"Liu Attendant, Do You Think Anyone in That Secret Realm Can Stand Against Me?"

Rather than regret, it was more like envy.

The middle-aged man onstage had already gone mad with excitement, and it was all because his luck was absurdly good. Not only had he rolled two "Strength of Nine Oxen" traits, he had also rolled the "Self-Destruct Trait." How could an ordinary person have such luck? This was what true trait gambling looked like.

Fat Dragon considered his own luck mediocre. Even if he were given another chance to choose, there was a high probability he still would not choose this "Self-Severing Root." Pain was only one reason; more importantly, he thought things were pretty good as they were. It even added a bit of fun in the bedroom, and aesthetically speaking, nine oxen were still better than eight bloody holes.

All he could say was that it was fate. This middle-aged man had this fortune written in his destiny.

But this also proved from another angle that even a seemingly useless White Trait could display its usefulness, so long as one had the fate to obtain a matching trait. The difficult part was precisely how to obtain a trait that matched it.

The grand spectacle came to an end.

The audience in the square gradually dispersed, but the smiles on everyone's faces had vanished at some point. What mattered now was no longer envy, nor was it watching a lucky man soar to the heavens in a single leap.

It was whether this Foundation Establishment man's cultivation had fucking surpassed Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer!!!

If it had not—

With such a monster entering the secret realm alongside them, there was no point even thinking about fighting over treasures. They would only need to run for their lives. A perfectly good challenge-type Heavenly Dao Secret Realm had been completely turned into a battle royale.

No one present had the confidence to deal with such a monster.

"Um... Boss."

In a corner of the square, a skinny man wearing a cloak cautiously sidled up to a hulking brute beside him and hesitated. "Are we still going to tail him and look for a chance to make a move?"

This grand spectacle had drawn plenty of people over, naturally including desperadoes. Their thoughts were simple: a Foundation Establishment cultivator carrying so many Spirit Stones—how was that any different from a walking Spirit Stone mine?

If they did not rob him, that would be like Heaven bestowing a gift and them refusing it; surely Heaven would punish them.

They would incur retribution.

But now, it seemed rather difficult to make a move.

"Rob my fucking ass!!!"

The hulking brute slapped the cloak off the skinny man's head in embarrassment and fury. "If I tell you to rob him, do you fucking dare to be the first one up?"

"I do."

"Get lost!"

The brute turned furiously and strode out of the square. He had forgotten that his brother really dared to risk his life. Who could have guessed that man's luck would be this outrageous? Not only had they failed to get a single Spirit Stone, they had even thrown away two Spirit Stones for nothing.

What fucking nonsense!

Meanwhile, inside a courtyard near the center of the square.

Wang Tiedan—the middle-aged man whose luck had turned—stood in the courtyard, gazing eagerly toward the west of Windward City. "Heaven truly favors me! Who would have thought that I, Wang Tiedan, at the age of fifty-six, would still encounter such an opportunity!"

"I had already given up all thoughts of climbing higher, but now it seems that perhaps I may yet make a bid for the Golden Core Realm in this life!"

"My cultivation is Foundation Establishment Third Layer, just enough to enter the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm that is about to open. Liu Attendant, do you think anyone inside can stand against me?"

He had not originally intended to enter the secret realm. He had merely wanted to take advantage of the crowd to make a quick fortune. But times had changed. Right now, he was equivalent to possessing dozens of talismans containing the full-force strike of a Golden Core Third Layer cultivator.

His confidence had surged.

Perhaps from now on, he could gradually shift his focus away from the Lineage and set foot on the path of cultivation once more. It had been many years since he last entered a secret realm, and he somewhat missed those days before he had broken through Foundation Establishment, when he and the fellow cultivators he met along the road would roll up their sleeves and charge into secret realms.

They had broken through every barrier and survived until the end.

It had been utterly exhilarating. But the older one grew, the smaller one's courage became. He no longer had that same drive as before. Even thinking back on it now gave him lingering fear. The ignorant truly knew no fear.

"..."

Liu Attendant, standing at the side, first let out a helpless sigh. Then he waved away the servants nearby and spoke with a serious expression. "Master, let me sort this out for you. You are a little too excited right now."

"First of all, we definitely won this time, and we won thoroughly."

"Putting everything else aside, we earned over five thousand Spirit Stones alone. That is already equivalent to our Lineage's Spirit Stone output for more than ten years. This batch of Spirit Stones can also serve as excellent starting capital."

"Master, although you are now equivalent to a Half-Step Golden Core cultivator, think about it. Can you defeat a true Golden Core powerhouse?"

"How many times can you use your full-force strike? How many times can a Golden Core powerhouse use theirs?"

"A Golden Core powerhouse can withstand your full-force strike, but can you withstand a Golden Core powerhouse's full-force strike?"

"A Golden Core powerhouse can travel dozens of li in a single thought. Master, can you run faster than a Golden Core powerhouse?"

"To use a saying from my hometown, you are now a living target with high attack, low defense, and low movement speed. You can bully the weak, but against the strong, you simply cannot win."

"..."

This speech was like a basin of cold water dumped over his head, immediately sobering Wang Tiedan up. After a long while, he murmured, "Liu Attendant, what you say makes perfect sense, but..."

"You said that before I had these traits, I had to keep enduring. Now that I have these traits and am clearly this strong, I still have to keep enduring. Then wasn't all that pain I fucking endured for nothing?"

"No."

Liu Attendant shook his head, his expression serious. "Didn't I just say it? You can bully the weak. Then we just need to bully the weak. Tell me, what benefit is there in entering the secret realm and killing all those disciples from great sects and major Lineages?"

"If a few people die in ordinary fights within a secret realm, those sects will not say anything. Such things are normal; death is inevitable in secret realms. But if you enter and start a massacre like this, and the Golden Core cultivators of those sects and Lineages come to hunt you down, Master, how will you deal with that?"

"There is no benefit in provoking such great powers."

"Now everyone knows that you possess strength comparable to the Golden Core Realm, Master. That is a form of deterrence. We will carry that deterrence and ruthlessly bully Foundation Establishment Lineages. We cannot afford to provoke Golden Core powers, but can't we squeeze those Foundation Establishment Lineages however we please?"

"The weak should be ruthlessly trampled!"

"Once we obtain vast amounts of Spirit Stones and cultivation resources by bullying Foundation Establishment Lineages and grow stronger step by step, every minor breakthrough in your cultivation will add another measure of deterrence. Once you break through to the Golden Core Realm and possess Nascent Soul battle strength, we can go ruthlessly bully those Golden Core powers!"

"Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"That makes sense." Wang Tiedan pondered for a long time before asking hesitantly, "There is just one small problem. Say I am about to break through to the Golden Core Realm—would those Golden Core powerhouses really let me break through so easily?"

"Hard to say."

"What do you mean, hard to say?"

"Anyway, if I were a Golden Core powerhouse near you, I would already be on my way to kill you."