Surprise and Gratification

"Huh? Father and daughter?"

Sitting in the dean's office, Luo Jun was deeply moved by his Master's introduction.

In his view, his Master and the dean should be the same age; in fact, one could say that if his mentor wore a hat to cover his signature Mediterranean, he would look a little younger than the dean...

"Absolutely genuine!" Old Yuan and Su Manchen sat together. "Look at this face, aren't they cut from the same mold?"

Luo Jun compared the two women's looks and sighed, "I can already imagine how stunningly beautiful my master's wife must be..."

"What do you mean, you brat?" Old Yuan said, feigning anger.

"I'm just expressing my admiration for you, Master!" Luo Jun immediately softened his tone. "With the Dean's looks and demeanor, your wife must have been an absolute beauty back then. You and Master would have been a perfect match, a match made in heaven..."

At this point, Luo Jun suddenly realized that his Master's surname was Yuan, while the dean's surname was Su...

Seemingly sensing Luo Jun's confusion, Old Yuan sighed, "Back then, I was so focused on cultivation that I neglected my family. By the time I wanted to make amends, it was too late for regrets. Man Chen takes her Mom's surname..."

"Wow, that's incredible." Luo Jun still felt a lingering fear when he mentioned it. "Just being scrutinized by him felt like I was under immense pressure..."

While Luo Jun sighed with admiration, he also felt a little envious.

Parents' hearts are always full of love and worry...

After taking Luo Jun back to his office, Old Yuan closed the door and looked Luo Jun up and down. "You've grown taller in the few months I haven't seen you."

As soon as Luo Jun entered the room, Old Yuan told him about his relationship with the dean, and also told him that the dean knew about their master-disciple relationship. However, while introducing them, Elder Yuan gave Luo Jun a wink, implying that he should not mention the Body Tempering Art.

"It's all thanks to Master..." Luo Jun asked, "By the way, about the Body Tempering Awareness matter, the Dean..."

"He noticed you?" Old Yuan was surprised. "Didn't he notice anything?"

Luo Jun nodded in understanding. It's different to guess but not say anything and to know but not report. This tacit understanding between the two stems from the dean turning a blind eye to Old Yuan's behavior, and also from Old Yuan's fear that if things came to light one day, it would implicate the dean. It's a way of protecting his daughter.

As he spoke, he turned to look at the dean, a hint of regret in his eyes.

"Probably not..." With the dice as proof, Luo Jun felt confident. "He just glanced at me and left, without doing anything special... Master, what's this kind of immortal doing at the academy?"

"Looking for trouble out of nothing, relying on your ascension to Feather Transformation to look down on mortals!" Old Yuan clearly didn't have a good impression of Ling Ao: "By the way, let's get down to business, what level are you at now?"

Upon hearing this, the dean's expression, which had softened somewhat, turned serious again:

Yuan Shouzhen is a well-known figure in the cultivation world. Over the years, he has taken on many disciples, and his students are all over the world. However, taking on disciples does not necessarily mean that he will teach them Body Tempering Art.

"I've been seeing a lot of buzz about 'Night' on the forum lately. These days, it's not just your height that's grown, is it?"

Old Yuan nodded. "You guessed right, that's Ling Ao, the youngest Ascension Realm currently."

"No matter how much I cherish my apprentice, how can he compare to my precious daughter... Man Chen, call Dad anytime if you need anything..." Old Yuan was very attentive to the dean, showing the face of a doting father.

"I didn't tell her, and she wisely didn't ask," Yuan Shouzhen shook his head. "But I suspect she has some idea, she just doesn't say anything. Don't worry, although Man Chen seems cold towards me, after so many years of father-daughter relationship, she would never betray me..."

"By the way, Master, when I arrived, I saw two members of the Ling Family leave..." Luo Jun voiced his question, "I've seen one of them in the Savage Wilderness; he's a member of the clan named Ling Fei. The other one, however, was clearly much more imposing than him. Could it be...?"

"If you want to catch up, go back to your own office!" The dean rolled his eyes at Old Yuan: "Take your precious apprentice with you!"

Luo Jun thought to himself, "It's finally here." He had mentioned the Tower of Choice mission to his Master before, although he hadn't gone into too much detail. But it was still very possible that his Master had sensed that he was Ye.

These achievements certainly couldn't be hidden from him, but if we were to honestly admit it, the fact that he now possesses over thirty times the Innate Potential and has reached the seventh level of the Body Refinement Realm is indeed somewhat unbelievable...

Regardless of how to explain the sudden increase in Root Bone, the fact that he reached the seventh level in just a few months is enough to shock the entire cultivation world.

However, a reasonable explanation is still needed for these results.

"Master, I have a question about cultivation." Luo Jun looked into Old Yuan's eyes. "You mentioned before that to cultivate the Body Tempering Art, one must reach the Body Refinement Realm before starting the Qi Foundation Establishment Realm. Does 'reach' mean reaching the seventh level?"

"Not yet." Old Yuan shook his head. "You need to Vital Energy Cultivation to its peak on top of the Seventh Layer, like when you were about to break through the bottleneck before, before you can attempt to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm."

