Jiangbei, a secluded mountain forest.
The north wind howled, and snow covered everything in white, heaven and earth covered in frost. On a thatched cottage in the mountain forest, under the goose-feather heavy snow, a person stood with hands behind their back.
"What a heavy snow..."
That person wore a crane cloak, a smile on their lips, gently fanning a feather fan. They looked dashing and elegant, appearing at first glance like a scion of a noble family out for a stroll in the snow.
However, when he stood in the snow, even this sky-filling snowy scenery lost its luster. All things in the world seemed to cluster around him alone, as if he concentrated all the fortune, wealth, and luck between heaven and earth. He was the darling of the heavens, making people involuntarily feel jealousy and resentment.
It was precisely Perfected One Hong Yun!
At this moment, Hong Yun was making the most difficult decision of his life: whether to go to the bottom of that lake in Jiangnan to retrieve the fragments of his former Grotto-Heaven.
That fragment definitely has problems.
It's too coincidental.
But if I don't retrieve that fragment, when will I be able to restore my Foundation Establishment Perfection, seek Golden Core, and Ascend to the Position? I'm afraid I won't even recover to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.
Thinking that even trash like the Heaven-Mending Peak Master could bare their teeth at him, Hong Yun felt stifled. He raged for a good while before calming down again. Then he formed hand seals and chanted incantation, beginning to calculate karma and divine his own immediate fortune and misfortune to make the most correct judgment.
However, after several consecutive divinations, the results were all fruitless.
This made Hong Yun sigh again, regretting his act of ignoring the heaven and earth's favor on him back then and forcefully devouring an Unorthodox Dao Fruit.
Back then, was it ever this difficult?
Back then, whatever he wanted to do, he only needed to make a casual calculation. Under the blessing of heaven and earth's fortune, the divination hexagram would immediately tell him whether the result was good or bad.
Now it had become like this.
No matter how he calculated, heaven and earth gave no response. Even his fortune required him to fish for son of destiny himself and devour them to maintain it.
Should I…running away?
Hong Yun rubbed his glabella in distress, involuntarily recalling his arrangements in the outer heaven. But that was the last resort; had it reached that point now?
More importantly, he was somewhat afraid.
After all, going to the outer heaven meant breaking away from the Netherworld's influence. In that case, his biggest life-saving trump card—committing suicide to reincarnate through the Netherworld—would be useless.
What if the mysterious person who killed him back then was camping for him in the Outer Heavens? Just as he went to the Outer Heavens preparing to run, the opponent might reach out a big hand to grab him and refine him instantly. That would truly be no road to heaven and no door to earth—he could even scream his throat raw and no one would come save him.
After much consideration, Hong Yun finally made his decision.
"I'll still go to Jiangnan."
"But before that, I need to have Hong Ju consume his luck to use the [Shared Fate Changing Fortune Record Book] to arrange insurance, ensuring I can obtain the Grotto-Heaven fragment."
Thinking of this, Hong Yun immediately formed a hand seal and sent out a communication.
A moment later, amidst the heavy snow, a bright light came through the sky, suddenly parting to reveal Hong Ju, who had rushed over after receiving the communication.
However, at this moment, this dao pretector appointed by Hong Yun, a Great Perfected One at Foundation Establishment Perfection who shared his Golden Nature, had an extremely gloomy expression. His brows were knit together tightly, seemingly having something on his mind. Even after arriving in front of Hong Yun, he didn't relax but became even more solemn and grave.
"What happened?"
Seeing this, Hong Yun was somewhat surprised and asked curiously: "Could there be some changes within the sect again? Is that junior Chong Guang already preparing to seek golden core and ascend to the position?"
"Answering my Lord, that's not the case."
Hong Ju shook his head and sighed: "It is a junior of our sect, Daoist title Yuan Tu. Recently, this subordinate was preparing to find a way to secretly eliminate him."
"You told me about this matter, and I agreed."
Hong Yun raised his eyebrows slightly: "Is there a variable?"
