Cultivation: Fortune by Lots

After saying his farewells to Lei Jun and Wang Guiyuan, he hurried away, needing to seek out other allies.

After Li Kong disappeared completely, Wang Guiyuan finally looked at Lei Jun with some speechlessness, "Junior brother, your dedication to the public good and heroic spirit are certainly admirable, but there is danger and strangeness in this situation, and the circumstances are unclear, so you must think twice before acting to avoid rushing into peril!"

He had originally thought that as cultivation realm and age gradually increased, his second junior brother would become more steady, that he would no longer act so recklessly.

But this time…

*Junior brother, you've gotten impulsive again!*

"Thank you for your concern, senior brother. I will be careful."

Lei Jun paused for a moment, looking sincerely at Wang Guiyuan, and said, "Or we could go together and look out for each other?"

Wang Guiyuan gave a wry smile, "Any other time, perhaps, but not these days. Did you think I was just making excuses earlier? I really do have to guard the pill furnace for Master."

Lei Jun nodded silently.

*He glanced at the glowing orb flickering in his mind, then at Wang Guiyuan before him. Lei Jun could only sigh in his heart at the missed opportunity.*

*His senior brother spoke out of concern, and Lei Jun certainly understood the reasoning.*

However, right when Li Kong had come to invite him, the orb in Lei Jun's mind had glowed, displaying information:

[Head outward, seek fortune and avoid disaster; remain within, misfortune hides within good fortune.]

This time, three lots had appeared, displaying the following:

[Moderately good lot: Go down the mountain to assist the search, after noon, go outside the mountain to Slanting Star Peak; you may gain a fourth rank opportunity, no risk, but karmic entanglement, caution advised for the future; auspicious.]

[Perfectly neutral lot: Go down the mountain to assist the search, but go somewhere other than Slanting Star Peak; no risk nor trouble, but no particular gain either; flat.]

[Moderately unlucky lot: Remain on the mountain and do not leave; no gain, no risk, but latent trouble is buried; inauspicious.]

*Staying on the mountain meant no danger, but there might be hidden trouble.*

*That basically hinted that something would still happen on the mountain.*

*On the contrary, going to assist in the search posed no danger.*

*There was even a chance to gain a fourth rank opportunity.*

Given that, Lei Jun had chosen to act according to the moderately good lot's fortune.

*He wished he could bring Wang Guiyuan with him, but unfortunately, Wang Guiyuan was very firm in his resolve.*

*Lei Jun was powerless to do anything about it and could only hope that fate was different for each person.*

*For him, it was a moderately unlucky lot, but maybe it was harmless for Wang Guiyuan.*

Lei Jun took his leave of Wang Guiyuan, packed up, then set out for the mountain gate.

By then, many fellow disciples had already gathered there.

Lei Jun cast his eyes over the gathering and spotted both true inheritance disciples of the Celestial Master Mansion from his own generation and several elders from the previous one.

Word was, even Elder Liang, who had lost several disciples, had already gone down the mountain ahead of them to intervene in person.

Soon, at the mountain gate, Li Kong arrived with several others; once everyone had assembled, they all set out together.

Lei Jun's party traveled nearly three hundred li past the mountain.

According to the topography, this was still part of the mountain range stretching out from Dragon Tiger Mountain.

Slanting Star Peak was just in this vicinity.

Li Kong led the group to meet up with Elder Liang.

Elder Liang sat solemnly atop the mountain, and above his head a mass of spirit talismans flickered radiantly, spreading out in all directions to blanket the vast land below.

"The beast is somewhere in this mountain area. Search carefully and be on guard—at the slightest commotion, I will arrive immediately," Liang Chen said slowly.

Li Kong and the others gave their assent and set off at once.

Lei Jun checked the time and the sky, but did not rush.

Like everyone else, he remained wary, then began searching the mountain range at a measured pace.

As the hour neared noon, Lei Jun finally started heading toward Slanting Star Peak.

But before he could get close, a series of loud explosions suddenly rang out there.

Someone had already engaged the target near Slanting Star Peak.

It appeared someone had tracked down the fugitive being pursued.

The moment commotion began, Elder Liang, as expected, arrived first beneath Slanting Star Peak.

Even fiercer fighting broke out.

However, contrary to many people's expectations, Elder Liang failed to capture the enemy.

The foe seemed to vanish into a mist of black fog, blocking Elder Liang's spirit talismans, then transformed into a black wind and in a flash sped past Slanting Star Peak, trying to flee into the distance.

But at that moment, suddenly a radiant rainbow stretched across the heavens!

A concentrated and forceful stream of light seemed to split the sky, spanning heaven and earth.

