Chapter 75: What a Fated Encounter With You All!

"Fortune as tangible substance — just this small cup could change an ordinary person's fate." Zhao Xing gazed at the Fortune Golden Cup.

The growth of fortune should be applied to different categories.

It could manifest as romantic luck — suddenly meeting an exceptional member of the opposite sex in every way, who for some unfathomable reason insists on marrying beneath themselves.

Or it could manifest as financial luck, accumulating within a few years wealth that would have been impossible to obtain in an entire previous lifetime."

It might also bring a benefactor, becoming a political backer who elevates one all the way up.

If one is a cultivator? Then it's the classic tale of finding treasure in a trash heap, picking up a massive bargain at auction, encountering a master who offers guidance, or leaping off a cliff to obtain a divine art.

One could say fortune influences every aspect. Apart from lifespan, what Zhao Xing wanted most was 'fortune.'

"Such a small cup can raise fortune from Yan-1 to Yan-2, but my fortune is already at the Yan-2 level, so it probably can't reach Yan-3."

Zhao Xing brought the cup to his nose and took a gentle sniff.

The fortune within the golden cup vanished in an instant.

The cup also turned into an utterly ordinary stone cup.

"The accelerated heartbeat is gone, everything's normal." Zhao Xing checked the panel — sure enough, just as he'd estimated, there was no breakthrough; it was still Yan-2.

The Dao of Fortune is profound upon profound — the most mysterious and the hardest to advance. Zhao Xing wasn't surprised either.

"From Yan-2 to Yan-3, I'll probably need two more portions of upper grade spiritual essence." Zhao Xing casually tossed the lusterless stone cup onto the ground and walked out of the cave.

Although it hadn't advanced to Yan-3, having obtained a small cup of fortune meant good luck was bound to come next — he just didn't know in which aspect it would manifest.

"Hm?" The moment Zhao Xing stepped out of the cave, his heart felt empty, deeply reluctant. As if he were about to miss a great opportunity.

"Meow~" The mountain cat nuzzled him in confusion. Why had he stopped walking?

"Little mountain cat, is there anything else good inside the cave?" Zhao Xing asked.

The mountain cat nodded, then shook its little head again.

"Is there or isn't there? Forget it… I'll go in and look myself."

Having just obtained a cup of fortune, this was precisely the moment when good luck was about to arrive — naturally, Zhao Xing wouldn't ignore such a feeling.

He returned inside the cave and searched all four branching passages thoroughly.

He searched for a full hour, yet Zhao Xing found nothing unusual.

"Strange — I searched all four branching passages inside the cave thoroughly and found nothing, yet the moment I step outside the cave, that reluctant feeling appears."

"Could it be my imagination? Have I placed too much faith in fortune's effects?" At this point, Zhao Xing was beginning to doubt his own judgment.

He walked back into the cave, arriving beside the Venerable Han Bing Lotus Pond.

"Could it be them? But these three Venerable Han Bing Lotuses are far from mature, and standing this close, I don't feel any sudden premonition."

Approaching spiritual essence produces an intense sensation, but fortune is comparatively vague.

"No, it's not them."

Zhao Xing didn't pluck these unripe spiritual essences — destroying spiritual essences that heaven and earth had not yet finished nurturing would cost one fortune.

Just then, the mountain cat tugged at Zhao Xing's trouser leg.

"Hm?" Zhao Xing looked down.

He saw that the mountain cat had, at some unknown moment, picked up the stone cup Zhao Xing had discarded, seemingly wanting to play with him.

"This broken cup is useless now, why did you pick it up? Go away, I don't have time to play right now." Zhao Xing was a bit irritated.

"Meow meow~" The little mountain cat looked a little aggrieved.

"Oh, I'm not being mean to you… alright, alright, let's play." Zhao Xing picked up the stone cup, intending to toss it outside.

But the moment he picked it up, Zhao Xing's brow rose.

The instant he lifted the cup, he suddenly felt a sense of 'peace of mind.'

"Could it be this?"

Logically speaking, the fortune had already vanished — this was an utterly, completely ordinary stone cup.

Zhao Xing examined it closely but saw nothing unusual whatsoever.

"Little mountain cat, let's go."

Zhao Xing's mind stirred, and he walked out of the cave.

This time, he moved far from the cave, and that 'lost' feeling did not return.

"It really is it!"

Zhao Xing joyfully rubbed the mountain cat's head. Although he still didn't know what use it had, without a doubt, the mountain cat had performed a great service this time.

