What Exactly Is a Second Grade Opportunity?

What Exactly Is a Second Grade Opportunity?

At the time, Lei Jun had found himself amid a range of mountains, with a Great River before him.

Across the river and ahead stood a green mountain.

Behind him lay stretches of barren wilderness.

It was then that the Light Sphere in Lei Jun's mind appeared for the first time, offering him four paths:

Upper Middle Auspicious Sign: Cross the river northward, enter the mountains, and traverse the peaks. Emerge from the forest to obtain a Second Grade Opportunity. There may thereafter be karmic entanglements to bear; proceed with caution. Auspicious.

Middle Middle Auspicious Sign: Turn south and venture deep into the barren mountains. Food and water will run out, survival will be difficult, but when the path winds around the peak, you will be saved by someone—at the cost of your freedom. There may thereafter be karmic entanglements to bear; proceed with caution. Neutral.

Lower Middle Auspicious Sign: Follow the river westward, going upstream. Obtain a Fifth Grade Opportunity, but become a target for all, besieged by every side, with dangers arising one after another. Inauspicious.

Lowest Auspicious Sign: Follow the river eastward, drifting downstream. Seek your own road to death—Ten Deaths No Life. Greatly inauspicious!

Only later did Lei Jun learn that he had effectively fallen into an encirclement at the time.

If he had turned south, he would have encountered the convoy of a great aristocratic clan.

If he had gone upstream westward along the river, he would have encountered an eerie Southern Wastelands Gu Master.

If he had gone downstream eastward along the river, he would have encountered an Ordinance Disciple of the Celestial Master Mansion, who was out dispensing justice and hunting down Gu Masters.

Had Lei Jun chosen any of those directions, they would have corresponded respectively to the fates foretold by the Middle Middle, Lower Middle, and Lowest Auspicious Signs.

The Lowest Auspicious Sign.

Because of the peculiar circumstances of his physical transmigration, to the people of this world, he had been a super-grade poison.

If he had encountered a Celestial Master Mansion disciple already pursuing Gu Masters, that person might have taken the opportunity to deal with Lei Jun first.

Dead before he could even begin, unable to rest in peace.

The Lower Middle Auspicious Sign.

He would have encountered that Southern Wastelands Gu Master.

In the eyes of the red-robed Daoist, Lei Jun was the source of calamity. But in the eyes of that Gu Master, he might have been a great treasure.

Yet that Gu Master had been hunted by Celestial Master Mansion disciples precisely because he tested Gu by slaughtering villages, killing without batting an eye.

What he would have done with Lei Jun, such a rare and exotic treasure, after getting his hands on him was hard to say.

Even assuming he treated Lei Jun well, he would most likely have immediately taken Lei Jun south, back to the Southern Wilderness base.

But along the way, numerous righteous-path experts might have come to eliminate evil for the people, while experts from other wicked sects might also have come to fight over Lei Jun, that great treasure.

Thus, as the Lower Middle Auspicious Sign indicated, he would have become a target for all, besieged from every side, dangers lurking at every turn, with his life still liable to be lost at any moment.

The Middle Middle Auspicious Sign.

He would have encountered the convoy of a great aristocratic clan.

They might not have regarded him as a priceless treasure like the Southern Wastelands Gu Master, nor would they have wanted to eliminate evil for the people like the Celestial Master Mansion disciple.

But there was one possibility: they might likewise have valued the "strange poison" in Lei Jun's body, temporarily restricting his freedom as they waited for the right moment to put him, a biological weapon, to use.

Lei Jun would have been safe for the time being, but he would have lost his freedom. What happened afterward would depend on circumstances.

As for that Upper Middle Auspicious Sign...

He had gone forward into the green mountain.

Lei Jun had chosen it as well.

Back then, Lei Jun had discovered nothing in the mountain.

Only atop Green Mountain Peak had a faint breeze seemed to brush past him, as though he were undergoing an invisible baptism.

His body and mind seemed to have been scoured clean.

He had not noticed any concrete change, yet he felt as though his entire being had shed its old shell and been reborn anew.

At the time, Lei Jun had made a point of searching the mountain, but found no other gains and could only descend first.

Then, after crossing the green mountain, he encountered Xu Yuanzhen.

Xu Yuanzhen, also a disciple of the Celestial Master Mansion, had not killed Lei Jun, the poison-man who had transmigrated from Blue Star.

This time, it was not because her temperament differed from ordinary people.

It was because Lei Jun, after passing through the green mountain, no longer contained all manner of toxins.

Even when he later encountered that Ordinance Disciple of the Celestial Master Mansion who was hunting Gu Masters, the man had noticed nothing unusual.

Only then did Lei Jun understand that something truly had happened on that green mountain.

That breeze atop the mountain had purified the poisonous power within him.

It was precisely because of this prerequisite that Lei Jun later had the chance to return to Dragon Tiger Mountain with Xu Yuanzhen and enter the Celestial Master Mansion.

Whenever Lei Jun recalled it now, he often wondered what exactly the Second Grade Opportunity mentioned by that Upper Middle Auspicious Sign had been, when he first sought good fortune and avoided disaster, turning misfortune into fortune.

