New Mission

Sun Yuan went straight home, a look of extreme triumph on his face, radiating high spirits.

The entire One Heart Sect was currently mired in a deathly stillness, but Sun Yuan's mood was bursting with elation!

He hadn't participated in that battle. He had been searching for medicinal ingredients for his disciple, to solidify his foundation, improve his cultivation, increase his comprehension, enhance his natural endowments, and temper the strength of his physical body.

But then, he received a secret order from the Sect Leader, instructing him to return immediately! There was an important mission.

At that time, Sun Yuan hadn't found anything yet, so he had to return reluctantly.

As a result, upon his return, he received a huge surprise!

The Sect Leader had prepared a copy of every single one of the natural treasures his disciple needed! Moreover, they were more complete and of even better quality than what he had imagined.

"There's only one requirement!"

This was truly a pie falling from the sky.

With these things, it would be impossible for his disciple not to soar! As he entered, he saw Fang Che and Night Dream practicing their skills.

He stood to the side and watched for a while.

Somewhat surprised, he murmured, "This girl has good aptitude."

He couldn't help but want to examine her.

He was a King-level expert; if he examined her personally, Night Dream's little secret would be impossible to hide from him.

Night Dream felt a surge of nervousness in her heart. She couldn't help but blink her big eyes.

Sun Yuan was taken aback: Why does she seem a little dull?

Fang Che had already finished his practice and came forward with a smile, with a hint of youthful exuberance, "Master, heh heh heh, guess what my cultivation level is now?"

With one sentence, he completely diverted Sun Yuan's attention.

Now, Sun Yuan felt that the most important thing in his life was his disciple.

His disciple's progress in cultivation was of utmost importance to Sun Yuan.

Nothing was more important than this.

Hearing this, his eyes lit up and he said, "How is it?"

Fang Che had a look of youthful boasting and feigned mystery, with a strong sense of closeness to his master, as he said, seeking credit and reward, "Master, when you left last time, I was a Martial Warrior fifth grade, right?"

Sun Yuan was overjoyed, knowing that his disciple had definitely made great progress, so he immediately cooperated and said, "Yes, Martial Warrior fifth grade, just breaking through. I witnessed it myself, what, now you're sixth grade?"

Fang Che laughed heartily, "I just broke through last night, and I'd like to ask Master to check and see if I've broken through to seventh grade."

"Seventh grade?!"

Sun Yuan was shocked.

If breaking through to sixth grade was a big surprise, then breaking through to seventh grade was simply a big shock.

Break through two ranks in six days? Do you think your master is so old and blind that he's so ignorant? How could that be possible!

So he pulled Fang Che into the room to investigate, "Seventh rank? That's not very likely, is it? Let me see."

After some investigation, Sun Yuan's eyes suddenly bulged out of their sockets.

"Really... seventh rank?!"

Sun Yuan's hands trembled, "What have you been eating these five days?"

"Nothing much."

Fang Che looked innocent and ignorant, "It's just that every time I cultivate, I always feel the spiritual energy of heaven and earth automatically drilling into my body. I can even hear the sound of it whooshing in... and it's more and more every day."

He considered and calculated for a moment, then said, "Just talking about these six days since Master left, when I was practicing, I felt that the speed at which spiritual energy poured into my body was now twice as fast as it was before Master left, and a little more."

Sun Yuan believed this.

Because as long as one's cultivation has begun, one can feel the speed at which one absorbs the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

It's not just geniuses who can feel it, ordinary Martial Warriors can too. It's just that a genius's feeling, and resonance with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, is more sensitive.

But to increase it by a factor of two in a few days, that's too... shocking, isn't it? "Any other feelings?"

"Yes!"

Fang Che was about to take the opportunity to show off his talent, to gain the One Heart Sect's key attention in order to obtain cultivation resources.

Things like pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger are not suitable for him at all.

So he told the truth, "Since I broke through to Martial Warrior, it wasn't obvious at first, but when I broke through to the second rank, I clearly felt that the speed of absorbing spiritual energy was half as fast as it was when I was in the first rank!"

"After breaking through to the third rank, it was half as fast again as when I was in the second rank; and so on, fourth rank, fifth rank, all the way to now, each rank is half as fast."

"So now... cultivation is very fast, and I don't understand what's going on. I was just about to ask Master if there's anything abnormal? Where's the problem? I don't dare to tell anyone else, but after asking a few people, no one else's cultivation is like this. Even if there is an increase after a breakthrough, it's very small. This kind of leap-forward increase is only possible in legends when breaking through a major rank..."

Fang Che was a little nervous, "Master, do you think there's something wrong with my body?"

There's something wrong with your body?

Sun Yuan's face changed, and he was speechless for a moment.

Of course there's something wrong with your body, and it's a huge, huge problem!

This damn body's aptitude is too good!

"It's right that you didn't tell anyone else, you can't tell anyone but Master in the future."

Sun Yuan said solemnly, "If I'm not mistaken, you should have the Supreme Heavenly Ladder Physique!"

As he spoke, he couldn't help but sigh. He thought that his disciple's physique was already ancient and unparalleled, but he never expected that it would be a combination of two supreme physiques!

Each breakthrough, the speed of absorbing spiritual energy is twice as fast as before.

This kind of physique is the legendary Supreme Heavenly Ladder! One step at a time! Now that his cultivation is still shallow, he will only take half a step at a time; when he breaks through to the Innate Realm, he will be even more monstrous. At that time, every time he breaks through a small rank, the speed of spiritual energy absorption will truly increase by a factor of two! And breaking through a major rank is a leap-forward increase, two times, three times... Sun Yuan doesn't know this.

