Feng Ming hated the darkness. It was an irrational fear, one that he often ignored. But every so often, he couldn't help but glance into the empty nothingness to see if it would glance back. This time, it did. The glance was a prerecorded signal from Cha Ming through the arena walls via transmission jade.

Feng Ming pushed off the wall, making his way to the rooftop in a single bound. The light of the moon reflected off his obsidian armor; he wasn't wearing his red colonel's cape, which was far too flashy for a covert operation. His feet bounced lightly off the stone roof tiles as he executed his movement technique, Fire General's Steps. It wasn't ideal for sneaking around, but it was much better than nothing.

Forty more rooftops, Feng Ming thought. If I'm lucky, we'll snag a big fish. He felt a little guilty about using Cha Ming as bait, but sometimes you had to gamble big to win big.

As he ran, his foot caught on a poorly placed roof tile, which caused him to tumble down to the ground below. He watched it fall with concern, only to see it land on a thief's head. The man, who was just about to steal a woman's purse, was knocked out cold. Meanwhile, this movement distracted the nearby guards as he passed overhead.

It wasn't long before he arrived at his destination: an inconspicuous alley in the eastern quarter of the city. The shadows loomed over a group of men who escorted a blue-robed cultivator. He resembled a na?ve nouveau riche following the butchers to his own slaughter. He chuckled as his friend inconspicuously dropped a formation he'd prepared beforehand.

In an incense time, Feng Ming would have the opening he needed.

***

"I don't understand why all these precautions are necessary," Cha Ming said as they walked into a run-down entrance. "Couldn't you have just paid me in the arena?"

"While we would have liked to, the amount you bet was far too large for us to disburse on the premises," a well-dressed man said. "The maximum bet for any single round is capped at 20,000, and the odds are typically balanced in such a way that we make a small profit. We aim to even out the odds so that all we collect is one to ten percent of all wagers.

"Unfortunately for us, your bet was able to bypass our bet limitations as it was chained bet. We don't carry two million high-grade spirit stones on hand for fear of being robbed. Therefore, any large winnings must be awarded off-premises. It was the same for your friend Colonel Feng."

The explanation was obviously full of holes, but Cha Ming didn't bother to argue against it. He only nodded in muted acceptance as they took him deeper and deeper into their lair. Taverns and whorehouses sprouted everywhere while the more sinister establishments in the city came into view. Cha Ming saw a building with a bloody knife welcoming discreet customers; it stood side by side with a hole in the wall that sold weapons and pills in small quantities at prices far exceeding the current market price.

The farther they moved the worse it got. Knife fights weren't uncommon, and neither was the sight of people making love out in the open. The place became a den of hedonism, but fortunately there were limits. He hadn't yet seen anything that crossed the Song Kingdom's bottom line like human trafficking or murder in the streets.

They soon approached a large three-story building. It was noticeably better built than the buildings surrounding it and was defended by guards that were armed to the teeth. As they passed through the black doors at the entrance, Cha Ming's resplendent force was cut off from the outside world. The only person he could communicate with now was Huxian. As his last avenues of communication had seemingly disappeared, his escort's reserved nature finally disappeared. They violently shoved him up the stairs and through a door that was twice as tall as a grown man.

Cha Ming tumbled to the floor in front of a large chair where an abnormally large man was seated. He wore a mask, and unlike the cultivators beside him, his body was bursting with energy. His arms were the size of a large man's legs, while his legs were the size of a normal man's body. An ochre aura with a familiar tinge of vitality identified the man as a wood-aligned devil.

To Cha Ming's surprise, the man tossed a bag of holding to him. He rapidly scanned the contents and discovered 199 crystal cards and a small pile of high-grade spirit stones.

"After your loan is repaid, we owe you two million, less twenty thousand spirit stones," the large man said. "The karma is settled, and I owe you nothing."

Cha Ming felt an invisible thread evaporating as two of his existing contracts were resolved simultaneously.

"How did you do it?" the masked man said. "Was it that damnable man's luck again, or is it some other ability? There's no way that dire badger would just stand by and wait for the bat to bleed him to death."

Cha Ming stood up and dusted off his blue robes. "I wouldn't have needed to do anything if you hadn't poisoned it."

