The fallen Destiny Gentleman swallowed a Ten Deaths Life-Extending Pill. His injuries healed completely, and his True Essence was restored. Catching the Seventh-Grade Demon Race expert off guard, he counter-attacked and killed him. From the expert’s body, he obtained the extremely rare Emperor Demon Blood and gave it to an Alchemist to perform Alchemy.
The Demon Race pressed forward relentlessly, and Beisha City was on the brink of falling. Just then, a lone rider on a Black Dragon Scale Horse, like a black whirlwind, galloped in from the southeast.
The Third-Grade Grandmaster leaped into the air and strode across the sky. With a single slash of his saber, ten thousand rays of light fell like snow, tearing the earth asunder and kicking up an endless, roiling cloud of dust.
With just over a dozen slashes, he slaughtered more than a hundred thousand members of the Demon Race.
Tears streamed down the Destiny Gentleman’s face as he looked to the sky and shouted.
"Disciple greets Master!"
The Fallen Marquis descended with a smile. Master and disciple were reunited, and the entire city celebrated.
Li Qingxian smiled and looked toward White Deer Head.
It was a similar story for White Deer Head. Although his Destiny Gentleman was excessively bloodthirsty, his literary fame had spread far and wide, and his character was seen as noble and unconventional. While he offended one group of people, he also won the admiration of another.
A Grand Scholar heard that White Deer Head’s Destiny Gentleman was trapped in a border city, so he personally intervened, slaughtered the Demon Race, saved the entire city, and then departed gracefully.
Li Qingxian recalled the various choices made by White Deer Head and Panda Head, and he became increasingly aware of how different this Life Play by Flower-Seeking Master Liuu was.
The third trial concluded.
The two turned to look at each other.
"You’ve got some skill," said White Deer Head.
"You’ve got a good eye," said Li Qingxian.
White Deer Head rolled his eyes, turned his head back, and stared silently ahead.
Outside the Beast Bridge, Panda Head and Black Lion Head were surrounded by a crowd, who pestered them with all sorts of questions.
Finally, Panda Head scratched his head and asked, "Masters, can you tell me why I lost to White Deer Head? I thought my chances of winning were very high."
The Lower-Grade Fate Masters didn’t understand, but the Middle-Grade Fate Masters all smiled.
"You can’t even figure this out? You were too opportunistic and neglected to temper your Destiny Gentleman. That approach might get you through minor disasters, but when faced with a world-shattering calamity, how could your Destiny Gentleman possibly survive?"
"We’ll review the Life Play in a bit and show you how Cross-Eyed Dog Head played. Now *that* is what you call being steady, solid, and advancing with every step."
"Cross-Eyed Dog Head’s power isn’t there yet, but his perspective is definitely on par with a Middle-Grade Fate Master’s. He must be from a great family—either a first-rate Sect or at least a prominent family from a major province."
"Or perhaps a descendant of a Martial Arts or military lineage."
"In the third round, I think Cross-Eyed Dog Head has the better chance of winning."
"It’s hard to say. Cross-Eyed Dog Head played correctly, but that doesn’t necessarily mean White Deer Head was wrong. His Destiny Gentleman was likely tempered by that last battle. Now, it all comes down to the final ’blessing’ and the third round."
"And don’t forget, Cross-Eyed Dog Head is wearing four Jade Pendants."
The crowd hurriedly looked inside and only then realized that Cross-Eyed Dog Head hadn’t used a single All-Purpose Jade Pendant, while White Deer Head had already used all of his.
"This kid..." The crowd was left speechless.
On the screen, the Stone Giant Leader’s voice rang out, "The second round is over. Those who passed are rewarded with the Observation Skill."
Liu Laohu laughed heartily. "It seems Flower-Seeking Master Liuu holds these two in high regard, to teach them the Observation Skill so early. After I advanced to the Seventh Grade, it took me several years and a great price to finally learn the Observation Skill."
The Middle-Grade Fate Masters nodded in agreement.
Li Qingxian watched as the golden pages of Magic Text descended into his Spirit Platform. He glanced at them, and joy welled up in his heart.
The three fundamental abilities of a Fate Master—the Qi Observation Skill, the Divination Skill, and the Observation Skill—were finally complete.
With the Observation Skill, if he ever encountered two armies clashing again, he would no longer have to be afraid to watch. He could now use it to observe the Great Trend Formation of both sides.
Rolling mist lay ahead, obscuring the squares for the third ’blessing’.
Li Qingxian opened his Spiritual Eye, while White Deer Head used a Life Artifact to observe the squares.
Li Qingxian’s gaze swept past the first few squares and landed on the final four.
The Grand General’s Attention, Martial Arts Adventure, Promotion to the Sixth Grade, and the Middle-Grade Magical Treasure: Divine Army Chess.
’This...’ Li Qingxian hadn’t expected the rewards to be this good.
