Back in his room.
Qin Tian retrieved a wooden plaque from his Sea of Bitterness and placed it on the offering table. Two characters were inscribed upon it — Shi Hao!
Simple words, yet they seemed to bear down upon the myriad heavens with the weight of ages, carrying an aura of solitary dominion over all eternity.
Three sticks of incense were lit. A bowl of steaming hot beast milk was poured.
Qin Tian knelt in reverent worship:
"O Heavenly Emperor who belongs not to this era — you are the founder of the Secret Realm cultivation method, you are the sovereign who wields Selfless Transformation."
"Qin Tian hereby offers one bottle of premium beast milk, of exceptional flavor — truly unmissable!"
The energy content mattered little. The taste was paramount. After all, what high-energy beast milk had the Desolate Heavenly Emperor not tasted? The novelty was what counted.
As for why he wrote "Shi Hao" rather than "Desolate Heavenly Emperor" — the reason was simple. The Desolate Heavenly Emperor was Shi Hao, but Shi Hao was not necessarily the Desolate Heavenly Emperor.
The simplest logic: Shi Hao could be "the one who loves beast milk most," but the Desolate Heavenly Emperor could not be "the one who loves beast milk most."
Even Heavenly Emperors had their pride. If he set up a plaque for the Desolate Heavenly Emperor yet offered beast milk, the Heavenly Emperor would be displeased.
This was called understanding human affairs.
Qin Tian murmured inwardly:
"In this world, gods and buddhas may not exist. Worshipping them may yield nothing."
"But worshipping the Milk Baby — that must work. It works tremendously."
"Because the Milk Baby truly exists. And he has always existed."
In this world, fortune was invisible yet undeniably real. Once, the Milk Baby had seized the fortune of the Immortal Realm for a million years under the name of Desolation, extending the obsession of the Forbidden Zone Lords and restoring their condition.
From this, one could see — fortune truly existed.
Some people stepped outside and encountered Immortal Gold, Undying Divine Medicine. Others never encountered a single piece of Divine Source in their entire lives.
The previous Qin Tian had belonged to the latter category. Now, through his ritual, the fortune upon him gradually increased, slowly transforming him into the former.
And the ritual to enhance fortune was the worship of the Desolate Heavenly Emperor.
In his previous life, you could call him "the one who loves beast milk most," address him as "Milk Baby." He wouldn't hold it against you.
But having come to Shrouding the Heavens? What should you call him?
Desolate Heavenly Emperor! Dao Ancestor Shi Hao!
Correct!
In this world, anyone who cultivated the Secret Realm method must respectfully address him as First Ancestor.
Precisely so!
He had once used his essence to mend the Nine Heavens. His Dao arts circulated throughout the world.
The entire Nine Heavens bore traces of the Desolate Heavenly Emperor — in spirit and in substance. The Nine Heavens and Ten Earths had long since taken the shape of his Hao.
Even if the Desolate Heavenly Emperor was gone, his station in this world remained. The position of First Ancestor was unshakeable. Anyone who cultivated the Shrouding the Heavens method was, without exception, his descendant.
Every birth of a Great Emperor — their fortune would be entrusted upon the First Ancestor's station.
Present-day Shrouding the Heavens, whether in essence or appearance, had long since become the shape of Shi Hao.
And as the sole person in all the Nine Heavens who worshipped the First Ancestor — how could the Secret Realm cultivation system, the heavens and earth themselves, not favor him? Stepping outside and picking up Divine Source was perfectly ordinary.
But Qin Tian hadn't thought of this at first. What he initially sought was thefeedback of faith power.
Thefeedback of a Great Emperor's faith power would grant health, keen senses, and longevity. What of an Immortal Emperor'sfeedback?
Qin Tian had originally believed that an Immortal Emperor'sfeedback would elevate his Origin, perhaps not to the level of a Chaos Physique, but at least not inferior to Ye Hei.
After all, that was the ultimate pinnacle — the end of the road. A single drop of Quasi-Immortal Emperor blood could divide into countless beings and create innumerable Immortal Kings. Was it excessive for an Immortal Emperor's faithfeedback to forge a Saint Physique?