"So you admit that you cheated?" the man said.

"Is there a need to play these games?" Cha Ming retorted. The two stood at an awkward stalemate. Cha Ming waited for a few breaths before continuing. "I came to propose a trade. I'll let you know about my ability, which is very useful for match rigging, and you will let me live and keep the two million. We'll consider it a deposit for future business."

The large man looked toward a smaller man seated beside him. "How do the numbers work out?"

"If he can succeed 100% of the time, we can rake in an extra 50,000 high-grade spirit stones per day," an older man said. "It's worth looking into. You know my cultivation eats up money like nobody's business. As do both of yours, for that matter. However, I think that giving someone two million spirit stones up front is ludicrous and risky. We'd need a life-binding oath to facilitate an agreement."

"What are your thoughts, my dear?" the large man said to a woman by his side.

"I think he's lying, my dear," she said with a voice that was soft as silk. "He can hide his soul fluctuations, so I can't trust him. I also don't like his eyes. I feel like he's stripping me naked, and not in an enjoyable way."

The woman was beautiful beyond all reason. Her long blue hair was soothing, like a trickling spring, while her soft white skin would put alabaster to shame. Like the large man, she, too, had a strong ochre coloring.

The older man shrugged. "The financial risks of cooperation are high, while simply taking the two million from him along with all his possessions is an extremely profitable move. I'm all right with it either way."

This older man's ochre aura was tinged with gold, and he possessed the distinguished poise of a scholar. As far as Cha Ming could see, all three of them were initial core-formation experts. He didn't regret his choice to call for backup just before entering.

"Then it's settled," the large man said. "I'll take his strong body, while you'll respectively take his money and his soul." He turned to Cha Ming. "Any last words, little mortal?"

"I hope you like fireworks," Cha Ming said.

They hadn't noticed that nine golden globes had dropped from his robes and tumbled to the ground in front of them. Their intricate runic patterns lit up, and the single-use formations flooded the entire room with a blinding light. Then the window shattered. The explosive formation he'd laid out earlier finally burst. The three devils, who had been distracted by the combined assault of the nine least-grade blinding formations, were caught flat-footed by the sudden turn of events.

Cha Ming slapped a Hardening Talisman and over a dozen myriad ice-shield talismans on his body as the aged golden man dashed toward him and struck him with a single fist. It tore through the many ice shields and caused him to fly back through five walls before being stopped by one of the pillars stabilizing the building.

I'm all right, he sent to Huxian. Take out the water devil first.

***

Feng Ming, who had been waiting patiently on the roof just above, summoned a fiery whip, which he fastened to a small chimney.

Three, two, one, go!

The blast destroyed the entire wall but stopped short at the roof. Feng Ming jumped off the building and swung in a short arc. Although a blinding light made it unclear who he would be striking, he thrust out with his strongest move: Ash Annihilation. It was an attack that consumed six tenths of his entire qi reserve.

His blind fighting was rewarded with a shrieking howl. A beautiful woman with blue hair appeared before him; his spear had created a foot-wide hole just beneath her collar bone. She didn't have a chance to send out the slightest attack before dissolving into a puddle of water. A rush of merit confirmed her demise.

At the same time, a bird's cry rang through the skies above. A vicious blade of wind slammed into the room, cutting half the men apart and slightly injuring the rest.

"The cavalry has arrived!" a small voice yipped.

A two-tailed fox, a small bird, and a tiny mouse appeared where the blade of wind had landed. The mighty Silverwing directed his attention to the large wood devil while the weaker two-tailed fox and Lei Jiang jointly attacked the gold devil in a burst of light, shadow, and iridescent lightning.

Feng Ming quickly joined them and ignored the small fries escaping the shock waves of their battle. Someone else would handle them.

***

Cha Ming woke with a splitting headache. He winced as he moved the various muscles in his body. Torn ligaments rapidly regenerated around his unharmed bones.

"I never would have thought they'd have three core-formation cultivators in the same place," he muttered. He'd only seen a few dozen core-formation cultivators to date, and their increasing numbers made him realize he was just a frog in a well.