So that's how it is... Luo Jun's last hope has been dashed. But at his current cultivation speed, reaching his bottleneck will probably take five, seven, or eight years at most. It seems unlikely he'll break through before graduation...

Could there be a problem with the cultivation method?

Thinking of this, Luo Jun tentatively asked, "Master, after breaking through to the seventh level, is the method for accumulating vital energy in our Body Tempering Art the same as before? Will it be particularly slow, taking a very long time?"

Old Yuan shook his head. "There won't be any difference in cultivation speed. At least I've never heard of anyone getting stuck and slowing down at this stage... Wait, why are you asking these questions?" Old Yuan looked at Luo Jun with some curiosity.

It seems even Master doesn't know... Luo Jun sighed inwardly, then smiled, "Because I'm almost there!"

Upon hearing this, Old Yuan asked with slight doubt, "Almost there? What do you mean?"

Luo Jun smiled, raised one hand, made a fist, and then extended his Thumb and little finger...

"Six?" Old Yuan frowned, then looked shocked. "Sixth level of the Body Refinement Realm? You've reached the sixth level?"

Knowing that his Master had little experience with his current state, Luo Jun considered it for a moment and decided to conceal one level of cultivation.

It's important to understand that success in breaking through depends heavily on luck. He had previously searched for information on the probability of breakthroughs on forums, and many people had estimated the probability of succeeding on levels one through seven without ever failing. Because the sample size for success on levels six and seven is too small, it can only be determined that the success rate for level six is less than one percent, and the probability for level seven is far lower than that for level six. The exact probability is difficult to determine, so the final values estimated by different people vary greatly.

The most conservative estimate is less than one in ten million, while the most exaggerated estimate is close to one in a hundred billion... Moreover, all the posts indicate that no one has ever heard of Cultivators can break through to the maximum level without failing even once, without relying on any magical artifacts!

Luo Jun is very likely to be such a unique figure.

He felt like a lucky winner who had suddenly acquired a huge sum of money in the lottery. If it were just wealth gained through luck, he might share his joy with his family. But Luo Jun's situation was more like that of Ability User had gained the ability to foresee the future and then bought a hundred jackpot tickets. If he flaunted it, it would be secondary to people eyeing his wealth; almost everyone would question the legitimacy of his money and what secrets lay behind his winnings.

Especially in a world teeming with Ability User, if someone becomes suspicious, there are countless ways to uncover your secrets. You can't simply keep them to yourself if you want to. If others were to discover his incredible breakthrough probability, it could very well bring trouble upon him, and even endanger his Master.

He cannot let anyone discover this secret until he is powerful enough!

Thinking of this, Luo Jun looked up at his master, a proud expression on his face, and nodded. "That's right, I dare not let you down. I have been diligently cultivating in the Savage Wilderness for the past few months, without daring to slack off in the slightest, and finally reached the sixth level not long ago!"

"So fast?" Old Yuan's eyes showed more relief than surprise. "When I saw those rumors about Ye, I guessed that you might have already reached the fifth level of the Body Refinement Realm, but I didn't expect you to have reached the sixth level!"

"However, we've only been apart for less than four months. So it seems you haven't failed at all on your way to breakthroughs?" Old Yuan stroked his chin. "The probability of not failing in the first five levels was already very low. To succeed was already incredibly lucky. As for the last sixth level, with a probability of less than one percent, you gambled correctly?"

At this point, Old Yuan looked Luo Jun up and down. "You wouldn't happen to have some special methods, would you?"

As expected... Luo Jun knew he would be suspected, so he had already prepared his explanation.

"Regarding this, it really is thanks to a certain treasure..." Luo Jun revealed the attributes of the Imposter Essence that he had seen from Lao Miao Miao: "During my last Chaos Mission, I obtained this Epic-level item by defeating Mimic Person. It allows me to continuously attempt breakthroughs during its duration."

"The first five levels went much more smoothly than I expected. I was hesitant to try the sixth level, thinking I'd wait until you came back. But after getting this thing, I couldn't resist giving it a try, and I didn't expect it to actually work!"

Failing the first five levels is difficult, but at least the hope isn't so slim. Starting from the sixth level, it's best to have a reasonable explanation. As for the Seventh Layer, Luo Jun plans to talk to his Master about it after returning from his internship in the Martial World, and then find a new reason.

"Good! Good! Good!" Old Yuan said "good" three times in a row, patting Luo Jun's shoulder and nodding repeatedly. "You kid, you've really exceeded my expectations. I thought you'd be qualified if you reached the fourth level this time, but I never expected this... Perfect, you'll soon need what I brought this time!"

As he spoke, he took out Zhang Jin Talisman Paper from his Hundred Treasure Box.

"This time, I went to Xiluo on a mission for the Yuan Cultivation Society. However, if it weren't for the reward, I wouldn't have taken on such a troublesome task." As he spoke, he handed the Talisman Paper to Luo Jun: "Take this; consider it a gift from your teacher to celebrate your successful enrollment."

Luo Jun took it, scanned it with his spiritual energy, and obtained detailed attributes.

(End of this chapter)