The Cheat Is Return from Taking Disciples

The one Lu Qingshan called Little Third Son was Lu San. He was one of the descendants of Maple Leaf Star natives rescued by Lu Qingshan over the course of several thousand years. In those years, Lu San's ancestors had been sold into a space pirate lair, and the bloodline they left behind was tightly controlled by the organization. Lu San had never directly participated in interstellar plunder; his work was to help the space pirates train new forces. After Lu Qingshan brought him back to Maple Leaf Star and examined him, he entrusted Lu San with the task of cultivating geniuses for the Maple Leaf Empire. The fellow had some ability. He had not failed the Old Ancestor's high regard, and over these several thousand years he had forged a mature training system for the Maple Leaf Empire. With his own hands, he had built Eaglet Star into a base for nurturing geniuses. Even Old Ancestor Lu Qingshan had been persuaded by him to take time every hundred years to guide the gifted youths from Eaglet Star. The heavy metal hatch of the underground vault emitted a low hum and slowly slid open. Lu San's figure entered first, followed closely by five young men and women. The moment they stepped into this space, an invisible pressure, as if born from the source of life itself, crashed down like billions of tons of deep-sea water, freezing their breath in an instant. "Old Ancestor!" Lu San did not hesitate for a moment. With a thud, he fell to his knees. The five youths behind him were even more shaken. They could not summon the courage to lift their heads and look at the figure seated high upon the stone throne, and hurriedly prostrated themselves after Lu San. "Rise, all of you." Only when a gentle voice sounded did everyone, as if granted a pardon, dare to rise trembling. One bolder gifted youth secretly raised his eyes and glanced upward, and his shock deepened. It was hard to imagine that the terrifying energy which had nearly crushed his soul came from the young man with a kindly face and profound eyes seated on the stone throne. "Lu San." Lu Qingshan's gaze fell upon the gray-robed man, his voice carrying a faint, barely perceptible sigh. "Several thousand years have passed, and you are still trapped at Star Level Ninth Stage. Cultivating new blood for the empire is important, but your own cultivation must not slacken either. If you cannot break through to the Cosmic Level, your lifespan... I am afraid only this last thousand years remain." Over the tens of thousands of years, Lu Qingshan had constantly repaired the foundation of his own being. As the saying goes, a long illness makes a skilled physician. His perception of lifespan was now extremely precise. Without external intervention, Lu San's remaining lifespan would end within this thousand years. Lu San raised his head. There was no panic on his face, only the calm of someone who had weathered many storms. "If it had not been for the Old Ancestor's rescue all those years ago, this disciple would likely have perished along with the space pirates. Being able to live these several thousand years longer is already a stroke of luck. As for the Cosmic Level... this disciple has long since put the thought out of his mind. Rather than spending the empire's precious resources to chase that faint hope, I would rather devote all my heart to Eaglet Star. Seeing generation after generation of young seedlings grow is enough for me." Lu Qingshan heard the dampened ambition in his words and said no more. He himself was barely managing to protect himself. He was penniless and in debt. Even if Lu San was willing, he could not provide any resources to help him. His gaze turned to the five slightly constrained young geniuses. There were three males and two females. Four of them were of ordinary human bloodline, but one youth was especially conspicuous. Upon the youth's head grew a pair of short dark-purple horns, faint arcs of electricity flowing over them. He was a descendant of the Horn Thunder Clan, an extremely rare race within the territory of Maple Leaf Star, and possessed a seventh-grade cosmic bloodline. Earlier, Lu Qingshan's attention had been on Lu San, so he had not examined them closely. Now his powerful spiritual force instantly enveloped the five, conducting the most minute examination. Suddenly, his heart stirred, and he let out a soft "Eh?" In his spiritual perception, the other four were completely normal. Only above the head of the Horn Thunder Clan youth, Lei Ming, did several lines of strange characters appear without warning, glittering with faint light, as if condensed from the laws of the universe themselves: [Name: Lei Ming] [Age: 28] [Level: Planet Level Ninth Stage] [Evaluation: Third-grade genius (can be taken as a disciple). Base return ratio: 100x.] A cheat? As a Cosmic Level Ninth Stage powerhouse who had lived for 90,000 years and was only one step away from Domain Master, Lu Qingshan did not believe this was an illusion. Unless some immortal-level existence skilled in the arts of illusion was toying with him. But that thought was even more absurd. Then... there was only one answer! This belated opportunity was actually real. Only... had this cheat not arrived far too late? The corner of Lu Qingshan's mouth twitched involuntarily, and a complex emotion that defied description welled up in his heart. Fortunately, this time he had not refused to meet Lu San and the others because of his failed breakthrough. Otherwise, he might have waited until his death without ever discovering this cheat. If that had happened, it would have been too tragic. Was this System an inanimate object? It had not given a single hint. The atmosphere on the scene became somewhat heavy. Lu Qingshan's gaze swept over the several geniuses as if it were tangible, repeating itself over and over, lingering the longest on Lei Ming. Lei Ming felt as if all his secrets had been stripped away, leaving him exposed beneath an invisible searchlight. His heart pounded wildly, and cold sweat soaked his palms. Lu San keenly noticed the abnormality as well, and his heart gave a thump. Could something be wrong with Lei Ming? If he had failed in his judgment and brought a problematic person before the Old Ancestor... the moment the thought arose, cold