Chapter Seventy-Three: A Windfall?

"Ah, boss, why are you leaving so soon? I haven’t even had my fill of fun yet."
"These people, living their comfortable little lives, are truly despicable. Do you know what they call me now? The Rain Master of Shenzhou!"
"And the foreign special munitions are really something! Just a few of those, add some fire and water, and I turn straight into the King of Poison!"
From a model citizen to a bloodthirsty spectator, the shift in Xiao Hongzhuan’s mindset was as dramatic as a psychic cultivator’s transformation.
At least in terms of mentality.
He had already become a proper first-generation psychic cultivator, his vigor and ferocity undeniable.
Most psychic cultivators, under the twin pressures of fatal danger and extraordinary power, ended up with some quirks—mood swings, ruthlessness, bloodlust, unpredictability, or perverse tastes. As long as it didn’t harm others, these little flaws were merely aspects of their character.
Huo Yuanjia agreed wholeheartedly.
He had personally witnessed Xiao Hongzhuan’s metamorphosis from an ordinary man into a bloodthirsty spectator.
Now, he followed silently behind Lan Yi.
When Lan Yi halted before the torii gate of the Snow Mountain Divine Palace, sunlight casting long shadows,
Xiao Hongzhuan, who had seemed so eager and bloodthirsty moments before, fell silent, a sense of satisfaction from fulfilling his family’s legacy settling over him. Lan Yi tolerated his jokes in idle moments, but would never allow him to be flippant when it came to serious matters.
Before them lay the conquered lands of East Sun.
Just standing here at this pinnacle brought a soul-deep sense of accomplishment.
Even Huo Yuanjia, a master of self-cultivation and martial discipline, couldn’t help but feel his spirit surge. They had truly succeeded—and now, the future depended on themselves, to finally erase the shame of the empire!
"The names on this list..." Lan Yi drew out a list.
"Is it time to settle accounts?" Xiao Hongzhuan’s excitement was palpable.
"No. Each of them possesses a Fate Cluster I require. For this East Sun campaign, I’ll bring them here within two days." Lan Yi paused, slightly thrown by Xiao Hongzhuan’s enthusiasm.
"Understood."
"If any disobey my command, they are to be killed without mercy."
Lan Yi’s voice was gentle, but beneath it lay an unyielding, lethal authority.
The people on this list had already agreed to terms. If, after that, they still tried to renege, Lan Yi would not hesitate to eliminate them—even if he didn’t obtain the Fate Cluster that way. That was the confidence born of ruling an empire of four hundred million souls. Fate Clusters were not like divine mandates—rare and unpredictable. Given time, Lan Yi would gather them all.

Now, before his return, he would complete the first node of the "Celestial Treasure Canon" Fate Diagram in this final battle.
"At your command!" Xiao Hongzhuan, aware of the task’s importance, received the order with solemnity.
Thus, Xiao Hongzhuan, now the Rain Master of Shenzhou, went off to call the roll.
"Master Huo, there is something I need your assistance with."
"I am at your disposal, Immortal Master," Huo Yuanjia replied with a bow.
He had long known this moment would come. Lan Yi had favored him with special attention without asking for anything in return—clearly, there was a reason.
Whether for the nation or personal cause, as long as Immortal Lan Yi requested it, Huo Yuanjia would give his all, even his life. Now that the request had come, his spirit was invigorated—he knew the time had come to repay his benefactor.
"You once stumbled into a secret realm and carry its key within your spirit."
"In three days, I will cast a spell to open that realm."
"When the time comes, you will guide me inside."
Lan Yi had already received Jin Buhuan’s message—the task assigned to him lay within the secret realm. It was one of the underlying ports in the artificial divine realm, designed to receive Chosen Children of Fate. Now, Lan Yi, who was forging ultimate destiny, had also earned that qualification, saving much hassle.
Huo Yuanjia did not hesitate, nodding in immediate assent.
After Lan Yi’s prior explanation, and upon reflection, Huo Yuanjia realized that the village had indeed been strange—as if everyone had opened their spiritual eyes purely to persuade him to overcome his inner demons.
But now, Huo Yuanjia was no longer lost. As a martial cultivator, he knew he must serve his country, even if Mount Tai collapsed or the Yellow River burned—he would face death unflinchingly!
As for the gentleness he’d encountered in that village,
it could no longer shake his steely resolve.
No matter how beautiful or pitiable the flowers before the city walls, they could never undermine the duty of the guards upon those walls. For Huo Yuanjia, the martial empire that Lan Yi was building, which would allow the Xinghan people to seize the initiative in this changing world and conquer their rivals, was his highest calling!
For Xinghan! For the rivers and mountains!

...
...
The "Celestial Treasure Canon" required a total of seventy-two Fate Clusters, and to complete the first node, fifteen were needed.

Among them, Canghua, Prison Warden, Earth Fiend, and two clusters from the psionic furnace had already been activated—five in total. Lan Yi still needed ten more, to reinforce the psionic furnace, reduce energy consumption, open space for arcane arts, and refine the body.
Among these, Transformation, Illusory Realm, Flash Spirit, and Electromesh were essential; the rest could be replaced with alternatives.
Once the first node of the Fate Diagram was completed,
he would be able to cultivate the two prerequisite arcane arts for the Infernal Thunder Soldier Prison:
Magnetic Fiend Walker and Thunder Soldier Domain.
Magnetic Fiend Walker, once mastered, would allow a person to generate an electromagnetic avatar within themselves, capable of acting independently or merging with the original body.
While acting independently, the avatar could cast arcane arts and be controlled by the mind; even if destroyed, it could be reconstituted given sufficient psionic energy, with all sorts of miraculous uses. Its only shortcomings were a marked range limitation and high energy consumption in the early stages.
Thunder Soldier Domain involved strengthening the magnetic field of oneself and the surrounding space with psionic energy. With the Fate Clusters’ aid, within the domain one could move freely, ignoring inertia and gravity, and could absorb certain non-kinetic attacks, converting them into electromagnetic potential to be released at will.
As a domain art, its drawbacks were high energy usage and a heavy computational burden; against strong kinetic attacks, it was almost useless early on.
But if these two arts were combined,
the result would be monstrous.
In single combat, the Magnetic Fiend Walker within the Thunder Soldier Domain would be a relentless berserker, generating avatar after avatar so long as the original body was unharmed—the ultimate extreme being a superluminal self-destructing truck!
Moreover, all non-kinetic arcane arts would be suppressed within this field.
The Jin people had long catalogued who possessed which Fate Clusters; every domain acolyte was registered.
But now!
In the deepest chamber of the Snow Mountain Divine Palace, surrounded by glaring golden guardians, empowered by the celestial lotus of the thunder pool,
a figure of electrical light, condensed from the darkness like a Bose-Einstein condensate, slowly rose to its feet. It left the embrace of the golden guardians and the lotus,
and, at last, moved in perfect synchrony with Lan Yi in the holy sunlight, merging as one.
What seemed like an easy harvest was, in truth, the first effective reaping after nearly a month of construction and cultivation at full throttle!
Lan Yi—the mightiest of this era!
Within the artificial divine realm of 1909, even heaven would fear him, even gods would tremble!
Now, he was here to complete the final task of this campaign!