The New Mission

Sun Yuan went straight into the house.

He looked extremely pleased with himself.

His spirits were soaring.

The entire One Heart Sect was now lifeless and gloomy, but Sun Yuan's mood was so good it was practically exploding!

He hadn't participated in that battle. He had been searching for Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures for his disciple—things that could lay a solid foundation, increase cultivation and comprehension, improve innate potential, and temper the body's strength.

But then he received the sect master's secret order to return immediately! There was an important mission.

At the time, Sun Yuan hadn't found anything yet and could only return dejectedly.

But once he got back, he was immediately greeted by a huge surprise!

The Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures his disciple needed had actually been prepared by the sect master, one of every kind! They were even more complete than what he had imagined, and the quality was better, too.

"There's only one requirement!"

This was truly a pie falling from the heavens.

With these things, his disciple wouldn't be able to avoid soaring into the sky even if he wanted to! As soon as he came in, he saw Fang Che and Night Dream practicing.

He stood to one side and watched for a while.

Somewhat surprised, he muttered, "This girl has pretty good aptitude."

He couldn't help wanting to examine her.

He was a King-level expert. If he personally examined Night Dream, none of her secrets could possibly escape him.

Night Dream grew tense. Her large eyes flickered uneasily.

Sun Yuan froze. Why does she look a little dazed?

Fang Che had already finished practicing. He came over with a smile, showing a young man's delighted excitement as he said, "Master, hehehe, guess what level my cultivation has reached now?"

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

Sun Yuan now felt that the most important matter of his entire life was this disciple of his.

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

Nothing else could concern him more.

Sun Yuan's eyes lit up at those words. "How is it?"

Fang Che wore a young man's smugness and deliberate mystery, his deep closeness to his master evident as he sought praise and reward. "Master, when you left last time, I was a Grade Five Warrior, right?"

Sun Yuan was overjoyed. Knowing his disciple's progress had certainly been substantial, he immediately played along. "Yes, Grade Five Warrior. You had just broken through—I witnessed it myself. What, are you Grade Six now?"

Fang Che burst out laughing. "I just broke through last night. I still need you to examine me and see whether I've broken through to Grade Seven."

"Grade Seven?!"

Sun Yuan was stunned.

If breaking through to Grade Six was a huge surprise, then breaking through to Grade Seven was practically a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

Two grades in six days? Did he think his master was old and blind, with no idea of the world? How could that possibly happen!

He immediately dragged Fang Che into the room to investigate. "Grade Seven? That doesn't seem very likely. Let me take a look."

After examining him, Sun Yuan's two eyeballs suddenly bulged out of their sockets.

"It really is... Grade Seven?!"

Sun Yuan's hands began to tremble. "What have you eaten these past five days?"

"Nothing special."

Fang Che looked innocent and bewildered. "It's just that whenever I practice each day, I always feel the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth automatically drilling into my body. I can even hear the whoosh, whoosh, whoosh of it rushing inside... And there's more of it every day."

He considered the matter and calculated. "Just in these six days since you left, when I practice, I feel that the speed at which spiritual energy flows into my body is now twice what it was before you left—and a little more than twice."

Sun Yuan believed this point.

Once one's cultivation had entered the martial path, one could sense the speed at which one absorbed the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth.

It wasn't only geniuses who could sense it; ordinary martial artists could, too. It was just that a genius's sensitivity and resonance with the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth were sharper.

But to double in just a few days—this was too... astonishing, wasn't it?

"Do you feel anything else?"

"Yes!"

Fang Che was just about to take the opportunity to display his talent and gain the One Heart Sect's special attention so he could obtain cultivation resources.

Schemes like pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger simply weren't suitable for him.

So he answered honestly, "After I broke through to Warrior, it wasn't very obvious at first. But when I broke through to Grade Two, I clearly felt that my speed of absorbing spiritual energy had increased by half compared with Grade One!"

"After breaking through to Grade Three, it increased by another half compared with Grade Two. And so on—from Grade Four to Grade Five, all the way to now, every level has brought a fifty-percent increase."

"So now... cultivating is very fast. I don't understand what's happening, so I wanted to ask you, Master, whether something is abnormal. Is there a problem somewhere? I didn't dare tell anyone else, but I asked around about a few people. None of them cultivated like this. Even when their speed increased after a breakthrough, the increase was tiny. An increase by leaps and bounds like this is said to be possible only after breaking through a major realm..."

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

Something wrong with your body?

Sun Yuan's expression shifted repeatedly. For a moment, he was utterly speechless.

Of course there was something wrong with his body—and it was an enormous problem!

His physical aptitude was simply too good!

"It's good that you didn't tell anyone else. From now on, no one but your master can know."

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

As he spoke, he couldn't help sighing. He had thought his disciple's physique was already unprecedented, but he had never imagined that two supreme physiques had merged together!

With every breakthrough, his speed of absorbing spiritual energy became twice as fast as before.

This physique was the legendary Supreme Heavenly Ladder—one step, one level! Since his cultivation was still shallow, he could only advance one and a half steps at a time. Once he broke through to the Innate Realm, he would become even more monstrous. At that point, with every minor-level breakthrough, his speed of absorbing spiritual energy would truly double! As for breakthroughs across major realms, they would bring a leap-like increase—twofold, threefold... Sun Yuan didn't know.

After all, this physique existed only in legend.

