Heavenly Dao Blessing, Secret Realm Reappears

Chen Qiu clenched one hand into a fist and gave a somewhat unconfident cough before speaking softly. "I'm not actually a mortal. I am the current young master of a great Lineage beyond Great Xia. I accidentally fell into Great Xia, and all my cultivation plummeted."

"This caused the bonded storage ring hidden in my dantian to become completely impossible to open, since I have no spiritual energy to activate it."

"I must use a secret art to draw out the spiritual energy within Spirit Stones, barely opening a sliver in my bonded storage ring so I can retrieve my former wealth."

"It isn't much. I only need 100 Spirit Stones."

"You two have probably been doing this business here at Heaven-Question Market for quite some time, right? Have you earned 100 Spirit Stones? Could you lend them to me first?"

"Within seven days, I'll repay you together with the agreed-upon 3,000 Spirit Stones."

"..."

"..."

"..."

As soon as his words fell, all three of them, Fat Dragon included, stood there in dumbfounded silence. Even Fat Dragon lowered his head, the corners of his mouth twitching awkwardly. A man as thick-skinned as him felt humiliated at this moment.

"Young Master Chen."

After a long silence, the scholar finally said in a complicated voice, "You're even trying to swindle a cripple? If you're going to scam someone, can't you at least put some effort into it? At the very least, package yourselves better. Using such a crude scam makes me feel insulted."

"I'm serious."

Chen Qiu knew that his words truly sounded absurd and that there was no way to offer a better explanation. He could only say as sincerely as possible, "I can't give you a better argument. You can only judge based on your own past experience."

He truly needed 100 Spirit Stones.

With those Spirit Stones, he could buy two Heavenly Dao Retrospection Talismans, hide away in some corner, then choose the two Traits he had previously abandoned. By rapidly raising his cultivation, then quickly falling back to the First Level of the Qi Refining Realm, he could obtain a massive amount of Spirit Stones.

From the First Level of the Qi Refining Realm to the Eleventh Level of the Qi Refining Realm, there were ten realms. Each realm could give him three Spirit Stones, for a total of thirty Spirit Stones.

As long as he continuously repeated the process of failing Foundation Establishment and Starting Over, he could acquire unlimited Spirit Stones.

So long as he had 100 Spirit Stones as starting capital, he could earn—

A thousand, ten thousand, even a hundred thousand Spirit Stones!

And so—

The four stood at the cliff's edge, staring wide-eyed at one another in silence for a long while. The atmosphere gradually became awkward.

Fat Dragon had already begun scanning the surroundings with despair written all over his face. It was obvious that the negotiation was about to collapse. In this situation, the other side would most likely leave them here and ignore them. Heaven-Question Market was a full twenty li away!

There was not even an official road nearby.

Who knew what godforsaken place this was.

For them to walk to somewhere inhabited would be a huge problem. They couldn't possibly starve to death in this wilderness, could they?

"Fine."

At that moment, the scholar, who was seated cross-legged on the ground, suddenly nodded. "Young Master Chen, I believe you. I'll lend you 100 Spirit Stones."

He did not know why he had suddenly been possessed by a demon and wanted to gamble that these two were not swindlers. Perhaps he had waited in Heaven-Question Market for years without finding any hope and had gradually fallen into despair. Now that a lifeline had suddenly appeared, even knowing it could snap at any moment, he still wanted to seize it.

Just then—

"Heavenly Dao Blessing": Answering the sincere summons of its residents, the Heavenly Dao bestows a blessing. By the stream three li west of Windward City in the Great Xia Kingdom, a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm shall manifest. Only cultivators at the Sixth Level of the Foundation Establishment Realm and below may enter.

This secret realm is of the 'Challenge' type.

It will open in five days.

A voice that rang from above the Ninth Heaven entered their ears.

-

"A Challenge-type Heavenly Dao Secret Realm actually manifested in Windward City?"

A flicker of astonishment passed through the scholar's eyes. He then calmed down and said thoughtfully, "No wonder I've vaguely sensed quite a few factions sending people to Heaven-Question Market recently. But that's not right. Could it be that there are already methods capable of predicting in advance where Heavenly Dao Secret Realms will manifest?"

"It's a Heavenly Dao Trait."

Chen Qiu was also in quite a good mood. Smiling, he said, "We received word that a Heavenly Dao Trait was about to appear in the Huang Family of Windward City. Looking at it now, it's probably in this Heavenly Dao Secret Realm. But with such a huge commotion, I'm afraid the Huang Family's secrecy efforts these past few days have all gone down the drain."

"A Heavenly Dao Trait?"

