Fortune Traits

Lu Yang withdrew his gaze from the panel and looked at the two senior sisters.

He smiled slightly. "Senior Sister Lin, Senior Sister Qin, if you've finished eating, let's go."

The blush on Lin Ying's pretty face had yet to fade. She nodded gently and answered in a tiny voice, "Mm."

Qin Nanyue glanced at Lin Ying, who looked as meek and submissive as a young wife, and her heroic brows couldn't help twitching.

She sighed inwardly, rose, and stretched without a trace of self-consciousness, the curve of her slender waist as she extended it crisp and spirited. "Let's go."

The three left the private room and descended the stairs to the first floor.

Lin Ying was still in something of a daze. When she took out Spirit Stones to pay at the counter, she had to count them twice before getting the amount right.

Qin Nanyue watched from the side, shaking her head, but held back from teasing her.

They left the Golden Rainbow Restaurant and stepped once more onto the bustling bluestone street of the market. The afternoon sun had shifted, casting slanting light on the flying eaves of the pavilions and drawing patches of light and dark shadow.

The street was still thronged with people, with flashes of spiritual light and vendors' cries rising and falling around them.

As he walked, Lu Yang habitually glanced at the wealth figure on his panel.

More than eight thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

By one measure, that was quite a lot.

It was enough for him to buy a few second-tier talismans and several bottles of second-grade pills usable only by those in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

But by another measure, it was little. If he wanted to obtain a Supreme-Grade Law Artifact that truly caught his eye, he was still a long way off.

As a tycoon, he naturally had to use Supreme-Grade Law Treasures.

Ordinary goods were already somewhat beneath his notice.

He raised his head and looked past the bustling crowd to the tallest pavilion deep within the market.

The pavilion was black and gold from top to bottom, with upturned eaves and an imposing air. It was the grandest building in the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect's market.

He asked, "Senior sisters, how long until the auction our sect is holding begins?"

Qin Nanyue followed his gaze to the golden pavilion and thought for a moment before answering, "Counting the time, probably a little over a month. Why? Do you want to hunt for something at the auction?"

Lu Yang nodded frankly. "Yes. There are plenty of good things at the sect auction. If I'm lucky, I might find something useful."

The high-grade Law Artifacts and first-tier pills in the market no longer held much interest for him.

If he was going to buy something, he would naturally aim for the best.

Qin Nanyue nodded slightly, then smiled. "Let's go together when the time comes, then. I was also hoping to see if there was anything suitable to buy."

Lin Ying came back to her senses and hurriedly nodded along, her voice soft and sweet. "I want to go too."

Lu Yang looked at the two of them, raised an eyebrow, and smiled. "With two beautiful senior sisters accompanying me, how could I ask for more?"

Lin Ying's pretty face flushed red again.

Junior Brother Lu had called her a great beauty.

Did that mean Junior Brother Lu... liked her a little?

If he did, it wasn't as though she couldn't consider becoming Junior Brother Lu's dao companion...

Lin Ying's thoughts drifted far away like a kite with its string cut.

When she came back to her senses and suddenly realized what she was thinking, her face burned even hotter, and the tips of her ears turned red.

Lin Ying, oh, Lin Ying, what nonsense are you thinking?

Have you no shame!

Qin Nanyue saw every shift in Lin Ying's expressive face and didn't know whether to laugh or be annoyed.

A casual remark from Junior Brother Lu had left this girl completely smitten.

She tilted her head and glanced at Lu Yang, a half-smile on her lips. "You certainly have a silver tongue, Junior Brother Lu. I wonder how many young ladies that mouth of yours has deceived."

Rather than feeling guilty at her words, Lu Yang met her gaze openly, his smile deepening. "Other young ladies aren't as beautiful as you two senior sisters."

His unwavering gaze made Qin Nanyue inexplicably uncomfortable. Her heart tightened for no apparent reason, and she instinctively looked away slightly.

She curled her lip, though her tongue remained sharp. "That's because you haven't formally entered the sect yet. There are plenty of beautiful senior and junior sisters in the sect. We'll see if you still remember those words then."

With that, she took Lin Ying's hand and quickened her pace.

Lu Yang watched the two from behind, one striking and upright, the other slender. They stood out in the crowd.

He smiled and followed at an unhurried pace.

He had successfully accomplished what he came to the market to do.

He had replenished his pills, used the Rebate Card, and successfully given away the Purple Cloud Pill-Nurturing Robe.

