Sun Yuan walked straight into the house.
His expression was extremely proud.
His spirit soared.
Now, the whole Yixin Sect was enveloped in a lifeless gloom, but Sun Yuan's mood was simply ecstatic!
He hadn't participated in that battle. He had been searching for Heavenly Treasures for his disciple, to solidify the foundation, enhance cultivation, increase comprehension, improve bone structure, and polish bodily strength.
But soon after, he received a secret order from the Sect Hierarch to return immediately!
There was an important task.
At that time, Sun Yuan hadn't found anything yet and could only return in disappointment.
To his surprise, upon returning, he received an immense shock!
The Heavenly Treasures his disciple needed had all been prepared by the Sect Hierarch, each kind more complete and of even better quality than what he had in mind.
"There's only one requirement!"
It was as if a pie had fallen from the sky.
With these items, it would be impossible for his disciple not to soar to new heights!
Upon entering, he saw Fang Che and Ye Meng practicing their skills.
He stood to the side and watched for a while.
Somewhat surprised, he murmured, "This girl has good talent."
He couldn't help but want to perform a test.
As a King-level Master, if he started to examine her, Ye Meng's secrets wouldn't be able to stay hidden from him.
A wave of nervousness flashed through Ye Meng's heart, and she couldn't help but blink her big eyes rapidly.
Sun Yuan was taken aback: Why does she look a bit dazed?
Fang Che had already finished practicing and came forward with a smile, his youthful exuberance bubbling over, "Master, hehehe, guess what my level of cultivation is now?"
With one sentence, Sun Yuan's attention was completely diverted.
Now, Sun Yuan felt that his life's greatest concern was his disciple.
The progress of his disciple's cultivation was of utmost importance to Sun Yuan.
Nothing concerned him more.
His eyes lit up as he asked, "How's it going?"
With a look of youthful boastfulness and an air of deep camaraderie with his master, Fang Che said in a tone that seemed to ask for praise, "Master, when you left last time, I was a Fifth Grade Warrior, right?"
Sun Yuan's heart leapt with joy, knowing that his disciple must have made significant progress. He immediately played along, "Right, Fifth Grade Warrior, just had a breakthrough. I witnessed it myself. So, what, you're Sixth Rank now?"
Fang Che laughed heartily, "Last night, I just had another breakthrough. I need to ask Master to check if it was to Seventh Grade."
"Seventh Grade?!"
Sun Yuan was astonished.
A breakthrough to Sixth Grade was already a huge surprise, but reaching Seventh Grade was downright shocking.
Advancing two grades in six days?
Did you think your master was so shortsighted that I couldn't see that? How could that even be possible!
So he took Fang Che into the room to inspect, "Seventh Grade? That's highly unlikely, isn't it? Let me check."
After a thorough inspection, Sun Yuan's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets.
"Is it really... Seventh Grade?!"
His hands trembled, "What have you eaten these five days?"
"Nothing much."
Fang Che looked innocently puzzled, "It's just that every day when I cultivate, I felt nature's spiritual energy automatically entering my body, I could even hear the whooshing sound of it flowing in... and it became more each day."
He thought for a moment and then said, "Just talking about these six days since master left, the speed of spiritual energy flowing into my body during cultivation is now twice as much as before you left, even a bit more."
Sun Yuan believed this.
Because once someone begins cultivating, they can sense the speed of nature's spiritual energy ingestion.
It's not only geniuses who could feel it; ordinary Martial Artists could as well, though geniuses were more sensitive and resonated better with spiritual energy.
But doubling in just a few days? That was unheard of.
"Any other sensations?"
"Yes!"
Fang Che was about to take this opportunity to showcase his talent and gain emphasis on resources for cultivation from the Yixin Sect.
Pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger was not suitable for him.
So, he explained everything in detail, "Ever since I broke through as a Warrior, in the beginning, it wasn't noticeable, but when breaking through to Second Grade, I clearly felt that the speed of absorbing spiritual energy was one and a half times faster than at First Grade."
"After breaking through to Third Grade, it increased by another half compared to Second Grade; and so on, Fourth Grade, Fifth Grade, right up to now, at each stage, it increases by half."
"So now... my cultivation is very fast, I don't understand what's happening, I wanted to ask Master, is there something abnormal? Is there a problem somewhere? I didn't dare tell anyone else, but I inquired, and others don't have this situation when they cultivate. Even if there's an increase after a breakthrough, it's minimal. This kind of leap in progress is rumored to be possible only with significant stage breakthroughs..."
Fang Che was a little nervous, "Master, do you think there's something wrong with my body?"
Is there something wrong with your body?
Sun Yuan's countenance varied, too overwhelmed to retort.
Of course there was something wrong — an incredibly colossal issue!
Your physical talent was too incredible!
"Not telling others is the right choice. From now on, you mustn't tell anyone but your master."
Sun Yuan spoke earnestly, "If I'm not mistaken, you must have the Supreme Heavenly Ladder physique!"
He couldn't help but sigh. He had thought his disciple's constitution was already exceptional, surpassing the ancient and the present, but he had never imagined it to be the combination of two supreme innate constitutions!
With each breakthrough, his absorption of spiritual energy was double the speed of the previous one.
Such a constitution was the legendary Supreme Heavenly Ladder!
One step per level!
His cultivation was still shallow now, so it was only one and a half steps per level; but once he broke through to the innate, it would be even more monstrous. At that point, with each small stage advancement, the speed of absorbing spiritual energy would truly double!
And with a big stage breakthrough, it would be a leap-wise improvement, doubling, tripling... Sun Yuan didn't know this.