Yet Qin Tian felt no changes. He remained a mortal body. He had assumed the Desolate Heavenly Emperor was campaigning in Above the Heavens, with no time to attend to him.
After all, within the Realm Sea, how many worshipped the Desolate Heavenly Emperor? The faith power was incalculable — who was he to matter?
Until one day, when Qin Tian excavated a piece of Divine Source. He realized matters were not so simple. Through repeated experiments, his luck became exceptionally good.
As the Desolate Heavenly Emperor's sole believer in this world, Qin Tian's actions stirred the fortune power that originally belonged to Desolation. Qin Tian thus gained access to a sliver of fortune.
And the blessings left by a supreme Immortal Emperor — even a mere fraction was tremendous fortune for Qin Tian.
The subtlefeedback of fortune made Qin Tian's luck extraordinarily good. Stepping outside and finding Divine Source became commonplace.
There were no eternally fated children of fortune in this world. Fortune was like water — shifting with the wind, rising and falling with the tides.
Thus, Qin Tian had forcibly, artificially shaped himself into a different kind of child of fortune.
Of course, children of fortune were not particularly precious things.
Take Wang Teng, for instance. In a sense, he too was a child of fortune. As the former protagonist, before encountering the genuine protagonist, his luck had always been excellent. Before he was even two years old, he had been carried aloft by an Immortal Crane into the clouds, disappearing for a month or two at a time. Each return brought transformation like rebirth.
This continued until he was twelve. During this period, he obtained the inheritance of Great Emperor Chaotic Antiquity! At five, he danced with flood dragons in deep pools. At seven, he entered the Northern Region Ancient God Lake alone and obtained the Golden Ancient War Chariot. At nine, he entered Ancient Emperor Mountain and brought out the Chaotic Antiquity Divine Talisman and a Heavenly Emperor Holy Sword. At twelve, he fell into Divine Phoenix Cave and obtained Undying Divine Phoenix blood.
Unfortunately, strong fortune was not omnipotence. Encountering someone with greater fortune reduced him to his original form.
When fortune arrives, heaven and earth conspire to assist. When fortune departs, even heroes are not free.
Since ancient times, children of fortune great and small had been countless. Not all achieved greatness.
Ye Fan was not some destined protagonist, a child of fortune by birth. He merely possessed, as a Desolate Antiquity Saint Physique, the merit fortune of the nine previous generations of Great Perfection Saint Physiques who had protected the world. This allowed him to turn danger into safety, to carve a path through life-and-death situations.
Of course, possessing this merit fortune did not mean everything went smoothly, that one could charge straight to Dao confirmation. It simply meant one's luck would be somewhat better.
Nothing more.
Had one not seen that Azure Flood Dragon King still possessed the remains of a Saint-level Desolate Antiquity Saint Physique?
"I offer beast milk to the great lord who loves beast milk most!"
"Milk Baby, aid me!"
Once the incense burned to completion, Qin Tian lifted the bowl of beast milk offered to the Milk Baby.
He narrowed his eyes, a blissful smile spreading across his small face.
"A worldly delicacy — truly unmissable."
Offerings should not be wasted, after all.
"Mm, truly fragrant!"
Qin Tian raised the bowl and drank it down in one gulp.
The moment the beast milk was consumed, Qin Tian sensed it — that familiar sensation returned.
The cowlick atop his head stood erect, perceiving that opportunity was nearby.
"Within this stone room?"
Qin Tian surveyed his surroundings, dug into the floor, and extracted a stone.
He clenched his fist and struck with force. The apple-sized stone cracked, releasing dazzling radiance.
Simultaneously, an intensely concentrated fragrance drifted forth, intoxicating the spirit, causing every pore in his body to relax and open.
Within the stone, a fruit lay quietly, like a gemstone, circulating with luster akin to Divine Source.
"This is... a Divine Source Fruit?"
Qin Tian recognized what it was.
***
Read to Chapter 20 now on pat reon slash wujiang.