As for the Black Silkworm Silk Stockings in his system inventory, he didn't intend to take them out today.

Even under the pretext of "lending" it to her, the Purple Cloud Pill-Nurturing Robe had nearly frightened Lin Ying out of her wits.

If he gave her another Supreme-Grade Law Artifact, Lin Ying certainly wouldn't accept it.

It would be better to wait until next time and find a more natural opportunity.

Lin Ying had just received a Supreme-Grade robe that Alchemists dreamed of, and she could hardly wait to return to the sect and test its effects.

Qin Nanyue had only come to accompany her in the first place, and would go wherever she went.

Lu Yang, meanwhile, was eager to return and cultivate for a breakthrough.

The three quickly agreed, and after leaving the market, set off along the mountain path back to the sect.

After returning to the sect, Lu Yang said goodbye to the two senior sisters at a fork in the mountain path and headed alone toward the introductory disciples' quarters.

He shut the door behind him, sat down on a meditation cushion, and eagerly opened his panel.

First, he would upgrade "Tycoon's Confidence."

The more than one thousand Spirit Stones he had spent earlier had long since fulfilled the upgrade requirement.

With a thought, the words on the panel flickered.

[Tycoon's Confidence (Level 4): Gain 8 Low-Grade Spirit Stones every two hours (money is the confidence one needs to become a tycoon; spend 10,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones to upgrade)]

Eight every two hours meant ninety-six over the twelve two-hour periods in a day.

At that rate of income, never mind Qi Refining Realm cultivators—even those at Early-stage Foundation Establishment might not be able to match him.

However, the threshold for the next upgrade had also soared to ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones. He could no longer upgrade it by casually spending a little money.

Fortunately, he had already saved more than eight thousand. At his current rate of accumulation, he would have enough in just over half a month.

Lu Yang nodded in satisfaction, then turned his attention to the affection rewards.

He had gained more than just Lin Ying's affection this time. Adding Qin Nanyue's contact information had also triggered a special reward.

The two rewards sat side by side on the panel, waiting for him to open them one by one.

He took a deep breath and chose to claim them.

[The host has successfully added Qin Nanyue's contact information. Rewards obtained: 1,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones, Fortune Trait: Swordsmanship Apprentice]

[The beauty's (Lin Ying) affection has reached 80 points. The host has obtained: Mid-Level Rebate Card × 1, Cultivation Method experience +2,000, Crimson Cloud Pill-Heart Furnace × 1]

Huh?!

Something new had appeared!

Lu Yang's gaze was instantly drawn to the first message, fixing on the words "Fortune Trait."

It was a new reward he had never seen before!

He suppressed the stir in his heart and opened the trait's details with a thought.

[Swordsmanship Apprentice (low-grade)]: Sword Dao aptitude increased slightly; cultivation speed for Sword Dao Cultivation Methods and Law Techniques increased by twenty percent.

Sword Dao aptitude... directly increased?!

Lu Yang's breathing quickened involuntarily.

Good heavens!

There's something this good in the world?!

He quickly made calculations in his head.

Could this twenty-percent cultivation speed bonus stack with the bonus from increased comprehension?

If it could, the effect would be terrifying.

His comprehension had already been rising because of his intelligence attribute.

Now, with this additional bonus specifically for Sword Dao, his future cultivation speed for Sword Dao Cultivation Methods and Law Techniques would practically take flight!

Just then, another notification appeared on the panel.

[The host has obtained their first Fortune Trait. The fortune module has officially been unlocked.]

Lu Yang perked up and looked at the new interface on the panel.

[Fortune: Swordsmanship Apprentice (low-grade)]

Lu Yang stared at the "low-grade" label, his gaze flickering.

Since there was low-grade, there had to be middle-grade, high-grade, and even higher-level traits.

A single low-grade trait gave a twenty-percent bonus to Sword Dao cultivation speed. What about middle-grade? High-grade?

He didn't dare think any further.

If he did, he was afraid he would be too excited to sleep tonight.

But then again...

This was clearly a Tycoon System, so how had something like a Fortune Trait that improved aptitude appeared?

Did urban tycoons get different traits?

Like golden kidneys or something?

Lu Yang couldn't make sense of it, so he simply put the question out of his mind.

It was a good thing, anyway. The more, the better.

He withdrew his gaze and continued taking stock of his other rewards.

With the addition of one thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones to the more than eight thousand he already had, his total had crossed the nine-thousand mark. He was just one step away from ten thousand.

