Unlimited priesthood

Chapter 168 Fate
Let's leave other people's affairs aside for now.

Shen He came and went in a hurry, returning to Yulong Island with a full load of goods.

"Master!"

Inside the cave, the sword light dissipated, revealing the figures of two people.

Seeing the familiar surroundings, Zhong Yuxiu quickly realized what was happening and hurriedly went to Shen He, looking at his graying temples: "Master, how did you become like this?"

Shen He smiled and sat down: "The loss of life essence caused by cultivation is nothing to worry about, as your master has a method of self-cultivation and life preservation. It will recover in a while, so there is no need to worry."

"This……"

Hearing his words, Zhong Yuxiu was still worried. After all, she was no longer the ignorant girl who had lived in the deep palace for a long time and had just entered the world of cultivation.

But as a disciple, she couldn't argue with Shen He's words, so she could only take out the storage bag and say, "Master, Xiu'er has obtained quite a few spiritual herbs in that mysterious realm. Perhaps they can help you recuperate your life force!"

"Oh?"

Shen He took the storage bag, opened it, and saw that it was full of dazzling items, including many fourth and fifth-grade spiritual herbs, and even dozens of jade boxes of extraordinary quality, containing spiritual herbs that were probably sixth or even seventh grade.

"I understand your intentions."

Shen He shook his head and handed the storage bag back to her: "But my alchemy skills are limited, and I am unable to refine these high-grade spiritual herbs into pills."

"No need to form an elixir!"

Zhong Yuxiu added, "Taking it directly also has effects."

"Foolish child, how can you waste such precious resources?"

Shen He shook his head: "I know you are worried, but I do have a way to restore my life essence on its own. If you don't believe me, then wait and see, but you must not act rashly."

Hearing his words, Zhong Yuxiu relaxed a little and looked at him timidly: "Really?"

Shen He smiled and gently stroked her hand: "When have I ever lied to you?"

It must be said that Zhong Yuxiu's background and childhood experiences have caused her considerable psychological trauma, making her even more afraid of loss, and even shaking her trust in her master.

Fortunately, it was only a slight wavering. Seeing his composure, Zhong Yuxiu felt relieved, but still pushed the storage bag out: "These spiritual herbs can also be the icing on the cake. Master can keep them as reserves, or replant them, for the future..."

"No!"

Shen He shook his head and refused: "These are your destiny and opportunities, I cannot accept them."

"Destiny or opportunity?"

Zhong Yuxiu was taken aback, her face showing confusion.

Shen He didn't play coy and directly told her about the Three Heroes and Two Beauties.

Destiny!

Disaster!

fate!

In a previous conversation with Nan Haidi, Shen He said that he was a rustic man who did not know the ways of the world, which was entirely a deliberate attempt to hide his incompetence.

He knew very well what "the Way of Heaven" was.

Because the human empire conducted extremely in-depth research on this and derived a mature and credible theoretical result.

According to the research of the human empire, the so-called Heavenly Way is the collective subconsciousness of all things in the universe and all living beings in the world.

Taoism calls it the Way of Heaven, Buddhism calls it Alaya-vijnana, while the human empire defines it as planetary consciousness, stellar consciousness, and the highest level of cosmic consciousness.

The reason for this division is that the Heavenly Dao, as the aggregate of all things and beings, has already begun to show its power at the "planet" level.

All things, all living beings and spirits, are part of the Way of Heaven and are within its system. However, generally speaking, individuals cannot mobilize the power of the Way of Heaven; they can only influence its course at the collective level.

To use a more vivid analogy, a planet is like a company, and everything and every life on the planet is a shareholder of this company. Their shares constitute the "Heavenly Board of Directors".

However, most shareholders, because they hold too few shares, cannot influence the company's direction on their own. They can only unite with other shareholders to increase their shareholding to a certain level in order to have an impact on the company and the board of directors.

The so-called destiny, calamity, and fate are, in essence, a way of aggregating "shares".

The reason why the orthodox Xuanmen sect, led by Taiyuan Qixiu, vigorously promoted the divine mandate prophecy of the "Three Heroes and Two Outstanding Talents" was to condense the fortune in this way, so that the "shares" of the Three Heroes and Two Outstanding Talents would be greater than all others, and they would become the chairmen of the "Taiyuan Company".

In this way, they can mobilize the power of the Taiyuan Heavenly Dao to the maximum extent and use it to fight against the demonic path and the Demon Heavenly Array from outside the realm.

This is destiny!
The Mandate of Heaven does not actually exist; rather, it is the result of human intervention and human creation.

Just like the destined spirit masters in the world of spirit masters, their destiny is created through public opinion and other means, rather than a destiny that truly existed from the beginning.

This is only natural. The kind of destiny that exists from the very beginning and is destined to be achieved can only be created by the "Heavenly Way" at the level of the vast world and the universe.

Because creating such an existence requires deducing the past and future, and without the vast world and a cosmic status, there simply isn't enough power to deduce it.

Therefore, the true chosen ones are only those who exist within the vast universe and the Heavenly Dao.

As for the Heavenly Dao of planets at the Lesser Thousand level and the Heavenly Dao of star domains at the Middle Thousand level, because the world's power is insufficient and the "intelligence" of the Heavenly Dao is not very high, the so-called Chosen One can only be created through artificial means.

This gives you a lot of room to maneuver.

