Changes in Fortune

Kong Jiao and Shangguan Yuzhou naturally exchanged a round of mutual flattery.

Now that the formation had been broken and the threat removed, the two of them were naturally in high spirits, chatting and laughing freely.

They walked deep into the cave.

Gurgle!

The sound of a clear spring was pleasant to the ear.

At the very end of the cave lay a small space.

Inside sat a stone bed, with bottles and jars scattered across the floor.

In the center of the space, a clear spring welled up from the ground.

As Kong Jiao and Shangguan Yuzhou stepped into this space, he could clearly feel the pores all over his body relaxing.

A refreshing, soul-stirring aura permeated his entire being.

"What abundant spiritual energy!"

Kong Jiao and Shangguan Yuzhou's eyes lit up simultaneously.

Then, they both fixed their gazes on the clear spring.

"A Spirit Spring!" the two said in unison.

It was common knowledge that the Cangwu Sect was built upon a Spirit Spring, which provided the endless supply of spiritual energy for the disciples' cultivation.

The flow of every Spirit Spring was controlled by the sect and provided to disciples who had contributed to the sect.

They were almost exclusively reserved for inner-sect disciples.

Who would have thought that there would be a branch of a Spirit Spring in the outer sect as well?

The spring was not large, only about five feet in circumference, just enough to accommodate an adult bathing inside.

"Although this Spirit Spring isn't large, the spiritual energy it emits is more than enough for the two of us to cultivate." Kong Jiao leaned down, looking at the fist-sized spring eye that was bubbling with water, and grinned.

What he needed most right now was to increase his cultivation speed.

With this Spirit Spring, he would surely be able to significantly shorten his cultivation time.

"The Spirit Spring is an unexpected joy, but it is not the true opportunity of this trip." Shangguan Yuzhou spoke with a hint of implication, tilting his head slightly to look at the rock wall.

Several niches had been artificially carved into it to hold items.

Kong Jiao followed Shangguan Yuzhou's gaze and examined the wall.

Each niche held an item, totaling four in all.

"Exactly four items, two for each of us." Shangguan Yuzhou stretched out his fingers, smiling with smug satisfaction.

"Then Senior Brother Shangguan should choose first!" This was not Kong Jiao being modest; after all, Shangguan Yuzhou had been the main force in breaking the formation, and it was the rule of this world that the strong got to pick their spoils first.

Moreover, it was Shangguan Yuzhou who had brought him to this opportunity, which was why Kong Jiao said so.

"Junior Brother Kong, you really are... do you know whose territory this cave is? Aren't you afraid of missing out on the opportunity?" Shangguan Yuzhou's face held a smile as he teased Kong Jiao.

The latter spread his hands; it would be a miracle if he knew.

"Have you ever heard the name Chu Jianghe?" Shangguan Yuzhou deliberately lowered his voice, feigning a mysterious air.

"The Drifting Rain Sword, Chu Jianghe! This is Chu Jianghe's cave!" Kong Jiao's mouth fell open, his face stiffening as he looked at Shangguan Yuzhou with eyes full of bewilderment.

That was a disciple with quite a reputation in the outer sect.

With tens of thousands of outer-sect disciples in the Cangwu Sect, the fact that Chu Jianghe could make a name for himself with his Drifting Rain Sword Art showed that his strength was among the top tier of the entire outer sect.

At the very least, he was in the sixth realm of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm.

"Senior Brother Shangguan, how could you dare!" Kong Jiao's face turned a shade of green.

Although Shangguan Yuzhou had decent talent, he was only in the fourth realm of the Wheel-Nourishing Realm and needed time to settle before he could stand out in the outer sect.

Chu Jianghe wouldn't care if you were some genius; if you dared to raid his cave, he would likely come charging over with his sword the very next day.

Shangguan Yuzhou was by no means his match.

As for himself, he was even less worth mentioning.

"Don't panic." Shangguan Yuzhou remained calm and collected, explaining slowly, "If I didn't have some confidence, I wouldn't dare to raid his nest. Actually, that guy has been missing for half a year. He didn't even show up on the day the sect distributes cultivation resources every three months."

"Half a year?" Kong Jiao frowned slightly; this information allowed his heart to settle for a moment.

As an outer-sect disciple, there was an opportunity to collect cultivation pills every three months.

Hardly any disciple would miss out on such hard-won cultivation resources.

Although Chu Jianghe was strong, he was only a minor expert in the second tier of the outer sect, still some distance away from the top-tier disciples.

He would not miss those cultivation resources.

Coupled with his disappearance for half a year, Kong Jiao deduced that Chu Jianghe had likely died outside. After all, bloody incidents occurred within the Cangwu Sect itself; if it was so treacherous inside the sect, the outside world was even more of a place where the weak were prey to the strong, and murder and body disposal were not uncommon.

"I noticed him half a year ago. He was acting mysterious every day, running out alone, and I didn't know what he was up to. Then one day, he just suddenly vanished." Shangguan Yuzhou licked his lips and said with some sympathy, "And he never appeared again."

