actually quite rare—”
“In this world, the only thing possibly connected to the Divine Elephant Crossing the River Painting would be the Divine Ruins!”
To transcend the river of fate, Lu Sheng thought, only a divine being could achieve such a feat. And of all matters related to the divine in this world—and accessible to ordinary people—there was only the Divine Ruins.
“Yet, it’s said the Divine Elephant’s Strength Art was passed down from ancient times, for at least ten thousand years—”
“Whereas the Divine Ruins were only opened by the Void Ancestor a little over a millennium ago!”
“There seems to be no direct connection between the two!”
The basic method of the Divine Elephant’s Strength Art had been circulating in the Western Regions for at least ten millennia, long before the Divine Ruins were opened by the Void Ancestor—
Thus, this painting could not have been obtained within the Divine Ruins.
Which only deepened Lu Sheng’s confusion about its origins.
———
“There’s also the true meaning of the Divine Elephant Crossing the River Painting, which I’ve now perceived—but where is the Divine Elephant’s Strength Art hidden within it?”
With that thought, Lu Sheng commanded,
“Ruyi, comprehend the Divine Elephant’s Strength Art!”
At once, a profound and abstruse cultivation method, distinct from any familiar language, surfaced in his mind:
“So, this is where it was concealed!”
Sensing the information forcibly appended to the divine elephant within the painting, Lu Sheng finally understood the origin of the Divine Elephant’s Strength Art:
“According to the records here, the Divine Elephant Crossing the River Painting was discovered in the sea.”
“Because it was impervious to fire and water, indestructible, it was regarded as a rare treasure and collected.”
“Later, through many hands, the painting found its way to a person with the bloodline of the divine elephant.”
“He comprehended a trace of enlightenment from it, and from the patterns on the divine elephant in the painting, he developed the Divine Elephant’s Strength Art.”
“Afterwards, because of the painting’s indestructible nature, this person meticulously imprinted the insights he had gained, fusing the Divine Elephant’s Strength Art into the painting—”
“Thus turning the Divine Elephant Crossing the River Painting into the sacred heirloom of the Divine Elephant’s Strength Art!”
It seemed that what Shi Ying called ‘grasping the true meaning of the Divine Elephant Crossing the River Painting’ and mastering the Divine Elephant’s Strength Art was precisely this.
After all, without Ruyi’s help, Lu Sheng would never have realized that the seemingly ordinary river in the painting was actually the river of fate!
———
“The Divine Elephant’s Strength Art, aside from the widely spread foundational practice in the Western Regions, actually has thirteen layers in total.”
“The first layer forges the entire body, granting the strength of one elephant at its peak.”
“This level does not require the divine elephant’s bloodline—anyone who acquires the method has a chance to master it—”
“No wonder Shi Ying passed it on to Shi Yin Jian, and why I, too, could cultivate it so easily!”
Reflecting on the contents of the Divine Elephant’s Strength Art, Lu Sheng thought silently.
The strength of one elephant equaled twelve thousand five hundred catties. Even the most accomplished martial artists rarely surpassed this at their peak.
Yet, this was far from the true limit of the Divine Elephant’s Strength Art at the martial artist’s stage!
“If one possesses the bloodline of the divine elephant, their body can be further refined to reach the strength of two elephants—”
“Twice that of an ordinary martial artist!”
This, Lu Sheng realized, was why cultivating the Divine Elephant’s Strength Art required the bloodline of the divine elephant.