Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 349: From now on, I am Fortune

[Calculating experiences for "Fortune"...]

[You are a natural-born bearer of great fortune, beloved by Heaven and Earth. For you, cultivation is as simple as eating and drinking, with no difficulty to speak of.]

"...I actually succeeded."

Watching Fortune, who had been completely captured by the [Centome], Lü Yang finally let out a sigh of relief. He knew that this reincarnated Perfected Lord had truly been ambushed by him.

’Throughout all of history, I must be the first one.’

A Perfected Lord’s reincarnation passes through the [Netherworld]’s cycle to wash away all traces and can also obscure all karmic links. No one should be able to divine their whereabouts, making them theoretically invulnerable.

But he just had to run into an anomaly like Lü Yang, who didn’t bother with divination at all. Instead, he directly reincarnated alongside his target, tailed him, and then launched a sneak attack. Not even [Ang Xiao] could pull off such a maneuver. After all, besides Lü Yang, no one else could keep their Split Soul conscious during reincarnation.

’This time, the Centome really got to eat its fill.’

Lü Yang stared intently at Fortune’s soul before him. Golden light flowed all over its body as it was being devoured voraciously by the [Centome].

This golden light seemed ordinary at first glance.

However, when Lü Yang truly focused his attention on it, he couldn’t suppress a trace of desire from welling up inside him, and he couldn’t help but swallow:

’The Gold Attribute! A Perfected Lord’s Gold Attribute!’

’A Perfected Lord is different from someone at Foundation Establishment Perfection. The Gold Attribute has already been completely fused with the soul, binding life and essence. The Gold Attribute is the soul, and the soul is the Gold Attribute!’

The more he witnessed that golden light, the more he could feel the mysteries within. It was the culmination of Fortune’s entire life of cultivation. Forget consuming it; just taking a whiff would cause endless insights to surface in his mind. This was all Fortune’s Dao Practice, his understanding of Heaven and Earth, of the Great Dao.

’...No, I have to resist!’

The next moment, Lü Yang abruptly reined in all his emotions and took a step back, a hint of fear showing in his eyes. ’What a sinister thing this is!’

The Gold Attribute was not something just anyone could consume.

This was especially true for the Gold Attribute of a Golden Core Perfected Lord. It was the very essence of their soul. While consuming it could increase one’s Dao Practice, one would also be assimilated by it step by step.

In the end, who could say if you were the one refining the Gold Attribute,

or if the Gold Attribute was the one assimilating you?

’This isn’t something a Lower Cultivator should covet.’

’I’m afraid only another Golden Core Perfected Lord with even greater Cultivation and Dao Practice could dare to consume this Gold Attribute... like World Purger Fei Xue in my previous life.’

’But, thankfully...’

Lü Yang’s gaze gradually returned to calm. No matter how formidable a Perfected Lord’s Gold Attribute was, facing the [Centome] was like an egg smashing against a rock—the two were simply incomparable.

RUMBLE!

Finally, as a splendid light surged, the densely packed life trajectory belonging to Fortune abruptly appeared on the [Centome]’s interface.

Meanwhile, Fortune’s soul drifted emptily in the air. All its thoughts and consciousness vanished as if they had never existed, leaving behind only a hollow shell. Seeing this, Lü Yang didn’t dare to delay. With a sweep of the Myriad-Soul Banner, he collected the soul, then tore open the void and vanished.

At the same time, Lü Yang also made sure to inspect Fortune’s experiences.

’Fortune, Fortune... no wonder he had this name. The first half of this Perfected Lord’s life can probably only be described as having Great Luck Equal to Heaven!’

A natural-born bearer of great fortune.

’In a way, he was a lot like a Primal Daoist. Both were favored by Heaven and Earth, but he was a bit luckier than a Primal Daoist.’

’Because he just managed to catch the last train for Seeking Gold.’

Compared to the era of Primal Daoist Mu Changsheng, when Fortune was Seeking Gold, Heaven and Earth were far from being as rigid as they are now. There was still room to advance.

’But compared to the first half of his life, the second half of Fortune’s life was unlucky to the extreme. First, he was schemed against by [Ang Xiao] and lost a large chunk of his memories. Then, Master Chong Guang appeared out of nowhere and tried to seize his Fruit. In my previous life, he died at the hands of World Purger Fei Xue, and in this life, he was slain by me...’

