Chapter Three: Golden Fortune

"I am actually breaking through to the Soul Formation stage!"

Watching the purple lightning filling the sky, Chen Xuan felt a surge of shock. Due to his limited aptitude, his cultivation had long been stuck at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, unable to cross the threshold into the Soul Formation realm. Now, having received the Immortal Spiritual Root from the system, his aptitude had improved, allowing him to shatter the shackles of his cultivation and welcome the Soul Formation lightning tribulation. Chen Xuan did not dare to be negligent and immediately exerted all his strength to face the tribulation.

A few moments later, the lightning dispersed. An astonishing aura erupted from Chen Xuan's body; he had successfully entered the Soul Formation stage. A look of joy appeared on his face. The stages of cultivation were: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Formation, Dao Enlightenment, Ascension, and Immortality. Today brought a double blessing: not only had he driven away the parasite Ye Xueyan, but he had also obtained an Immortal Spiritual Root and advanced his cultivation.

However, Chen Xuan did not become arrogant. The cultivation world was filled with countless hidden experts, and one never knew if a "pig eating the tiger" might be lurking nearby. Furthermore, because of Ye Xueyan, the Xuan Dan Sect had offended almost every notable sect in the cultivation world. He could be besieged at any moment. If he wanted to survive, he needed to keep increasing his power.

Host: Chen Xuan
Cultivation: Early Soul Formation
Spiritual Root: Immortal-grade All-Element Spiritual Root
Physique: None
Techniques: Xuan Dan Scripture (Heaven-grade), Fire Bathing Art (Heaven-grade)
Divine Ability: Eye of Fortune
Finger x1
Items: Blood Essence Pill x1, Mysterious-grade Gourd x1, Space Ring
Filial Piety Points: 0
System Mission: Receive a tribute from a child of destiny with orange luck or higher. Reward: System Mall.

Looking at his inventory, Chen Xuan was speechless. As a dignified Soul Formation expert and the leader of a sect famous for alchemy, he possessed only a common Blood Essence Pill and a standard Mysterious-grade gourd. It was easy to imagine just how much Ye Xueyan had drained from him. Fortunately, he now had the system; he didn't need to do anything, as he could receive rewards simply by having others show him filial piety.

Chen Xuan reviewed the mission: Obtain a tribute from a child of destiny with orange-level luck. "I should head out into the sect and see if there are any orange-luck individuals."

"By what right are you kicking us out? My cousin's niece's cousin's husband's sister is the Saintess of your Xuan Dan Sect!"
"Do you believe I can have her punish you?"
"The Saintess? Heh, the Saintess you speak of has already been expelled from the sect by the Sect Master."
"Throw them all out!"
"And that dog, too! It eats pills that I can't even afford as if they were everyday meals."

Chen Xuan had previously ordered all members of the Ye family to be expelled from the sect, and now the disciples were busy dealing with them. He watched the scene quietly. These Ye family members had used their connection to Ye Xueyan to bully others in the sect; now, the retaliation they faced was their just reward.

"Greetings, Sect Master!" Several disciples who were expelling the Ye family members quickly bowed respectfully upon seeing Chen Xuan. After the turmoil caused by the Ye family, most of the Xuan Dan Sect's disciples had left, and those who remained were absolutely loyal to him.

"Hmm." Chen Xuan nodded, observing them and using his Eye of Fortune to check their luck.

Name: Fu Tingxiu
Cultivation: Mid-level Qi Refining
Luck Value: White
Spiritual Root: Mortal-grade Fire Spiritual Root
Physique: None
Comprehension: Low
Filial Piety: 60
Summary: Difficult to achieve great things.

Name: Long Aotian
Cultivation: Early Foundation Establishment
Luck Value: Green
Spiritual Root: Good-grade Fire Spiritual Root
Physique: None
Comprehension: Low-to-average
Filial Piety: 60
Summary: Ordinary.

These disciples had names that sounded like protagonists, but unfortunately, none reached orange-level luck.

"Sect Master, these are the items we confiscated from them." A disciple took several items from his waist and held them above his head with both hands to present to Chen Xuan.

