Cultivation: Fortune by Lots

The entire underground palace seemed to be trembling at that moment, as the rocky ceiling above collapsed violently and countless blood rivers surged upward in a mighty reverse flow.

The disaster spread in all directions, causing the earth and stones to crack apart, with the scope of the tremors growing wider and wider.

Lei Jun stood off to the side; though he had avoided the strongest initial impact of the Blood Sea's eruption, he still could not keep his footing any longer, and was forced to move, protected by the Breathing Soil Banner.

The Blood Sea was so filthy that not even the Water-Averting Golden Pupil could be used, and any contact would quickly pollute one, stripping away spiritual nature.

Lei Jun glanced toward Elder Du and the others' position.

There was no one else remaining by the Blood Sea at this point; Elder Du and his group had been instantly swept into one of the blood rivers, carried by the reverse current all the way upstream.

With Elder Du shielding them, the scene was still thrilling and dangerous, but not dire.

Seeing there was no one else around, Lei Jun touched his toes to the underground palace's ceiling, dangling upside down as he avoided yet another cresting wave of bloody surf.

He scanned the roaring Blood Sea, and suddenly, his eyes lit up.

In the dim, filthy blood sea, right at the heart of a red glow, a faint beam of clear brilliance slowly began to rise.

The brilliance was weak, swaying like a lone sail on an angry sea—about to sink at any moment, but tenaciously holding firm for now.

Lei Jun drew in a deep breath, channeling the spiritual power of his life-bound Wind Riding Talisman to the utmost, his body skimming over the sea's surface like a breeze, as the Breathing Soil Banner swept through the air!

The slender beam of clear light drew tighter, and Lei Jun landed atop it—finding it to be a lotus flower.

The lotus had been closed, but startled by his presence, it immediately bloomed open.

From a distance, the lotus seemed tiny in the midst of the Blood Sea, but up close, once it opened up it was nearly a yard in diameter, cradling Lei Jun like a small boat.

In the palace choked with bloody evil qi, Lei Jun somehow caught a trace of delicate fragrance and sensed a hint of spiritual charm.

He examined it closely, discovering that the source of the scent and spiritual nature was not the lotus itself, but a patch of frost-dew clinging to one of the petals.

[Nine Sacred Frost Dew]

Lei Jun's spirit stirred, and a thought flashed through his mind.

*This wasn't the first time, so he figured it was another subtle effect of the glowing sphere in his mind, helping him identify many unknown things.*

He didn't know much about Nine Sacred Frost Dew, but looking at the environment, Lei Jun could guess that this wasn't a naturally occurring treasure.

Most likely, it had been left behind by a Blood River Sect expert who arranged the Blood Sea and Blood River Arrays all around.

Using the utmost filth of the Blood Sea to nourish the utmost purity of Nine Sacred Frost Dew.

Once both reached their peak state, the Blood River Sect master would refine them together, harnessing opposing spiritual natures to improve their own cultivation.

Too bad he was tangled up with other Celestial Master Mansion Elders and had no time to focus on this place.

The Blood Sea was ruined, and the Nine Sacred Frost Dew would soon be lost as well.

*So this was the Fourth Rank Opportunity that the best lot spoke of... Lei Jun thought.*

*He just didn't know what further secrets or potential it might hold for the future.*

Now was not the time for research, so Lei Jun quickly reined in his wandering thoughts.

In terms of the process, securing this treasure was certainly more thrilling than risky.

According to the lot's fortune, obtaining it would bring no lingering troubles.

Still, Lei Jun acted with caution, choosing not to collect the frost-dew directly with his Soul Containing Talisman, but first using the Breathing Soil Banner's spiritual power to enfold and contain it.

Once the petal lost the frost-dew, the massive lotus riding the waves of blood began to show signs of wilting.

Luckily, as the waves surged, Lei Jun and the lotus were swept by the reverse current into one of the blood river channels.

The blood river still surged and roared, but its power was no longer as terrifying as in the Blood Sea itself.

Lei Jun keenly noticed that ahead, the blood river's course forked and changed.

One side was relatively turbulent but wide open.

The other was quieter, but shadowy and deep.

Recalling that the perfectly neutral lot and the worst lot mentioned the Eight Desolates Blood River Array and Eight Desolates Blood Cavity, he sprang from the wilting lotus, sidestepping the more shadowy path.

Before he could land on the palace's rocky wall to the side, Lei Jun suddenly heard someone's voice coming from the relatively open river channel:

"...You don't always have to dirty your own hands to kill someone..."

