The white ones were the karmic threads of passersby.

Song Shuhang reached out to move apart the dense number of white lines, and looked at the special blood-red lines.

The number of blood-red lines had also increased greatly.

Song Shuhang remembered that he had only seen six of these blood-red lines when he first got to see the karmic threads.

But now, the number of blood-red lines that were extending out from his body had exploded into the hundreds.

Unlike other karmic threads, the blood-red karmic threads were broken, and the other end of the line was fluttering with the wind, having no 'destination'.

If I have to guess, these blood-red ones... should be my enemies, and they should be the ones who have already passed away. The numbers do seem to match. These should be Altar Master, the Celestials, the Sea Urchin Warriors, and some evil demons of the Netherworld, as well as the zombies and evil beasts of the Black Dragon World, Song Shuhang thought to himself.

Due to them having already passed away, these lines were broken, and fluttered with the wind.

It was worth mentioning that among the many 'blood-red lines', the Celestials and the Sea Urchin Warriors contributed to over half of the total.

There really were only a few 'enemies' of his who had passed away.

If these blood-red lines are enemies that have died, then these black lines... should be enemies that are still alive, right? Song Shuhang thought.

Song Shuhang remembered that there had only been five 'black lines' extending from his body previously.

At that time, he had few enemies. Young Master Hai's trio and some assassins from the organization that antagonized the Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Sect were the only ones who were his enemies.

But now, the number of black lines on his body had multiplied by several times, and some of them were extremely thick.

While others were mere 'threads', these black lines were like 'thick ropes'!

Song Shuhang could easily guess to whom these black lines belonged even if he had to guess with his toes.

Among these extremely thick black karmic threads, there was definitely the Netherworld's fat ball, the big-eyed planet, and perhaps the 'Heavenly Emperor' and the Immortal with arms covered in eyes. In addition, the stone giant that had troubled Song Shuhang in the past might also be one of them.

Among the black lines, there were two thin black lines that twisted around and pierced Song Shuhang's side—these two should be the 'Sixth Stage Celestial' he had in his Inner World, as well as 'Demon Monarch Anzhi' whom he was preparing to gift to Little Sixteen.

Since these two were still alive, they were also black lines.

"Then... this golden karmic thread should represent the relationship between me and Senior White." Song Shuhang raised his head and looked at Senior White.

While Song Shuhang observed the karmic threads, the golden karmic thread between him and Senior White kept changing. Song Shuhang was slightly disappointed that it hadn't become as thick as a rope.

However, the color of the golden karmic thread was constantly deepening.

The golden color soon turned into a 'dark gold' color.

In the time that it took for Song Shuhang to blink, this 'dark gold' transformed into 'lustrous gold'.

"This color-changing process feels quite familiar... Wait, isn't this the same order that the color of the Golden Core progresses? From the pale gold of the 'Solid Golden Core' to the dark gold of the 'Purple Golden Core', and then finally to the lustrous color of the 'Lustrous Golden Core'..." Song Shuhang couldn't help but rant.

In other words, the relationship between him and Senior White was that of a 'Lustrous Gold Karmic Thread'.

"However, there's still a difference from Golden Cores. Eventually, a Lustrous Golden Core will evolve into a 'Spirit Lake'. Does this lustrous gold karmic thread also have the ability to transform?" 

Senior White: "..."

All that time, Song Shuhang had been talking to himself nonstop.

It was a one-man show.

Seeing him being so into it, Senior White felt rather hesitant to interrupt him.

"The karmic threads, Senior White." Song Shuhang smiled, and said, "I saw the karmic threads. The karmic thread between you and me has a lustrous gold color."

"Mm-hm, from the content of your monologue, I could guess," Senior White said. "So the karmic thread between us has a lustrous gold color?"

Song Shuhang said, "Yup."

Senior White Two asked, "Then what about us?"

After saying that, he reached out and pressed the 'Yes' option on the prompt box in front of his eyes.

There was a slight difference between the content of Senior White Two's prompt and Senior White's. [Do you want to add 'little friend Shuhang' ##as a pet##[1] as a close friend? Yes/No.]

It was precisely because the content of this prompt was rather crooked that Senior White Two had been struggling for a good while on what to press.

Isn't a pet something good? Why is it crossed out?

For a moment, he had the urge to press 'No' to try again.

But after thinking about it for so long, he decided to press the 'Yes' option.

Regardless, it was the same to him.

Song Shuhang replied, "It's also a golden karmic thread. Hmm, the color is deepening now. It went from pale gold to dark gold, and it has now changed to 'lustrous gold'."

"Is lustrous gold the limit?" Senior White Two squeezed his chin, and said, "Is there nothing beyond that?"

"It's unlikely, unless... Well, there is no unless." Song Shuhang promptly pinched the death-seeking thought in his mind.

Being outspoken was a sickness, but as long as he was paying very close attention, he could sometimes avoid seeking death in time.

At the side, Senior White was sitting on a rock in the Ancient Nether. Meteor Sword was planted in the ground, and he was resting his chin on its hilt, looking like he was in deep thought.

Senior White replied, "I also feel that the golden karmic thread should still be able to transform. Just like Shuhang said just now, since Golden Cores can evolve into Spirit Lakes, then perhaps the lustrous gold karmic threads can also evolve into something. We can do some research on it when we're free."

Senior White Two said, "There's little value in researching this. Over the long lives that cultivators have, the chances of seeing 'karmic threads' are extremely low. There are many cultivators who never even get to see 'karmic threads' in their entire life. After seeing it this time, who knows how many months or years it would take before Shuhang sees them again."

Even if the karmic threads did evolve, if they couldn't be seen, there wasn't much meaning to them.

Senior White regretfully said, "That's true. Well, what a pity. I was quite interested in knowing whether or not karmic threads could evolve."

Just as Senior White said that, Song Shuhang saw the karmic thread between himself and Senior White begin to change.

The lustrous gold karmic thread had one of its ends connected to Song Shuhang, while the other had pierced through his primordial soul, going further into the void and directly appearing in the small dantian of his main body.

The lustrous gold karmic thread lightly touched Song Shuhang's first small golden core.

This small golden core had some karma with Senior White.

Song Shuhang's cultivation technique, the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts' Technique❯, was a version modified by Senior White himself. This small golden core was the one that Song Shuhang had condensed when he had ascended to the Fifth Stage.

In addition, the name of this small golden core was... Tyrannical Saber.

This was the daoist name given to Song Shuhang by Senior White.

Therefore, when the small golden core made contact with the lustrous gold karmic thread, it immediately resonated.

[1] This is supposed to be crossed out, but there is no such option on Inkstone.