Insightful Observation

Deng Rusong's expression relaxed.

Xie Huide exchanged a look with him and smiled in relief as well.

The atmosphere between you became warm and harmonious again, like one big happy family. You even felt like making dumplings together.

In truth, you had considered it carefully just now.

Since your disguise had already fallen away and you had all laid your cards on the table,

you could instead stay openly at the Danxia Sect, swallowing pills and cultivating.

Because there was no irreconcilable conflict between you.

You had never done anything to betray the Danxia Sect, nor had you gone out to fool around with other wild sects.

Xie Huide and the others had not caused you any substantial harm either.

At most, their voices had been a little too loud when they recited Classical Chinese at you just now.

Have Xie Huide compensate you with a hundred million Inner Divinity Pills, and this matter would be over.

You would still be good friends.

And in the future, you could receive the protection of two master alchemists and an endless supply of pills.

Not even the two men's own fathers received such treatment.

All you needed to do was look after Shimu, who loved sleeping in.

This job had an extremely high cost-performance ratio.

And although you had agreed to look after Shimu, you felt it would never actually fall to you.

After all, Plan A and Plan B were still ahead of you.

If it really came down to making you, Plan C, the official choice, you would stand on your head and eat... eat a sunflower seed.

After all, one should not speak too absolutely.

And judging by how seriously Xie Huide took even the backup plan to his backup plan,

his feelings for Deng Wanshu were deeper than the waters of Peach Blossom Pool.

At that moment, Xie Huide and Deng Rusong exchanged a look.

The two nodded almost imperceptibly.

Then Deng Rusong turned to you and said, "He Yu, there is still one condition we have not mentioned."

"Sect Master, bring out whatever tricks you have left."

Deng Rusong smiled. "I intend to make you the next Sect Master of the Danxia Sect!"

You froze. "You're paying such a high price?"

Handing the entire Danxia Sect over to you meant that when the time came, you could take whatever you wanted to eat yourself.

That was indeed sincere.

But when you glanced at them, you noticed sly, old-fox smiles appearing on those young old faces.

You paused.

Then you understood. This position of Sect Master was not merely a benefit they were offering you.

It was also a rope to bind you within the Danxia Sect!

If you became Sect Master and rose to become the boss,

the entire sect would be under your command. Could you still betray the sect?

What emperor ever rebelled against his own empire?

You would, to some extent, develop a sense of belonging toward the Danxia Sect.

And then, considering how well Xie Huide treated you, protecting Shimu would be no more than a casual favor.

Xie Huide was using an open scheme to trap you.

But you did not care about this kind of open calculation.

Because all you sought was to raise your realm.

Whether they made you Sect Master or a stone lion squatting at the entrance,

as long as you could swim in an ocean of pills,

as long as you could swallow pills every day until you felt like an immortal one moment and dead the next, anything was fine with you.

After thinking for a moment, you asked, "Why choose me as the next Sect Master? Just because I'm such a dignified and handsome man?"

Deng Rusong slowly said, "Among the younger generation of the Danxia Sect, no one surpasses you in Martial Path talent. In alchemy talent, you can also rank among the top three. Most importantly... you dare to kill!"

The disciples of the Danxia Sect had excellent cultivation conditions. The sect's members did not need to go out and fight others over a scrap of resources.

But precisely because of that, compared to you, the other disciples were like flowers raised in a greenhouse.

At the first touch of wind and rain, they would all wither.

You were more like a tenacious wild weed, battered by countless fierce winds and sudden storms.

In the end, you would surely grow into a towering giant weed.

And if a sect leader lacked harsh methods and could not kill decisively, the sect would decline sooner or later.

You smiled. "Sect Master, if you praise me like that, I'll become arrogant. But why do you say my alchemy talent ranks among the top three?"

"The Personal Disciples of the Village Elder and Fifth Elder also became fourth-grade alchemists not long ago!"

"Do they have the Insightful Observation talent?"

"Of course not... Hm? What do you mean?!" Deng Rusong abruptly turned to stare at you. "You have the Insightful Observation talent?!"

Xie Huide also looked over in startled disbelief, his face filled with intense anticipation.

You scratched your head. "I'm not sure. Let Master help me confirm it."

Afterward, you described in detail the mysterious state you had entered last time to Xie Huide.

Xie Huide also taught you how to enter the state of Insightful Observation.

In the end, although you did not enter that state again, you did indeed display related symptoms... related phenomena.

Your performance was verified by Xie Huide point by point.

He was utterly certain that you truly possessed the Insightful Observation talent!

Xie Huide was overjoyed.

He threw back his head and laughed, declaring that his lineage had produced two talents and possessed the bearing of a Great Emperor.

You were even more excited than he was.

Because that meant you could try comprehending the Earth Source while maintaining the state of Insightful Observation.

At last, you saw hope of taking a bite out of the Earth Source.

Deng Rusong, standing to the side, was so furious he nearly fainted.

Again and again, he lamented that Xie Huide's dog-shit luck was too good.

Deng Rusong even asked whether you wanted to take him, an eighth-grade alchemist, as your master instead.

You were a person devoted from beginning to end, so naturally you told Deng Rusong to wait a few years and discuss it again after Xie Huide died.

Xie Huide was so angry that he called you a rebellious disciple, nearly cutting off his breath several years early.

Xie Huide compiled all his notes concerning Insightful Observation into a volume and gave them all to you.

He told you to follow the methods he had figured out and try to get started.

He also instructed you to ask him immediately if there was anything you did not understand.

The proficiency standards for Insightful Observation were similar to those for alchemy.

If you reached beginner proficiency,

then out of ten attempts to enter the state, you could succeed once or twice and maintain it for roughly a quarter of an hour.

Once you reached higher proficiency later, the probability of entering the Insightful Observation state and the time you could maintain it would increase accordingly.

Every time you entered the Insightful Observation state, there was a cooldown afterward. Put simply, there was a refractory period.

At your current level, before even reaching beginner proficiency, you could only attempt to enter the Insightful Observation state again every ten days.

Xie Huide had reached high proficiency, yet he still had not attained perfection.

After Xie Huide finished explaining everything to you, Deng Rusong gave you a meaningful look.

You understood that he wanted Xie Huide and Deng Wanshu to have some time alone.

So you left the secret chamber with Deng Rusong.

Xie Huide, meanwhile, sat silently by the Jade Ice Bed alone, keeping Deng Wanshu company.

His eyes, when he looked at Deng Wanshu, were filled with deep affection.

It was as though the rarest treasure in the world lay there.

You and Deng Rusong arrived at his courtyard.

He asked whether you needed a cultivation method or a martial technique.

You asked him for a sect-defending Grandmaster Realm cultivation method, preferably a saber technique.

Your Desolate Heaven Saber Technique could only be cultivated to the Divine Organs Realm and would soon reach its limit.

Although the Heavenly Desire Formless Skill could be cultivated to the Dragon Transformation Realm, it did not specialize in killing and combat.

You needed a cultivation method focused on offense.

Deng Rusong promised to get one for you within two months.

He needed to call in favors and trade for a cultivation method.

Then he asked whether you lacked pills.

Although you could refine Inner Divinity Pills yourself,

it would naturally be better if you could save that time for cultivation.

So you asked Deng Rusong for two thousand Inner Divinity Pills to sample their flavor.

You were very curious whether Inner Divinity Pills refined by an eighth-grade alchemist tasted better.

You tossed one into your mouth on the spot.

You smacked your lips. "Mm. They all fucking taste the same."