Infiltrating Spirit Beast Mountain

"Ding! Congratulations on completing the mission to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage. Reward: ten lottery tickets."

"Ding! Congratulations on completing the mission to break through to the Core Formation Stage. Reward: thirty lottery tickets."

"Keep up the good work, host, and continue completing the system's missions."

Three mechanical announcements rang out in succession.

Lu Shang exclaimed excitedly, "Forty lottery tickets!"

Lu Shang immediately opened the lottery panel.

How could a modern man like Lu Shang possibly resist the temptation of a lottery?

"Let's try a round and test the waters!"

With that, Lu Shang tapped the panel.

A moment later, as the lottery music ended, the results gradually appeared.

"Holy crap! How interesting—four 'thanks for playing' results in one ten-pull! You've really outdone yourself, System. Everything else is either Foundation Establishment Pills or healing pills and the like. Can't you give me a decent weapon? I'm waiting to pull something I can use as my Life-Bound Magical Treasure!"

That was what Lu Shang hoped for every time. Refining a Life-Bound Magical Treasure took a considerable amount of time, and he had no desire to spend so long on it. If he could pull one directly, it would save him decades at the very least.

"Again!"

As he spoke, Lu Shang tapped the lottery panel once more.

"Nothing!" Lu Shang howled.

His voice echoed through the cave abode.

"Again!"

"Nothing!"

"The last ten-pull! Damn it! Throw them all in! Even if you won't give me a divine sword, at least give me a decent Magic Treasure! Am I supposed to fight barehanded?"

With that final ten-pull, all forty of Lu Shang's draws were gone.

But as though the system had been dangling bait in front of Lu Shang, the final round really did produce something.

"Thanks for playing! Spirit Recovery Pill, Foundation Establishment Pill, Worry-Free Pill, thanks for playing! ..."

Lu Shang read through them one by one, afraid he might miss whatever had produced that golden flash.

"It's here! The Silver Frost Dragon Halberd!"

With an excited cry, Lu Shang tapped the system interface and immediately switched to his inventory, eager to take it out for a look.

Lu Shang quickly opened the system inventory, only to find pills, a sword art, and some Spirit Stones left over from the lottery.

After looking for a while and confirming it was not in the system inventory, Lu Shang finally remembered that he could simply ask System Sis.

"System Sis, where's my Magic Treasure, the Silver Frost Dragon Halberd?" Lu Shang asked in confusion.

"It automatically became your Life-Bound Magic Treasure, just as you requested. Count your blessings! Other cultivators would need decades at the very least to refine this Magic Treasure!"

Those words struck Lu Shang right where it mattered.

After all, spending so much time on it really did trouble Lu Shang.

Imitating what he had read in novels, Lu Shang began trying to summon his Life-Bound Magical Treasure with his mind.

At Lu Shang's summons, a halberd about two meters long appeared before him.

The halberd was Silver Frost in color, its shaft covered in scale-like patterns. A chilling aura surrounded it; one glance was enough to tell it was a top-tier Magic Treasure.

Lu Shang gripped the Silver Frost Dragon Halberd and swung it a few times beside the pool.

Lu Shang felt the weapon was just like a part of his own body.

Then Lu Shang stopped and told System Sis about it.

"If a Life-Bound Magical Treasure still felt like a crushing weight, wouldn't it be worthless?"

That rhetorical question left Lu Shang dumbfounded.

"Oh, and you can wait a little longer for a corresponding cultivation technique. At your current stage, pairing it with the Wild Desolation True Demon Art is enough. You can also take your time cultivating the sword art. Even if you don't use a sword as your weapon, it'll still be useful against lower-level cultivators. For now, focus on cultivating and stabilizing your cultivation."

After hearing that, Lu Shang understood.

In the blink of an eye, several more years passed.

Lu Shang had begun to accept the reality of sitting in meditation for years at a time.

Over those years, Lu Shang fully stabilized his cultivation and mastered the first level of the Heavenly Origin Sword Art.

As for his Life-Bound Magical Treasure, the Silver Frost Dragon Halberd, he wielded it as naturally as his own arm.

