Child of Fortune, Again

Lin Ran looked at the System Panel.

[Available Advance Uses: 1 (Same-Realm Advance: 0, Advance Trade: 1)]

The task to advance Soul Dragon Wander had already been completed. He looked at the statues in his ring—

Only Ma Hongjun's statue had disappeared. Nine still remained.

"System, what can these nine statues be traded for?"

The System Panel changed.

[Only six statues currently meet the Power of Luck requirement. The items available for advance trade are as follows:]

Six?

Lin Ran looked at the nine statues in his ring, rather disdainful of those of Yu Xiao Gang, Liu Erlong, and Flender.

"Looks like the people of Shrek don't truly revere you three founders either. In the world of cultivation, the strong still win everything."

After a brief sigh, Lin Ran turned his attention to the items available for trade.

"Imperial Heaven, Earthly Soil; Supreme Goodness is Like Water; Myriad Leaves Flying Flowers; Gather Qi into Blade; Six Soul Dread Curse; Seal Sleep Curse Seal; Astrology; alchemy... They're all methods of the Yin Yang School? What does the Yin Yang School need so much Power of Luck for?"

Lin Ran recalled the anime he had watched in his past life, but could make no sense of it. Still, he could not be bothered to dig deeper. It had nothing to do with him anyway.

"Imperial Heaven, Earthly Soil and Supreme Goodness is Like Water are dual-cultivation methods. I can trade for them and take a look, mostly out of curiosity. Myriad Leaves Flying Flowers is a wood-element cultivation method, so I can trade for it for Tang Ya and Vina to use. As for Astrology—"

Lin Ran pondered.

"This Astrology can vaguely observe the course of fate and guide the Power of Luck. At a profound level of cultivation, it can even control one's own luck to a certain extent."

At that, Lin Ran's gaze sharpened.

He had been hesitant about whether to advance into becoming a Child of Fortune, but over the past few days, he had actually already made his decision.

If Huo Yuhao could be a Child of Fortune, why couldn't he, Lin Ran, be one?

A Child of Fortune? Even a dog wouldn't want to be one—but he was not a dog. He would be a Child of Fortune!

What he had previously worried about—that becoming a Child of Fortune might attract Tang San's attention—was not the primary issue at all.

A ticking time bomb had long been hanging over his head—that was the reborn Dai Yuhao.

Once Dai Yuhao followed the original plot, met Wang Dong, and then fused their martial souls, Tang San would inspect Dai Yuhao's memories with his Divine Sense.

Then his own abnormality would be exposed before Tang San without reservation.

Although the system had already made his past reasonable, whether it was taking Huo Yun'er away, stealing Dai Yuhao's opportunities, or possessing such exceptional talent—

None of those were things someone with weak luck could possess.

Therefore, he had to become a Child of Fortune.

Only by becoming a Child of Fortune would everything about him become reasonable in Tang San's eyes—everything had been done by that despicable Plane Will! She had long noticed Dai Yuhao's memories and learned of the future, so she had reshaped a new Child of Fortune in a futile attempt to struggle.

Only by becoming a Child of Fortune would he have a chance to steal Wang Dong, thereby delaying Dai Yuhao's first meeting with Tang San.

As for the suffering of being liked by the daughter of the inherently evil God King Tang, Lin Ran decided to bear it in Dai Yuhao's place.

Of course, Lin Ran had considered killing Dai Yuhao in advance.

But setting aside whether he could kill Dai Yuhao, a Child of Fortune, on Douluo Continent, even if he could, Tang San could easily retrieve Dai Yuhao's soul after discovering the anomaly and inspect his memories.

Everything would return to square one—Lin Ran's inexplicability.

Therefore, he could only become a Child of Fortune and let the Plane Will take the blame for him.

As for what if Tang San saw through it again in the future?

Setting aside whether Tang San possessed that kind of wisdom, even if he did, Lin Ran had already prepared a second identity for himself—the successor of the great Goddess of Astounding Wisdom, the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena.

Once the identity of the Child of Fortune newly chosen by the Plane Will could no longer hold up, he would sell out Miss Silver Dragon Fish, who was lying in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Since he had already decided to become a Child of Fortune, exchanging for a method capable of controlling his own luck was essential. If things truly became impossible in the future, after selling out Miss Silver Dragon Fish, he could directly conceal his own luck and lie low.

