Seeing Luo Yin return, a frosty expression chilled Ling Qingxue’s face. She said in a deep voice, “What are you doing back here?”
“This is my place. I can come back whenever I want. Relax, I’m not here to ask what you want to eat and bring you food. I’m back to ask you a question.”
“A question? What question? Why should I answer you?”
Ling Qingxue finished speaking and turned her gaze away from him.
Luo Yin didn’t take it to heart. He said directly, “Do you know Venerable Tianhong?”
“Venerable Tianhong?”
A flicker of something unusual crossed Ling Qingxue’s cold face.
Luo Yin caught that momentary change and pressed on. “Yeah, Shizun. Have you heard of him?”
Ling Qingxue didn’t answer right away. Instead, she looked at Luo Yin and asked indifferently, “Where did you hear his name?”
“That’s none of your concern. Just tell me who he is.”
Luo Yin waved his hand dismissively as he waited for her response.
Ling Qingxue let out a cold snort. “Why should I tell you?”
Luo Yin chuckled. “Shizun, you wouldn’t want everyone to know that you’ve lost all your cultivation and you’re actually a woman, would you?”
“You!! Despicable!”
Ling Qingxue gnashed her teeth in fury.
Luo Yin shrugged indifferently. Was this despicable?
He had already held back quite a bit, hadn’t he?
If he had no principles, he might have pinned Ling Qingxue down right there, taken her first one way, then another…
“Venerable Tianhong reached the Sealing King Realm ten years ago—one realm above me. His strength goes without saying. He’s from the Central Province Realm, so in the Northern Spirit Realm, only those around my level know his name. Where did you hear about him?”
After stewing in anger for a moment, Ling Qingxue still gave in and told him.
A person from the Central Province Realm?
The continent where Luo Yin and the others lived was called the Divine Earth Continent. It was divided into five regions: the Eastern Wasteland Realm, Western Profound Realm, Southern Brightness Realm, Northern Spirit Realm, and Central Province Realm.
The Central Province Realm held the greatest power among them.
Any one of those five regions was larger than five Earths put together.
The regions were separated by Forbidden Seas and forbidden lands. Traveling between them required special formations or treasures.
Why had Venerable Tianhong’s remnant soul appeared at Taiyi Holy Land’s Heavenly Secrets Peak?
Had he come here himself and died, or had his soul drifted over after death?
No one knew.
Luo Yin looked at Ling Qingxue. “Then, Shizun, do you have any connection to this Venerable Tianhong?”
“No. I’ve just heard of him.”
Ling Qingxue shook her head.
With no connection between them, Luo Yin didn’t press further. “Alright then, Shizun. You should eat first. I’ll head to the Treasure Pavilion to grab a formation array to keep others from discovering you.”
With that, he rose and left.
“I told you I’m not hungry!”
Even after he had gone, Luo Yin could still hear Ling Qingxue shouting from inside the room.
He had heard her stomach growling, but whether she actually ate those leftovers was up to her.
It wasn’t his stomach that was empty, after all.
Ling Qingxue didn’t want anyone else to know her secret, and neither did he.
He was worried that if the other disciples found out, they might secretly help her recover her strength. Although he had threatened her with the scroll, who knew if this former Marquis Realm powerhouse had a way to break its seal?
Until he grew stronger himself—or until Ling Qingxue’s favorability toward him improved—Luo Yin had no intention of letting her regain her power.
Once Luo Yin had left, Ling Qingxue touched her stomach. She was truly starving now!
Her eyes drifted instinctively to the pot nearby.
Inside was a jumbled mess of unidentified vegetables, all stewed together!
Compared to the delicacies she used to enjoy, it was worlds apart!
She had eaten those gourmet meals before purely for pleasure, but now she was famished!
No! She couldn’t eat it!
That rebellious disciple had done this on purpose. She absolutely wouldn’t eat it! She wouldn’t give in!
But she was so hungry!
A mortal body really couldn’t endure skipping three meals!
