Chapter 100: The Gambler's Daily Life

Chapter 100: The Gambler's Daily Life



"Shua la la~"

In the central building of the military camp, Lu Ran was marching with the soldiers when he suddenly heard a noise behind him.

He turned around and saw Chang Ying, holding a mountain-splitting axe in one hand and a phantom oracle tube in the other.

Spirit Oracle Spell!

This divine technique shared its name with the God of the Spirit Oracle and was the most basic technique of the Spirit Oracle sect.

It was applicable to daily life rather than combat techniques.

Ask anything! From love fortunes to academic pursuits, career paths, and financial prospects, whatever you could think of, the Spirit Oracle believers could predict for you!

There were five oracle sticks in the tube, representing Excellent Fortune, Upper Sign, Middle Sign, Lower Sign, and Lowest Sign.

"Swoosh~"

In an instant, an oracle stick shot out of the tube.

On it was written a single large character—Middle!

"Middle is lucky, bringing good fortune and happiness!" Chang Ying nodded her head, chanting, "Not bad, not bad~"

She seemed to be acting like a fortune-teller.

If she were holding a fortune-telling banner instead of an axe, it would be even more convincing.

Lu Ran smiled and said, "Middle is lucky?"

"Yes!" Chang Ying nodded seriously, "When faced with difficulties, remain calm and composed."

Suddenly, Chang Ying furrowed her brows and muttered, "How does that phrase go again?"

Lu Ran: "..."

The female soldier leading the way sighed inwardly, thinking, "As expected!"

No matter how she reassessed this squad, a gambler was still a gambler, and they couldn't become a true divine being who answered all prayers.

"Oh, right!" Chang Ying nodded her head again, chanting, "When faced with difficulties, remain calm and composed.

You will turn misfortune into fortune and transform danger into safety."

Lu Ran stepped onto the spiral staircase, walking down while circling the stone pillar, and casually asked, "Have you ever drawn an Excellent Fortune?"

"Of course!" Chang Ying replied immediately.

Lu Ran smiled and asked, "Did everything you predicted come true?"

The oracle tube in Chang Ying's hand disappeared, and her face turned slightly odd.

After a long silence, Lu Ran couldn't help but ask, "Chang Ying?"

"Strange," Chang Ying said, looking at Lu Ran's back, "The few times I drew an Excellent Fortune, it seemed to be related to you."

Lu Ran: "Huh?"

Chang Ying thought for a moment, "When we first became believers, I wanted to ask about our future as a team."

As she spoke, she placed one hand on Tian Tian's head, using her like a human crutch, and walked down the steps, "That was my first time!"

Lu Ran: "..."

What kind of wild talk was this?

Deng Yutang asked, "What first time?"

Chang Ying confirmed, "That was the first time in my life that I drew an Excellent Fortune!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Ran also remembered what Chang Ying had said when she approached him in the schoolyard while he was standing as punishment.

Lu Ran had always thought that Chang Ying was just making things up.

So, she had actually predicted it?

Chang Ying continued reminiscing, "After that, for the following months, I never drew such a good fortune again.

Until a few days ago, in the morning, an Excellent Fortune appeared again.

It startled me, and I forgot what I had asked about.

And that very night..."

Lu Ran suddenly spoke up, "Did the class teacher create a group chat for us?"

"Yeah~" Chang Ying nodded with a smile, "It seems you really are a lucky star!"

As they chatted, the group descended the spiral staircase.

Tian Tian mustered up her courage, raised her small hands, and removed the large hand from her head.

She had thought that Chang Ying would be dissatisfied or say something, but Chang Ying didn't seem to mind at all, as if she hadn't even noticed, and continued chatting with Lu Ran:

"Things related to you tend to bring good fortunes!"

As they talked, Chang Ying unconsciously raised her hand and placed it on Tian Tian's head again.

Tian Tian: "..."

How annoying!

When will Sister Ru Yi come back? Later, when we're commanding the operation, I'll make sure this wild woman stays away from me.

"Whoosh~"

The group entered the starlit curtain, and the night breeze blew in gusts.

Lu Ran's short hair danced in the wind as he used his enhanced vision to gaze at the mysterious demon cave under the night sky.

Below them stood a stone city, and a long line of torches snaked in all directions, reaching the edge of the night sky.

Lu Ran had been to the Evil Dog Village, where there was an endless expanse of barren wilderness.

He had also been to the Soul Shredder Demon Cave, where there was a giant Black Soul Wood forest, and humans wandering within it looked like tiny ants.

As for the Black Lantern Demon Cavern, its terrain consisted of undulating mountains.

It was said that in various places within this realm, there might be hills filled with strange stones.

The peculiarity lay in the fact that most of the stones were rectangular, resembling tombstones in a graveyard.

Coincidentally, the Black Lantern Clan favored gathering in such places.

This also led to the military's torch-lit paths passing through what could be considered "graveyards."

"Let's stop here," the female soldier led the group to the ground, "You'll head north through the north gate and undergo training.

Remember, you must not stray from the torch-lit path.

Additionally, you can only pass through a maximum of nine black grave ridges.

When you reach the tenth one, you are not allowed to proceed any further."

These "black grave ridges" were hills filled with tombstones, which served as gathering places for the Black Lantern Clan.

Hence, this Black Lantern Demon Cavern had another name—Black Grave Ridge.

The female soldier continued, "Keep track of time, and report to the nearest stone city every day.

