From the fake emperor to the concubine

Luck is a mysterious and elusive thing, and it has always been the most ethereal and unfathomable thing in the cultivation world.

It is invisible and intangible, yet like an invisible thread, it constantly entangles the fate of every cultivator.

Some people seem to be plagued by bad luck, even drinking cold water can cause them to get stuck in their teeth, and they can even fall into a pit while walking, as if they are rejected by the heavens.

But precisely at life-or-death moments, or crucial junctures in cultivation breakthroughs, they always inexplicably receive help from experts, or stumble upon a rare and precious herb, or even, when all hope seems lost, they stumble into an ancient cave and find a lost, unparalleled martial arts technique and a magical artifact.

These unexpected gains often helped him escape from near death, or even turn misfortune into good fortune, greatly advancing his cultivation.

On the other hand, some people seem to have great luck and everything goes smoothly. They always manage to make some gains when searching for treasures and exploring secrets, and they often come out on top when fighting with others. They always have a smug smile on their face.

However, once the crucial juncture that determines one's fate is reached, all sorts of strange and inexplicable misfortunes will follow one after another.

For example, at the crucial moment of breaking through the bottleneck and concentrating all the body's magical power in the dantian.

Even though I was fully prepared and my mind was in the best state, an accident would always happen unexpectedly when my spiritual energy was circulating to a certain key meridian. A tiny, barely noticeable old injury would suddenly flare up at that moment!

The flow of spiritual energy instantly became chaotic and dissipated, causing the cultivation to fail. At best, it resulted in severe injury and vomiting blood; at worst, it caused a drop in cultivation level.

Or perhaps, after countless near-death experiences and overcoming numerous traps and restrictions, one finally finds an ancient artifact radiating spiritual light and exuding astonishing power deep within a ruin.

Before his elation had subsided, he couldn't wait to try refining and binding the artifact to his master, only to find that the artifact's attributes were incompatible with his cultivation method, and even clashed with its very essence.

No matter how much spiritual power was injected, it remained unresponsive like a stubborn rock, or violently rejected it, making it impossible to activate even a fraction of its power. The treasure obtained with great difficulty ultimately became a useless piece of trash that could only be looked at but not used.

For example, when being chased by a powerful enemy, in a panic, you may clearly remember that there is a way out ahead, but at the fork in the road, you inexplicably choose the wrong direction and plunge into a dead end.

However, when he was chasing the enemy, things always went wrong at the crucial moment, causing him to fail at the last minute.

In short, these kinds of cultivators always seem to be held by the hand of misfortune in the dark at crucial moments concerning the continuation of their cultivation path and breakthroughs in their realm, and are always the unluckiest ones.

Besides these obvious difficulties, various other issues of luck, whether subtle or direct, such as unexpected failures in alchemy, inexplicable damage to precious materials, or sudden external interference during seclusion, will affect a cultivator's cultivation efficiency and ultimate achievement in every aspect.

However, the magical little grotto controlled by the Zheng family seemed to possess the great power to isolate the interference of the Heavenly Dao, completely eliminating these unexpected variables caused by fate.

The cave has its own set of operating rules, which can be used in certain ways, such as the mysterious well, to directly and clearly reflect the essence of a cultivator's destiny.

Those who arrive at the well first usually carry a relatively large number of fortuitous treasures, and their quality is often quite good, as if the heavens and earth favor them and opportunities naturally gather around them.

In stark contrast, those who arrived at the well later, stumbling and even battered, possessed remarkably meager resources. Forget rare treasures; sometimes they couldn't even produce a decent protective artifact. Empty-handed, they appeared as if forgotten by fate, their plight particularly desolate.

The causal relationships and operating principles involved are full of indescribable wonder and mystery.

Zheng Yi frowned and studied it for a long time. With his current knowledge and understanding of the laws of space and time, he still couldn't understand the intricacies and principles behind it.

This well seems to be directly connected to some deeper law concerning the origin of destiny.

What left Zheng Yi speechless and even somewhat absurd was that, according to the current patriarch of the Zheng family, Zheng Tianhao, the core of this cave that could test one's fortune and was considered the foundation for defying fate, the mysterious well, was actually handed over to the Zheng family by Zheng Yi himself.

