Chapter 5: Final Spins
**Chapter SIX**
One moment Rayden stood upon the golden platform. The next, his feet were planted back on the endless grassland. A cool breeze swept past him, rustling the tall grass as sunlight poured across the plains.
For a brief second, Rayden simply stood there in silence, staring blankly ahead as if his brain still had not caught up with what had just happened. Then his gaze slowly dropped toward his palm. The small glass egg rested quietly there, reflecting his face across its smooth transparent surface.
"So, you ended up becoming my pet."
Rayden narrowed his eyes at the egg thoughtfully. Honestly, he still felt conflicted. Part of him believed he had made the perfect choice. Compared to the universe-ending horrors inside that summon list, the Mirror Beast Egg practically looked friendly.
There was no catastrophic warning, no instant death upon observation, and no ancient dragon threatening to erase his bloodline out of irritation. It was very peaceful, very safe, and very normal. Which somehow made him even more suspicious.
Rayden frowned at the little egg. "I don’t know why, but I feel like I just signed a contract with future problems."
The egg remained silent. Rayden nodded slowly. "Yeah. That silence right there is exactly what worries me."
Still, no matter how much he thought about it, the Mirror Beast remained the best option. A one hundred percent taming success rate alone already sounded heavenly compared to the others. Sun Wukong would probably beat him to death for breathing incorrectly. The Golden Dragon might accidentally sneeze and wipe out his entire ancestry. The Hollow Eater... Rayden physically shivered.
"Nope. We don’t talk about that thing."
His eyes returned to the glass egg again. At the very least, this one was still unborn. It would probably imprint on him after hatching. Loyal pet, friendly companion, and a peaceful future. Hopefully. Probably. Maybe.
Rayden sighed. "Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t even know where to keep you."
His robe was already torn beyond repair. There were holes everywhere, dried blood stains across the fabric, and absolutely no pocket safe enough to carry a fragile glass egg. And the thing genuinely looked delicate. One accidental fall and his legendary cosmic pet might die before birth. That would be the most tragic protagonist failure imaginable.
"Imagine surviving reincarnation just to drop my pet like a boiled egg."
As if sensing his thoughts, the Mirror Beast Egg suddenly trembled. Rayden blinked. The egg shook once more before beginning to shrink rapidly. It grew smaller and smaller until the once palm-sized egg became no larger than a tiny crystal pebble.
A thin silver string materialized around it, wrapping itself into the shape of a necklace. Before Rayden could react, the miniature egg shot through the air and looped itself around his neck. The tiny glass egg settled quietly against his chest.
Rayden froze for a moment. Then he slowly grabbed the necklace. "Okay, that is actually pretty cool."
The egg glimmered proudly. Rayden stared at it suspiciously. "You definitely understood me just now, did you not?"
Silence.
"Yeah. You are already acting suspicious."
Still, he could not deny how convenient this was. The thing was only an egg yet already displayed strange abilities. Size manipulation alone was impressive enough. Maybe the Mirror Beast really was special, or maybe he had accidentally adopted another cosmic problem. It was fifty-fifty.
Rayden exhaled before turning his attention back toward the floating roulette wheel above him. The massive Primordial Destiny Wheel still rotated slowly in the sky, radiating an ancient aura that made his scalp tingle slightly. A new message floated before him indicating he had two remaining spins and asking if he would like to continue.
Rayden immediately became cautious again. His earlier excitement cooled considerably. The first spin had given him the Holy Elixir, a heaven-defying treasure capable of restoring his broken spirit root and improving his cultivation talent tremendously.
The second spin made his eye twitch. That damned Devouring Debt title still felt like emotional damage. Sure, the cultivation boost was absurdly useful, but the curse attached to it was basically a spiritual parasite.
The title literally consumed energy nonstop like a starving glutton. This meant the roulette clearly followed no reasonable morality whatsoever. One moment it blessed you, and the next moment it ruined your peace of mind.
Rayden crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Okay. Let’s think logically." He sat down on the grass again. "The wheel gave me treasure." He raised one finger. "Then it gave me suffering." A second finger rose. "Then it gave me another jackpot." A third finger rose. "Which means statistically speaking, the next spin should absolutely ruin my life."
Rayden nodded seriously. "Very scientific conclusion."
The roulette wheel spun silently overhead. Rayden pointed at it accusingly. "Don’t look at me like that. You have already proven yourself mentally unstable."
The wheel continued spinning peacefully. "Exactly. That peaceful act is fake."
Rayden sighed deeply. The logical part of his brain told him to stop. He already possessed enough advantages to survive for now. His spirit root was repaired, his cultivation talent had increased tremendously, and he gained a powerful title, an absurd pet egg, and a mysterious system. Most protagonists would already kneel in gratitude at this point. But then there was the other side of him, the greedy side. The dangerous side currently whispering about what might happen if the next jackpot was even better.
