[Name: Zhao Xing]
[Stage: Upper Sixth Rank (Mid-stage Heavenly Gang Realm)]
[Occupation: Shennong]
[Fortune: Derivation Four]
[Essence Gathering: Forty-Third Level]
[Life Soul: Mid Sixth Rank]
[Extra Lifespan: 160 years]
"Only 10 years of extra lifespan, but my fortune has finally risen to Derivation Four!"
Zhao Xing pondered over the change, gradually coming to a realization.
"The last time I was promoted before the war, my lifespan increased by sixty years, but this time it's only ten."
"Perhaps it's because I already have plenty of extra lifespan, and my Life Soul has reached the Sixth Rank."
"The Heavenly Fate and Heavenly Fortune must increase in balance."
"For someone of my current rank, my fate has already solidified, but my fortune was still at Derivation Three. This time, during the blessing, the Golden Dragon of Fortune chose to enhance my fortune."
"If I advance to the proper Sixth Rank next time, I imagine I'll receive more lifespan than fortune."
For someone of the Upper Sixth Rank, Zhao Xing estimated that living around 200 years was typical. His current lifespan was likely nearing the upper limit for his rank. However, his fortune had plenty of room for improvement, which was why his fortune increased more than his lifespan.
Of course, there could be other factors. Perhaps Emperor Jing was deliberately boosting the fortunes of common-born talents, aligning with his policy to bring fresh blood into the military ranks.
With strong fortune, Zhao Xing's future path would naturally be smoother. If his fortune were average, like that of the old Shennong, Xue Wenzhong, who spent sixty years to become a proper Ninth Rank official, a long life wouldn't be very useful.
"It seems Emperor Jing has been generous this time. More lifespan in the past, more fortune this time."
"Both surpass the normal non-war-time increases," Zhao Xing thought.
During peacetime, even many Fifth Rank officials had only reached Derivation Three fortune. Now, even a Sixth Rank official like Zhao Xing had climbed to Derivation Four fortune, which was quite rare.
Even if Zhao Xing hadn't inherited part of the Great Li Dynasty's fortune, he reckoned he would have still reached Derivation Three purely from his accomplishments.
After all, he had participated in the Fire Dragon Pass and Soul Sacrifice Fortress battles without a single defeat, amassing extraordinary achievements. In the rankings for the Sixth Rank, he was among the top three thousand.
Of course, these things were invisible to others. Only those of high rank would even know the true nature of their fortune or how Emperor Jing had arranged their fates.
"In terms of stage progression, my path forward is now open."
"Following the usual pattern, I'll likely encounter the ceiling of my fortune when I reach the proper Fifth Rank. The word 'Unpromotable' will then appear on my panel."
"Upon entering the middle ranks, cultivation becomes significantly harder. The Fiftieth Level of Essence Gathering will be the first major hurdle, requiring breakthroughs in the three great secret texts to develop the Pure Essence Soil. Everything will be interconnected and difficult."
"Beyond that, the next major challenge will be the Fourth Rank's Primordial Soul Realm."
The Fourth Rank required the enhancement of the seven earthly souls, a tough ask for someone like Zhao Xing, who was used to the more refined role of a Shennong. For him, it was like asking a delicate city lord to plow fields under the scorching sun.
In terms of spells, Zhao Xing now possessed twelve advanced techniques.
Advanced Heavenly Timing Spells: [Five Elements Mist Concealment: Five Transformations][Thunder Breaking Delusion Finger: Four Transformations][Nine Heavens Gale: Advanced Three Transformations][Drop of Water: Seven Transformations]
During his cultivation at Soul Sacrifice Fortress, upon breaking through the Heavenly Gang Realm, he had successfully advanced the Minor Nine Heavens Gale Technique to the advanced level, infusing his body with the gale of the Nine Heavens.
Mid-level techniques like Heavenly Frost and Heavenly Fire remained unchanged, still at the intermediate level.
His Five Elements Mist Concealment spell had developed into Five Elements Miasma, capable of obstructing enemies over a wide area.
The Drop of Water spell had achieved Ten Thousand Lines Flow, merging the rain technique with the Straw Puppet technique, forming the strongest combination of his spellcasting talents.