"Want to play? No problem, but just the two of us is no fun. Let's find some others — I'll make sure you play to your heart's content."

After Zhao Xing and the mountain cat departed, a figure riding a bamboo horse gazed from afar.

He watched the retreating figures of the man and cat, a flicker of doubt crossing his eyes, then swiftly rushed into the cave.

At the first quarter of the Hour of the Tiger, the people on the Heaven Altar Square gradually dispersed.

The temple's final wave of incense offerings had been released, and the temple gates closed once more.

Everyone began a new day's journey in search of spiritual essence.

However, the effect of incense offerings diminishes gradually — those who come later are destined to only try their luck.

Some others, meanwhile, raced through the mountains searching, attempting to seize others' opportunities.

In an instant, the sounds of combat rang out in various places across the mountain.

On a certain cliff face grew a small, radiant tree bearing three purple fruits, crystalline and translucent.

But the little tree was very inconspicuous, growing within a crevice, its fruits also concealed by dense foliage — very hard to spot.

"Clang!" Qin Feng drove his blade into the rock, borrowing the force to leap upward, gaining a stretch of distance.

"Screeeech~" The blade caught in a crevice, then suddenly slid downward; loose stones tumbled, and Qin Feng plummeted along with them.

"Brother Qin, be careful!"

"Brother Qin!"

The three companions below cried out in alarm.

Qin Feng yanked the dagger from his waist and drove it into the cliff face again, finally halting his fall.

He found a foothold and at last steadied himself.

"Clatter—"

The stone tumbled down and shattered to pieces.

Qin Feng glanced at the bottom and couldn't help wiping a bead of sweat.

If he had fallen, he'd likely be no different from that rock—smashed to bits and pieces.

"This place is very strange. The higher you go, the greater the resistance. Be careful too." Qin Feng called down to the others.

"I can feel it," a companion replied. "Anywhere else, a single leap could easily carry me seven or eight meters high. Now, even with all my strength, I can only manage one or two."

"Heavy Cliff—what a Heavy Cliff. This place is far too treacherous. Earlier I jumped down from three meters and the shock made my soles ache." Another man was still shaken, half-inclined to back out.

"Put your backs into it. The harder it is, the more it proves the treasure up top is rare—maybe a mid-grade Spirit Sprout!" Qin Feng licked his lips.

"Mm, coming. Brother Qin, give me a hand up."

"Alright."

Though the climb was slow, the four of them worked together with one mind, and the two-hundred-plus-meter cliff was at last conquered.

"My heart's pounding so fast! It must be a mid-grade Spirit Sprout!" Qin Feng stared at the little tree within arm's reach, a greedy look creeping over his face.

"Brother Qin, how many fruits on the little tree?" someone below called up.

"Three!" Qin Feng laughed.

"Hurry, pick them and get off the cliff. Up here I can barely breathe smoothly."

"Alright."

On the cliff face, of course, they couldn't consume the fruits. For a mid-grade Origin-Scripture Spirit Sprout, if it boosted Origin Qi, one would need to circulate energy and sit in meditation; as for comprehending a technique? That demanded an even quieter, more secluded spot.

On Heavy Cliff, even standing on tiptoe was a struggle—who would dare take a Spirit Sprout up here?

The four began their slow descent.

The way down was equally perilous, but thankfully no one was hurt in the end.

They reached the ground, safe and sound.

"We're down." Qin Feng panted heavily, looked at his three martial brothers, and a strange feeling welled up inside him.

Three fruits, but four people—how to split them?

Since they couldn't be divided evenly, wouldn't it be better if he took them all for himself?

"Three martial brothers, let's divide the fruits." Qin Feng walked over, his hand unconsciously closing around the knife handle.

"Hahaha, the early bird doesn't always beat the lucky one. Brother Qin, what a coincidence…" Just then, a voice drifted out from the trees. A few scarecrow-men appeared carrying a chair, on which sat a smiling youth.

He pointed ahead: "Brother Qin, you have four people but only three fruits. Hand them over to me, so the four of you don't have to slaughter each other."

"What?" Qin Feng froze, recognizing that familiar voice.

He had only just thought to move, but before the other's words had even finished, a black shadow shot toward him.

The next instant, Qin Feng felt his wrist tendons go numb, and the three fruits slipped from his grasp.

He looked again—they were gone, now in Zhao Xing's hand.

"You—you…" Qin Feng longed to slash that handsome face. The man was far too shameless—robbing him yet again, and even calling out his true intentions.