Especially after all the exhausting work she had done yesterday.
But this was that rebel’s leftovers! If she ate it, wouldn’t that mean she was compromising with him!?
After who knew how long, Ling Qingxue finally gave in.
……
Meanwhile, Luo Yin arrived at Mystic Mechanism Peak.
Mystic Mechanism Peak was just a collective name for a cluster of mountains of varying—but similar—heights.
The tallest one in the center was the true Mystic Mechanism Peak.
Heavenly Secrets Peak was arranged the same way.
Every elder in the Holy Land oversaw one such peak.
The elder of Mystic Mechanism Peak was the Holy Land’s Second Elder, Mo Wenlin, though he wasn’t currently at the Holy Land.
After arriving at Mystic Mechanism Peak, Luo Yin headed straight for the Holy Land Treasury.
The treasury was where the Holy Land stored weapons, treasures, spirit stones, heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and the like.
Using Ling Qingxue’s handwritten order, Luo Yin withdrew some spirit stones and stored them in his storage ring.
He then made a beeline for the Treasure Pavilion.
The Treasure Pavilion was where Taiyi Holy Land kept its techniques, formations, and similar items.
A number of Taiyi Holy Land disciples lingered around the Treasure Pavilion, and Luo Yin’s arrival drew their attention.
“After three years, Heavenly Secrets Peak’s head disciple is back at the Treasure Pavilion looking for techniques?”
“What’s the point? Even the strongest technique turns to waste in his hands.”
“Sigh! Why does Venerable Lingxiao even keep him around? If it were me, I’d strip him of his position as head disciple right away. What an embarrassment.”
“Exactly. The head disciples of the other peaks are all prodigies with incredible talent and strength.”
“……”
Luo Yin had grown used to such talk and initially paid it no mind.
But when he heard the words, “Why does Venerable Lingxiao even keep him around? If it were me, I’d strip him of his position as head disciple,” his heart suddenly clenched.
He realized in that moment that Ling Qingxue hadn’t treated him so badly after all.
Even while making him clean Heavenly Secrets Peak, she hadn’t demoted him from his position as her personal head disciple.
She had left him some room to survive, some shred of dignity.
The reason his strength hadn’t improved all these years seemed less her fault and more a matter of his own talent—or rather, his constitution.
Aside from the system’s forced boosts to his cultivation, almost all the spiritual energy he absorbed had simply dissipated.
With a helpless sigh, Luo Yin pushed the thought aside.
But things were different now. He had rocketed to the Body Tempering Realm 9th Layer overnight.
He was certain his future cultivation wouldn’t stall like before!
As the disciples gossiped about Luo Yin, he observed them in turn.
What he was watching for, naturally, was the colorful auras swirling around them.
Recently, those who had stumbled upon opportunities had auras like Su Chen’s.
The color of the aura corresponded to the magnitude of the opportunity.
Suddenly, Luo Yin’s gaze locked onto a man in the corner.
The man was Xu Wei, a fellow disciple of Heavenly Secrets Peak and Luo Yin’s junior brother.
His luck value was nearly one hundred.
A pale yellow aura clung to Xu Wei’s body—the brightest hue among the crowd.
Without hesitation, Luo Yin derived the course of his life.
【Day One: Xu Wei heads to the Treasure Pavilion but finds nothing.】
【Day Two: Xu Wei returns to the Treasure Pavilion. In the Waste Products Area, he discovers a damaged Profound Grade technique, 【Azure Thunder Fall】, and uncovers the hidden Heaven-Human Grade 【Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Art】 within it.】
【Day Three: Xu Wei begins cultivating the 【Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Art】.】
【Day Four: Xu Wei cultivates the 【Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Art】.】
【Day Five……】
……
【Day Ten: Xu Wei challenges Sun Miao and defeats them in a single strike. His rank on the Heavenly Mechanism List rises to 33rd.】
Once the derivation ended, Luo Yin’s jaw dropped in shock.
……
