Fellow Daoist! That scoundrel has written a new book again.

From that night on, Zhu Wuyao was forced to accept the bet.

Both parties agreed on a ten-year period.

Zhu Wuyao and Shen Anzhi will guide Mingzhu without causing any disturbances to destiny, and observe what choices she will make in the future.

"This is an evil bet!"

The Spirit Pen said this.

Mingzhu is a very suitable child. She is neither too pure nor too wicked. It all depends on how the world teaches her, and that's how she will be molded.

As the pen says, this is indeed an evil bet.

Mingzhu was completely unaware of all this. She didn't know that her future appearance was being shaped by the struggle between the two sides. She might grow into the person Zhu Wuyao wanted, or she might grow into the person Shen Anzhi wanted.

Without Mingzhu's knowledge, her life was put on the gambling table as a stake.

Zhu Wuyao could guess what Shen Anzhi was thinking.

If the stakes were her own life, even if she couldn't beat Shen Anzhi in the past ten years, she could always find a way to escape. At worst, she could overturn the table, deny everything, and fight him to the death, perhaps giving her a glimmer of hope.

But the stakes were changed to candles.

In reality, Zhu Wuyao was taken hostage in Changxiao Town.

This is why Zhu Wuyao immediately drew his sword to test the waters when he heard that the stake was Mingzhu's life.

“Shen Anzhi is really troublesome. Within the area covered by the fog, cause and effect can be manipulated, pieced together, and combined at will. I suspect that even if I die, he can erase the result of ‘death’.”

"He truly deserves to be called a person favored by Heaven; there may be a projection of the Heavenly Dao on his body."

Those with profound cultivation levels are another matter.

The most troublesome thing is the ability that Shen Anzhi was granted by the Heavenly Dao.

Zhu Wuyao was unaware of what had happened in the outside world while she was trapped in the secret realm, but it was quite clear—

Shen Anzhi resigned himself to his fate.

Those divine eyes were bestowed upon him by the Heavenly Dao and he was born into this world to face a calamity. As long as he accepts his fate and chooses to act in accordance with the will of Heaven, he can use the authority hidden within his divine eyes, and the Heavenly Dao will pave the way for his cultivation.

This is truly a person favored by Heaven.

It's just that Shen Anzhi was unwilling to accept the mandate of heaven before.

"Whether he resigned himself to his fate or gave up, he had to truly convince himself before he could achieve enlightenment. He could not deceive himself or Heaven by relying on petty cleverness or by waiting patiently for the right moment."

"He really has to admit it."

The spirit pen agreed:

"Like that desperate sword strike of yours, even if it seemed like clever trickery or absurdity, when you failed to break the deadlock with your sword, you couldn't deceive yourself; you really would die. This kind of thing can't be faked!"

Zhu Wuyao, holding a banner, walked along the road, frowning as he continued:

"Whatever his difficulties or unavoidable circumstances, once he made his choice... he had no intention of letting himself off the hook, nor did he intend to let me off the hook."

He planted the banner on the forest path covered with fallen leaves.

Zhu Wuyao looked around, found a quiet spot to sit down, and set up a spiritual barrier.

I started rummaging through the storage bags.

If others want to target Shen Anzhi, he will see the cause and effect and take precautions in advance. Therefore, Zhu Wuyao cannot find other helpers.

Only Zhu Wuyao, an outsider with a spiritual brush, was able to conceal his own karma from Shen Anzhi.

She found a piece of lustrous green jade, inside which was a pill. The small characters engraved on the jade recorded its usage, dosage, and effects.

She rested her chin on her hand and said:

"These methods are too frivolous and may not be feasible."

"My current cultivation level is at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage, only one step away from entering the Nascent Soul stage. Is there a way to bypass the Heavenly Dao and advance?"

Lingbi was also extremely helpless:

"You've asked me this many times, but a Nascent Soul cultivator needs to undergo a Heavenly Tribulation; it's a test from Heaven itself!"

"Does Heaven not want to kill me? It can choose to send down a more powerful heavenly tribulation."

Zhu Wuyao leaned against the thick tree trunk and looked up at the sky, but his invitation to descend and suffer calamity received no reply.

"First of all! Heaven can't find you anywhere!"

"Secondly, even if we find out where you are, we won't let you into the exam room."

"Instead of improving your own abilities, why not weaken your opponent? If all else fails, you can choose to win the bet and make Shen Anzhi pay with his life. I don't think he's the type to break the bet."

"Moreover, since he made this bet with you, he must have been certain that at some point in the future, Mingzhu will steal again."

Zhu Wuyao continued, picking up where it left off:

“If something that Shen Anzhi believed was unchangeable is ultimately changed, then his belief in destiny will be questioned. As long as he no longer firmly believes in it and his heart wavers, the power of the divine will will be weakened, and perhaps there will be an opportunity to exploit it.”

"You knew all along!"

"You said it was an evil bet."

A gentle breeze blew by, and the sound of each person and their brush fell silent.

Finally, Zhu Wuyao stood up, picked up a stone, and threw it in the middle of the forest path.

A person's character is shaped by good teachers.

She could certainly teach Mingzhu something, but with Shen Anzhi around, it felt inappropriate. To win the bet, she had to find Mingzhu a teacher first.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After hearing Chen Ke's story, Lu Youqi felt a strong urge to try it.

Mortals all look up to cultivators and dare not offend them easily, for fear that if they say something wrong or offend the majesty of the immortals, they will lose their lives and have nowhere to seek justice.

He traveled extensively.

He had not only seen the scene under the jurisdiction of the Star-Picking Tower, but also how mortals lived under the jurisdiction of other sects.

Especially the Juque School.

The cultivators acted with impunity, arrogance and haughtiness wherever they went.

If... if I were also a cultivator...

The mortals under the rule of the Juque Sect have long been timid and subservient to immortals, and they will only fawn over them and refuse to help them. If we can intimidate the ignorant mortals in those remote villages from the beginning, wouldn't we be able to take advantage of them at will?

Lu Youqi slowly raised the corners of his mouth, involuntarily imagining this wonderful vision.

"Hurry up and wash the dishes, the kitchen is waiting for them. Why are you daydreaming in broad daylight? Do you even want your wages for today?!"

"Oh, yes..."

Lu Youqi returned to reality from his fantasy. The icy well water was up to his fingertips, making him shiver.

He stared at the greasy bowl, curled his lip in disgust, and his gaze grew increasingly deep—

Such a life is unbearable for a human being.

Humans have two hands, are they just for washing dishes for the rich? Humans have two legs, are they just for kneeling before monks?

Does he have to endure all this just because he lacks the talent for cultivating immortality?

If he were discovered impersonating a monk, the worst that could happen is death; but if he continued to endure this, how could he have truly lived?

Lu Youqi washed the dishes numbly, but his heart was beating faster and faster in his chest. In his youth, he had traveled to many places and had even knelt before immortals and followed crowds.

Even now, he can still recall what the immortal looked like.

Self-assured, indifferent, and with a casual and unrestrained demeanor.

He suddenly felt a little confused. Was that the true appearance of an immortal, or was it because of the identity of an "immortal" that, like Chen Ke, everything he did seemed exceptionally different in the eyes of others?