In a vast world where the Heavenly Dao is supremely powerful and highly intelligent, if you dare to oppose the Chosen One, the Heavenly Dao will immediately show you what the malice of the entire world is. Misfortune is nothing compared to this; a more direct approach might result in being struck by lightning or even having a meteorite fall and kill you.

In such a world, unless you possess considerable power, going against the chosen one is tantamount to courting death; Heaven will never tolerate you.

However, in worlds at the Lesser Thousand or Middle Thousand level, the Chosen One wouldn't receive such treatment. The manifestation of the Heavenly Dao there is less pronounced, and its intelligence is generally lower. With proper manipulation, not only could one not oppose the Chosen One, but one could even seize the Heavenly Mandate itself. Shen He had done just that in the Spirit Control World. Leveraging the achievements of the Martial Kingdom and his final "live broadcast" method, he successfully obtained the Spirit Control Mandate, becoming the first Spirit Control World member to possess all nine Heavenly Mandates.

If the Spirit World can do it, so can the Taiyuan World. As long as he can suppress the righteous and evil paths, the Xuanmen and the Demonic Sect, he can completely turn the "Three Heroes and Two Outstanding Talents" into a single outstanding talent, replacing them as the chosen ones.

He just didn't have that intention.

After all, time is of the essence now, and the Demon Heaven Formation is watching us from the outside. If Shen He were to start another battle for destiny, he could very well fail and allow the Demon Cloud Prince from outside the realm to reap the benefits.

Furthermore, as the current Middle Thousand World and the former Great Thousand World, Taiyuan's Heavenly Dao is not entirely incompetent. Although the matter of the "Three Heroes and Two Outstanding Talents" has a hint of being ordained, it may not be without cause and effect, or destiny.

After all, Zhong Yuxiu, one of the two beauties, is his disciple and is under his protection in this blessed land of Yulong Island. How could a righteous sect of Xuanmen, far away overseas, produce such a divine prophecy as "Three Heroes and Two Beauties"?

Perhaps a bit of "divine secret" has indeed been revealed!
Therefore, this time Shen He does not intend to be the chosen one again, but plans to go with the flow and become the teacher of the chosen one, to help Zhong Yuxiu and the other chosen ones to fight against the great calamity of the demonic heaven.

However, this is only one possible solution; it can be relied upon but not completely. A second solution is necessary for a more secure outcome.

Shen He's second-line plan was to do it himself.

As a player with exceptional abilities, even without divine intervention, Shen He has the confidence to break through the tribulation.

The premise is that he is given enough time and resources to develop.

Therefore, Shen He not only had to support his disciple, but he also had to seize resources.

We must adopt a two-pronged approach and grasp both aspects simultaneously!
To be honest, this is quite difficult. After all, destiny also needs resources. If you seize resources, you are seizing destiny, which may ultimately affect the strength of destiny.

But if Shenhe doesn't compete for resources, how can it maintain its strength?

It's a bit contradictory, but it's not difficult to resolve; you just need to find a balance.

Moreover, Shen He can "strengthen the strong first and then strengthen the weak." If handled properly, the destiny of these three heroes and two outstanding talents will not only not be reduced, but will be strengthened instead.

and so……

"Three heroes and two outstanding talents?"

"Heavenly Mandate to Break the Demon?"

Shen He recounted the whole story, leaving Zhong Yuxiu stunned and deeply shocked.

After a long pause, she finally processed the information and looked at Shen He with suspicion and uncertainty: "So, my whole ordeal, and that Xuanpo Sword, were all arranged by someone else?"

"You can say that."

Shen He nodded: "But you don't need to take it to heart. This is the will of Heaven to favor you. Even if there was a plan, it was not malicious, nor was it a conspiracy."

"That's what I said..."

Zhong Yuxiu frowned: "But it's still a bit uncomfortable to have your life arranged for you like this."

"what!"

Shen He smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing: "Saving others is also saving yourself. When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact. You have this destiny to resist the demonic calamity, which is a fortunate thing!"

"I understand Master's teachings!"

Zhong Yuxiu also felt relieved: "Then what should the disciple do next?"

Shen He smiled and said, "Once the matter of the Xuanxiao Sect is settled, you should go to the Xuanxu Secret Realm to meet with the righteous people. Bring these spiritual herbs with you. They have a master alchemist who can make spiritual pills for you to improve your cultivation."

"Yes!"

Zhong Yuxiu nodded, but hesitated slightly: "What if they want me to become their disciple?"

Shen He chuckled as before: "Since ancient times, those who have achieved success have always been the first to act as teachers. What's wrong with that? Since we have inherited the cause and effect and the lineage, it's no harm to pay our respects."

"This is!"

Zhong Yuxiu hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded. What she was thinking was unknown.

Shen He didn't say much: "Now that you have received the Xuanpo Sword's recognition as your master, it means that destiny requires you to use this sword to defeat the demons. I can't teach you the Demon-Slaying Sword Technique anymore, lest I have to learn too much at once. From now on, you should focus on cultivating the Xuanpo Sword and the Xuantian Sword Technique."

"Yes!"

Zhong Yuxiu agreed, her tone clearly disappointed.

"Go."

Shen He saw it all, but said nothing, only telling her to leave.

"Disciple retire!"

Zhong Yuxiu had no choice but to obey and leave.

After she left, Shen He waved his hand, and many objects appeared.

This is the result of this battle!

He did not take advantage of Zhong Yuxiu's opportunity.

But as for my own spoils, there's no need to be polite.

Next up is the much-anticipated unboxing.

　One more update before midnight.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)