Dire Situation

Chapter 21: Grim Situation

After making his decision, Li Dingguo got up and told Zhang Xianzhong he needed to relieve himself. He then turned and jogged back to the now-empty inner courtyard, quickly heading into the room he was staying in.

He closed the door, quickly sat cross-legged on the floor, calmed his emotions, and settled down before performing his first cheat using the golden finger.

With a thought, he used his will to touch the plus sign next to the "Cultivation Method" entry.

He saw the seven-colored Cultivation Method rune in his Spirit Sea suddenly explode!

At the same time, a chaotic colored dense fog appeared as if out of nowhere, instantly merging into the restructuring Cultivation Method rune!

Li Dingguo felt a moment of disorientation, and then a nine-colored Cultivation Method rune reappeared in his Spirit Sea.

Just then, a message far more profound than before entered Li Dingguo's mind.

Although he didn't recognize the incredibly complex characters, he could clearly understand their meaning, as if it were innate, which felt incredibly mystical!

At this moment, the golden finger panel reappeared in his mind:

Host: Li Dingguo

Age: 10

Physique: 10

Spirit: 4

Skills: Tiger Roar Fist+ (Beginner)

Cultivation Method: Circumstellar True Scripture+ (Not Started)

Luck: 10 (Luck value zero means certain disaster)

Star Destiny: Army Breaker (Not Activated)

Looking at his luck value, which had been halved and only had ten points left, Li Dingguo felt a pang of heartache.

However, seeing his main Cultivation Method upgraded from the original Big Dipper Heavenly Gang Star Scripture to the Circumstellar True Scripture, and the color of the Cultivation Method rune changing from seven-colored to nine-colored, Li Dingguo was overjoyed.

Just from the names of the two main Cultivation Methods, one could guess the huge difference between them: the Big Dipper Heavenly Gang Star Scripture, as the name suggests, represents a Cultivation Method within the scope of a single star system.

The Circumstellar True Scripture, on the other hand, encompasses all the surrounding stars, and its profound meaning far exceeds that of the original Big Dipper Heavenly Gang Star Scripture.

This was evident from the upgrade of the Cultivation Method rune from seven-colored to nine-colored.

The two were not on the same level.

It went without saying that the current Circumstellar True Scripture was much higher in grade than the original Big Dipper Heavenly Gang Star Scripture.

Li Dingguo also understood that in the world of cultivators, the better the main Cultivation Method, the stronger the foundation one builds, and the brighter their future prospects. This was a great fortune that couldn't be bought with any amount of money.

"This luck value is too miraculous, and too precious."

"It seems I greatly underestimated the preciousness of luck value before."

Li Dingguo now personally experienced the miraculous effect of luck value and thought to himself, "The more precious something is, the harder it must be to obtain."

"In the future, aside from naturally increasing due to gaining some blessings, wanting to obtain a large amount of luck value through other means will likely be quite difficult."

He wasn't stupid. Since luck value was so miraculous, and he had now used half of his luck value to deduce and upgrade his main Cultivation Method, resulting in a super powerful main Cultivation Method, it showed that this mysterious and unpredictable luck value was far more than just "precious."

However, this was also understandable: the entire luck of ten ordinary people combined was consumed by the golden finger to obtain this super main Cultivation Method.

Of course, this was also because the upgraded Circumstellar True Scripture and the Big Dipper Heavenly Gang True Scripture came from the same origin and shared the same roots.

Otherwise, wanting to cheat with the golden finger to upgrade a seven-colored true scripture Cultivation Method to a nine-colored true scripture Cultivation Method would definitely consume more than just ten points of luck value.

In the past few days, Li Dingguo had been constantly changing his destiny through Zhang Xianzhong's favor, which was why his luck value had increased repeatedly.

From a penniless orphan beggar, he was taken in by the Rebel Army, then received dedicated training, becoming a true monstrous genius. Not only did he break through to become a Martial Artist, but he also achieved a Qi and Blood Limit Break, transforming his physique.

Now he had also received Zhang Xianzhong's divine technique bestowal, completely solidifying his foundation.

The continuous accumulation of these encounters caused Li Dingguo's own luck to increase again and again.

However, Li Dingguo estimated that the natural growth of luck from Zhang Xianzhong's help had probably reached its limit.