Uh...

Wait a second.

Lei Jun blinked.

*Why did that argument sound so familiar?*

*To kill without dirtying one's hands, not a fleck of blame clinging to you.*

*Yeah, sometimes I think like that myself...* Lei Jun smiled in self-mockery.

But the person who'd said it caught his interest.

The voice sounded familiar, too.

With the life-bound Wind Riding Talisman's spiritual power, Lei Jun moved like a night wind, silent and invisible.

Skirting along the blood river's rocky edge, Lei Jun rounded a corner.

The first thing he saw was, deep in the spacious underground chamber ahead, a huge array pattern flickering with red light.

The massive light array trembled along with the palace cave itself, like a bizarre giant eye endlessly opening and closing.

Eight Desolates Blood River Array... On seeing it, Lei Jun understood immediately.

Besides all the scattered ordinary Blood River Arrays, the Blood River Sect master who nurtured the Blood Sea had painstakingly set up eight even more powerful Eight Desolates Blood River Arrays.

Using them as a foundation, blood qi and evil qi were drawn and concentrated, ultimately giving birth to that vast Blood Sea down here.

But now, with the Blood Sea erupting ahead of schedule and shockwaves flooding back, the Eight Desolates Blood River Arrays also grew unstable, teetering on the brink of their own eruption.

Lei Jun shifted his gaze again.

On the fringes of the light array, two people stood hidden behind a rock—a man and a woman, spying on the Eight Desolates Blood River Array below.

As expected, they were acquaintances.

One was Fang Mingyuan—Mr. Fang.

The other, his elder sister born of the same mother, Fang Lu—Miss Fang.

"Li Clan disciples are a different matter, but anyone not surnamed Li, kill them and be done with it, the Celestial Master Mansion needs our family's help right now,"

Fang Mingyuan frowned at the distant Eight Desolates Blood River Array, "Why make things so complicated? Like this, there's a chance he might escape with his life."

Lei Jun raised an eyebrow at their words.

From what they said, it was obvious they were targeting Luo Haoran.

*Luo Haoran was here too?*

Lei Jun kept watching.

Inside the Eight Desolates Blood River Array, sure enough, there were several human silhouettes; on close inspection, all of them were Heavenly Master Mansion disciples.

But Luo Haoran wasn't among them.

Unexpectedly, Lei Jun spotted another familiar face.

Xia Qing.

The few fellow disciples with her, though not under Li Hongyu or Xia Bo, also belonged to closely connected branches within the Heavenly Master Mansion.

Lei Jun guessed they'd entered the palace from another blood river array or river entrance, ending up here rather than at the Blood Sea, only to be trapped in the Eight Desolates Blood River Array when the sea erupted and the light array changed.

For Lei Jun, protected by treasures like the Breathing Soil Banner, being caught in the Eight Desolates Blood River Array matched the fate of a perfectly neutral lot—dangerous, but not truly dire.

For Xia Qing and the others, though, it was a perilous situation.

Right now, all of them depended on a supreme-grade Golden Barrier Talisman Xia Qing had received from a sect elder to fend off the polluted blood's attacks.

At the center of the Eight Desolates Blood River Array, a tremendous suction trapped Xia Qing's group, unable to break free.

Once the supreme Golden Barrier Talisman exhausted its power, the group's own barrier talismans would only last a short time longer, and ultimately, they'd be sucked down into the depths of the blood river array.

To rescue them, someone would either have to help withstand the array's suction for a while, or find an alternate path to drain off some of the blood, lessening the pressure on Xia Qing and her group.

Lei Jun scanned the area once more.

This time, he spotted Luo Haoran.

The man was at the far end of the Eight Desolates Blood River Array.

Luo Haoran was at the edge of the blood river, not trapped within the array itself.

He was busy trying to block the blood river.

That side, a rock crevice, with faint rays of light piercing through the cracks.

Clearly, this spot was very close to the surface.

Luo Haoran was doing everything possible to stop the blood river from spilling out and surging onto the ground above.

Lei Jun didn't know much about what lay on the surface above this layer of rock.

But from what he knew of Luo Haoran, it was likely not some wild or deserted area outside.

On the contrary, it was probably a village or even a populous town.

If the blood river broke through to the surface, the destruction and harm would be even worse than ordinary flooding.

That was why Luo Haoran was giving it his all to seal it off.

Yet, that also meant he had trapped Xia Qing and the others within the Eight Desolates Blood River Array.