Day three began with an earthquake.
Not natural—I felt it through my fortune sense immediately. Something massive was moving beneath the Vale, displacing earth and stone with each step. The red moss trembled. Trees swayed without wind.
"Underground predator," Yun Xia said quietly, already gathering our supplies. "Big one. Core Formation level, probably."
[DETECTING: MASSIVE SUBTERRANEAN THREAT]
[ESTIMATED POWER: CORE FORMATION 1ST-3RD LAYER]
[DISTANCE: 200 METERS AND CLOSING]
[SPECIES: UNKNOWN]
"Can we outrun it?"
"We can try." She was already moving, heading north at a pace just below sprinting. "The Vale's central region is its hunting ground. It patrols underground, surfaces to feed. If we're lucky, it's already eaten recently."
The ground erupted fifty meters behind us.
A creature emerged that defied easy description—part worm, part serpent, covered in crimson scales that matched the Vale's coloring perfectly. Its head was all mouth, lined with rows of crystalline teeth. Each tooth glowed with condensed spiritual energy.
[CRIMSON DEVOURER - CORE FORMATION 2ND LAYER]
[SPECIAL TRAIT: EARTH MANIPULATION, ACIDIC SALIVA]
[WEAKNESS: EYES (HEAVILY ARMORED)]
[THREAT LEVEL: LETHAL]
"Run!" Yun Xia didn't waste breath on anything else.
We ran.
The Devourer pursued, its massive body sliding through earth like water. Trees fell in its wake. The ground split open, creating chasms that we had to leap across using cultivation-enhanced jumps.
I activated Luck Severance on the creature.
[COST: 25 LP (CORE FORMATION TARGET)]
[CURRENT LP: 2,225]
The effect was minimal,Core Formation beasts had fortune reserves that resisted manipulation. But it helped slightly. The Devourer's next lunge missed by inches when it should have caught us.
"Can't maintain this pace!" I gasped. "Need to find cover or lose it somehow!"
"There!" Yun Xia pointed to a narrow canyon ahead, barely wide enough for a person. "It's too big to follow through there!"
We sprinted for the canyon as the Devourer closed the distance. Its acidic saliva splashed the ground beside us, eating through stone with hissing fury.
Twenty meters from the canyon.
The Devourer lunged, its massive mouth opening wide enough to swallow us both,
I activated Probability Shield at maximum power.
[COST: 100 LP]
[CURRENT LP: 2,125]
[EMERGENCY OVERCHARGE: ACTIVATED]
Reality screamed. The Devourer's bite, which should have ended us instantly, instead deflected with impossible force. Crystalline teeth shattered on probability barriers. The creature recoiled, confused and hurt.
We dove into the canyon.
The Devourer's roar shook the Vale, but it couldn't follow. Too large, too massive. It slammed against the canyon entrance, trying to force its way through, but the stone held.
We didn't stop running until we'd gone a mile into the canyon's depths.
Finally, gasping, we collapsed against the canyon walls.
"Core Formation beast," I panted. "We just survived a Core Formation beast."
"Barely. If you hadn't shielded us at the end..." Yun Xia didn't finish the sentence. "Your Probability Shield is ridiculous. That should have killed us both."
"It nearly did. The shield almost collapsed." I checked my LP—2,125 remaining. The emergency overcharge had been expensive but necessary. "How much further until we're through the central region?"
"Another thirty miles. Two days at our current pace." She pulled out her map, studying it by the dim light filtering through the canyon. "But the central region is the Guardian's main testing ground. The Devourer won't be the worst thing we face."
"What's worse than a Core Formation worm that eats mountains?"
"We'll probably find out."
The canyon led generally north, which worked for us. We traveled through it for several hours, encountering smaller threats,Qi Condensation level beasts that we killed or evaded depending on their strength.
By midday, we'd gained another fifteen miles. Thirty-eight total out of one hundred twenty. Good progress, but we were entering the deadliest section of the Vale.
[CRIMSON VALE PROGRESS: 38/120 MILES]
[DAYS ELAPSED: 2.5]
[DAYS REMAINING: 3.5]
[CURRENT DANGER LEVEL: EXTREME]
We emerged from the canyon into a clearing that stopped me cold.
The ground was covered in bones. Thousands of them. Decades of accumulated death, picked clean and arranged in almost decorative patterns.