As for cloud techniques, Devouring Cloud was still at its intermediate peak, as he hadn't yet focused on cultivating any advanced cloud techniques during his time at Soul Sacrifice Fortress.
Advanced Transformation Spells: [Soaring Serpent Transformation: Four Transformations][Awakening Thunder Transformation: Three Transformations]
The Soaring Serpent Transformation was a pure combat technique. In its advanced form, it could transform the user into the divine beast Soaring Serpent, though such a transformation would require at least seven Transformations.
Awakening Thunder Transformation was a nurturing technique, capable of killing enemies with its side effects, but its primary purpose was to cultivate spiritual beasts.
Advanced Earthly Advantage Spells: [Yin Wind Fiend: Five Transformations][Earth Fiend Thunder: Five Transformations][Volcano Technique: Three Transformations]
Yin Wind Fiend was a soul-damaging spell, while Earth Fiend Thunder was an underground "yin thunder" spell, most effective when used on the ground or underground. Its power decreased by one or two Transformations when cast from the sky.
The Volcano Technique was a large-scale spell, second only to cloud techniques in area coverage, and one that relied heavily on luck—often described as a gambler's spell.
Advanced Self Spells: [Yin-Yang Self Technique: Six Transformations][Myriad Straw Puppet: Four Transformations]
The Yin-Yang Self Technique was the only high-level analysis technique among the Self series of techniques.
Other techniques like the Nine Dragons Compression, Vigorous Growth, and Condensation Technique were all still at their intermediate peaks and had yet to reach the advanced level.
"My Myriad Straw Puppet technique is now capable of summoning four puppets, which should appease Liu Tianning," Zhao Xing noted, looking at his panel.
At four Transformations, the Myriad Straw Puppet had achieved small success. The first three Transformations were merely the beginning.
Liu Tianning had high expectations for his disciple. Zhao Xing, having spent two months at Soul Sacrifice Fortress without battle or duties, would surely face his master's wrath if he hadn't made any progress.
Advanced Derivation Techniques: [Great Derivation Qi Observation Method: Advanced Five Transformations]
This advanced spell, derived from the Great Derivation Canon, allowed him to observe others' fortunes and discern changes in their destinies.
Heavenly Eye: [Advanced Four Transformations]
This technique had improved naturally as Zhao Xing's Life Soul advanced to mid-Sixth Rank after two months at Soul Sacrifice Fortress and the consumption of Life Soul Pills.
Sleep Bug Technique: [Advanced Four Transformations]
At the advanced level, this technique had grown in range and power. It was now also a self-cultivating method for the Life Soul, capable of extracting parasitic creatures from the Life Soul, thereby promoting its growth.
During his time at Soul Sacrifice Fortress, Zhao Xing hadn't needed to sleep, thanks to this technique.
"My mastery of Five-Finger Fate Technique, Turtle Coin Divination, and Weather Divination is still at the intermediate level, despite their being advanced secret techniques."
"Fate-related techniques are notoriously hard to cultivate during the Great Zhou Dynasty, but I've still managed to push them to intermediate perfection," Zhao Xing smiled.
Over two months at Soul Sacrifice Fortress, Zhao Xing had killed a staggering thirty-two thousand turtles!
He had become known as the "Turtle Slayer," much to the horror of Jiang Ming of the Zhenhai Army, who had begun delivering turtles in fear that Zhao Xing had a twisted obsession with slaughtering them for some perverse satisfaction.
Whenever Jiang Ming delivered the turtles, he would immediately run off without uttering a word.
Xia Jing, Liao Rulong, Chen Shijie, and Long Xiao had all voiced their complaints.
"Over thirty-two thousand turtles! And all you want is their blood and shells? What about the meat?"
Naturally, it didn't go to waste. Zhao Xing, as the logistics officer, ordered the turtle meat to be distributed among the officers.
At first, the officers were delighted.
But they soon grew weary of eating turtle meat every day.
Eventually, Xia Jing approached Zhao Xing and asked if he had something against him, since all they were getting was turtle meat.
