Cultivation: Fortune by Lots-Chapter 610 - 279. High monks from the Western Regions, our Central Plains is a land of courtesy ( and 1 combined)
"Calamities one after another..."
Lei Jun carefully studied the words of the lot, appearing thoughtful.
Apparently, it matched up with the first phrase revealed by that sphere of light, "A dance of wickedness."
Other than that, the lot mentioned "Merciful secret treasure, fate of fortune or disaster rests in your own hands," which reminded Lei Jun of something tied to the Buddhist Sect, though he could not say for certain which side it pointed to.
According to the lot, there were three crucial places: Yutian Ravine, Youning Lake, and Chaotic River Valley.
Lei Jun recalled what he had learned earlier upon arriving in the Southern Wilderness, and a rough map of its vast lands surfaced in his mind.
Information about Yutian Ravine and Chaotic River Valley was relatively scant, but as for Youning Lake, among those locations, it seemed to lie closer to that Jiuli Secret Realm...
The moderately unlucky lot referenced Youning Lake, or could the issue truly be with the Jiuli People returning to the Mortal World?
*Speculation swelled within Lei Jun’s heart.*
Still, a guess was only just a guess, and whether it was Youning Lake in the moderately unlucky lot or Chaotic River Valley in the worst lot, Master Lei was not about to go courting misfortune.
He focused on those two perfectly neutral lots.
The first lot was straightforward, simply to avoid Yutian Ravine, Youning Lake, and Chaotic River Valley.
There would be nothing gained, but also nothing lost, as the saying went, the less you did, the fewer mistakes; do nothing and nothing goes wrong. It was plain, but that was where true peace lay.
The second perfectly neutral lot mentioned Yutian Ravine, and the reason it was a neutral lot was that, while there might be an opportunity there, there would be trouble enough to match it—both sides more or less in balance.
Still, judging by the lot’s description, there were some risks, but it ought not to be fatal.
A fifth grade opportunity, not particularly high, yet not so low either. Lei Jun had some interest, but it was not something he absolutely had to pursue.
Considering he needed to warn his master, Yuan Mobai, about the dangers, Lei Jun suppressed his curiosity regarding Yutian Ravine.
*Right now, with the Southern Wildernes in chaos, it was best to remain inconspicuous and keep observing the situation.*
Thinking of this, Lei Jun reached out to Yuan Mobai again.
Lei Jun explained that he had gotten information from the Seven Luminaries and warned that the situation around Gaoxu Mountain could be changing, complicated and hard to predict—especially Youning Lake and Chaotic River Valley, which might be fraught with danger.
"If that’s the case, let’s meet somewhere else," Yuan Mobai responded,
Lei Jun nodded slightly.
Though the lot mentioned three places, in reality there were four.
There was also Gaoxu Mountain, their intended meeting spot.
But it was merely the place he and his master had agreed to meet, not that Gaoxu Mountain itself held any particular importance.
They did not necessarily have to pass through Yutian Ravine, Youning Lake, or Chaotic River Valley to get to Gaoxu Mountain, and just as well, the two of them did not absolutely need to rendezvous at Gaoxu Mountain, either...
Since that was so, they would simply settle on a different place to meet.
However, even after changing the rendezvous, neither master nor disciple let down their guard.
Nothing in this world ever stayed the same, and especially here in the Southern Wildernes Lands, danger and uncertainty lurked everywhere—dodging one trouble could land you closer to another.
*Such things happened all the time, so even as they chose another spot, Lei Jun and his master kept their eyes peeled on the road.*
As expected, Lei Jun later received another message from Yuan Mobai.
His master ran into some surprises along the way.
Thankfully, it was startling but not dangerous.
The Jiuli black mist abruptly spread, and Yuan Mobai happened to get caught up in it.
He had a run-in with the Jiuli People who appeared along with the mist.
It happened all of a sudden, and the other party was caught off guard as well.
After a brief clash, a fierce battle broke out; Yuan Mobai chose to disengage and retreated far away from the black mist, also warning Lei Jun to stay alert.
"As the ancient texts describe, the Jiuli People are quite different from the people of the Mortal World."
"Yuan Mobai briefly explained the situation to Lei Jun, ’Generally speaking, the practices of the Jiuli People are much like the Southern Witch Sect’s heritage, but not exactly the same.’"
It was much like the difference between the Ancient Talisman Sect and the present Taoist Talisman Sect—the lineages had clear connections, or even complete overlaps in some places, yet there were also huge disparities between them.
According to Yuan Mobai, the most notable point was that these Jiuli People, who cultivated the ancient Witchcraft Sect’s lineage, were physically exceptionally powerful.
This trait was hardly seen in today’s Five Veins of the Southern Witch Sect, not that it was completely absent, but it had never been the mainstream.
In the Witchcraft Sect’s Five Veins, the Worm Art Vein and Ghost Tao Lineage primarily cultivated Spiritual Souls. The Divine Dance Lineage and the Curse-Proclaiming Lineage were less extreme, but still focused mainly on Spiritual Soul cultivation.
The Blood River Lineage practiced various methods of fleshly transformation, working on the body, but mostly emphasized strange, unpredictable changes and deadly attacks, with numerous techniques of self-healing and even resurrection.
But as for being tough, tenacious, and fiercely strong in body, that was not really their strong suit.
Within the Southern Witch Sect’s various Taoist heritages, if anyone was skilled in physical combat and direct confrontation, on average, it was actually the Ghost Tao Lineage’s Golden City Stronghold cultivators... and the Walking Corpses they forged.
But without question, the Ghost Tao Lineage’s cultivators themselves were never especially robust in body.
The Jiuli People practiced witchcraft that emphasized Spiritual Soul and also possessed incredibly powerful bodies, making them formidable and well-rounded.
"However, maybe because they lived so long in the darkness of the Earth Sea, these Jiuli People, though longing for the world above, currently preferred darkness and shunned light. Under the sunlight, they even felt pain—both their Spiritual Soul and body suffered together from burns."
"Yuan Mobai said, ’So nearly all the time, they stay within the black mist, never venturing outside of it rashly.’"
The black mist spreading out from the Jiuli Secret Realm clung and did not disperse.
It was confined before to a limited area, but as time moved on, it recently began to expand.
