Inside the spatial rift…
The pressure here was clearly incomparable to the boundless void outside. Even a Fusion Realm cultivator, so long as they didn't do anything reckless, could move about freely within it…
Most importantly, within this particular spatial rift, there flowed an incomparably dense and pure energy. It caused the various great cauldrons inside Lan An's dantian to spring back to life, operating at an even faster rate than usual…
His White Feather Robe had long since been shredded to nothing. Lan An floated naked and unconscious in the misty void, his body looking no different from a tiny speck of flesh drifting aimlessly—like a grain of sand lost in endless darkness…
With injuries this severe, even the miraculous Nirvana Spirit Water required time to heal. It slowly regenerated cell by cell, blood vessel by blood vessel, strip of flesh by strip of flesh…
One day later, Lan An's consciousness finally began to stir. He sensed himself floating aimlessly in an undefined void. His body was still recovering—he had no idea how long it would take…
"Jin'er, where exactly am I?" The question rose in his mind.
"Young Master was swallowed by a spatial rift. The exit is still unknown for the time being!" Jin'er answered immediately.
Lan An understood. Each spatial rift was like a tunnel—each with its own suction force and internal flow speed. It seemed he had fallen into a relatively long one with rather gentle pull…
"What is this mysterious energy here? Why does it feel far superior to spiritual qi?" Noticing how excitedly the cauldrons buzzed and hummed as they gorged themselves, Lan An asked curiously.
"It's Immortal Qi—and it's coming from the exit of this particular rift!" Jin'er replied with a chuckle.
"Immortal Qi?" Lan An's expression changed dramatically. Could the exit of this rift actually lead to the Immortal Realm? With his current strength, he wasn't mentally prepared to set foot in the Immortal Realm at all…
But there was no choice now. He would cross that bridge when he came to it…
"Young Master, rest assured—this Immortal Qi is still mixed with quite a lot of impurities. That means the place you're heading to is not yet the true Immortal Realm!" After assessing the quality of the Immortal Qi, Jin'er spoke up reassuringly.
Lan An secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The cauldrons still operated on spiritual power, but they could absorb Immortal Qi to recover. Truly worthy of being born from a forbidden cultivation method. However, when Immortal Qi entered his body, it was still converted into lower-grade spiritual energy. Clearly, the Immortal Qi in this place wasn't pure enough to transform his spiritual power into true Immortal Power.
"Ah, right… what exactly is Destiny Holy Water?" Unable to hold back any longer, Lan An asked the question that had been nagging at him. He felt that surviving until now had something to do with this mysterious substance, though he still didn't fully understand its function.
"Heaven's Chosen—also called Children of the Heavenly Dao—are individuals born to shoulder calamity. Normally, when an era faces a cataclysmic destruction-level disaster, the Heavenly Dao gathers all possible destiny and fortune into a single living being of that era. This person is meant to grow explosively in the shortest possible time, with the mission of saving their era and preventing the complete annihilation of civilization. Because the Heavenly Dao places all its hopes in them, they are called Children of the Heavenly Dao!"
Instead of answering directly, Jin'er first gave a clearer explanation of what a Child of the Heavenly Dao truly was.
"So terrifying?" Lan An was genuinely shocked. Although some ancient records on Yuelong Star mentioned legends of Heaven's Chosen, none were as detailed or vivid as Jin'er's explanation.
Entrusted with the hopes of the Heavenly Dao itself, bearing the concentrated fortune of an entire era, shouldering the mission to save the world… just hearing it made one's blood boil with passion.
No wonder ancient texts recorded that those recognized as Children of the Heavenly Dao possessed heaven-defying luck: strolling down the road and picking up supreme treasures, falling off cliffs only to find hidden manuals, turning great calamities into immense fortune…
How many eras passed before one such figure appeared? And even if one did appear, it certainly wouldn't be him—someone burdened with forbidden arts and regarded by the Heavenly Dao as a thorn in its side. How could it possibly entrust its hopes to him?
"Beyond Children of the Heavenly Dao, there are also those called Children of Destiny. Compared to Heaven's Chosen, they bear an even more terrifying level of fortune. And Destiny Holy Water… can temporarily turn Young Master into a Child of Destiny!" Jin'er said excitedly.
"Even more terrifying than a Child of the Heavenly Dao?" Lan An didn't quite believe it. Right now, he only felt he had narrowly escaped death once—where was this so-called supreme fortune?
