Chapter 13: Descending the Mountain
\nZuo Meng opened his eyes to find another night had passed.
\nTwo nights, two dreams – he’d wandered through two epochs: the Ancient Era and the Totem Era. Having “lived” through such vast stretches of time, returning to the real world left him exuding an archaic aura, like some ancient relic or mountain hermit.
\n“Still gained something at least.”
\nHe didn’t hurry to rise. Morning practice held no appeal now, nor would it ever again. The cultivation pills meant nothing to someone with twenty years of internal energy – elder-level strength made disciples’ resources useless. As for humiliating rivals? Pointless. Zuo Meng never understood why protagonists in stories pretended weakness. Wasting life waiting for enemies to mock you? He’d just crush them instantly.
\nHis Totem Era experiment in reshaping laws had taught him three truths.
\nFirst: Life’s nature defies control. Nations contain scholars, artists, athletes – you can nurture inclination but never alter innate disposition.
\nSecond: Laws breed loopholes like regulations. The awakened Ruin exploited this to end an epoch.
\nThird: Civilizations evolve naturally. His forced Ancient and Totem Eras failed – true creation requires organic growth, mere guidance from above.
\n“What power will manifest this time?”
\nZuo Meng stepped outside. Mountain air filled his lungs. Their secluded peak housed only three – perpetually absent Master Zuo Han Sheng, frequently missing Junior Sister Zuo Qiu. He’d once thought them fellow lazy fish, but last night’s assassination attempt revealed their hidden depths.
\n“So I’m the sole true slacker.”
\nStretching, he reflected on his wasted years of self-pity over poor talent. Now everything looked different.
\n“Senior Brother! Skipping practice again?”
\nJunior Sister Zuo Qiu’s voice made him turn. His pupils swirled like black holes as dream-power seeped into reality again. Faint azure light glowed in his eyes – the second manifestation since the law chains first appeared.
\n“Fortune… Of course.”
\nIn the Totem Era’s second cycle, he’d grasped the essence of fate through three protagonists: Earth’s Conflict, Ancestor Dragon, and Dragon Emperor Di Ye. Now he saw terrifying fortune clinging to his junior sister – surpassing even the Ancient Era’s protagonist Ruin.
\n“Main World’s fortune then.”
\nThis dream’s legacy was the Eye of Fortune. The first brought law chains, the second this vision.
\n“Unchangeable.”
\nUnlike the dream’s sea of consciousness where he tweaked fates, reality only permitted observation. Both powers required specific energies to activate, he realized – just like the law chains.
\n\u201cIf even Junior Sister is like this, Master must be in big trouble too. No wonder he got assassinated last night.\u201d
\nHaving researched fortune for an entire epoch, Zuo Meng understood it better than anyone in the real world. This thing called fortune could be called a protagonist’s halo – an innate great fortune destined to make someone legendary. But seen negatively, it meant endless troubles. The stronger the fortune, the bigger the problems. Just look at those novel protagonists – weren’t they all drowning in troubles, losing parents and facing constant dangers?
\nLike last night’s ambush when returning to Liuhe Sect.
\nIf Zuo Meng hadn’t coincidentally obtained that golden finger to boost his power, he’d have been chopped into pieces. Following typical novel logic, Junior Sister or Master would then seek revenge, triggering bigger troubles and endless battles until becoming the strongest. But here’s the problem – this cheap Senior Brother would already be dead!
\n\u201cNeed to find ways to get stronger. Otherwise I’m doomed.\u201d
\nIgnoring his Junior Sister’s question, Zuo Meng abruptly asked: \u201cJunior Sister, did Taiyuan Sword Sect have any savings before merging?\u201d
\n\u201cMoney?\u201d
\nZuo Qiu blinked in confusion. Weren’t they just talking about skipping morning practice? And that weird look in his eyes made her uneasy.
\n\u201cWhy do you need money?\u201d
\n\u201cI want to buy stuff.\u201d
\nZuo Meng planned to purchase dust powder to boost his strength. If he could accumulate one or two centuries worth of internal energy, no trouble could touch him.
\n\u201cNone. Taiyuan Sword Sect’s broke. Master gambles everything away.\u201d
\n\u201cNo money? That’s bad.\u201d
\nNo money meant no purchases. But could he just rob someone?
\nZuo Meng suddenly halted mid-step.
\nNo money? Then just rob!
\nExactly! Why bother buying when he could take? This chaotic world only respected strength anyway. With powerful fists, he could grab whatever he wanted.
\n\u201cJunior Sister, I’m going traveling. Tell Master I went on a long trip.\u201d
\nHe strode down the mountain without looking back.
\nZuo Qiu stared blankly. Was her lazy Senior Brother having a fever? Jumping between topics randomly before suddenly deciding to \u201ctravel\u201d? Though this wasn’t his first absurd act – at twelve, he’d vanished to Liuhe City for three days to avoid chores.
\n\u201cYou!\u201d
\nNot bothering with his antics, she rolled her eyes and walked away.
\n\u201cDo whatever you want!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chapter 13: Descending the Mountain Zuo Meng opened his eyes to find another night had passed. Two nights, two dreams – he’d wandered through two epochs: the Ancient Era and the Totem Era. Having “lived” through such vast stretches of time, returning to the real world left him exuding an archaic aura, like some ancient relic or mountain hermit. “Still gained something at least.”\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[3],"tags":[],"fcn_genre":[],"fcn_fandom":[],"fcn_character":[],"fcn_content_warning":[],"class_list":["post-1391","fcn_chapter","type-fcn_chapter","status-publish","hentry","category-dreaming-to-become-a-creator"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_chapter\/1391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/fcn_chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_chapter\/1391\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1391"},{"taxonomy":"fcn_genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_genre?post=1391"},{"taxonomy":"fcn_fandom","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_fandom?post=1391"},{"taxonomy":"fcn_character","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_character?post=1391"},{"taxonomy":"fcn_content_warning","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmp.gravitytales.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fcn_content_warning?post=1391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}