Chapter 296: Luck

The tournament's first round ended in a chaotic manner. Dong Zhongying took over and announced that the next round would be held the next day.

Miaomiao and Ma Moxi ended up withdrawing from the tournament due to the penalties. They sulked a bit, but they gained something in return.

Ding Bu, aka Lu Fengxian, decided to follow them to their guesthouse. Ma Ping had invited Lu Fengxian to stay with them.

At night, Lu Fengxian called Miaomiao and Ma Moxi to see him. In the middle of the courtyard, the protagonist looked at the two juniors, who had sacrificed the tournament prizes for his sake.

"I feel bad for ruining your opportunities. You're young and talented. You guys deserve every fortuitous encounter chance you can get, and yet, you sacrificed them for me even though we've just met."

Miaomiao had a wry smile on his face even though he laughed inwardly. Everything he had done so far was calculated, "It was nothing. Losing a few ten thousand essence cores doesn't affect me."

"Ha! You're so rich that you don't know how important those resources are!"

"I know its value, senior. If not, I would have given that fatty more than necessary."

"You already unnecessarily spent your money. Oh well, it doesn't matter. I'll get that back for you."

"... Thanks, senior."

Miaomiao appreciated the gesture. It hinted that Lu Fengxian was the type who was excessively kind to his allies but ruthless against his enemies.

It was the right choice to befriend this OP protagonist early!

"But that's not the reason why I called you here. First things first, show me your killing domain again. I'll teach you how to improve it."

While Lu Fengxian and Miaomiao were chatting, Jia Shan and Ma Ping were there as they had accompanied the former from the start.

Upon hearing that Lu Fengxian wanted to see Miaomiao's killing domain, they were also interested. Everyone gathered and spectated at the sideline, wondering what this mysterious senior in a teenager's body would do to Miaomiao.

Miaomiao cooperated. He summoned a wooden sword and activated the pseudo domain.

Lu Fengxian scanned through the domain, Miaomiao's stance, Qi circulation, and the flow. Everything was smooth, but it didn't meet Lu Fengxian's standard.

"Your domain is too weak."

The corner of Miaomiao's mouth twitched. He thought he did well, but Lu Fengxian still disapproved of him.

"You have the killing domain, but you haven't awakened the sword intent properly. With your current strength, you can only bluff weak or naïve opponents, but you won't stand a chance against experienced fighters. Your shallow understanding of the sword intent hinders your perception awakening and advancement. At this rate, you won't be able to rely on your killing domain against stronger cultivators."

"Umm, what?"

Jia Shan used to teach Miaomiao that he couldn't rely on Death Point Perception against stronger foes since they wouldn't be able to follow the red lines properly. The flow always fluctuated, depending on the cultivator's strength, Qi circulation, and techniques. Therefore, they could only use it on weaker opponents.

Yet, Lu Fengxian declared that they could use it against stronger foes?

"Follow my instruction. The problem lies in the flow of your Qi circulation. You have been circulating your Qi through your 12 meridians, but you haven't awakened the 13th meridian," Lu Fengxian pointed at Miaomiao's right chest. "Over here."

"!?"

Miaomiao circulated his Qi toward the part, but he didn't sense or feel anything unusual. It was odd why Lu Fengxian pointed at his right chest.

Lu Fengxian also sensed that something was missing. He frowned, "I was planning to ask you this earlier, but are you a vessel of any dao god?"

"Does it have anything to do with a dao god?"

"It has everything to do with it. Every human was born with at least 13 meridians. Exceptional heaven-sent cultivators can even possess 108. But for average people, we have 13."

Lu Fengxian taught Miaomiao, Ma Moxi, Jia Shan, and Ma Ping about meridians and their connection with dao gods.

Everyone in Mountain Goose Planet was born with 13 meridians. 12 was the critical organs, such as heart, lungs, brain. However, the hidden 13th meridian was always located in the right chest, holding the key for the immortal realm ascension.

The 13th meridian was called [The Soul's Heart]. It held the spiritual heart of a cultivator, a necessary component to form a Soul Physique.

Normally, this meridian couldn't be sensed or used without guidance from a veteran senior or an immortal. Without a sharp spiritual sense or the right genes, no ordinary cultivator would be able to sense or use it before they reached the 8th-stage.

Once a cultivator could utilize this meridian, they would be able to sense the flow of Heaven and Earth, including the flow of [Luck]. With this power as an addition to a cultivator's weapon intent or Qi, they could easily read the endlessly fluctuating death points of objects and living beings.

Combining with weapon Qi, which was the goal of weaponry practitioners, it allowed a weak cultivator to sever the [Luck] of someone, disabling his spiritual protection. Then, their [Death Points] would be in clear view, allowing the cultivator to break the logic and kill stronger opponents with Death Point Perception.

Lu Fengxian had demonstrated to Miaomiao and everyone how he killed Li Wenyou and several experts with only his sword Qi and his Death Point Perception. He utilized his Soul's Heart Meridian to sense the flow of Heaven and Earth. Then, he secretly severed it before his perception pinpointed the death spots. Afterward, everything became a walk in the park.

