The Lottery Tube

"Immediate Return."

As those gray words appeared, the Fire Fold burning in the Secret Passage went out without a breeze. Darkness once again engulfed the place. With Meng Qi's senses as they were, he could no longer hear a thing or even see his own palm.

Light flared, and the White Jade Plaza, like an Immortal Paradise, appeared before them.

"Main Quest complete. Free Treatment beginning."

The solemn, indifferent voice of the Lord of Six Paths Samsara rang out. Milky-white beams of light enveloped Meng Qi and the others one by one.

His wounds writhed as coolness spread through his lungs and viscera. The injuries Meng Qi had accumulated by repeatedly trading wounds for wounds healed at a visible pace. Even the Iron Cloth Shirt, broken by Tang Shun's palm strike, quickly recovered, and his skin and muscles once again felt thick and tightly knit.

The healing light faded. Meng Qi flexed his limbs, feeling refreshed and brimming with strength. He secretly marveled, Without the Lord of Six Paths Samsara's treatment, if I kept trading wounds for wounds, they'd eventually pile up and leave an irreparable hidden danger.

During this time, Meng Qi had been browsing through anecdotes and rumors about Iron Cloth Shirt and other external Iron Body Skills on the bottom two floors of the Scripture Depository. He had discovered that most martial artists who mastered such skills died in their later years, their bodies wracked with pain. Only a few managed to rely on them to break through to Orifice Opening.

The reason was that external Iron Body Skills had no profound methods for nurturing the body. In battle, practitioners would invariably choose to trade minor wounds for major ones. Though the skills weakened the damage, and the minor wounds were not serious and healed quickly, they posed no threat to life and could not even diminish one's strength, the human body was precious and, at times, exceptionally fragile. If one fought again before fully recovering, those minor wounds would accumulate, eventually leaving hidden injuries in the body. Over the years, these would become irreversible dangers and aftereffects.

That was why Meng Qi was rather worried about his current fighting style. Fortunately, he had the Lord of Six Paths Samsara's terrifying healing ability—more frightening than that of a Dharma Body Master—to rely on.

Of the four, Meng Qi had suffered the lightest injuries. After loosening up with a few punches and kicks, he noticed that Jiang Zhiwei, Zhang Yuanshan, and the others were still enveloped in milky-white light. His thoughts drifted to the strange stone door at the end of the Secret Passage.

"'Honor, loyalty, kindness, and benevolence—enter not this door'... It doesn't sound like a good place... The Secret Passage in the main world must lead to somewhere that seals demons and monsters. What about this one? This world shouldn't have demons and monsters..." Meng Qi knew that with his current strength, he absolutely shouldn't try to push the stone door open. Just touching it with his right hand had made him feel as if he were sinking into the Demon Prison, unable to escape.

Only after I've reached the Exterior Scenery Realm can I go 'take a look' behind that stone door... After settling on this thought, Meng Qi opened the jade booklet before him and, sure enough, found that for a hundred Merit Points and an item called a Samsara Talisman, he could choose to return to a Reincarnation World he had experienced before. He could stay for one month, and the more Merit Points he paid, the longer he could remain.

The Samsara Talisman was not listed in the exchange catalog. It could only be obtained during Reincarnation missions or awarded directly for an "Excellent" mission evaluation.

"Mission evaluations: Zhang Yuanshan, Jiang Zhiwei, and Qi Zhengyan, 'Average,' each awarded twenty Merit Points. Zhending, 'Good,' awarded thirty Merit Points and an opportunity to Shake the Lot. The lot covers all things below the Exterior Scenery Realm."

By then, Jiang Zhiwei and the others had finished their treatment as well, and the Lord of Six Paths Samsara gave them their mission evaluations.

Meng Qi raised an eyebrow. Just as I thought. Exploring secrets is one of the important criteria for a mission evaluation.

"Shake the Lot?" Hearing that Meng Qi could take part in this novel activity, Jiang Zhiwei walked over, full of interest.

