A crimson sun rose above the distant mountains, staining the skies of the Lower Realm in a hue of blood. The realm trembled faintly, not from celestial storms or invading armies, but from the quiet, invisible tightening of fate's noose. Karma pulsed through the air like a breathing beast, and at the center of its awakening sat Li Xuan.
Within the core chamber of his Astral Void Palace, the young sovereign hovered cross-legged in meditation. A ring of black flames circled around him, burning silently, without heat. This was not fire of the mortal realm. It was karmic flame—pure, unrestrained, and fatal to any who dared touch the threads of karma without understanding.
His eyes remained shut, but the Voidheart Enlightenment Sutra churned within his mind like a roaring ocean. This forbidden mind technique, with no stages, no limit, and no known master other than him, drilled deeper than any soul scripture. It shattered boundaries of thought and sense. And today, it bled him.
Thick rivulets of blood flowed from his nose, ears, and even pores, dripping onto the obsidian stone beneath. The agony was beyond mortal comprehension. A thousand illusions danced before him—ancient worlds collapsing, gods screaming in despair, celestial monarchs falling into silence. But he held fast.
"Pain is truth. Truth is enlightenment," he whispered hoarsely.
Suddenly, his body convulsed. An invisible wave of karma rippled outward from his heart, as if reality itself had bowed. The flames turned gold for a brief moment before extinguishing altogether. Silence returned to the chamber.
And then he opened his eyes.
They were no longer the black irises of an ambitious youth. They now burned with swirling crimson and gold—eyes of a sovereign who had glimpsed the root of all destiny.
"Seven generals, report."
The command echoed through space itself, traveling through interdimensional talismans embedded within his inner sanctum. In seconds, seven translucent projections appeared, each one kneeling with reverence.
"Master," General Bai Yun spoke first, his armor splattered with blood from a recent conquest. "The three dominant sects of the Scarlet Ghost Territory have fallen. Their treasures have been delivered to the auction treasury."
"The Underrealm trade routes are secured," reported General Lei Tu, whose body radiated lightning energy. "No caravan moves without our sanction."
One by one, they gave their reports. Each victory, each domination, each hidden force that bowed or was destroyed. Li Xuan had successfully solidified control over every corner of the Lower Realms and its million supporting sub-realms.
"And the karmic harvest?" he asked at last.
General Shui Lian's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Four hundred million karmic threads gathered this quarter alone, Sovereign. The auction house's influence now determines the karma flow of the entire realm."
Li Xuan nodded.
"Good. Then it's time for the second phase."
---
Two Weeks Later – Hidden Auction Grounds
This was no ordinary auction. Beneath the dormant Skyflame Volcano, the stone hall pulsed with living runes, carved by Primordial Beasts long extinct. Thousands of cloaked figures from countless factions packed the subterranean coliseum. No banners. No names. Only tokens of identity allowed one to bid.
Today, the auction house would sell things forbidden by heaven and coveted by devils.
But Li Xuan wasn't physically present. He sat alone in a dimensional shadow above the coliseum, unseen, unknowable. Below, his seventh general, Yi Xie, stepped forward onto the golden platform.
"Item One," Yi Xie declared, his voice resonating through enchantments, "A drop of Phoenix Blood Essence—harvested from the last living Flameborn Phoenix of the Southern Ashes. Starting bid: One million low-grade spirit stones."
Bidding erupted instantly. Noble clans and underground syndicates dueled in silence, their tokens flashing violently. The drop sold for twenty million. But it was not about wealth.
Each auction was a karmic trap.
Li Xuan weaved his fingers in the air, unseen threads forming a web over the auction house. Each bid, each desire, each obsession created a thread. And with the Voidheart Sutra pulsing in his mind, he understood them all.
He did not need to kill to control karma anymore.
He only needed them to desire.
As item after item sold, the karmic weight of the realm shifted. Old powers were indebted. New players entangled. Entire sects sold their inheritance for promises of ephemeral strength.
He smiled.
---
Later That Night – Within the Karma Nexus
A strange space floated above the Lower Realm—invisible to all but one. Here, the Crimson Threads of Karma connected all sentient beings, stretching infinitely like a sea of stars.
Li Xuan hovered in the center.
His hands traced the threads of his enemies and allies alike. A flick of his finger twisted a thread, and a powerful sect elder died in his sleep, heart ruptured by the karmic backlash of a failed assassination attempt.
Another pull, and a demon prince suddenly gained enlightenment during dual cultivation, redirecting his entire faction to unknowingly support Li Xuan's supply routes.
He was becoming the true auctioneer of destiny.
But it was not enough.
"The Lower Realm's karma is nearing saturation," he muttered. "Even the million sub-realms no longer generate enough fluctuations."
He turned his gaze upward—toward the barriers between realms.
The Upper Realms.
God Realms.
Ancient Realms.
And then—the Forbidden Realms.
He had not yet ascended, but his karma had already begun leaking upward. His eyes narrowed.
"To understand karma… I must destroy it all. Then piece it back together."
His next path was clear. But before that, he needed power. Not just resources or loyalty. Internal, absolute power.
---
Astral Void Palace - Inner Cultivation Room
He returned to his sealed chamber. Alone again. No generals. No elites. No distractions.
The Voidheart Enlightenment Sutra began anew.
Pain.
Agony.
The technique devoured his mind. It tore down every concept, every illusion, even the notion of Li Xuan himself. The more he cultivated, the less human he became. His soul turned into a vessel of karmic equations, processing the fates of billions in microseconds.
Then came the breaking point.
He saw a future—his future.
A realm burned. Mountains of corpses. Oceans of blood. His own generals dead, the elites sacrificed, the million supporting realms destroyed—all by his own hand.
And in that apocalyptic vision, he stood unshaken, harvesting karma from the ashes.
He did not flinch.
"So be it."
He broke through.
His soul transcended the current cultivation realm.
From the Karmic Lord Stage, he stepped into the Void Ascendant Realm—a cultivation boundary that did not exist in normal texts. One only reached by fusing destiny, karma, and enlightenment.
His aura vanished. Not suppressed, but erased. He could now walk through armies unseen. Because karma itself did not recognize him as a target anymore.
He had become karma's sovereign.
And his next auction?
It would sell fate itself.
---
[End of Chapter