Even the priest Zhang Yi complained that the constant wailing of turtle spirits had disturbed the soldiers' dreams, preventing him from carrying out his duties.
Finally, under pressure from the high-ranking officers, Zhao Xing stopped serving turtle meat, and Jiang Ming was no longer required to deliver them.
Only then did Jiang Ming and the soldiers breathe a sigh of relief.
It wasn't out of kindness that Zhao Xing stopped. He had simply mastered the Turtle Coin Divination at the intermediate level.
But from then on, Zhao Xing earned the nickname of the "Turtle Slayer."
"Those turtles played a great role in helping me perfect my divination techniques," Zhao Xing mused.
Mastering the Turtle Coin Divination, a technique derived from the Six Yao Canon, deepened his understanding of the scriptures. His progress in the Five-Finger Fate Technique and Weather Divination also advanced significantly.
Now, all three advanced secret texts had techniques perfected to the intermediate level.
After leaving the temple and returning to the Eighteen Locust Willow Courtyard, it wasn't long before Chen Shijie, Long Xiao, and Xia Jing completed their promotions.
Zhao Xing glanced at Chen Shijie using the Great Derivation Qi Observation Method.
"The gray hue in his fortune has disappeared, but while the red pillar of fortune has solidified, it's still not as firm as Long Xiao's. Nonetheless, his fortune has finally reached the initial stage of Derivation Three."
"Long Xiao's fortune is slightly deeper, and if fortune could be divided into initial, mid, high, and peak levels, he'd be at the mid-level of Derivation Three."
At this point, Chen Shijie had been promoted to Lower Sixth Rank, one rank higher than Zhao Xing.
Normally, during such promotions, fortune would increase significantly. While Chen Shijie didn't reach Derivation Four, he should have at least achieved the mid-level of Derivation Three.
Yet, he remained at the initial stage, with faint traces of gray still visible.
"According to the Great Derivation Canon, this indicates unstable fortune. In times of disaster, it won't be able to turn misfortune into blessing, and he'll struggle to withstand danger. His fortune could regress significantly."
"Poor Chen Shijie, born with inherent deficiencies," Zhao Xing sighed.
At this rate, it was uncertain whether Chen Shijie would survive the upcoming calamities at Ten Sun Cave-Heaven.
But his situation had still improved greatly.
If not for Zhao Xing's help at Liao Rulong's division, Chen Shijie would never have accumulated a million battle merits. He'd likely still be hesitating at the frontlines of Fire Dragon Pass.
"Xia Jing's fortune is quite strong," Zhao Xing observed.
"His red pillar is tinged with blue, with occasional flashes of starlight from the east, a sign of approaching purple fortune—indicating the arrival of Derivation Four, and a stable one at that."
Zhao Xing couldn't see his own fortune, but he suspected that Xia Jing's fortune might be even stronger than his own.
Looking beyond his foresight, Xia Jing's luck had been consistently on the rise since the start of their training at Ten Sun Cave-Heaven.
They had met during group training, when Xia Jing had repeatedly bested Zhao Xing in physical contests, igniting a fiery rivalry between them. During Supply Training, they had ended up in the same group, where Xia Jing endured a grueling experience before eventually befriending Zhao Xing.
Later, during the large-scale Combat Training and the internship at Cloud Gate, they were also assigned to the same group!
Especially in Cloud Gate, without Zhao Xing's presence, Xia Jing might have struggled to complete the internship with top evaluations. Even if he succeeded, he wouldn't have had enough time left to prepare for the Southern Barbarian War.
After that, they reunited at Fire Dragon Pass, where they formed an alliance, profiting from the rich opportunities at both Fire Dragon Pass and Soul Sacrifice Fortress, cementing Xia Jing's position within the Xuanjia Army.
Xia Jing's fortune was strong, and his connection with Zhao Xing had only strengthened it further.
His current rank was the same as Zhao Xing's, Upper Sixth Rank, but his fortune had already reached Derivation Four, and he was even nearing Derivation Five.
According to the Great Derivation Canon, if Xia Jing's fortune were charted as a line graph, his low points would be few and far between, and even in times of misfortune, he would never fall too low. Meanwhile, his fortune would rise to high peaks regularly.