"System, advance Imperial Heaven, Earthly Soil, Astrology, Supreme Goodness is Like Water, and Myriad Leaves Flying Flowers."

[Advance successful. Imperial Heaven, Earthly Soil has been obtained...]

[Advance uses have been refreshed.]

Along with the system notifications, another four statues in the ring disappeared. Numerous memories of cultivation methods appeared in Lin Ran's mind.

He first looked over the cultivation method for Astrology.

"Yin and Yang are the Way of Heaven and Earth, the principles governing all things, the parents of transformation..."

"Accumulated Yang becomes Heaven; accumulated Yin becomes Earth..."

"Yin and Yang wax and wane; luck is stripped and restored..."

As he read through the cultivation method, an indescribably mysterious feeling arose in Lin Ran's heart. It was as though he had passed through an invisible barrier, and a vague, obscure perception emerged within him.

At the same time, the Soul Power of the Longevity Skill within his body transformed into the two attributes of Yin and Yang, coursing through him at a special frequency before finally traveling along his meridians to his eyes.

At that moment, Lin Ran seemed to see an invisible "qi." It shrouded everyone's heads and clung to every object.

The qi above his head was nearly nonexistent, yet deeply rooted. It was continuously assimilating luck from some unknown source, gradually growing stronger.

The aura above Du Busi's head was vast as smoke, yet it carried a sense of decay. Especially in its deepest depths, a deathly intent seemed to be spreading, though something was keeping it suppressed.

Tang Ya's Power of Luck was half black and half red.

In a daze, that mysterious sensation vanished. Lin Ran's eyes returned to normal, and he could no longer see that "aura."

"Is this the aura-reading art from the pre-Qin era?"

Lin Ran fell into thought.

He had only just begun cultivating it, yet it had already produced such results. Lin Ran felt that he had made the right choice in exchanging for Astrology.

He began looking forward to Imperial Heaven, Earthly Soil and Supreme Goodness is Like Water.

Though he was still too young to cultivate them.

He looked toward the remaining statues again. After some thought, he asked inwardly, "Other than the Power of Luck, these statues should also contain the power of faith, right? What can the power of faith be exchanged for?"

[Detected that these statues possess a small amount of faith power, which is slowly dissipating. The host may use it to advance-purchase Immortal Spirit Qi to increase the age of soul rings and soul bones. Would you like to advance-purchase it?]

Lin Ran's eyes lit up.

He knew it. It really could be done.

Previously, he had tried to use an advance purchase at the same realm to increase his soul ring's age limit, and the resulting mission had required him to spread faith and gather a certain amount of faith power.

Now, it seemed that transaction-based advance purchases still used faith power to increase the age of soul rings and soul bones.

Since even other people's faith could be used, then—

Shrek Academy had statues. There was no reason places like Sea God Island, the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, the Clear Sky Sect, and the Star Luo Empire would not have statues as well.

Perhaps those statues also possessed faith power?

It seemed he would have to make his teacher steal more statues in the future.

As for whether his teacher would gain some bad reputation for being obsessed with statues because of this—

It was fine. Let his teacher suffer a little while he enjoyed the benefits. He believed his teacher would not mind.

Lin Ran activated his Soul Power and destroyed the appearances of several statues. Then he said, "System, advance-purchase Immortal Spirit Qi."

[Advance purchase successful. Immortal Spirit Qi acquired. After controlling soul rings and soul bones to absorb it, their age may be increased. (Note: The age of a soul ring must not exceed the body's limit of endurance.)]

The remaining statues inside the ring also vanished, while a different ring appeared in his hand.

It was a pure white ring, upon which flowed a mysterious, vibrant aura of life. This aura felt similar to Heaven and Earth Origin Power, yet it was far more full of vitality.

"So this is a ring condensed from Immortal Spirit Qi? I only need to guide it with Mental Power to absorb the Immortal Spirit Qi from the ring?"

Unable to wait any longer, Lin Ran sat cross-legged on the ground and activated Martial Soul Possession. One yellow and one purple soul ring rose beneath his feet.

He guided his first soul ring to absorb the Immortal Spirit Qi. A gentle force merged into his body, nourishing his flesh and meridians.

Before long, the yellow soul ring slowly turned pale purple.

A smile appeared on Lin Ran's face.