I have to get lucky right away.

Chapter 680 Old Li's Great Luck (Part 1)
"Zhao, what exactly is going on?"

In the world of folklore, outside Fengdu City, Old Li stared blankly at the pedestrians coming and going at the city gate, feeling that things had been going too smoothly for him lately.

It wasn't that he was being unreasonable, but the human tribulation was really troublesome. He barely managed to get through the year-end by suffering losses along the way, shedding his demonic fetus and returning to life. But this was just the tip of the iceberg. The real big deal was the celestial dog eclipse on the fifteenth of July.

He wanted to take advantage of the coincidence of the opening of the gates of hell and the eclipse of the moon to completely combine his spirit and flesh. He had even given this unique system a nice name: "Red Dust Immortal".

The problem is, it's going too smoothly.

At the end of the Jia Chen year, he had mastered the technique of "segmented tribulation crossing". By suffering losses and setbacks, he divided and refined the tribulation, ensuring that he would be injured but not harmed. However, now, half a year has passed, and he has not even encountered a single cultivator who is fighting against demons.

You know, while cultivators aren't as numerous as stray dogs on the street, you can easily find a bunch of them if you ask around. But ever since he went into seclusion and shed his demonic embryo, it's as if he's been transported directly to the Dharma-ending Age, and there isn't a single decent cultivator among them.

If the almanac and astrological signs weren't all correct, he might have even doubted whether he had been in seclusion and asleep for hundreds of years!

At this moment, he was even a little worried that the human world had discovered his exploitation of loopholes and deliberately adjusted his fate, not giving him a chance to overcome tribulations along the way, and wanting to pile all the tribulations on the same day and then dump them all on his head!

As the fifteenth of July drew closer, Old Li's mood became increasingly conflicted. But no matter what, he couldn't miss this opportunity. He could only trek along with trekking in trekking anxiety, and finally arrived at Fengdu Ancient City, which has been the boundary between Yin and Yang since ancient times.

"This is outrageous! It's almost the end of July, and there isn't a single cultivator in Fengdu? Are they not going to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival this year?"

Looking at the crowd of ordinary people coming and going at the city gate, Old Li casually cast a few spells to break the illusion. This wasn't the first time he had done this. After all, ever since he shed his demonic embryo, everything in front of him was too unfamiliar, to the point that he always felt that he might have been unknowingly placed under an illusion by someone.

Even without finding a cultivator to assist him in his tribulation, he couldn't remain idle. In the past six months, besides constantly revising his "Red Dust Immortal" plan, he spent most of his time accumulating merit. He did whatever good deeds he could, hoping that the "Master of Human Tribulation" would show leniency.

However, he also knew that the principles of human morality and intelligence were that merits and demerits should not be offset against each other, and all he did was to put his mind at ease.

Now that the fifteenth of July was approaching, he took a deep breath and finally stepped into this ancient city, which held an important place in the Shinto system...

"Are you here for a meal or to stay the night, sir?"

Walking into a reasonably upscale inn, and hearing the waiter's familiar voice, Old Li pulled out two banknotes from the bounty he had received for capturing a wanted criminal:
"I'd like a private room, a few of my signature dishes, just enough for one meal. Also, I'd like to ask you something."

"I understand!" The waiter took the money, immediately led Old Li to the private room, handed the menu to his colleague, and then closed the door to the room, saying:
"Sir, please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We all know the rules here; we keep everything we hear to ourselves, otherwise we wouldn't be alive today!" Old Li glanced at the waiter, paused slightly, and then nodded:

"Has Fengdu been a bit too deserted lately?"

"Really?" The waiter was momentarily taken aback by Old Li's opening remark. However, waiters in a decent hotel like this usually knew a thing or two. A thought quickly crossed his mind, and he understood what the customer meant by "lonely." Looking at his slightly pale face, he realized the customer was clearly suffering from anemia. So, he tentatively asked:

"Sir, are you looking for a 'rice shop'?"

"Hmm." Old Li naturally understood these jargon and immediately replied, "A rice shop is best, mixed grains are also acceptable, and a money exchange is fine if all else fails."

"Then you've come at an inopportune time, sir. All the rice shop owners and money lenders have gone out."

"Going out? Where did they go?" Old Li immediately asked upon hearing such an absurd answer. You see, in the jargon, "going out" doesn't just mean going out; it means they've taken on a job. It's one thing if one or two companies take on jobs at the same time, but he's traveled all the way from Kunshan to Fengdu and hasn't seen a single cultivator. Could they all have gone out? How big of a job must that be?

The waiter hesitated for a moment when he heard the question, then simply replied:
"I see you know a bit about this, so I'll skip the formalities. I heard from a guest from the south that those short guys from Japan pulled off a major operation during the Lunar New Year this year, something that seems to involve the dragon veins of China. Several coastal cities even suffered from tsunamis. Those experts couldn't tolerate this, so after settling things in China, they formed a group and went east. According to news they brought back a few days ago, those experts are now 'managing the dragon veins' or something. I don't understand the specifics, but I heard they plan to move the dragon veins from Japan back to China. Can you really move dragon veins?"

"Of course it's possible!" Old Li rolled his eyes inwardly, thinking to himself, no wonder the people from the Central Plains have vanished. Good heavens, this thing is more ruthless than destroying a country! Let alone relocating them back, even just keeping a tail pinned to the port city would cause the fate of Japan to flow to the Central Plains. If they could all be relocated, then whatever the Japanese do would be working for the Central Plains for free! If they could also pick up some fragments of dragon veins or remnants of evil gods to suppress under their mountain gates, then their descendants would all enjoy the blessings!
Such a great merit, such a great opportunity, only a fool would not go!

but……

"I just took a nap, and there's such a huge commotion outside? Is this also part of the human calamity?"

At this moment, Old Li felt as if the sky had fallen. Not only did he miss out on the benefits of the destruction of the country, but who would make up for the lack of manpower in the calamity?
If there aren't many cultivators in the entire Central Plains, then it's hard to say what will come when the calamity arrives!

"Underworld messengers? Or those ancestors?"

Thinking about the opening of the gates of hell on the fifteenth of July, Old Li felt terrible. Moreover, he couldn't cause trouble now, because if he did, he would be ruining the "Dragon Vein Relocation" plan, which was supposed to bring blessings for a thousand years. The consequences would be so severe that even a True Immortal couldn't bear the weight of such a karmic debt, let alone alleviate the human calamity!
Moreover, with only a few days left until July 15th, even if he wanted to go to Japan immediately, it wouldn't be enough time!
"Humanity! Is this the tribulation you've ordained for me?!"

(End of this chapter)