Lei Jun read the lot's fortune and, showing no change of expression, steadily stepped through the portal gleaming midair.
The four lots, all entangled with both auspiciousness and misfortune.
Some concealed luck within peril, others concealed peril within luck.
Some could turn bad luck into good, some meant inescapable doom.
Lei Jun also noticed another point,
It was best to adapt to the circumstances.
It was forbidden to act blindly or rigidly.
It seemed to suggest that, due to some reason, the environment of Cloud Sea Immortal Pond might have become even more unpredictable, the changes more violent and extreme.
Not only would Wang Guiyuan's experience from a few years ago prove useless, even the latest tricks some had picked up, might now be outdated, too… Lei Jun gazed at Li Ming's figure ahead of him.
Having stepped into the Cloud Sea Immortal Realm, nothing but dense white clouds met the eye, making it hard to tell direction.
"Everyone, stop and gather. In a moment, follow me," Li Ming's voice came.
"Wait for me!"
At that moment, someone suddenly shouted from behind, then a figure rushed through the portal into the Small Cave Heaven.
Lei Jun looked back. The newcomer was also a yellow-robed Taoist, who appeared about the same age as Li Ming, with handsome features—he had a noble Taoist bearing, but also a slight scholarly elegance.
Li Ming came to greet him, "Fang, you've returned to the mountain? I thought you'd miss the opening of the Cloud Sea Immortal Pond this time."
The yellow-robed Taoist smiled and said, "Missed it a few times already—this time I had to catch up, no matter what. Don't worry, after getting back, I've already reported to Senior Brother and several Elders. They gave temporary approval to add me in."
Hearing how Li Ming addressed him, then from their conversation, Lei Jun recalled who the young Taoist was.
Fang Jian.
The fourth direct disciple of the current Celestial Master Li.
If one didn't count Tang Xiaotang's special case, Fang Jian was now the youngest disciple under the current Celestial Master.
Whether his luck was good or bad, it was hard to say.
Good because the current Celestial Master entered long-term seclusion not long after taking him in, unlike Tang Xiaotang, who arrived late and had to wait until today.
Bad because shortly after Fang Jian joined, the Celestial Master went into retreat, so he hadn't received much personal guidance from him.
Also, because the Celestial Master secluded himself right after Fang Jian joined, among the four direct disciples, the first three had all been bestowed with their talismans, while only Fang Jian was still a transmission disciple.
Fortunately, just like Tang Xiaotang enjoyed special exceptions, Fang Jian, as a bona fide direct disciple, had no shortage of other teachers and elders to teach him on the Celestial Master's behalf. His cultivation had never been delayed, nor had he ever lacked in resources or special treatment.
His absence from previous Cloud Sea Immortal Pond rituals was purely coincidental—he just happened not to be on the mountain or was in seclusion each time.
"If Brother Fang wants to participate, there's nothing wrong with that."
After exchanging greetings with Fang Jian, Li Ming then closed the Small Cave Heaven's portal and introduced the other new disciples.
Fang Jian displayed no airs, appearing both cultured and easygoing.
After everyone properly exchanged greetings, the experienced Li Ming took the lead, guiding the group through layers of heavy clouds.
"Oh, I nearly forgot—something important happened during my trip off the mountain."
Fang Jian walked alongside Li Ming, his expression suddenly growing more serious, "After returning, I reported it to all the elders. I trust it'll soon be conveyed to all disciples. You'll get notified when you return."
The group looked at him curiously.
Fang Jian spoke slowly, "While out traveling, I encountered some people from the Heretical Path. They'd created an evil-type spirit talisman which they called the Banishing Gold Talisman."
Banishing Gold Talisman… all the Celestial Master Mansion disciples in the room instantly paid full attention.
As the name implied, everyone's first association was with their own illustrious Golden Barrier Talisman.
Meeting their gazes, Fang Jian nodded in confirmation,
"Yes, this Banishing Gold Talisman was actually made to crack our sect's Golden Barrier Talisman!
One of the brothers who traveled out with me got caught off guard—the Golden Barrier Talisman was broken, and the Heretical Path demon at the same cultivation level managed to injure him."
The surroundings instantly fell silent.
A cluster of true inheritance disciples from the Celestial Master Mansion looked at each other, their expressions all different.
Lei Jun let out a slow breath.