In the future, his own luck would likely be difficult to increase naturally.

"I hope I can learn of another way to acquire luck in the future."

Since there were no clues for now, Li Dingguo stopped letting his thoughts wander and quickly withdrew his consciousness from his Spirit Sea.

He was surprised to find that this series of actions had only taken a dozen breaths of time in the outside world!

With the cheating complete, Li Dingguo immediately got up, hurried to a nearby restroom to relieve himself, and then jogged back to the front courtyard, arriving before Zhang Xianzhong, who was saying something to Ai Nengqi.

Seeing Li Dingguo return, Zhang Xianzhong continued to instruct him and Ai Nengqi on some precautions for future cultivation.

It wasn't until about a quarter of an hour later that this round of main Cultivation Method instruction officially ended.

Li Dingguo and Ai Nengqi exchanged glances, their faces full of pleasant surprise. They both stood up and respectfully bowed to Zhang Xianzhong, saying, "Thank you, Great King!"

This bow was sincere from both of them, without any falsehood.

It could be said that from this moment on, the two of them had completely changed their destiny, putting an end to their former precarious and tragic lives.

They were not only monstrously talented Martial Artists, invincible among their peers, but they had also received a true divine technique inheritance. As long as they were willing to work hard and had a little luck, their future was bright and promising.

"Good, good!"

Zhang Xianzhong, his face still a bit pale, could clearly sense the genuine gratitude of the two young men before him through his spiritual power. He smiled with satisfaction and nodded, saying, "You may rise."

"I have already passed this True Scripture Cultivation Method on to both of you. I hope that from now on, you will not be lazy, but will diligently comprehend and cultivate it!"

"On the path of martial arts, innate talent is certainly important, but comprehension and unremitting effort are equally important."

"The imperial army's encirclement and suppression will arrive in two to three months at the latest. At that time, with the current strength of our Rebel Army, this Dingbian City will definitely not be defensible."

"If the officials take it seriously enough, they might even send Cao Wenzhao, the Deputy General of the Eastern Route of Yansui Town, to lead his three thousand elite cavalry!"

"That Cao Wenzhao is not just a simple Deputy General guarding a region."

"His three thousand Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry are all elites who have fought countless battles against the Liaodong Tartars. Their combat power is extremely strong!"

"A few months ago this year, Cao Wenzhao was promoted from a Liaodong Colonel to the Deputy General of the Eastern Route of Yansui due to his outstanding achievements, and he brought his three thousand elite Guan-Ning troops with him to take up his post."

"This Cao Wenzhao, his three thousand Guan-Ning Iron Cavalry soldiers, are the strongest elite force even in all of Liaodong, or even the Great Ming Dynasty, bar none!"

Zhang Xianzhong paused here, then continued, "Nothing else, this elite border cavalry force was entirely forged into a strong army by following Cao Wenzhao through countless life-and-death battles against the Tartars! It is also the only strong army in the current court that dares to engage in frontal field battles and clashes with large groups of Tartar cavalry with a smaller force!"

"In today's Nine Border Garrisons, no other force of the same number can match them!"

"Even more terrifying is that Cao Wenzhao himself is one of the Great Ming Dynasty's top ten acknowledged masters, and his Guerrilla General: his nephew Cao Bianjiao, is the most outstanding rising star in the Great Ming Dynasty, and can even be called the number one master under heaven!"

"It can be said that if Cao Wenzhao, the Deputy General of the Eastern Route of Yansui, personally leads a large army here, we will only be able to flee in disarray and will be completely unable to fight them!"

"Alright, telling you two youngsters all this is to make you both seize the time to cultivate diligently and strive to break through to the third level of the Martial Artist realm before the imperial army arrives."

"Only then will you have a certain ability to protect yourselves, and not tragically die at the hands of the official army before you have even grown up, wasting my painstaking efforts."

"Whether it is for your own lives or for me, Zhang Xianzhong, you must conduct yourselves well."

"As for the resources you need for cultivation in the Body Tempering Realm, I will try my best to provide them during this period. You just need to cultivate diligently."

He earnestly explained the great danger that the Rebel Army was about to face to Li Dingguo and Ai Nengqi.

He had too many expectations for these two young men and hoped they would grow up quickly so they could share his worries.