"Territorial marker," Yun Xia said quietly. "Something powerful lives here. Something that wants visitors to know they're entering its domain."
"The Guardian?"
"Worse. The Guardian oversees the Vale. This is something that claims territory within the Vale. A ruler of its own domain." She studied the bone patterns with professional caution. "We should go around."
"How much time would that add?"
"Half a day, maybe more."
I extended my fortune sense across the clearing, feeling for threats. The probability threads here were strange knotted, tangled, as if fate itself had trouble flowing smoothly.
And in the clearing's center, I sensed something that made my fortune sense recoil.
A knot of anti-luck. A concentration of misfortune so dense it warped probability around itself.
"There's something in the center," I said. "Something that radiates bad luck like heat from a fire."
"That's not possible. Luck isn't a tangible thing that can radiate" Yun Xia stopped, seeing my expression. "Fortune Foundation cultivators. You see things differently."
"I see probability. And whatever's in that clearing is a probability sink. Fortune goes in, doesn't come out." I studied the pattern more carefully. "But it's also incredibly fortunate in a twisted way. Like it's so unlucky that it wraps around to being lucky about being unlucky."
"You're giving me a headache."
"Welcome to Fortune Foundation cultivation." I made a decision. "I want to investigate. Something that warps probability that intensely might be valuable."
"Or it might kill us."
"That too. But we're already in the Crimson Vale courting death. Might as well be thorough about it."
Yun Xia sighed. "Your logic is terrible, but I'm following you anyway. Don't know why."
"Because watching me defy probability is entertaining?"
"That must be it."
We crossed the bone field carefully, weapons ready. Nothing attacked. The bones didn't animate. No hidden predators emerged.
Just oppressive silence and the certainty that something was very, very wrong here.
At the clearing's center, we found it.
A sword. Ancient, blade buried in stone, radiating misfortune like a cursed artifact from legends.
The weapon was beautiful despite its aura of bad luck—black metal inscribed with silver script I couldn't read. The pommel was a crimson gem that pulsed with its own light.
[DETECTING: CURSED ARTIFACT]
[NAME: UNKNOWN]
[POWER LEVEL: EXTREME]
[CURSE LEVEL: ABSOLUTE]
[WARNING: CONTACT NOT RECOMMENDED]
"Don't touch it," Yun Xia said immediately. "Wei Chen, I know that look. Whatever you're thinking, don't."
"It's drawing fortune from everything around it," I said, fascinated despite the danger. "Every creature that dies in this clearing, their luck flows into the sword. It's been accumulating for decades. Maybe centuries."
"And it's cursed. Look at the bone field. Look at how nothing lives here. That sword kills everything that touches it."
"Or it kills everything except the person it's meant for." I extended my fortune sense carefully, not touching the weapon but analyzing its structure.
The curse was real,devastating, absolute, designed to kill anyone who tried to claim the sword. But beneath the curse, I felt something else. A hunger. The sword wanted to be wielded. It had been waiting for someone.
Someone who could survive its curse.
Someone whose cultivation was built on manipulating luck itself.
"It's a Fortune Weaver weapon," I breathed. "That's why it's here. The Guardian left it. This is another test."
"A test that kills you if you fail."
"All the Guardian's tests kill us if we fail. That's the point."
[QUEST DETECTED: THE CURSED BLADE]
[OBJECTIVE: CLAIM THE SWORD OR WALK AWAY]
[SUCCESS: POWERFUL WEAPON + UNKNOWN BENEFITS]
[FAILURE: INSTANT DEATH]
[NOTE: THIS IS OPTIONAL]
[ALSO NOTE: YOU'RE GOING TO TRY IT ANYWAY, AREN'T YOU?]
"Yes," I said aloud. "I'm going to try it."
"Of course you are." Yun Xia backed away several steps. "When you die horribly, I'm taking your storage ring and selling everything to fund my retirement."
"Fair enough."
I approached the sword slowly, my fortune sense extended to maximum range. The curse's structure became clearer as I got closer—layers upon layers of misfortune, each designed to kill in a different way.
First layer: bad luck in combat. Weapons slip, defenses fail, attacks miss their mark.
Second layer: environmental hazards. Falls, collisions, random accidents that shouldn't be fatal but compound until they are.
