189: The echo of good fortune

A figure was shoved and pushed out of the Chun Lai Tower entrance by the madam.

"Tch, you have no eye for Talent. It's your good fortune that I even came here!" the young man grumbled, rubbing his shoulder in frustration.

But the next second, his brows knitted together, and he muttered to himself, "That's not right... am I really having a streak of bad luck? Impossible, absolutely impossible! But I haven't even been able to pick up a single copper coin when I go out lately..."

"Heavens, could my Talent... really be fading away?!"

Zhang Sheng, standing to the side, let his gaze inadvertently sweep over the youth.

He was of medium build, wearing old, faded brown clothes that were absurdly clean, without even a speck of dust on them.

His features exuded a lazy, auspicious air, and the corners of his mouth were habitually turned up in a playful, irreverent smile. Most distinctive were his eyes—warm and gentle like amber, yet occasionally, a sharp, starlike cold glint would flash from the depths of his gaze.

The aura he radiated inexplicably made one feel he was easy to approach.

Suddenly—

"BOOM!!!" A deafening roar tore through the peace of the neighborhood!

Zhang Sheng whipped his head around, his gaze instantly locked onto the explosion at Chun Lai Tower.

He saw that a massive hole had been forcibly blasted into the exterior wall of the third floor of Chun Lai Tower!

Debris and masonry flew everywhere, and amidst the swirling dust, a massive, charred-black tentacle slowly emerged from the breach!

The surface of the tentacle was covered in spiderweb-like scarlet patterns, resembling flowing lava—ghastly and piercing to the eyes.

Even more hair-raising was the viscous black slime constantly secreting and dripping from the tentacle's surface, making a hissing, corrosive sound.

The extended tentacle was at least seven or eight meters long, thrashing and lashing out wildly in mid-air!

Immediately after, a second, third, fourth... more pitch-black tentacles with the same scarlet patterns surged out from the hole like vines from Hell!

A suffocatingly powerful Spiritual Pressure, mixed with a thick, ominous aura, erupted and spread like a tangible tide!

This might was in no way inferior to any Supernatural Power Realm Cultivator Zhang Sheng had ever encountered!

"What the Hell is this thing?!" Zhang Sheng's pupils contracted sharply.

The aura was far too bizarre; it was neither the Spiritual Qi fluctuations of a Cultivator nor the ferocity of a Vicious Beast from the wilderness, but carried a nauseating, purely blasphemous sensation toward life.

The next second, he witnessed a scene that churned his stomach: a naked female Cultivator was struck by one of the tentacles, which pierced through her like lightning, pulling her out along with it!

She didn't even have time to scream before her body withered at a visible speed, her entire life essence sucked dry in an instant!

Then, the tentacle lashed out violently, slamming the mummified remains down onto the street below—

"Bang!" The body burst apart on the bluestone pavement, turning into a puddle of mangled flesh and gore!

Zhang Sheng's scalp tingled; he no longer cared about the rules against freely using Divine Sense within Tianxing City and immediately swept his powerful Divine Thought into the interior of Chun Lai Tower!

Wherever his Divine Sense reached, the building was already a scene of carnage. Several Supernatural Power Realm experts were being forced into a continuous retreat before this terrifying monster!

Zhang Sheng's Divine Sense finally pierced through the chaos, barely managing to "see" the monster's true form: at its core was a massive, writhing ball of flesh covered in foul-smelling pustules and long black thorns!

Between the gaps in the pustules, one could faintly discern a twisted, deformed humanoid outline.

Around the flesh ball, over a dozen massive tentacles wrapped in black-red patterns danced frantically, like a meat grinder of death!

Run!

Alarm bells rang in Zhang Sheng's heart, and he prepared to turn and flee without hesitation.

"Fellow Daoist! Help me—!!!" A shrill scream pierced the clamor!

A figure was sprinting for his life in Zhang Sheng's direction! And behind him, that disgusting tentacle monster was waving several giant limbs, in hot pursuit!

The person approaching was none other than the youth who had just been kicked out by the madam!

"Damn it! Stop leading that thing toward me!" Zhang Sheng was so angry he nearly cursed.

Seeing a terrifying tentacle carrying a foul stench about to wrap around the youth's waist, the youth turned pale, scared out of his wits, and screamed via voice transmission to Zhang Sheng with all his might: "Fellow Daoist! Whatever trump cards you have, save me! I have a Good Fortune Talent! Save my life, and I will immediately bestow a blessing upon you! No deception!"

Lu Shi Qi truly felt like dying. He had clearly awakened a Good Fortune Talent, yet he had been plagued by bad luck lately, even choking on cold water!

Facing this unspeakable monster, seeing Zhang Sheng was like grabbing onto the last straw of hope.

"Good Fortune Talent? Is that for real?" Doubts swirled in Zhang Sheng's mind, but in a flash, a thought crossed his mind—what if it's true? I'll bet on it!

Within his Sea of Consciousness, an intangible yet terrifyingly concentrated Soul-Startling Thorn instantly took shape!

Now!

The Soul-Startling Thorn silently sank into the monster's spiritual core.

The moment it pierced through, Zhang Sheng's Divine Sense captured a sliver of information—the monster's Soul core still contained fragments of a human Soul! They had long since been completely devoured by endless madness and desire, leaving only violent instinct!

"ROAR!!!" The intense pain from the Soul-Startling Thorn caused the monster's massive body to stiffen suddenly, and all its thrashing tentacles froze in an instant!

In the nick of time!