Zheng Yi was 100% certain that he had absolutely no recollection of the well's origin, structure, or even its existence.

However, the confusion caused by this temporal and spatial dislocation did not last long, and Zheng Yi soon felt relieved.

He looked down at the mysterious runes flowing along the edge of the well, runes that did not belong to this era.

This thing is clearly beyond the reach of my current timeline. Its existence points to a much more distant past.

Perhaps in some involuntary time travel in the future, he will unexpectedly arrive at an earlier timeline, where his future self will personally plant this seed that will influence the present.

As for the reasons and process, only I knew them at that time.

When Zhang Yunfan and Wei Siling stepped onto the platform at the wellhead, there were already four people on the platform—two men and two women—standing separately, creating a subtle and tense atmosphere.

The most eye-catching figure is a man in the center.

He wore an immaculate white robe, the fabric subtly shimmering with a soft sheen, as if woven from moonlight. His features were exceptionally handsome, with exquisitely beautiful eyes and a naturally refined and elegant air.

Simply standing there quietly, she seemed to radiate a gentle glow, involuntarily reminding people of immortals strolling among the clouds, making them dare not look directly at her, yet also inspiring longing.

The second person was a stark contrast to him. He was a hunched-over man, his back so bent that he was almost curled up in a ball, sitting silently in the shadowy corner at the very edge of the platform.

His face was withered and ugly, covered with deep wrinkles and scars, and his eyes darted around as if he were ashamed of himself and trying to hide himself in an inconspicuous corner.

The other woman had a graceful figure and beautiful face, but her eyes and brows naturally exuded a captivating and alluring charm.

Before Zhang Yunfan and Wei Siling arrived, she was leaning against a smooth rock, her beautiful, watery eyes, full of affection, constantly casting flirtatious glances at the handsome man in white.

His eyes seemed to be filled with honey and spring water, and in the shimmering light, they carried an intense affection that almost drowned the other person.

The last woman, however, seemed out of place. She wore a faded, coarse cloth garment with several inconspicuous patches, her skin was dark and rough from years of exposure to the wind and sun, and her exposed hands were covered with thick calluses and large knuckles.

From any angle, she looked more like a village girl returning from working in the fields than a cultivator who had ventured into such a mysterious grotto. She stood quietly a little distance away, her gaze lowered, appearing unusually silent.

Just as Zhang Yunfan's gaze swept over the four people, deep in his mind, the ancestor Zheng Yi suddenly let out a low, slightly amused chuckle: "Hehe... very good, things are getting interesting."

There was a subtle hint of amusement and coldness in that laughter.

Zhang Yunfan was taken aback by this sudden comment, and then he ruthlessly complained in his heart: "Senior, the tone and manner of your speech are exactly the same as those so-called domineering sect leaders and evil patriarchs in the novels I used to read!"

He felt that Zheng Yi was deliberately creating an aura of unfathomable villainy.

Zheng Yi was speechless, his divine sense fluctuating violently: "You brat! What do you mean by this? Do you think I'm just putting on a show to scare you?"

Zhang Yunfan subconsciously shrank back in his sea of ​​consciousness, but still stubbornly explained, "Senior, please calm down. I absolutely did not mean that! It's just... I just felt that the way you spoke just now, and the tone of your voice, was just too similar to the classic villain's opening lines in the novels I've read."

He tried hard to express the feeling of déjà vu clearly.

As he spoke, the kid, oblivious to his own mortality, added, "By the way, senior, generally speaking, according to the tropes of those novels, characters who speak in this tone usually don't have a very good ending... They either become stepping stones on the protagonist's path to growth and get thoroughly humiliated, or... uh..."

He didn't dare say the rest aloud, but the meaning was clear: his fate was tragic.

"Enough!" Zheng Yi interrupted his long-winded speech irritably: "You idiot who knows nothing, don't spout your pathetic and laughable comments!"

Zheng Yi was almost amused by the kid's associative abilities. What he could see, Zhang Yunfan couldn't perceive at all; the two were simply not on the same level.

Therefore, no matter how smart this kid is, his reasoning is ridiculously absurd.