Lei Jun saw that white rainbow cutting through the sun, and thought it looked familiar at once.

A few years ago, he had seen it once before.

It had been the mighty arrow of a Confucian Divine Archery cultivator from the Upper Three Heavens!

Now, by chance, someone like that was in the area near Dragon Tiger Mountain.

Chu Yu.

It happened that Chu Kun had just escorted her and Chu Andong's family down the mountain.

*But he had no idea which route they would take back to Suzhou.*

*And yet, here they were at Slanting Star Peak?*

*Thoughts raced through Lei Jun's mind, but in that split second the rainbow struck the black mist.*

The black fog exploded and scattered in midair.

Still, there seemed to be a fleeting shadow within the fog, hard for others to make out.

The black figure flashed and continued fleeing swiftly into the distance.

Among the mountains, a cloud car rose up.

Standing atop it was a woman in hunting garb, finger ringed with bone and wielding a giant bow; she looked with some surprise at the fleeing shadow, as if astonished that, even after taking her arrow, the enemy could hide their strength so deeply and escape so quickly.

"...Master Chu?!" Liang Chen and the other Celestial Master Mansion elders looked on in shock and confusion at Chu Yu's sudden appearance.

"Chu Yu greeted Liang Chen and the rest simply, then drove her cloud car off in hot pursuit of the fleeing figure.

Li Kong and the other Celestial Master Mansion disciples were similarly astonished.

For a moment, everyone couldn't help but speculate why Chu Yu was here and whether she had any connection to the criminal.

Some even suspected that Chu Yu's arrow had not been to capture, but to silence the fugitive instead!

*Although filled with doubts, the true inheritance disciples of the Celestial Master Mansion hurried to follow regardless.*

Only Lei Jun was the exception.

*Watching everyone's actions and recalling the perfectly neutral lot that mentioned no danger, merely nothing gained or lost, Lei Jun let go of most of his worries.*

His own aim was set on Slanting Star Peak instead.

Judging the time and looking at the sky, it was just past noon.

After everyone else had gone farther ahead, Lei Jun, without betraying any emotion, quietly made his way to Slanting Star Peak.

He searched the peak quickly but found nothing.

Lei Jun remained unhurried. He concentrated for a moment, then sat cross-legged, quietly practicing breathing skills to absorb the global spiritual qi, sensing his surroundings in detail.

As time went by, Lei Jun gradually noticed something different.

There appeared to be a faint yet exquisite chill of yin spreading through the air.

The aura was so weak that it was stemming from behind some kind of sealing in the dharma realm.

Under ordinary circumstances, Lei Jun's cultivation might not have been high enough to notice it so quickly.

*This subtle sensitivity was thanks to his root bone talent recently advancing from Hidden Dragon Spirit Body to Yin Yang Sacred Body.*

*And so, Lei Jun was more attuned to yin and yang energy than most.*

This allowed him to sense that slight trace of cold yin energy now.

Lei Jun followed the aura as he searched.

In the end, he discovered a tiny pouch.

The pouch seemed made of leather, but was far from ordinary.

*Recalling books he'd read at the mansion, Lei Jun thought this resembled the legendary mustard seed bag used in the Buddhist Sect to store vast items in minute space.*

It was said to contain a sumi within a mustard seed, its interior a world of its own; in the traditions of the Taoist miniature bag and Confucianism's cosmic coordinate box, it was equally famed.

Sensing the faint chill of yin from the mustard seed bag, Lei Jun nodded slightly, guessing this must be the fourth rank opportunity referred to in the moderately good lot.

As for its origin, it most likely belonged to that escaping shadow.

He had taken an arrow from Chu Yu above the peak.

The man had barely managed to escape, but something had been knocked off by Chu Yu's arrow.

It was just that Chu Yu, Liang Chen, and the others were occupied with the chase, so no one had paid attention here for the moment.

*If the yin energy was this strong even through the mustard seed bag, opening it would surely let the chill pour out to cover the whole mountain.*

*Given that the area was not yet entirely safe, Lei Jun refrained from checking his loot for now.*

*A miniature bag could not contain an artifact like a mustard seed bag within itself.*

Luckily, Lei Jun also had the Breathing Soil Banner.

With a sweep of earth-yellow dim spirit light, the mustard seed bag vanished at once.

Lei Jun took care to clear away any traces on the mountain, then let his figure blend quietly into the woods.

When he appeared again, he had just about caught up with the other Celestial Master Mansion true inheritance disciples.

The group had spread out, moving through the forest in the same direction, with Chu Yu and Liang Chen advancing fastest, soon vanishing from view ahead.

Li Kong and the others could only follow the battle traces they found on the ground.

As they traveled, Lei Jun blended into the group inconspicuously.