Cultivation: Fortune by Lots-Chapter 379 - 219. Offended a Taoist and still think you can run away? _2
Lei Jun said, "I’m doing well here, and there are some gains I’ll tell you about in detail when we meet later, but right now, I do have some information about Yang Tai’s movements."
"Whether Yang Tai really acquired clues related to our sect’s Celestial Master Robe remains unknown. Chongyun, if you have a way to track him, that’s good, but you must still be cautious,"
Yuan Mobai’s voice grew a bit more serious, "I just received the latest news, Wei Ancheng has withdrawn from Yintuo Mountain Sacred Land’s Ancestral Court, and his whereabouts are currently unknown!"
Lei Jun heard this and let out a light breath, "We do need to be on guard."
The Blood River Sect cooperated with the Golden City Stronghold to attack Yintuo Mountain, drawing Samsara Abyss and Gepo Mountain to lend support, and so the five great Witchcraft Sect masters converged on Yintuo Mountain to wage a battle of rare scale even for the Southern Wildernes.
Though Yintuo Mountain, Samsara Abyss, and Gepo Mountain temporarily held the pressure, the battle’s initiative was still in Wei Ancheng’s hands.
This man was, for the moment, the undisputed number one expert of the Southern Wildernes, he’d fight if he wanted, or leave when he pleased.
*Anyone could guess, even without thinking, that if he stopped with the all-out assaults and instead turned to flexible maneuvers, he could not only mobilize his own people but also drive his enemies to exhaustion, always on the run. Whether he chose to do so depended on Wei Ancheng’s own intent.*
Previously, his relentless attacks on the Golden City Stronghold and Yintuo Mountain had been to establish his overwhelming momentum, annexing the Southern Witch Sect under his rule.
But now, with the Southern Wildernes growing ever more complicated, this Lord of Blood River might not keep up the unyielding offensive.
*Yang Yuqi, Yang Tai, and Yang Fei had made quite a few moves—how much of that had Wei Ancheng noticed?*
Lei Jun had originally taken that ray of light as a clue for tracking Yang Tai.
He slowed his steps for the moment as well.
He entered the True One Altar Cave Heaven, arriving at the altar’s second layer to study the map there.
The countless starscape-like points of light strewn there earlier were now almost all gone.
The glowing dot that had settled earlier and represented Zhu An River had now also disappeared.
Luckily, there were still a few points left that continued to twinkle.
This indicated that these were places where earth vein Spiritual Qi was still abnormal, and they were marked clearly.
The direct descendants of the Sui Dynasty had always acted in secret, and for them to set up so many ceremonies weakening the earth veins was already impressive—*it made one marvel at the depth of their hidden power, far beyond expectation.*
But after all this time, most of these locations had already been exposed and destroyed one after another.
By this moment, the few sites left on Lei Jun’s map were indeed the very last remaining.
"Jinxi Cliff, Kind Jade Mountain, Sleeping Dragon Lake," Lei Jun compared them against the general map of the Southern Wildernes, gradually matching the glowing points to real locations.
He then pondered over the dimming light used to track Yang Tai, and his line of reasoning became clearer.
Yang Tai’s spiritual object was wondrous, but at its core, it relied on the flow of earth vein Spiritual Qi.
His final destination probably wasn’t by his own choosing nor completely random, but most likely followed a set route.
The place where he’d end up was one of the Sui Dynasty descendants’ secretly arranged locations to shake the mountain-river ley lines, and by using the sacrificial rite there, they’d draw Yang Tai back in.
Judging by the remaining glow, his most probable destination was Sleeping Dragon Lake...
Lei Jun’s thoughts had just reached this point when, in the consciousness of his mind, the light sphere suddenly flickered and words appeared,
[Shifting flowers and grafting trees, fortune and misfortune transform, sense danger and withdraw, choose the wondrous path to turn ill events to auspicious ones.]
Oh?
*Looks like there was something deeper at work here.*
Lei Jun felt intrigued, and soon saw four fortune lots emerge from the light sphere,
[Moderately good lot, head to Jinxi Cliff to gain a Fourth Rank Opportunity, currently no danger, but future karmic entanglements will deepen, so act with caution, auspicious.]
[Perfectly neutral lot, do not move deeper into the Southern Wildernes, patiently observe the clouds shift, neither err nor excel, nothing gained and nothing lost, stable.]
[Perfectly neutral lot, head to Kind Jade Mountain for a chance at a Fourth Rank Opportunity, but possible danger awaits, respond with caution, stable.]
[Moderately unlucky lot, head to Sleeping Dragon Lake, gain nothing, face great danger, narrow chance of survival, utmost caution required, inauspicious.]
After reading the four lots carefully, Lei Jun grew thoughtful.
*So heading for Sleeping Dragon Lake was actually the most dangerous.*
*Was this Yang Tai’s journey, then, actually just bait, trying to lure me—or maybe someone like Tu Dong—into an ambush?*
*A narrow chance of survival... Simply from the text of this moderately unlucky lot, the situation was extremely perilous, already nearing the level of the worst lot.*
*It even felt more dangerous than the lower lot mentioning the lower reaches of the Zhao River last time, or that lower lot about charging into Zhu’an Mountain.*
"Hmm, very well, then I won’t go," Master Lei remained calm, adapting as needed.
