A system prompt shattered his hopes. If he went out and paid a price, he could get some experts to join temporarily, perhaps as Honored Guest Elders. In theory, this would be equivalent to them joining the Merak Sect.

However, that would be meaningless. They wouldn’t have two hundred favorability points toward Yi Tianyun. This favorability was tied to loyalty—the higher the favorability, the higher the loyalty. ’Would Honored Guest Elders hired with a few Soul Artifacts have high loyalty?’

Yi Tianyun himself wouldn’t believe it, so that hope was dashed. He had wanted to take a shortcut to instantly gain a hundred million experience points or so, which would have made his power skyrocket, but that was no longer possible.

If he saved an expert whose favorability then continued to rise past two hundred, that would naturally count toward completing the quest.

Besides, the main quest was now divided into steps, with the added task of repairing the grand Array! He had just inspected it. ’Without a high level of Divine Rune Mastery, I’m afraid I won’t be able to repair that Array.’

He checked the main quest, and it showed a completion rate: seventy percent.

This meant he had only completed seventy percent of this step; thirty percent of the grand Array was still unrepaired.

’Whatever. First, I’ll check out the Enhanced Lottery Wheel!’

Yi Tianyun opened the Lottery Wheel, and two modes immediately popped up: one was the normal lottery wheel, and the other was the Enhanced Lottery Wheel.

’Looks like it’s a separate system, not an upgrade of the original. Otherwise, the Lottery Times I saved up before could be used on the Enhanced Lottery Wheel.’

He then selected the Enhanced Lottery Wheel. A large wheel appeared before his eyes. The sections on it looked identical to those on the normal version.

The categories were largely the same: Consumables, Skills, Cultivation Techniques, Weapons, Armor, Special Items, and Divine Skills.

Not only were the categories unchanged, but even the size of the sections was the same, meaning the most difficult prize to win was still a Divine Skill.

He currently had two free lottery attempts. One was from killing the Blood Evil Ancestor, and the other was from completing the main quest. Previously, the items that increased his Lottery Times would grant several, or even ten, extra spins, but this time he only received one. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

’Activate Luck Aura!’

A tenfold effect was immediately applied. Yi Tianyun couldn’t feel much of a difference, unlike Madness Mode, which directly boosted his power.

After activating it, he spun the Lottery Wheel. The large wheel immediately began to whir, spinning incredibly fast!

’Divine Skill, Divine Skill, Divine Skill!’

He was, without a doubt, hoping for a Divine Skill. Soon, the wheel slowly came to a stop, the pointer finally landing on the Consumables category.

’What the hell? I even used my Luck Aura!’ Yi Tianyun was instantly furious. ’Even with the Luck Aura, all I get is a consumable? What a rip-off!’

DING...

A box dropped down into his inventory. He had no idea what was inside.

’Let’s see what’s inside.’ Yi Tianyun felt frustrated. After all that effort, all he got was a consumable. It felt like a total rip-off.

"Ding! You have successfully obtained a Twentyfold Experience Card."

"Huh? What!" Yi Tianyun’s eyes widened, his spirits instantly lifting. He hadn’t expected to get a Twentyfold Experience Card instead of some useless Elixir Pills. This thing was worth three hundred thousand Madness Value in the store!

’Not bad, not bad at all! It really is the Enhanced Lottery Wheel!’ Yi Tianyun was energized. He rubbed his palms together, gave the wheel another hard spin, and it began to rotate wildly, the pointer a blur.

’Gimme a Divine Skill this time, a Divine Skill...’

Yi Tianyun prayed repeatedly. A Divine Skill from the Enhanced Lottery Wheel was sure to be something heaven-defying, so he desperately wanted one.

A moment later, the pointer finally came to a stop. He didn’t dare to look where it had landed.

DING...

A box fell into his inventory. He had his eyes closed and only heard the chime, so he had no idea what he’d won.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the Lottery Wheel. When his vision focused, his eyes shot wide open. "This... It’s a Divine Skill!!"

He had finally won a Divine Skill! He quickly deactivated the Luck Aura and jumped to his feet in excitement.

Elder Xuan, who was standing nearby, watched him with a puzzled expression. He had no idea what his master was doing, as he’d been muttering to himself for a while now. Of course, Elder Xuan couldn’t see the Lottery Wheel, so he just assumed Yi Tianyun was having some kind of fit.

With a trembling hand, he selected the box in his inventory and slowly opened it.

"Ding! You have successfully obtained the Divine Skill: Instant Teleportation!"

Instant Teleportation: Instantly teleport to any location within a one-kilometer radius. Cooldown: Four hours. Next Level: Requires one million Madness Value.

’What? Instant Teleportation... This is a Divine Skill perfect for escaping or chasing someone down! The range is pretty decent, too.’

Yi Tianyun was quite satisfied, though the cooldown was a bit long. For someone at his cultivation level, one kilometer wasn’t actually that far; he could sprint that distance in just a few seconds.

However, it would be extremely useful for escaping or chasing.

’A Divine Skill is a Divine Skill, after all. The effects will surely be even more amazing once I upgrade it. At a high enough level, won’t I be able to teleport anywhere I want in this entire region?’ Yi Tianyun smiled. This thing was definitely worthy of being called a Divine Skill.

His two spins were used up. When he checked the Enhanced Lottery Wheel again and saw that a single spin cost five hundred thousand Madness Value, he fell silent.

’The Divine Skill wasn’t a loss, but that Twentyfold Experience Card was a complete rip-off! Buying it in the store costs three hundred thousand at most, but a spin here costs five hundred thousand. That’s definitely a loss.’

’A lottery is still a lottery. You win some, you lose some. That’s just how gambling is.’ Yi Tianyun shook his head, feeling resigned.

He now had over 1.3 million Madness Value, enough for two more spins, but he didn’t dare risk it. Even with the Luck Aura, he couldn’t easily win Rare items, so he decided to hold off for now.

’It’s possible the effect of the Luck Aura is greatly diminished on this Lottery Wheel. That would explain it.’

’Forget it. I’ll think about it again when I have spare Madness Value. Otherwise, I’ll just earn rewards from quests. That’s undoubtedly the better deal... I’d be even happier if it just refunded me the five hundred thousand Madness Value.’

Yi Tianyun would have much rather had the five hundred thousand Madness Value. He could have used it to upgrade his other Divine Skills or his Bloodline—those were tangible, guaranteed improvements.

Just as he was about to leave, a Guard walked in from outside the Celestial Sinking Ruins. Upon seeing him, the Guard said, "Elder Yi, there are a few people here looking for someone named Zhu Yuwei. They’re asking if she’s in our Merak Sect. Do we have someone by that name?"

"Looking for Zhu Yuwei?" Yi Tianyun frowned. ’Aside from the elders, no one else here knows Zhu Yuwei’s real name.’

’The elders wouldn’t have leaked it. There’s only one possibility: they followed the trail here. It seems they managed to track her down based on some clues. I told them back then that the Cyan Profound Mansion was doomed, and now that it’s been destroyed, they’ve naturally come here to investigate.’

’I only said that to throw them off. Even if they had come back then, they wouldn’t have found Zhu Yuwei, since she hadn’t joined the Merak Sect yet. But it’s different now. Zhu Yuwei has joined the Merak Sect, which means I have an obligation to help her resolve this.’

"Alright, I’ll go take a look." Yi Tianyun walked outside. He didn’t see Zhu Yuxuan; instead, it was Steward Huang and a few attendants. ’Looks like Zhu Yuxuan didn’t come, after all...’