Suppressing Luck, Tang San's Good Fortune Ends

This time, Hu Liena did not hesitate in the slightest.

She simply watched the miniature bronze cauldron hovering before her in silence, then slowly took a deep breath.

She reached out her hand.

That hand, which had been trembling slightly with rage three days ago, was now incomparably steady.

Her fingertips were slender and white as jade, carrying a sense of sacred beauty against the backdrop of the purple mist filling the sky.

Her fingertips gently touched the cold surface of the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron.

There was no warmth as she had imagined, only an ancient, unchanging chill and weight, as if she were not touching a small cauldron, but an entire vast blue sky condensed from eons of time.

Hum—!

The moment her fingertips made contact, the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron suddenly erupted with a brilliant, dazzling green light!

The radiance was not blinding, yet it was incredibly heavy, as if it contained the weight of the entire world.

With a flash of green light, the palm-sized Fate-Suppressing Cauldron transformed into a stream of light, sinking directly into Hu Liena's brow and instantly merging with the pale purple Nine-Tailed Fox Seal.

"Ugh!"

Hu Liena let out a stifled groan, her body swaying backward uncontrollably.

If the power of the Primordial Spirit Bead was like spring rain, purifying and sublimating, then the power of this Fate-Suppressing Cauldron was like the earth itself—bearing, suppressing, and stabilizing!

A vast, majestic power beyond description exploded within her, surging through every limb and bone!

This power was not violent; on the contrary, it was incredibly gentle. It did not assault her meridians but, like mercury spilling onto the ground, silently seeped into every corner of her body.

She could clearly feel that her soul power foundation, which had been somewhat unstable after breaking through fifteen levels in succession, was solidifying and stabilizing at an incredible speed.

Every wisp of soul power seemed to be infused with the weight of a mountain; it felt heavy, yet it circulated more smoothly and freely than ever before.

The immense power previously brought by the Primordial Spirit Bead now blended perfectly with this heavy force, yin and yang complementing each other, water and fire coexisting.

One focused on sublimation, the other on suppression;

One expanded outward, the other fortified inward.

They complemented each other perfectly, without a single flaw.

Hu Liena's body stopped swaying. She stood firmly in place, yet the aura around her was undergoing a earth-shattering transformation.

The sacred aura, which had been slightly ethereal due to her Martial Soul Evolution, now possessed a mountain-like steadiness and restraint.

She was like a divine sword that had just been unsheathed, its sharp edge now returned to a simple, heavy scabbard.

The sharpness remained, but the depth had increased.

On the terrace of the Pope Palace, Bibi Dong watched this scene quietly.

She watched as Hu Liena's aura climbed step by step before settling into silence;

She watched as her body, which had been struggling to adapt to the surging power, gained complete control within a few breaths;

She watched as the fox seal on her brow and the green light reflected each other, radiating a Daoist charm that even made her heart tremble.

Deep within Bibi Dong's purple eyes, a trace of unconcealable envy flashed—a flicker she herself had not even noticed.

"Teacher."

Hu Liena's voice pulled Bibi Dong from her daze.

Bibi Dong looked up to see Hu Liena gazing at her.

"How do you feel?"

Bibi Dong composed herself, her voice returning to its usual calm.

"It feels..."

Hu Liena sensed the changes within her, organizing her words:

"My foundation is more stable than ever before. The speed of my soul power circulation is at least thirty percent faster than before. Moreover, my Martial Soul origin seems to be continuously nourished by a very gentle force. It feels very comfortable."

Bibi Dong nodded slowly, her face unreadable.

She walked to Hu Liena's side, standing shoulder to shoulder with her as they looked out at the sky, which had returned to clarity.

"These are merely the most insignificant effects of the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron."

Bibi Dong's voice was low, yet it reached Hu Liena's ears with perfect clarity.

Hu Liena's heart jolted as she turned to look at her teacher.

Bibi Dong did not look at her, but said faintly:

"Nourishing the Martial Soul, suppressing evil spirits—while these effects are heaven-defying, they are ultimately external. The true, irreplaceable value of this cauldron lies in its primary function."

Her voice paused, each word carrying the weight of Thousand Jun.

"Suppressing fate."

Hu Liena's breath hitched.

Bibi Dong turned her head, her deep purple eyes fixed intently on Hu Liena's gaze:

"Liena, remember this: in this world, the most unreasonable thing is destiny. It is invisible and intangible, yet it can allow a person of mediocre talent to encounter constant miracles and soar to success; it can also cause a brilliant genius to suffer endless disasters and eventually fade into obscurity."

"Tang San is the former."

Bibi Dong's tone was permeated with a bone-deep, icy hatred:

"For him to be where he is today, aside from the support of the gods, the most important factor is that dense destiny of his, which has almost materialized. Otherwise, he would have died ten thousand times over."

Hu Liena's heart skipped a beat, and she instantly understood.

She looked at Bibi Dong, her lips trembling slightly:

"Teacher, you mean..."

"Exactly."

A cold, gratified curve touched the corner of Bibi Dong's mouth:

"From today on, from the moment this Fate-Suppressing Cauldron recognized you as its master, Tang San's good fortune has come to an end."

"This Fate-Suppressing Cauldron will act like an invisible mountain, pressing down firmly upon his fate. All his opportunities will be weakened, all his cultivation will yield half the result for twice the effort, and all his schemes and calculations may fail due to all sorts of inexplicable accidents."

"That Shen Yichen... he didn't give you this cauldron just to nurture your martial soul."

Bibi Dong's gaze grew complex once more as she looked at her disciple and sighed softly:

"He is quietly helping you sever your greatest future enemy."

BOOM!

Bibi Dong's words exploded in Hu Liena's mind like a thunderclap.

She understood everything now.

So that was it.

So, this was the true purpose of the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron.

That man, the man who stirred the winds and clouds of the entire continent with nothing but a Marriage Contract, had not only seen her potential and the flaws in her martial soul, but he had even... calculated her greatest future enemy.

He hadn't acted personally, nor had he even shown his face.

He had simply, with a light touch, sent a second betrothal gift.

A terrifying artifact capable of strangling Tang San, the "Son of Destiny," at his very roots, bit by bit.

An indescribable warmth surged from the bottom of Hu Liena's heart, instantly spreading through her limbs and bones, making her feel warmer than any baptism of power she had ever experienced before.

It was the feeling of being kept in someone's heart, of being quietly and thoroughly protected.

She had always thought this marriage engagement was forced and overbearing.

But now she realized that beneath that unquestionable dominance lay such profound consideration and extreme protectiveness.

"Shen Yichen..."

Hu Liena silently recited the name for the third time.

This time, there was not a shred of resistance or anger left in her heart, only deep curiosity and a hint of... infatuation, which she was too shy to even admit to herself.

Meanwhile, on Sea God Island, ten thousand miles away.

Inside the Sea God Hall.

Tang San sat cross-legged, his body enveloped in golden divine light, with the Sea God Trident hovering before him, radiating majestic divine might.

He was in the midst of breaking through the final barrier of the Eighth Sea God Trial.

Everything should have proceeded smoothly.

But just a moment ago, an unprovoked, extreme sense of emptiness had suddenly seized his heart!

It was not pain, nor was it a tremor of soul power.

It was a feeling... as if something core, something innate and bound to his very soul, had been forcibly ripped away from him by an invisible hand!