Third layer: spiritual backlash. Cultivation deviations, meridian collapse, qi poisoning.
Fourth layer: fate severance. Cut the wielder's fortune threads entirely, making them unlucky in every conceivable way until something kills them.
The curse was masterwork—designed by someone who truly understood probability manipulation.
But I was a Fortune Foundation cultivator. Probability manipulation was literally what I did.
I reached for the sword's hilt.
The curse activated immediately.
[CURSED BLADE: ACTIVATED]
[ALL FOUR CURSE LAYERS: ENGAGING]
[PROBABILITY OF SURVIVAL: 0.8%]
Fortune drained from me like water through a sieve. My luck plummeted. The stone beneath my foot cracked at exactly the wrong angle. My hand slipped on the sword's grip. A branch above chose that moment to fall directly toward my head.
I activated every technique simultaneously.
Luck Severance on the curse itself—fighting probability with probability.
Fortune Strike to find the weakness in the curse's structure.
Probability Shield to deflect the environmental hazards.
Fate Glimpse to see the one path forward that didn't end in death.
[LP: 2,125 → 1,900 → 1,600 → 1,300...]
The curse fought back, drinking my fortune, trying to kill me through sheer accumulated misfortune. My vision blurred. My meridians screamed in pain. Every probability thread I could manipulate turned against me.
But beneath the curse, I felt the sword itself. And it wasn't trying to kill me.
It was testing me.
Survive the curse, the weapon seemed to whisper. Prove you can manipulate fate itself. Then I'll serve you.
I stopped fighting the curse and did something insane.
I absorbed it.
Fortune Absorption, designed to draw in accumulated luck from objects and creatures. But what was a curse except concentrated misfortune? What was misfortune except inverse luck?
If I could absorb fortune, maybe I could absorb misfortune too.
[WARNING: THEORETICAL TECHNIQUE]
[ATTEMPTING: INVERSE FORTUNE ABSORPTION]
[PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS: UNKNOWN]
[PROBABILITY OF CATASTROPHIC FAILURE: HIGH]
I activated the absorption, not pulling in luck but pulling in the curse itself. Drawing the concentrated misfortune into my Fortune Foundation, letting it cycle through my cultivation base.
It felt like swallowing broken glass.
The curse poured into me,decades of accumulated bad luck, flowing through meridians designed to channel fortune. My cultivation screamed in protest. Reality twisted around me, probability itself bending under impossible strain.
But Fortune Foundation cultivation was built on paradox. On defying what should be possible.
And I was becoming very good at defying impossibility.
The curse flowed through me, was refined by my cultivation base, and emerged as something new. Not fortune. Not misfortune. Something between,probability in its purest form, unaligned to luck or unluck.
[IMPOSSIBLE ACHIEVEMENT DETECTED]
[NEW TECHNIQUE CREATED: CURSE REFINEMENT]
[COST: VARIABLE]
[EFFECT: ABSORB CURSES/MISFORTUNE AND CONVERT TO PURE PROBABILITY]
[SIDE EFFECT: EXTREMELY PAINFUL]
[CURRENT STATUS: BARELY FUNCTIONAL]
The sword's curse weakened. Then broke. Then dissolved entirely as I absorbed the last of its misfortune.
I gripped the hilt firmly and pulled.
The blade came free from the stone with a sound like reality tearing.
Power flooded through me,not cultivation advancement, but something else. Connection. The sword recognized me as its wielder, accepted me, bonded to my fortune threads.
[CURSED BLADE: CLAIMED]
[NAME REVEALED: FATE SEVERANCE]
[WEAPON TYPE: FORTUNE WEAVER ARTIFACT]
[ABILITIES: MULTIPLE (DISCOVERING...)]