[Ding! Long Aotian has offered you three Mysterious-grade low-rank Yang-Replenishing Pills. Triggered double critical hit. Upgraded to: Earth-grade low-rank Dragon-Tiger Yang-Replenishing Pills.]
[Ding! Long Aotian has offered you a Mysterious-grade high-rank Meteorite Longsword. Triggered triple critical hit. Upgraded to: Earth-grade high-rank Breeze Sword.]
[Ding! Long Aotian has offered you...]
[Ding! Filial Piety points awarded: 3.]
[Long Aotian's Filial Piety +1.]

Seeing the rewards refreshing before him, Chen Xuan's eyes lit up. "System, if I make others 'voluntarily' show me filial piety, can I still get rewards?" he asked. As a dignified Nascent Soul ancestor, wouldn't it be easy to make others 'volunteer'?

"Yes, but it is not recommended."
"What do you mean?"
"The critical hit multiplier is determined by the target's luck and their level of filial piety."
"I see."

Chen Xuan realized. Although he could use force to coerce others, it would only trigger low-level critical hits, and the rewards would not be as great as those given voluntarily. He had originally intended to use force to suppress the Ye family and reclaim his belongings.

"So I can't force them myself," Chen Xuan thought, his eyes darting. "But, if I make someone who is already filial to me go and force others to bring me tribute, that should be fine, right?"

System: "..."
"That is acceptable."

Chen Xuan was delighted. That made things simple. He just needed to find someone with high filial piety and have them reclaim the resources from the Ye family. Preferably, he should find a child of destiny.

"You have done well." Chen Xuan took the items and said to the disciple, "All items confiscated from the Ye family are to be brought to me for inventory."
"Yes!" The disciples nodded and began pressing the Ye family members even harder for any remaining items.

Chen Xuan continued his search for a child of destiny. There were over a hundred people left in the Xuan Dan Sect, including the outer disciples, and he had checked almost all of them. Most disciples had white or green luck and were at the Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment stages. A few had blue luck—these were the Golden Core elders. As for orange, he hadn't even seen a shadow of it.

Chen Xuan felt a bit disappointed. The Xuan Dan Sect used to have many talented disciples, but after Ye Xueyan's systematic alienation, most had defected to other sects. Fortunately, as these remaining disciples drove out the Ye family, they handed over quite a lot of loot to him.

[Ergou has offered you a Foundation Establishment Pill. Triggered double critical hit. Upgraded to: Three-Flower Pill.]
[Tie Zhu has offered you a Mysterious-grade low-rank Heavenly Silkworm Feather Garment. Triggered triple critical hit. Upgraded to: Earth-grade high-rank Sacred Silkworm Feather Garment.]
[Li Si has offered you 2,000 low-grade spirit stones. Triggered double critical hit. Obtained 4,000 low-grade spirit stones.]
[Da Zhuang has offered you 5,000 low-grade spirit stones. Triggered double critical hit. Obtained 10,000 low-grade spirit stones.]

Watching the entries refresh, Chen Xuan felt a sense of relief amidst his disappointment. It wouldn't be long before he could rebuild the Xuan Dan Sect.

"Let me go, let me go..." Suddenly hearing a scream, Chen Xuan turned and saw several disciples dragging a long-haired girl.

"Let you go?" The disciple said coldly, "The Sect Master has spoken; all members of the Ye family must be expelled. Are you trying to defy the Sect Master's orders?"
"I'm just an illegitimate daughter of the Ye family. They never gave me anything, and I have never harmed anyone; I was only here to serve them." The girl, wearing tattered clothes, looked up with a pleading expression: "Please, I beg you, if I go back, they will beat me to death."

Chen Xuan glanced at them casually. The two disciples were unremarkable, both possessing white luck, but the girl being dragged caught his attention.

Name: Chu Lingyun
Cultivation: Mortal
Luck Value: Gold
Spiritual Root: Perfect Ice Spiritual Root (Damaged)
Physique: Profound Yin Physique
Comprehension: Exceptional
Filial Piety: 0
Summary: Possesses the bloodline of an Immortal Emperor and the rare Profound Yin Physique, which makes cultivation extremely difficult, forcing her to practice only Yin-based techniques. If one were to take her primordial yin after she reaches the Nascent Soul stage, one would gain immense benefits.

"It's actually gold-level luck!"