"Brother Qin, I helped you resolve a crisis, and you can't even say thank you? Are all you people from the Hucheng Martial Office so ungrateful?"

"I…" Qin Feng stared at the man, fury blazing in his chest, cursing up a storm inside.

The other three also recognized Zhao Xing as the "senior" who had thrashed them earlier. Though robbed, they didn't dare voice a word of anger.

"Th—thank you!" Qin Feng ground out through clenched teeth, forcing a smile uglier than a cry.

"Don't mention it. I hope we meet again next time." Zhao Xing waved his hand and ordered the scarecrow-men to carry him away.

Qin Feng and the others watched helplessly, powerless to do anything.

No choice—who could blame them when they simply couldn't beat him?

Zhao Xing patted the mountain cat in his arms: "See? You took their stuff, and they still have to thank us. Isn't that fun?"

"Meow!" The mountain cat bobbed its little head, clearly delighted.

"…" Qin Feng could still hear him, so frustrated he wanted to spit blood.

Fun my eighteen generations of ancestors! Those Spirit Sprouts cost me blood and sweat!

"Brother Qin, we have another spot we can try our luck at. Forget it, forget it." A junior brother, seeing Qin Feng gripping his blade so tightly, couldn't help offering counsel.

"Right, you're the forty-eighth incense, and Seventh Brother is the forty-second. We still have a chance."

Apart from the top ten, who would be teleported out, everyone else went in and came out the same way. Qin Feng's group had moved together—they had more than one location.

"Let's go." Qin Feng had no choice but to rally his spirits, quickly leaving the area and heading for the next spot.

East Lake Mountain truly lived up to its name as a spirit mountain. When they reached the place "Seventh Brother" had mentioned, they actually sensed another Spirit Sprout's presence.

It was a pool, clear to the bottom, where two unknown "eggs" lay on the floor, emitting faint threads of light.

"Looks like a low-grade Spirit Sprout?"

"Yes, that's what I'm sensing too."

"Is the water deep?"

"Not deep, only seven or eight meters!"

"Is it dangerous?"

"I'll toss a stone to test it."

"Plop—"

The stone sank into the pool, and no fierce beasts appeared.

The four men were overjoyed — what luck!

Generally speaking, even if one knows the location of a spiritual essence, obtaining it is still difficult.

Like those sheer cliffs from earlier — climbing up would be extremely hard, and there might even be dangers.

Although it's only a lower-grade spiritual essence, there are two of them, and there's no danger — practically free.

"Seventh Junior Brother's luck is really good — the forty-second incense had this kind of effect, and it didn't even require any effort."

"Yeah, it's just a pity about what Senior Brother Qin discovered…"

"Don't mention that." Qin Feng waved his hand. "Who's going down?"

"I'll go."

Soon, someone fished two unknown 'eggs' out of the pool.

The joy of obtaining the spiritual essence dispelled some of the gloom from before.

But before they had time to celebrate, a familiar voice rang out.

"Hahaha, you lot really are fated to meet me."

"Very well, I'll resolve another disaster for you!"

Zhao Xing lay on a chair, grinning broadly, and petted the mountain cat.

Whoosh — the mountain cat shot out like a bolt of lightning.

Seventh Junior Brother, who was holding the two eggs, felt his wrist go numb, and then discovered the treasures had vanished.

"Damn it, this is too much!" Qin Feng cursed furiously in his heart and instinctively drew his blade.

"Senior Brother, forget it, forget it…" The other three hurriedly held Qin Feng back. "Have you forgotten how we got strung up and beaten?"

Seeing that Qin Feng actually dared to draw his blade, Zhao Xing smiled half-heartedly: "What? I help you resolve a disaster and you still can't tell good from bad?"

Qin Feng drew his blade and said to Seventh Junior Brother beside him: "Junior Brother, does my blade look good?"

Seventh Junior Brother: "…"

After robbing the same group twice in a row, Zhao Xing also felt that Qin Feng and the others had rather terrible luck.

"Perhaps it's not that their luck is bad, but that someone else's luck has improved — by comparison, they seem worse off."

"The strong stay strong. After the first and second nights, the originally similar officials had their gaps pulled apart."

"Not just in cultivation, in spells, but also in the mysterious workings of fortune."

Without a doubt, Zhao Xing now belonged to the strong!

"After eating those four fruits earlier, I've already broken through to the seventh stage of Qi Gathering. Although my realm isn't among the highest on the mountain, I have my little mountain cat — in terms of combat power, not many can beat me anymore." Zhao Xing was in an excellent mood.

