To be infinitely close but never absolutely correct, the uncertainty principle, the idea that fate is not fixed—this is one of the fundamental laws of Fate Skills.
Li Qingxian pondered, ’When in doubt, turn to Fate Skills and Astrology?’
Li Qingxian realized the crux of the problem.
A fundamental law was an unchangeable truth, an unshakable rule within Fate Skills.
Even for the most powerful Fate Masters, when they used the Qi Observation Skill, the Qi Fortune they saw was nothing more than a hazy, gaseous substance.
As for the Life Mansion and Fate Grid, no one could see them; they could only be inferred through brute-force calculation.
But Li Qingxian could.
’Does this mean I’ve shattered a fundamental law?’
’No, I’m *controlling* a fundamental law!’
Li Qingxian’s heart burned with excitement.
’The Life Book also says that ancient Fate Masters believed the true path of cultivation was the Visualization Life Mansion technique. But because Fate Masters couldn’t actually visualize their Life Mansions, they switched to visualizing Life Artifacts instead. But it seems... I can.’
Mind Guarding Spirit Platform!
The Thunder Dragon Fire Seal hung high in the void, lightning leaping and flames roiling across its surface.
Wisps of faint white Magical Power, like flying serpents, darted around and condensed, with the Thunder Dragon Fire Seal at their core.
Taking it a step further: Mind Guarding Life Mansion!
BOOM!
Li Qingxian felt the world roar, the sound deafening.
In the depths of the endless void, a pinpoint of light suddenly exploded, spewing forth an infinite, magnificent radiance that soared across the heavens and flowed through the ages.
It was like the creation of the universe, a cosmic big bang.
An instant later, the streams of light converged, gathered, and intertwined to form...
A thatched cottage.
Li Qingxian was dumbfounded.
He focused intently on the Mind Guarding Life Mansion technique.
Yes, it was a small wooden cabin, floating alone in the pitch-black void.
Its walls were made of yellow wood, its roof of white thatch.
’This is a Life Mansion? Wasn’t Ye Han’s a magnificent palace of gold bricks and jade tiles, with vermilion pillars and crimson beams?’
’Why do I get a run-down hut? I’d be better off with a grave mound.’
Li Qingxian suddenly fell silent.
’Considering I’ve already died once, a thatched cottage is actually not bad.’
’At least it’s better than starting out with a grave mound.’
Li Qingxian observed his surroundings and found that his consciousness had no form. It was like a point, too small for the naked eye to see, that could observe everything here and move about freely.
The small, wood-gated courtyard was paved with coarse, cyan stone slabs. In its center was a pool made of black stone, and within the pool stood a gray-white, man-high rockery.
The rockery was shaped like an elegant, solitary peak. If magnified, it would surely be a famous mountain, acclaimed by poets and Scholars alike.
The pool was made of white stone with random black patterns, and its water was so clear you could see the bottom.
A few inch-long, translucent white fish swam languidly within it.
’This is...’ Li Qingxian stared at the little white fish, sensing the aura of Qi Fortune from them.
’Formed from Qi Fortune, and the number matches up.’
Above the edge of the courtyard floated a white cloud, about the size of a single bed.
’This must be the Life Cloud. Legend has it that for some people born with great fortune, their innate Destiny Stars are too powerful to enter the Life Mansion before they’ve matured, so the stars rest on the Life Cloud instead. However, innate Destiny Stars on a Life Cloud are also easily stolen.’
Li Qingxian "walked" to the front of the wooden cabin, and the door slowly swung outward.
The interior of the cabin was warm and bright. The wooden plank walls had a natural grain, and the hard-packed, yellow-earth floor was perfectly flat.
Three steps in from the door lay a large, square slab of white stone, raised half an inch from the floor. The slab was divided into nine perfectly square, neat grids—a Nine Palaces grid.
Excluding the center square, the eight surrounding grids formed an Eight Trigrams pattern.
With the trigram for Heaven at the top and Earth at the bottom, it was a Primal Eight Trigrams Map.
A black stone pillar stood in each of the three grids in the top row. The middle row was empty. In the bottom row, another black stone pillar stood in the center grid.
The pillars were half a man’s height, a pure, unadorned black.
Based on the knowledge of Fate Skills he had learned, Li Qingxian determined that the Nine Palaces grid and the Eight Trigrams on the white slab constituted the Life Land.
The four pillars on the Life Land were the Life Pillars.
According to the theories of Fate Skills, Destiny Stars should be floating above the Life Pillars...
Above the four Life Pillars... was nothing.
Li Qingxian fell silent.
’What happened to my "great and noble" Fate Grid?’
’What happened to my incredibly auspicious birth chart? Is it gone again?’
’Even an ordinary person has at least one Destiny Star influencing their entire life.’