’The Grand General’s Attention is too unpredictable. The Promotion to the Sixth Grade is too great a reward; making an Eighth-Grade Martial Cultivator a Sixth-Grade Official would be unstable.’
’The Martial Arts Adventure is excellent. Since it’s a ’blessing,’ obtaining it will surely lead to a huge leap in strength.’
’That Divine Army Chess, however, is a famous battlefield Magical Artifact. It’s similar to a Fate Box; you can use it to practice military strategy. At critical moments, you can release the Puppets inside to use as soldiers. A Middle-Grade Divine Army Chess stores at least a thousand soldiers, all made of metal, equivalent to one thousand Tenth-Grade Martial Cultivators.’
’However... the drawback of the Divine Army Chess is that while it’s invincible against ordinary enemies, against High-Grade opponents, you can’t say it’s completely useless, but it might as well be.’
After a moment’s thought, Li Qingxian decided to stick to his previous strategy. He used an All-Purpose Jade Pendant for the first time and chose the Martial Arts Adventure square.
The Destiny Gentleman leaped over, landing on the Martial Arts Adventure square.
A scene appeared above his head.
In the sandstorm-swept Beisha City, the Fallen Marquis, before his departure, handed over a letter. He said his senior martial brother was in the nearby Celestial Mountain Cave Mansion and told the Destiny Gentleman to go study there for a month.
The Destiny Gentleman did not go immediately.
He waited until the Alchemist successfully created the medicine, received an Emperor’s Blood Pill, and consumed it. Afterward, all his Qi Meridians fully formed, his qi and blood grew stronger, and he stepped into the Seventh Grade.
The Seventh-Grade Realm: circulating True Blood.
By moving the Qi Meridians to envelop all the body’s blood vessels and unify qi and blood, one could reach the peak of the realm once the meridians finally enveloped the heart and brain.
The Destiny Gentleman bid farewell to everyone and, more than ten days later, arrived at the Celestial Mountain Cave Mansion.
Only after entering did he discover that the entire cave mansion was occupied by Demon Fiends. His escape route was blocked, so the Destiny Gentleman could only fight and flee through the maze-like interior.
He fought for five full days, exhausted all his Treasure Medicines, and was finally killed in battle.
After dying, the Destiny Gentleman opened his eyes to find a white-bearded old man smiling at him. He immediately realized that everything before had just been a trial, so he got up and bowed.
His senior martial uncle was very satisfied with this martial nephew. He taught him with great care and let him cultivate on his own around the cave mansion.
A month later, while cultivating, the Destiny Gentleman accidentally entered a mountain cave and discovered a pair of Yin-Yang Almonds. After eating them, his cultivation power increased by twenty years, and he reached the peak of the Seventh Grade.
The senior martial uncle was even more pleased. He insisted on keeping him for another month to personally teach him the Celestial Profound Skill and the Great Star-Destroying Saber.
Another month passed. The Destiny Gentleman’s effort and results greatly satisfied his senior martial uncle. Before he left, his uncle gifted him a set of Crocodile God Armor, a Middle-Grade Magical Artifact made from Third-Grade Crocodile King Demon Skin.
Seeing this, Li Qingxian was very satisfied.
’The Martial Arts Adventure itself was probably just getting the Yin-Yang Almonds. The Crocodile God Armor must have been the effect of my Treasure Basin and Mountain Range Cross-Cut Fate Grids. As for the extra month of guidance from the senior martial uncle, that was the reward for my long-term accumulated cultivation.’
Just as Li Qingxian was thinking this, a ball of light suddenly appeared and landed inside the Destiny Gentleman’s Life Mansion.
Li Qingxian looked and saw that on the Life Pillar in his young Destiny Gentleman’s Life Mansion, a new Human Destiny Star had appeared.
Thousand-Forged Steel. Auspicious.
Another line appeared in his life record: "Having been guided by two Upper-Grade Martial Cultivators, this child has now entered the ranks of second-rate masters of the same grade."
An unexpected blessing.
Li Qingxian smiled and looked at White Deer Head.
White Deer Head, abandoning his previous recklessness, chose to have his Destiny Gentleman pursue further studies in the Hanlin Academy.
His avatar made friends, received guidance from a Grand Scholar, and also broke through from the Eighth Grade to advance to the Seventh Grade.
White Deer Head’s adventure was fundamentally similar, but it fell just a little short of what Li Qingxian’s Destiny Gentleman experienced.
He didn’t form a Human Destiny Star.
White Deer Head glanced at Li Qingxian’s Destiny Gentleman and, after a long moment, said, "You have excellent perspective."
The Stone Giant Leader announced, "The third round: Choose a Fate Grid. Each person is granted three All-Purpose Jade Pendants."
Li Qingxian now had six hanging from his waist, while White Deer Head had three.
The two looked at each other, nodded slightly, and then turned their gazes forward.