CHAPTER 33: WHAT EXACTLY IS A SECOND-CLASS OPPORTUNITY?

At that time, Lei Jun’s situation was that he stood among the mountains, with a great river right in front of him.

If he crossed the river and went forward, there was a green mountain ahead.

Turning back, it was a stretch of barren hills and wild wilderness.

It was at that moment that the glowing orb in Lei Jun’s mind appeared for the first time, offering him four paths,

[Moderately good lot, cross the river and head north, enter the mountains and journey on, traverse mountain after mountain, exit through the forest, obtain a Second-Grade Opportunity, but there may be karmic entanglements ahead, so act with caution, auspicious.]

[Perfectly neutral lot, turn south, go deep into the wild hills, be cut off from water, struggle to survive, finally be rescued but lose your freedom, there may also be karmic entanglements to come, so act with caution, neutral.]

[Moderately unlucky lot, follow the river westward, go against the current, receive a Fifth Grade Opportunity, but become a target for all sides, beset by dangers, inauspicious.]

[Worst lot, follow the river east, go with the current, seek your own death, certain doom, most inauspicious!]

Later, Lei Jun learned that he had actually fallen into an encirclement back then.

If he had turned and headed south, he would have run into the convoy of a great family clan.

Had he gone west, upriver against the current, he would have encountered the sinister Worm Master from the Southern Wilderness.

Going east, following the river down, he would have met a Celestial Master Mansion talisman-instructed disciple who was hunting down Worm Masters.

If Lei Jun had taken any of these directions, they would have matched perfectly with the destinies foretold by the perfectly neutral, moderately unlucky, and worst lots.

The worst lot.

Because he had crossed over into this world with his physical body in such a unique way, he appeared to others as some kind of super-poisonous freak.

If at that moment he’d run into a Celestial Master Mansion disciple already chasing after Worm Masters, the person might have just dealt with him, Lei, without a second thought.

His journey would have ended before it even began, dying without a reason or closure.

The moderately unlucky lot.

There, he would have encountered that Southern Wilderness Worm Master.

*To the red-robed Taoist, he was a source of disaster, but to the Worm Master, he might have looked like a treasure.*

But then, that Worm Master was being hunted by Celestial Master Mansion disciples for experimenting on villages with worms and slaughtering without remorse.

*If Lei Jun fell into his hands, who knew how the man would treat such a rare gem?*

Assuming the Worm Master would actually be good to Lei Jun, chances were, his first move would be to rush Lei Jun back to the Southern Wilderness headquarters.

But along the way, they’d likely attract loads of righteous masters trying to rid the world of evil, or perhaps even other evil sect cultivators, all wanting to fight over Lei Jun, this prized freak.

So the fate would be just as the moderately unlucky lot predicted, becoming everyone’s target, beset by dangers from every side, and his life could go at any time.

The perfectly neutral lot.

Here, he’d meet the convoy of a powerful family clan.

They might not covet him like the Southern Wilderness Worm Master, or want to just straight up take him out like the Celestial Master Mansion disciples.

But it was possible they’d also value Lei Jun for his "rare poison," and so would temporarily restrict his freedom, waiting for a chance to use him as a living weapon.

Lei Jun would be safe for now, but he’d lose his freedom, and who knew what would come next.

As for the moderately good lot at the time...

Go forward, enter the green mountain.

That was what Lei Jun chose.

While in the mountains, Lei Jun hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

*Only at the top of Green Mountain, there seemed to be a gentle breeze brushing by, and he felt as if he had gone through some invisible baptism.*

*His body and soul felt cleansed and purified.*

*He didn’t notice any real change, but he just felt like he was reborn, completely renewed.*

At the time, Lei Jun had really searched around the mountain, but didn’t find anything else, so in the end he could only head down.

Then, after crossing Green Mountain, he ran into Xu Yuanzhen.

Xu Yuanzhen, a fellow Celestial Master Mansion disciple, didn’t kill Lei Jun, the poisonous Blue Star transmigrant.

This wasn’t because she had such an unusual personality.

It was because, after crossing Green Mountain, Lei Jun no longer carried all kinds of poisons within him.

Later, after he ran into the same Celestial Master Mansion talisman-instructed disciple who had been hunting the Worm Master, that person didn’t spot anything off about him either.

Only then did Lei Jun understand that something really had happened on Green Mountain.

The breeze at the peak had purified the poison in his body.

It was precisely because of that, that Lei Jun later had the chance to return to Dragon Tiger Mountain with Xu Yuanzhen, and join the Celestial Master Mansion.

Looking back now, Lei Jun often wondered, that first time he escaped danger and turned harm into fortune, what exactly was the Second-Grade Opportunity that the moderately good lot promised?

