The branch of the Sanlu Money House was situated right in the middle of the street, its massive sign visible from a distance. However, after the pair had walked barely a few dozen steps, Chu Xue let out a soft 'thud' and pitched forward, landing solidly on the ground.

Zong Shou stared in utter bewilderment. Martial practitioners were known for their swift reflexes, especially Chu Xue, whose innate abilities stemmed from the Tiger-Cat lineage. The chance of a walking person tripping was easily one in a million—almost impossible.

Yet, here she was, inexplicably fallen flat.

Chu Xue’s face flushed crimson, reaching right up to her earlobes. Just as she was about to scramble to her feet, she suddenly gasped in surprise. After dusting off her clothes, she picked up a small, red cloth pouch from the ground. Opening it, she was met with a dazzling display of golden light.

“It’s a money bag! There’s so much money inside—ten taels of gold, seven hundred taels in silver notes, and a first-tier Beast Crystal. Young Master, whose did this fall from? We must return it to them later—”

As Chu Xue spoke, she continued walking forward. Just as she was concentrating on counting the money, a massive planter suddenly tipped over from a nearby second-story window. It struck its exact mark, smashing down right onto Chu Xue’s head.

The planter shattered instantly, drawing a thin line of blood on Su Chu Xue’s forehead, and a flicker of anger briefly flashed in her eyes. But the next moment, she let out another 'Oh!' and retrieved a finger-sized black seed from among the soil clumps.

“Young Master, what is this thing? It looks like the seed of some kind of spirit wood; the spiritual energy inside is so strong—”

Zong Shou’s eye twitched almost imperceptibly.

This seed-like object was undeniably the germ of a Thousand-Year Thunder Apricot. Any spirit master below the Nascent Soul Realm would treat it as an invaluable treasure.

Whether for refining spirit artifacts or brewing elixirs, this item held significant utility. The owner of the planter must have inadvertently mixed this black seed into the soil while repotting.

He mused internally: Could this be the effect of that Luck Talisman? She fell for no reason and picked up wealth worth over three thousand taels. Then, she was hit by a planter and acquired a Thousand-Year Thunder Apricot seed.

The true meaning of the inscription on the talisman—‘Misfortune relies on fortune, and fortune lies hidden in misfortune’—was indeed irrefutable.

Thinking of this, Zong Shou’s expression became incredibly strange; he couldn’t decide whether he should feel dejected or pleased. Regardless, he was immensely relieved that he hadn't chosen to be the test subject himself earlier.

Before he could fully process it, a sword suddenly sliced through the air from nearby. This time, Chu Xue managed to evade it just in time, narrowly dodging to the side. However, as the long sword zipped past, it let out a sharp shik-shik sound and completely sliced off the sleeve on Chu Xue’s right arm.

It was only one thousand seven hundred paces from the street entrance to the branch of the Sanlu Money House. Yet, the entire journey was plagued by one incident after another.

Zong Shou remained silent, meticulously making notes from the sidelines. Chu Xue fell four times in total, acquiring eleven thousand taels of silver and two Night Pearls. Being struck by a planter earned her a Thousand-Year Thunder Apricot seed. She was nearly stabbed by a flying sword, for which the sword’s owner immediately compensated her with clothing worth a thousand taels, plus three thousand taels for the fright. On the way, she was hit by a horse-drawn carriage; fortunately, she was unharmed, but the carriage owner also compensated them with one Cloud-Treading Steed—

This truly was the principle of misfortune relying on fortune, and fortune lying hidden in misfortune—

By the time the two finally stepped through the doorway of the Sanlu Money House, Chu Xue’s little face was already a picture of misery.

Zong Shou, meanwhile, did his best to appear nonchalant, his expression perfectly blank.

“Young Master, there must be gods in this world, right? Did Xue’er do something wrong?”

“Nonsense. What gods are there in this world? As martial artists, we must strive for self-reliance and confidence. Why believe in any deity? Even if the ancient Primordial Deities spoken of by Daoist spirit masters, or the Buddhas preached by the Buddhist sects, truly exist—we martial cultivators must possess hearts that fear nothing! What are gods? If the method of martial cultivation is perfected to its extreme, what god cannot be slain?”

