Another stroke of luck or misfortune.
Lucien couldn't even tell anymore.
The situations at hand, they were very confusing. Supposedly there should be a very rewarding treasure by the end of this, huh?
Lucien gave himself a wry smile.
It wasn't any technique or secret art that brought him this far. No legacy inheritance, no hidden bloodline. Just instinct.
Instead, it was his sharpened intuition that had been his greatest guide.
Somehow, it always told him, vaguely, but clearly enough, whether a place, an item, or even a passing moment was drenched in good luck or reeking of bad.
He could see it through his eyes, but it wasn't visible, perhaps perception through "knowing"?
That doesn't make any sense, Lucien shook his head.
And thanks to that alone, he had made it through more life-threatening encounters than he cared to count.
"At sixteen, I left my village to chase immortality."
"I learned to read and write through the passing cities that I stumbled. Hopes were high, and I was dreaming of ascending the sky."
"At eighteen, I stepped onto the path of cultivation, refining the heavens, refining the earth."
"Despite being an independent cultivator, I discovered joy in the absolute freedom accompanied by it. The world is wide, the sky is endless! The heaven is for me to trespass!"
"At twenty, I reached the late stage of the Qi Refining Realm."
"The future is looking bright. Perhaps attaining the absolute tao is possible! I have the talent! The perseverance! The heart and will unshaken by the weight of my greed!"
"And now, twenty-one, I'm trapped in some unknown place without even the shadow of an exit."
"The sight, darkness... Situations? Unclear."
His voice trailed off as he looked at the object in his hand, the strange card that had led him here.
From the very first moment he saw it, his intuition wavered in both directions.
The feeling it gave off had been... strange. Not quite ominous, not quite hopeful, something in between.
Equal parts bad and good.
The irony wasn't lost on him.
He chuckled dryly, unsure whether to laugh or curse aloud.
He'd followed that hunch, nearly died for it, willingly stepped into danger again and again, just to see, just to understand, what this damned card would bring him.
And now here he was.
The space around him was soaked in darkness.
So deep and quiet that even with his sharpened eyesight, the edges of the place blurred into nothingness.
But despite the oppressive black, the atmosphere here didn't feel threatening. In fact, quite the opposite.
There was only the faintest trace of bad luck hanging in the air, barely noticeable. But the good luck? It was overwhelming. Thick. Tangible. Like he was standing at the bottom of an ocean, surrounded by it on all sides.
His brows drew together. "This is the first time I've felt something like this… What is this place? Where's the good luck supposed to lead?"
He stayed alert, eyes scanning the darkness as he moved cautiously forward.
Each step was deliberate, his senses spread wide. For a while, there was nothing.
Then.
A flicker to his side. Something moved.
He shifted his weight without thinking, body swaying like a leaf caught in the wind. A blur passed harmlessly by his arm.
His hand darted to the bag at his side, fingers closing around the hilt of a sword. With a sharp metallic hiss, the blade sang through the air.
A wet thud followed, and something shrieked.
Lucien narrowed his eyes as the two halves of the creature slumped to the ground. "Shadow worm?" he muttered.
He stepped closer, inspecting the now-silent remains. "What's something like this doing here?"
But before he could follow that thought further, something stranger happened.
Right in front of him, a translucent square screen shimmered into existence, suspended in mid-air, softly glowing.
His breath caught.
Words appeared across the panel, ones he'd never seen before, and yet, somehow, he understood them perfectly.
The meaning entered his mind without needing translation.
[Activation requirement completed]
[Welcome to the dungeon diver, number 1, Lucien Alvaron]
[Would the dungeon diver like to activate the personal panel?]
Lucien stared. His grip on the sword tightened. His eyes sharpened, then narrowed.
Without hesitation, he raised his blade and swung.
Boom.
Wind erupted from the force, kicking up dust and shadows. But the panel didn't budge. It hovered in place, untouched. Unfazed.
His stomach sank. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't something he could cut through.
And worse, he could feel something strange, this thing doesn't contain any trace of spiritual energy.
After several long minutes of trying to will the panel away, slashing at it, circling it, even trying to ignore it, he finally stopped.