"Why are you staring at me like that? Did I become more handsome after my promotion?" Xia Jing joked. "If I'd known, I would've asked the court for the title of 'Handsome Marquis' instead of 'Xuan Ying Marquis.'"
"You're being too narcissistic," Long Xiao scoffed. "He's reading your fortune."
"Oh?" Xia Jing raised an eyebrow. "You're skilled in that?"
Zhao Xing had been practicing Turtle Coin Divination while at Soul Sacrifice Fortress, but Xia Jing had never cared to visit, disgusted by the fishy smell of the sea turtles.
"Just a little."
"So what did you see?" Xia Jing laughed. "How are our fortunes?"
After a moment of contemplation, Zhao Xing responded, "I've seen signs of great fortune for all three of you—mainly wealth and personal growth."
"But along with the great fortune comes great disaster. After the rise in fortune, there will be a fall. I can't pinpoint the exact details or location, though. Have any of you felt anything?"
Zhao Xing spoke vaguely, giving the three a chance to interpret for themselves. At the Sixth Rank, they should have a certain level of awareness, allowing them to resonate with the energies of the heavens and earth.
"I haven't felt anything," Chen Shijie shook his head.
"Now that you mention it, I do feel like this is going to be a lucky year for me," Long Xiao chuckled.
Though spoken in jest, Zhao Xing knew Long Xiao would indeed be fortunate. The future Yunxiao Marquis wouldn't die in the upcoming calamities of Ten Sun Cave-Heaven.
Xia Jing began to ponder, "Fortune in wealth and personal growth? If we're not receiving any new orders, we'll likely be staying in Ten Sun Cave-Heaven. Could the opportunity lie here? Perhaps I should consult my aunt and the family fortune-teller."
Zhao Xing nodded. "That would be wise. I'm just a novice in this area; it's best to get a second opinion."
After Xia Jing, Chen Shijie, and Long Xiao departed, Zhao Xing remained at the Eighteen Locust Willow Courtyard to rest. In his dreams, he reflected on his memories.
What he said earlier about their fortunes wouldn't raise any suspicions, as many powerful families had already anticipated the imminent spiritual explosion within Ten Sun Cave-Heaven.
These influential families, with their fortune-tellers and Fortune Officials, had predicted the opportunity, knowing that Ten Sun Cave-Heaven was on the verge of producing great spiritual blessings.
Even the Military Realm's Creation Disc had calculated the impending outburst of spiritual energy in Ten Sun Cave-Heaven.
However, while many foresaw the good fortune, few realized the accompanying disaster. Some had simply ignored the signs.
After the spiritual explosion, many Shennongs within the Military Realm believed that the decade-long transformation of Ten Sun Cave-Heaven had finally stabilized the area, turning it into a true paradise.
The court even issued an official announcement, and King Liang submitted a memorial to Emperor Jing, praising the victory over the Southern Barbarians and declaring that Ten Sun Cave-Heaven had ascended to a land of fortune. This, he claimed, was a sign that the heavens favored the emperor.
Once politics entered the equation, the small traces of disaster seen in the Creation Disc's calculations were ignored.
"After the spiritual outburst, several key areas will be sealed off. Those who arrive later will find it nearly impossible to enter, unless they were there from the beginning."
Once the opportunity was confirmed, the court quickly staked its claim.
All resources within Ten Sun Cave-Heaven belonged to the state. How they were divided was up to the court.
Ordinary soldiers wouldn't stand a chance of reaping such benefits.
Even lower-ranking officials who stumbled upon valuable treasures would have to hand them over to the state in exchange for a mere token reward.
"I need to seize the initiative, but I can't do it alone."
"The Extreme Night Sea to the north, Inverted Peak Mountain to the east, Penglai Marsh to the west, and Crimson Lake to the south—these key areas must be explored. The spiritual energy they produce is either for lifespan or fortune!"
"The Ten Thousand Li Thunder Pool, Lava Plain, Heavenly Fire Path, and Gale Mountain Range focus more on treasures than spiritual blessings. Although less spiritual energy is produced there, the value of the treasures is immense."