“Then why is Xue’er so unlucky? Tripped for no reason, cut by a sword, hit by a carriage! If it isn't a god, could there be some malicious spirit at work? This is infuriating! If I ever catch it, I will chop it into a thousand pieces!”

Zong Shou nearly burst out laughing, forcefully suppressing the urge with extreme difficulty. A faint sense of guilt stirred in his heart, but he firmly resolved that Chu Xue must never learn about the ‘Luck’ Celestial Talisman.

Fortunately, afterwards, perhaps because the talisman’s effect had faded, no similar incidents occurred.

Smoothly, they retrieved one hundred third-tier Beast Crystals from the Sanlu Money House.

The wealth Zong Weiran had stored for him was far greater than this. Besides silver and Beast Crystals, there were also several spirit artifacts, talismanic soldiers, and even secret martial texts of the Zong family. However, all of these were deposited at the main branch of the Sanlu Money House in Donglin Cloud Land. They would have to travel there to access them.

On the street, the two exchanged some Beast Crystals and Soul Stones required for Zong Shou’s cultivation, plus three 'Pine Grain Wind Swords' of identical design but far superior sharpness. Just as they were about to look around elsewhere, Zong Shou suddenly froze, halting in the very center of the street. He felt an icy gaze fixed upon him.

Though the surrounding crowd was dense, it offered him no warmth whatsoever. A bone-chilling coldness seeped into his core, causing his face to turn pale.

He scanned his surroundings carefully, searching for the source of the gaze, but could not locate it.

Su Chu Xue noticed Zong Shou’s unusual demeanor, her pretty eyebrows furrowing slightly. “Young Master, what’s wrong?”

Zong Shou subtly shook his head, his expression returning to composure. Only a dangerous, sharp glint remained visible in his eyes.

“Let’s go back. We should leave Xiaoyuan City as soon as possible. It seems we have managed to provoke someone truly formidable this time—”

Before his words had fully died away, Zong Shou took the lead, walking toward the street entrance. But just as he passed the entrance of an armory stall, his heart gave a jolt, and he turned to walk inside.

Not long after, he emerged again. After visiting a series of more than ten shops consecutively, he finally held three throwing knives in his hand.

Throwing knives were common items; in the Donglin Cloud Realm, nearly half of all martial cultivators had practiced with them to some degree.

However, those who refined throwing knives into talismanic soldiers were exceedingly rare. And talismanic knives capable of fully carrying even a sliver of the 'Startling Cloud Annihilating Spirit Sword Intent' were even more seldom seen.

Zong Shou searched an entire street and managed to find only these three. Unfortunately, he could only stay in Xiaoyuan City for a maximum of two days, precluding any custom orders from a Spirit Forging Master.

If he had ten such talismanic knives in hand, imbued with sword intent, he could make even a Secret Martial Master who had reached the Ninth Meridian of the Body Wheel stage see what he was capable of.

Upon their return, Yin Yang had already invited the spirit masters. A total of four high-tier Spirit Forging Masters were present, their Soul Power cultivation all at the Spirit Nurturing Realm—a level surpassing even Qi Xiao. Yin Yang had offered twenty thousand taels of gold to secure these four.

Though the price was steep, the damage to the Cloud-Flipping Chariot had been severe.

The reason Yin Yang preferred spending a greater cost to repair the chariot rather than buying a new one was due to the Wind Barrier Array laid out within the carriage compartment.

A talismanic formation capable of withstanding an attack from a Congenital Master was certainly not something that could be bought for a mere twenty thousand taels of gold.

They replaced several steel-plated panels on the carriage body and completely redrew the entire Wind-Riding Talismanic Array beneath the chassis according to the diagrams Zong Shou provided. In just two days, the Cloud-Flipping Chariot looked brand new. At least externally, no trace of damage remained visible.

Yin Yang then purchased eight more Cloud-Treading Steeds, replacing the two slightly injured horned horses. This increased the number of steeds pulling the carriage to eighteen. Only once everything was settled did they once again drive the carriage out of Xiaoyuan City.

This time, they drove directly eastward, heading straight into the vast territory riddled with muddy swamps.