This was the conclusion that Elder Wright reached in that instant, and that little crow was very likely the most crucial link in this change of fate. After much consideration, he decided to catch the little crow and question it, to see what its origins truly were. You see, the evolution of fate also requires information, just like mathematical deduction and inference today: the less complete the data, the fuzzier the result; the more complete the data, the more accurate the outcome. For a sage ancestor like Samuel, since the time of the Great Desolation, the evolution and changes of all things in this world have been in their sight—one could almost say that nothing can escape them. So, once they begin to deduce fate, nothing can stand in their way. But Henry Clark is different; he comes from another world, and even these sage ancestors know little about his information and everything he knows. At the same time, no one would ever imagine his existence, so naturally, anyone trying to calculate fate would overlook him. However, his appearance in this world cannot possibly have no impact. Just like the so-called butterfly effect, even if his influence is currently small or even nonexistent, any tiny change outside the original order in this world will inevitably complicate the entire web of fate. Now, what the ancestor wants to do is to catch him, figure out his origins, and then recalculate fate, hoping to secure an advantage in the coming changes of destiny. Such matters are not to be spoken of to outsiders, so the ancestor came in person.

Who would have thought that, after sweeping the entire Lingtai Fangcun Mountain with his divine sense, he still could not find any trace of the crow? Instead, he unexpectedly discovered that two dead tree stumps not far from Xieyue Sanxing Cave seemed a bit suspicious. Upon closer inspection, he found the small eavesdropping device created by Henry Clark, and quickly realized its function.

So, it turned out that this kid was using such a device to listen to his lectures. And it was obvious that this little crow was not some newly awakened, simple-minded bird, but a creature of extremely high intelligence. There could only be one reason for this.

Possession.

After some advanced being died, for some unknown reason, its soul attached itself to this crow. In other words, if he wanted to deduce fate, the focus was not on the crow, but on the dead person. At this thought, Samuel Wright began to recalculate, but the result still left him disappointed.

"Just what is going on? Among the thousands of wandering souls who have died over the past millennia without reporting to the underworld, not a single one matches?" The appearance of such a result made the ancestor feel quite embarrassed. Even with his tens of thousands of years of cultivation and composure, he couldn't help but feel a bit discouraged at this moment. Just then, he heard laughter coming from one of the tree stumps, mixed with cries of "good monkey, good monkey." His expression changed slightly, he tapped his wooden staff, and his figure appeared atop the Jade Platform.

At that moment, a group of disciples had already gathered on the Jade Platform, laughing and joking around a pine tree. A surge of anger rose from the ancestor's heart. With his divine powers, how could he not see that the pine tree was actually George Carter in disguise?

"This damned monkey! I taught him the art of transformation to avoid the three disasters, but I never expected him to show off here!" For the first time in tens of thousands of years, his temper finally flared. With a cold snort, he strode toward the Jade Platform, and after a round of scolding, expelled the monkey from his sect—enough said.

As for Henry Clark, after leaving Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, he originally intended to head straight to Flower-Fruit Mountain, wait for the monkey to return, and then secretly follow him to see what benefits he could get. But he hadn't expected that Flower-Fruit Mountain was at least a hundred thousand and eight thousand li away from Lingtai Mountain. Now that his demonic energy had dissipated, he had no strength left to ride the clouds or summon mist. Given his current physical condition, he would need at least another five or six years of cultivation before he could ride the clouds and travel from the North Sea in the morning to Cangwu in the evening. Besides, it was still early before George Carter would cause havoc in Heaven—at least a dozen years, maybe several decades. So, all in all, he had plenty of time. He might as well take this opportunity to travel the world and see what was so special about this realm of gods and demons.

Chapter Five: The Trapped Sky Cave—A Glimpse of Fate (Part One)

Lingtai Fangcun Mountain was originally located in the territory of Western Niuhezhou. Henry Clark really knew nothing about this so-called Western Niuhezhou. Since his rebirth in this world more than twenty years ago, he had only ever been on Fangcun Mountain and had never gone down the mountain. Now that he had finally descended, he felt completely lost about the road ahead. Looking up, he suddenly remembered something and couldn't help but curse inwardly.

It turned out this guy had no sense of direction. In his previous life, he could never tell east from west or north from south. Now, in this vast, pristine wilderness, he was even more clueless.

After coming down the mountain, he returned to his original form and spent several days searching for a path, traveling thousands of li before finally finding a winding trail that looked like it had been used by people. He transformed back into human form and followed the path in the direction opposite to Fangcun Mountain.

As he walked, after about a few dozen li, the road gradually widened, and he slowly began to see one or two other travelers.