Atop Sewing Peak, in a detached courtyard residence.
The red sun had barely leaped above the snow-covered mountaintop when Luo Tong hurried over.
The moment he entered and saw Luo Qian'er, delight all but spilled across his face:
"Sister, good news! Tremendous news! Brother-in-law really wasn't stringing me along this time! Senior Brother Xu from the Inner Peaks... I finally met him today! He truly strode like a dragon and a tiger, with extraordinary bearing!"
Luo Qian'er was startled by her younger brother's excitement and failed to react for a moment.
Brother-in-law?
Which brother-in-law?
"If I can enter the Heart-Seizing Forest and gather materials to exchange for precious medicines, a place in the Inner Peaks will be practically in the bag!"
Luo Tong's face was rosy, his spirits radiant. The Essence-Nourishing Pill he had taken last night had greatly advanced his long-stagnant cultivation, sending his third level of Qi Refining cultivation surging upward in an instant.
That feeling of a dragon's vigor and a tiger's strength, brimming with vitality, was like a chronically ill, feeble person suddenly taking a powerful tonic and becoming exceptionally virile, his masculine vigor soaring!
At this moment, Luo Tong's confidence had swelled to such extremes that he had almost forgotten himself. He even entertained the arrogant notion of making a "three-month pact" with the likes of Xiao Tongquan and Li Ruohan, so he could step on them on his way into the Inner Peaks.
"Zhou Can... he really introduced you to Senior Brother Xu Yan?"
Coming to her senses, Luo Qian'er realized whom her brother meant, and surprise involuntarily showed in her eyes.
"Brother-in-law gets things done! Not only did he take me to meet Senior Brother Xu, he even arranged a helper to look after me and keep me safe."
Luo Tong felt thoroughly exhilarated. He had journeyed all the way from the Lianxi Luo Clan to the Qianji Sect, lowering himself from a distinguished young master of the main line to a mere mortal laborer, bowing and scraping before Zhou Guang of the Forging Room and groveling before Xiao Tongquan and Li Ruohan. His heart had been choked with pent-up frustration.
Now, with Essence-Nourishing Pills in hand, Xu Yan of the Inner Peaks as his backer, and a fine brother-in-law whose star was rising, he suddenly felt heaven and earth open before him, his future a broad, smooth road!
Luo Qian'er, however, frowned lightly, somewhat displeased:
"You used to call him by his name. Now it's 'Brother-in-law' this and 'Brother-in-law' that. You certainly sound happy saying it."
Luo Tong waved a dismissive hand:
"Sister, times have changed. Sewing Peak is highly valued by those above now. When work resumes next spring, its prestige is bound to rise even further. Naturally, Brother-in-law's standing will rise with the tide..."
At this point, Luo Tong paused and lowered his voice:
"If you ask me, Sister, you'd best have less to do with Jiang Yi from now on, lest Brother-in-law misunderstand and feel displeased."
Luo Qian'er laughed in anger:
"Oh? You haven't even set half a foot inside the Inner Peaks, and you already dare order me around? What grand airs!"
Luo Tong immediately adopted a humbler manner and said with an ingratiating smile:
"Sister, I'm only thinking of you. Even if Jiang Yi really stumbles into dog-shit luck and gets into the Inner Peaks, at most he'll be an ordinary disciple without any foundation. He'll probably struggle even to find a master. What great prospects could he possibly have?
"Zhou Can can rake in a fortune at Sewing Peak, and he's willing to spend money on you. Those are solid, tangible benefits.
"We might as well keep him happy for now and discuss the rest once I've established myself in the Inner Peaks."
Luo Qian'er lost interest as she listened.
If she had to choose between Jiang Yi and Zhou Can, deep down, she still favored Junior Brother Jiang.
After all, Jiang Yi was young and handsome, considerate and perceptive, and his words warmed her heart.
No longer interested in continuing the conversation, she offered a few perfunctory replies and sent Luo Tong away.
Once alone, she could not help growing troubled:
"Just how should I choose? If only I could exchange heartfelt vows with Junior Brother Jiang beneath the flowers and moon, while also living in this spacious residence and enjoying the respectable life a true cultivator ought to have..."
[Supplicating the Heavenly Book: given my current circumstances, if I follow Yang Xun of Crimson Flame Peak's Quenching Room down the mountain, what are the chances of encountering danger or an unexpected mishap?] [Deduction result: twenty percent]
Having finished his cultivation, Jiang Yi watched the gently trembling sheet of golden paper, unsurprised by the result.
The rule of Dao lineages over the Jambudvipa Vast Land was not entirely free of conflict, but most of it consisted of Dharma lineages fighting and killing one another. Instead, it had little to do with mortal laborers at the bottom.
Before reaching the fifth level of Qi Refining and opening the inner mansion of the Origin Gate, all one needed was spirit rice and precious medicines to nourish the flesh and body.
What cultivators truly regarded as worth risking their lives to fight and scramble over, however, was "spirit chance."
But Jiang Yi did not quite understand where its specific value lay.
He had only learned from Yang Xun that spirit chance was crucial to opening the inner mansion of the Origin Gate.
The Qianji Sect's sect master had supposedly gone out in search of a strand of [Skycloud Rain] and had not returned for a full five years.
"I really am curious about the sights along the cultivation path beyond the fifth level of Qi Refining."
Jiang Yi gathered his wandering thoughts. Only once the dimmed golden paper shone brightly again did he ask another question.
[Supplicating the Heavenly Book: show me my current cultivation progress!]
This was one of the questions the Heavenly Book had answered relatively often.
