Fulong Mountain had three peaks.
One was Sun Gazing Peak, where the Imperial Observatory's Sun Gazing Division was located. Its Division Master was Song Duanyang, and his disciples included Bai Su, Lin Ping, and Dongfang Ye.
One was Night Gazing Peak, occupied by Li Chunfeng and Ren Xiaoyao.
The third peak was Fulong Mountain's main peak.
It was called Imperial Observatory Peak.
This was where the Director resided.
Ren Xiaoyao followed Li Chunfeng to Imperial Observatory Peak. Along the way, Li Chunfeng told Ren Xiaoyao quite a few secrets of the Imperial Observatory. In Li Chunfeng's eyes now, Ren Xiaoyao was qualified to know them.
The Imperial Observatory's previous Director had been Yuan Tiangang, the very person Li Chunfeng had mentioned before—the one who helped Empress Tianyuan seize the Imperial Regalia.
Yuan Tiangang's successor was the current Director.
"Actually, the martial world only knows that I was once the Number One Under Heaven. They do not know that even at my peak, I could not compare to the Director."
Li Chunfeng held the Director in extremely high regard.
"Back then, Yuan Tiangang helped the Empress seize her position and controlled Great Gan's core power for a long time. In truth, the Empress later joined forces with the Director to defeat Yuan Tiangang and imprison him. Only then did he inherit the position of Director."
Li Chunfeng spoke softly.
"Then by all rights, this generation's Director should be deeply trusted by the Empress. Why did the Empress still drive the Imperial Observatory out of the Capital City, causing it to lose its authority?"
Ren Xiaoyao asked curiously, "Could it be that the Director later fell out with the Empress as well?"
"It was not because of that."
Li Chunfeng explained.
"The Director was not greedy for power, so the Empress was not as wary of him as she had been of Yuan Tiangang. Even later, when the Director's eldest disciple—my Senior Brother—betrayed the Imperial Observatory and became the Demonic Cult Leader, the Empress did not lose her trust in the Director."
"The Director's greatest problem was that he went mad and became uncontrollable."
"With such a powerful yet unstable factor in the Capital City, could you rest easy if you were the Empress? That was why the Imperial Observatory moved to Fulong Mountain and away from the center of power. Naturally, it lost its authority."
Hearing this, Ren Xiaoyao nodded, then asked, "Master, you and Yuan Tiangang must have quite a deep connection as well, right?"
"Yes."
Li Chunfeng did not hide it.
"The Imperial Observatory has two lineages of inheritance. One belongs to the Director and Song Duanyang. They practice the Martial Dao and the Art of Physiognomy, allowing them to see a Martial Artist's Martial Talent."
"The other lineage belongs to Yuan Tiangang and me. Besides the Martial Dao, we practice the Art of Deduction. The Great Evolution Tome that Liu Ruyan wanted before was passed down through our lineage."
"When I entered the Imperial Observatory, Grandmaster was still alive, and Yuan Tiangang was not yet the Director. Grandmaster thought highly of me, so he gave the complete Great Evolution Tome to me. Yuan Tiangang received only a fragment of it."
"Thus, in those early years, Yuan Tiangang had always wanted to obtain the Great Evolution Tome from me. But I was already no weaker than him then, so I paid him no heed. Still, I reckon Yuan Tiangang had never given up on the Great Evolution Tome."
Li Chunfeng recounted old events.
Ren Xiaoyao was not interested in the Great Evolution Tome and did not ask further.
That surprised Li Chunfeng greatly.
Li Chunfeng had thought that Ren Xiaoyao brought up Yuan Tiangang because he wanted to learn about the Great Evolution Tome.
Yet Ren Xiaoyao simply stopped there.
Before long, Li Chunfeng and Ren Xiaoyao arrived at Imperial Observatory Peak.
Song Duanyang, Bai Su, Lin Ping, and Dongfang Ye had already arrived. Seeing Li Chunfeng and Ren Xiaoyao, they naturally greeted them warmly.
Bai Su spent plenty of time around Ren Xiaoyao, but Ren Xiaoyao had not interacted much with Lin Ping or Dongfang Ye.
It was said that Lin Ping came from a martial arts family from outside. Both his parents were first-rank experts. They had pulled strings and donated money to get Lin Ping into the Imperial Observatory, hoping he could advance further and eventually reach the Grandmaster Realm.
Dongfang Ye's background was far more mysterious.
Li Chunfeng had not spoken much of it either.
The Imperial Observatory's atmosphere was relaxed. Bai Su, Lin Ping, and Dongfang Ye did not look down on Ren Xiaoyao simply because he was an ordinary person who did not practice martial arts.
After everyone chatted for a while, the Director emerged as well.
The Director was withered and thin, with graying hair and somewhat clouded eyes. Clad in a water-and-fire Daoist robe, he still looked fairly spirited.
Ren Xiaoyao immediately used his Spiritual Sense to examine the Director.
This True Man Realm existence possessed formidable True Essence. Comparing his own strength to the Director's, Ren Xiaoyao found them evenly matched, making it difficult to determine who was stronger.
This is good news for me. At the very least, it means my strength has already reached the level of the True Man Realm.
After confirming that he possessed strength equivalent to the True Man Realm, Ren Xiaoyao was naturally in a good mood.
After all, from what Ren Xiaoyao currently knew, the True Man Realm was already the ceiling of Great Gan's combat power.
When the Director saw Ren Xiaoyao, he was taken aback. He sighed. "You are that child from back then? What a pity, truly such a pity. You were born with a Martial Arts Saint Physique."
