The Secret Realm Closes Its Doors Again

Inside the yuanqi secret realm's small lodge, both old men were utterly speechless. In a single month, this brat had come four times in a row. Couldn't he take a breather? Wasn't he at Qianjun Ninth Layer? Was he really preparing to step into Wanshi right away? "Su Yu, the yuanqi in your apertures is a chaotic jumble. If you keep pushing to break through, it'll be exceedingly difficult to merge your apertures once you reach Wanshi. They'll repel one another. Even if you manage to step into Wanshi for a moment, being stuck at Wanshi First Layer will look terrible, and it'll cripple your future advancement!" Old Huang gave him a warning after all. Inwardly, he cursed Bai Feng thoroughly. What kind of teacher was he? He was sabotaging his own student! How could he just not care? It wasn't that they didn't want Su Yu to break through, but with his yuanqi so impure, if he truly advanced to Wanshi, he might only be able to merge two apertures and become the weakest kind of two-stone warrior. Even if he reached Tengkong with willpower and recast his physical body, it would still be a tremendous hassle. A Wanshi warrior who had only merged two apertures would have a significantly weaker physical body than others, even after body casting upon entering Tengkong. A candid smile surfaced on Su Yu's face. Old Huang meant well, so Su Yu hurriedly said, "Teacher Huang, I know, and I know my limits! The yuanqi in my apertures isn't impure anymore. In fact, it's quite pure." "..." Old Huang was lost for words. "Brat, you've opened a hundred and eight apertures! I took a look last time, and it was a complete mess! Without spending half a year purifying them, don't even dream of entering Wanshi. Why jeopardize your future just for some temporary speed?" Old Nie also said indifferently, "Cultivation is about endurance. Winning early doesn't mean you win in the end. Are you in a rush to make the Top 100 Rankings? What does it matter if you don't make that list?" "That's really not it!" Su Yu replied with an embarrassed grin. "Teachers, I'm not someone who acts without restraint. There's no one else here, right?" The two glanced at him, and Old Huang snapped in annoyance, "Nonsense. What are the three of us, ghosts?" "Ahem, Teacher, I meant aside from us, there's no one else around, right?" "None!" The moment Old Huang finished speaking, his eyes went wide! Right before their eyes, Su Yu suddenly turned into a being of pure radiance! The apertures all over his body flared with dazzling brilliance, each one shining like a star embedded in the night sky. Old Huang's eyes bulged, his mouth falling open. Are you fucking kidding me? Just days ago, I saw with my own eyes that every single one of your hundred and eight apertures was brimming with chaotic, impure yuanqi. And now, after only a few days, you're telling me you purified your apertures to this extent? Old Nie's grip tightened, crushing the teapot in his hand to powder! This was the teapot he had bought from Hong Tan and treasured like a precious heirloom. Now that he had crushed it to pieces, he didn't even notice. Both of them stared at Su Yu with utterly bizarre expressions. What on earth was going on? They had thought they were already accustomed to how freakish Su Yu was and wouldn't be shocked by him again. Yet today, the moment he arrived, he caught them completely off guard! "Su Yu... this..." Su Yu smiled naively. "Teachers, I did say my yuanqi was very pure!" The two stared at him blankly. Dammit, does this even count as merely pure? This is flawless! The point was, how had he pulled it off? Old Huang stared at him for a long moment until Su Yu pulled his radiance back inward. His eyes burned with curiosity. "How did you do it?" Without waiting for an answer, he blurted out, "I know it's a secret. Can I buy it with money? Let me try it too!" Old Nie gave a dry cough. Old Huang paid him no mind, keeping his gaze locked on Su Yu. "The results are simply too good! It's only been a few days, hasn't it? And you finished purifying all of them!" Su Yu chuckled and replied, "Teacher, this is a top secret of the Multiple Divine Characters Faction! How about... you join the Multiple Divine Characters Faction?" "..." Old Huang was speechless. Join your head! Your Multiple Divine Characters Faction is a bottomless pit. I wouldn't join even if I died! "Suit yourself!" Old Huang muttered under his breath, but soon added, "You definitely have some secret of your own. What Multiple Divine Characters Faction