Thus, its response came quickly.
[Deduction results follow] [Heavenly Book's destined master: Jiang Yi] [Realm: fourth level of Qi Refining (forty-two percent)] [Cultivation methods: "Proper Meridian Qi Circulation Art" (ungraded), "Lesser Forging Origin Fire-Control Art" (ninth grade)]
His cultivation grew slowly. Even swallowing an Iron Pellet had increased it by less than five percent.
The Lesser Forging Origin Fire-Control Art, on the other hand, had progressed extremely quickly, breaking through from its original intermediate mastery to great mastery.
"Could I really be a genius at spell refinement?"
Jiang Yi formed a hand seal with his right hand and casually waved it. Clusters of fire nature gathered at his command, transforming into thirty-six candlelike flames.
They swayed and floated above his palm, extraordinarily nimble.
After reaching great mastery, it was no longer a single straight line of fire; it had gained many flexible variations.
Clump after clump joined together, spreading into a surging sea of fire and blazing crimson waves, or drawing together to sweep like a spear and batter through like a great hammer, undergoing a thousand changes in an instant.
"Offense and defense, united as one."
Jiang Yi practiced a few simple moves, looking quite satisfied.
With this fire-control method formula, he could fight his way out even if surrounded by dozens of armored soldiers wielding sharp weapons.
How could flesh and blood withstand the might of water and fire?
Leaving everything else aside, even someone clad in iron armor would be turned into a sky lantern by a scorching blast of fire nature!
"With an eighty-percent chance of safety, it's worth a trip down the mountain."
Jiang Yi turned his palm over. The clusters of flame abruptly went out, returning to his bones and organs to continue tempering his primordial essence.
Crossing out the "cultivation" section, he pondered for a moment and carefully calculated the time needed for the round trip.
"Would it work to spend thirty days deducing a 'fortuitous encounter'?"
Jiang Yi silently reckoned it over, uneasy and uncertain. What if he happened to run into that remaining twenty percent and encountered some danger? What then?
Without the Heavenly Book as a safeguard to guide him when necessary, how would he find a chance of survival?
The two trains of thought tangled in his mind. Suddenly, Jiang Yi slapped his thigh:
"I've really gotten obsessed. If I can't figure something out myself, why not humbly ask the Heavenly Book!"
He considered briefly, thinking over how he should phrase his question.
This was quite important.
About half an incense stick later.
His thoughts flickered, and words appeared.
[Supplicating the Heavenly Book: show me the fortuitous encounters I have the best hope of obtaining on this trip down the mountain!]
[Additional condition: no detailed contents are required; answer only with the key points.]
Ripples spread gently, the tremors slight.
[Matter investigated: fortuitous encounters]
[Deduction time: one incense stick]
Before long.
[Deduction results follow: pick up an overlooked eighth-grade method formula at a bargain, happily acquire a damaged law artifact, win rare cinnabar at auction, secure an astonishing master-disciple lineage...]
Jiang Yi's eyes widened. A single trip down the mountain could yield such abundant rewards? Had he poked into a nest of fortuitous encounters? A trace of delight had just risen between his brows when he forcibly suppressed it. "Such a rough answer isn't necessarily safe. There could be risks lurking behind it." Jiang Yi checked the possessive desire rising in his heart and forcibly swallowed the words "I want them all." He waited a little longer, until the golden paper shone brilliantly once more.
[Supplicating the Heavenly Book: show me the least harmful choice among these kinds of fortuitous encounters.]
This question took quite some time. Noon passed, and the sun slanted westward. Only then did the Heavenly Book give a light shudder, rousing Jiang Yi from his seated breathing practice.
[Win rare cinnabar at auction]
"A fortuitous encounter bought with money has the fewest drawbacks." Jiang Yi seemed to have grasped the thread running through it. Closing his eyes, he saw that the Heavenly Book still had strength to spare, so he continued asking.
[Supplicating the Heavenly Book: show me the most dangerous choice among these kinds of fortuitous encounters.]
This time, he waited until dark, when ink-black night shrouded Crimson Flame Peak.
[Pick up an overlooked eighth-grade method formula at a bargain]
"Gaining something without working for it means paying the heaviest price?" Jiang Yi continued circulating true Qi to pass the time. Before bed, he asked one final question.
[Supplicating the Heavenly Book: show me the choice among these kinds of fortuitous encounters that I am most likely to obtain and that offers the greatest returns.]
Then he fell soundly asleep. The next day. Jiang Yi woke fully rested, feeling that this uninterrupted sleep had been wonderfully comfortable. As soon as he opened his eyes, he habitually checked the Heavenly Book. The result was already there.
[Secure an astonishing master-disciple lineage]
"This one, of all things? Could it be that after I leave the mountain, some true disciple or Dao scion of a Millennium Great Sect or a ten-thousand-year supreme sect will take a liking to me, decide I have an extraordinary disposition and outstanding aptitude, and admit me directly, beginning my legendary life of sweeping across the Demonic Dao?" Jiang Yi's thoughts wandered, one fancy following another, but he soon stopped these flights of imagination. He steadied himself. Since "master-disciple lineage" was the most suitable of all the fortuitous encounters, he would make that his objective! He did not ask where this "master-disciple lineage" was, nor with whom it lay. Such specific information would inevitably require a lengthy deduction. Thus, Jiang Yi chose to cut straight to the point!
[Supplicating the Heavenly Book: show me a safe way to obtain the fortuitous encounter of a master-disciple lineage!]
[Deduction time: fifteen days]
Before you continue