"Congratulations on your breakthrough, Lord Feng Zhongtu!"
Dozens of voices echoed at once in the main hall of Serene Moonlight City's town hall.
Wealthy merchants, guard officials and representatives of the city's few cultivating families were gathered.
At the center of attention was a short, pudgy man. His round, sun-scorched face was framed by a thick moustache.
Although he was smiling, there was a disguised cruelty in his gaze.
He was the current lord of Serene Moonlight City. At seventy, he was the youngest Foundation Realm cultivator in the region, having reached the fourth stage the night before.
Zhongtu raised his teacup slightly and knocked against it, demanding silence. His eyes roamed the hall, lingering longer where they shouldn't have.
"It's a pleasure to have you all here. Today, I, Feng Zhongtu, can proudly say that I have honored my father. I have crossed the line that he pursued all his life."
His words were firm and full of pride.
As soon as he finished speaking, another wave of applause and celebration swept through the hall. He raised his hand again, seeking silence once more.
His eyes focused on the few Foundation Realm cultivators present.
Most of them were still in the early stages and he was sure that, in a few decades' time, he would be the strongest in the city.
"Ahem..." He snorted and gestured to the side. "But my breakthrough isn't the only good news today."
At the same moment, a side door opened, revealing a stunningly beautiful young woman who took everyone's breath away.
"It's Fairy Meiling!" exclaimed a younger cultivator in surprise.
It was Feng Meiling, daughter of Feng Zhongtu, known as the jewel of Serene Moonlight City. Her appearance caused astonishment.
She rarely left the mansion and when she did, she wore veils to hide her face.
Meiling was an ethereal, youthful beauty. Her blue hair fell like a cascade over her shoulders, framing the jade-clear skin of her beautiful face. A butterfly clip elegantly secured a few strands.
She didn't wear a single stitch of make-up, she didn't need to, her skin was perfect, her cheeks rosy and her serene blue eyes seemed to be naturally outlined.
Her wide robes, made of the finest silk available in the city, concealed her curves with modesty, a beautiful celestial cloak hugging her delicate waist, but unable to completely hide the curve of her voluptuous and heavy breasts.
She walked up to the group of Foundation Realm cultivators and bowed slightly, bringing her delicate hands together in a formal greeting.
"Feng Meiling greets the elders." Her voice was serene and soft, like the cool breeze at dawn. Even in front of the most powerful figures in the city, her face remained calm.
The older cultivators smiled, admiring her beauty for a brief moment, until one of them frowned, puzzled.
"Wait a minute..." he muttered, bringing his wrinkled hand up to his mouth as he felt the flow of Qi around Meiling.
"She's... she's already reached the seventh stage of the Qi Refining realm? She's barely eighteen!"
Shock washed over the surrounding faces as Zhongtu's smile widened from ear to ear.
He patted his daughter on the shoulder and spoke proudly:
"Yes! My daughter is now officially the most talented cultivator in Serene Moonlight City!"
To call her only the most talented in the city, however, was to underestimate her.
In fact, Feng Meiling was probably the most promising within a radius of a thousand kilometers, ranking among the greatest geniuses in the outer regions of the Blue Moon Continent.
Her beautiful blue eyes twitched slightly at the contact with her father's hand.
A brief expression of disgust crossed her face before being quickly concealed when she lowered her head.
"With these two great pieces of news," Feng Zhongtu continued excitedly, "I would like to announce that we will be holding a great banquet tonight!"
As he said this, his gaze turned to a burly young man, dressed in opulent robes, and to the man next to him - his father, a cultivator of the fifth stage of the Foundation Realm, the oldest, strongest and richest in the city.
The young man was the Lin family prodigy. At the age of thirty, he had reached the eighth stage of Qi Refining.
He was imposing, easily exceeding two meters in height, his face was marked by hard, disproportionate features, not helped by his arrogant, contemptuous smile.
"I would also like to make a proposal to Patriarch Lin," announced Zhongtu.
Meiling visibly shuddered at those words, but he ignored them.
"With young master Lin being accepted into the Eternal Fist Sect as an inner disciple and my daughter demonstrating exceptional talent, I believe it is appropriate for us to unite our families."
Hearing these words, Meiling lost her composure. Her eyes met those of young master Lin, who stared at her with a lustful gaze, snorting like a pig as he tried to see past the robes covering his body.
Her face contorted with repulsion, and she almost vomited.
Patriarch Lin couldn't hold back a proud smile. He squeezed his son's shoulder tightly, preparing to reply. But before he could say anything, the ground beneath his feet shook.
His eyes widened. Instinctively, he released his Qi, forming a protective barrier around his son.
In the next instant, he felt the flow of Qi in the atmosphere explode.
The previously thin spiritual energy began to grow in intensity. In the blink of an eye, it had doubled.
Chaos ensued. Everyone wanted to know what was going on, while the lord of the city tried in vain to contain the commotion.
In the end, everyone gathered in the courtyard of the town hall and turned their eyes to the mountain in the distance.
And there it was - an imposing structure was beginning to form at the top, as if sprouting from the earth itself.