Meng Qi was a little excited. He deliberately rubbed his hands together. "Everything below the Exterior Scenery Realm? That's an awfully broad range. If I draw something like Arhat Fist or an ordinary iron sword, I'll have gotten my hopes up for nothing."

Jiang Zhiwei saw white smoke billowing before Meng Qi, lifting a gray, unremarkable Lottery Tube. She chuckled. "What are you afraid of? It's unexpected good fortune either way."

The inside of the Lottery Tube was dark and deep; nothing could be seen.

Zhang Yuanshan and Qi Zhengyan also came over to watch Meng Qi "draw a lot." Zhang Yuanshan, especially, encouraged him with a cheerful smile. "Junior Brother Zhending, you're a monk. Drawing lots is your specialty. You should be able to draw something good."

Meng Qi's face twitched. You're giving me too much credit. I've never won a single prize in my life, not even a consolation prize. The only thing I've ever scratched off a lottery ticket was a few five-yuan prizes.

He picked up the Lottery Tube and shook it hard. A curtain of light covered its mouth, and images of all kinds of things flashed and shifted inside. With Meng Qi's eyesight as it was, he could hardly make out what any of them were.

After shaking it for a while, Meng Qi saw Jiang Zhiwei shake her head too, indicating that she couldn't see clearly either. He gave it two vigorous shakes and set the tube down on the white smoke in front of him, which felt as solid as an object.

The lights and shadows swirled, slowing down more and more. First, Meng Qi saw a long sword gleaming with cold light, and his heart leaped. That's probably a Sharp Weapon Grade weapon. But it slowly turned away, then brought around a gray, unremarkable manual inscribed with the words "Thirteen Fatal Sword Strikes."

"That's a great prize!" Meng Qi exclaimed with delight. But the manual for the Thirteen Fatal Sword Strikes eventually vanished from the tube's mouth at a snail's pace, replaced by three blue-and-white porcelain bottles.

"Lingzhi Qi Replenishing Pills..." Qi Zhengyan recognized them at a glance. He had exchanged for them before.

Meng Qi exhaled. He couldn't say he was disappointed, nor was he happy. The result was fairly middle-of-the-road. Though it couldn't compare to the Thirteen Fatal Sword Strikes or a Sharp Weapon Grade sword, if he hadn't drawn the pills, he would have chosen to exchange for them anyway. This time, he didn't want to rely on the Lord of Six Paths Samsara to raise his cultivation again. It had already helped open his Dantian, leaving his foundation unstable; to do it once more might bring serious hidden dangers.

So until he could refine his Dantian anew, Meng Qi settled for the next best thing: using pills to help him reach Major Qi Accumulation as soon as possible.

The Lottery Tube vanished, and the white mist disappeared. Three blue-and-white porcelain bottles remained on the spot. Meng Qi bent down to pick them up and opened one. Inside were twelve lotus-white pills. Their fragrance wafted out, leaving him invigorated and light of body.

"Truly fine pills." Meng Qi praised them, plugged the bottle, and tucked it into his clothes. He decided to take one every five days and reach the major stage sooner.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhiwei smiled. "Little Monk, you've saved thirty Merit Points. You're getting richer by the day."

She had guessed that Meng Qi had originally planned to exchange for Lingzhi Qi Replenishing Pills.

"Of course. If you borrow Merit Points again, you won't have to repay thirteen for every nine. Let's say twelve for every ten." Meng Qi joined in the joke.

In this Reincarnation mission, he had received fifty Merit Points for Main Quest One, twenty for helping kill the Shapeshifting Scholar, fifty for helping kill Palm of the Universe, one hundred for completing Main Quest Two, and thirty as a mission evaluation reward—for a total of two hundred and fifty Merit Points.

Jiang Zhiwei giggled. "I got more Merit Points than you. If anyone's borrowing, it'll be you borrowing from me."

