Cultivation: Fortune by Lots

Another best lot?

Lei Jun was first surprised.

The lot mentioned a Fourth Rank Opportunity, which seemed less impressive than the previous best lot's Third-Rank Opportunity, the Breathing Soil Banner, but it was still quite substantial.

And this Fourth Rank Opportunity might have some room for further development down the line.

Still, on the flipside, aside from the auspicious best lot, there was also the ominous worst lot this time, so he needed to stay alert.

Also worth noting, the lot mentioned a so-called "Blood Sea" and the "Eight Desolates Blood River Array."

Lei Jun had heard of the Eight Desolates Blood River Array, but had never seen it with his own eyes, heard it was like an upgraded version of the Blood River Array, and at least needed a Blood River Sect cultivator with Middle Three Heavens Cultivation to set it up.

As for the Blood Sea, he had no idea about its exact nature.

*Looks like this trip to the underground palace wasn't just going to be a brush with an ordinary Blood River Array—he would be messing with the big leagues.*

Heading south for more than a hundred miles, Lei Jun and the others reached a hilly region.

Between the hills, a cave entrance had already appeared, and from inside, a thick stench of blood was wafting out, with gleaming blood-red light flickering across the opening.

This place had been discovered by a young disciple from the Celestial Master Mansion, with the underground passage inside crisscrossing like a labyrinth.

Deep within the maze, a Blood River Array lay hidden, gathering bloody evil qi.

The disciple from the Celestial Master Mansion couldn't handle it alone, so he hustled to contact the Sect, and Lei Jun and the others came to reinforce him after getting word.

Seeing a crowd of fellow disciples finally let the guy breathe a sigh of relief.

The group instantly pooled up and plunged right in.

The roaring sound of water drew nearer and nearer, growing louder and louder, like a grand river rushing by.

The nasty, pungent smell of blood thickened in the air.

It was mixed with heavy evil qi, messing with their minds.

The average mortal wouldn't even be able to approach—just getting hit with that bloody evil qi would cost them their sanity and turn them rabid.

The cultivation strength of Lei Jun and the others was holding out, so far.

But everyone had received proper training, so they'd all come prepared, each person first boosting themselves with a Purifying Heart Talisman.

They found an ordinary Blood River Array quickly enough.

But unlike last time, they couldn't just suppress and dismantle it right away.

The underground Blood River here had already taken shape, foul blood water forming a long river threading its way below, with no telling where upstream or downstream even went.

Lei Jun took it all in and gradually gained a sense of what to do.

One of the disciples suggested splitting into two teams to block off the Blood River in different places, keeping it contained so the rest could clear out the Array more easily.

"No matter which way you go, just be careful."

Lei Jun spoke up, reminding them, "Here, the Blood River has come into its own. There might be unknown dangers."

Everyone nodded, agreeing.

Lei Jun's chosen direction was, naturally, to follow the Blood River downstream.

Although two fellow disciples had gone down with him, the farther they ventured, the more tangled the underground palace became, with numerous forks in the passages.

After agreeing on some marks and syncing up on a time, Lei Jun and several others split up.

The underground palace branched in all directions, actually having more than one entrance.

Apart from those who had entered with him, Lei Jun even bumped into other fellow disciples and disciples from the Fang Clan in the maze underground.

These folks had probably spotted some other Blood River Arrays or Blood Rivers elsewhere and had tracked them down here.

Lei Jun hid his presence, moving solo for the time being.

He patiently kept searching, doubling back a few times.

Luckily, before long he found a disciple of the Blood River Sect.

Instead of clashing straight away, Lei Jun kept himself hidden, following at a distance.

Sure enough, this led him right to the destination.

Inside an underground cavern, a vast blood sea that seemed to stretch to infinity flooded Lei Jun's vision.

Foul blood surged and churned, like a tidal wave, with massive bubbles bursting nastily on the surface every so often.

Above the Blood Sea, several figures busied themselves, all true inheritance disciples of the Blood River Lineage.

