The Proper Way to Use Fortune

Zhang Jian's gaze swept across the rows of towering bookshelves.

Zhang Yi had opened this study to him, placing no restrictions on him and forbidding him from touching none of the other ancient books.

Yet Zhang Jian's gaze quickly settled in the direction of the hidden chamber.

For some reason, the dozen or so strange rune paintings in the hidden chamber came to mind.

The very first time he had seen them, he had vaguely sensed something peculiar.

Zhang Jian thought to himself, When I get the chance, I must go in and take another look.

His curiosity had still been stirred.

Everyone had that kind of curiosity.

But Zhang Jian suppressed it.

Since Zhang Yi trusted him enough to let him come and go freely from this private, important place, he naturally would not fail to understand the gravity of the matter and pry into Zhang Yi's secrets.

Everyone had secrets.

Especially since some people did not like others probing into them.

"Though the Essentials of Nurturing Life is remarkably unusual in its life-nurturing effects, it ultimately lacks a measure of dominance, and there is no cultivation method for the next stage. I still need to find another internal cultivation method and break through my realm!"

His attention was focused mainly on the internal cultivation methods on part of the bookshelves.

But he did not rise to search.

He had already looked through them.

Most of the few internal cultivation manuals on the shelves were incomplete.

They were even inferior to the Essentials of Nurturing Life.

Looking over this vast sea of books, Zhang Jian could only find a way to search for one himself. It was not something he could easily mention directly to Zhang Yi.

But Zhang Jian had another method.

It was the cup of golden fortune he had fleeced from the ancestral hall during the ancestral rites a few days ago.

Zhang Jian recalled the cup of golden fortune bestowed upon him by his "ancestors."

That golden fortune had remained with him all along.

So long as he imagined it with his mind, he could manifest it.

Within his eyes, that cup of golden fortune now appeared.

The method of using it was simple: he only needed to make a wish upon that cup of golden fortune.

This kind of fortune could often grant certain small wishes, guiding the current of events along its course.

For example, during his first county examination, he had originally possessed a certain chance of being failed. Perhaps the prefectural governor would be in a bad mood while marking papers, or perhaps he would feel depressed after reading an official report and fail him because of it. But after using golden fortune, there was a certain chance of avoiding such a situation.

Of course, if he handed in a blank paper, then even using that cup of fortune would make it difficult to turn the tide of heaven and earth. It would merely grant him a sliver of hope.

This was the conclusion Zhang Jian had reached after many experiments.

And if he used that cup of fortune to make a wish now, it might create an opportunity.

Especially since Zhang Yi bore him goodwill.

With a thought, Zhang Jian had already made his decision.

"I wish to find, within half a month, an internal cultivation technique suitable for my own breakthrough!"

As Zhang Jian made his wish, he singled out each of the most important keywords.

First, suitable. Second, breakthrough. Third, internal cultivation technique.

As for the half-month time limit—

Zhang Jian hoped it would increase the probability.

After all, one day was far too rushed.

After he made his wish, the cup of golden fortune above his head immediately began to evaporate at a visible rate, dispersing into the unseen heavens and earth.

Once that cup of golden fortune had vanished, Zhang Jian immediately devoted his attention to the rows of bookshelves and began searching.

Inside the hidden chamber

Zhang Yi was currently turning a red bead over in his hand.

He had obtained this strange object a few days ago after killing a petty thief who had broken into the Zhang family to steal.

It was called a "strange object" because its entire body emitted a faint glow. It resembled a gemstone, yet also looked like a naturally formed "luminous pearl"!

Zhang Yi had studied it for some time, but he had never been able to determine its origins.

A whim suddenly struck Zhang Yi. With a thought, a stream of icy internal energy shot out from within him and entered the red bead in his hand.

In an instant, the bead in his hand abruptly swelled and began to glow red.

"It works!"

Joy appeared on his face, but the moment that thought surfaced, his expression turned horrified. His body became a shadow as he darted toward the hidden chamber's door.

At the same time, he flung the red bead into a corner.

But in that instant, the swollen red bead violently exploded.

The entire hidden chamber shook as though heaven and earth were overturning.

Zhang Jian, who was searching through the books, was startled by the sudden commotion.

Rumble, rumble!!

The entire study seemed to be shaking.

Zhang Jian stared blankly toward the hidden chamber.

"An earthquake?"

He instinctively prepared to dash outside, but his footsteps abruptly halted.

Amid the roar of the mechanisms, the concealed compartment opened, and Zhang Yi crawled out of the hidden chamber, gray-faced and filthy. His entire body was scorched black, like a piece of charcoal.

Seeing Zhang Yi in such a state, Zhang Jian opened his mouth. "Ah... this!"

He quickly came to his senses and hurried forward to help Zhang Yi up. At the same time, he glanced into the hidden chamber and saw black smoke everywhere within. Many bookshelves had been blasted apart and collapsed.

In one corner, stones were still falling with soft pattering sounds.

Zhang Jian hurriedly dragged Zhang Yi out.

"Uncle Yi, what happened to you...?"

"Don't mention it. A Fire Thunder Pellet exploded! I fell for that petty thief's trap!"

After climbing to his feet, Zhang Yi looked at the hidden chamber still billowing black smoke. He swayed slightly, gritting his teeth in hatred.

He did not know what had happened to him. Under ordinary circumstances, he would never have been so impulsive as to fall into a petty thief's trap. It was almost unimaginable.

Zhang Jian's eye twitched, but a strange glimmer faintly emerged in his eyes.

He had already spotted an ancient book with scorched pages that had fallen from Zhang Yi's sleeve where he had landed.

Though part of the ancient book's pages had burned away, he could still barely make out several large characters!

"Heavenly Dipper Boy Skill!"

Zhang Jian glanced at it. Zhang Yi still wore a gloomy expression and had not noticed the ancient book that had fallen out.

At that moment, Zhang Lu hurried into the study after hearing the commotion, only to be driven back out almost immediately.

Zhang Yi's face darkened as he looked at the portion of bookshelves outside the hidden chamber that had also collapsed, his eye twitching.

These were all his precious treasures. And there were those rows of bookshelves inside the hidden chamber as well, which held so much of his painstaking effort.

He had spent more than half his life fighting and killing, working tirelessly for these precious treasures.

This time, he had suffered no small loss.

And rearranging everything would be even more troublesome.

Zhang Yi's face was black as he nearly tore apart the whisk in his hand, cursing bitterly under his breath.

Zhang Yi glanced once more at the study, now pitch-black and filled with thick smoke. His eye twitched as he looked at Zhang Jian and said:

"Jian'er, my study has collapsed, and it isn't convenient for others to come and go here..."

His tone was one of negotiation.

"Uncle Yi, leave it to me!" Zhang Jian nodded lightly.

This was a good thing—he could not have wished for more.

After all, there were still so many priceless books in the hidden chamber.

Zhang Yi nodded and left with an unlucky look on his face.

Zhang Jian secretly laughed. He had long seen that Zhang Yi kept no regular schedule and was not particularly fond of cleaning.

The study had already been a mess before.

Now, Zhang Yi handing the study over to him for the sake of convenience was hardly unexpected.

Still, he had never imagined that after wishing upon that cup of fortune, it would create an opportunity for him to enter the hidden chamber so quickly.