Wei Siling, who had been vigilantly observing the four people, suddenly reached out and swiftly and discreetly pulled Zhang Yunfan away.

Her movements were gentle and intimate, looking just like a young couple playfully teasing each other.

Wei Siling leaned close to Zhang Yunfan's ear with a shy expression and whispered in a voice that only the two of them could hear. What seemed like a couple whispering sweet nothings to each other was actually a warning with unprecedented seriousness: "Master, be careful of those four guys. They are not simple. They are hiding their aura very well and are definitely not ordinary."

"Please do not act rashly, and do not provoke them!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yunfan felt a chill run down his spine and was genuinely surprised.

He had witnessed firsthand just how formidable Wei Siling was.

Of all the cultivators she encountered, whether they were fierce rogue cultivators or proud disciples of sects, almost none could withstand more than three moves from her.

She is like an insurmountable mountain, inspiring despair.

But now, how could Wei Siling, who is so powerful, show such obvious fear towards these four strange-looking people in front of her? This is simply unbelievable!

Who exactly were they? Were they disciples of some reclusive force? Or some ancient monster who had never appeared in the world? Zhang Yunfan was filled with doubts. He suppressed his surprise and suspicion and carefully examined the four people from head to toe again, trying to find even the slightest clue that they might be familiar from their clothes, expressions, and belongings.

However, after looking for a long time, his memory was still blank, and he had no impression of these people at all.

Unfamiliar, eerie, and unfathomable—this was Zhang Yunfan's strongest feeling at that moment.

Zhang Yunfan's undisguised scrutinizing gaze immediately drew different reactions from the four people.

The handsome man in white was the first to notice. He showed no displeasure at being scrutinized; instead, a gentle and polite smile appeared on his lips, like the warm spring sun. He nodded slightly in Zhang Yunfan's direction with an elegant and composed demeanor, as if he were merely meeting an old acquaintance.

In stark contrast was the hunched-over, ugly man huddled in the corner.

Feeling Zhang Yunfan's gaze sweep over him, he suddenly raised his head and glared fiercely. His cloudy eyes, sunken deep in his wrinkled eyelids, instantly erupted with a venomous malice and ferocity, like a wild beast whose territory had been invaded.

But soon, the menacing glint receded like the tide. He let out a muttering sound that was hard to understand, stiffly adjusted his curled-up position, buried his unsettling face even deeper in the shadows, and completely ignored Zhang Yunfan.

The most exaggerated one was that charming woman.

Instead of avoiding Zhang Yunfan's gaze, she seemed to have spotted some interesting prey, her eyes sparkling, and she deliberately lifted her already slit skirt even higher, revealing her alluring, snow-white legs.

She parted her lips slightly and blew a kiss towards Zhang Yunfan from afar.

"Oh~ handsome young man!" Her voice was sweet and seductive, each syllable like a hook, deliberately drawn out and meandering before drifting over: "Why are your eyes like they're nailed to me? Can't you look away?"

Her eyes darted around, and she deliberately glanced at Wei Siling, who stood cold and aloof beside Zhang Yunfan. A provocative smile curled her red lips: "This little beauty beside you is indeed beautiful, but unfortunately... she's so cold and doesn't seem to know how to serve people, much less how to make a man happy."

She swayed her serpentine waist, her voice growing sweeter and more cloying: "Want to come over and chat with me? I have... a lot of things here that make men itch with desire, guaranteed to leave you... unable to resist~"

Her tone was so seductive and alluring that it made Zhang Yunfan's hair stand on end, goosebumps instantly spread across his back, and his stomach churn.

Before he could respond, a sharp, piercing pain shot through his waist without warning!
Zhang Yunfan gasped sharply and looked down. He saw that Wei Siling's fair and slender hand had somehow gripped the most vulnerable part of his waist with iron clamps.

The force was so great, it felt like it was going to twist that piece of flesh off! The pain was so intense that he almost blacked out.

What truly chilled Zhang Yunfan to the bone was that when he looked up at Wei Siling through the excruciating pain, the woman still wore a gentle, shy smile, her eyes crinkling, and she even had a perfectly balanced blush, as if she were simply nestled shyly beside him. (End of Chapter)