The Pixiu's phantom in the sky suddenly shuddered. Its outline, which had been slowly taking shape, abruptly became crystal clear.
Its head, horns, spine, and sharp claws came into focus, and every scale seemed to come alive.
It lifted its head and opened its mouth. Black and gold energies swirled within, churning deeper and deeper, as if the whole sky were about to be swallowed.
Hu Liena raised her head, her fingers clenching tight.
That feeling again.
Before every betrothal gift descended, she knew it wouldn't be ordinary. But when the moment actually came, her heart still raced uncontrollably.
Each of the first five gifts had been more ruthless than the last.
Now, with this Pixiu blotting out half the sky above her, there was only one thought in her mind: Who's going to get targeted this time?
She hardly needed to guess.
She thought of Sea God Island, and of Tang San looking ready to fall apart just moments ago. Her lips pressed together slightly.
Most likely, it was aimed at him.
Bibi Dong stood at the top of the steps, staring at the sky without blinking.
She saw further than Hu Liena did.
The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron could already suppress fortune. If this sixth betrothal gift also dealt with fortune, then it wouldn't simply be a matter of "suppressing" it.
That Celestial Master never did anything without purpose. Each of the previous gifts had fit together, one link after another.
Now that the Pixiu had appeared, it was probably not just another ornament. It was meant to bring the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron from before fully to life.
If that was really the case—
Bibi Dong's eyelid twitched.
Tang San was probably going to vomit blood right here today.
The next moment,
a mighty, solemn Heavenly Sanskrit Sound crashed down from the deepest part of the clouds.
"Sixth Celestial Master Betrothal Gift—Fortune-Swallowing Pendant!"
"To celebrate the Celestial Master Grand Wedding!"
As the voice fell, all of Spirit City shook with it.
Everyone in the plaza looked up at once, their breathing pausing for half a beat.
The clouds split open.
A streak of white light slowly descended from the Pixiu's mouth. It wasn't fast, but every gaze was drawn along with it.
Within the light was a White Jade Pendant.
Its jade was warm and translucent, like moonlight condensed into solid form.
At the center of the pendant was a carving of a seated Pixiu, head raised and mouth open, its bearing fierce. Even the patterns on its fangs were frighteningly clear.
It was only a pendant, yet as it drifted down, everyone felt a weight descend upon their heads.
It wasn't pressure.
It was as if something had just touched their fate.
Chrysanthemum Douluo swallowed, his voice wavering.
"What kind of monster is this..."
Ghost Douluo said nothing.
He truly didn't dare make careless remarks anymore.
Before, he'd still dared to mutter things like "treasure" or "rare wonder" to himself. But after the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment swallowed Divine Punishment, he understood.
The things the Celestial Master sent down simply couldn't be judged by ordinary standards.
The pendant hadn't even landed, yet the hairs on his back were already standing on end.
Hu Liena gazed at the Fortune-Swallowing Pendant, her fox ears twitching slightly.
She could feel it.
The power radiating from the pendant was mysterious, cold, and greedy.
It held no malice, yet carried an air of entitlement to plunder.
As if it were saying: Fortune in this world can be swallowed, seized, and transferred.
The moment the thought surfaced, even Hu Liena herself found it absurd.
Wasn't fortune something intangible and elusive, something no one could even touch?
But the things Shen Yichen sent never played by those rules.
The Heavenly Sanskrit Sound rang out again.
"This pendant was transformed from the soul of the ancient Auspicious Beast Pixiu. It can devour the fortune of heaven and earth, and place it all at its master's disposal."
The moment those words fell, the plaza erupted.
"Devour fortune?!"
"Place it all at its master's disposal?!"
"This... This isn't suppression! It's outright stealing!"
"My god, are they going to leave anyone alive?!"
The Soul Masters on the outskirts erupted in an uproar. Even the elders before the Pope Palace, who were used to grand spectacles, couldn't keep their composure.
Yue Guan's eyelids twitched violently, and his fingers trembled.
He'd only thought the pendant was sinister before. Now, after hearing those words, his whole body went numb.
Devour fortune.
Place it all at its master's disposal.
Those words would have sounded like madness anywhere else.
But coming from the Heavenly Sanskrit Sound, they weren't mad ravings. They were a verdict.