"A... Sect?" muttered Patriarch Lin, astonished.
" Damn it..." Feng Zhongtu cursed through his teeth, feeling as if decades of planning had just collapsed before his eyes.
Why the hell did a Sect have to appear just there? And right now? They were doing fine on their own!
***
Unaware of what was happening in Serene Moonlight City, Tianlong was sitting on his throne in the main hall of the Sect leader's palace.
In front of him loomed the gacha system menu - a translucent blue screen with several options.
[Do you want to spin the gacha wheel with a regular ticket? Every ten spins, a Very Rare item is guaranteed. Ten more spins to go].
He pondered for a moment.
That was the general gacha wheel, which could provide all kinds of items - from weapons to cultivation manuals, and even unique characters.
As the tickets he had were common, he didn't have high expectations.
The rarity of the items in Mortal Heaven was in the following order: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare, Legendary and, finally, Mortal.
Common tickets rarely offered anything beyond Rare rarity and he wasn't entirely sure, but he knew that the most one could get from them was a Legendary item, with a chance of less than 0.01%, depending on the item.
Without further ado, Lei Tianlong confirmed the system prompt.
[Spinning...]
[You have received a pill of Common rarity!: 10× Peaceful Breath Pill]
[You have received 5 points for the Gacha Shop].
[Item: Peaceful Breath Pill
Description: Ideal for long cultivation sessions. Suppresses mental distractions and stabilizes the rhythm of spiritual breathing, it only has an effect on cultivators of the Qi Refining realm.
Quantity: 10×
Rarity: Common
Purity: 70% ]
" Trash..." he muttered, sighing, before moving the ten items to the Sect's internal market. Some disciple might find them useful in the future.
He then selected the remaining nine common tickets in one go and placed them on the roulette wheel.
[Spinning...]
[You have received an alchemical ingredient of Common rarity!: 10× Acid Healing Fungus]
[You have received a pill of Common rarity!: 10× Extended Breath Pill]
[You received a spirit seed of Uncommon rarity!: 40× Ethereal Flower Seeds]
[You received a defensive artifact of Uncommon rarity!: Ephemeral Mist Talisman]
[You received a spirit seed of Uncommon rarity!: 5× Jade Tree Seeds]
[You received a sealing technique of Common rarity!: Basic Elemental Seal Scroll]
[You received a pill of Common rarity!: 5× Diluted Phoenix Blood Pills]
[You have received a pill of Common rarity!: 5× Deep Sleep Pills]
[You're on your tenth spin! An item of Very Rare rarity or higher has been secured!]
[You received a weapon fragment of Very Rare rarity!: Broken Celestial Sword Fragment]
[You received 100 Gacha store points].
"Hm..." Lei Tianlong scratched his chin, a little disappointed.
It was a little worse than he had expected. He had wanted at least one cultivation technique. But he thought he could make do with that.
The Basic Elemental Seal Scroll would be a good addition to the Sect's library. Keeping it empty still caused him constant discomfort.
After thinking it over, he decided to keep the Ephemeral Mist Talisman, the Diluted Phoenix Blood Pills and the Deep Sleep Pills with him. The rest he moved to the Sect's storage.
Finally, his eyes settled on the last item in his inventory - the Very Rare sword.
[Item: Fragment of a Broken Celestial Sword
Description: The remains of a blade from the Upper Heavens. Its exterior remains intact, but its interior is hollow, shattered into dozens of fragments.
It can be melted down to create superior equipment or have its fragments reunited to restore its original power.
It will vibrate slightly whenever the wearer is within 500 kilometers of another fragment
Rarity: Very Rare
Fragments: 1/12]
Tianlong let out a heavy sigh as he read the description.
He was in Mortal Heaven, the lowest of all heavens.
Above it were Immortal Heaven and Heavenly Heaven - the absolute top of the cultivation world, where the truly powerful Sects and true deities resided.
Although incomplete, if that sword really was from Heavenly Heaven - even if it was considered a low rarity item there, and even if he couldn't restore it completely - it would still be practically indestructible in Mortal Heaven.
Even among immortal cultivators, it would still be a formidable weapon.
He took it out of his inventory.
The sword was kept in a black scabbard, covered in thunderous silver patterns that immediately caught his eye.
Those symbols made him even more excited - it looked like a weapon compatible with his lightning spirit root.
With growing anxiety, Tianlong slid the blade out of its sheath.
It revealed a long, flawless blade as black as obsidian.
Its handle was opulent, adorned with a purple and rounded crystal at the end. Across the length of the blade, the same lightning patterns as the scabbard extended with precision.
When he channeled his Qi through it, the patterns glowed faintly.
A smile appeared on his face.
Leaving the throne behind, Lei Tianlong circulated his Qi and released his aura to the maximum. He struck a casual blow with his sword - nothing more than a test.
The ground beneath him shook.
The air was torn, the curtains shuddered, and a vibration spread through the hall like the thunder that precedes a storm.
Lei Tianlong held the blade tightly, feeling it in every fiber of his being: that sword alone had greatly increased his combat power.
He wanted to test it further, but he resisted the urge and simply put it around his waist.