Fate and Karma of the Stars

In another location lay an old man who looked very experienced in the ways of the world and knowledgable about many things.

He lay with his back facing the ground on top of a large hill which allowed him to look up at the stars in the sky.

When his eyes opened they were full of profound wisdom and insight as if the stars reflecting his eyes were slowly merging with his pitch black eyes.

The old man lay down stargazing for some time and then looked towards the northern stars and revealed an amused expression. "The constellation Cepheus has encountered a change only recently. Let's see… It is the 27th largest of the 88 recognised constellations, taking up an area of 588 sq/degrees of the celestial heavens, and can be observed between latitudes of +90° and -10°, although this northern circumpolar constellation is best seen during November. Despite mostly containing third and fourth magnitude stars, Cepheus does have several notable stellar objects, among which is the enormous red giant Garnet Star, as well as several well-known deep sky objects, such as the Fireworks Galaxy, and several beautiful star clusters and nebulae. However, the constellation contains no Messier objects, and has no meteor showers associated with it."

The old mans eyes ended up becoming more profound and deep as he searched the stars for the change and then suddenly he let out a surprised laugh. "Hahahaha so that's it! So that's it! It must be so… finally a star has overcome my predictions and begun to change its form! The bright and vibrant star was born and fated to be almost extinguished, a fate which was riddled with a difficult road ahead and the very star would be extinguished the moment it gave up all hope. Like a flickering fire that was not blown out by the wind, the star would continue to go on for a long time until it finally chose to stop struggling and gave up burning brightly then disappears."

"Let's see… what are the changes of the present and the calculated future… there are several small stars that have been set for ending have been extended and given new life, there are other stars which oppose the main star but there is also a force of drawing in other stars surrounding it and nurturing them. One star representing dark justice is being drawn closer as time goes by and there is also a neutral star with great potential already connected. There is two stars which represent chaos and a little bit of order which were scheduled to extinguish in a couple of years from now but have changed their fates to have great potential for growth. There are also many other tiny and small stars that show a lot of potential. One general star, one star representing law and many others are slowly developing." The old man laughed as he gazed up at the stars. "So it was little Ki after all! She must of overcome her main and most important catastrophe but she cannot be noticed this early. Okay then god daughter, let this old man assist you one last time! I hope you can overcome the rest of your challenges and become the brightest star in the north hehe."

The old man stood up keeping his eyes fixed in the same location and took a deep breathe while muttering in a low voice and a mysterious qi that looked like starlight escaped his body as he raised his hands towards the sky. "Heaven and Earth Star Art forbidden technique… veil of starlight!"

Suddenly the qi gathered around his body and shot into his eyes, when he took another breathe the qi shot up to the location of where he was looking.

Suddenly the stars began to change back to their previous locations and forms as if the previous changes witnessed by the old man were never there, the stars before had been covered up by a new veil of starlight and fog obscuring others from witnessing the true form of many of the northern stars.

Any observers would not notice the same changes or any abnormalities that the old man found because he used his power to change what they would see upon viewing the northern stars, all they would see was what the old man wished for them to see.

The old man coughed up a mouth of blood and laughed. "That's all I can do for you god daughter! Burn brightly and be full of life my little star. Little Ki… of the many fates I have seen there were so many that were like yours. You burn brightly but there will a day when something will come along and try to extinguish that star so right hard to keep yourself strong."

"All of my good karma has been extinguished because of the forbidden technique. It seems like my luck will soon run out and my end will come soon. How about having a drink under the stars one more time…" The old man took out a flask of some old medicinal wine and began to drink it slowly. 'All the peoples fates I changed with my medicine and helped to extend their lives over my many years of life helped me to gain a lot of good karma. In the end that karma brought me to the Bombyx village and helped to birth a child and become a godfather and personally name the child. Fate is a strange thing… a beautiful and strange thing full of unexpected surprises. Even if a person can predict the future by reading the stars or a persons future upon meeting them with my families techniques there are always some things we wish not to know and there are also times when we would be surprised when something acts outside of the predictions.'

"The central stars… hahaha… try all you might! You will not extinguish this star before it can reach its full potential! All you stars ever do is oppress the other stars and extinguish those around you with enough potential so your own stars will be the ones that shine brightest in the skies." He pointed towards the central stars with a drunk look on his face. "Family huh… I guess it's good I did what I did. If my family were to find out about the changes before me then they would most definitely send people to investigate the north and find the person who's fate is tied to the northern stars. A bunch of hypocrites the lot of them are."

Originally he had been born into one of the major noble families of the capital and a very talented student who was able to practice the families starlight qi art and had great achievements in reading the stars and the fate of others.

Everything was originally fine but his viewpoint on the stars was different to his family, as observers they could not use their powers and knowledge of the stars to change fate but the family values power over everything else and always was an important part of the martial alliance.

Revealing heavens secrets would require a punishment which is why they can only give a person a vague answer about their fate and what they might encounter.

This way they don't reveal too much information and allow others a chance to be more careful in the future.

The old mans family although they are part of the martial alliance their main role is observing the changes of the stars to look out for those with potential and those that were a threat to them in the near future.

By revealing the detailed information they gain bad karma because they are indirectly helping to extinguish stars that should not have extinguished so early.

Cutting down someone before their destined time has its consequences and causes ripple effects, that bad karma comes back and affects the family member who revealed the heavens secrets for their own or the families gains.

Revealing larger prophecies would also be fatal to those who cause a huge ripple effect and the one who revealed it would encounter even greater bad karma.

For example someone is destined to be a saviour to the land but after it is revealed they would encounter many interferences from those they would previously not of come into contact with.

As a result their fate may become ruined because it had been revealed to the public.

The family were supposed to be the observers of the stars but as observers they should not try to change anything or they would be punished according the the rules.

While it is also a taboo to reveal the information the old man believed small reminders were okay so long as they did not reveal any key details, the rest is up to the people to overcome their trials.

In his study of medicine and during his travels he found that encountering people who were destined to die by disease, illness or other reasons often provided him with good karma if he helped to survive and live a longer life.

He finally realised why good people who do good deeds tend to be a little luckier than others.

He saved a life with his own hands without revealing any of the heavens secrets so he would not be punished but instead he was rewarded.

So the old man continued his journey slowly building up his good karma and eventually found himself making further progress in his starlight qi art.

The old man smiled as he raised his flask to the sky once more. "I wonder which way I will die… for someone of my experience and strength it must be something big huh… anyways I'm so old now so it's about time I pass on. It's a shame I never had the chance to pass on my life's enlightenment. Maybe Little Ki could use it, I cannot make contact so I don't bring my bad luck towards her so I will have to just send everything I have. It will be my final present for you."