And it was almost too obvious to ask who was being sentenced.
The corners of Bibi Dong's lips slowly curved upward.
Barely.
But unmistakably.
She'd known that man wouldn't be satisfied with merely suppressing Tang San.
Once he made a move, he would crush his opponent all the way down, until they could never rise again.
The Heavenly Sanskrit Sound continued.
"Working in concert with the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron, it can convert all suppressed fortune into its owner's own fortune, allowing it to grow without end."
Those words slammed down, and the plaza fell completely silent.
No one spoke.
They no longer knew what to say.
The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron handled the suppression.
The Fortune-Swallowing Pendant handled the devouring.
Suppress, drain, convert, then turn it all into Hu Liena's fortune.
The whole process, start to finish.
Not leaving a single path to survive.
Ghost Douluo slowly swallowed and muttered a curse.
"Ruthless."
In all his years, he'd never seen anyone go this far in the realm of fortune.
This wasn't competition.
This was wringing Tang San dry until he was dead.
Hu Liena stood on the steps, her breathing stopping for a moment.
She understood it too.
At first, she'd only guessed that this thing was aimed at Tang San. Now there was no need to guess.
It was aimed at him, and this wasn't a warning. It was a deathblow.
The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron had been suppressing him all this time. That had only been the first step.
The truly ruthless move was this Fortune-Swallowing Pendant.
Tang San's pale face on Sea God Island flashed through her mind, and she fell silent for a moment.
Shen Yichen... You really aren't planning to leave him a single scrap of fortune.
The thought passed, but Hu Liena felt no sympathy.
She knew all too well that Tang San wanted to kill her.
From the moment the Severing Thought Sword severed Tang Hao's arm to the moment Asura God sent Divine Punishment across realms, the other side had never intended to let her live.
If that was the case, why should she feel sorry for him?
Still—
She looked up at the Fortune-Swallowing Pendant, her fingertips curling slightly.
It was the same as she'd thought before.
This man was far too protective of his own.
The Fortune-Swallowing Pendant paused in midair for a breath.
Then it moved.
The White Jade Pendant became a streak of white light, plunging from the sky straight toward Hu Liena.
It wasn't fast, yet its aim was so precise there wasn't the slightest deviation.
When it reached a few feet in front of Hu Liena, the Pixiu carving shuddered gently. The black and gold energies swirled once inside its mouth, as if recognizing its master.
Hu Liena didn't dodge.
She didn't reach out either.
After the first five times, she'd understood: she didn't need to catch the Celestial Master's betrothal gifts herself.
Sure enough,
a flash of white light, and the Fortune-Swallowing Pendant plunged straight into her palm.
It didn't hurt.
A chill pricked into her palm, then in the next moment turned into a scalding torrent that surged up her arm and rushed straight toward her dantian.
Hu Liena let out a muffled groan. Her body swayed, and she nearly lost her footing.
Bibi Dong shifted half a step, wanting to steady her, but stopped.
She could tell this wasn't a backlash.
It was a fusion.
Hu Liena clenched her teeth and closed her eyes.
The power of the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron within her seemed to suddenly awaken.
The fortune that had lain heavy in the depths of her fate now connected with the Fortune-Swallowing Pendant.
The cauldron suppressed; the pendant devoured.
The moment the two powers joined, it was like a mechanism missing half its parts had finally been made whole.
Boom!
Hu Liena felt her mind shake.
An invisible river of fortune abruptly opened a breach in her perception.
It wasn't her own. It had been forcibly drawn from a place far, far away.
It was golden and weighty, carried the aura of a divine position, and was mixed with a fury and resentment she knew all too well.
Tang San.
Hu Liena's eyelids trembled as his name surfaced.
It really was him.
The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron had been suppressing his fortune, and now the Fortune-Swallowing Pendant was following that connection and directly draining it!
Hu Liena's breathing grew uneven.
She could clearly feel the strands of fortune being pulled over pouring into her body, merging with her meridians and blood, then sinking into the depths of her fate.
It wasn't a simple increase in power. Something more profound was changing.
It was as if the path ahead of her had widened, as if the future itself had opened up.
Her mouth suddenly felt dry.
This thing was far too domineering.
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