"This spirit stone can be yours—if you answer me honestly," Su Chen said calmly.
The boy swallowed hard. His first thought was that this young master definitely wasn't a good person. But the offer was too tempting to pass up. Opportunities to earn that much in one go didn't come around often—if ever.
He nodded cautiously. "What do you want to know, Young Master?"
Su Chen's tone remained flat. "Do you know someone named Ye Chen from the Thousand Peak Pavilion?"
The boy blinked, then scratched his head. "Ye Chen… Ye Chen… Oh! Yeah, I know him."
He leaned in slightly and lowered his voice. "He's the son of the Great Elder of Thousand Peak Pavilion. Everyone knows that. But to be honest, his talent isn't even close to the Holy Son of the sect. They say he wastes his days drinking and chasing women—completely ruining himself. Total trash. But no one dares to say it out loud because of his father's status."
Su Chen raised an eyebrow slightly, then gave a faint nod. "I see."
Without another word, he flicked the high-grade spirit stone toward the boy and turned away, tent in hand, walking deeper into the encampment.
The boy caught the spirit stone like it was a priceless treasure, eyes wide. He immediately stuffed it into his robes and glanced around nervously, making sure no one had seen the transaction.
Meanwhile, Su Chen moved calmly, scanning the area. Before long, he spotted an open patch of ground beneath a tall tree—quiet, shaded, and just isolated enough to avoid attention.
"This'll do," he muttered, making his way toward it.
Su Chen unfolded the tent. Its fabric was dyed in shades that matched the forest, making it perfect for concealment. After spreading it out on the ground, he pressed his palm against it and channeled a bit of his Qi into the formation seal.
The tent responded instantly, absorbing the Qi and expanding like an inflating balloon. Within seconds, it transformed into a full-sized shelter. Su Chen stepped inside.
The interior was surprisingly spacious—far larger than it appeared from the outside. There was even a soft pillow laid neatly in one corner, along with a faint spiritual warmth in the air.
He activated the tent's internal formations with a simple gesture, ensuring both defensive and concealment arrays were in place. Then, with a sigh, he removed his outer robe and stored it in his system space.
Finally, he lay down on the soft floor, resting his head on the pillow, and stared up at the ceiling in silence, his thoughts already drifting.
"Huh..." Su Chen exhaled softly.
"If that woman from the Upper Realm knows about the Sacred Heart Lotus, then everything starts to make sense. It would explain how a supposed tomb of a God Transformation Realm expert suddenly appeared in this forest out of nowhere."
He frowned slightly.
"But her intentions don't seem that simple. If she truly had the strength to fabricate a fake God Transformation tomb, then she'd likely have the power to seize the Sacred Heart Lotus on her own. So why go through all this trouble? Why create such a spectacle and draw in cultivators from across the Central Continent under the guise of a so-called God Transformation inheritance?"
"But this has nothing to do with me," Su Chen muttered to himself. "Still, for safety's sake, I should learn the Five Elements Escape Technique."
With that, he sat cross-legged and reached into his storage space, retrieving a five-colored jade tablet.
"Huh," he murmured, examining it briefly before channeling his full strength into it—just like he had with the Wood Sovereign Script.
Crack!
The jade shattered cleanly in his hands, just as he expected. A swirl of five-colored smoke rose from the fragments and drifted directly into his forehead, transferring the technique's knowledge straight into his mind.
Whoosh.
He remained seated in a lotus position, eyes closed, as he began to comprehend the new insights. A profound understanding of the five elements—how to sense, manipulate, and escape using them—began to take root in his consciousness, as if he had personally trained in them for years.
Unaware of time passing, Su Chen sat in deep meditation. Five hours slipped by unnoticed, and the sun had already set by the time he slowly opened his eyes.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"This technique... it's basically a cheat code," he muttered.
"Hmm...Even though I want to test this technique, this definitely isn't the place for it," Su Chen muttered.
He closed his eyes and activated a basic sensory technique to scan the surrounding area—checking for any danger or unusual activity.
But the moment his spiritual sense spread out…
"Annn... Annnn… ghop… ghop…"
His face twitched.
From nearly every other tent nearby came suspicious noises. Rhythmic. Repetitive. Moaning.
"…What the hell?" Su Chen blinked, stunned. "Are they here for the tomb or on their damn honeymoon?"
He instantly cut off the technique like his ears had been burned.
"Forget danger. The real threat is mental trauma…"
Rubbing his temples, he lay back down on the soft bedding, sighing deeply.
"For the first time in two lives… I actually feel the pain of being single."
He stared at the ceiling of the tent, defeated.
"…It's fine. It's fine. Single life is freedom. No one nagging you. You don't need to take anyone responsibility…"
He paused.
"…It's totally fine…"
With that, Su Chen turned to the side, sulking slightly as he closed his eyes.
Meanwhile, Su Chen, who was sleeping peacefully inside his tent, was suddenly disturbed by a sharp, repetitive noise echoing in his mind.
Ding… Ding… Ding…
"System, shut up, you son of a bitch… let me sleep…" he mumbled groggily, half-buried in his blanket like a corpse in hibernation.
The system, of course, did not shut up.
The dinging continued relentlessly, like a rooster with a grudge.
"Fuck… fine!" Su Chen cursed under his breath. In the end, he was forced to wake up—not willingly, but spiritually defeated. Still half-asleep, he didn't sit up. With his eyes half-closed, he glanced at the faint, translucent red screen hovering in front of him.
At first, he thought the red color was just a blur caused by sleep. He gathered a trace of qi to clear his mind and brushed away the haze.
But the screen remained red.
His expression turned more serious.
This wasn't one of the usual choices. It was different—a warning.
And that made him pause.
Then, narrowing his eyes, he focused on the screen and began reading it slowly.
The letters were clear and sharp, glowing faintly in the dim light of the tent.
[Ding! Host, warning!]
[Because you have deviated from the path of the "Son of Luck" and chosen the route of an outsider, the balance of heavenly fortune has been disrupted.]
[As a result, in the places you once influenced, your absence will no longer suppress fate. Multiple new Sons of Luck are being born in your stead.]
[This will lead to more trouble in the future, so proceed with caution.]
[To assist you, the system has unlocked a new feature: Son of Luck Detection. You can now view this in your status panel.]
[Good luck, Host. You're going to need it.]
After reading the message, Su Chen's face twitched slightly, and then he let out a low chuckle.
"Heh… this damn Heaven really wants free laborers, huh?" he muttered with a smirk. "…But what's that got to do with me?"
He stretched lazily and yawned.
"I'm not a villain… I'll just sit back and enjoy the show. Watching those so-called chosen ones and future villains tear each other apart? Now that's entertainment."
His grin widened.
"And with this new system function, I can avoid them even better... perfect."
Content with the outcome, he pulled the blanket back over himself and sank into the same sleeping position.
"Alright... back to sleep."
And just like that, Su Chen drifted off again, as if the world wasn't about to descend into chaos.