Chapter 72: A Life-Changing Fortune Born from a Simple Hotpot Meal

“I... I’ve broken through to the Extreme Dao Realm...” Bing Muer murmured, her voice trailing off as if in a dream. Her eyes grew unfocused, her mind turning hazy.

Suddenly, faint golden light began to shimmer on the backs of her hands and along her neck. The silvery glow gradually sharpened, segmenting into patches of golden dragon scales.

Everyone stared in stunned silence as golden dragon scales emerged again and again across Bing Muer’s skin, their jaws practically shattered in disbelief.

She had truly undergone dragonification, now possessing the purest bloodline of the ancient Dragon Clan!

“Ah...”

Bing Muer snapped out of her daze, gazing at her arms now covered in golden scales. With a gasp, she exclaimed, “I—I need to step out for a moment.”

No sooner had the words left her lips than she rushed out.

“Is the young princess... going into seclusion?” Elder Hua was overjoyed. She hadn’t just broken through to the Extreme Dao Realm—she had become a dragon. Wonderful! Young Lord Chen had truly bestowed upon the young princess an immense fortune.

“Young Lord Chen, thank you!” All these years, Elder Hua and the young princess had depended on each other for survival. Now, seeing the princess gain such a miraculous blessing, Elder Hua was so moved he nearly knelt before Chen Changsheng.

“Elder Hua, you are too polite,” Chen Changsheng replied with a gentle smile. “Though the Firebath Immortal Phoenix is a divine medicine, I’m just a mere mortal. In my eyes, these divine herbs are no different from ordinary vegetables.”

His thoughts, however, drifted elsewhere: To have witnessed the young princess’s dragonification—if only that system had given me even the slightest entry, perhaps I, too, would become an extraordinary figure one day...

Everyone was thunderstruck. In the Realm of the Gods, the Firebath Immortal Phoenix was considered a supreme divine medicine, yet in Young Lord Chen’s eyes, it was no more than a common vegetable! Terrifying!

“Let the young princess enter seclusion. Let’s continue eating!” After a thousand wild horses galloped across his mind, Chen Changsheng smiled serenely.

The feast continued.

Suddenly, Donggong Qianxue was struck motionless, her gaze unfocused, cheeks flushed red, waves of heat coursing visibly through her body.

“Princess, what’s happening to you?” The others at the table looked at her in confusion.

In the next moment, two blazing flames ignited in her eyes, radiating a demonic aura that sent chills down everyone’s spines.

“Ah!” Hearts pounding, they cried out, “What is this?”

A person’s eyes—truly burning!

“I—I—I... I need to step out for a moment as well.” Not only were Donggong Qianxue’s eyes aflame, she felt as if the blood within her was burning too, her whole being on the verge of combustion.

She left everyone behind and rushed out in haste.

“The princess...?” All exchanged bewildered glances, their confusion reaching its peak. But one fact was undeniable: Donggong Qianxue, just like Bing Muer, had received an immense, unimaginable fortune.

No sooner had she left than a faint golden light began to radiate from Nalan Ruoshui.

“Ah!” Again, everyone was shocked.

“I—I—I... I need to step out for a moment too,” Nalan Ruoshui called out, hurrying away.

Soon after, tendrils of deathly black smoke began to coil around Mu Wanqing’s body. In the blink of an eye, her eyes, too, filled with black mist, shrouding her gaze in utter darkness—bottomless, unfathomable.

Demonic Eyes!

These were true Demonic Eyes!

“What, Miss Wanqing has turned demon?” Bai Li Song’s face went pale with fright, his heart sinking into an abyss.

The room was in a tumult. After her feast of Firebath Immortal Phoenix, Mu Wanqing had turned into a demon? Could this be real?

“I—I—I... My apologies, I need to step out as well.” Mu Wanqing hurriedly excused herself and disappeared from sight in an instant.

The others sat dazed, unable to recover from the shock. No one could fathom why, after eating the Firebath Immortal Phoenix, Mu Wanqing would demonify—why she would become a demon.

Yet one thing was certain: she too had received an immense blessing from Young Lord Chen’s hotpot.

“It seems the Firebath Immortal Phoenix is indeed highly effective,” Chen Changsheng said with a faint smile. “Let them enter seclusion; let us continue our meal.”

Elder Hua, Bai Li Song, and Nangong Ba exchanged strange glances. This great fortune had clearly been bestowed upon those women by Young Lord Chen on purpose, yet he maintained an air of total surprise.

Such was the heart of a sage!

They continued eating.

All eyes inevitably fell upon Huangfu Meng. Bing Muer, Donggong Qianxue, Nalan Ruoshui, and Mu Wanqing—four women, each had received a miraculous transformation. What about Huangfu Meng? What fortune awaited her?

“Uh...” Huangfu Meng’s transformation arrived. She suddenly froze; her body grew feverish, her face flushed crimson.

Mysterious patterns slowly emerged on her skin, ancient and enigmatic in their design.

The astonishment of the others was beyond words. Patterns surfacing on her skin—what kind of blessing was this?

They were thoroughly bewildered.

“I—I—I... Something feels off. I need to step out for a moment as well.” With a delicate cry, Huangfu Meng hurried away.

At the table, only Chen Changsheng, his daughter, Elder Hua, Bai Li Song, and Nangong Ba remained.

The group sat in stunned silence, waves of emotion washing over them.

One hotpot meal, and Donggong Qianxue, Nalan Ruoshui, Mu Wanqing, Bing Muer, and Huangfu Meng had all received unimaginable blessings.

Of them, only Bing Muer’s fortune was clear: she now possessed the purest ancient Dragon Clan bloodline—she had wholly become a dragon.

The transformations of Donggong Qianxue, Nalan Ruoshui, Mu Wanqing, and Huangfu Meng, however, left everyone mystified. Donggong Qianxue’s eyes burned with fire; Nalan Ruoshui radiated golden light; Mu Wanqing was suffused with the aura of death; and mysterious, ancient patterns appeared on Huangfu Meng’s skin.

What precisely were these blessings?

In time, the hotpot was entirely consumed, even the broth drained to the last drop by Elder Hua, Bai Li Song, and Nangong Ba. However, their gains were limited to breakthroughs in cultivation—they did not experience the extraordinary transformations of the five women.

Stepping outside, they looked in all directions. The five women—Donggong Qianxue, Nalan Ruoshui, Mu Wanqing, Bing Muer, and Huangfu Meng—now each occupied a different mountain peak.

Above each peak, a unique phenomenon unfolded.

From these five omens, it was clear who was cultivating where.

Above Bing Muer’s mountain, a massive golden dragon’s shadow coiled and soared.

Above Donggong Qianxue’s peak, a seven-colored divine phoenix shimmered, its radiant plumage illuminating the sky.

“Heavens! Donggong Qianxue possesses the bloodline of the Divine Phoenix—this meal has awakened her phoenix blood!” The Blood Demon Patriarch’s exclamation sounded in Chen Changsheng’s ear: “Even I am truly shocked. To think this barren, forgotten Yinxue Realm once harbored not only the ancient Dragon Clan, but also the Divine Phoenix Clan.”

They turned to Nalan Ruoshui’s mountain, where a colossal golden sword shadow had appeared.