He had never seen one.

Or rather, before meeting Fang Che, he had never even seen a genius whose physique was slightly weaker than Fang Che's.

Before Fang Che appeared, such people had been legendary figures in legends to him.

This physique was practically the favored child of Heaven. As long as he didn't die young, he was destined to become someone ranked on the Weapon Rankings!

"This matter must be reported to the sect master. The sect's level of attention toward Che'er must rise another level!"

Sun Yuan made up his mind.

"My disciple will very likely become a major figure in the main sect in the future—perhaps even one of its leaders!"

"He must be given the utmost attention!"

The Supreme Heavenly Ladder! Sun Yuan's heart raced ten times faster in his excitement, and his head spun.

His thoughts had become somewhat muddled.

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

Only after a long moment did he remember. "Che'er, I almost forgot. I brought you some good things this time, enough to push your cultivation a great step forward. And I also have a new mission for you."

"Please tell me, Master."

"Then I'll start with the mission. This mission is mandatory. No matter what, it must be completed."

Sun Yuan said, "For this purpose, the sect master specifically approved another two hundred contribution points for you. He also gave you these cultivation resources."

"Mm."

"There are three people who will be your opponents in the Martial Academy's entrance competition. You must defeat them at all costs!"

"Which three?"

"One is Ding Ziran, the legitimate son of the Ding Family, an Eighth-Grade lineage from Fallen Phoenix City. Another is Huo Churan, the legitimate son of the Huo Family, an Eighth-Grade lineage from Fubo City. The last is Ximen Xuri, the legitimate son of the Ximen Family, a Ninth-Grade lineage from Auspicious Cloud City."

Sun Yuan said, "All three are geniuses rarely seen in this world. It's said that Ding Ziran and Huo Churan have already reached Grade One Martial Master, while Ximen Xuri is only a Grade Eight Warrior for now. However, he possesses a bizarre and unpredictable hidden-weapon technique, and he has raised an auxiliary Crimson Blood Snake since childhood. He is even more difficult to guard against."

"So this time, your mission is by no means light."

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

"Grade One Martial Master, Grade Eight Warrior, hidden-weapon technique, Crimson Blood Snake."

He repeated it once, then asked, "Are there any details about Ding Ziran and Huo Churan that require special attention?"

Sun Yuan stroked his beard and smiled in satisfaction. "The reason I didn't mention them was to wait for you to ask. And you really did ask. I'm deeply gratified."

"This is called gaining the initiative by understanding the enemy first. No matter the opponent, you must investigate them thoroughly."

"Yes, Master."

Sun Yuan took three sheets of paper from his robes. "These are the profiles of Huo Churan, Ding Ziran, and Ximen Xuri."

Fang Che read them seriously, his gaze focused and intent.

In a soft voice, seemingly intentional and yet seemingly casual, he said, "Master, these three are all seed geniuses of the Guardians, aren't they?"

"No!"

Contrary to Fang Che's expectations, these three were actually not members of the Guardians.

This left Fang Che somewhat puzzled. "Our people?"

"Not that either."

Fang Che scratched his head.

"They belong to Night Demon, Three Sages, and Heavenly God. They are also pieces placed inside the Guardians."

"Oh?"

"There's an inside story here."

Sun Yuan lowered his voice, a slightly gleeful smile appearing on his face. "You know that the sect master and the three Attendants came here last time."

"Mm."

"That time, we took action, but unfortunately, the operation failed, and our sect lost quite a number of people. The sect master was furious. Then, at that exact moment... Night Demon, Three Sages, Radiance, and Heavenly God—the four sects under the same main sect—actually issued a special document mocking us. It's said the sect master exploded with rage on the spot."

When Fang Che heard those four familiar names, his eyes turned distant.

These were all subordinate forces of the Sole True Sect.

There were countless forces like them across the entire continent. The ones Sun Yuan had just mentioned, along with the One Heart Sect and the others, were some of the most famous and powerful sects among the Sole True Sect's subordinate forces.

Sun Yuan said softly, "Although these sects all belong to the main sect just as we do, we compete with and suppress one another. The competition between us is also exceptionally fierce and bloody."

Fang Che nodded silently.

"In every respect, each side wants to press the others down. This time, setting aside the sect master's rage and the matter of pride, our sect did suffer a fresh defeat, while those other sects did not. If their seed genius takes first place, it will be equivalent to us losing the initiative twice."

Sun Yuan explained, "Two losses are not easy to catch up from. At the very least, our sect's contribution within the main sect will be overtaken by theirs by a great deal."

"But if you knock them down and take first place, it will mean that we've won one back. They'll have accomplished nothing, while our one win and one loss will leave us even. On top of that, we'll have displayed a newcomer with limitless potential. Invisibly, we'll even gain a slight advantage."

Sun Yuan said, "In the future, whenever you achieve anything, people will think of how you defeated the three sects' geniuses this time. You'll seize the initiative in the sect's internal competition. The more initiative you seize, the deeper the impression you'll leave on the main sect. Our sect will also attract far more attention because of you. Do you understand?"

Fang Che nodded silently. "I understand."

I shamelessly beg for some tips to help me climb the rankings. Come to think of it, I've been writing for more than ten years and have never asked for this sort of thing. Everyone, please don't spend too much. What if, after the book goes premium, you feel that this author has fallen back into his old habit of padding the story and regret it? That would be bad.