He arrived, but unfortunately, there was still no best lot this time... Lei Jun read his fortune in the lot.
Although all three descriptions of the lot were somewhat vague, Lei Jun made his calm decision to choose the moderately good lot.
He had already gone through similar things for the third time now.
Drawing lots meant intertwined disaster and fortune, the outcome was already clear.
The first time Lei Jun drew lots was right when he had just crossed over. The glowing orb had flown out with four fortunes: moderately good, perfectly neutral, moderately unlucky, and the worst lot.
Moderately good, safe and sound, earned a second-grade opportunity, lucky.
Perfectly neutral, escaped the current predicament, but future troubles might arise, no other gains, average.
Moderately unlucky, earned a fifth-grade opportunity, but danger lurked everywhere, life and death out of his control, unlucky.
The worst lot, sought his own death, no doubt about dying, terrible luck!
Lei Jun had chosen to act according to the moderately good lot, and successfully won a second-grade opportunity, not only escaping the predicament he was in when he crossed over, but also arriving at the Taoist Sacred Land, the Celestial Master Mansion on Dragon Tiger Mountain.
Looking back later, he found that if he had followed the fate revealed by the worst lot, he'd have ended up straight in a coffin the moment he landed from his journey.
Even the moderately unlucky lot could have cost him his life.
The second time he drew lots was after Lei Jun entered the Tao Boy Court at the Celestial Master Mansion.
That time, the glowing orb offered fewer options, just perfectly neutral and moderately unlucky.
Strictly speaking, neither was much good.
But Lei Jun, who chose to follow the perfectly neutral lot, managed to avoid the huge pitfall of the moderately unlucky one.
Today was the third time he drew lots.
The descriptions of the lots were always vaguely worded, but by comparing and summing up what happened, Lei Jun gradually got the hang of it.
The worst lot, disaster, no need to say more—basically meant a certain death, no matter any gain, he would never live to enjoy it.
Moderately unlucky, unlucky—either the harm far outweighed any benefit, or there was only a downside, no upside. The danger or difficulty wasn't as bad as the worst lot, so at least there was hope.
Perfectly neutral, average—either it had both good and bad, mixed blessings, or just plain, uneventful safety but no luck or reward.
Moderately good, lucky—maybe a major opportunity with a bit of risk and possible consequences. Overall, gain outweighed loss. Or, maybe safe and sound with some reward, just nothing astounding.
As for the best lot that Lei Jun had never seen, that had to be supreme fortune—the stars aligned, no risk, hauling in a fortune to the brim.
This time, Lei Jun still had a choice, so he picked the moderately good lot.
He wasn't going to take part in Elder Du's selection over there.
As Lei Jun read his lot's fortune, the other young Tao Boys around him had already started running outside.
"Lei?" Seeing that Lei Jun hadn't moved, someone stopped and turned back to ask.
Lei Jun said, "There are still tasks to finish in this building, and one ought to see things through to the end. I'll take care of today's workload first."
"It's a rare chance, go to the selection first. If you don't get picked, you can come back and cut Talisman Paper later." Several Tao Boys reminded him.
Lei Jun thought it over and still reminded them, "The elders from our sect check our progress day to day, and test our temperament. Not being disturbed by sudden changes and finishing what we start could be something they value."
"You've got a point, but I'm still heading over to Elder Du's first to give it a try." The few teenagers waved at him, hurriedly turned, and took off running toward the front yard.
Lei Jun watched them leave, then turned back to continue with his own work.
He finished his tasks in the Talisman Paper Building for the day, then finally stepped out.
Lei Jun looked up to check the sky, then asked around for news from Elder Du's side, not at all rushed.
Elder Du's selection wasn't limited only to the Sixth Division of Tao Boys, but picked people from all the Tao Boy divisions.
The selection was held at a separate cave mansion in the mountains, a private estate Elder Du himself had created.
*Moderately unlucky lot—going over to get on Elder Du's good side, that kind of benefit actually hid danger?*
*Could Elder Du be using his own Celestial Master Mansion disciples for some kind of risky experiment?*
Lei Jun wandered off in the direction of the estate.
But when he was halfway there, suddenly he saw flashes of light in the mountains.
Then came a thunderous boom.
The ground shook, making Lei Jun's body stagger.
He looked up and saw that above Elder Du's estate, explosions of lightning and fire blasted up to the sky.
On top of the Celestial Master Mansion appeared countless shining Talisman Scriptures that joined together, forming a formation to suppress the exploding thunder light.
The burst of thunder light shifted, scattering outward everywhere.
One of those streaks of thunder crashed straight into another spot among the mountains.
That sparked a wave of golden light shooting up skyward, spreading out like fireworks.
"First it was Elder Du's estate, and now it's the Ganoderma Terrace?"
Lei Jun roughly identified the direction.