Rayden covered his face. "No. Stop talking."
Unfortunately, greed was undefeated. What if the next spin gave him a divine cultivation technique? What if it gave him an immortal bloodline? What if it gave him some absurd weapon capable of splitting mountains? What if it gave him another curse?
Rayden immediately stiffened. His imagination betrayed him instantly. He imagined himself receiving a curse that made his hair scream every midnight, or one that forced him to sneeze lightning. Or worse, explosive diarrhea. Rayden’s expression darkened immediately.
"Why does my brain even create these thoughts?"
The roulette wheel shimmered faintly. Rayden narrowed his eyes. "Are you laughing at me?"
Silence.
"That means yes."
He stared at the system screen for a long moment before finally sighing in defeat. "Forget it." He stood up dramatically. "If fate wants to ruin my life, then let it do so properly. I refuse to live in fear of gambling addiction!"
A pause followed. "Actually, that sounded cooler in my head."
Without giving himself another chance to hesitate, he selected yes. The Primordial Destiny Wheel immediately erupted into motion. The wheel spun violently, faster and faster. Ancient symbols flashed across its surface while strange lights illuminated the surrounding plains. The air trembled slightly beneath its pressure.
Rayden swallowed nervously. "Please do not curse me."
The wheel continued spinning. The speed finally began slowing. Rayden held his breath. The arrow moved past several terrifying sections like Cursed Bloodline, Ancient Calamity, and Mutated Organism.
Rayden nearly fainted. "What kind of roulette is this?!"
The arrow continued slowing. Then finally, it stopped directly on a glowing silver section labeled Eyes. Rayden blinked. A system notification appeared instantly announcing that he had acquired the Origin Eyes. A massive stream of information flooded his mind.
The Origin Eyes were a powerful ocular ability capable of perceiving the hidden truth of existence itself. The eyes would evolve alongside the host and possessed extraordinary analytical and spiritual capabilities. Excessive usage might heavily strain the body and spiritual energy reserves. Core abilities included Exceeding Perception, Spiritual Vision, Domination Pulse, Analytical Deconstruction, and Absolute Clarity.
Rayden slowly read through the abilities. Then he read them again. Then he read them one more time just to confirm he was not hallucinating. His lips slowly curled upward.
"Okay. This is ridiculous."
By the time he reached the final ability, he was already trying not to laugh like a maniac. This thing was broken. In fact, broken was an understatement. This was absurd. Especially the analytical ability. Anything that could increase comprehension inside a cultivation world was practically priceless.
Rayden immediately activated the eyes. A sharp sensation spread across his irises. Then suddenly, the world changed. His black pupils became surrounded by thin white rings of light. Everything around him transformed. The air itself glowed. Countless streams of multicolored energy flowed through the world like rivers hidden beneath reality. The grass emitted faint traces of spiritual essence and the wind carried strands of natural energy.
Rayden’s eyes widened slightly. "So this is spiritual energy."
The world suddenly felt alive. He focused on a nearby boulder and instinctively activated Domination Pulse. The surrounding spiritual energy trembled before gathering rapidly before him. A compressed wave of invisible force shot forward instantly.
A loud boom echoed as the boulder exploded partially. Chunks of stone scattered across the grassland. Rayden stared at the damaged rock. "Holy shit."
That attack alone could probably kill an ordinary human instantly. And he had done it without moving a single muscle. Rayden suddenly imagined returning to Earth with this ability. His expression became increasingly dangerous. "I would have become such a problem."
Unfortunately, before he could continue fantasizing, an intense headache slammed into his skull. He immediately deactivated the Origin Eyes. The pain faded gradually afterward. Rayden rubbed his temples with a grimace.
"Right. Side effects."
He could already tell his current body was too weak to handle prolonged usage. Which meant he seriously needed to start cultivating. Body Refinement would come first, then Qi Gathering. Thankfully, his spirit root had already been repaired by the Holy Elixir. Otherwise, he would truly have cried himself to sleep.
Rayden inhaled deeply before looking toward the roulette wheel again. One spin remained. One final chance. This time he did not hesitate nearly as much. Honestly, after obtaining the Origin Eyes, his courage had skyrocketed. Even if he received another curse, how bad could it possibly be? He stopped himself immediately.
"Never say that sentence out loud."
The heavens loved punishing arrogance. Rayden pressed yes once more. The Primordial Destiny Wheel spun violently again. Rayden clasped his hands together.
"Please. Divine ability. No curse. Absolutely no curse."
The wheel slowed gradually. Rayden stared intensely. The arrow passed Divine Bloodline, passed Ancient Technique, and passed Sacred Artifact. Rayden looked increasingly emotional.
"Come back."