[ABILITY 1: LUCK DRAIN]
[PASSIVE EFFECT: ATTACKS SEVER ENEMY FORTUNE THREADS]
[ACTIVE EFFECT: CHANNEL LP TO DRAMATICALLY INCREASE DRAIN]
[ABILITY 2: PROBABILITY EDGE]
[PASSIVE EFFECT: BLADE ALWAYS FINDS WEAKNESSES]
[ACTIVE EFFECT: GUARANTEE CRITICAL HIT (COSTS 100 LP)]
[ABILITY 3: CURSE REFLECTION]
[ACTIVE EFFECT: REFLECT CURSES/MISFORTUNE BACK AT CASTER]
[COST: VARIABLE]
[WARNING: WEAPON REQUIRES CONSTANT LP TO MAINTAIN]
[PASSIVE DRAIN: 10 LP PER DAY]
[COMBAT USAGE: ADDITIONAL LP AS ACTIVATED]
I held Fate Severance up, examining it properly. The black blade seemed to drink light, the silver script now glowing with my own fortune threads. The crimson gem pulsed in time with my heartbeat.
This was a real weapon. Not a cultivator's sword meant to channel qi, but a Fate Weaver artifact designed to manipulate probability directly.
"You're not dead," Yun Xia observed, emerging from cover. "Color me surprised."
"I absorbed the curse."
"You what?"
"Absorbed it. Turned misfortune into pure probability and integrated it into my cultivation." I realized how insane that sounded. "It's probably not something I should try often."
"Probably not." She studied the sword with professional interest. "That's a Fortune Weaver artifact. Real one, not a replica. Those are supposed to be extinct,the Celestial Court destroyed them all when they suppressed your bloodline."
"They missed one. Or the Guardian preserved it." I sheathed the blade,it fit perfectly in my storage ring, which was convenient. "Either way, I'm armed now. Actually armed, not just carrying a sword."
[LP REMAINING: 1,150/3,000]
[NOTE: ABSORBED CURSE CONSUMED 150 LP BEYOND TECHNIQUE COSTS]
[FATE SEVERANCE MAINTENANCE: -10 LP DAILY]
[NET DAILY LP GAIN: +15 LP (WAS +25, NOW -10 FOR MAINTENANCE)]
The cost was significant but manageable. And the weapon's power would more than compensate for the reduced LP regeneration.
"We should move," Yun Xia said, checking the sun's position. "We've been stationary too long. And whatever claimed this territory before will probably notice its curse trap is broken."
As if summoned by her words, the ground began shaking again.
Not the Devourer,this was different. Multiple tremors, coming from several directions simultaneously.
"Oh no," Yun Xia whispered.
"What?"
"The bones. The clearing. This isn't a predator's hunting ground. It's a nest."
[WARNING: MULTIPLE THREATS APPROACHING]
[CRIMSON BROODLINGS x 8]
[PARENT: CRIMSON MATRIARCH]
[ESTIMATED POWER: FOUNDATION ESTABLISHMENT 2ND-4TH LAYER (BROODLINGS)]
[ESTIMATED POWER: CORE FORMATION 1ST LAYER (MATRIARCH)]
Eight young Devourers burst from the ground around us, smaller than their parent but still massive,each one the size of a large house, covered in crimson scales, mouths lined with crystalline teeth.
And behind them, rising from the earth like a mountain gaining consciousness, came their mother.
The Crimson Matriarch dwarfed her offspring. Her scales were darker, harder, scarred from decades of combat. Her eyes held intelligence.true sapience, not just beast cunning.
She looked at the broken curse trap where her prize sword had been. Looked at me holding Fate Severance. Looked at the eight broodlings surrounding us.
Then she spoke, her voice carrying spiritual pressure that made my bones ache.
"Thief. Intruder. Fate Weaver whelp who thinks he can take what is mine." The Matriarch's mouth opened, revealing teeth the size of swords. "Feed my children. Die screaming."
[COMBAT INITIATED: CRIMSON MATRIARCH + 8 BROODLINGS]
[OPPONENT TOTAL POWER: VASTLY SUPERIOR]
[VICTORY PROBABILITY: 2.3%]
[RETREAT PROBABILITY: 1.7%]
[SURVIVAL PROBABILITY: 4.0%]
"Ideas?" Yun Xia asked, her daggers already drawn.
I drew Fate Severance, feeling its power resonate with my Fortune Foundation cultivation. The blade hummed, eager for combat, hungry to sever fortune threads.
"Yes," I said, activating my fortune sense to maximum range. "We're going to do something stupid."
"That's not reassuring."
"It's not meant to be." I smiled despite the terror. "But it's entertaining, which is what the Guardian wants. So let's give him a show."
The broodlings attacked.
And I activated Probability Cascade for the first time.
