Cultivation: Fortune by Lots

Inside and outside the Celestial Master Mansion, everyone racked their brains searching for the missing Celestial Master Seal.

Elder Sister Xu Yuanzhen had searched back then.

Master Yuan Mobai had also kept an eye out for it.

The rival Yellow Sky Sect was searching as well.

As far as Lei Jun knew, Elder Hong Yu, Elder Ziyang, Yong Celestial Master Li Zhengxuan, and others did the same.

After so many years, while Lei Jun studied under Yuan Mobai, he had heard bits and pieces about those past events.

Four or five years ago, at the Transcension Ritual of their generation, aside from Tang Xiaotang, Chen Yi, Shangguan Hong, and Li Ying had all submitted petitions to Heaven, hoping to become the personal disciples of the Celestial Master.

Of course, in the end, the result was that everyone got stood up by the Celestial Master.

Later, Chen Yi had wanted to receive treatment similar to Tang Xiaotang's.

His hope rested on rendering merit for the Celestial Master Mansion, so that perhaps the Mansion would make an exception for him.

For this, the sect's upper echelon had held a secret meeting to review his case.

Unfortunately, it still was not approved in the end.

Afterward, Yuan Mobai revealed that Chen Yi did indeed have merit—the credit being that he discovered a few clues related to the whereabouts of the Celestial Master Seal.

Because of this, High Merit Elders Li Hongyu and Yao Yuan supported making an exception for Chen Yi.

But in the end, it didn't succeed, because Elder Ziyang objected.

The reason for opposing was rock solid too.

The clues Chen Yi found were already known by Elder Ziyang. In fact, his knowledge completely covered what Chen Yi had discovered.

With that, the so-called merit was hard to call true merit.

The matter of making an exception for Chen Yi thus quietly faded away.

The details of the affair remained mostly secret, and Chen Yi switched to study under Elder Yao, staying there ever since.

To the outside disciples, it was as if nothing had ever happened; all was as usual.

But for the upper echelon of the Celestial Master Mansion, everyone continued trying to find the lost Celestial Master Seal, but unfortunately there had never been significant progress.

Now, with the Mansion suffering a great calamity, had the Celestial Master Seal actually shifted back toward Dragon Tiger Mountain because of it?

*Rather than calling it a blessing in disguise, Lei Jun thought it felt more like irony.*

Of course, the Celestial Master Seal merely had its own spiritual nature—it wasn't like it actually knew the way home.

How it would return, and to whose hands, was all still unknown.

Lei Jun forced himself to focus and meticulously cleaned the area, gathering up a few magic artifacts and spiritual objects the Yellow Sky Sect had left behind.

"Roar!!"

Unexpectedly, just as he was busy, a sudden tiger's roar rang out again!

Lei Jun was caught off guard and looked up toward the distance.

This time, the tiger's roar hadn't come from the mountain he just excavated; it came from far away.

Looking across the distance, Lei Jun saw—again—a giant, green fire tiger manifest at the horizon.

The massive tiger's entire form was made up of green terrestrial flame, and as it roared, wild fire swept out, as if a sea of burning fire blanketed the endless horizon.

Then it headed in Lei Jun's general direction.

But it wasn't coming for him—it was pursuing other targets.

Several Yellow Sky Sect disciples, panic-stricken, fled into this wild mountain.

They had come to rendezvous here with sectmates already excavating stone, hoping they could pool their strength to resist their powerful foe.

By rights, searching for clues about the Celestial Master Seal was highly confidential; secrecy should've been paramount, and people should've avoided the place like plague.

But these Yellow Sky Sect disciples were still driven here in a panic—clearly, their pursuer's pressure on them must have nearly snapped their sanity.

Too bad, once they arrived at the wild mountain, they discovered that the previous Yellow Sky Sect disciples working here had already suffered nearly total casualties.

The newcomers immediately fell into utter despair.

The only pause came when that towering Nine Abyss Flame Ancestral Dharma, wreathed in mighty flame, halted for a moment.

The huge green tiger opened its maw and spoke in human tongue, its tone surprised, "Elder Sister's handiwork?"

The surging green terrestrial flames suddenly subsided, leaving all the Yellow Sky Sect disciples confused.

The giant fire tiger disappeared; what took its place in midair was a tall woman of unparalleled beauty—Tang Xiaotang, unmistakably.

When she saw Lei Jun, her expression grew even more surprised, "What are you doing here?"

Lei Jun maintained an even expression, "On the way, I came across a group of Yellow Sky Sect demon people acting suspiciously, so I secretly tailed them to take a look.

Unexpectedly, they ended up here, even digging into the mountain. But then they were all wiped out by the Nine Abyss Flame Ancestral Dharma you left behind, Elder Sister."

Tang Xiaotang had heard from Xu Yuanzhen and Lei Jun about the first time they met. Shocked, she said, "Right here?"

Lei Jun pointed to another new group of Yellow Sky Sect disciples she'd been chasing over, "Junior Sister, given the situation, should we talk about this later?"

Those Yellow Sky Sect disciples had been in utter despair. But then, seeing Tang Xiaotang pause to chat instead of attacking, hope flickered in their eyes once more—they immediately tried to scatter and escape.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Tang Xiaotang grinned, "But since Elder Sister has already shown off here, I can't fall behind!"