The Second Grade Opportunity was the highest-grade opportunity Lei Jun had encountered since he began drawing signs to seek good fortune and avoid disaster, yet it was also the most mysterious.

Was it that he had later met Xu Yuanzhen and been able to enter the Daoist Holy Land, the Celestial Master Mansion?

Or was it that breeze atop Green Mountain Peak?

Xu Yuanzhen rarely found anyone congenial, yet she had brought Lei Jun back to the mountain.

Could that unusual affinity also have originated from that breeze?

Lei Jun had always intended to return to that green mountain and investigate once his cultivation was higher.

Although Xu Yuanzhen had apparently already examined it once at the time, she had found nothing.

Lei Jun gathered his scattered memories and thoughts, then looked at Tang Xiaotang before him.

"That Gu Master slaughtered village after village and wiped out town after town, leaving Scorched Earth for a thousand li."

The tall girl said, "I heard from Senior Sister that your hometown seemed to have suffered because of that as well."

Lei Jun said, "I hadn't begun cultivating at the time, so I didn't understand much. Looking back afterward, that should have been the case. Fortunately, that Gu Master was killed on the spot by Eldest Sister."

To this world, he was an unregistered outsider.

His place of origin and background had been something Eldest Sister Xu Yuanzhen had casually fabricated.

Fortunately, there was already someone available to take the blame.

Pin the blame on that Gu Master, and with the man dead and unable to testify afterward, Lei Jun no longer had to fear investigation.

Tang Xiaotang said, "Mm. Senior Sister already got rid of the direct culprit, but on this trip out, I still found several Gu Masters who inherited the Southern Wastelands Witchcraft Gu Lineage."

She waved a hand. "Funny enough, it was just like the story you told. At first, I only found two Fourth Heaven youngsters and casually dealt with them.

"Then after I finished the little ones, an old ghost with Sixth Heaven Realm cultivation really showed up, so I cleaned him up too.

"Unfortunately, no even older fossil appeared afterward. I searched around some more, but found nothing else."

Lei Jun gave Tang Xiaotang a somewhat surprised look.

It was not surprise at her strength, but at the fact that she had specifically sought out Gu Masters as targets.

Tang Xiaotang saw Lei Jun staring at her and misunderstood him, waving her hand.

"Don't worry. First, those bug-playing fellows were steeped in evil, with countless deaths on their hands. They absolutely didn't die unjustly. Second, before I even made a move, those two Fourth Heaven Gu Masters came looking for trouble with me first..."

Lei Jun's expression turned solemn. "Little Senior Sister, what I wanted to say was thank you. You really put thought into it."

It had begun with an offhand remark, yet Tang Xiaotang had taken it seriously and gone out of her way to do something about it. Lei Jun would not mock her for that; instead, he would appreciate her goodwill.

"This is the first time you've spoken to me like that."

Tang Xiaotang was somewhat surprised as well. "When it was the Night Wind Stone last time, I didn't see you..."

Besides malice, she was equally sensitive to goodwill that came from the heart.

Lei Jun was perfectly frank. "The Night Wind Stone was something you already had. It just happened to suit me, and you generously gave it to me, so of course I appreciated it. But this time, you specifically remembered something concerning me, so I appreciate it even more."

The difference between a favor and the thought behind it.

Tang Xiaotang froze for a moment, then suddenly began to stammer. "Um, you don't need to take it to heart. Same as the Night Wind Stone, in the future... if I ever need something..."

Her spirits rose again. "No, wait, what could I possibly need? Whatever it is, I'll settle it myself!"

That was what she said, but her smiling face bloomed like a flower, incomparably beautiful.

Lei Jun smiled faintly and did not continue the previous topic. Following Tang Xiaotang's words, he said, "I've always greatly admired Little Senior Sister's abilities."

He suddenly recalled something. "Right, Little Senior Sister, your bone structure is the legendary Immortal Body. What about your enlightenment?"

Tang Xiaotang grinned. "Trying to find some confidence here? I didn't mention it much before because I didn't want to crush all of you completely."

Lei Jun raised his brows. "So?"

At that moment, Tang Xiaotang seemed to have an illusory little tail behind her, wagging smugly back and forth.

"Of course I'm Qingjing!"

There were five basic grades of enlightenment: Lower Grade, Middle-Lower, Middle, Middle-Upper, and Upper Grade.

Beyond Upper Grade were the legendary talents.

Outstanding.

Profound Clarity.

Pure Quiet Enlightenment.

An Immortal Body in bone structure and Pure Quiet Enlightenment in enlightenment were both among the finest talents praised by the world.

Tang Xiaotang possessed both an Immortal Body Bone Structure and Pure Quiet Enlightenment. No wonder the Celestial Master Mansion had repeatedly made exceptions for her.

At that moment, aside from silently thinking as expected, Lei Jun felt mostly calm.

What he was thinking was: bone structure could be improved through opportunities. Was there some opportunity that could improve enlightenment as well?