Thirty-six green sigils appeared around Cha Ming. The combat formation solidified around him, causing his wounds to heal even faster. Meanwhile, he sent out his resplendent force and located twenty smaller targets. Thirty-six sigils formed a cloud around his feet while the thirty-six remaining Dao sigils glowed golden and formed a long needle. It quickly shot through a nearby cultivator, leaving only a tiny hole behind as evidence.

Cha Ming slapped another three Myriad Ice Shield Talismans on his robe and followed up with a Sharp Talisman and a Quickening Talisman, which drastically increased his speed for thirty breaths. He rushed from room to room, swinging his Clear Sky Staff in a wide arc. It grew to twenty feet in length as Cha Ming struck out with all his strength. Plumes of fire and ice rained down on him, burning the exposed skin on his arms and face. The Clear Sky Staff, whose offensive powers were greatly boosted by the Sharp Talisman, cut through five men before returning to its normal length.

The floors creaked as Cha Ming rushed toward his next target. He reduced his weight and jumped at another group of three. Dozens of blades shot up toward him. He quickly manipulated the gold needle to deflect them and swung out toward a body-cultivating devil. The large abomination grasped his Clear Sky Staff while the others closed in on him. Cha Ming swiftly increased his weight and smashed both his feet down onto the two other devilish cultivators, shattering their ribcages. The golden needle finished them before taking care of the one holding his staff.

Seeing that he was fully healed, he retrieved his thirty-six Dao sigils and cast out a Mid-Grade Conflagration Combat Formation, which exploded around the next three targets and caused massive collateral damage to the building. He also threw out one Mid-Grade Conflagration Talisman after another, each of which struck supporting pillars in the building and caused it to collapse. The ceiling crushed down on the remaining cultivators in all three floors, leaving only the core-formation cultivators fighting in midair.

The battle above was progressing smoothly, so he summoned thirty-six of his Dao sigils into an icy shield. Then he cleared away rubble using his Clear Sky Staff and exposed a camouflaged stairwell. At the bottom of the stairwell was a small wooden door covered in mysterious devilish runes he couldn't understand. After a moment of hesitation, he pushed it open. It slammed shut behind him as he entered the basement, where dozens of cultivators were trapped. Their souls and vital energies were being syphoned off into strange devices.

His blood boiled when he saw these humans being treated like cattle. In his rage, he walked forward and tripped a silver thread that lay across the entrance. A small click sounded, barely discernable, and a feeling of panic flared in him.

***

"Quick, we need to use our consumption ability before it's too late," a wood devil roared as the devouring pool beside him expanded by ten times.

Feng Ming didn't panic. Huxian's devouring ability quickly grew to the same size and counterdevoured it, leaving the strengthened but still-pitiable devil to fight against the early-core-formation falcon. His entire body was covered in lacerations despite his insane regenerative abilities.

While the others were fighting, Feng Ming sent his lucky aura out to support them. His spear strikes focused on defense and entanglement while Huxian's impressive physical strength and Lei Jiang's terrifying lightning strikes whittled down the gold devil's body. Black runes lit up on the thinner devil, and as they appeared, a frightening power surged out from his body.

"It won't last long," Feng Ming said to the others. "The black runes are shrinking."

Feng Ming observed the gold devil carefully as Huxian and Lei Jiang continued their assault. He popped a pill that rapidly regenerated his depleted qi as he waited for the right moment. Under the pressure of the strong, half-step core-formation demon beasts, the gold devil unwillingly twitched its hand in an involuntary tell.

Now! Feng Ming shouted mentally.

The gold devil, who had been biding its time earlier, burnt a quarter of its body as it struggled to escape its encirclement. Under Feng Ming's direction, Huxian's devouring and purifying power retreated and formed a bagua symbol around the golden man. Time stood still within the eight trigrams. Lei Jiang, who had been waiting for this very moment, unleashed nine-colored lightning from the exposed sky while Feng Ming struck out with yet another Ash Annihilation. Huxian's spacetime trap broke down as the two techniques struck the golden devil within. It burst into gold dust as it was overwhelmed by their dual attack and its own self-ignition.

The wood devil let out an angry roar as it transformed into a bundle of vines. "You think you can escape after the trouble you've caused?" it said. "You're all doomed to die!"