But having enough money was one thing; deciding what to buy was another.

He hadn't yet decided exactly what to spend his next sum on, so he planned to leave it for now.

Next came the main event from Lin Ying's eighty affection points.

The Mid-Level Rebate Card.

Lu Yang opened its description, and the smile on his lips could no longer be suppressed.

[Mid-Level Rebate Card: Designate one expenditure to randomly receive a rebate of five to ten times the amount spent.]

A minimum of five times, and a maximum of ten!

The Low-Level Rebate Card's maximum was only five times, while the Mid-Level Rebate Card's minimum equaled the low-level card's upper limit.

What did ten times mean?

Spend ten thousand Spirit Stones, and he could get back as many as one hundred thousand!

He simply couldn't spend all those Spirit Stones.

Even with average luck, a return of seven or eight times would still be far better than the Low-Level Rebate Card.

Next was the Cultivation Method experience.

A full two thousand points.

Lu Yang stared eagerly at the number.

How far could that much experience take the Heavy Sword Instruction?

With a thought, he poured all two thousand experience points into the Heavy Sword Instruction.

A vast and profound torrent of insights flooded into his sea of consciousness.

The circulation paths of the sword instruction, the resonance between Spiritual Qi and sword force, the mysterious thresholds of every realm...

Everything obscure became clear and comprehensible at that moment.

The experience bar leaped wildly, shooting straight from level four to level five.

Yet the moment the Heavy Sword Instruction reached level five, the experience bar stopped moving.

Some of the two thousand experience points remained, but he couldn't invest any more.

["Heavy Sword Instruction" (max level)]: When executing the Heavy Sword Technique, condensation time is reduced by thirty percent and power is increased by fifty percent!

It had reached the maximum level.

Lu Yang froze for a moment, then was left speechless.

Was it because the Cultivation Method was only yellow-tier?

Its level cap was five.

Or did all Cultivation Methods reach their maximum at level five?

Lu Yang wasn't sure. He would find out after cultivating a few more Cultivation Methods.

He couldn't use the remaining experience for now, so he could only set it aside.

Still, the special effect from maxing out the Cultivation Method was remarkable.

The Heavy Sword Technique's condensation time was reduced by thirty percent, and its power surged by fifty percent.

The Heavy Sword Technique was the Law Technique paired with the Heavy Sword Instruction, and the sect had issued them together when he joined.

But he had been busy improving his cultivation and had never found the time to practice it.

Now that the Heavy Sword Instruction had reached its limit, he could start cultivating the Heavy Sword Technique and put the max-level special effect to use.

Finally, he looked at the third item among Lin Ying's rewards: the Crimson Cloud Pill-Heart Furnace.

But when Lu Yang saw the description of the Crimson Cloud Pill-Heart Furnace, his eyes widened in astonishment.

[Crimson Cloud Pill-Heart Furnace (Supreme-Grade Spirit Artifact)]: Refined from red copper and fine gold. Seven pill-fire formation patterns are engraved on the furnace, greatly increasing the success rate and quality of second-tier pills.

"?????"

Lu Yang drew a sharp breath.

Supreme-Grade Spirit Artifact????

An entire major realm separated Spirit Artifacts from Law Artifacts.

Law Artifacts were used by Qi Refining Realm cultivators, while Spirit Artifacts were treasures used by Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.

Cultivators already flocked to Supreme-Grade Law Artifacts.

There was no need to say more about Supreme-Grade Spirit Artifacts!

What was more, this Pill Furnace could even improve pill quality!

One could imagine that this was a supreme treasure an Alchemist wouldn't even dare dream of.

Lu Yang scratched his head, at a bit of a loss for words.

He had noticed that the things he got from each beauty's affection level seemed to be related to that particular beauty.

Lin Ying was an Alchemist, and the Law Treasures he got were all for Alchemists.

Qin Nanyue carried a longsword on her back, so she was probably a sword cultivator.

Sword cultivators already made up the majority of the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect.

So the Fortune Trait that came out of the affection chest was related to the Sword Dao.

But if Qin Nanyue's chest yielded a top-grade Law Treasure, it would probably be a Sword Dao Law Treasure too, right?

That would be useful to Lu Yang as well.

Lu Yang was even a little torn.

If Qin Nanyue's chest yielded a Sword Dao Law Treasure, should he give it to Qin Nanyue to raise her affection level, or keep it for himself?