Fishing

"Who made a pact with you? Talk to me in the next life!"

"With the Hundred Lives Book, worst comes to worst, I'll take only the Ten Thousand Chariots Dragon Ascension Scroll in this life. I can take the Nine Transformations Dragon Art in the next life—they'll both still be mine!"

From the very beginning, Lu Yang had never trusted Zhao Xuhe.

This talk of sharing the Dao Book was nothing more than a temporary expedient. Lu Yang was certain that once Zhao Xuhe escaped alive, he would definitely find a way to kill him.

Unfortunately, Zhao Xuhe was stronger. Lu Yang had no absolute confidence he could kill him and cut off all future trouble forever. If they truly fought to the death, Lu Yang might even be the one who died.

On top of that, his loan was about to come due, and there was no way he could repay it. This life was already running out of time, so the instant the Dao Book reached his hands, Lu Yang decisively blew himself up.

You brazenly self-destructed and died.

Current remaining pages of the Hundred Lives Book: 97

Restarting a life, you may choose one of the following gains from your previous life:

One: Treasure.

Two: Cultivation.

Three: Lifespan.

Four: Abandon all gains and randomly awaken a talent based on your experiences in the previous life.

"Anyone whose name is called, come stand before me."

As his consciousness cleared, Liu Xin's familiar, hateful voice rang out from the platform. Lu Yang turned a deaf ear to it and said inwardly, "I choose cultivation."

Rumble!

The next moment, Lu Yang felt a surge of true qi erupt from his dantian and swiftly spread through his limbs and bones, madly remaking his essence, qi, and spirit. Yet he clenched his teeth and circulated the Breath Concealment Art he had obtained from the three men in black, containing every trace of movement beneath his flesh.

Only after a while did Lu Yang let out a long breath of stale air.

"I'm back!"

Qi Refining Fourth Layer, mid-stage!

When he raised his head and looked again at Liu Xin on the platform, Lu Yang no longer felt the fear he had upon first meeting him. At this point, Liu Xin was merely at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer!

Only after choosing a registered disciple and refining them into Primordial Breath could Liu Xin break through his bottleneck and enter late-stage Qi Refining. Only then might he see through Lu Yang's Breath Concealment Art. Before that, even if Lu Yang stood right before him, Liu Xin would see him as nothing more than an ordinary person.

"Still, there's an unexpected surprise."

Lu Yang looked inward at his dantian and saw a hazy strand of White Qi floating within. It was unmistakably the Primordial Breath from his previous life—and it was still here in this life!

"I understand now. The Hundred Lives Book doesn't rewind to the original Anchor Point. It rewinds to my previous life!"

This was undoubtedly a good thing.

It meant that the treasures, cultivation, and even lifespan he chose in every life could be retained into the next. He would not have to start from scratch each time.

Lu Yang's next actions remained the same as before.

He went onstage, received his assignment, and entered Joyous Union Hall.

He Transcended Death over Yu Suzhen.

He lay low in silence, broke through after three months, and quietly became a formal disciple without attracting any attention.

"According to my plans for this life, aside from the remaining volume of the Nine Transformations Dragon Art, there are two other major matters worth trying."

The first was naturally the "Merit Lottery."

Lu Yang stayed in his cave dwelling for several days before heading to the Merit Building to accept the task "Accumulate Merit." Without stopping for breath, he then rushed straight to the Merit Pool.

"2025113!"

Standing amid the crowd around the Merit Pool, Lu Yang handsomely slicked back his hair and began imagining how he ought to spend the grand prize after winning it from the Merit Pool.

One billion, one billion, enough to spend for a lifetime~!

Farewell, poverty. I'll miss you.

The next second, a commotion immediately broke out in the crowd. Countless people stared in astonishment at Lu Yang, then at the Merit Fish drawn by the number he had selected.

"Brother, your luck isn't bad."

Someone came up beside Lu Yang, their tone full of envy. "A Purple Merit Fish. It's only a little better than the white and blue ones, but it's still quite a rare sight."

".What?"

Lu Yang tilted his head, and a row of question marks seemed to appear above it.

A Purple Merit Fish?

Not a Colorful one?

Lu Yang hurriedly looked at the Merit Fish he had drawn. It was clearly glowing with blue light. Then he checked the number he had chosen—2025113. That was right too.

Why hadn't he won!?

Could Xiao Shiye, that lucky fellow from his previous life, have lied? But Xiao Shiye could not possibly have known someone could Restart a life. There was no reason for him to lie.

That meant...

"There's a shady scheme!"

Lu Yang was so furious his hands trembled, his face flushed red as he finally understood. What lucky fellow? That Xiao Shiye was obviously a prearranged shill!

"Forget it. At least it's still a Merit Fish." Lu Yang could only console himself that way. Purple was still rare, second only to gold and Colorful. Though it had nothing to do with the billion-dollar grand prize, eating this Purple Merit Fish would probably let his cultivation quickly reach the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

Thinking about it that way, Lu Yang felt much better.

Then, just in case, he did not bring the Merit Fish back to his cave dwelling. Instead, he ate it on the spot in full view of everyone, then began regulating his breath and circulating his cultivation method to refine it.