Hearing this from Shangguan Yuzhou finally put Kong Jiao's mind at ease, and he let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.

Although Chu Jianghe's disappearance was riddled with suspicious points, it had nothing to do with the two of them; if an investigation were needed, it was the duty of the Enforcement Hall.

It was no wonder Shangguan Yuzhou had set his sights on Chu Jianghe's cave dwelling.

If it were Kong Jiao, he certainly wouldn't have let this opportunity slip by either.

"Alright, I told you so much just to let you know, Junior Brother, that the value of the fortune we've obtained this time is essentially all of Chu Jianghe's worldly possessions." As Shangguan Yuzhou spoke, he walked to a recess in the rock wall, took out all four items, and laid them out before Kong Jiao.

"I am only interested in the Drifting Rain Sword Art; as for the rest, Junior Brother Kong Jiao can pick two items first." Saying this, Shangguan Yuzhou took a deep blue jade slip from the four items.

Shangguan Yuzhou loved his sword as if it were his own life; Kong Jiao was not at all surprised that he had come here specifically for the Drifting Rain Sword Art.

Since he had put it that way, Kong Jiao did not stand on ceremony and shifted his gaze to the remaining three items.

A bottle of medicinal pills; he did not know what their effects were.

He would not consider them for the moment.

A jade slip recording the Scarlet Radiance Formation; that required coordination with formation flags to set up the Scarlet Radiance Formation.

The Scarlet Radiance Formation was merely one of the basic formations, and its power was nothing special, though Chu Jianghe had tampered with the placement of the formation flags, so anyone breaking the formation without caution would suffer a heavy loss.

Even Shangguan Yuzhou had almost met his end within that formation.

The formation is not bad, I can keep it in mind. Glancing secretly at the formation jade slip, Kong Jiao turned his gaze to the final item.

What remained was a magical tool: a longbow.

It was entirely black and made of an unknown material.

He did not know where Chu Jianghe had obtained it, but since he was a sword user and did not use arrows, it had simply sat idle in the cave dwelling.

To be collected by a minor expert like Chu Jianghe, the quality of this longbow magical tool certainly could not be too low.

Kong Jiao's eyes brightened slightly.

This longbow magical tool was far more useful to him than the previous two items.

He had spent two years in the Miscellaneous Books Pavilion, and his monthly spirit crystals had been docked by half.

Magical tools were expensive, and he had not been able to bring himself to buy one to this day.

The appearance of the longbow magical tool perfectly filled the gap of Kong Jiao not yet possessing a single magical tool.

"This is the one!" Kong Jiao reached out and grabbed the longbow.

In any case, Shangguan Yuzhou used a sword, so the longbow was just a tasteless scrap to him.

As for the remaining items, Kong Jiao thought it over carefully and did not choose the formation.

Although the Scarlet Radiance Formation had decent power, he thought about how he didn't have anything of value on him; would he set up a formation just to put on a show of an empty city?

Use a valuable formation to protect his own dilapidated bed?

Moreover, battles between experts were decided in an instant; who would let you set up a formation in advance?

It was better to choose the medicinal pills.

At the very least, the value of pills in the Cangwu Sect remained consistently high; even if he couldn't use them, exchanging them for spirit crystals would be a good move.

With the two items decided.

The remaining formation flags naturally went to Shangguan Yuzhou.

Each took what they needed, which could be considered a happy outcome for both.

"This trip was not in vain!" Putting away his spoils, Kong Jiao was in a great mood.

This trip had not only yielded a magical tool and medicinal pills, but also the Spirit Spring that could increase his cultivation speed.

Of course, neither the magical tool, the pills, nor the Spirit Spring were the greatest harvest for Kong Jiao.

What made Kong Jiao feel most joyful was the movement on the Cloud-Pattern Stele.

'Accepted Shangguan Yuzhou's invitation to break the Outer Sect Earth Cave Formation, gained +5 Fortune Value'

'Earth Cave Formation broken, gained +5 Fortune Value'

With the addition of five points of Fortune Value, the deathly, gray, and gloomy aura of fate above Kong Jiao's head finally began to transform toward white.

The pure white color squeezed out the gray at a speed visible to the naked eye, occupying one-fifth of the space of his entire fate.

The masses were all gray; for a portion of white fate to occupy one-fifth of the space, it could be said that Kong Jiao's fate was already better than more than half of the disciples in the Cangwu Sect.

"Of course, there is no comparing it to someone like Shangguan Yuzhou. Setting aside talent, looking solely at luck, this kid's luck could at least rank in the top three of the outer sect." While pondering to himself, Kong Jiao's eyes fixed on the top of Shangguan Yuzhou's head; that snow-white luck made him feel envious.

Fortunately, he could continuously improve his own luck by relying on the Cloud-Pattern Stele and would reach Shangguan Yuzhou's level sooner or later, which gave Kong Jiao a little comfort.