[COST: 200 LP]
[CURRENT LP: 950]
[TARGETING: ALL 8 BROODLINGS]
My Luck Severance hit the nearest broodling, cutting its fortune threads. That misfortune spread to its sibling. Then to the next. Then the next.
A cascade of bad luck rippling through the pack, turning their coordination into chaos.
One broodling bit its sibling by accident. Another's lunge overextended, leaving it vulnerable. A third simply tripped over its own body, crashing into two others.
Yun Xia didn't waste the opportunity. She moved like death incarnate, her Foundation Establishment cultivation letting her slaughter the unlucky broodlings with brutal efficiency.
I joined her, Fate Severance in hand. The blade lived up to its name—every strike severed fortune threads, making my opponents unlucky at critical moments. A broodling's scales cracked where they should have held. Another's bite missed by impossible margins.
[BROODLINGS DEFEATED: 8/8]
[+240 LP]
[CURRENT LP: 1,190]
But the Matriarch was different.
She watched her children die with cold calculation, analyzing our techniques, learning our patterns. When the last broodling fell, she attacked with Core Formation speed.
Her massive body moved impossibly fast for something so large. Her mouth opened, acidic saliva spraying in wide arcs that dissolved stone.
I activated Probability Shield.
[COST: 100 LP]
[CURRENT LP: 1,090]
The acid deflected, but the Matriarch adapted immediately. Her tail whipped around, catching me from an unexpected angle.
The impact sent me flying. I hit a tree hard enough to crack ribs,again,and tasted blood.
[INJURY: MODERATE RIB FRACTURE]
[INTERNAL BLEEDING: MINOR]
Yun Xia engaged the Matriarch directly, her daggers finding gaps in the creature's armor. But Core Formation versus Foundation Establishment was always an uneven fight. The Matriarch's next strike caught her full-force, slamming her into the ground.
[YUN XIA: SEVERELY INJURED]
[STATUS: CRITICAL]
"No!" I forced myself up, pain screaming through my ribs. The Matriarch was preparing a killing strike on Yun Xia's prone form.
I had seconds.
I activated Fate Glimpse.
[COST: 75 LP]
[CURRENT LP: 1,015]
[VIEWING: NEXT 60 SECONDS OF PROBABLE FUTURES]
I saw it,a thousand possible futures branching out from this moment. In most, we died. In some, Yun Xia died and I escaped. In a handful, we both survived but barely.
But there was one thread,one single improbable path,where we won.
It required perfect timing, perfect execution, and spending almost all my remaining LP.
But it was possible.
I followed that thread.
I activated Luck Severance on the Matriarch's next attack, spending extra LP to guarantee the effect.
[COST: 50 LP]
[CURRENT LP: 965]
Her killing strike on Yun Xia missed,barely, impossibly, but it missed. Her massive head slammed into stone instead of flesh.
In that moment of confusion, I ran forward and drove Fate Severance through her eye.
Not a killing blow,Core Formation beasts didn't die that easily. But the blade's Luck Drain ability activated, severing her fortune threads, making her suddenly, catastrophically unlucky.
Her next movement caught on nothing. Her weight shifted wrong. The ground beneath her, weakened by her own acidic saliva, collapsed.
She fell, her massive body sliding into the hole she'd created, unable to find purchase with her suddenly failing luck.
I spent everything I had left on one final attack.
Fortune Strike, Probability Cascade, every technique I could layer together, focused on a single point,the crack in her skull where my initial strike had penetrated.
[COST: 400 LP]
[CURRENT LP: 565]
Fate Severance drove deep, the blade's probability edge finding the exact pathway to her brain. Reality twisted around the strike, probability itself ensuring the attack succeeded.
The Crimson Matriarch's roar cut off mid-sound.
She collapsed, her massive body going still.
[CRIMSON MATRIARCH DEFEATED]
[+500 LP]
[FORTUNE ABSORPTION AVAILABLE: +300 LP]
[IMPOSSIBLE ACHIEVEMENT: CORE FORMATION BEAST DEFEATED WHILE FOUNDATION ESTABLISHMENT EQUIVALENT]
[BONUS REWARD: +200 LP]
[CURRENT LP: 1,565]
I collapsed beside the corpse, every part of my body screaming. My ribs were broken. My meridians felt scorched from excessive LP expenditure. My cultivation base trembled on the edge of instability.