She had received fifty Merit Points for Main Quest One, thirty for helping kill the Shapeshifting Scholar, twenty for helping kill Palm of the Universe, one hundred for helping kill the Great General Du'er Cha, one hundred for Main Quest Two, and twenty as a mission evaluation reward—for a total of three hundred and twenty Merit Points.

Meng Qi thought to himself, The True Intent Inheritance is worth quite a lot, though I can't recite it right now to exchange it with the Lord of Six Paths Samsara.

He looked at Zhang Yuanshan and Qi Zhengyan and said with a grin, "Senior Brother Zhang, Senior Brother Qi, you should have earned more Merit Points than me too, right?"

After his injuries healed, Qi Zhengyan had returned to his usual taciturn self. He gave a slight nod. "I got two hundred and sixty Merit Points. With what I had left before, I have two hundred and eighty in total."

After exchanging for the Child-Mother Soul Separation Dart, he had twenty Merit Points remaining. In this mission, he had received fifty for Main Quest One, ten for helping kill the Shapeshifting Scholar, eighty for helping kill Palm of the Universe, one hundred for Main Quest Two, and twenty as a mission evaluation reward.

"I'm probably the one with the most Merit Points, since Jiang Junior Sister still has twenty of mine." Zhang Yuanshan spoke with a touch of humor. "I currently have three hundred and ten."

He had received one hundred and fifty Merit Points from the main quests, fifty for killing Guan Haoran, the Town River Luo, another fifty for helping kill the Great General Du'er Cha, twenty for helping kill the Shapeshifting Scholar, twenty for helping kill Palm of the Universe, and twenty as a mission evaluation reward.

After everyone had candidly shared their Merit Point totals, Zhang Yuanshan's smile faded. He said gravely, "We should work out what to exchange for. Our next mission may not have a helper like Master Xinji, and it probably won't have someone like Gu Xiaosang appearing out of nowhere either. We'll have to rely on ourselves as much as possible."

"First, I have to repair the White Rainbow Piercing Sun Sword. Otherwise, I won't be able to explain what happened." Jiang Zhiwei stroked the beloved sword in her hand.

The Great General Du'er Cha had struck it with his palm, leaving countless fine cracks.

Meng Qi and the others all nodded. None of them had the slightest intention of interfering with Jiang Zhiwei's decision. They had said they would discuss their exchanges together, but that only meant sharing opinions; no one could force anyone else. Besides, Jiang Zhiwei was a natural swordswoman, and a good sword would make her even stronger. There was nothing wrong with giving priority to repairing it.

"My sword was also struck unusable by Tang Shun, but it's just an ordinary hundred-forged steel sword. I can replace it when I return to the mountain." Zhang Yuanshan smiled at Jiang Zhiwei. "Junior Sister Jiang, what else have you set your sights on?"

Jiang Zhiwei's lovely face seemed to glow. "Last time, I took a quick look through the sword techniques in the exchange catalog. Setting aside those I won't be able to afford for a long time, there's one sword art that's very interesting. Its first twenty-two swords are only at the Orifice Opening level. The part on the Sword of Passion costs just two hundred Merit Points, while the part on the Sword of Detachment costs only six hundred."

"But with Twenty-Three Swords, it suddenly rises to the level of an Exterior Scenery sword art—and a very fine one at that. It takes several thousand Merit Points to exchange for it. From the Lord of Six Paths Samsara's description, I think even my master would praise this move to the skies. It's hard to imagine that the moves before and after it could undergo such a fundamental leap."

As she spoke of sword arts, she was beautiful beyond compare.

"Miss Jiang, what sword art?" Hearing "Twenty-Three Swords," Meng Qi immediately thought of something and asked in shock and disbelief.

Seeing his expression, Jiang Zhiwei realized he had read the description of this sword art. She nodded lightly, smiling. "Just as you thought: the Sacred Spirit Sword Technique."