"Your wish has been detected. Mission activated: Protect Xiao Yi Xian and escape the cliffside cave.
Mission rewards: three Purple Wheel Lottery Tickets and one mysterious reward."
Uh, Mu Chen froze for a moment. My wish? Fine, he shrugged. Someone as noble as him obviously wouldn't quibble with the system over such a trivial matter.
"Three lottery tickets mean three drawing chances! That's a pretty generous reward. And there's even a mysterious reward. Don't tell me it'll give me another Heavenly Flame?"
Remembering the benefits the Xuan Huang Flame had just brought him, Mu Chen shouted inwardly, The more Heavenly Flames, the better! Give me as many as you've got. It'd be best if you gave me every Heavenly Flame on the Heavenly Flame Ranking.
Jie jie... But Mu Chen was only fantasizing. If Heavenly Flames were so easy to obtain, countless alchemists across the continent would have cried themselves to death.
With a thought from Mu Chen, the world before him immediately blurred, and a massive circular wheel appeared before his eyes. The wheel was predominantly purple, with a purple pointer at its center. All around it were rewards shining in different colors.
The wheel was ranked as a "Beginner Reward Wheel," and its best rewards were purple-quality items.
There were fifteen items on the wheel in total, divided into four categories: gold rewards, special rewards, item rewards, and Dou Skill rewards.
The lowest overall value naturally belonged to the gold rewards. They occupied three reward slots: 100,000, 500,000, and 1,000,000 gold coins.
The special rewards came next and likewise occupied three slots: Dou Ling Puppet Summoning Card (four cards), Dou Wang Puppet Summoning Card (one card), and Dou Emperor Puppet Summoning Card (one card).
Although these puppets might possess the tremendous power to turn the tide of battle, unfortunately, each summoned puppet could only exist for half a day. Since they lacked intelligence, their attacks relied entirely on brute force, making them far weaker than people of the same rank.
Those flaws greatly reduced their value, so Mu Chen ranked them second to last in his mind.
Then came the Dou Skill rewards, which occupied six slots in total—the most of any reward category.
The lowest-ranked one was a Mid Xuan Tier Dou Skill, while the highest was an initial Earth Tier Dou Skill. It wasn't bad at all. Looking at the vast Jia Ma Empire, it seemed there had never even been an Earth Tier Dou Skill before. Xiao Yan's Flame Splitting Wave Ruler had also come from Yao Lao.
The best rewards were still the item rewards. There were three slots: the Earth Tier spirit weapon, "Inkshadow Twin Swords," which could boost all attributes and combat power by ten percent.
The "Beginner Alchemy Experience Book," from the Complete Guide to Grade One-to-Four Pills.
The ice-attribute natural treasure comparable to Heavenly Flames, "Frost Chill."
If all fifteen rewards were drawn, there was also an unknown "Ultimate Grand Prize Box."
"100 points!"
The exchange rate for gold coins to points was 1,000 to 1, and the wheel's first draw happened to cost the equivalent of 100,000 gold coins.
"Fine, System, you've really got me pinned down."
The worst thing in the prize pool was worth 100,000 gold coins, so Mu Chen exchanged for one draw without the slightest hesitation.
No matter how terrible his luck was, he would at least break even. If he got lucky, he might even hit the jackpot.
Who said he wasn't a lucky guy?
After he put in the drawing chance, the wheel began spinning clockwise at an astonishing speed. It spun so fast that Mu Chen's eyes blurred, and he could not make out the rewards on it at all.
It did not take long before the wheel began to slow.
Mu Chen's eyes widened, and his heart began pounding uncontrollably. The wheel had nearly stopped, and only three items were likely to be selected in the pointer's landing area. One of them was the Frost Chill that Mu Chen desperately coveted.
Mu Chen was practically staring his eyes out, silently chanting Frost Chill in his heart. But his experience with online game lotteries told him that the best prizes were always saved for last. Hitting the jackpot in one shot was impossible.
Still, that was not absolute. Mr. Lu Xun had once said, "The results you expect and do not expect may be completely opposite. When you think something is impossible, reality may happen to contradict you."
Mu Chen blinked, then suddenly began chanting loudly in his heart, Not Frost Chill, not Frost Chill...
At last, the wheel stopped. Mu Chen's face went dark and stiff, because the result was exactly what he had chanted. The pointer successfully skipped past the Frost Chill and finally landed on a Mid Xuan Tier Dou Skill light sphere.
Mu Chen let out a deep sigh. It really was a completely opposite result. Mr. Lu Xun was right. I lost...
"Exchanging 100,000 gold coins for a Mid Xuan Tier Dou Skill isn't a loss for me."
Mu Chen took the Dou Skill light sphere from his inventory. It was blue, about the size of a cherry, and also blue in quality. He did not inspect it further and directly absorbed it.
After the light sphere fused into his body, the method of using the Dou Skill indeed appeared in his mind. What startled Mu Chen, however, was the strange sensation it gave him after merging into his body. When he tried to activate it, his Dou Qi flowed through the designated meridians without the slightest awkwardness, as if he had practiced it for a long time.
Blazing Prairie Hundredfold Slashes: Mid Xuan Tier Dou Skill. Fire attribute. When cultivated to a high level, it can erupt Dou Qi flames over a short distance to burn enemies, or be applied to both hands to provide powerful close-combat strength.