The lottery had also yielded some ordinary cultivation techniques, and Lu Shang practiced all of them to see whether they suited him.

Moreover, without even realizing it, Lu Shang had reached middle Core Formation. He had only meant to stabilize his cultivation, yet somehow, over the thirty or forty years since forming his core, he had advanced another minor stage.

Lu Shang had originally planned to keep cultivating like this until the Nascent Soul Stage before venturing out, but the system stopped him.

After repeated persuasion from System Sis, coupled with the system's missions, Lu Shang had no choice but to leave his cave abode.

Lu Shang cast a simple concealment spell on his original hill and wheedled a concealment formation out of System Sis. Only then did he feel safe leaving.

But the real reason Lu Shang left his cave abode was that, after upgrading, the system had begun issuing more missions, none of which could be completed in this remote place.

"You want me to infiltrate a sect in the Yue Kingdom and sneak into the Blood Trial-and the very one Han Li takes part in, at that? Aren't you blatantly shoving me into a pit of fire?"

"Besides, I've been transmigrated for almost a hundred years, and the plot has only gotten this far? The Demon Sects haven't even occupied the Yue Kingdom yet. Is this some kind of mistake?"

As Lu Shang flew through the air, he grumbled about the system's missions.

"You're already at middle Core Formation. With the divine abilities and Life-Bound Magical Treasure this system gave you, even a late Core Formation cultivator definitely wouldn't be your match. What are you afraid of? The trial participants are just a bunch of Qi Refinement disciples. There's nothing difficult about it, all right?"

"Fine, fine. I'll do whatever you say, System Sis, all right?"

Three or four months passed like this before Lu Shang finally crossed several countries and arrived in the Yue Kingdom. Quite a few things happened along the way, but none were particularly important.

After landing, Lu Shang did a few stretches and said listlessly, "There's still some time before the Blood Trial. What should I do until then?"

There was still half a month before the Blood Trial, and Lu Shang felt that simply waiting would be rather boring.

Suddenly, a mischievous idea came to him.

"I'll blend in with another sect's disciples! I have to infiltrate one sooner or later anyway, so I might as well do it early."

With that, he prepared to act.

The nearest sect was undoubtedly Yellow Maple Valley, but after thinking it over, Lu Shang decided against it. He remembered that Xiang Zhili, a Deity Transformation Stage cultivator, was hiding among Yellow Maple Valley's Qi Refinement disciples. If Lu Shang provoked him, even with the system, he could only let Xiang Zhili slaughter him at will.

After much deliberation, he finally decided to head to Spirit Beast Mountain. The Covering Moon Sect had mostly female cultivators, so a man would seem rather conspicuous, while the other sects did not seem suitable either.

Infiltrating Spirit Beast Mountain would let him investigate the matter of spies while avoiding some trouble.

After all, Lu Shang did not know any advanced techniques for changing his body or face. If someone saw through him, he would probably face a coordinated assault.

Most importantly, Lu Shang remembered that Spirit Beast Mountain had an amusing character planted there by the Ghost Spirit Sect. Once inside the secret realm, he could take a look.

As for Nangong Wan, Lu Shang felt that she was "to be admired from afar, not toyed with up close."

It was not that Lu Shang thought Nangong Wan possessed some lofty purity of character.

Rather, touching what belonged to the protagonist would most likely cause problems. Besides, she was formidable. Although Lu Shang had the strength of a middle Core Formation cultivator, he lacked experience. If his cultivation were suppressed to the peak of Qi Refinement, he might truly struggle to fend her off.

Not only that, but cultivators from seven sects would be entering the Blood Trial. It was hard to imagine how many disciples there would be.

If they ganged up on him and he could not unleash his Core Formation strength, he would probably kick the bucket.

Still, with the system on his side, Lu Shang was not afraid of having his true cultivation discovered.

After all, a Qi Refining disciple did not amount to much in a sect's eyes. As long as he wore Spirit Beast Mountain's robes and carried an identical token, who would pay attention to a mere Qi Refining cultivator?