secret? Complete nonsense! Bai Feng has been here countless times; don't I know him? If he had a secret like this, I'd eat my shoe!" "Forget it if you won't say..." Pausing, he smiled and said, "Su Yu, does your Multiple Divine Characters Faction take outside help? The kind that only takes money and does no work. How about you talk to your teacher and martial uncle, and let us sign on as external aids? Then you can share a bit of the secret with us. What do you think?" "..." Now Su Yu was the speechless one. This old senior really dared to dream. I'd like a job like that too. Where can I find one? Why don't you introduce me to it? Does the Single Divine Character Faction take outside help? If they do, I'd love to go over, freeload some resources, and cultivate. At that thought, Su Yu asked curiously, "Teacher Huang, which faction do you and Teacher Nie belong to?" "Us?" Old Huang chuckled. "We belong to the Mind-Our-Own-Business Faction! What factions or lineages? What does any of that have to do with us? Old Nie and I just cultivated along without a clue. Back in the day, the Multiple Divine Characters Faction ran the academy, and the Single Divine Character Faction hadn't even branched out on its own yet. We just muddled along, and as we muddled along, we ended up in the Lingyun Realm..." After that, things were simple. Once they reached Lingyun, who gave a damn about factions? Can you get me into the Shanhai Realm? If you can, I'll join you. If you can't, don't talk to us about factions. We'll do our job, and you just don't harass us. "Teachers, what... what cultivation realm are you two at?" Old Huang said with a genial smile, "Want to know? That's a secret. How about we trade secrets?" Su Yu gave a dry laugh. Forget it, I won't ask. He was just a bit curious why two Lingyun experts would stay here guarding a secret realm. Yes, the secret realm was vital. Still, these two weren't weak, were they? Guarding this place around the clock—and within the academy grounds, no less—could anyone really dare to force their way into the secret realm? Seeing his expression, Old Huang immediately knew what he was thinking and chuckled. "What? Looking down on the job of guarding a secret realm? Countless people fight tooth and nail for this post! It was Old Nie and I who had the strength to beat down endless competitors to snatch this position!" Old Huang smiled radiantly, in high spirits. "Brat, this is the yuanqi secret realm! Here, there's never a shortage of yuanqi—absorb as much as you want! And what is the yuanqi secret realm? It was formed by an eternal divine character! Staying here, we can study it every day and tinker with a Sun and Moon Realm divine character day in and day out..." "Ahem!" Old Nie gave a dry cough, cutting him off. Old Huang instantly came to his senses and gave a strained laugh. "Just joking, how could that be! We love this post, and we're devoted to serving the academy. There's no way we'd secretly study a Sun and Moon Realm divine character behind closed doors!" Su Yu couldn't help but chuckle. He understood now. So this really was a prime posting! No shortage of yuanqi, plus the chance to frequently study the eternal divine character passed down by a Sun and Moon expert... With that in mind, another question occurred to Su Yu. "Teachers, why is a divine character passed down by the Sun and Moon Realm called an eternal divine character? What about the Eternal Realm?" "The Eternal Realm?" Old Huang asked in surprise. "Didn't Bai Feng tell you? There are no Eternal Realm Civilization Masters!" "..." Su Yu was stunned! What did that mean? Weren't there many Invincibles in the Quest Realm? Wasn't Invincible the same as Eternal? Why was he saying there were no Eternal Realm Civilization Masters? Hadn't everyone said the Fifth Head was on the verge of stepping into the Eternal Realm? How could there suddenly be none at all? Seeing his expression, Old Huang realized he genuinely didn't know and explained, "Were you thinking of the Quest Realm? The Quest Realm actually has quite a few Invincibles, and many of them are Civilization Masters, but every single one of them advanced to Invincible through the physical body!" He clarified, "The foundation of a Civilization Master is advancing through willpower, not through the physical body. Civilization Masters... there really isn't a single one who broke through to Invincible purely by relying on willpower! Most of them reached the peak of the Sun and Moon Realm, then tempered their physical bodies and broke through to