sweat instantly soaked the inner lining of his gray robe. Just as Lu San was feeling uneasy and about to ask cautiously, Lu Qingshan spoke first, with a trace of rare approval in his tone. "Lu San, you... have done well." "Old Ancestor!" The great stone in Lu San's heart fell, and immense joy surged up in its place. "Could it be... among these geniuses, there is a piece of raw jade that has caught your eye?" "Show me the strongest move of each of you." Lu Qingshan did not directly answer Lu San. His gaze, sharp as lightning, swept toward the five young geniuses. The youths looked at the underground vault, which was riddled with cracks, and hesitated. "Do not worry. Do not mind how dilapidated this place is. Even if you go all out, you will not be able to cause the slightest damage." Hearing this, the several geniuses began to unleash their strongest moves. Lu Qingshan divided his mind among many tasks and soon watched every one of their moves. "Stop." The voice was not loud, yet it clearly suppressed all the energy explosions. Upon hearing it, the five immediately withdrew their power. One of the youths withdrew his strength too hastily, and the backlash of origin force caused his face to pale. He regretted it deeply. "That move of yours..." Lu Qingshan raised his hand and pointed from afar at the pale-faced youth. An energy attack exactly like the one the youth had just used condensed out of thin air. However, in Lu Qingshan's hands, this attack underwent a complete transformation. Beneath its violent and fierce exterior, the energy was layered one upon another, continuous and unbroken. "Remember this move. If you can perform one tenth of what I have shown you, your mastery of intent will reach its peak." "Thank you for your guidance, Old Ancestor!" The youth was so excited that his voice trembled. This was a move he had created himself, yet when displayed by the Old Ancestor, it seemed to have been reborn. Its power and intent were more than a hundred times stronger. This simple demonstration was like a new door opening before him, worth far more than ten years of bitter cultivation! Indeed, guiding these ordinary geniuses who had not been marked by the System produced no special feedback. In the past, when he met the geniuses of Eaglet Star, he had mostly offered a few words of encouragement and rarely demonstrated personally. After all, compared with the true monsters of the universe, the so-called geniuses selected once every hundred years on Maple Leaf Star were truly too ordinary. Barring unexpected circumstances, the vast majority of them would never break through the shackles of Star Level Ninth Stage in their entire lives. The probability of stepping into the Cosmic Level was one in ten thousand. The universe was vast and boundless, and civilization was strictly hierarchical. On the cruel outer-space battlefields, a Cosmic Level Expert might be nothing more than cannon fodder charging at the front, but within the territory of the primary Universe Kingdom to which Maple Leaf Star belonged, they were already top-tier existences capable of suppressing an entire region. For a vast star system containing hundreds of thousands of life-bearing planets, producing one or two Cosmic Level experts could be considered flourishing fortune. As for Lu Qingshan, a man who had lived for 90,000 years and, with his great limit approaching, was still stuck at Cosmic Level Ninth Stage, compared with the true geniuses of the universe, he might be a complete waste. However, in the Maple Leaf Empire, among trillions of living beings, who would dare not call him Old Ancestor? Next, Lu Qingshan successively demonstrated the strongest moves of the other geniuses, helping them save at least ten years of bitter cultivation. This left all the geniuses filled with admiration. With only a single glance, the Old Ancestor could casually reproduce all of their ultimate techniques. This level of accumulation and strength had already far exceeded their imaginations. Especially Lei Ming. He had originally been the strongest among the five and had already reached a bottleneck, with no way to advance further. However, when Lu Qingshan casually condensed a prototype of a lightning domain and showed him the profound mystery within it—the endless vitality, with destruction and creation intertwined—Lei Ming felt as if a thunderclap had exploded in his mind. The solid barrier that had trapped him for so long was split open by that thunder light. The limit of intent is the domain. The domain... A bright, broad road to a higher realm suddenly unfolded before his eyes. "You. What is your name?" The plain voice sounded by Lei Ming's ear, yet it was like heavenly music. "Rep... replying to the Old Ancestor, this disciple is Lei Ming, from Horn Thunder Star!" Lei Ming hurriedly bowed, his voice trembling with excitement. The gazes of the other four geniuses instantly focused on him, filled with undisguised envy. "Your talent is acceptable." A gentle smile appeared on Lu Qingshan's face. "Are you willing... to become my disciple?" "Ah?" Lei Ming was completely stunned, his mind blank. "Lei Ming, the Old Ancestor is asking you a question!" Lu San hurriedly reminded him. The Old Ancestor had not taken a disciple for how many years? Why was this fellow still foolishly hesitating? Lei Ming woke as if from a dream. With a thud, he fell to his knees and struck his forehead heavily against the cold ground. "Old Ancestor, I am willing." "Rise." Lu Qingshan's smile deepened. He felt a bit more fondness toward this youth, whose talent was acceptable and who possessed a certain honest simplicity. "Are you still going to call me Old Ancestor?" "Mas... Master!" Lei Ming raised his head, his voice loud and firm. At the very moment the master-disciple bond was established... Buzz! A mysterious and unfathomable fluctuation of law silently swept over the origin of Lu Qingshan's soul. Countless exquisite insights regarding the lightning domain emerged out of nowhere, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, directly imprinting themselves into the depths of his consciousness. [Your disciple Lei Ming has gained some insights in the Lightning Domain Prototype. A hundredfold return has been triggered. Your comprehension of the lightning domain has improved.]