The arrow ignored him. Then finally, it stopped directly on Trash Item.
Silence followed. Rayden stared blankly at the wheel. The wheel stared back silently.
"You bastard."
Rayden groaned loudly. "Why did I spin so fast?" He covered his face in regret while silently cursing himself. Still, a tiny part of him remained hopeful. The Primordial Destiny Wheel was clearly an absurd artifact capable of producing heaven-defying treasures. Maybe the so-called trash item category was only trash by cosmic standards. For all he knew, a trash item here could still destroy kingdoms in the mortal world.
That thought alone kept his hopes barely alive. Unfortunately, reality arrived swiftly to murder those hopes. A system notification appeared announcing a new weapon: the Rusty Sword.
The description called it a worn-out mortal blade of extremely questionable quality. The edge was dull, the balance was terrible, and multiple cracks were present along the blade. The estimated combat value barely exceeded that of a kitchen knife. A special note warned that the sword might break during intense combat, light sparring, or even emotional outbursts.
Rayden stared silently at the floating sword before him. The weapon looked absolutely miserable. Rust coated almost the entire blade. The handle was cracked. The sword rotated proudly in the air as if it were some legendary divine artifact, then it dropped directly before Rayden’s feet with a dramatic clang.
Rayden’s face twitched violently. Actually, his entire soul twitched. "You cannot be serious."
The rusty sword lay there shamelessly beneath the sunlight. Rayden slowly pointed at it. "I gambled with cosmic fate for this?"
Then, as if waiting for the perfect moment to attack his mental stability, the system remarked that greed is dangerous and that attempting to obtain limitless fortune with mortal luck was an unintelligent decision. Rayden immediately pointed furiously at the floating screen.
"YOU GAVE ME THE WHEEL!"
The system issued a correction stating that the host voluntarily spun the roulette multiple times despite repeated warnings and that it bore no responsibility for gambling addiction.
Rayden nearly choked. "You manipulative piece of..."
Before he could finish cursing, a violent headache suddenly exploded inside his skull. Rayden collapsed onto one knee instantly. Pain surged through his mind like a flood breaking through a dam. Then the memories came. They were not his memories, but Li Yu’s memories.
Countless scenes crashed into his consciousness. He saw a young boy training desperately beneath the rain while others mocked him. He heard the whispers of trash, broken spirit root, and being a useless son.
Rayden’s breathing became uneven. He saw Li Yu desperately swallowing medicinal herbs that accomplished nothing. He saw elders shaking their heads in disappointment and servants secretly mocking him. He saw clan resources being wasted repeatedly in failed attempts to repair his spirit root.
And worst of all, he saw the guilt. That crushing, suffocating guilt. Li Yu blamed himself for everything. The clan had sacrificed enormous resources trying to heal him, resources that could have strengthened the family or expanded their influence. Instead, all of it vanished into a bottomless pit called hope. Every failure only made things worse. The clan weakened, the pressure increased, and the ridicule intensified. Li Yu endured all of it silently until eventually, he broke.
Rayden’s eyes widened as another memory surfaced. He saw Li Yu standing alone inside this very death zone, bleeding and broken while smiling bitterly at the sky. The original owner of this body had come here willingly, not to survive, but to die.
Rayden’s pupils trembled slightly. "Damn."
The realization hit hard. This was not accidental. Li Yu had essentially committed suicide. Entering a death zone alone while injured and unable to cultivate was practically the same thing. Rayden slowly opened his eyes again. For the first time since transmigrating, his expression lost most of its humor. A strange heaviness settled in his chest. The memories felt painfully real, especially the despair and the loneliness.
Rayden could still feel the emotions lingering deep within this body. A twisted smile appeared briefly on his face. "You really had it rough, huh?" He exhaled slowly before shaking his head. "Still. Suicide in a death zone?"
Rayden looked around at the endless wilderness surrounding him. "That is an entirely different level of insanity."
Suddenly, another realization struck him. His body stiffened. Wait. Death zone? Rayden’s face slowly paled. He had been so distracted by the system and the roulette that he completely forgot one important detail. He was standing in the middle of an unknown cultivation world, alone and injured inside a place literally called a death zone.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."
The more he absorbed Li Yu’s memories, the uglier the situation became. This region was filled with dangerous beasts, poisonous creatures, and wandering cultivators who would happily rob or kill weaker people. And currently, he was very weak. He had powerful abilities now, but he was still technically a mortal who had not even entered Body Refinement. One angry beast could still turn him into lunch.
Rayden slowly picked up the rusty sword from the ground. The blade creaked dangerously in his hand and a small piece of rust fell off. "Wonderful."
Even the weapon looked suicidal. Rayden stared at the sword for a long moment before sighing deeply. Then he held his aching head and cursed toward the heavens.
"Damnation."