Why did it turn out this way?

’The turning point... was the millennial great calamity five thousand years ago!’

Realization dawned in Lü Yang’s eyes. ’During that great calamity, Fortune also gained benefits from the campaign in the Outer Realm, but he didn’t integrate them into his Fruit.’

’Instead, he integrated them into his own Grotto Heaven!’

This was the fundamental reason why the second half of Fortune’s life was so tumultuous and incredibly unlucky, why nothing went right for him, and why his former fortune was gone.

—He had deceived Heaven!

’You were beloved by Heaven and Earth, born with far more Qi and Merit than any ordinary person. It’s fair to say that Heaven and Earth’s support was responsible for at least a third of your success in becoming a Perfected Lord. But what happened? The moment you reached a higher position, you turned your back on them. You gained benefits and didn’t give even a tenth back to the Heaven and Earth that supported you. It’d be a miracle if Heaven and Earth *didn’t* come after you!’

’However... you can’t really blame Fortune for this.’

Generally speaking, Heaven and Earth’s shackles on a Perfected Lord are already minimal. Even if Fortune turned his back on them, it would have been very difficult for Heaven and Earth to drastically reduce his Qi and Merit.

The problem was, there was also [Ang Xiao].

With a single scheme, [Ang Xiao] directly got Fortune killed. This gave Heaven and Earth the opportunity to settle accounts with this "traitor," and the result goes without saying.

’So, if a person wants to maintain a stable position, they have to be clear about where they’re sitting!’

If you sit in the wrong place, or sit in one place while eyeing another, the only result is that you’ll please no one. Any glory you have will be fleeting.

After his moment of reflection, Lü Yang looked at Fortune’s soul again.

The [Centome] didn’t need to devour the entire Gold Attribute to calculate the experiences, so after it had eaten its fill, it naturally left the scraps for Lü Yang.

Instantly, a fervent heat returned to Lü Yang’s eyes:

’What a great prize! After being thoroughly washed by the [Centome], Fortune’s consciousness has completely dissipated, leaving only the soul and the Gold Attribute.’

As long as he wore this empty shell, who could possibly see his true form?

With a thought, Lü Yang slipped Fortune’s outer shell over his own Immortal Spirit Body. With this, he could even impersonate a Perfected Lord in the future!

’From now on, I am Fortune!’

After all, with Fortune’s life experiences calculated by the [Centome], he had no fear of being exposed. No matter who came to question him, he could answer them fluently.

And he mustn’t forget, Great Undertaking was still alive!

That Great Trueman at Foundation Establishment Perfection was completely reliant on Fortune’s Gold Attribute to live. Now that Lü Yang had refined Fortune, he could totally use this to trick Great Undertaking!

’And that [Tongming Yiyun Talisman Book]...’

Lü Yang had been coveting this Treasure of Fruit Position, the [Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire], for a long time.

’Besides that, with Great Undertaking as my inside man in the Stain Sect, I’ll have a way to obtain the [Xin Metal] left behind by Master Chong Guang in the future.’

But all this would require careful planning.

But for now, there was still one huge reward he had yet to tally.

"...The Talent Skill!"

Shifting his gaze, Lü Yang looked at the [Centome]’s interface before him. He saw that the data on it had finally finished calculating, ultimately transforming into a golden light—

[You have obtained the Golden Talent: Divination Lottery!]

[Divination Lottery: Select a task you wish to undertake and draw a fortune slip. After drawing, you will receive a corresponding fortune blessing, which will indicate whether the task can be accomplished.]

[Great Fortune: Favored by Heaven and Earth, success is guaranteed.]

[Minor Fortune: Blessed by fortune, you will have some gains.]

[Neutral Fortune: Fortune and misfortune are intertwined; the outcome depends on your efforts.]

[Minor Misfortune: An unlucky star hangs overhead; achievement will be difficult.]

[Great Evil: Calamity is imminent; certain death with no chance of survival!]

"So it’s this kind of Talent Skill..."

Looking at the contents of the panel, Lü Yang was stunned for a moment, but he quickly understood from Fortune’s life experiences why he would have created such a Talent Skill.

"It was probably because he’d been so unlucky for the past five thousand years that he started questioning his own existence. Nothing ever went right, so he must have wished he could divine his own fortune before doing anything..."