Invincible through their flesh." He continued, "So, strictly speaking, there are no Eternal Realm Civilization Masters in existence! Of course, those old monsters in the Quest Realm are all Civilization Masters who reached the peak of Sun and Moon back then. After tempering their flesh and advancing physically, they can also be considered Invincible experts among Civilization Masters." "..." Su Yu blinked, unable to resist asking, "So you're saying the path of a Civilization Master ends at the peak of the Sun and Moon Realm?" "Yes!" Old Huang nodded. "The Fifth Head actually had hope of breaking through back then. In fact, had he not stubbornly insisted on advancing via the path of a Civilization Master, he might have already succeeded by taking the physical path! What a pity!" He let out a sigh of deep regret. Su Yu, however, felt even more shaken. Civilization Masters didn't even have a true Invincible among them? How could the path be so treacherous? "Teacher, then... then does being a Civilization Master still hold value?" "Nonsense!" Old Huang chided irritably. "Why wouldn't it hold value? Didn't the old monsters in the Quest Realm rise through the Civilization Master path? And once they advanced through the physical body, their combat power was even slightly superior to those old ghosts in the War God Hall!" Having said that, Old Huang added, "Advancing to Invincible through willpower might have some inherent limitation. Over the years, the Quest Realm has constantly been researching this. An expert from the Quest Realm once suggested that it might still be related to the development of the sea of will—that the human race might be missing a crucial component, leaving our seas of will incomplete." Su Yu blinked. Missing a component? What was missing? A divine character? Or... an innate divine character? A wave of shock swept through Su Yu's heart. No way! Could that really be it? His teacher had been researching this relentlessly lately, and Su Yu had heard him talk about it countless times. The human race might have a divine character—a natural, innate one—concealed within their seas of will. "Teacher... missing a component... missing what?" Old Huang said helplessly, "How would I know! If I knew, I'd be an Invincible by now! In any case, once the path of a Civilization Master reaches the peak of Sun and Moon, one generally has to pivot to physical advancement. But don't look so disheartened. Even if we advance physically, we're still stronger than those warriors!" Su Yu nodded, his heart still churning with shock. Missing something... No true Invincible Civilization Masters, only Civilization Masters who transitioned at the peak of Sun and Moon. That was why the core divine character passed down by a Sun and Moon expert was called an eternal divine character! Because... no divine characters from an Eternal Realm existed! Missing what... He couldn't help but draw connections. What was Bai Feng really researching right now? Why did it suddenly seem so profoundly grand, so formidable, and so critically important? Did innate divine characters truly exist within humanity? Was that undiscovered missing piece in the sea of will actually this very thing? If it was... Su Yu felt a chill of trepidation. If it was, once the research yielded results, wouldn't it trigger immense trouble? Had his teacher ever made that connection? "Hard to say. With Teacher's careless, scatterbrained personality, he might not even be aware of this!" Seeing him dazed in thought, Old Huang coughed. "Su Yu, what are you daydreaming about?" "Nothing!" Su Yu replied hastily, then followed with an awkward smile. "I was just thinking that the Fifth Head was truly magnificent back then, nearly becoming the very first true Eternal Civilization Master!" "Of course!" Old Huang said with deep emotion. "He was truly awe-inspiring! You didn't live through it, so you wouldn't understand. Back then, with a single word from the Fifth Head, expert Civilization Masters from every academy across the Human Realm would gather like clouds!" "When the Fifth Head announced he was going to attain the Dao, top Civilization Masters from all the academies rushed over one after another to protect his path!" "You have to understand, the various prefectures aren't under a unified command. If you told Principal Wan to command the Great Zhou Civilization Academy, would the principal of Great Zhou even give him the time of day?" Old Huang joked. "It would be impressive enough if they didn't beat him out the door with clubs!" "Yet the Fifth