"Young Master...this is..." Lin Fei murmured in surprise as he took the Asura Demon Sutra from my hand.

  "Less damaged than the older one. But you might get two more hands from it. Not bad, right?" I commented in wry tone.

  Lin Fin bit his lips, and just nodded. "Thank you, Young Master. I will train harder..." he promised while holding the metal tablet to his chest. I mean, this guy trained almost as hard as me, and also reached 49 kills in the Combat Array. The last ghost wasn't on the same level however, likely a trick from my Grandpa to confirm the appearance of a Sword Saint.

  "Anyway, follow me. I have a gift for all of you." I said with a grin, and went in the middle of the Tower plaza to set up a table with 53 wooden boxes on it. I kept the expensive box for myself.

  "Is this a Bagua lottery?" Lin Fei asked as more Tower members arrived.

  "Everyone can pick a single box. What's inside is your luck." I explained with a kind smile.

  The boxes were encrypted with some type of masking array, keeping the contents hidden.

  "I'll go first!" Chen Feng declared in a brave voice, then walked in front of my table to examine the boxes.

  After waving his hands over the table, he picked up the box in the right corner, then dropped a drop of blood on the lid.

  The lid opened to reveal a glowing pill, covered in dragon patterns. 'Dragon Spirit Pill, can raise the Soul cultivation up to Saint Realm level 3. Worth 90 million spirit stones.' I read with my special eyes.

  Really? No hard work and thousands of days of rubbing souls with a pretty woman to scrape off impurities? And why did the bald guy sell it for only 1 million Spirit Stones? Unless he also didn't know the contents?

  "Is this good, Master Pef?" Chen Feng asked with an innocent voice.

  "Pretty good, it will help your soul cultivation." I answered with a casual tone.

  Chen Feng grinned and ran off to his room.

  One after another, my Tower members picked up a box and obtained a pill, including a few Saint Tribulation pills, leaving one Zhang Song speechless as he stared at his luck.

  This was the old guy I recruited in the Treasure House, and who proved instrumental in recruiting a dozen more people for my Tower. Tears dripped on his face as he bowed towards me, probably thinking I already knew what was inside his box.

  Grandpa ghost also arrived near me, to observe the gift lottery in silence. 'These boxes aren't simple, Young Master. They generate their content after someone drops their blood on them.' he revealed, after Bai picked up her own box and extracted a Snow Jade pill, perfect for her Frost Hare physique.

  Hhmm, maybe the bald guy wasn't lying then. But then he sold those boxes much too cheap.

  I dripped a drop of my blood on my Divine Peachwood Box, curious what will happen. The box glowed with intense golden light for a second, then the lid opened. 'Golden Sarira Bead, can create a Golden Godhead, worth 1 million Divine crystals.'

  I didn't have a clue what the exchange rate for Divine Crystals was, but it should be worth at least 1 billion spirit stones.

  'What's a Golden Godhead?' I asked my Grandpa with a mental transmission.

  'It's a rare type of Godhead, seen only among Divine Arhats that achieved enlightenment. They can suppress demons and devils with their mere soul pressure.' Grandpa said with a strange glance towards me.

  'Is it safe to use?' I asked a bit wary. Buddhist sects were often pictured as evil and corrupting in many xianxia novels.

  'In general, no. You should avoid anything involving Buddha, Young Master. But in this particular case, the Sarira is not bound with a root severing restriction.' Grandpa answered with a knowing glance towards my little brother.

  My balls clenched tight for a second, then relaxed, since the danger of losing my precious root didn't materialize. Still, I took the warning to the heart. Ascetic sects were not fond of harems or other wordly pleasures.

  "What is that pill?" Mei asked, sneaking closer to peek inside my box.

  "Some kind of soul cultivation enhancement. Can help me create my Godhead." I revealed with a careless tone, snapping the box shutting and storing it in my ring.

  Ming Yue closed her own box and smiled sweetly at me. "I got the same thing." she said in a gentle voice.

  I glanced towards Amelia, who took out a small crystal vial from her box. "I don't know what this is. A poison, most likely."

  'Nether Cobra Soul Venom, can kill Divine Cultivators. For Amelia Silvermane, it will raise her Soul cultivation to the next Realm. Worth 3 million Divine Crystals.' I read with my Discerning Eyes.

  Wow! She really hit the jackpot here. Also, Silvermane? Was this her family name? She did have silver hair...

  Now all we needed was to raise her soul cultivation to Saint Realm, and she could obtain her Divine Soul with one sip.

  "Wait until you obtain your Saint soul, Amelia. It will only take a day or two anyway." I advised her with a smile, then turned towards Lin Fei.

  The man wordlessly turned his box towards me, so I can see the contents. A beating red heart. 'Asura Devil Heart. By consuming it raw, you can obtain a Devil Heart, making you invincible in Saint Realm. Worth 2 billion Spirit stones.'

  "Just eat it raw, Lin Fei. Cooking it will make it lose its potency." I said with a bored voice, then flew up towards my room.

  Time to gain some artificial enlightenment, by digesting the Sarira of some dead Buddhist Arhat. This guy likely meditated for a million years in a cave to achieve enlightenment, but I didn't need to do that. I just had to eat his achievement.

  Sitting on my bed, I opened the box and ingested the glowing bead, and circulated my Soul Consolidation Sutra.

  My soul fell into my inner world, where I sat on the same bed, in the same room, but on the third floor of the Vajra Tower, with a glowing golden aura covering my soul.

  The meaning of life is suffering. To transcend suffering is to raise above the cycle of life and death, and become immortal.