When Ren Xiaoyao had been born, the Director had examined his talent and determined that if Ren Xiaoyao cultivated martial arts, he would at least attain the True Man Realm, with even a chance of reaching the Heavenly Human Realm.
But now, in the Director's eyes, Ren Xiaoyao was entirely an ordinary person. His Martial Talent had been completely wasted, so the Director naturally found it unbearably regrettable.
Yet Li Chunfeng was secretly laughing to himself.
Even the Director could not see through Ren Xiaoyao's strength.
Li Chunfeng felt far more balanced inside.
"Director, you have the nerve to say that? You let that Liu Ruyan in back then, and she nearly got Xiao Ren killed. Can you explain now why you allowed Liu Ruyan into the Imperial Observatory?"
At this moment, Li Chunfeng pressed the matter.
"I accepted Liu Ruyan back then because of your Senior Brother's request. Perhaps you do not know this, but Liu Ruyan is your Senior Brother's daughter. I owe him deeply, so I could only agree."
Mentioning his eldest disciple, the Director could not help sighing.
"Liu Ruyan is Senior Brother's daughter?"
Song Duanyang was quite surprised upon hearing this. After all, their Senior Brother was now the Devil Master of the Demonic Sect.
But Li Chunfeng was not satisfied with this explanation. "Director, is that truly all there is to it?"
"What else could it be?"
The Director glared at Li Chunfeng. "I am not Yuan Tiangang. I have no interest in your Great Evolution Tome. Otherwise, I would have snatched it long ago. Could you really have resisted me?"
The Director could hear the hidden meaning in Li Chunfeng's words and exposed it directly.
Li Chunfeng coughed awkwardly twice before letting the matter drop.
That day, everyone at the Imperial Observatory drank and made merry, the atmosphere filled with joy.
At dusk, however, the Director quietly sought out Ren Xiaoyao. "Ren Xiaoyao, do you still wish to practice martial arts? If you do, you can stay by my side. I can train you, and no one else will be able to stop it."
Ren Xiaoyao was rather surprised. "Why would you do this?"
"I will find it difficult to attain the Heavenly Human Realm in this life. Chunfeng has little hope as well. But you have the potential to become a Heavenly Human. Though you have wasted more than ten years, that potential remains. I want to see whether I can train you into a Heavenly Human."
The Director spoke softly.
Heavenly Human was the Director's obsession, and it was precisely because of this that he had gone mad.
"I do not wish to practice martial arts."
Ren Xiaoyao refused the Director. He truly had no interest in martial arts, because the path he walked was that of cultivation.
Upon hearing this, the Director sighed several more times, but did not try to persuade him further.
It was late at night before everyone left Imperial Observatory Peak.
On the way back, Li Chunfeng spoke under the influence of wine.
"Ren Xiaoyao, you know that I possess the Great Evolution Tome. I cannot comprehend it, but I think you can. If you are interested, I can pass it down to you."
"I truly have no interest in the Great Evolution Tome."
Ren Xiaoyao shook his head. His voice was not loud, but it was resolute.
Ren Xiaoyao did not wish to waste time on this so-called Great Evolution Tome.
All Ren Xiaoyao wanted now was to cultivate as quickly as possible and break through into the Third Heaven of the Dao Realm.
Ren Xiaoyao had now confirmed that he was equivalent to the True Man Realm.
If he entered the Third Heaven of the Dao Realm, Ren Xiaoyao feared that he would be able to rival the Heavenly Human Realm.
Only then would Ren Xiaoyao be qualified to open his eyes and look upon all of Great Gan.
Seeing Ren Xiaoyao refuse, Li Chunfeng was first surprised, then regretful. "Fine. Since you are unwilling, I will not force you. Such things still depend on fate."
The two returned to the Night Observation Department in silence.
Half a month later, Great Gan's New Year arrived.
On a night when heavy snow swirled through the air, Ren Xiaoyao finally broke through once more, attaining the Third Heaven of the Dao Realm.
At the same time, Ren Xiaoyao's strength rose enormously again.
Previously, Ren Xiaoyao's strength had only been comparable to the Director's. Now, however, his strength was equivalent to ten Directors, and it continued to grow.
After the New Year, Ren Xiaoyao's strength was already equivalent to twenty Directors.
And now, when Ren Xiaoyao used his Spiritual Sense to examine Li Chunfeng, he could finally see through him.
Li Chunfeng's strength turned out to be in an unstable state.
When his strength was low, he was roughly equivalent to an ordinary Grandmaster Realm expert.
But when his strength was high, Li Chunfeng was even stronger than the Director, roughly equivalent to two Directors.
That was to say, he was equivalent to one-tenth of Ren Xiaoyao.
Ren Xiaoyao was exhilarated.
He had been in this world for more than half a year. Throughout that time, he had never dared slack off in cultivation.
Now, he finally possessed the qualifications to gain a foothold in this world.
Yet Ren Xiaoyao remained low-key.
Though he knew that if placed in the martial world, he was already enough to be called a legend, he had no desire to act recklessly.
A tree that stands out in the forest will surely be destroyed by the wind. Ren Xiaoyao understood this principle as well.
Moreover, this world was vast, and Ren Xiaoyao did not dare claim that he was invincible under heaven.
But for the current Ren Xiaoyao, his goal was not to become invincible under heaven.
After all, he was a cultivator. He ought to pursue a more distant goal.
In Li Chunfeng's words,
A person was but a grain of dust in the universe. After no more than a hundred years, dust would return to dust and earth to earth.
But Ren Xiaoyao was confident that if he continued cultivating, sooner or later he would live as long as heaven itself, undying and imperishable.
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