The Ganoderma Terrace mentioned in the perfectly neutral lot was originally a Spirit Vein under the Celestial Master Mansion's control since it was first founded, and nourished by Spiritual Energy, it would occasionally produce precious flowing Ganoderma.
Using Ganoderma for alchemy or consumption could aid one's cultivation, with endless wonderful effects.
But years before, some changes led to the destruction of the Ganoderma Terrace.
Luckily, nowadays the Spiritual Energy everywhere was thicker than before, and cultivation was entering a new golden age.
Although the loss of the Ganoderma Terrace was regrettable, the Celestial Master Mansion, as a Sacred Land of the Taoist Sect, wasn't seriously hurt—instead, they constantly developed and claimed new treasure lands and Spirit Veins for cultivation.
Since the Ganoderma Terrace had been ruined years ago, it was rarely visited these days.
*So, Elder Du's altar blew up, and now there would be a sixth-rank opportunity there?*
As Lei Jun pondered, he kept walking, still heading straight for Elder Du's cave mansion.
Fifth-grade opportunity was better than sixth-rank opportunity.
When he arrived at the mansion, the place was total chaos, scorched black everywhere.
Many young Tao Boys in grey robes had collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Some Tao Boys near the edges were a little better off, but even they were covered in soot, shaking, all faces filled with terror.
"What happened?" Lei Jun grabbed a familiar Tao Boy from the Sixth Division.
The other recognized Lei Jun at once and started to complain,
"Lei? Sigh, don't ask, Elder Du's altar exploded!"
The Tao Boy shuddered as he looked back at the cave mansion that had just exploded,
"I heard people died, from the Second and Fifth Divisions. Even more people were hurt.
Our Sixth Division, Zhang ended up closest and so he got hurt the worst—and a few others were injured, too.
They were just taken away for treatment, not sure how they're doing now..."
The little Tao Boy was deeply shaken.
Others started to approach the area, looking at the devastation with fear.
"Don't gather here," someone spoke up then.
Everyone turned and saw a young man in apricot Daoist robes rushing in from afar.
This youth looked about the same age as the Tao Boys.
But unlike the rest in grey robes, this one wore apricot Daoist robes and a headscarf—he had already undergone the Transcension Ritual and entered the inner sanctuary as a true Celestial Master Mansion disciple, a Taoist now, no longer a mere Tao Boy.
Other Daoists in apricot robes arrived one after another.
"What happened today was pure accident, not related to anyone here. No need to worry—help tend to the dead and wounded, and the Mansion will see to everything afterward." The young Taoist spoke gently.
The Tao Boys responded right away, "Yes, Taoist."
In the Tao Boy Court, everyone called each other "brother" for politeness and friendliness, and studied together most of the time.
Even though the apricot-robed Taoist was their age, he had a different master and rank, so the Tao Boys couldn't just call him brother casually.
No matter how young, if a Taoist gave orders, the Tao Boys simply obeyed.
Lei Jun and everyone who escaped injury got to work rescuing the wounded right away.
They began by clearing near the cave mansion, gradually widening the search to see if anyone had been thrown farther away in the blast.
Lei Jun searched in the hills for a bit, rescued two injured little Tao Boys and carried them back to a flat spot before continuing his search.
Looking around further, he didn't find anyone, but behind a pile of rocks, he spotted a faint glimmer.
Lei Jun's heart skipped, and he went closer to look.
That faint light was a tangle of purple-gold and green light.
The green gleam seemed like lightning, but twisted with the purple-gold shine, it didn't fade away for ages.
After some time, the green lightning slowly faded out, leaving only the purple-gold flash, which began to thicken with Spiritual Energy bursting out.
Lei Jun reached out and lightly touched it.
The purple-gold glow hovered in midair, suddenly weaving into the shape of a ghostly Ganoderma.
Next moment, the phantom ganoderma drifted into Lei Jun's body.
Air was left full of deep Spiritual Energy and a soft aroma, refreshing the mind.
No need for special Warming and Nurturing or refining, Lei Jun already felt his channels flowing smoothly, True Qi in his dantian much livelier than before.
He calmed himself and left the area.
With proper Celestial Master Mansion True Inheritance disciples now on the scene handling things, the turmoil gradually subsided.
If Tao Boys weren't hurt, they still attended that night's regular lesson as normal.
Of course, people couldn't help gossiping in private.
Lei Jun kept his composure and returned to his quarters after evening class.
The Celestial Master Mansion, unlike anywhere else, didn't encourage disciples to get lazy, but never skimped on places for quiet cultivation.
Even Tao Boys each had a private house and courtyard, though they had to live alone—no family or servants allowed.
In his quiet room, Lei Jun sat cross-legged and silently practiced Breathing Skills.
Peering inside himself, he saw strands of golden light shimmering from his bones and flesh.
As Lei Jun practiced his breathing, the scattered golden lights in his meridians and acupoints began gathering into his dantian.
The phantom purple-gold ganoderma appeared once again.