Zhang Sheng moved like lightning, grabbing the stunned Lu Shi Qi by the collar, and his Spiritual Qi erupted beneath his feet!

The two transformed into a blurred streak of light, instantly vanishing from the spot at a speed that surpassed the limits of the naked eye!

Ten kilometers away, in a secluded alleyway.

"Whew—! Ha... ha... I knew it! My luck hasn't run out yet!" Lu Shi Qi slumped to the ground, panting heavily, patting his chest with lingering fear.

After catching his breath, he finally saw the face of his savior and his eyes lit up: "Many thanks to Fellow Daoist Zhang Sheng for saving my life! I am Lu Shi Qi! If you hadn't acted just now, I, Lu Shi Qi, would have been done for at the hands of that 'Void Demon' today!"

"Void Demon?!"

Zhang Sheng suddenly remembered that before departing, he had crammed information about Void Demons at Qinglan Academy!

Every Void Demon possessed the bizarre ability to perform Possession on Cultivators. Those who were possessed would not be fully controlled initially; instead, their deepest desires would be constantly amplified until they completely succumbed, mutating into mindless monsters, with their strength skyrocketing several times over!

This intelligence was classified information that only Qinglan Academy Disciples were qualified to access. The one before him, which had completely lost its reason, was, according to the data, only the lowest type.

Zhang Sheng steadied his mind and looked at Lu Shi Qi with a sharp gaze: "Fellow Daoist Lu, that Good Fortune Talent you mentioned earlier... is it true?"

Lu Shi Qi immediately straightened his back and patted his chest in assurance: "It's the real deal! But please, Fellow Daoist Zhang, keep this a secret!" He lowered his voice, acting a bit mysterious, "Ever since I awakened this Talent, kicking Spirit Stones while walking, passing assessments easily without effort, and danger automatically avoiding me have all been daily occurrences! See, haven't I turned misfortune into fortune and met a noble person like you?"

The corner of Zhang Sheng's mouth twitched, and he mercilessly exposed him: "Heh, if you're so lucky, how did you get kicked out by the madam? And get chased and chewed on by that thing?"

"Uh..." Lu Shi Qi was instantly rendered speechless, his face turning beet red.

Zhang Sheng shook his head, too lazy to continue bickering with this guy who spouted nonsense, and turned to walk straight toward the city gate. He was still too naive to have actually believed his nonsense.

"Hey! Fellow Daoist Zhang Sheng! Don't go! I really didn't lie to you!" Lu Shi Qi scrambled up and chased after him persistently, shouting, "My Talent is 'Echoes of Good Fortune'! A Divine-Grade Talent! Do you understand how valuable that is?!"

Seeing Zhang Sheng didn't stop and had already walked out of the city gate, Lu Shi Qi followed him out, acting as if he was determined to stick to him: "Fellow Daoist Zhang Sheng! I've figured it out! I, Lu Shi Qi, will never doubt my Talent! Fate brought me to meet you, so you must be my noble person! Definitely!"

Zhang Sheng was annoyed beyond measure and whipped around, the words "idiot" almost slipping out.

However, the moment his gaze locked onto Lu Shi Qi!

His Spirit Eye clearly saw that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi particles around Lu Shi Qi's body were being absorbed and refined into his body at an extremely efficient, almost predatory speed!

A Perfected State Cultivation Technique?! Zhang Sheng's heart was violently shaken!

This was the first time, other than himself, that he had seen someone capable of cultivating a basic Qi Refining technique to such a legendary Realm!

What surprised him even more was that the Spiritual Qi within Lu Shi Qi surged like a running furnace, containing terrifying power, yet the Spiritual Pressure he exuded was pitifully weak, completely disproportionate! This was absolutely not normal!

Although this guy only displayed the True Fetus Realm, he was definitely not comparable to an ordinary True Fetus Realm Cultivator!

Zhang Sheng remained calm, his Divine Sense instantly sinking into the "omniscient guide" jade talisman he carried with him.

"Lu Shi Qi... 516th on the fledgling tiger ranking!"

The image that appeared in the jade talisman was not the face with the auspicious air before him; he had clearly disguised himself.

"Good grief... so you're a big fish hiding in deep water!" Zhang Sheng's vigilance instantly maxed out, his eyes sharp as knives as he stared at Lu Shi Qi: "Fellow Daoist Lu, a great expert ranked in the five hundreds on the fledgling tiger ranking, is it fun to put on this act in front of me?"

Lu Shi Qi, having had his identity exposed, showed no embarrassment on his face. Instead, he chuckled and said frankly: "Zhang Sheng, since I gave you my real name, I didn't intend to keep hiding things. My 'Divine Embryo' Cultivation Technique is quite special, and at this stage... I really can't beat an ordinary True Fetus Realm Cultivator!"

He changed the subject and patted his chest, "But don't you worry! Once this 'low period' of mine passes and my strength recovers, I will definitely give you a big 'Good Fortune' gift package! I keep my word!"

Strangely enough, facing this guy who spouted nonsense and played the pig to eat the Tiger, Zhang Sheng inexplicably couldn't summon much disgust. Lu Shi Qi stuck to Zhang Sheng like a piece of chewing gum, grinning and following behind him.

They hadn't walked far when—Boom! A violent and ferocious Spiritual Pressure descended like a mountain, locking onto Zhang Sheng tightly!

A tower-like, burly man blocked their path. The newcomer had a face full of flab, a massive physique, and a face full of curly whiskers; it was none other than the expert on the divine ability ranking—Tiger.

His eyes burned with raging fury: "Zhang Sheng! I've finally waited for you!"