Head truly brought the Great Xia Civilization Academy to its absolute zenith..." Old Nie said quietly, "And he also drove the Multiple Divine Characters Faction to a dead end." "..." Old Huang's mood suddenly turned desolate. Indeed, he had also driven the Multiple Divine Characters Faction into a dead end. With a single word, the four directions had followed. Expert after expert from the Multiple Divine Characters Faction had crossed mountains and rivers, defying every obstacle, rushing over to protect his Dao. They had fought fiercely against Invincibles, even slaying one... yet in the end, they were left with such a fate. Their peak had been because of him, and their decline had also begun with him. Ever since the Fifth Head, the Multiple Divine Characters Faction had utterly withered. Su Yu's blood surged, and he couldn't help murmuring, "The Multiple Divine Characters Faction was once so glorious and even managed to slay an Invincible, proving this path is no dead end. Why..." Why were they subjected to such treatment now? Old Huang said somewhat dispiritedly, "Blame yourselves. Who told your faction to have fewer and fewer experts over the years? Over the past several decades, the powerhouses of your lineage fell one by one, dwindling steadily. A few years ago, after that Sun and Moon expert in the Daming Prefecture fell, your Multiple Divine Characters Faction didn't even have a single Sun and Moon left!" The Multiple Divine Characters Faction had suffered devastating blows fifty years ago, and in the years since, there had been no successors to take up the mantle. The few remaining Sun and Moon experts had also fallen one after another. Nowadays, the strongest among them was Hong Tan. To make matters worse, Hong Tan had buried himself in research all these years. Lacking a pillar to anchor them, the Multiple Divine Characters Faction became like loose sand, gradually fading into silence. Among the newer experts that emerged, not a single one had advanced to the Sun and Moon Realm. Meanwhile, the Single Divine Character Faction had already possessed several Sun and Moon experts back then, and several of their former Shanhai experts had now advanced to Sun and Moon as well, rising like the midday sun! How could they not suppress you until you had no breathing room left? Su Yu fell silent for a while before asking hesitantly, "Teacher, when the Fifth Head attempted to attain the Dao back then, weren't there any Single Divine Character Faction experts protecting his Dao?" Why was it only the Multiple Divine Characters Faction whose experts had perished? "There were, but very few," Old Huang explained. "You can't really blame them for that. The Fifth Head was an arrogant man. He felt that a Sun and Moon expert from the Single Divine Character Faction wasn't even as capable as a Shanhai from the Multiple Divine Characters Faction. He also aggressively promoted the fusion of multiple divine characters rather than the path of a single divine character, so his relations with the Single Divine Character Faction experts of that era were never great." Su Yu gave a wry smile. It seemed this grandmaster's master had also been someone who looked down his nose at everyone else! He had looked down on others. Now, the very people he looked down upon had become towering figures, leaving behind nothing but misery for the juniors. Su Yu didn't care to dig any deeper into grudges from decades ago. As he learned more and more about past events, he realized it was mostly a cycle of cause and effect. Even so, Su Yu knew that while the Fifth Head had looked down on the Single Divine Character path, he hadn't gone out of his way to deliberately suppress them, which was somewhat different from how things were now. Today, if the Single Divine Character Faction weren't actively suppressing the Multiple Divine Characters Faction, Su Yu wouldn't hold any real resentment. He would have been content to let the faction develop naturally—whether it survived or went extinct would be their own business. Yet the way things were now... certain actions had crossed far more lines than back then. After chatting with the two old men for a while, Su Yu prepared to enter. Old Huang said bluntly, "Why don't you enter through the Wanshi Area? That'll save you the walk!" Su Yu gave a dry laugh. "No thanks! I'm still at Qianjun, so entering through the Qianjun Area will do fine!" Quit joking! I'm only at Qianjun. Why would I enter through the Wanshi Area? It costs more, and it requires a cumulative total of two hundred