"Uh, this Dou Skill seems pretty good. Are Mid Xuan Tier Dou Skills of the same level really this powerful? I can only say that a reward obtained through a lottery draw really is a treasure."
With this Dou Skill mastered, Mu Chen was confident that he could fight a Junior Dou Master one-on-one.
He came to the window. Outside, the sun was shining brightly, and it was nearly noon. The weather was excellent. The green mountains in the distance were the Magic Beast Mountains.
Mu Chen jumped down from the window and left the inn.
The streets were bustling with people.
Xiao Yi Xian would naturally be at Wanbao Pavilion. According to the plot, she would enter the Magic Beast Mountains with a mercenary group, using herb gathering as a cover to divert attention. Her goal was the "Seven-Colored Poison Scripture" inside the cliffside cave.
Unfortunately, that girl was far too careless. She even told others about such a secret matter, and in the end, she was thoroughly betrayed.
Mu Chen headed straight for the town entrance. By then, the place was already packed with burly mercenaries. Shouts rose one after another as they recruited companions to enter the mountains and explore, giving off the feeling of forming a party for an online game dungeon.
Mu Chen sighed to himself for a while, then began looking around for the targets of this trip: Xiao Yi Xian, and... Xiao Yan!
At that moment, a tall, sturdy middle-aged man stood atop a protruding bluestone and shouted, "Wanyao Pavilion is entering the Magic Beast Mountains to gather herbs, and Xiao Yi Xian will be accompanying us.
We're recruiting only fifty people. You must be at least a Two-Star Dou Zhe. The payment is 500 gold coins. Those who qualify should hurry."
Even though he knew how popular Xiao Yi Xian was in Qing Mountain Town, Mu Chen still clicked his tongue at the sight of the crowd packed tightly around him. Countless mercenaries with crazed expressions rushed toward the middle-aged man, their eyes red as though they were about to fight. He then joined the frenzied crowd as well.
A Six-Star Dou Zhe was considered quite strong among the mercenaries, so Mu Chen did not need much effort to squeeze into the front row.
At last, he saw the ill-fated Xiao Yi Xian.
She possessed a clear and ethereal beauty. She looked around sixteen or seventeen and wore a pale white dress. Her waist was slender as a willow branch, her dark hair flowed softly like a waterfall, and her fair face, as warm and smooth as jade, carried a gentle smile that never seemed to fade. Her temperament was as elegant and airy as an orchid, making people instantly feel fondness upon seeing her.
Seemingly noticing Mu Chen's awestruck gaze, Xiao Yi Xian returned it with a faint smile. Mu Chen paused slightly, then smiled back at her.
"Little brother, you came to the wrong place, didn't you? Our recruitment requirement is a Two-Star Dou Zhe! You should wait another year or two before coming back." The middle-aged man paused slightly on the words "Dou Zhe" as he spoke with a smile, though he could not help but look down on Mu Chen somewhat. Mu Chen's physique looked decent, but he was simply too young for anyone to believe he possessed the strength of a Dou Zhe.
"Where did this little brat come from? How could someone like you join Wanbao Pavilion's team?"
"Get lost already. Don't waste our time."
Several mercenaries whom Mu Chen had gotten ahead of spoke unhappily. One particularly hot-tempered mercenary even cursed as he reached out, grabbed Mu Chen's sleeve, and tried to drag him away.
But no matter how hard he pulled, the boy before him did not move at all. The mercenary froze, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared to step forward and shove Mu Chen aside.
Mu Chen grabbed his arm with a backhanded motion and exerted force. The mercenary's face filled with terror as Mu Chen lifted him off the ground, his limbs flailing wildly.
Seeing this, the middle-aged man in charge of recruitment for Wanbao Pavilion bared his teeth and thought to himself that he had misjudged the boy.
To easily subdue a mercenary with the strength of a Dou Zhe, this handsome young man had to be at least a Three-Star Dou Zhe. He was absolutely qualified to join the team.
"Let... let me go..."
"Fine, as you wish!"
With a flick of his hand, Mu Chen sent the mercenary flying out of the crowd. The man landed on the ground in an undignified sprawl. Seeing everyone's gazes turn toward him, his face flushed red with shame. Having been so easily dealt with by a boy around seventeen, he had no face left to stay there and could only flee miserably.
"May I ask if I qualify now?" Mu Chen asked.
The middle-aged man looked astonished and hurriedly said, "You qualify, absolutely.
I truly couldn't tell. Despite being so young, little brother, your strength is this formidable. You must be at least a Three-Star Dou Zhe, right? This is your payment. According to Wanyao Pavilion's rules, we'll pay half in advance, and the other half after we return."
Mu Chen took the bag of gold coins and weighed it in his hand. Although such a small amount of gold did not catch his interest, there was no reason to refuse free money, and it did not take up much space anyway.
After carefully scanning the area, he still did not find Xiao Yan's figure. Mu Chen thought to himself, Could my arrival and the mission issued by the system have caused a butterfly effect, making Xiao Yi Xian's plot happen earlier? And have I replaced Xiao Yan, who should have appeared here?
Before you continue