Before coming up the mountain, he was only at the fourth stage of Qi Gathering, but now in just two days he's already at the seventh stage!

With normal cultivation, even with decent talent, it would take at least three months.

As for the improvement in spells, that's even more exaggerated — if he hadn't come up the mountain, reaching this level might have taken a year. After all, going step by step, one doesn't cultivate all day long; there are all sorts of worldly affairs to deal with.

How could step-by-step cultivation be this fast?

"Lower-grade spiritual essence." Zhao Xing held the two eggs and examined them, then cracked the shells and sucked out the yolk and white inside.

【You used a lower-grade item, additional lifespan increased by 1 year】

【You used a lower-grade item, additional lifespan increased by 1 year】

"Additional lifespan has already increased by 38 years." Zhao Xing was quite satisfied. "A tiny bit closer to the goal of longevity."

"After getting that cup of fortune, I've already run into 'good luck' twice in a row. By the pattern, there should be one more 'good luck' in the short term."

"Wonder where it'll land."

Zhao Xing ordered the scarecrow to carry him as he wandered aimlessly.

"Cousin, after eating that elemental spiritual essence, your injuries should be a bit better, right? Any breakthrough?" At a sheltered slope, Zhang Boran sat on a rock resting.

"Breakthrough? Hmph!" Wenzhao snorted coldly.

"No way, still no breakthrough?"

"If not for you, could I have wasted that spiritual essence?" Wenzhao pointed at his own swollen eye sockets. "Most of the spiritual essence's efficacy was used to heal injuries!"

Zhang Boran stammered: "Cousin, th-that can't be blamed on me. Who could have expected that spendthrift to hire a veteran official from the Divine Hall?"

"Sigh, such is fate." Wenzhao heaved a heavy sigh.

Originally, they had hopes of obtaining the third incense and learning the location to reach the upper grade.

But Zhang Boran was interfered with by 'Pang Yuan Bo' and only entered as the tenth — far from what they'd expected.

Only the top five could make the True Lord manifest and grant whatever was asked. For those behind, the odds of trying to reach the upper grade were slim.

To play it safe, Zhang Boran chose the more certain mid-grade spiritual essence and obtained two locations.

But after coming out, he didn't act immediately — he first found Wenzhao.

He let Wenzhao use one of the spiritual essences to heal his injuries, then went to seek the second.

Without Wenzhao, he was just an ordinary eighth-stage Qi Gathering martial artist. With Wenzhao, he was even stronger than a typical ninth-stage Qi Gathering.

Of course, moving together with his cousin was safer.

Below them was a small valley. In the valley stood a monkey tree absurdly thick of trunk, laden with many golden chestnuts — but beneath it, many burly ape-like exotic beasts stood guard.

"Cousin, rested enough?" Zhang Boran was eager to try. He could sense many treasures in the valley below that attracted him.

"Beneath my feet to the east lies the heavens' edge, my spirit sweeps the cosmos to settle the distant."

Wenzhao muttered incantations, and Zhang Boran immediately became refreshed, his complexion rosy.

He leaped off the rock and plunged down into the valley.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Boran reappeared on the slope.

A bloody gash had been clawed into his left shoulder. Hair flying, he ran at full speed.

At the sight, Wenzhao turned pale with shock: "How could you even drop your blade?"

"Cousin, run! We struck it rich!"

Zhang Boran felt no regret at all over losing his war-blade; his chest was bulging, and under his arm he was clutching an earthen jar sealed with mud.

"Earth follows my heart, 咫尺天涯!" Wenzhao muttered, took a single step, and reappeared a hundred meters away.

Zhang Boran also ran with everything he had, while behind them came the continuous furious roars of pursuit—apes and monkeys launching the chase from the ground and from the trees.

Neither of them knew how far they had run.

At last, the ape-calls behind them were no longer heard.

"W-we can stop." Wenzhao was utterly exhausted.

"Hoo~" Zhang Boran also came to a halt.

"We've shaken them off. There's a bamboo grove ahead—let's rest there."

"This bamboo grove is quite tall and looks fairly dense—good for hiding."

"Good." Zhang Boran nodded, and the two of them headed toward the bamboo grove ahead.

Zhao Xing, who was waiting in the bamboo grove for the King Kong Bamboo to ripen, suddenly heard faint sounds.

He rose from the reclining chair and looked at the two figures ahead with a strange expression.

"That's… Wenzhao and Zhang Boran?"