The scholar shook his head. "No, no, no. This is a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm that only cultivators at the Sixth Level of the Foundation Establishment Realm and below can enter. A Heavenly Dao Trait may indeed appear, but a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm of this level definitely contains more than just a Heavenly Dao Trait. There will be other valuable treasures as well."

"Furthermore, where a Heavenly Dao Secret Realm manifests can absolutely not be predicted in advance. Only Heaven knows."

"Heavenly Dao Traits are extremely valuable, costing at least 1,000 Spirit Stones. They are Traits that can be passed down through bloodline relations."

"They are passed to sons, not daughters. Only direct male descendants can inherit them; women cannot. This means that, in most cases, a Lineage's Heavenly Dao Traits are fairly stable. There won't be a situation where they have a daughter who marries out, and their Heavenly Dao Trait becomes someone else's."

"The effects of Heavenly Dao Traits are entirely random. They are both curse and inheritance."

"For example, it might be a Trait that increases progress in cultivating movement-art techniques by thirty percent."

"Or it might be a Trait that doubles sword-riding speed."

"Or perhaps a Trait that slows sword-riding speed by half a percent, and so on."

"Wait?"

Fat Dragon spoke up in confusion. "All Heavenly Dao Traits are like that? There aren't Traits with other effects? Like... having three heads?"

"No."

The scholar explained calmly, "Heavenly Dao Traits all provide beneficial or detrimental effects to the 'cultivation speed' or 'technique effects' of a certain type of cultivation art."

"How much they increase or decrease them by is entirely random."

"There are advantages and disadvantages. It all depends on luck."

"And Heavenly Dao Traits are all separate; they have almost no synergy with other Traits."

"For instance, there is a city called 'Old City' three hundred li away, and within it is a Lineage called the Qiu Family. Their ancestors obtained several Heavenly Dao Traits back then. One Heavenly Dao Trait slowed sword-riding speed by ninety percent."

"Heavenly Dao Traits are deeply rooted in one's bloodline and cannot be removed. This caused the Qiu Family members to rely entirely on flying demonic beasts and official roads when traveling. Not a single one cultivates sword-riding flight. Their sword-riding speed is barely any faster than taking a few steps."

"They also haven't produced a single sword cultivator in a hundred years."

"Most Heavenly Dao Traits passed down by Lineages have both advantages and disadvantages. First of all, their combat methods and cultivation paths become fixed. Most direct descendants can basically only follow the old road."

"The advantage is that the Lineage has walked this road countless times and travels it smoothly. The disadvantage is that its weaknesses are far too obvious."

"I remember that Great Xia has only one great Lineage whose Heavenly Dao Traits are all beneficial, without a single detrimental one. That Lineage is the Xia Family, the current Great Xia Imperial House."

"For the Xia Family to have more than a dozen consecutive Heavenly Dao Traits, all beneficial and not one detrimental, can only mean their ancestors were favored by the Heavenly Dao. There is no other explanation."

"Some small Lineages yearn greatly for Heavenly Dao Traits."

"Selling one for around 1,000 Spirit Stones would not be a problem."

"Especially for a Foundation Establishment Lineage like the Huang Family of Windward City, this already counts as an enormous opportunity. The Huang Family's annual income probably does not even reach 1,000 Spirit Stones. Whether they use it themselves or exchange it for Spirit Stones, it would be excellent."

"But—"

After pausing, the scholar continued softly, "If the information you have is true, then these are two separate matters. The Huang Family did indeed find an opportunity involving a Heavenly Dao Trait that was about to manifest, but the manifestation of a Heavenly Dao Trait causes no disturbance whatsoever."

"Those fated for it shall possess it."

"And this Challenge-type Heavenly Dao Secret Realm merely happened to bestow its blessing upon Windward City."

"Within just a few days, two Heavenly Dao Secret Realms have blessed Windward City, and there is even an additional Heavenly Dao Trait appearing. That is rather strange. Could something major be about to happen in Windward City?"

After pondering in confusion for a long while without finding an answer, he continued.

"Challenge-type Heavenly Dao Secret Realms are trial-based. Every stage cleared grants abundant rewards, and the risk of death is very low. Such secret realms can often accommodate a large number of participants."

"Over the next five days, quite a few factions within several hundred li will probably send people here, letting their disciples enter for training while competing for opportunities."

"The next five days will be very lively."

"Mm."

Chen Qiu nodded, accepting the storage pouch handed over by the scholar. After taking a deep breath, he looked toward the horizon and said softly, "Take me back to Heaven-Question Market first."

With his current strength, he was not yet capable of fighting for opportunities in this Heavenly Dao Secret Realm.

But the secret realm would only open five days later.

What things would look like five days from now was hard to say.