First Meeting with Xiao Yi Xian

"Your wish has been detected. Task activated: Protect Xiao Yi Xian and escape the cliffside cave.

Task rewards: Three Purple Wheel Lottery Tickets and one mysterious reward."

Uh... Mu Chen froze. My wish? Fine, he shrugged. As noble as he was, how could he possibly fuss with the system over such a trivial matter?

"Three lottery tickets mean three chances to draw! That's a generous reward. And there's even a mysterious reward—could it 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 can! Better yet, give me every single one on the Heavenly Flame Ranking!

Heh heh... But Mu Chen only dared to fantasize about something like that. If Heavenly Flames were so easy to obtain, the countless alchemists across the continent would cry themselves to death.

With a thought from Mu Chen, the world before him immediately blurred. A massive circular wheel appeared before his eyes. The wheel was predominantly purple, with a purple pointer at its center. Around it were rewards gleaming in every color.

The wheel was 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-value category was naturally the gold rewards, which occupied three slots: 100,000, 500,000, and 1,000,000 gold coins.

Next came the special rewards, which also occupied three slots: Dou Ling Puppet Summoning Card (4 cards), Dou Wang Puppet Summoning Card (1 card), and Dou Emperor Puppet Summoning Card (1 card).

Although these puppets might possess the formidable power to turn the tide of battle, unfortunately, each could only exist for half a day after being summoned. Since they lacked intelligence, their attacks relied entirely on brute force, making them far weaker than people of the same rank.

Those flaws greatly diminished their value, placing them second from the bottom in Mu Chen's mind.

Next were the Dou Skill rewards, which occupied six slots in total, making them the most numerous category.

The lowest-grade ones were Profound Tier intermediate Dou Skills, while the highest was an Earth Tier beginner Dou Skill. That was not bad at all. Looking at the vast Jia Ma Empire, it seemed that not even a single Earth Tier Dou Skill had ever appeared. Even Xiao Yan's Flame Splitting Tsunami had been obtained from Yao Lao.

The best category was still the item rewards. There were three slots: an Earth Tier spirit weapon that could boost all attributes and combat power by ten percent, the "Inkshadow Twin Swords."

The "Beginner Alchemy Experience Book" from the Complete Guide to Grade One-to-Four Pills.

A frost-attribute natural spiritual treasure comparable to a Heavenly Flame, "Frost Chill."

If all fifteen rewards were drawn, there would also be an unknown "Ultimate Grand Prize Box."

"100 points!"

The exchange rate for gold coins to points was 1,000 to 1, and the first spin of the wheel happened to cost the equivalent of 100,000 gold coins.

"Fine, System, you're impressive. You really calculated this perfectly."

Since even the worst item in the prize pool was worth 100,000 gold coins, Mu Chen exchanged for one drawing opportunity without the slightest hesitation.

No matter how bad his luck was, he would at least break even. If he got lucky, he might even hit the jackpot.

Who said he could not be blessed by fortune?

After he used the drawing chance, the wheel began spinning clockwise at an incredible 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 slowly began to decelerate.

Mu Chen widened his eyes, his heart pounding uncontrollably. The wheel had nearly stopped, and only three items in the pointer's path were most likely to be selected. Among them was the Frost Chill that Mu Chen desperately coveted.

Mu Chen nearly stared himself blind, chanting Frost Chill in his heart. But his experiences with online game lotteries told him that the best prizes usually came last. Getting the ultimate reward in one shot was impossible.

Still, that was not absolute. Mr. Lu Xun had once said, "The results you expect and those you do not expect may be completely opposite. When you believe something is impossible, reality may happen to defy you."

Mu Chen blinked and suddenly began chanting loudly in his heart, Not Frost Chill, not Frost Chill...

At last, the wheel stopped. Mu Chen's face darkened stiffly, because the result was exactly what he had been chanting. The pointer successfully skipped past Frost Chill and ultimately landed on a glowing orb containing a Profound Tier intermediate Dou Skill.

Mu Chen let out a deep sigh. It really was the complete opposite result. Mr. Lu Xun was right. I lost...

"Trading 100,000 gold coins for a Profound Tier intermediate Dou Skill isn't a loss."

Mu Chen took the Dou Skill orb from his inventory. It was blue, about the size of a cherry, and blue-quality as well. Mu Chen did not examine it further and directly absorbed it.

After the orb merged into his body, the method for using the Dou Skill did indeed appear in his mind. What surprised Mu Chen, however, was the strange sensation he felt from this newly absorbed Dou Skill. When he tried to activate it, his Dou Qi flowed through the designated meridians without the slightest awkwardness, as though he had practiced it for a very long time.

