Peering into Opportunity, Turning Misfortune into Fortune

A colossal beast towered between heaven and earth, so vast that its size could not be described. Only its outline was visible: pitch-black all over, like an enormous turtle entwined by a giant serpent, emanating a peculiar Dao aura.

Gu Han had never seen such a creature, yet he somehow knew its identity. It was one of the Four Spirits of heaven and earth, known as the Black Tortoise, also called the Turtle Snake. The snake symbolized Greater Yin among the Four Symbols and winter among the four seasons.

Turtles lived long and could commune with yin and yang, while snakes were nimble and gathered wealth.

The Black Tortoise could peer into heavenly secrets and divine fortune and misfortune.

"Hiss!"

Suddenly, an immense flood of memories emerged.

Gu Han finally remembered that he came from a place called Blue Star and had been reborn into the Dou Qi Continent.

Before his rebirth, he had been a rural orphan raised by the kindness of many families. After growing up, he donned the yellow uniform to serve the people, usually dreaming of getting rich overnight. He would scour street stalls for overlooked "antiques," and in his spare time, his only hobby was reading webnovels and watching Chinese animation on his phone.

His final memory was of watching the Battle Through the Heavens animation. He had been disgusted by its production, especially after seeing the Queen's new character model. It was so ugly that he lightly slapped the table, only to accidentally strike an "antique" turtle shell and pass out.

"Zhuangzi Dreaming of a Butterfly, Butterfly Dreaming of Zhuangzi?"

After fifteen years, the awakening of those sealed memories left Gu Han somewhat dazed.

In this life, he was an orphan in a town directly administered by the Misty Cloud Sect, at the foot of Misty Cloud Mountain, within the Jia Ma Empire on the Northwest Continent of the Dou Qi Continent.

At six, a Steward from the Misty Cloud Sect had discovered his excellent innate talent and brought him to Misty Cloud Mountain as a Probationary Disciple to begin cultivating Dou Qi. At fourteen, he had reached Ninth Stage Dou Qi. With three months left until he turned fifteen, he could already attempt to break through to Dou Zhe.

The Misty Cloud Sect graded its disciples much like Jia Nan Academy did: Eighth Stage Dou Qi was F-rank, Ninth Stage Dou Qi had E-rank potential, One-star Dou Practitioner was D-rank, and so on. The highest rank was Five-star Dou Practitioner, S-rank, but the age limit was eighteen rather than twenty.

The difference in age might have had something to do with the differing nature of a sect and an academy. One was a private company with training programs, while the other was a private university.

Those in training programs had to join the company upon meeting the required standards. Investments had to yield returns, so the rules were naturally stricter.

"Whether I am the butterfly or Zhuangzi, I am Gu Han. Both Gu Hans are me."

"I never expected to be reborn into the Dou Qi Continent of the Great Thousand World."

"Was it because I had been watching the Battle Through the Heavens animation at the time?"

The clarity that came from the depths of his soul gradually calmed Gu Han's thoughts.

The memories of his two lives overlapped, greatly deepening his understanding of the Dou Qi Continent and making him contemplate the path ahead.

As a disciple of the Misty Cloud Sect, he would face a future calamity brought by the Child of Fortune, Xiao Yan.

As the saying went, a gentleman judged deeds, not intentions. The Misty Cloud Sect had nurtured him because he was talented, but over the years, it had allowed him to eat and dress well, cultivate without distractions, and live far better than most ordinary people. He had to acknowledge that kindness and repay the favor.

But that did not mean he would die for the Misty Cloud Sect, nor did it mean he and Xiao Yan had to become enemies.

If Xiao Yan were replaced with Tang San, he would find a way to kill him without a second thought.

But when facing Xiao Yan, there was no need to immediately place him on the opposing side.

"Five years ago, the Sect Leader accepted Nalan Yanran as her disciple. She is fifteen now. The Three Year Agreement has not yet been set, but it should not be far off."

"But even if it is set, Hun Tiandi is the one who should worry, not me."

Gu Han knew that the Misty Cloud Sect and Xiao Yan would end up locked in a fight to the death, and the Three Year Agreement was merely the trigger.

The core reason was that Xiao Yan killed Mo Cheng, and the Great Elder Yun Leng, feeling humiliated, used it as an excuse to make trouble.

After numerous Dou Emperors and Dou Zongs appeared to confront one another, the matter could have ended there. But Yun Leng could not swallow his anger and went to the Xiao Family to stir up trouble.

