Cultivation: Fortune by Lots

The mountains around Qingxiao Lake had already been transformed into a flooded land, stretching as far as the eye could see and blotting out the sky.

There were two routes out, one to the north and one to the west.

Reporting to the Purple Cloud Sect needed to happen fast, and the western road was the closest.

Thinking only of how quickly he could leave, Qin Tao chose the trail through the western mountains.

Lei Jun watched as Qin picked the route mentioned in the moderately unlucky lot, but said nothing.

According to the description in this draw, danger lay on both roads.

The western path, moderately unlucky lot, spelled misfortune.

The northern path, the worst lot, spelled grave disaster.

Staying put was a perfectly neutral lot—not exactly a great stroke of luck, but much better than the other two traps.

*Let's see if Qin Tao, in his eagerness to escape, could sniff out anything useful.*

Lu Zhaoqing suddenly looked hesitant, "The talisman array around Qingxiao Lake was only rebuilt last year. I personally inspected it a few days ago, and everything was fine. Why did trouble erupt out of nowhere today? What if someone sabotaged it on purpose?"

Luo Haoran frowned, "I'm afraid...that might actually be the case! Master Lu, Lei, come with me,"

He took Lei Jun and Lu Zhaoqing to check several locations, and they all immediately discovered signs of deliberate sabotage to the talisman array.

"Judging by the marks, it was done by someone practicing the Physical Training Martial Way," Luo Haoran said in a low voice,

Lu Zhaoqing identified it, "Looks like the secret technique passed down in the Dong Clan from downstream Qinglan River!"

The Qinglan River was a vital water system running through the Yunxiao Mountains and deeply connected to Qingxiao Lake, with its lower reaches east of the mountain range.

The Dong Clan was a powerful family in the region, famous for their martial heritage.

The Martial Tao of the flesh was a cultivation path separate from Confucianism, Buddhism, or Taoism. Its practitioners devoted all their effort to refining their bodies, achieving unimaginable explosive force and destructive power.

So-called martial artists, in a span of a few steps, could topple nations.

But Lei Jun and the others didn't really care about the Dong Family.

For the Purple Cloud Sect, the Dong Family might be a worthy adversary, but for the Celestial Master Mansion, they weren't worth worrying about.

What Lei Jun and his companions focused on was that, according to rumor, the Dong Family was closely allied with the Lin Clan of Jiangzhou—one of the Great Tang's prestigious families.

The Five Clans and Seven Noble Families of Great Tang included the likes of the Fang Clan from Jingxiang and the Chu Clan from Suzhou, who were on fairly good terms with the Celestial Master Mansion.

But some got along far less well.

The Lin Clan of Jiangzhou and the Xinzhou Dragon Tiger Mountain Celestial Master Mansion were infamous rivals in Great Tang.

No complex reason: they lived too close together, and neither side could rest easy because of the other.

Year after year, conflict never ceased—deaths on both sides pushed the grudge deeper and deeper, and just a few years ago, a major dispute had broken out.

"Did the Lin Clan order this?" Lei Jun asked,

Lu Zhaoqing replied, "It could be the Dong Family acting alone, but even if the Lin Clan heard about it, they'd only be happy to see it happen,"

The Dong Family lived downstream along Qinglan River.

If the upper reaches, Qingxiao Lake, burst its dam and flooded, the upstream would be ruined, but the damage downstream might actually lessen.

On the other hand, if Qingxiao Temple reinforced the lakeshore upstream, water would still flow down, so the Dong Family would also have to work hard at managing water, or else they'd be hit by the flood crest.

Luo Haoran raged, "So for this, they'd sabotage the waterworks upstream?!"

Lu Zhaoqing also looked uncertain, "The Lin Clan is the Lin Clan, the Dong Family is the Dong Family. Do they really have the guts to provoke the Celestial Master Mansion by themselves?"

Lei Jun kept silent.

*But his thoughts drifted far away for a moment.*

*The current Celestial Master had shut himself away multiple times in the past years—something wasn't quite right, and outsiders were sure to notice.*

*With the Lin Clan and Celestial Master Mansion nursing old grudges, the brief peace was likely ending, and the Lin Family might be planning something again.*

*Maybe the Dong Family had been dispatched just to test the waters...*

Lei Jun put aside these thoughts for now, keeping wary of any sign of trouble, and together with Luo Haoran and Lu Zhaoqing, who had also stayed behind, worked to maintain and reinforce the remnants of the talisman array.

The three each took charge of a section of the lakeshore.

Lei Jun carefully strengthened the talisman array, using the power of spirit talismans to hold back the raging flood.

The floodwaters mixed with chaotic spiritual energy held terrifying destructive power, battering the light of the talismans over and over—danger was everywhere.

But amid the perilous wetlands, Lei Jun suddenly felt something stir inside him.

*He vaguely sensed that his Huo Sui Yang Yu and Weiji Bowl had both been triggered by something.*

Lei Jun searched the area thoroughly and finally found a strange spirit stone beneath the embankment.