Blazing Prairie Hundredfold Slashes: Profound Tier intermediate Dou Skill. Fire attribute. When mastered to a high level, it can release blazing Dou Qi flames over a short distance to burn enemies, or empower both hands to provide formidable close-combat strength.

"Uh, this Dou Skill seems pretty good. Are Profound Tier intermediate Dou Skills of the same level really this strong? As expected of something obtained through a lottery chance—it truly is a fine item."

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 sunlight was bright, and it was nearly noon. The weather was excellent. The distant green mountains were the Magic Beast Mountains.

Mu Chen leaped out of 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. Her true goal was the "Seven-Colored Poison Scripture" in the cliffside cave.

Unfortunately, that girl was rather careless. She had even told others about something so secret, and in the end, she was thoroughly betrayed.

Mu Chen headed straight for the entrance of the town. It was already packed with burly mercenaries, and cries of recruitment rose one after another. They were all looking for companions to enter the mountains and explore, giving Mu Chen the feeling of forming a party for a dungeon raid in an online game.

Mu Chen sighed for a while before 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 bluestone jutting out from the ground and shouted, "Wanyao Pavilion is entering the Magic Beast Mountains to gather herbs, and Xiao Yi Xian will be going with us.

"We're only recruiting fifty people. The requirement is at least a two-star Dou Zhe, and the payment is 500 gold coins. Those who qualify should hurry up."

Although Mu Chen knew how popular Xiao Yi Xian was in Qing Mountain Town, he was still stunned by the crowd around him. Countless mercenaries with crazed expressions rushed toward the middle-aged man, their eyes red as though they were ready to fight. Mu Chen then joined the frenzied crowd as well.

A six-star Dou Zhe was considered quite capable among the mercenaries. Mu Chen did not need much effort to squeeze into the very front.

And at last, he saw the ill-fated Xiao Yi Xian.

She had an exquisite beauty that seemed untouched by the mortal world. She was around sixteen or seventeen years old and wore a pale white dress. Her waist was slender as a willow, her dark hair smooth as a waterfall, and her fair jade-like face carried a calm smile that never seemed to fade. Her temperament was as ethereal as an orchid, making people feel favorably toward her at first sight.

Seemingly noticing Mu Chen's awestruck gaze, Xiao Yi Xian returned it with a faint smile. Mu Chen was slightly taken aback, then smiled back at her.

"Little brother, did you come to the wrong place? Our recruitment requirement is two-star Dou Zhe! You should wait another year or two before coming back," the middle-aged man said with a smile, lingering slightly on the words "Dou Zhe." Still, he could not help looking down on Mu Chen a little. Although Mu Chen seemed physically fit, he was too young for anyone to believe he possessed the strength of a Dou Zhe.

"Where did this little brat come from? Is Wanyao Pavilion's team somewhere you can join?"

"Hurry up and get out of the way. Don't waste our time."

Several mercenaries whom Mu Chen had cut ahead of complained unhappily. One particularly hot-tempered mercenary even cursed as he reached out to grab Mu Chen's sleeve, intending to drag him aside.

But no matter how hard he pulled, the boy before him did not move an inch. The mercenary froze, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared to step forward and shove Mu Chen away.

Mu Chen grabbed his arm with a backhanded motion and exerted force. The mercenary stared in horror as Mu Chen lifted him off the ground, his limbs flailing wildly.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man responsible for Wanyao Pavilion's recruitment grinned wryly, realizing he had misjudged him.

Anyone who could so easily subdue a mercenary with Dou Zhe-level strength meant that this handsome youth was at least a three-star Dou Zhe. He was more than qualified to join the team.

"Let... let go of me..."

"Fine, as you wish!"

Mu Chen flicked his arm, throwing the mercenary out of the crowd. The man landed on the ground in an embarrassingly sprawled position. Seeing everyone's eyes turn toward him, his face reddened in shame. He had been so easily dealt with by a boy around seventeen, and he had no face left to remain there. He could only slink away.

"May I ask if I qualify now?" Mu Chen asked.

The middle-aged man looked astonished and hurriedly replied, "You qualify, absolutely.

"I truly could not tell. You're so young, little brother, yet 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 put away the bag of gold coins and weighed it in his hand. Though such a small amount of gold did not catch his eye, there was no reason not to take it. It did not take up much space anyway.

After carefully scanning the area, Mu Chen still did not find any sign of Xiao Yan. He thought to himself, Could my arrival, along with the system's task, have caused a butterfly effect? Did Xiao Yi Xian's plot happen ahead of schedule, and did I replace Xiao Yan, who was supposed to appear here?