"Logically, there shouldn't be." Hong Ju looked heavy-hearted, lowering his voice: "But for some reason, this subordinate has recently suddenly felt some heart palpitations."
Hearing this, Hong Yun also became serious. After all, Hong Ju was at Foundation Establishment Perfection and connected to his Golden Nature. The sharpness of his spiritual perception wasn't much different from a Golden Core Perfected Lord. Since Hong Ju felt heart palpitations, there was an eighty percent chance there was really a problem. He couldn't help but take it seriously.
But having said that, Hong Yun still couldn't figure it out:
"A junior at early Foundation Establishment could actually make you feel heart palpitations... it makes no sense. Could there be a Golden Core Perfected Lord behind him?"
This would be troublesome.
After pondering for a long time, Hong Yun looked at Hong Ju and said: "Take out the [Shared Fate Changing Fortune Record Book]. I will temporarily borrow the power of [Overturned Lamp Flame] to investigate."
Hong Yun was undoubtedly cautious.
Without caution, he wouldn't have lived for so many years.
So even if there was only a "possibility" of a new Perfected Lord existing, he had to treat it seriously, preferring to pay a huge price to investigate clearly.
Hearing this, Hong Ju also breathed a sigh of relief.
"As you command!"
Hong Ju was still very assured about Hong Yun. After all, although his master didn't have much skill in seeking golden core, his skill in staying alive was great.
Thinking of this, he hurriedly took out the [Shared Fate Changing Fortune Record Book].
Looking at this Dao Fruit Treasure, Hong Yun couldn't help but sigh. Back then, didn't he abandon the heaven's favor and risk devouring the Unorthodox Dao Fruit precisely for it?
However, just as he was preparing to refine it into a True Treasure, he unexpectedly fell.
As a result, this Dao Fruit Treasure became like this—neither high nor low. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so difficult for him to return to the Golden Position all these years.
With this thought, Hong Yun had mixed feelings and involuntarily recalled his peak period. Thinking back, [Perfected Lord Heavenly Fortune Bright Light] was famous far and wide, truly a rising favored son of heaven of the Saint Sect. But as the world changed, he had now become a laughingstock of a Perfected Lord known to all under heaven...
For a moment, Hong Yun was somewhat lost in thought.
He even forgot to take the [Shared Fate Changing Fortune Record Book] handed over by Hong Ju. He didn't speak either, just standing there blankly like a clay or wooden sculpture.
Fortunately, a kind-hearted person beside him reached out a hand in time, taking this Dao Fruit Treasure for him, then slowly opened it and began to read it seriously.
...Hmm?
Watching this scene, Hong Yun suddenly froze.
Was there something wrong somewhere?
He turned his head to look at the man beside him. Reflected in his pitch-black pupils was a handsome face with heroic bearing and smiling eyes.
Then, he looked at Hong Ju on the other side. Hong Ju wore a solemn expression looking at him, likewise showing not the slightest trace of anything unusual in his eyes, as if there had been three people here from the beginning—as if this handsome man should have been standing beside him all along. He quickly dismissed his doubts.
Hmm, nothing wrong, It's just my illusion.
With this thought, Hong Yun immediately chuckled and looked at the man beside him. "Good thing Fellow Daoist Lu is here. Otherwise I wouldn't know what to do."
As his words fell, his eyes were perfectly clear:
"Unfortunately, I now have difficulty ascending to my position. The Righteous Dao lacks me, so Fellow Daoist Lu can only shoulder the burden alone... Ah, these years have truly been hard on you, Fellow Daoist."
"Not at all—just doing my duty."
Lu Yang smiled. Behind him, the Righteous Dao Banner fluttered. The rolling black qi transformed from the [Enlightenment] divine wonder almost filled heaven and earth, constantly being inhaled by Hong Yun and Hong Ju.
Yet both of them were completely unaware of this.
Seeing this scene, Lu Yang's smile became even more sincere.
After all, he remembered all the old scores from the past!
Thinking back to my third life, it was this guy who suddenly appeared and bully me. Today, it's finally my turn to bully him back!