After letting Shi Hongjiang know she was safe, Nan Zhi hung up the phone. A rustling sound followed as she changed into a spare set of clothes.
Her previous outfit was beyond salvage.
After the process of cleansing the essence and washing the marrow, the toxins expelled from her body had mixed with sweat and oils, hardening as they dried. The sight and smell were so revolting that she simply set the whole mess ablaze.
【Ding!】
【Ding!】
A long string of system notifications chimed in Nan Zhi's ear. She almost had to squint to read the rapidly refreshing information on the game panel.
【Congratulations to the cultivator "Nan Zhi" for successfully reaching Foundation Establishment!】
【Congratulations to the cultivator for achieving the achievement: "Foundation Establishment," obtaining Heavenly Treasure Tree Lottery Ticket ×2】
【Congratulations to the cultivator for achieving the achievement: "Lucky Soul (I)," obtaining Heavenly Treasure Tree Lottery Ticket ×3】
【Current Lottery Ticket count: 40】
【"Myriad Cultivation Arts" gameplay has been unlocked】
【Alchemy: Cultivators consume pills to achieve results naturally. Cultivators can unlock the "Alchemist" profession, collect pill recipes, refine pills, and use pills to kill.】
【Artifact Crafting: Heaven has flaws, and man has deficiencies; supplement them with tools. Cultivators can unlock the "Artifact Crafter" profession, use artifacts as weapons, and control artifacts to kill.】
【Talismans: A gentleman uses external objects; a talisman master uses borrowed incantations. Cultivators can unlock the "Talisman Master" profession, draw talismans, and use incantations to kill.】
【Formations: Formations are mysterious and ever-changing. Cultivators can unlock the "Formation Master" profession, outline the heavens and earth, and use incantations to kill.】
【Beast Taming: ...】
【Spirit Planting: ...】
【Spirit Music: ...】
【Dual Cultivation: ...】
...
【Divination: ...】
【Chess: ...】
【Nightmare Arts: ...】
...
...
Wait, did something scandalous just get mixed in there?
Nan Zhi was profoundly shocked.
Did cultivation really require mastering so much knowledge?
No wonder cultivators were often thousands of years old. If you weren't at least a few millennia old, you'd be too embarrassed to call yourself "Old Monster So-and-So" or "Ancestor This-and-That."
As for the primary ones—Alchemy, Artifact Crafting, Talismans, and Formations—only children chose. She wanted to learn them all!
She happened to have exactly forty Lottery Tickets. Didn't that mean she could do four ten-pulls?
A soul cursed with bad luck had nothing to fear!
Nan Zhi decisively opened the lottery page, spent her tickets, and did a ten-pull in one go:
【Yellow Lingzhi ×3, Yin Niangzi Brand Stinky Tofu ×2, 《Pill Recipe: Blood Supplementing Pill》 ×1, Yin Niangzi Brand Stinky Tofu ×6, Yin Niangzi Brand Stinky Tofu ×3, Yin Niangzi Brand Stinky Tofu ×3, Red Lingzhi ×1, Hemostatic Grass ×2, Yin Niangzi Brand Stinky Tofu ×3, Hemostatic Grass ×5】
The first round left Nan Zhi speechless.
What kind of person uses stinky tofu rewards as punctuation marks?
Yin Niangzi, be honest, are you a game sponsor?
Her current stockpile of stinky tofu was enough to last until the next Olympics!
Could it be that the ten points of Luck stat she lost were at work?
What a sin!
Nan Zhi stared at the group of faceless girls on the lottery panel, feeling as if she could see a hint of pity on their non-existent faces.
“I'm going all in. I don't believe a person can truly be this unlucky!”