The spirit stone was half black and half white—but really, all black on top and white on the bottom.

Within it, Yin and Yang intertwined, and the spiritual energy and artistic conception reminded Lei Jun of the Jiji Furnace he had once chosen for Master Yuan Moba.

The Jiji Hexagram: water above, fire below.

Which was exactly the reverse of the Weiji Bowl.

"When building the talisman array at Qingxiao Lake, the balance between water and fire was key—so we arranged fire-type spiritual objects in the array..." Lei Jun mused,

The array had been destroyed before, water and fire thrown off balance—a total mess.

Now the array had barely been repaired, barely holding together with a fragile new balance, but disaster could strike again at any moment.

With order slipping into chaos, then chaos returning to order, and both containing the seeds of fresh upheaval, perhaps that's what gave birth to this spirit stone of Jiji by accident?

The neutral lot had mentioned both a Sixth-Rank Opportunity and a Seventh-Rank Opportunity—this had to be one of them...

There was still too much to deal with. Lei Jun decided not to dwell on it, stored the spirit stone, and returned to inspecting and reinforcing the talisman array along the shore.

After a round of hard work, all three were drained in mana and spirit.

Lei Jun and Luo Haoran meditated for a short while and recovered most of their strength.

Lu Zhaoqing, however, still seemed weak.

He had always been the picture of a crane-haired, child-faced immortal Taoist, but now he couldn't hide his frailty and old age.

"I'm old, I'm nothing like you youngsters," Lu Zhaoqing sighed.

Lei Jun and Luo Haoran both insisted that the heavy labor was their job, and Master Lu was to supervise and instruct as needed.

Although, in theory, Lu Zhaoqing's cultivation was highest of the three.

But as Lei Jun knew, Lu Zhaoqing was already over one hundred and fifty years old.

For a cultivator at the Altar Stage with a two-hundred-year lifespan, this meant Lu Zhaoqing had stepped into his final twilight years.

Not only had any hope of advancing further been extinguished, but every aspect of his state was now in steep decline—even his realm could regress.

Even if his major realm didn't fall, all his abilities would drop far below their former heights.

*Lei Jun had once sharpened his tongue on Qin Tao, but he wouldn't speak the same way to Lu Zhaoqing.*

*This venerable Taoist had let Lei Jun witness, up close for the first time, how even cultivators could grow old and feeble.*

*One had to advance in cultivation while still young.*

*Compared to the aged Lu Zhaoqing and the flourishing, prime-of-life Master Yuan Moba and Li Ziyang, the gap was stark.*

"Brother Luo, your Water-Avoiding Talisman seems especially powerful to me?" Lei Jun changed the subject.

Luo Haoran smiled, "It's really nothing special. For my third life-bound charm technique, I chose the Water-Avoiding Talisman,"

Lei Jun and Lu Zhaoqing had already guessed, but now that Luo openly admitted it, they felt their suspicions confirmed—and became even more curious.

The true inheritance spirit talismans of the Celestial Master Mansion came in many varieties. The Water-Avoiding Talisman wasn't that rare, but most people treated it as a utility charm, really just a kind of practical tool.

Lei Jun had never heard of anyone refining the Water-Avoiding Talisman as their life-bound charm technique.

After all, for cultivators in the Third Heavenly Layer Altar Stage, there were only three slots for life-bound magic—options like Thunderclap, Wind Riding, Golden Barrier, Divine Strike, Heavenly Gang, Evil-Repelling, Blazing Flame, and many more—far too many worthy candidates and not enough slots.

To use one slot on the Water-Avoiding Talisman was nearly unheard of.

"When I was a child, my hometown was plagued by floods."

Luo Haoran explained simply, "Remember what we talked about before, Lei? My family nearly moved to Guanlong to stay with relatives, precisely for that reason,"

Lei Jun said, "So, Brother, you chose the Water-Avoiding Talisman for your life-bound charm technique because you wanted to control floods?"

He recalled his days in the Tao Boy Court, working with Luo Haoran—once, they'd gone to Qingyun Shoal Riverside for disaster relief after an outbreak of disease.

That, too, was during summer flood season, with water disaster threatening the people.

"Yes, you could call it a little aspiration of mine."

Luo Haoran looked up at the array before him, "At least, it's coming in handy today."

Lei Jun and Lu Zhaoqing both nodded.

The old Taoist gave a heartfelt sigh, "Brother Luo, today we're lucky to have you and Lei."

Luo Haoran responded politely, modest as ever.

Feeling his mana and spirit had largely recovered, he got up, "Still no room for carelessness; I'll go make another sweep. Have to watch out for the Dong Family, in case they come back for more sabotage,"

Lei Jun said, "I'll go with you."

Lu Zhaoqing said, "You can rest easy about that. I've set up spirit-sensing talismans nearby as a warning mechanism. If Dong family members attack, we'll have advance notice."