Ye Li donned his hood and set out with the previous mayor of the city. It didn't take long to arrive, and Ye Li saw the grandest scene so far in his life.
A giant mountain, and on top of it a giant palace. It seemed like a place of gods.
As usual for elves, trees were placed all around the mountain and even within the palace.
Ye Li flew up to the entrance with the previous mayor. This was where the mayor left.
"I cannot go any farther, Lord Memory." He said quietly. Ye Li waved him off and entered.
He instantly stood out, but most only looked for a second and ignored him. He did not talk to anyone and stayed in a corner while the event was preparing to begin.
As he stood in the corner, he constantly used Karma to read the Karma of these individuals. Nobody here could detect Karma, and Ye Li was not sure that anyone besides him in the entire universe could.
Although each person pierced by Karma felt off, the feeling only lasted for a moment.
After waiting a few days, everyone gathered in a large room. There was a section of stands where all of the soul formation realm cultivators sat. They were the most ordinary beings that were allowed into the palace.
Down below, there were around thirty void traversing realm cultivators. Leading this meeting were two space shattering realm cultivators.
Ye Li ignored the contents of this meeting and began to act. His Karma pierced through the two strongest beings repeatedly, seeing countless scenes through them.
He saw space, powerful beings beyond his comprehension, and one particularly powerful elf that had accepted these two as disciples. Above that elf was a powerful organization. Perhaps that elf had even been accepted as a disciple.
Ye Li sighed, understanding that the cultivation world had many layers. If you kill a son, expect the father to seek revenge. If you kill the father, wait for the grandfather. If the grandfather is killed, wait for the ancestor.
It seemed to go on and on to the top. Ye Li was glad that he had not impulsively acted so far. Although it was unlikely that he would ever be caught, he did not fully understand the universe.
As the two space shattering realm cultivators spoke, Ye Li pierced one of them with Karma. Ye Li's Karma was consumed heavily, but he succeeded. One of the two elves was now under the same impression as the mayor.
Thinking this, Ye Li silently snapped his fingers. Outside the palace, the waiting previous mayor that had brought Ye Li felt something pierce through his heart.
Without fully understanding how, he silently died. His dying body was stripped of Karma by a spiral.
This was Ye Li's first physical attack using Karma, an ability he had developed during his time as vice mayor. He called it the Hidden Karma.
He hid a sword made out of Karma inside of the previous mayor's Karma. When the time came, the sword made of Karma instantly pierced through his heart. It was impossible for the mayor to resist.
Ye Li would not leave anyone like that alive. He didn't need that Karma existing without being useful.
At the same time, within the city he had been vice mayor of, spirals of Karma burst out and pierced through every living being. Every single one was stripped of Karma and died.
With the previous mayor and all of these people combined, Ye Li had already recovered from the loss of Karma due to changing the Karma of one of the space shattering realm cultivators. This instant culling within the city would undoubtedly attract the attention of many, but it would only happen later.
Ye Li would discard this identity soon. The meeting soon ended, faster than many of the meetings before it but nothing obvious.
Everyone began to leave the palace, but Ye Li stayed behind. In private, he met with the elf he had pierced. This one was a woman, while the other was a man. This also fell into Ye Li's plan.
She kneeled upon seeing him. "Lord Memory. It is an honor to see you."
Ye Li spoke. "Set up a trap for your fellow disciple. We will kill him, and I will assume his identity."
The elf seemed to hesitate, but only for a moment before nodding. "As you wish, Lord Memory."
The next day, news about the massacre of the city spread. At the same time, the previous mayor was found dead in the same fashion.
Everyone searched for the current mayor, only for him to be found dead. None had seen his face clearly before, so Ye Li had picked out a random powerful elf and made him the scapegoat.
On that same day, the elf under Ye Li's control invited her fellow disciple for tea in a secluded area.
Her fellow disciple was excited, only to be stabbed in the chest with a surprise attack from her.
He bled while looking at her in shock. From behind, Ye Li came up and pierced him with a Karma spiral, finishing the job.
For the current him, defeating a space shattering realm cultivator on his own was difficult. Luckily, he did not need to do it on his own.
He felt himself evolve due to a surplus of Karma once again as he assumed the identity of the space shattering realm cultivator.
High above, Zhou Fan looked at this with a distant look. In his mind, gears were turning. He was close, very close. Something was obvious, but he couldn't quite catch it. Seeing Ye Li, he could feel something within him changing. This was not solely due to Ye Li, but the accumulation from every path creator so far.
"Good. Good, Ye Li. Let's see how else you can help me." Zhou Fan said.
After assuming the identity of the space shattering realm cultivator, Ye Li lived in the same way he had as vice mayor. He helped out many beings, only occasionally killing a bunch that had bad Karma.
He was able to grow and keep his bad Karma in check this way.