Before the tenth day of the next lunar month, you must exit the demon cave, or we will deduct your believer points.

(End of Chapter)"Understood." Lu Ran nodded.

Aside from the daily check-ins and the specified activity areas, the rules here were no different from those of other demon caves.

"Good luck to you all," the female soldier said as she strode away.

Lu Ran turned to Tian Tian, "What do you say, Commander?"

Tian Tian replied, "Then shall we go?"

Lu Ran smiled encouragingly, "You're the commander, and most of the time, you don't need to seek others' opinions.

You have to make decisions decisively, and everyone will follow your lead."

Before leaving, Jiang Ruyi had asked Lu Ran to take care of Tian Tian.

Now, Lu Ran was about to put this into action.

Tian Tian extended her small hand and poked Deng Yutang's back with her finger, "Let's go."

Deng Yutang: "."

The group of four quickly headed towards the North Gate and stood before the familiar torch-lit path.

Lu Ran also took out a red handkerchief from his pocket and covered his eyes with it.

Chang Ying looked at Lu Ran curiously but said nothing.

After all, she had already witnessed Lu Ran's powerful battlefield instincts during the Night Parade of Ghosts.

"I'm going in," Lu Ran said, covering his eyes with the red handkerchief, then picking up his twin blades and looking back.

"Be careful," Tian Tian whispered.

Lu Ran heard her clearly and stepped into the darkness.

Chang Ying couldn't hold back and whispered, "Does he always play like this?"

Tian Tian looked up at Chang Ying, "Stay 1.3 meters behind me!"

Chang Ying held her mountain-splitting axe and obediently took two steps back.

"Let's go!"

Tian Tian waved her small hand, pleased with her decision.

Chang Ying was feeling miserable! Once a fearless leader, she now found herself at the back of the group, even taking smaller steps to avoid catching up with Tian Tian.

Suddenly, Tian Tian said, "When we encounter a demon, you can try it first."

"Sure!" Chang Ying's eyes lit up, and her axe was already eager for action.

But then, Tian Tian added, "Use the Five-Treasure Sign and the Hexessence Oracle more often so we can get familiar with the strength of your spells."

At this moment, Chang Ying was at the second stage of the Stream Realm and had learned three spells.

The first spell, the Spirit Oracle, was the life-related skill she had just used.

The second spell, the Five-Treasure Sign, was a spell that combined five major abilities.

The third spell, the Hexessence Oracle, was an advanced version of the Five-Treasure Sign, with each branch of the spell being more powerful.

What was troublesome was that within the Hexessence Oracle, there was a "bad sign"!

Once drawn, Chang Ying would immediately be silenced.

The energy required for her to cast spells would triple, and the cooldown time for her skills would also triple!

That bad sign would also constantly fly around Chang Ying like an annoying fly.

It was well-known that Spirit Oracle adherents would enter a 3-minute cooldown after each draw.

This wasn't just a single skill cooldown but a cooldown for all spells.

Why was this? It was the rule set by the Spirit Oracle Lord.

According to the Spirit Oracle Lord, the spells of the Spirit Oracle adherents were too powerful, and using them recklessly would go against the harmony of heaven.

As the saying goes, going against the harmony of heaven will bring great misfortune! So, if you cast spells in succession, the Spirit Oracle Lord will not approve.

Regarding this, Lu Ran thought it was all nonsense!

Not a single word from that old charlatan could be trusted.

If you're so capable, change the probability gameplay to a fixed gameplay!

Who doesn't understand the principle of losing nine out of ten bets?

And to say that the spells are too powerful and go against the harmony of heaven, come on!

Why did Lu Ran think this way? Because Spirit Oracle adherents couldn't waste these three minutes of skill cooldown.

Waiting idly was not an option!

You had to pray devoutly to the Spirit Oracle Lord for the skills' cooldown to be calculated.

If you didn't pray and didn't give the Spirit Oracle faith power, your skills would be on cooldown forever!

In other words, this was just a way to gain faith, right? If you did it openly, no one would say anything.

It was the same as making money; there was nothing shameful about it.

But the Spirit Oracle Lord had a set of grand principles and philosophies, making himself look good.

As for the Spirit Oracle adherents... well, let's just say it was a matter of willing participants.

"Demon detected!" Deng Yutang's voice suddenly came from the front, "A lone one."

Tian Tian immediately said, "Let Chang Ying show her strength?"

Deng Yutang raised his spear and then lowered it, "Alright."

"Go for it," Tian Tian turned and said to Chang Ying.

"Just watch," Chang Ying said, striding forward with her long legs, axe in hand.

"Use more spells," Tian Tian shouted.

"Whoosh!"

Chang Ying immediately grabbed a talisman tube and rushed towards a black lantern, "Spirit Oracle, bless me, bless me!"

Please, no more support talismans, I don't need to recover divine power!

Offensive, control, summoning talismans, anything would do.

"Huff!"

A spirit talisman flew high out of the tube and suddenly grew in size!

This time, it wasn't a support talisman, but it was a defensive talisman? Chang Ying looked up, a bit dazed.

"Chang Ying?" Lu Ran's voice of reminder came from the darkness in the distance.

"Oh, oh!" Chang Ying quickly snapped out of her daze.

She raised her palm high and then brought it down forcefully.

What's wrong with a defensive talisman? It could also smash someone to death!

Under Chang Ying's control, the defensive talisman became a giant fly swatter, slamming down on the black lantern.

End of Chapter

Chapter end