"There are also a few regions where Seventh-Rank 'Primordial Seeds' will be born, a unique resource of Ten Sun Cave-Heaven."
"There are too many benefits for me to handle alone," Zhao Xing thought as he woke up from his dream. "I need allies."
"And not just any allies—I need people with both strong abilities and strong fortunes."
Despite being of the Upper Sixth Rank, in the face of such great opportunities, even if Zhao Xing managed to obtain treasures, he'd still be required to hand them over. Without connections, he could easily be expelled from prime areas.
And that's just in the "safe zones."
What about the unsafe zones?
In certain places, Emperor Jing, wanting to squeeze the most out of the nobles, had deliberately set a high price for entry, even placing Forgetfulness Stones in these regions, encouraging the nobles to fight amongst themselves.
Yet, despite the dangers, many noble heirs were still eager to enter.
Why? Because many aristocratic families, after several generations, faced a critical situation: to maintain certain privileges, they needed a new generation of talented descendants.
This brought up the unique nature of title inheritance: many titles did not pass on fortune, increase lifespan, or help with cultivation.
A title was not the same as an official position (except for Martial Marquises). Take Xia Jing for example. His father was a First-Class Marquis.
If he were to inherit, his title would drop to Second-Class Marquis, though he'd still be a Martial Marquis, and the court would arrange an official position for him.
In this case, even if Xia Jing were an ordinary person, he would be promoted to the proper Fifth Rank, with the power and fortune that came with it.
However, if Xia Jing failed to achieve merit and passed the title to his son, it would then drop to Third-Class Marquis.
At this point, the title wouldn't come with an official position or any fortune. The heir would only inherit the land and wealth.
And here lies the problem: with vast wealth but no strength or official position, the family becomes a fat target.
But there would still be a way up. Even without an official post, with the title of Marquis, one could still cultivate to the Fifth Rank. With that power, securing an official position or protecting the family's interests would be much easier, without needing to fight through the lower ranks of the civil or military systems.
In this regard, aristocratic families still had a significant advantage over commoners.
However, being a noble under Emperor Jing was no easy task. Opportunities like those in Ten Sun Cave-Heaven required a hefty price just for entry, and once inside, competitors could fight to the death.
But for those who succeeded, they would secure their family's legacy, even gaining new appointments.
Battlefield merit was one way to advance, but not everyone could take part in the Southern Barbarian War. Other opportunities had to be found.
"If Ten Sun Cave-Heaven produces great opportunities, the noble heirs will surely rush in."
"Whose coattails should I ride?" Zhao Xing pondered.
Lord Tian was not an option. Tian Yan was already advanced in years and had no significant official position. While he had connections, that wasn't the key to success here.
Strength mattered most, and Tian Yan likely had little interest in competing at this point.
Yang An? As a proper Fourth Rank general, Yang An would be too high up to involve himself in such matters.
Fan Zhaoli? The Dean of the Dili Academy had solid combat strength, but his rank was still lacking. Besides, his previous intervention was due to Tian Yan's influence, and he might not be willing to go against the aristocrats for Zhao Xing this time.
After much consideration, Zhao Xing settled on Liu Tianning.
Liu Tianning was a Fifth Rank official, capable of entering nearly all areas. As a member of the Military Realm's Inspection Division, he would likely be sent by the court to explore spiritual opportunities.
His combat strength was formidable, and as for his fortune? Zhao Xing hadn't yet had the chance to observe Liu Tianning's fortune, as his puppets didn't carry fortune, and there hadn't been time to check during their retreat.
But it couldn't be that bad. A man who would one day become a First-Class Shennong couldn't have poor fortune.
"It seems I'm getting more entangled with him despite my intentions to avoid it," Zhao Xing sighed. "The more benefits Liu Tianning brings me now, the more enemies he'll bring later."
But that was a problem for the future.
For now, Zhao Xing needed to seize this opportunity.
Immediately, he gathered his belongings and used the Earth Mirror to request an audience with Liu Tianning.
Upon receiving Liu Tianning's approval, he flew towards the Palace of Myriad Techniques.