As for the other two places, Jinxi Cliff and Kind Jade Mountain, these had listed a moderately good and a perfectly neutral lot, respectively.
And both suggested the chance to obtain a Fourth Rank Opportunity.
One seemed to pose no risk, but might involve complicated future karmic entanglements.
The other could bring some measure of danger and dragged a Fourth Rank Opportunity’s fate down to merely a neutral lot instead of higher.
Lei Jun scrutinized the wording of that moderately good lot.
*The phrasing rang oddly familiar.*
*From clues about the Celestial Master Seal, to the first time outside Dragon Tiger Mountain at Nine Stars Ridge when he’d found traces about the Celestial Master Robe, the language seemed nearly identical...* Lei Jun nodded slowly.
Though it still couldn’t be said for certain that Jinxi Cliff held a definite lead on the Celestial Master Robe, this moderately good lot was worth testing.
Lei Jun exited the True One Altar Cave Heaven and immediately changed course, abandoning Sleeping Dragon Lake and instead speeding toward Jinxi Cliff.
On the way, he contacted Yuan Mobai again, tactfully warning his mentor to stay vigilant.
Later on, Lei Jun arrived at Jinxi Cliff.
He didn’t make a move right away; instead, he concealed himself and scouted the area in secret.
Preliminary inspection revealed some Sui Dynasty loyalist remnants quietly building a stronghold here and performing rites to destabilize earth vein Spiritual Qi, but there was no sign of Yang Tai or any clue to the Celestial Master Robe.
Lei Jun waited patiently, still not making a move.
During this time, Yuan Mobai contacted him, notifying him of some fresh developments,
After learning that Wei Ancheng had left the Yintuo Mountain Sacred Land’s Ancestral Court, Gepo Mountain’s Sang Lu and Li Tianqing also ceased their pursuit of the rebellious Gepo Mountain elder, Yuan Shanji.
Though she truly wanted to purge her own sect, Sang Lu nonetheless grew cautious.
Only, by halting, Yuan Shanji reversed his prior flight and turned around to counterattack.
Even Xiong Gang, a Blood River Sect elder whom Sang Lu hadn’t prioritized earlier, reappeared and joined forces with Yuan Shanji for a joint assault.
Their aim wasn’t to decisively defeat Sang Lu and Li Tianqing, but rather to harry and entangle them, keeping the pair occupied.
As for where this was happening...
"It’s at Sleeping Dragon Lake," Yuan Mobai said slowly.
Lei Jun remarked, "Wei Ancheng."
Though Yuan Mobai, unlike Lei Jun, wasn’t so certain about the danger at Sleeping Dragon Lake, upon hearing that Yuan Shanji and Xiong Gang were tying up Sang Lu and Li Tianqing there, he immediately thought of the missing Wei Ancheng.
The Lord of Blood River’s true target was Sang Lu, the head of Gepo Mountain.
Among the Witchcraft Sect’s five great lineages, the Divine Dance Lineage relied most on strategic positions, and Gepo Mountain’s Sacred Land Ancestral Court was widely hailed as the safest stronghold.
Storming Gepo Mountain and facing Sang Lu there was an entirely different challenge than fighting her elsewhere.
Whether this had always been Wei Ancheng’s plan, or was just a matter of going along with events, for the moment, he actually managed to rally Yuan Shanji, Xiong Gang, and his own chaotic Witchcraft Sect experts, along with the Sui Dynasty descendants, starting to look like a unifying overlord.
*But what would Yang Yuqi think?*
Yuan Mobai said, "We must proceed with even greater caution. Don’t let down your guard, Wei Ancheng’s sudden change of tactics—looks like a true contest for dominance is coming within the Southern Witch Sect."
Lei Jun agreed.
He remained composed and waited at Jinxi Cliff.
Though he didn’t know whether Yang Yuqi and Yang Tai had come to an agreement with Wei Ancheng, had he simply chased after Yang Tai without a second thought before, odds were he’d have run directly to Sleeping Dragon Lake and straight into Wei Ancheng’s grasp.
But Yang Tai wouldn’t stay long at Sleeping Dragon Lake.
Even if the Sui Dynasty’s descendants had some understanding with Wei Ancheng, with Yang Tai’s special current position but limited cultivation strength, and most of the rare materials for collaborating with Dragon Eye Point exhausted, he wouldn’t be able to go after the Great Shaman of the Divine Dance Lineage any time soon, nor would he stay in Sleeping Dragon Lake—a perilous place for Upper Three Heaven experts to battle.
Lei Jun waited securely.
In less than a day, the person he expected arrived.
Yang Tai, dressed in brocade, somber as water, and followed by a handful of new attendants, approached Jinxi Cliff deep in thought.
Among the forests, Elder Lei clapped his hands, welcoming Young Master Yang right to his doorstep.