The vines wrapped around the three small animals and Feng Ming, who didn't panic in the slightest.

"It'll be all right, guys," he said to the struggling demons. The earth shook as a large explosion came from beneath the building, sending large chunks of rock up toward their small group. "Just relax and move around a little," Feng Ming said. Boulders and shrapnel that should have struck them bounced off each other. The three panicking demon beasts looked on in awe as every last piece of rock that could have damaged them struck the large vines instead. After being propelled upward by the shock wave, they fell onto unusually soft ground that cushioned their fall.

Powerful cultivators swarmed around them as they found their footing. Feng Ming spotted several generals and his father approaching from the surrounding alleyways.

"You are under arrest for causing havoc in the city of Songjing," a nervous-looking captain yelled through a voice-amplifying device. "Stand down and surrender yourself for investigation, or we will be forced to use lethal countermeasures."

Feng Ming calmly stowed his spear and put his hands behind his head. He knew the drill. Meanwhile, the three beasts ignored the forces surrounding them. They began digging like their life depended on it.

"Just a second," Huxian yelled. "My boss is down there. I need to dig him up!"

Feng Ming rolled his eyes as a large crater rapidly formed beneath the building's remnants. Soon, it uncovered a thirty-foot, three-colored dome. The lights comprising the dome faded, revealing Cha Ming and eighty people who were little more than skin and bones.

***

A half hour later, Cha Ming and his three companions lay shackled in four separate cells. They were to remain captive until the city guards completed their investigation and determined their level of responsibility in the entire debacle. Fortunately, half of the rescued captives were able to testify against their jailors. Regrettably, the other half had already lost significant portions of their souls and would remain in comas indefinitely.

"How nice. You even have your own personal cell," Cha Ming said as he looked to Feng Ming's velvet-draped accommodations.

Feng Ming, who was sitting cross-legged, ignored him. Seeing that his friend's aura was unstable, Cha Ming felt around with his resplendent force before his jaw slacked. After all they'd been through, Feng Ming was finally breaking through.

***

As Feng Ming sat in meditation, he noticed a new rune in his spiritual sea. Like the other eight, it hummed with one of the runes on his qi pillars and caused them to grow while his qi sea thickened. The process was smooth and effortless. Meanwhile, the nine golden runes scrunched together like a crumpled sheet of golden paper.

Feng Ming braced himself for his imminent breakthrough. The crumpled runes morphed and transformed before condensing into an entirely new rune. It was a jade rune, and it was the first of nine steps in cultivating the second volume of the Good Fortune Scripture, Lucky General.

His earthen-fire foundation seas surged into his nine qi pillars, providing them with a final nourishment before their combination into a core. They grew unstable as they drank in the liquid qi, but with this instability came an opportunity for change.

The nine pillars floated to the middle of his Dantian and aligned themselves perpendicularly to the center. Little by little, they melted into a reddish-brown substance that pooled into the singular point. Drop by drop, it accumulated in the center like a mass of molten lava. The nine runes which were previously imprinted on his pillars floated together and merged into the same jade symbol he had just condensed in his mental space.

The rune's appearance was followed by the appearance of a jade runic line. They covered the surface of the spherical blob and tightened around it like a net. Feng Ming shuddered as the lines compressed and condensed the liquid, causing it to shrink to one tenth of its original size. Then, it shrank once more for good measure. The only thing that remained was a tiny reddish-brown core that contained the entirety of the qi he'd accumulated in his lifetime. It was made of a solid that was much harder and more stable than his foundation pillars.

He felt the qi of heaven and earth rush into the small core in his Dantian, nourishing it until it was filled with a thick mist. It was purer and more condensed than the viscous liquid that had previously occupied his qi seas. Feng Ming finally opened his eyes and gazed around they jail where he'd begun his cultivation. He unintentionally released his core-formation pressure, causing the many soldiers in their prison to collapse. He looked around to his devastated surroundings—the furniture in the prison had clearly not been built to withstand the might of a formation cultivator.

"Sergeant Zhou?" Feng Ming said to one of the few remaining officers. The middle-foundation-establishment cultivator was shaking uncontrollably. "Please send a message to my father and inform him that I've broken through."