merit points. He wasn't doing that. He was at Qianjun, pure and simple. Old Huang grumbled, "Come out early. I always feel like we're getting ripped off—for a hundred merit points, you end up staying inside for days! How long are you planning to cultivate this time? Are you really aiming to break through to the Wanshi Realm?" "No!" Su Yu shook his head. "Wanshi... I feel it's not enough yet! I want to open a few more apertures and cultivate some martial techniques first. Otherwise, I don't think I can compete with those guys!" Saying that, Su Yu looked at Old Huang and asked, "Teacher, you mentioned last time that the primary benefit of entering the secret realm was related to willpower and divine characters. But when I sensed around last time, I didn't notice anything!" "Go comprehend it yourself!" Old Huang refused to give him hints, merely instructing, "The core of the yuanqi secret realm lies in the character *Yuan*. Take yuanqi into your body, return yuanqi to unity! Looking at the original texts of the myriad races to comprehend a divine character, or looking directly at a divine character to comprehend it... in the end, it's all the same!" "..." What did that mean? Su Yu sank into contemplation. Old Nie glanced at Old Huang, equally exasperated. Why not just say it straight instead of playing the mystic? Seeing Su Yu still puzzling over it, Old Nie remarked drily, "What's there to overthink? The core of this so-called yuanqi secret realm is just the character *Yuan*. Contemplating a divine character is no different from contemplating an article of will; you don't necessarily have to comprehend it from an article of will! Essentially, it's about replicating a *Yuan* divine character. Of course, this one was left by a Sun and Moon expert and is far too powerful. You aren't qualified to comprehend it yet. Old Huang was just messing with you!" Old Huang protested, "How am I messing with him? This is an eternal divine character! If this kid really manages to outline even a stroke or two, he'll reap endless benefits!" Su Yu completely gave up on the idea. Forget it. I can't even outline divine characters from foreign races. Still... an eternal divine character! If I could really replicate it, crush it, and feed it to my other divine characters, would it taste different? Would my divine characters become even stronger? Never mind, better not dwell on it! Su Yu paid his hundred merit points and stepped into the secret realm. At this moment, he was dirt-poor once again. Three hundred drops of middle-to-late Wanshi Mountain-Breaking Ox blood essence, four hundred drops of various other kinds of blood essence, ten drops of Tengkong Realm Dragon Silkworm blood essence, and ten drops of Five Elements blood essence. On top of that, Su Yu had bought something else. Brightlight Bird blood essence—he had purchased a hundred drops of that as well, primarily to purify his apertures again after cultivating, which cost an additional eight hundred merit points. Adding it all up, along with the hundred merit points he had just paid to enter the secret realm... Su Yu now had only 339 merit points left. Last night he had thought he still had over a thousand points, only to realize he hadn't yet bought the Brightlight Bird blood essence, causing another huge chunk of wealth to vanish in an instant. Over eight hundred drops of various blood essences! Su Yu threw all caution to the wind. Open the apertures first, worry about the rest later! Once he opened twenty-four more apertures, counting the nine Kaiyuan apertures and the one aperture from the Thunder Yuan Saber, his body would have a total of 142 opened apertures. In terms of yuanqi capacity, he wouldn't fall short against anyone cultivating a peak Heaven-tier technique. Even a peak Heaven-tier technique only opened 144 apertures. Naturally, there might be some difference in explosive power, but his endurance would be entirely comparable. ... Inside the secret realm. Entering once more, Su Yu was already familiar with the path. This was his fourth visit! From the 1st of last month to the 1st of this month, exactly one month had passed. This time, Su Yu ventured further out. After several visits, he knew where there were the fewest people, places where newcomers rarely went. This time, he needed to activate *Time* for cultivation, so he couldn't let anyone discover him. The further away, the better! Finding an isolated spot, Su Yu sat cross-legged and took out all his supplies, along with a portion of his articles of will. "Same old rules: open the apertures first!" The first layer of *Time*, Mountain Shatterer, opened forty-four apertures, twenty of which overlapped with the *War God Art*. That suggested the expert who created this technique had likely used the *War God Art* as a foundation. What Su Yu needed to open were the remaining twenty-four. He glanced around and confirmed no one was near. Taking out a drop of Tengkong Realm Dragon Silkworm blood essence, he let it fall onto the *Time* article of will. The next instant, the illusory world materialized once more! ... Meanwhile, outside the secret realm. Inside the small lodge, Old Huang and Old Nie suddenly turned toward the doorway that led inside. The entrance was trembling faintly. Old Huang's expression changed slightly as he exchanged a glance with Old Nie. Both men nodded at the same time, and in the next instant, a mirror appeared! The yuanqi mirror! Used specifically for observing the yuanqi secret realm. Bringing out the yuanqi mirror right now wasn't to spy on Su Yu, but because an anomaly had just occurred within the realm. The moment the mirror manifested, an extraordinarily massive point of light appeared upon its surface! Old Huang's brows furrowed, and he couldn't help cursing under his breath, "Where did that little bastard get that thing? Is it from the Sun and Moon Realm, or the Eternal Realm? Fuck, I forgot to warn him—powerful presences repel each other! The *Yuan* character won't repel him, will it? Don't let him get crushed to pieces!" The moment they saw that colossal point of light, both realized what was happening! That little bastard Su Yu had activated an extremely high-grade legacy technique inside! It shouldn't belong to the Civilization Master path; it had to be from the warrior path. Otherwise, the conflict would have been even worse, as an article of will realm from a Civilization Master would very likely clash violently with the yuanqi secret realm. That involved spatial overlap and folding issues. Old Nie rubbed his forehead, caught between laughter and tears, filled with both helplessness and shock. "Where did he get that? Don't tell me Bai Feng gave it to him. That kid Bai Feng doesn't even have something like this himself, does he?" With that, Old Nie gave a wave of his hand, and the door to the lodge slammed shut! Outside, a student who had just been about to step inside froze in place. The researcher accompanying him was equally stunned before shouting, "Old Huang, Old Nie, what are you doing?" "Not opening today. We're in a bad mood!" "I..." The researcher wanted to curse. "Are you targeting me?" "That's right, we're targeting you! So what if we don't open? Can't we take a day off? Can't we take a vacation? If you've got the guts, force your way in!" "I...!" The researcher was half-dead with rage! Dammit, a few days ago when I brought someone, you were on break. I figured I'd come back a few days later, and today you're taking another break? You two old bastards are crossing the line! This is blatant discrimination! "Just you wait!" Incensed, the researcher turned and marched off with his student. I'm going to lodge a complaint! These two old coots take vacations whenever they feel like it now. Is there no law and order left? ... Inside the lodge. Old Huang and Old Nie looked at each other, then back at the massive point of light in the yuanqi mirror. Both nursed splitting headaches. Old Huang sighed helplessly. "I'm telling you, this kid is a fountain of trouble! Nothing good ever happens when he comes around! I never expected him to have something like this on him. If he brings an eternal divine character along next time and bursts the yuanqi secret realm, what are we supposed to do?" Old Nie was equally resigned. "When he comes out, we'll give him a warning! Tell him not to mess around on our watch! Who knows where he got it, but it's at least a technique passed down by a Sun and Moon expert. When he said he wanted to cultivate martial techniques, I thought he meant the *Sky-Breaking Slash*. Turns out it was this thing..." Although they didn't know the exact details, with their vast experience, they quickly discerned that Su Yu possessed a technique originating at least from a Sun and Moon expert—perhaps even stronger! Heaven tier? Extremely likely! Old Huang's eyes suddenly flickered. "That kid had a whole pile of things on him earlier. I think I caught sight of something familiar. Why was he carrying that around?" "What?" "Hong Tan's favorite scroll..." "The Seeking the Secluded in Mountains and Seas