After all, such a constitution was the stuff of legends.
He had never seen it before.
Or rather, he hadn't even seen a genius weaker than Fang Che's previous constitution.
Before seeing Fang Che, that kind was legendary for Sun Yuan.
Such a constitution was truly favored by heaven; as long as he didn't die young, he was bound to appear on the list of top martial artists!
"This matter must be reported to the Sect Hierarch. The importance our sect places on Che must be elevated by another level!"
Sun Yuan made up his mind.
"My disciple... has a strong possibility of becoming a major figure within the Main Sect, perhaps even one of the giants!"
"He must be given importance!"
Supreme Heavenly Ladder, oh!
For a moment, Sun Yuan's heart was racing ten times faster, and his head was spinning.
He was a bit confused.
For a while, he even forgot the purpose of his visit.
It took a long moment before he remembered: "Che, I almost forgot, I came here this time to bring you good things, enough to advance your cultivation by a great leap; and there's a new mission for you."
"Please speak, Master."
"Let's talk about the mission first. This mission is a death mission. It must be completed no matter what."
Sun Yuan said, "For this purpose, the Sect Hierarch has specially approved two hundred Contribution Points for you. He also gave you these cultivation materials."
"Mm."
"There are three individuals, your opponents in the big competition at the Martial Arts Academy; you must defeat them at all costs!"
"Which three?"
"One is called Ding Jie Ran, the rightful heir of the Ding Family, an eight level Family from Luofeng City. Another is called Huo Churan, the rightful heir of the Huo Family, an eight level Family from Fubo City; and the last one is called Ximen Xuri, the rightful heir of the Ximen Family, a ninth level Family from Xiangyun City."
Sun Yuan said, "These three are geniuses the world seldom sees. It's said that Ding Jie Ran and Huo Churan have already reached the cultivation of a first grade martial master, while Ximen Xuri, although he's only an eighth grade warrior, has a knack for elusive hidden weapon skills, and moreover, he has raised a demon beast, the Crimson Blood Snake, to enhance his stealth even further."
"Therefore, this time, your mission is not light."
Fang Che frowned, taking careful note, and said, "Luofeng City, Ding Family, Ding Jie Ran. Fubo City, Huo Family, Huo Churan. Xiangyun City, Ximen Family, Ximen Xuri!"
"First grade martial master, eighth grade warrior, hidden weapon skills, Crimson Blood Snake."
He recited once and asked, "Are there any noteworthy points about Ding Jie Ran and Huo Churan?"
Sun Yuan stroked his beard and smiled with content: "The reason I didn't mention them is because I was waiting for you to ask. You really asked, which pleases me greatly."
"That's anticipating the enemy's strategy. For any opponent, you must investigate thoroughly."
"Yes, Master."
Sun Yuan took out three pieces of paper from his chest: "These are the profiles of Huo Churan, Ding Jie Ran, and Ximen Xuri."
Fang Che read them carefully, his gaze focused and serious.
He said softly, as if casually, "Master, these three are the Guardian's seed geniuses, right?"
"No!"
Contrary to Fang Che's expectations, these three weren't from the Guardians.
That was somewhat confusing. Fang Che pondered, "Ours?"
"Also not."
Fang Che scratched his head.
"They are people from Yemo, San Sheng, and Heavenly God, and they are also pieces infiltrated into the Guardian's ranks."
"Oh?"
"There's an inside story to this."
Sun Yuan lowered his voice, with a slight touch of Schadenfreude on his face: "You know about the Sect Hierarch and the three elders' last visit."
"Mm."
"The last time there was an operation, but unfortunately, it failed, and our sect also lost quite a few hands. The Sect Hierarch was very angry, and at this time... the sects Yemo, San Sheng, Mingguang, and Heavenly God, all belonging to the Main Sect, actually sent out taunts, it's said that the Sect Hierarch exploded with rage on the spot."
Hearing these familiar names, Fang Che's eyes grew deep.
These were subordinate forces of the Wei Wo Zheng Sect.
Similar forces existed all over the continent, countless in number. And the few Sun Yuan had just mentioned, including the Yixin Sect, were among the most famous and powerful subordinate forces of the Wei Wo Zheng Sect.
Sun Yuan spoke softly: "Although these sects are affiliated with our Main Sect, they are in a relationship of competition and mutual suppression with each other. And the competition between them is extremely fierce and bloody."
Fang Che nodded silently.
"Each side wants to outdo the other in every aspect. This time, even without taking into consideration the Sect Hierarch's fury over the matter of pride, our sect has indeed suffered a new loss; while the other few sects haven't. If their seed geniuses take first place, it's as if we've lost the lead in two contests."
Sun Yuan explained: "Catching up after two contests is not easy; at the very least our sect's Contribution Value within the Main Sect will fall far behind theirs."
"But if you beat them and become the first, it would be as if we've recaptured a lost ground; and since they won't have achieved anything, with our one victory and one loss, it's as if we've drawn even. Plus, we will have shown a newcomer with infinite potential. Invisibly, we may even gain some advantage."
Sun Yuan said, "In the future, any achievement of yours will be associated with the time you defeated three sect geniuses, giving you an advantage on the competitive path within the sect. With each advantage you have, the deeper your impression in the Main Sect, our sect will be further highlighted because of you, do you understand?"
Fang Che nodded silently: "I understand."
...
[I shamelessly ask for some rewards to surge up the charts, haha. Speaking of which, I've been writing for over a decade but never asked for this kind of thing. Don't spend too much, in case after the book goes on shelves you feel like the author's old habit of padding the story resurfaces and then you regret it, that wouldn't be good.]