The Soul Clan took advantage of the chaos to capture Xiao Zhan, causing Xiao Yan to place the blame on the Misty Cloud Sect. That was what led to his three assaults on the Misty Cloud Sect and the irreconcilable feud between both sides.

"We'll take things one step at a time."

"As long as the Misty Cloud Sect's legacy is preserved, its kindness in raising and teaching me will be repaid."

"As for Xiao Yan, I'll make a judgment after meeting him. I can't let preconceived notions and bias cloud my view."

"If his character is truly decent, we can become friends. Once he becomes the Yan Emperor, I can ride his coattails all the way to the Endless Fire Domain."

"If his character is poor, I'll keep my distance and wait for the Realm Passage to open, then head to the Great Thousand World and seize Mu Chen's father's Opportunity."

With that thought, Gu Han prepared to cultivate seriously.

Everything required strength to achieve.

Just then, his consciousness was suddenly pulled away. He arrived in the depths of his soul and saw a turtle shell.

"My transmigration and rebirth really are connected to this turtle shell!"

Gu Han's pitch-black eyes lit up.

At that moment, a stream of information entered his mind, allowing him to understand many things.

This turtle shell had manifested from one hundred-millionth of a fragment of the Black Tortoise's shell and was bound to his soul.

As his strength grew, the shell fragment would gradually repair itself. At present, it possessed only one ability: peering into heavenly secrets.

To avoid being detected by the Sky Ranking, the Heavenly Dao consciousness of this world, the number of times he could peer into the future was limited.

At the Dou Qi stage, he could obtain Opportunity information once per day, resetting after midnight.

Upon reaching Dou Zhe, he could obtain Opportunity information twice; Dou Master, three times; Da Dou Shi, four times; and so on.

Moreover, as his strength improved, the turtle shell would recover more abilities and divine powers, giving him even greater help.

The Opportunities he could peer into each day would primarily be those he needed most urgently at present and was capable of obtaining.

Even if it told him the location of a Dou Emperor Tomb now, he lacked the strength to enter it.

Once his strength improved, it would not reveal useless information either.

"Does this count as obtaining the Black Tortoise Inheritance?" Gu Han's chest rose and fell slightly.

Transmigrators truly did have cheats. It seemed this life would be easier than he had imagined.

"I'll try it once first."

"Let the information be delivered in the same way those intelligence systems worked in the novels I read in my previous life."

Gu Han eagerly used this cheat for the first time.

[Ospreys cry in harmony, upon the river isle. A graceful maiden, the gentleman's fair desire.]

[The male does not dwell alone, nor does the female live solitary. The Black Tortoise, turtle and snake, entwine and support one another.]

[Thus are male and female made known, bound together in mutual aid!]

A mysterious, profound voice rang out.

Immediately afterward, a piece of information entered Gu Han's mind.

[Because you refused to cooperate, Mo Qing failed to take first place in the Preliminary Disciple Tournament. He is deeply enraged and has ordered Outer Disciple Mo Feng to teach you a lesson.]

[Tomorrow, at four quarters into the Chen Hour, Mo Feng will stop you on your way to the Skill Transmission Hall and teach you a lesson. He will also use a special Dou Technique to leave hidden injuries within your body, causing your first attempt to break through to Dou Zhe to fail and your cultivation to fall to Eighth Stage Dou Qi.]

After digesting the information, a trace of coldness flashed through Gu Han's eyes.

He was merely an orphan, unlike others who had families or clans supporting them.

The reward for first place in the tournament was extremely generous to him. Mo Qing wanted him to yield it with nothing more than a few words, so of course he would not agree.

As for Mo Qing seeking revenge, he had expected that. But before his memories awakened, he had never imagined that fellow disciples would strike so viciously.

"This information came at exactly the right time. I need to deal with it carefully."

Gu Han lowered his head and considered countermeasures for a while before immersing himself in cultivation.

All schemes and tricks were paper tigers before absolute strength.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was deep into the night, with a bright moon hanging high in the sky and stars glittering overhead.

Gu Han sensed that the Mysterious Turtle could be used again and immediately peered into heavenly secrets.

[In Cloud Stream Valley on the Back Mountain of Misty Cloud Mountain, after entering and walking one hundred paces, then another hundred paces south, a path leading to a small Spirit Gathering Ground is hidden behind a rock. It was discovered by Mo Cheng fifteen years ago. He secretly transplanted a Thousand Year Jade Spirit Fruit Tree there. Five Jade Spirit Fruits will ripen at one quarter into the Chou Hour tonight and will be picked by Mo Yu at three quarters into the Mao Hour.]