Experts from the Blood River Sect had been spotted by elders from the Celestial Master Mansion, who threw down with them in a big battle—drawing even more attention from the Mansion's top brass in the process.

But in the depths below, a massive blood sea was silently forming in secret.

More than one Blood River poured into the Blood Sea.

The underground palace was branched everywhere, with multiple Blood Rivers winding and stretching, all merging into the Blood Sea with the force of hundreds of rivers joining the ocean—making the Blood Sea's bloody evil qi steadily thicker and thicker.

The folks from the Blood River Sect didn't expect this Blood Sea to stay hidden very long—just hoped to reap this "harvest" in time.

Still, their hopes ended up dashed.

Lei Jun continued to hide, waiting for his moment.

But from a distance, he saw that at other river mouths leading into the Blood Sea, several bursts of spirit light had started to flare.

There was the glow from Spirit Talismans belonging to disciples of the Celestial Master Mansion, and the gleaming Wenhua light from Fang Clan disciples of the Confucian Sect.

Multiple Blood Rivers all converged on this spot.

It was clear that those hunting down the other Blood River Arrays had stumbled on something weird and followed another Blood River all the way here.

The number of Blood River Sect disciples standing guard here was small.

But each one was a savage brute.

Cultivators of the Blood River Sect were infamous for their ferocious, bloodthirsty fighting and ruthless methods.

Now, on the Blood Sea, nourished by the Sea's evil qi, they could unleash even greater power.

So those few disciples of the Blood River Sect fought ferociously and never backed down, jumping right into vicious, bloody combat against the intruders.

But their luck was trash.

This batch of Celestial Master Mansion disciples happened to be led by an elder with Middle Three Heavens Cultivation.

That elder of the Celestial Master Mansion charged in at the front, the Blood River Sect disciples held their ground with all their might, yet still kept getting beaten back step by step.

Lei Jun watched from afar, and when he finally made out the elder's face, his mood got a little weird.

*...Guess you could say it's an old acquaintance.*

Strictly speaking, Lei Jun hadn't actually dealt with this person directly before.

Back when Lei Jun was still in the Tao Boy Court, that time he got the essence of the Purple-Gold Ganoderma after a fortuitous lot—it had started with Elder Du holding a ritual at the altar, which wound up exploding in his own face.

After Lei Jun had completed the transcension ritual and officially joined the Mansion, he had run into Elder Du a few other times elsewhere, sometimes at a distance, but they'd never had a real encounter.

*Who would have thought that here and now, of all places, he'd run into Elder Du again?*

With Elder Du in command, the Celestial Master Mansion squad quickly charged into the Blood Sea.

As a few fell in battle, the remaining Blood River disciples showed no fear—instead, they cracked vicious grins.

All at once, they shouted in unison and dived straight down into the Blood Sea.

The dim and grimy Blood Sea, already wild and churning, suddenly erupted into even bigger waves.

Beneath the polluted blood surface, layer after layer of crimson light shot upward.

Along with monstrous blood waves, the entire Blood Sea began to roar and rage out of control.

This move from the Blood River Sect disciples was pure desperation.

They weren't exactly sacrificing themselves, but throwing their bodies into the Blood Sea to unleash a tsunami—in their case, it was still mortally dangerous.

But this way, they hit Elder Du and the other Celestial Master Mansion folk with a brutal blow while slipping away, fighting for a last scrap of hope for themselves.

As the Blood Sea erupted, all the various Blood Rivers flowing into it reversed course and flooded backward.

Elder Du and his crew, who had charged into the sea, took the full brunt of the blast.

Luckily, Elder Du was out front shielding them—so while it got hairy, the group didn't end up in a total deathtrap.

As long as none of them fell into the worst-lot's described Eight Desolates Blood Cavity, they were fine.

Lei Jun watched, mildly helpless, as Elder Du sweated it out at the front, holding off the brunt of the Blood Sea's first raging surge for the Celestial Master Mansion disciples and the Fang Clan disciples behind him.

*...Elder Du, sorry to make you go through all this again.*