  Uhmmm? Did it take a million years to realize that? Seemed like common sense to me. Of course being immortal was better.

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  The golden glow compressed into a single point inside my head, like another Dantian, but for my soul.

  Laying down, I raised a hand and played with my new aura, molding it like qi into weapons and other shapes. No wonder obtaining a Godhead made you powerful. The soul was the realm of willpower, but the Godhead allowed you to focus that willpower into solid weapons. On a whim, I crafted myself a suit of plate armor, and a few weapons, including a sniper rifle firing soul bullets.

  Jumping out the window, I entered the Soul Array, and came face to face with that Demon Corporal, screaming at me from the start with its powerful Divine shout. I just watched the shout bounce and falter against my crystallized soul armor.

  Then I raised my rifle and shot the Divine Realm Demon in the forehead. The creature stumbled, with a gaping hole in its head. Not quite dead yet, but I could shoot again. The heart now.

  The Demon broke into soul particles, and two Demons appeared instead. They shouted at me, but the soul armor held. I shot them, and they died. Four Demons appeared, then eight, then sixteen.

  By the next wave, I felt my soul energy drained, and got overwhelmed by 32 Divine Demons. Still, not bad...

  As I stepped out of the Soul Array, Ming Yue was waiting, also covered in a shell of soul energy. "How many?" she asked with a grin.

  "Only 16 demons, this time. The last wave had 32 of the bastards." I complained and sat down to rest.

  She nodded and flew inside. A minute later, Ming stumbled out and sat beside me, breathing hard. "I failed after killing four of them. Next wave had eight, and my energy ran out."

  I nodded and patted her head. "You need a better soul weapon. But even so, not bad for a mere Saint."

  Ming scowled and leaned on my shoulder. "You are also a mere Saint, idiot."

  Well, yeah, but I held myself to higher standards. I had a Tower to lead by example. "Don't call the father your children an idiot." I muttered in a tired voice.

  "...Pervert" Ming said while blushing.

  That was something else. And maybe a little true. "And that's why you love me." I whispered in a loving voice.

  Ming just nodded in silence. Just then, a small red fox ran in front of me, with a wooden box covered in saliva and blood.

  "What? You need hands to open your box?" I asked at random.

  Meadows glared at me for no reason, then offered her fluffy tails as tribute. Playing with the soft, fluffy tails, with one hand, I flicked opened the box. 'Divine Fox blood. Will upgrade the bloodline and talent of the user by two grades, granting shapeshifting abilities and innate Spirit Beast powers. Worth 54 million Divine Crystals.'

  "What is it?" Ming asked as my face fell. Damn fox was the true Protagonist of this story.

  "Blood from a Divine Fox. One drop will ascend our dear Meadows into Saint Realm." I said while taking out an empty bowl and dropping a few drops of fragrant Divine blood for my fox to ingest. Then I stored the vial in my ring.

  I could use this blood myself. Especially if it could upgrade my talent by two grades. The CYOA gave me an above-average talent, but two more grades could grant me...at least high level talent.

  Meadows licked her bowl clean, then ran off while Tribulation clouds gathered over her, creating a comical scene of a cloud chasing a fox.

  An old ghost appeared beside me, and poked the empty bowl. "Be cautious with that blood, Young Master. A few drops can help, but too much may kill you. You are not a Spirit Beast." he warned me while glancing at the Tribulation clouds chasing after my fox.

  I frowned and took out the blood vial once more. I could have bought a similar vial from the CYOA, but I preferred to buy this Tower instead. Just holding the vial in my hand made me feel stronger already. What would happen if I drank the blood?

  "Want to try, my wife?" I asked Ming who also followed the cloud with her eyes.

  She blinked then frowned while examining the vial. "One drop. Too much is dangerous." she said and opened her mouth.

  I tapped the vial gently, extracting a single drop and placing it on her tongue. A controlled test of sorts.

  Then I also dripped one drop on my tongue, curious what will happen.

  I felt the blood course through my mouth and neck into my stomach, then a hot, burning sensation radiated through my veins and meridians, before it turned into pure pain. My very cells were being changed and transformed, and somewhere inside my soul, my talent was being upgraded somehow.

  I held Ming in my arms, as she groaned and trembled in pain. "Shhh. It's only pain, nothing else. I wonder if you'll grow a fluffy tail too." I whispered in her ear, making her groan even louder.

  Then a minute later, the pain stopped and a silent sound filled my ears. "Damn idiot. How could I grow a tail?" Ming grumbled as she stood up and tested her new body with a few kicks and punches.

  Hmmm. A single drop of blood had upgraded her Body Cultivation from 3rd to 4th level, while mine had reached level 5.

  So I drank a bit more. The pain was somewhat more bearable this time, but my body still got stronger, reaching level 6, just as my Essence cultivation grew to level 6 as well.

  I still had room to grow, but Ming was dangerously close to her Divine ascension. One more drop could push her Essence cultivation a level higher, and thus into Divine Realm.

  "Pef, my soul grew as well. It's level 3 now!" Ming exclaimed after sitting back down beside me.

  "Could be the Godhead soul pill as well. Let me check..." I said while running my own Soul mantra. Not quite level 4, but very close.

  Perhaps another drop of Divine blood would do it. So I drank another drop.

  The third drop of blood was a bit different. I could smell things more clearly, and hear my own heart as well as Ming's. Running my Soul mantra, I discovered that I had indeed obtained my 4th level in Saint Soul Realm, which was quite a feat.

  In the distance, the sound and flashes of lightning and thunder had stopped. Meadows had become a Fox Saint.