But I was alive.
I crawled to Yun Xia's side. She was breathing—barely. Multiple broken bones, internal injuries, possible organ damage.
I pulled out the last healing pills from my storage ring and fed them to her carefully. They'd help, but not enough. She needed real medical attention, and we were in the middle of the Crimson Vale.
"Wei Chen," she coughed blood. "Status?"
"We won. Barely. You're injured badly."
"Noticed that." She managed a weak smile. "Did you just... kill a Core Formation beast? While being Fortune Foundation 6th Layer?"
"Yes."
"That's not supposed to be possible."
"I'm starting to think 'not supposed to be possible' is my cultivation method's specialty."
A slow clap echoed through the clearing.
The Vale Guardian materialized from nothing, its form shifting between shapes as it examined the carnage.
"Magnificent!" It circled the Matriarch's corpse with evident delight. "You killed her! I've been trying to eliminate this particular pest for decades, but Core Formation to Core Formation combat is so tedious. But you,Fortune Foundation killing Core Formation through pure probability manipulation and absurd luck,that's entertainment!"
"Glad you're amused," I rasped. "My companion needs medical attention."
"Does she? How unfortunate." The Guardian gestured, and Yun Xia's injuries began healing at visible speed. Not completely,even Guardian power couldn't instantly cure everything—but enough that she was out of danger.
"There. Payment for the show." The Guardian turned its golden eyes on me. "You're doing well, little Fate Weaver. Three days in, already claiming Fortune Weaver artifacts and killing beasts that should be far beyond you. At this rate, you might actually survive the wager."
"Was this part of your test? The Matriarch?"
"Everything in the Vale is part of my test. But that?" It gestured at the corpse. "That was her own fault. She thought she could claim your ancestor's sword for herself. Cursed it, kept it as a trap. I allowed it because watching greedy creatures fail amused me." The Guardian smiled. "Watching you succeed amuses me more."
"What about the information? You promised information if I survived."
"Three days left. Survive those, and we'll talk." The Guardian began fading. "Oh, and one more thing,your enemies are getting closer. That Enforcer Liu? He arrived in Azure Peak City this morning. Discovered you'd fled. He's tracking you now. Should reach the Vale's edge in about five days."
My blood went cold. "Five days? But we need six to cross."
"Then you'd better hurry. Or fight him. That would be entertaining too." The Guardian vanished completely, its laughter echoing across the clearing.
[QUEST UPDATE: THE GUARDIAN'S WAGER]
[TIME REMAINING: 3 DAYS]
[NEW COMPLICATION: ENFORCER LIU PURSUIT]
[ETA: 5 DAYS]
[MARGIN OF SAFETY: -1 DAY]
"We're being hunted," Yun Xia said, her voice stronger now that the Guardian's healing had taken effect. "A Celestial Court Enforcer is tracking us into the Vale."
"We knew they'd send someone."
"An Enforcer is different from a tracker. Enforcers are Core Formation minimum, usually late stage. They're not investigators, they're executioners." She stood carefully, testing her injuries. "If Enforcer Liu catches us before we finish crossing..."
"Then we die." I looked at the Matriarch's corpse, at Fate Severance still buried in her skull. "So we don't get caught. We move faster, fight harder, and reach the northern exit in three days instead of four."
"That's impossible. The terrain alone"
"I'm starting to think 'impossible' just means 'not yet achieved.'" I pulled Fate Severance free and sheathed it. "Come on. We've got a Vale to cross and an Enforcer to outrun."
[CURRENT STATUS:]
Realm: Fortune Foundation 6th Layer
LP: 1,565/3,000
Location: Crimson Vale - Central Region
Progress: 38 Miles / 120 Miles
Days Remaining: 3
Injuries: Moderate (Healing)
New Weapon: Fate Severance (Claimed)
Companion: Yun Xia (Severe Injuries, Stabilized)
New Threat: Enforcer Liu (5 Days Away)
We left the bone clearing behind, moving north at the fastest pace we could sustain.
Behind us, the Matriarch's corpse was already being devoured by scavengers.
Ahead, eighty-two miles of deadly terrain remained.
And closing from behind, a Core Formation Enforcer who wanted me dead.
Day three complete.
Three more to go.
And one day less than we needed.