Shoulders tense, chest rising with a slow breath, Lucien gave in. "Fine," he muttered. "Activate it."
The screen shimmered again. Then, without fanfare, it shifted, closing in like shutters before reopening as something entirely different.
A new panel appeared before his eyes.
[Name]: Lucien Alvaron, the Moon Gazer
[Realm]: 8th Layer of the Qi Refining Realm
[Lifespan]: 21 / 150 years
[Monster Essences Gathered]: 0
[Techniques]:
Fiery Blossomed [Expertise]Diamond King Body Refining Technique [Expertise]Wind Gale Sword Technique [Expertise]5 Heaven Refining Method [Expertise]Shadow Steps Technique [Expertise]
[Items]:Kiolin Sword [Broken]Ancient Golden Grass Pill ×10Intermediate Teleportation Talisman ×3Cross Region Talisman ×1Golden Core Attack Talisman ×15th Grade Api Bead—
"What sorcery is this…?"
Lucien muttered under his breath, his eyes locked on the strange panel hovering before him.
His voice came out low and instinctive, a whisper made heavier by the tension gripping his chest.
He could feel his own breath slow as he took in the eerie sight, a display that laid bare every part of him, top to bottom.
He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and swung it forward.
Wind roared in the motion's wake, stirring violently across the broken land as his blade cleaved the earth into two clean halves.
Boom!
Dust scattered, stones cracked, but the panel didn't even flinch. Suspended midair, it remained untouched. Unmoving. As if it didn't belong to this world.
Lucien's brows furrowed.
He stood in place for a moment, letting his mind catch up.
Then, a thought surfaced, vague yet persistent.
Could this be what his intuition had been warning him about earlier? That strange pulse of luck he couldn't shake off?
His fingers relaxed, lowering the sword slowly by his side as his gaze drifted back toward the panel.
This time, he examined it more closely, scanning each line like he was reading something sacred and forbidden.
It was complete. Too complete. Every little thing about him had been recorded. The longer he stared at it, the more exposed he felt.
No secrets. No veil. It was like standing bare before the heavens.
Then his eyes narrowed slightly as something familiar caught his attention.
"…So the name is actually Golden Grass Pill, huh."
His voice came out in a murmur. He remembered that pill, found back in those ruins, the name long unknown until now.
Yet this panel… it identified it right away.
Even things buried in the past, things he never knew to begin with, it recorded without flaw.
An ability like this, could it really peer into both the past and the future?
His expression shifted. A trace of unease stirring beneath the surface.
Who created this place?
Who created this thing?
And more than that, what exactly was going on here?
As those questions drifted through his mind, his gaze lifted slightly, glancing toward the top of the display. A particular line caught his eye.
Monster Essences Gathered?
He stared at it for a few seconds. Confusion began to settle in. What even were monster essences?
He didn't get an answer. The panel didn't react. But curiosity was a stronger force than fear.
Acting on instinct, Lucien leapt from the cracked floor, weaving swiftly through jagged stone pillars and uneven terrain.
The wind whistled past his ears. He couldn't even see what was up ahead, but he still moved.
Without warning, he swung his sword again.
Puchi!
A muffled sound followed, and something hit the ground hard.
It was a shadow worm, massive, easily several times his own size, falling limply from the rocky ledge he had just struck.
Lucien's feet landed lightly against the stone as he turned back toward the hovering panel. It had followed him, floating beside him.
His eyes scanned it quickly. The number had changed.
From 0 to 10.
"…So killing that thing increased the number."
He stared at it, trying to piece things together.
"What exactly is this thing? What is it used for?"
His voice wasn't sharp, just quiet, like someone genuinely puzzled.
Intrigued. The more he looked, the more questions surfaced. But nothing answered him. No explanations. No signs. Just that same quiet, silent presence.
He raised a hand toward the panel, slowly reaching out. He began testing it, tapping lightly, swiping across parts of it.
After several rounds of fiddling, one thing became clear, he could summon the panel at will. No incantation. No gestures. Just a thought was enough.
Then came another surprise.
He could touch it.
The display itself was untouchable, nothing happened when he tried interacting with his stats or items. But that one section, the Monster Essences Gauge, it responded to touch.
Only that one.
And that alone made everything else more surreal.