Scroll?" "Yes!" "..." Old Nie exchanged a look with him. A moment later, both began chuckling softly, which quickly escalated into uproarious laughter! Hong Tan had misjudged a treasure? The likelihood was overwhelmingly high! The legacy Su Yu had acquired was very likely contained within that scroll! As for Hong Tan... if he had discovered it, the two of them would gladly stand on their heads! And as for that idiot Bai Feng, he definitely hadn't noticed either, or else he never would have parted with it. This fellow Su Yu... his karmic luck was simply terrifying! Both men were seasoned foxes who deduced countless things in the blink of an eye. Hong Tan absolutely hadn't discovered it; otherwise, such an item wouldn't have been left lying around so casually. After roaring with laughter for a while, Old Huang could barely contain his delight. "No, I have to remember this. Next time I see Hong Tan, I'll bring it up a few times and praise him for how well that calligraphy was written, and how he admired it for decades..." "Hahaha, no, let me laugh a bit more!" Old Nie was also laughing uncontrollably, but he managed to say, "Don't. If Hong Tan finds out, he might become so mortified he'd detonate himself! It wouldn't be good if he turned us into his punching bags! As for Su Yu..." Old Nie pondered for a moment. "Everyone has their own opportunities. Still, if it really is some formidable technique... forget it, he can't make the call anyway. The expert who passed down that legacy might not even be dead. Whether it's made public or not isn't up to Su Yu to decide." Old Huang nodded. That made sense. The expert who left behind the technique wasn't necessarily dead; they might still be alive. Such occurrences weren't uncommon, and certain geniuses stumbled into fortunes like this. It was best not to harbor designs on such techniques. If things escalated and the person who left the legacy was still alive... that would make for quite a show. Such incidents had indeed occurred before. Years ago, a genius obtained a Heaven-tier technique. Cultivating it privately would have been fine, but to earn more merit points, he handed it directly to the authorities, hoping to collect merit points by releasing the technique to the public... Not long after, a Sun and Moon expert came knocking. Cultivating it yourself was fine; leaving it behind was simply a matter of fate and opportunity, perhaps sowing the seeds for a future encounter. Yet you went and made it public—and it happened to be that expert's private cultivation method. Not only was any master-disciple sentiment shattered, but that genius had the apertures associated with that technique crippled on the spot. Recalling that, Old Huang considered for a moment. "When that kid comes out, remind him not to spread it around recklessly. Disseminating it without the owner's permission will cost him his life!" "He isn't stupid..." Old Nie chuckled. "Don't worry, but giving him a reminder won't hurt. These youngsters, whenever they get their hands on a legacy, they act like thieves, terrified of anyone finding out. If we point it out directly, don't you think... his expression will be quite a sight?" Old Huang grinned with wicked delight! It would definitely be a sight to behold! This kid had rattled them so many times. When he finally emerged, they would give him a proper fright too. He truly wanted to see the look of absolute shock on that fellow's face! The two old men laughed together once again and switched off the yuanqi mirror. Civilization Masters... who didn't possess a bit of fortune? Or rather, any powerhouse had their own fortunate encounters. Relying solely on the academy's provisions made it far too difficult to become an expert. "Once he finishes this retreat, the Top 100 Rankings will truly become entertaining!" The same thought arose in both their hearts. This kid had monstrous talent and tremendous fortune. A secret Hong Tan hadn't unraveled in decades was cracked the moment it landed in his hands—if that wasn't sheer fortune, what was? For a genius to grow into maturity, talent was indispensable, effort was indispensable, and luck... was equally indispensable! Thirty percent talent, thirty percent effort, and forty percent luck! At this moment, both old men fell into contemplation. Taking this kid into the Multiple Divine Characters Faction—would it ultimately prove a blessing or a curse? They couldn't shake the feeling that if Hong Tan didn't return soon, by the time he finally did, who knew what colossal changes would have taken place.