This feat sounded simple, yet difficult. It required a complex combination of experience, techniques, insight, and familiarity with the Heaven and Earth's flow. Soul Heart cultivators needed to practice utilizing this ability for years before they could use it in a real battle.

However, dao gods and many immortals could steal the gathered [Luck] from mortals' [Soul Heart] as long as they pledged allegiance to them.

When a person asked for a dao god for their support, the latter secretly took the former's luck as a price. This stolen luck energy would be slowly converted into power for the dao gods, giving them strength.

Thus, Lu Fengxian asked Miaomiao if he was a dao god's vessel as he suspected that the latter's luck might have been stolen. Lu Fengxian couldn't sense the flow of Miaomiao's luck in his Soul's Heart anymore.

Miaomiao's face paled. He thought of his sponsor and the spectating dao gods.

'Was it you, you shit!?' Miaomiao yelled in his mind.

Ding

[Your sponsor laughs and softly hits his head with his fist.]

[Your sponsor exclaims, "Whoops. I think I stole all your [Luck] when I bestowed you the system."]

'YOU!!'

["Nothing is free in this world, kiddo. You get a youthful body, a dreamt life, supreme cultivation techniques, and cheats from me. I take your luck in return. It's an equivalent trade!"]

'You son of a bitch! Equivalent Trade, my ass! I've never vowed to be your vessel! Give me back my luck!'

Miaomiao finally realized now why his luck was so bad during his early days when he was transported to this world. It might have been his sponsor's doing all along.

["Keep collecting Heavenly Fate Power. That will be your source of [Luck] from now on. You can have your luck energy back if you return the system to me, by the way. Of course, your wives will also be transported to me, and I shall brainwash them as you did.]

'BASTARD!!!'

For the first time, Miaomiao was enraged to the point that he wanted to punch the semi-transparent screens before him.

He had expected this coming, but he didn't realize that the mysterious sponsor could confiscate everything he had earned.

Ding

[Your sponsor has gifted you 100,000 essence cores.]

["Sikes! Hook, line, and sinker! Say hi to Daotube!"]

["Oh, by the way, I've had a bet with several dao gods how mad you will be when you find out about [Luck]. You made me 400 5th-grade soul stones richer!"]

Miaomiao's world fell apart. He widened his eyes, glaring at the notification panel screens with bloodshot teary eyes. He didn't know what to believe in now.

["Don't worry about how the system confiscation or your luck. It's still there, protecting you in secret, but it has transformed it into a [System]. In other words, your luck has been always with you from the beginning."]

["Should I say, your [Luck] and your [Lust] gives birth to your [System]? Oh, wait, how am I your system sponsor then?"]

["FIND OUT IN THE NEXT EPISODE! MUAHAHAHAHA!!"]

"..."

Miaomiao's mind went through a roller coaster. He was heartbroken, then he was mad. After that, he was relieved as if someone had lifted a mountain off his chest, but he got paranoid again as he was worried that the system sponsor might be actually telling him the truth all along.

He was lost. He didn't know what to think anymore.

Lu Fengxian raised his eyebrows as he read Miaomiao's ever-changing expression. He thought that the latter might have realized something about his dao god.

"You have been tricked, it seems."

Miaomiao looked at Lu Fengxian. Then, he paused to think for a moment before he nodded.

"Ah, that. There's a very simple way to regain your luck and restore your Soul's Heart meridian," Lu Fengxian grinned and pressed his palm on Miaomiao's right chest. Then, he injected something into Miaomiao's body.

It was a familiar sensation. It was warm and fuzzy as if he was embraced by his mother.

Ding

[Ding Bu has transferred his Heavenly Fate Fragment to your Soul's Heart meridian.]

"!!!"

Lu Fengxian was too kind! He simply transferred something that Miaomiao had been collecting!

It was illogical, nonsense, and too easy!

Miaomiao was dumbfounded. He had never thought that a Lu Fengxian's fragment would come to him this easily. At the same time, Miaomiao was alarmed that this OP protagonist was aware of its existence.

Lu Fengxian grinned, "Oh, you can feel it now?"

"S-S-S-Senior, are you sure you want to give this to me?"

"Ha! Why not!?" Lu Fengxian shrugged, "I still have my soul heart with me. For someone like me, I only need a year or two to form a new luck fragment. If I can regain my strength, I can even produce a Luck Core. You don't even need to worry about me."

Miaomiao gulped and stared at Lu Fengxian in astonishment.

He hit a jackpot! This protagonist was a Heavenly Fate Fragment Factory!

Before Miaomiao could celebrate, Lu Fengxian injected something into his chest again. This time, it shocked him and several spectating dao gods.

"I should also sever the ties between you and the idiot that tricked you."

SWUA

Miaomiao sensed that something had been cut inside him.

Ding

[Ding Bu has forcefully made you his apostle!]

[Ding Bu has severed the ties between you and [????]'s Daotube Streaming Channel.]

[Dao gods, and [????] can no longer communicate with you.]

[[????] can no longer manipulate or edit the system commands.]

[The system has restored its authority.]

[The system has regained its sentience.]

Ding

[Father, please name your system.]