After finishing everything, Lu Yang clearly felt several gazes resting on him withdraw.

Just as he had expected, the essence and qi of the Purple Merit Fish allowed him to smoothly break through to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer. It even let him touch the threshold of the Qi Refining Sixth Layer.

"This is only purple. If it were Colorful..."

Lu Yang's heart raced with longing. After all, in his previous life, Xiao Shiye had leaped from the Qi Refining First Layer straight to Great Perfection overnight after eating a Colorful Merit Fish.

"Forget it. I won't force it."

Lu Yang quickly calmed down. The first matter had fallen through, but the second still had a chance. That was the "Death Substitute Puppet price bubble incident."

Wang Borong, the old man of the Library Pavilion, had nearly gambled away his entire fortune over this. Zhao Xuhe had then taken advantage of the situation to deceive him, turning him into cannon fodder on Coiling Dragon Island. But in the end, that was because Wang Borong had entered the market too late. Lu Yang was different—he knew exactly when the price bubble would shift.

"There's already an upward trend now."

Lu Yang opened his disciple Token and checked the price of Death Substitute Puppets. Sure enough, it had fluctuated slightly. Evidently, people in the know were already making insider moves.

"To enter the market, I still need a sum of principal large enough for a proper position."

After thinking it over, Lu Yang turned and headed for the Merit Building.

Just as expected, in the eyes of the older disciples, a newly initiated disciple like him was a plump little lamb waiting for the slaughter. Before long, Zhao Xuhe took the initiative to approach him.

"Junior Brother, you don't look too well. Have you run into some difficulty?"

Lu Yang raised his head at those words and gave a bitter smile. "What difficulty could there be? I'm just short on money. Does Senior Brother know of any tasks that can earn Contribution Points?"

"So you're short on money. Makes sense. I've been there too. At your age, I was also worrying about Contribution Points every day, run ragged and burned out. Even my Dao companion looked down on me and broke up with me. Ah, every day was filled with endless tasks. It felt like life held no hope at all."

Zhao Xuhe spoke with a sigh, looking as though he shared Lu Yang's sickness and pain.

After saying that, he patted Lu Yang's shoulder. "I wasted half my life before finally summing up a truth that holds true everywhere under Heaven."

"That is, money is dead."

"So you have to make money give birth to money. Use Contribution Points to earn Contribution Points. Only then will you avoid becoming a slave of the Sacred Sect and escape this ox-and-horse fate!"

Lu Yang immediately showed an admiring expression. "One word from you, Senior Brother, is worth ten years of reading!"

But soon, Lu Yang lowered his head in disappointment. "But Senior Brother, I don't even have any Contribution Points right now. What can I use to earn Contribution Points?"

"Too small! Your vision is too small!"

Zhao Xuhe's expression grew even warmer, and he flashed a toothy smile. "You may not have money now, but you can borrow it. Once you make money, just pay it back, right?"

"But..." Lu Yang still looked hesitant.

Seeing that a sale was within reach, how could Zhao Xuhe let it slip away? He hurriedly said, "How about this? I can tell Little Junior and I are fated. I'll lend you a sum!"

Lu Yang's eyes immediately lit up. "Really?"

Seeing his thirsty, eager expression, Zhao Xuhe immediately decided the fish had taken the bait!

"Of course it's true!"

As Zhao Xuhe thumped his chest in assurance, he also brought out the banner of the so-called Three Rivers Society before asking Lu Yang, "How much are you planning to borrow, Junior Brother?"

After a moment of silence, Lu Yang raised two fingers.

"Two hundred?"

"Two thousand!"

Lu Yang looked resolute. "To be honest, I haven't used my Cultivation Manual Loan yet. The Cultivation Manual Loan is equivalent to 1,000 Contribution Points. I also have my newcomer benefits: the White Bone Flying Sword, Qi and Blood Pill, and Human-Faced Owl. I'll use all of those as collateral. Senior Brother Zhao, can you lend me 2,000 Contribution Points?"

Zhao Xuhe froze.

Were young people these days all this reckless?

I've only sweet-talked you a few times, and you're already going all in?

Before Zhao Xuhe could react, Lu Yang said something that shocked him even more. "Senior Brother Zhao, I plan to put everything into Death Substitute Puppets."

"What!?"

Zhao Xuhe was initially stunned, but then seemed to think of something and swiftly lowered his voice. "Junior Brother... don't tell me you know some inside information?"

"Senior Brother sees clearly." Lu Yang also lowered his voice. "When I was choosing a cultivation method at the Library Pavilion before, I overheard Senior Brother Wang Borong at the entrance. It seemed the war situation in the south was unfavorable, and the Ten Thousand Man Pit that produced Death Substitute Puppets had fallen. The Sacred Sect has only secretly sealed off the relevant news."

Hiss!

At those words, Zhao Xuhe sharply sucked in a breath. Then intense greed appeared in his eyes. Clearly, he had caught the scent of a business opportunity as well.

If the news was true, then the chance to get rich had arrived!

Watching Zhao Xuhe barely contain his excitement, Lu Yang sneered inwardly.

The fish had taken the bait!

It feels like I've been playing solo all this time. Is anyone there?