’Even without a Celestial Destiny Star, many people can still form a Human Destiny Star.’
’But there’s nothing here.’
Li Qingxian glared at the Life Pillars in dissatisfaction, then peered into the depths of the wooden cabin.
It was pitch black.
Unwilling to give up, Li Qingxian searched everywhere.
Some rare individuals not only had normal Destiny Stars on their Life Pillars, but also Hidden Destiny Stars.
But alas, he found nothing.
’Looks like I’m part of the majority after all. That’s a good thing. Freaks are the ones in the minority,’ Li Qingxian silently consoled himself.
’Now that I’ve seen my Life Mansion, there are two things I need to do. First, cultivate my Fate Skills. Second, find a way to get a Destiny Star, place it on one of my Life Pillars, and enhance my Fate Grid.’
Li Qingxian thought of the Fate Measuring Sect’s *Life-Hunting Technique*.
The annotations for the *Life-Hunting Technique* praised it to the high heavens, claiming it was the most powerful Fate Skill ever developed by the Fate Measuring Sect, created by expending the entire sect’s Qi Fortune on inference.
And yet... no one used it.
The *Life-Hunting Technique* required one to forge a "Destiny Fishing Rod" and use one’s own Destiny Star as bait to fish out another person’s Destiny Stars and claim them as their own.
The Destiny Fishing Rod was powered by Qi Fortune, used to pinpoint the location of a target’s Destiny Star, and then one would cast the line to fish for it.
In theory, this all worked perfectly.
The problem was that Fate Masters "couldn’t see" the location of another person’s Life Mansion, let alone the Destiny Stars within. They could only rely on inference.
But, as the law stated, Fate Grids were immeasurable.
Each cast of the Destiny Fishing Rod consumed a wisp of Qi Fortune. Since it was impossible to pinpoint a Destiny Star’s location, the result was a thousand casts to hook a single star.
Powerful Destiny Stars had their own protective forces, and might not be caught even after ten thousand casts.
And fishing for weak Destiny Stars was pointless.
The Fate Measuring Sect nearly bankrupted itself.
Even by the time the Fate Measuring Sect collapsed and its members scattered, no one had managed to solve the technique’s fundamental flaw.
Even after the foremost sect of Fate Skills, the Celestial Fate Sect, obtained the *Life-Hunting Technique*, they simply shelved it.
The Sect Leader of the Celestial Fate Sect’s evaluation of the *Life-Hunting Technique* was that it was "trading gold for iron" and "the very cause of the Fate Measuring Sect’s downfall."
’But *I* can try it! First, though, I need to get my first Destiny Star.’
After thinking it over, he realized there was only one way to acquire his initial "capital."
Buying a life.
’Buying a life has to follow the fundamental law of "a life for a life," which is a bit of a hassle. I’ll deal with that later when I have time.’
’Speaking of a life for a life, I wonder if that whole business with the Divine Sky Thunder Seed is settled. In essence, I took Ye Han’s fate, but he tried to take my life first. Plus, I followed his wishes by helping the Celestial Cloud Sect and Jiang Youfei and dealing with those from the Demon Sect. I completed his original mission, so that should count as a life for a life. Then again, fate is the most unfair thing there is...’
Li Qingxian shook his head, pushing thoughts of Ye Han aside to continue contemplating Fate Skills.
’The so-called Observing Fate Skill is just another secret skill of inference; it doesn’t let a Fate Master truly "see" a Fate Grid. So, can *my* Observing Fate Skill see one? Who can I test it on?’
An idea struck Li Qingxian, and he withdrew from his Visualization Life Mansion.
The moonlight outside was faint, unable to penetrate the window.
The room was pitch black. On Yur Ping’s bed, a small mound had once again formed under the covers, and faint chewing sounds emanated from it.
’Sneaking snacks under the covers again... you’ll be my first test subject! I’ll bring you extra food in the future. Many meals in exchange for one fate—you’re getting a great deal...’ Li Qingxian chuckled to himself as he silently recited the chant for the Fate Measuring Sect’s Observing Fate Skill.
"Heaven and Earth are born of a single Qi; motion and stillness divide Yin and Yang. Old and new become the Four Symbols; the Four Symbols give birth to the Five Elements. The fortunes of the four seasons arise from mutual transformation; the fates of the Five Elements arise from creation and destruction..."
He recited the chant silently for a full five or six minutes before finally finishing. Then, Li Qingxian visualized his Life Mansion and fixed his gaze on Yur Ping, who was hidden under the blankets.
Li Qingxian felt a slight twitch between his eyebrows, like the hop of a small rabbit. The Thunder Dragon Fire Seal spat out a stream of pure Magical Power, which flowed into his Life Mansion.
The Life Mansion absorbed the Magical Power, transforming it into a formless, intangible, and indescribable aura that then seeped into his eyes.