As soon as she spoke, the treasure tree glowed, and a purple light seemed to shimmer:
【Paper Ingots ×10, Qi-Augmenting Pill ×1, Blood Supplementing Grass ×2, 《Hiding Art》 (blue quality) ×1, Rejuvenation Pills ×2, Paper Ingots ×5, Yin Niangzi Brand Stinky Tofu ×10, Hemostatic Grass ×5, Tiger Saliva Grass ×1, Hemostatic Grass ×2】
【Yin Niangzi Brand Stinky Tofu ×10, Azure Sea Sky Hairpin (purple quality) ×1, Hemostatic Grass ×5, Red Lingzhi ×6, Rejuvenation Pills ×2, Qi-Augmenting Pill ×2, West Sea Pearls ×10, Qi-Augmenting Pill ×1, 《Green Beetle Needle Art》 (gold quality) ×1, Qi-Augmenting Pill ×2】
【Qi-Augmenting Pill ×2, Azure Sea Sky Belt (purple quality) ×1, Hemostatic Grass ×5, Rejuvenation Pills ×3, Yellow Lingzhi ×5, Qi-Augmenting Pill ×6, 《Pill Recipe: Qi-Supplementing Pill》 ×1, Hemostatic Grass ×6, Yellow Lingzhi ×1】
A gold pull!
Nan Zhi jumped three feet high, grabbed Corn, and gave it a hard kiss. Only after the treasure-seeking mouse smeared her face with saliva did she dare to believe she had actually pulled a gold-quality technique book!
In her lifetime!
This was the very first time she had pulled a gold-quality item!
What was this?
A gold item?
No, this was the dignity she had lost as a cursed, unlucky soul!
Nan Zhi held the 《Green Beetle Needle Art》 with tears in her eyes, wanting to kowtow to the Heavenly Treasure Tree.
The green-clothed girls on the lottery page were so startled that they hurriedly covered their faces with their sleeves and hid among the leaves, only daring to peek at her quietly.
She must have gone mad.
...
...
Although Nan Zhi had chosen a remote bear cave for her Foundation Establishment and used the artifact gifted by Nun Miaoyun to protect her, some spiritual energy had still leaked out during the process.
Nourished by the spiritual energy for several days, the flowers, grass, and shrubs outside the bear cave were noticeably more vibrant and lush than the vegetation elsewhere.
It was already mid-October, yet the wild orchids and lilies in the mountains were in full bloom. Each flower was vividly colored and large, competing to blossom in a lively and boisterous display.
The trickling streams flowing from the cracks in the rocks carried a crisp chill, and a layer of white frost had formed on the stone walls near the water's surface.
An old, proud pine tree had seen its roots explode in growth over the past few days, somehow forcing out over a dozen new roots that gripped the stone wall firmly.
With clear mountain streams, the old pine offering longevity, and the lush greenery outside the cave, mist began to rise faintly.
If an ordinary person saw this, they would surely think it was an immortal's grotto.
As if a dozen thick filters had been applied to reality, this uninhabited place suddenly transformed into a blessed land from a myth.
The view was filled with pure green and clusters of flowers.
Nan Zhi was naturally startled by these changes.
She remembered that before she began her seclusion, the area around the bear cave had been quite bare.
The impact of spiritual energy on the natural environment was actually this significant?
She held her breath and concentrated, observing her surroundings closely, unable to stop herself from sighing in admiration.
So this was the world after Foundation Establishment.
In truth, the world was still the same world, but the things she could perceive had significantly increased.
The wind carried the scent of soil mixed with floral fragrances, and ripe wild fruits had fallen to the ground, giving off a faint alcoholic scent as they fermented.
About five hundred meters from the bear cave, a colony of ants worked diligently. The queen ant curled up in her underground palace, ruling over everything.
The tall trees were draped with the roots of strangler figs. These seemingly harmless vines were bit by bit stealing nutrients, sunlight, and rain to secure their own survival.
The undulating mountain ranges stretched endlessly. Under the cover of dense vegetation, a green python several meters long slithered along, slowly slipping into the water from a pebble beach.
The wind was cheering.
The birds were singing.
The foxes were hunting.
And Nan Zhi didn't need to be there in person to see it all.
“Is this the externalization of divine sense? But the radius of exploration seems to have a limit... What about Golden Core? Or Nascent Soul? As my cultivation gets higher, will the world I see become even more different?”
She slowly opened her eyes, feeling as if a boundless ambition were brewing in her chest, urging her to keep climbing higher and higher.
Before she could indulge in her reflections for long, Nan Zhi's sharp senses detected something wrong.
In such a remote place, a nature reserve where entry was prohibited—where did all these people come from?
Did the "wind that misses you" actually blow all the way to the middle of nowhere?
Rate on N.U.