*That moderately unlucky lot from earlier, had now come true.*
*The Celestial Master Mansion's Golden Barrier Talisman, really had been specifically targeted and broken through by an enemy.*
*Imagine disciples who'd relied so heavily on its defense, having their barrier instantly breached during a real fight—what a shock, what humiliation that must have been.*
*That single instant of failure could decide victory, defeat, or even life and death.*
*Many disciples had chosen the Golden Barrier Talisman for their life-bound talisman art, but the worst for them was yet to come.*
"The Golden Barrier Talisman has over a thousand years of history. It's never been flawless, but it's always been refined and made better. For hundreds of years, no one at the same level has ever broken through it—so how could this suddenly…"
Someone finally broke the silence, Li Ying's face unpleasant.
Li Ming drew a deep breath, "Brother Fang and the others reported it quickly. Since the elders already know, they'll definitely find a way to fix and improve it soon. Don't worry."
He glanced at his sister, and Li Ying lowered her head at his words without speaking again.
*Li Ming's own mood actually wasn't any better.*
*Both he and his sister had chosen the Golden Barrier Talisman for their life-bound arts!*
*Others faced with the Banishing Gold Talisman could claim not to rely on Golden Barrier Talismans, and use other spirit talismans instead.*
*But for Celestial Master Mansion disciples whose main talisman skill was Golden Barrier, it was like having an arm cut off.*
*It would even hold back their cultivation going forward.*
*Even if the elders managed to rework and patch up the Golden Barrier Talisman, Li Ming and Li Ying would still have to spend extra time and effort to relearn and refine their life-bound arts.*
*Of course, many others would suffer the same fate, not just the two of them.*
But…
*As soon as he heard the news, Li Ming's eyes scanned the crowd.*
*As one of the standouts among this year's new transmission disciples, his list of people to pay attention to was hardly short.*
Chen Yi and Lei Jun were obvious enough.
*What especially made Li Ming frown was that both of them, after hearing about the Banishing Gold Talisman, stayed rather calm.*
*Their chosen lifebound skills probably didn't include the Golden Barrier Talisman at all!*
Shangguan Hong was also here.
He'd previously been punished with confinement for mistakenly stepping into forbidden ground, which had set back his training.
But after several months, he had managed to catch up, successfully reaching Foundation Establishment just this month.
He'd achieved it later than expected, but still deserved his reputation as a prodigy.
*Li Ming took some solace in the fact that, although Shangguan Hong's reaction to the Banishing Gold Talisman news was fairly restrained, his expression had flickered for a moment all the same, and though he hid it quickly, Li Ming didn't miss it.*
The girl named Guo Yan wasn't as high-profile as Chen Yi or Shangguan Hong.
She'd been apprenticed to Elder Hu, who'd brought her here to Dragon Tiger Mountain. Her Master wasn't as highly ranked as Lei Jun's Master Yuan Mobai.
*Among this transmission class's standout disciples, she was easily the most low-key.*
But Guo Yan herself was anything but ordinary. Like Lei Jun, Li Ying, and Chen Yi, she was endowed with a spiritual body above top-tier root bone. She, too, had already achieved Foundation Establishment this spring after the ceremony.
*When she heard about the Banishing Gold Talisman, her brows knit instantly.*
*Li Ming saw all of this, one by one.*
He said nothing more, leading everyone through the thick mists to the center of the Small Cave Heaven.
The scene that met Lei Jun and the others was magnificent, even uncanny.
The Cloud Sea Immortal Pond was less a pond than a vast lake.
Moreover—resembling mountains—the lake was divided into three tiers, all suspended in midair, with hot steam billowing upwards.
Each tier of this vast lake was itself made up of numerous interconnected smaller lakes.
This made it seem like a layered fairyland, networks of cloud and water separating yet merging the tiers together.
Lei Jun looked upward, seeing only white clouds cloaking the highest reaches, mysterious and ethereal.
This was the Cloud Sea Immortal Pond. The uppermost was pure sea of clouds, and beneath, three Immortal Ponds: Upper, Middle, and Lower… Lei Jun compared what he saw to the four lots in his mind.
At this moment, Li Ming began to speak,
"Before coming, I'm sure your teachers all warned you: though the water of the Immortal Pond nourishes, it may also carry hidden risks,
At present, the tier most suitable for baptism and cultivation is the one in the middle—the Middle Immortal Pond,
The lowermost, the Lower Immortal Pond, due to its long age, is now lacking Spiritual Energy,
The very top, the Upper Immortal Pond…"
Li Ming lifted his head, glancing at the Upper Immortal Pond. Here, he paused for a moment.
His eyes flickered over his sister Li Ying, then he went on,
"…The Upper Immortal Pond is currently especially dangerous. The Spiritual Energy and pond water are both too intense, enough to burn you. No one should set foot there lightly."
Chen Yi noticed the odd look in Li Ming's eyes. He outwardly remained unaffected, but inwardly was thinking.
Lei Jun stood stock-still, as steady as a mountain.