"Alright, then what exactly is a Child of Destiny? Under what circumstances are they born?" Lan An pressed, curiosity growing. The deeper he walked the path of cultivation, the smaller he realized he truly was. It sounded absurd, yet he couldn't laugh.
"I'm sorry, Young Master. For now, it's enough for you to know that your fortune in the coming period will surpass even that of a Child of the Heavenly Dao. As for the rest… you currently lack the qualifications to know more!" Jin'er shook her little head apologetically.
"Fine, if you won't say, then don't." Lan An pouted. He was supposedly a Child of Destiny now, yet he didn't even know what one was. It left him feeling a bit indignant.
"Let's not talk about that anymore. Young Master, try sensing the surrounding situation!" Jin'er quickly changed the subject.
"The surrounding situation?" Lan An furrowed his brows and extended his senses. Instantly, he was stunned.
Normally, even though the void inside a rift lacked the crushing pressure of the outer darkness, it would still instinctively reject any intruder. But right now, the opposite was happening. The surrounding void seemed to be… fawning over him. It cradled his body as gently as if he were lying on the softest cotton bed. He even felt the void here actively releasing its own power to temper and refine his physique.
"What the hell? I don't have a Spatial Spirit Root!" Lan An muttered in shock. Usually, only someone with a Spatial Spirit Root would receive such intimate treatment from the void.
"That is precisely one of the heaven-defying aspects of a Child of Destiny. All things will instinctively develop goodwill toward you—silently and unconsciously assisting you. If Young Master were to fight an enemy here right now, the void itself would help you gain the upper hand in battle!" Jin'er said with a grin.
Lan An sucked in a cold breath. All things instinctively develop goodwill? Did that mean if he encountered a supreme spirit herb that had just gained sentience, it would immediately rush over to acknowledge him as master?
"Not quite that exaggerated… but as long as you have the intention to subdue it, it won't resist!" Jin'er smiled mischievously.
"Damn… that's too terrifying. Looks like in the future I absolutely cannot offend any real Children of Destiny—otherwise I might not even know how I died!" Lan An sighed deeply, half in awe and half in dread.
He stopped joking around. Sensing how the void here continuously assisted his body, he immediately began reciting the incantation for the Eight Gates Dunjia. Borrowing the power flowing from the void, he skipped straight past the fifth and sixth gates and cultivated the seventh—Void Gate.
The great cauldrons continued their work, tirelessly replenishing his energy.
…
His body, previously torn apart by the void, had already grown somewhat accustomed to it. Now, with this assistance, it took only a few short days for Lan An to successfully cultivate Void Gate. His body was fully restored, and his Body Cultivation realm advanced once more—from early Seventh Revolution to mid-Seventh Revolution. His physique became even more balanced and powerful; newly formed skin was fair and tender like a newborn's, yet beneath each gleaming muscle fiber hid boundless strength.
This showed just how great an advantage the environment provided—allowing him to achieve Void Gate in such a short time, something he never would have dared imagine before. And it was all thanks to the so-called Destiny Holy Water.
Void Gate: Awakens the body's ability to interact with and influence the void—whether destroying it or adapting within it—far surpassing ordinary cultivators of the same realm by many times over.
"If I had cultivated Void Gate earlier… even if the teleportation array had been destroyed, I wouldn't have been in such a sorry state…"
Lan An sighed inwardly. Without hesitation, he activated both Speed Gate and Void Gate. The Eight Desolations Heaven-Sweeping Flames roared to life behind him. He shot forward like a streak of light through the pitch-black spatial rift, searching for the exit.
He had regained his peak form. No matter what awaited him ahead, he would face it head-on…
WHOOSH…
Without warning, an object resembling a meteor hurtled from the far end of the rift, tearing through layer after layer of space and smashing straight toward Lan An's head…
"Huh? What the—?" Startled, Lan An's body tensed. Nirvana Spirit Water and Devouring Heaven Wood instantly enveloped both arms as he reached out to grab the incoming object…
THUD…
He caught it firmly in his palm. Looking down, Lan An's expression turned strange. He muttered under his breath:
"Child of Destiny… treasures really do just fall into my lap?"
In his hand was a pitch-black stone, heavy as profound iron and unimaginably tough. Even with his current physique, it felt noticeably weighty.