The Second-Grade Opportunity was the highest level of fortune Lei Jun had ever drawn, but also the most mysterious.

*Was it meeting Xu Yuanzhen later and getting the chance to join the Daoist Holy Land, Celestial Master Mansion?*

*Or was it that breeze at Green Mountain’s peak?*

Xu Yuanzhen rarely felt a connection with anyone, but she ended up bringing Lei Jun back to the mountain.

*Did that special affinity also begin with that mysterious breeze?*

Lei Jun always meant to go back to that green mountain and check things out after his cultivation got a little higher.

*Although Xu Yuanzhen appeared to have already checked once, and found nothing.*

Lei Jun pulled himself out of his wandering memories and turned to Tang Xiaotang in front of him.

"Back then, that Worm Master slaughtered village after village, leaving a swath of desolation behind him,"

The tall girl said, "I heard from elder sister that your hometown might have been a victim as well."

Lei Jun said, "I hadn’t started cultivating back then, so I wasn’t too clear about it. Looking back, that’s probably what happened. Luckily, that Worm Master was killed on the spot by Elder Sister."

To this world, he was a shadow dweller—no official identity at all.

His origins were all made up offhand by Elder Sister Xu Yuanzhen.

But luckily, there was someone ready to take the fall.

They threw all the blame on the head of that Worm Master. Since he died, there would be no evidence, so he wasn’t afraid of anyone tracing things back.

Tang Xiaotang said, "Yeah, Elder Sister already took out the real culprit. But this trip out, I still managed to track down a few Worm Masters with the Wu Witchcraft Bloodline in the Southern Wilderness."

She waved her hand, "Funny enough, just like in your story, at first I only found two Fourth Heavenly Layer juniors. I got rid of them without thinking.

"Then once I was done with the small fries, a real old monster of Sixth Heavenly Layer level showed up, so I took care of him, too.

Unfortunately, there weren’t any older ancient relics after that. I looked around a little more, but didn’t find anything else."

Lei Jun glanced at Tang Xiaotang, more surprised than anything else.

*It wasn’t because he doubted her strength, but because he didn’t expect her to go after Worm Masters on purpose.*

Tang Xiaotang caught Lei Jun staring, misunderstood, and waved her hand,

"Relax, first off, those bug-playing bastards were evil to the core and killed untold people, so they absolutely had it coming. Second, I didn’t even make a move, those two Fourth Heavenly Layer Worm Masters came to mess with me first..."

Lei Jun straightened his expression, "Little Sister, what I mean is—thank you, you really went out of your way."

What started as a single offhand comment, Tang Xiaotang took seriously enough to act on. Lei Jun couldn’t laugh at her for it; he actually felt grateful.

"This is the first time you’ve talked to me like that."

Tang Xiaotang looked a little surprised. "Back when it was the Night Wind Stone, you didn’t..."

*She was sensitive to genuine kindness as much as malice.*

Lei Jun was very candid. "The Night Wind Stone was already yours, but it happened to suit me, and you generously gave it. Of course I was grateful. This time, though, you went out of your way to remember my business, so I’m even more grateful."

*There’s a difference between simply showing kindness and genuinely meaning it.*

Tang Xiaotang was taken aback, then started stammering, "Um, don’t worry about it, it’s just like with the Night Wind Stone. From now on... if I ever need..."

She perked up again, "Wait, no! What could ever happen to me? Even if something did, I’d handle it myself!"

She said it like that, but her smile was as bright as a flower—absolutely stunning.

Lei Jun smiled gently and, not pursuing the earlier topic, followed Tang Xiaotang’s lead, "Little Sister, I’ve always admired your skills."

Suddenly, something occurred to him. "Oh, right, Little Sister, your root bone is the legendary Immortal Body, but what about your comprehension?"

Tang Xiaotang grinned, "Trying to find your confidence here? I haven’t brought this up much before, so I wouldn’t completely crush you guys."

Lei Jun’s brows rose. "So?"

In his eyes, it was as if a phantom little tail was wagging behind Tang Xiaotang, proud and smug,

"Of course it’s Serene Insight!"

Comprehension has five basic ranks: lower, moderately unlucky, middle, moderately good, upper.

Above upper, there are the so-called prodigy gifts of legend.

Outstanding.

Clear Insight.

Serene Insight.

Root bone includes Immortal Body; comprehension has Serene Insight—both considered the very best talents in the world.

Tang Xiaotang had both the Immortal Root Bone and Serene Comprehension. No wonder the Celestial Master Mansion made special exceptions for her again and again.

At that moment, Lei Jun felt, besides thinking *so it really is as expected*, mostly a sense of calm acceptance.

*He wondered, it was possible to raise one’s root bone; could there also be some opportunity to improve one’s comprehension?*