70: I want my chance!

"Hello, Lu Chen."

As Qin Wangchuan stepped into the Dragon Path, the scene before his eyes suddenly shifted.

In the hazy mist, a white-haired elder with Dragon horns stood with his hands behind his back, his ancient voice echoing in the Void Realm.

"Lu... Chen?" Qin Wangchuan's pupils contracted—a childish voice had come from his own throat.

He looked down, his chubby little hands clutching a bronze cauldron, and at some point, he had changed into a small brocade jacket embroidered with Dragon patterns.

"Of course, you are Lu Chen."

The elder turned around, his cloudy eyes seemingly piercing through time and space, mistaking Qin Wangchuan for that young boy.

His withered fingers lightly tapped the Void Realm, and scene after scene unfolded like a scroll—

"When the Secret Realm reopens, it will be time for you to return home."

A majestic Imperial City appeared in the scroll, with several True Dragons circling above its magnificent palaces.

The elder's voice grew deeper: "This is a Seal of memory; here, you will learn of your origins."

"You are the last Prince of an ancient Imperial Dynasty, a mixed-blood of the Human Race and the Dragon Clan."

"At that time, the world underwent a drastic change, and even the True Dragon Clan could not escape the calamity..."

The scene suddenly shattered, turning into a sky full of blood rain.

Qin Wangchuan saw a woman with golden Dragon horns entrusting a swaddled infant to her clansmen, blood tears dripping from her Dragon eyes.

"The True Dragon Clan sealed you in a rift in time, intending to bring you home after the catastrophe subsided," the elder sighed, "Who knew that this wait would never end..."

"Helplessly, we could only Seal your body and memories into a Dragon cocoon, to be reopened later."

The elder slowly spoke, and another scene appeared before them.

The bewildered Lu Chen entering the Dragon cocoon.

"To be safe, and to prevent any accidents, we also left behind a contingency in this world."

"Even if millions of years have passed, even if we all disappear, this image can still guide you on your Dao. And she, who was sealed in the Dragon cocoon with you, can protect you in later generations."

"My True Dragon Clan's forbidden Secret Treasure—the Shapeshifting Divine Weapon."

"Sacrificing oneself to become a Divine Weapon, this is a taboo, solely to protect you."

The scene changed again, revealing two Dragon cocoons.

The first was Lu Chen, and what was in the second was unclear, only a regular pulsation could be seen.

Qin Wangchuan reached out to touch it.

The moment he touched it—both his finger and the image turned into a starry mist.

The light particles intertwined and swirled in the air, then instantly re-coalesced, as if their previous dissipation was merely an illusion.

It wasn't even a remnant soul, just a memory left by a powerful individual, set to trigger when someone entered.

Seeing this, he instantly understood everything.

"So, the Dragon cocoon I saw in Tang Hui's simulation was left for this person named Lu Chen?"

"And the Secret Realm opening every year is just to call him home?"

Thinking this, Qin Wangchuan's expression gradually became strange, "The entire Secret Realm opens for him, this plot..."

"If I'm not mistaken, then this Lu Chen is probably a Child of Luck blessed with Luck."

"And I, by accident, walked the path he was supposed to take?"

Of course, it wasn't entirely by accident; if not for the System, he wouldn't have been able to enter here with his life.

Just as he was thinking, the next moment.

The scene seemed to have finished playing and froze. The elder turned to look at "Lu Chen" and said:

"If everything was normal, you would have already obtained the Divine Weapon before coming here, but that's under smooth circumstances."

"After countless years, we can't predict what kind of accidents might occur, such as you awakening early, or you and the other Dragon cocoon being separated, or this world shattering."

"So this is the last contingency..."

With that, the elder suddenly reached out and tapped Qin Wangchuan's glabella, and an incredibly complex pattern immediately appeared on his forehead.

Then it quickly dissipated.

Along with it, the elder's body also dissipated.

Even as he faded, his voice still echoed in his ears: "Go, Lu Chen."

"That child slumbers eternally in the Forbidden Palace, waiting for you from the moment of her birth... an endless wait, just for you to awaken her."

Qin Wangchuan touched the vanished mark on his forehead: "This is... a key?"

The mist suddenly dispersed, opening a path.

"The bronze fragment opens the Forbidden Palace, this mark opens the Dragon cocoon. Tang Hui only got one, so he died, and I..."

He took out the bronze fragment, placed it in his palm, and chuckled softly, his voice tinged with coldness and arrogance:

"And I, obtained both."

"The Gate of the Forbidden Palace opens for me, the Secret of the Dragon cocoon is in my grasp."

"As for that Lu Chen, whom I've never met, one can only say his Luck was poor."

With that, Qin Wangchuan followed the newly opened path and walked into the void.

"Sacrificing oneself to become a Divine Weapon, refining a living Dragon Clan member into a Dao-protecting Divine Weapon—such a method is both ruthless and ingenious."

"A Shapeshifting Divine Weapon that can evolve with its master, in this era, I fear even those Great Emperors would be envious."

"And now..."

Han Han's death taught him a lesson—

If Heaven gives and one does not take, one will suffer for it.

A sharp glint flashed in Qin Wangchuan's eyes: "This Opportunity, it's mine."

— — — — — — — — — — — —

After an unknown amount of time, Qin Wangchuan saw an exit.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw a simply dressed young man staring at him in astonishment.

To be precise, he was looking at the bronze fragment in his hand.

And the incomplete small bronze cauldron hanging around the other party's neck fit perfectly with the bronze fragment in his hand.

So, in an instant, Qin Wangchuan guessed the other party's identity.

He spoke, "Hello, Lu Chen."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen's gaze first fell on the collapsing Dragon Path behind Qin Wangchuan, his pupils suddenly contracting—

The passage that had always called to him was now completely severed.

There was clearly no longer any possibility of entering.

He slowly raised his head, his voice suppressing a monstrous rage: "It was you... who stole my Opportunity?"

Qin Wangchuan looked at the young man before him, tense as if facing a formidable enemy, and raised an eyebrow, directly nodding:

"It was me."

"Give it back!" Lu Chen's voice boomed like thunder.

Qin Zhaoer's delicate brows furrowed slightly, and her jade fingers within her gilded wide sleeves were already clenched.

But after glancing at Qin Wangchuan's expression, she snorted coldly and turned her face away.

Qin Kuangge had somehow already sat cross-legged in mid-air, his hand propping his chin, looking exactly like he was watching a famous opera performer, even pulling out a handful of spiritual melon seeds from his storage ring and starting to crack them.

Only the zither music gradually intensified, making Lu Chen feel a bit dizzy.

Qin Wangchuan's slender fingers idly caressed the bronze fragment, not showing any anger.

"Opportunity is destined by Heaven; since it is in my hands, it is my good fortune." He flicked his sleeve, tossing out a jade Medicinal Pill bottle, "There are ten Nine Revolutions Tribulation-Crossing Medicinal Pills in the bottle, I give them to you."

In the world of cultivation, Opportunity always belongs to whoever obtains it.

Qin Wangchuan gave him the Medicinal Pills out of consideration for his difficult fate.

And what he gave was certainly not trash.

The Nine Revolutions Tribulation-Crossing Medicinal Pill was a supreme Medicinal Pill even among Imperial Clans, at least capable of allowing Lu Chen to reach Quasi-Saint, so it was by no means a loss.

However.

Lu Chen didn't even glance at the Medicinal Pill, his gaze like a poisoned cold blade, fixed deadly on Qin Wangchuan's throat.

That look was as if he was staring at a mortal enemy.

"I don't want your Medicinal Pills, I only want what rightfully belongs to me!"