As she spoke, golden light erupted from head to toe—her black hair and brows turned pale gold in an instant.

The next moment, blazing golden flames surged, flooding in every direction.

"Roar!!"

The tiger's roar thundered through the world once again.

But this time, what appeared was a golden fire tiger!

Seeing this, Lei Jun raised both brows.

Unlike the pure profound Yin aura of the green terrestrial flame, these golden flames were pure Yang—blazing hot, fierce, and unyielding!

The rays of light were so dazzling that Lei Jun felt as though he were facing the sun from close range.

This was no longer the Celestial Master Mansion's ancestral Nine Abyss Flame Ancestral Dharma, no more the Yin Fire Tiger.

This was a Yang Fire Tiger!

The golden, burning giant tiger roared and pounced at the Yellow Sky Sect crowd, instantly sweeping the area with even more ferocity than the previous green flame tiger.

The enemy had no chance to resist—by the first exchange, the majority were already dead or injured.

"Leave one alive to question!" Lei Jun reminded.

The golden flame giant tiger lifted a massive paw, pinning a Yellow Sky Sect talisman-bestowed elder, dressed in a deep red Taoist robe, right under its claws.

The light and flames faded, revealing Tang Xiaotang with her pale golden hair fluttering.

She ignored the big and small cats still fleeing in the distance, casually hoisted the captured Yellow Sky Sect elder, and cheerfully sauntered up to Lei Jun,

"So? Didn't I say I don't play with little things? If I'm gonna do something, I do it big! Was I wrong?"

Lei Jun nodded earnestly, "Junior Sister, your talent is extraordinary—truly one in a million."

Immortal Root Bone.

Serene Insight.

Purely by innate stats alone, she could be called the greatest prodigy in the history of the Celestial Master Mansion.

Even compared to the entire Great Tang, she was the cream of the crop.

Tang Xiaotang was no doubt the type to get puffed up at the slightest praise, and grinned with pride, "That's nothing—I've got other ideas brewing…"

"Junior Sister?" Lei Jun waved a hand in front of his own hair and brows by way of reminder.

Tang Xiaotang snapped to attention, "Oh, almost forgot."

With that, the golden color faded from her hair and brows and turned back to black.

Lei Jun, "Junior Sister, what brought you here as well? How's the situation at Dragon Tiger Mountain?"

Tang Xiaotang, "I was chasing Yellow Sky Sect small-fry, killing them as I went—there were only a few left. I wasn't really watching where I was going and just ended up here."

Overall, the situation at Dragon Tiger Mountain had gradually stabilized.

The current Celestial Master Li Qingfeng had fallen.

Before the new Celestial Master took the throne, the Altar of Wanfa Sect would remain sealed.

Luckily, the Celestial Master's Sword and Celestial Master Robe, the two great treasures, were still secure.

Xu Yuanzhen had chased the mysterious master who ambushed the Celestial Master—both had disappeared without a trace.

The surrounding powers, including even the Great Tang imperial family, for now had their eyes more on the Jiangzhou Lin Clan, which had likewise lost its clan chief.

Thus, the Dragon Tiger Mountain Celestial Master's Mansion was granted a rare window of opportunity to put all of its focus on fighting the Yellow Sky Sect.

Li Song, Li Hongyu, Li Ziyang, Yao Yuan, Shangguan Ning, Yuan Mobai, Li Zhengxuan—these seven High Merit Masters took the lead, and with the uniquely positioned Tang Xiaotang, the Mansion not only withstood the Yellow Sky Sect's assault, but actually began to push them back.

Only, a significant portion of resources still had to be devoted to guarding against surprise attacks from enemies outside the Yellow Sky Sect.

So, for now, the Mansion didn't fully go from defense to offense—only Tang Xiaotang charged around boldly, clearing out Yellow Sky Sect people on the periphery.

Lei Jun and Tang Xiaotang exchanged a few words, then interrogated the captured Yellow Sky Sect elder.

From his mouth, they did manage to extract one piece of intel,

Apart from attacking the main house at Dragon Tiger Mountain and some lesser branches, the Yellow Sky Sect had also targeted and harassed the Cave Heaven Villa—Red Abyss Cave Heaven—outside Dragon Tiger Mountain.

Unlike the newly opened Xuanyang Cave Heaven, Red Abyss Cave Heaven was one of Dragon Tiger Mountain's core, time-honored Blessed Land Cave Heavens—fully developed and highly important.

"Dang, you guys really are stirring up trouble everywhere."

Tang Xiaotang turned to Lei Jun, "Wanna come with me to Red Abyss Cave Heaven?"

Lei Jun didn't answer right away.

Because, in his mind's eye, the orb of light flared up again,

[See through like fire, discern truth from lies—three paths before you, better act without delay.]

Three fortune lots then appeared,

[Moderately good lot: Pursue the remaining Yellow Sky Sect cultists—dangerous, respond carefully; you will gain a Fifth Grade Opportunity. Auspicious.]

[Moderately good lot: Return to Dragon Tiger Mountain immediately—you will gain a Sixth-Rank Opportunity; no risk, nothing to worry about. Auspicious.]

[Perfectly neutral lot: Go to Red Abyss Cave Heaven—it will remain unharmed, no risk, but no gains either. Average.]

Hm?

Lei Jun carefully reread the fortunes.

Indeed, there were two moderately good lots.