After all, this kind of physique is a legend.

He's never seen it before.

Or rather, he had never seen a genius weaker than Fang Che's previous physique.

Before meeting Fang Che, such a person was a legendary figure to him.

This kind of physique is simply the darling of the heavens. As long as they don't die young, they will definitely be on the weapon list in the future! "This matter must be reported to the Sect Leader. The sect's attention to Che'er must be raised to another level!"

Sun Yuan made up his mind.

"My disciple is very likely to be a big figure in the main sect in the future, or even one of the giants!"

"We must pay attention to him!"

Supreme Heavenly Ladder Physique! Sun Yuan's heart beat ten times faster with excitement, and his mind was dizzy.

He was even a little muddled.

For a moment, he even forgot the purpose of his visit.

After a long while, he remembered: "Che'er, I almost forgot. This time, I brought you good things, enough to greatly improve your cultivation; and there is a new task for you."

"Please tell me, Master."

"Then let's talk about the task first. This task is a death mission. You must complete it no matter what."

Sun Yuan said, "For this, the Sect Leader has specially approved another two hundred contribution points for you, as well as these cultivation resources."

"Okay."

"There are three people who are your opponents in this Martial Academy entrance competition. You must defeat them at all costs!"

"Which three?"

"One is called Ding Ziran, the di zi of the Ding Family, an eighth-grade family in Fallen Phoenix City; one is called Huo Churan, the di zi of the Huo Family, an eighth-grade family in Fubo City; and the other is called Ximen Xuri, the di zi of the Ximen Family, a ninth-grade family in Auspicious Cloud City."

Sun Yuan said, "These three are all peerless geniuses. It is said that Ding Ziran and Huo Churan are already Martial Masters of the first rank, while Ximen Xuri, although he is only a Martial Warrior of the eighth rank now, has a unique skill in hidden weapons, and he has also raised an auxiliary demonic beast, a Crimson Blood Snake, since he was a child. He is even more elusive."

"So, this time, your task cannot be said to be unimportant."

Fang Che frowned, carefully remembering it, and said, "Fallen Phoenix City, Ding Family, Ding Ziran. Fubo City, Huo Family, Huo Churan. Auspicious Cloud City, Ximen Family, Ximen Xuri!"

"Martial Master first rank, Martial Warrior eighth rank, hidden weapon skills, Crimson Blood Snake."

He recited it once, and said, "Do Ding Ziran and Huo Churan have any noteworthy points?"

Sun Yuan stroked his beard and smiled with satisfaction: "The reason why I didn't say it is because I was waiting for you to ask. You really asked, I am very pleased."

"This is anticipating the enemy. You must investigate any enemy clearly."

"Yes, Master."

Sun Yuan took out three pieces of paper from his bosom: "This is the information of Huo Churan, Ding Ziran, and Ximen Xuri."

Fang Che looked at it seriously, his eyes focused.

Softly, as if intentionally or unintentionally, he said, "Master, these three are all Warden's seed geniuses, right?"

"No!"

To Fang Che's surprise, these three were not from the Warden.

This is a bit puzzling. Fang Che asked, bewildered, "Our people?"

"Not exactly."

Fang Che scratched his head.

"They are people from the Night Demons, Three Saints, and Heavenly Gods, also pawns planted within the Wardens."

"Oh?"

"There's an inside story to this."

Sun Yuan lowered his voice, a hint of schadenfreude on his face. "You know about the Sect Leader and the three Elders coming over last time."

"Yes."

"Last time, there was an operation, but unfortunately, it failed, and our sect also lost a lot of manpower. The Sect Leader was very angry, and at this time... the Night Demon, Three Saints, Light, and Heavenly God sects, all belonging to the main sect, actually sent articles of ridicule. It is said that the Sect Leader exploded with anger on the spot."

Hearing these four familiar names, Fang Che's eyes darkened.

These are all subordinate forces of the Sole True Sect.

There are countless such forces throughout the continent. And the ones Sun Yuan just mentioned, as well as the One Heart Sect and others, are among the most famous and powerful subordinate sects of the Sole True Sect.

Sun Yuan said softly, "Although these sects all belong to the main sect, they are in a relationship of competition and mutual suppression. And the competition between them is extremely fierce and bloody."

Fang Che nodded silently.

"And in all aspects, they all want to suppress each other. This time, even if we don't talk about the Sect Leader's rage, considering this battle of wills, our sect has suffered a defeat after all; while the other sects have not. If their seed genius gets first place, it's like we've lost two opportunities."

Sun Yuan explained, "Two opportunities are not easy to catch up on; at the very least, our sect's contribution to the main sect will be surpassed by them by a large margin."

"But if you defeat them and become number one, it's like we've won back a game; and they have no achievements, so we have one win and one loss, which is a tie. Moreover, we've shown a newcomer with unlimited potential. Invisibly, we can still have a slight advantage."

Sun Yuan said, "In the future, if you have any achievements, people will think of you defeating the geniuses of the Three Sects this time, giving you an advantage in the competition within the sect. And the more advantages you have, the deeper the impression you make on the main sect, and our sect will receive more attention because of you. Do you understand?"

Fang Che nodded silently, "I understand."

[Shamelessly asking for some rewards to boost the rankings, to be honest, I've never asked for this in over a decade of writing. Everyone, don't spend too much, in case after it's put on the shelves, you feel that this author's old habits have returned and they've started padding the story, and then you regret it.]