Chapter 24: Lottery

Ye Fan: "Hehe, then I'll be bothering you in a couple days."

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan: "Me too."

Han Li: "At that time, may I join you to see other worlds as well?"

In Han Li's view, waiting a while was the right choice—at the very least, he needed to clearly understand the futures and pasts of the other group friends before going to meet them, as that would be the most prudent approach.

【Prompt: Group member Weigong Shilang has entered a soul state.】

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan: "......"

Su Lin: "......"

Ye Fan: "Is this time..."

Han Li: "This group member seems to have encountered difficulty..."

【Prompt: Group member Weigong Shilang has been revived.】

Han Li suppressed the urge to put down The Legend of the Immortal Cultivator to check the story of this group member named Weigong Shilang.

"In the Myriad Worlds, anything is possible. Better to first understand what concerns oneself."

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan: "6."

Su Lin: "Indeed."

Ye Fan: "Indeed."

Luffy: "What's that?"

Han Li: "Today I've gained much insight."

Cross-world travel isn't impossible; though two group leaders are cunning, the chat group's restrictions keep it like visiting neighbors—Su Lin had no reservations.

But...

Su Lin recalled the changes in the system store that appeared in the Nautical World.

He remembered a previous guess he'd made.

Could the items available for exchange in the system be tied to one's own world?

If so, does that prove his own world isn't ordinary?

Before encountering the chat group, the system's store already offered an astonishing variety of items; the cultivation techniques alone could be called boundless—every imaginable transcendent system, even unknown ones never heard of, were all present.

Could it be...

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

Su Lin shuddered, beads of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

He leaned toward the idea that these chat group items came from other worlds—this couldn't be taken lightly.

After returning, he must find a way to investigate further.

He could now escape ordinary humanity through exchange, and with the Historical Projection skill, he could later attempt exploration.

Su Lin: "Then let's wait a while—I'll prepare a banquet and sweep the mats to welcome you all."

He no longer had the heart to join the Nautical World's gathering and revelry.

After bidding farewell to the others, Su Lin returned to his own world with some local specialties.

Surprisingly, when Su Lin left, it was 7 PM; when he returned, it was still 7 PM—even discounting the years he'd spent in the Nautical World, he'd still spent hours in his original timeline.

Could time have stopped flowing the moment he left?

Su Lin told the others in the chat group about this.

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan: "If used well, this Breakthrough Charm could save your life at a critical moment."

For example, if chased by a powerful enemy, you could just cross over to a group member's world and return—by then, your condition would be fully restored, even stronger.

Han Li: "It truly could work wonders."

This also means you must maintain good relations with the group members—otherwise, if no one agrees to let you cross worlds at a critical moment, you're doomed.

Ye Fan: "Too bad it's only three months."

The Breakthrough Charm's usage limit was clearly stated by the chat group: staying longer than three months in another world restricts your cultivation speed.

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan: "Still not bad."

Otherwise, just go to another world, cultivate into a Dou Emperor, and return to the Dou Qi Continent—then don't call it Soul Breaker Heaven, call it Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan Invincible.

In a rented apartment in a small residential complex in Le City, Huaguo, Earth.

Su Lin rested briefly, then began bathing and washing up.

He lit incense exchanged from the system.

After adjusting his mindset and entering a mysterious, ineffable state under the incense's effect.

Life sometimes needs a sense of ritual.

Su Lin invested points into the lottery pool.

This was a decision he'd thought through—directly exchanging for power was expensive; the cost-effectiveness was worse than exchanging for a cultivation technique and cultivating slowly himself.

So far, the Historical Projection skill was incredibly useful, saving him many points.

Having tasted the sweetness of lottery draws, he planned to spend half his points on it—the guaranteed mechanism wouldn't let him lose too much.

What if... right? Su Lin admitted, there was a gambling element.

After calculation, exchanging for the introductory portion of the Taiyi Sword Scripture—enough to cultivate from Qi Condensation to Foundation Establishment's peak—cost 5,000 points; the Golden Core cultivation technique cost 20,000.

Time Sand Shuo, the item that creates time flow differentials, cost 100 points per day to use—even without renting it, there were countless other scattered items to exchange.

For example, if he lacked cultivation talent or couldn't grasp the techniques, he'd have to spend 500 points on a top-down enlightenment infusion, or buy auxiliary tools.

What a system full of everyday life—everywhere was consumption, everywhere was a trick.

A gray light rippled across the system interface; after several seconds, it sank into the item inventory.

An item type, then.

Congratulations, you have obtained 【Xianning Sect · Shui Jing Peak】

???

Which sect's peak did the system stuff into the prize pool? I've seen weapons, cultivation arts, skills, and divine abilities drawn, but never a whole mountain drawn out along with them.

Gazing at the mountain-peak-shaped icon in his inventory, Su Lin sighed, thinking he hadn't gotten his money's worth this draw.

After all, he was mentally prepared and didn't dwell on it too much, so he immediately began examining what use this peak, worth a few points, might have.

Checking its attributes, Su Lin found that this peak wasn't all that large — it was a floating peak.

That was normal; after all, a peak he'd spent points to draw had better at least be able to fly in the sky, otherwise he'd really be at a loss — and he'd still need to think about where to place it.

It had thirty-six types of defensive formations and seventy-two types of enemy-repelling formations, most of which were in a damaged state.

Uh...

My 10,000 big yuan...

For the remaining half, he'd better honestly exchange it for a cultivation art to practice.

【Ding】

【Congratulations, Host. Spending has reached 10,000 points. You have a new item. Please check.】

Spend enough and they throw in a free item?

Su Lin opened the system backpack and saw a piece of paper.

He took it out and looked — what the heck is this thing?

【Contract: Include Me in Your Share】: After signing the contract, twenty percent of the karma generated by the contracted target can be converted into system points. Number of people limited: 1. — Sign your name, and one-fifth of everything you do from now on counts as mine.

Oh, a wage-slave contract.

What does this system thing want? Karma?

Frowning, Su Lin decided to set this aside for now.

Although it was already deep into the night, Su Lin still deployed this peak above his home.

Hidden Moon Formation — conceals Shui Jing Peak itself, difficult even for immortals to find.

One of the few formations still usable among the remnants.

Once the concealment formation was activated, Su Lin, who had not yet set foot on the path of cultivation, couldn't see it — this was the famed Mirage Formation that even immortals found hard to detect.

As its owner, Su Lin sensed that ten thousand meters directly above, Shui Jing Peak was right at that spot.

Su Lin, through the binding connection with it, teleported directly onto Shui Jing Peak.

A chill wind swept in, making the unprepared Su Lin shiver.

What met his eyes was a scene like something out of a painting.

"This is Shui Jing Peak."

"So beautiful…"