Though he wasn't an expert appraiser, he could tell this was supreme-grade artifact-refining material. He just didn't know its exact rank yet…
Sure enough, the Lan Hong Sword on his back trembled slightly with excitement. But after so many previous blunders, Hong'er had learned her lesson—she knew she wasn't qualified to devour this yet, even though it looked absolutely delicious…
"Void Ore—a type of artifact-refining material formed within the void. If it falls into the hands of a skilled artifact refiner, it can be perfectly utilized and combined to forge items of Ethereal Grade… or even Jade Grade without issue!" Jin'er didn't let her Young Master down, immediately providing an appraisal.
"Rarely do I get the待遇 of a Child of Destiny—I won't be polite!" Lan An grinned in satisfaction and stored the Void Ore away. He would hand it over to Ai Xin for study once he returned.
In that moment, his anticipation for whatever lay at the exit grew even stronger. He pushed his speed to the absolute limit…
…
"Haha, looks like another fat, juicy prey has delivered itself!"
Just as Lan An approached the exit of the spatial rift, a gleeful voice rang in his ears, causing his expression to darken instantly.
Raising his guard to the maximum, he circulated his power silently and cautiously stepped out…
When he saw the scene before him, his pupils contracted sharply.
This place resembled an underground cavern made entirely of earth and rock—utterly ordinary in appearance, yet shrouded in extreme secrecy. In every direction, countless black spatial rifts of varying sizes opened like mouths, all leading into this single space…
The rift Lan An had just emerged from was merely one among them…
Scattered across the ground were nearly ten thousand figures—old and young, human and beast, Eastern and Western, of countless races… All shared one common trait: deathly pale faces filled with despair, bodies limp and powerless. Their flesh, blood, and cultivation were slowly melting away, seeping downward as nutrient-rich liquid. The sight was chilling to the bone…
At the center of the space hovered a middle-aged man with a sinister, cold countenance. His long white hair fluttered freely. He wore a flowing robe, his aura completely restrained—yet it gave off an overwhelming sense of mortal danger. The corners of his mouth curled in mocking amusement as he gazed at Lan An, eyes like a hunter watching pitiful prey that had finally walked into the trap.
He sat leisurely upon a floating throne, as though he held absolute authority over life and death. The taunting words Lan An had just heard came from this very man…
"Damn it… son of a bitch Child of Destiny!" Lan An cursed inwardly.
No matter how he looked at it, he had clearly walked straight into someone else's trap. What fortune clinging to the body? What surpassing even a Child of the Heavenly Dao?
In Lan An's imagination, the exit of a spatial rift should have been a celestial maiden's private bath, or a hidden vault of supreme treasures—perhaps even containing a teleportation array back to Yuelong Star Realm. That was how it was supposed to be.
"Where is this place?" Taking a deep breath to suppress the turmoil in his heart, Lan An stared coldly at the middle-aged man and asked in a low voice.
The man was slightly taken aback by Lan An's reaction. In his mind, a mere Fusion Realm junior witnessing this tragic scene should have wet himself in terror. Who would have thought the boy still dared to question him so boldly? For a moment, he actually found it interesting.
"I must say, you've surprised me quite a bit. But that very composure of yours right now… will only make your suffering all the more exquisite and prolonged as you slowly turn into nutrient fluid!" The middle-aged man locked eyes with Lan An, smiling wickedly.
"These rifts… you set them up to lure people in? Then turn them into your prey?" Lan An assessed the situation and asked coldly—though it sounded more like a statement.
Looking at the nearly ten thousand victims strewn across the ground—each wearing different robes, possessing varying cultivation levels, and belonging to different races—it was clear these spatial rifts had been placed across countless corners of the vast universe, all funneling their unfortunate or curious victims to this single destination.
Lan An felt a chill run down his spine as he thought about it. To set up such a horrifying scheme… just how powerful must this person be? What was his ultimate goal? Arranging spatial rifts like this—the method alone was hair-raising.
"Clever little brat. Yes, you are indeed one of my prey!" The middle-aged man laughed sinisterly, then shook his head lightly in denial:
"But you're wrong about one thing. This entire setup was not arranged by me—it was created by my supreme Master. I am merely the fortunate one He trusted with the task of waiting here and slaughtering the unlucky prey that stumble in!"
When he spoke of his Master, the middle-aged man's face filled with fanatical reverence. He nearly dropped to his knees in worship, sighing endlessly in adoration.
Lan An's eyes flickered. With a thought, he suddenly sneered:
"Haha… you're already on the verge of death and don't even know it!"
The middle-aged man's expression changed instantly. His face twisted grotesquely. Lan An had clearly struck a nerve. He ground out each word through clenched teeth:
"What do you mean by that, brat? If you don't explain yourself clearly… I'll make you wish for death!"