The World Is Perilous—Always Keep Something Up Your Sleeve

Hua Yunfei saw his confusion and explained, "This is a cultivation technique passed down by the founding patriarch of Kaoshan Sect. It is incredibly mysterious."

"It contains thirty-six top-tier breath concealment techniques, as well as seventy-two lesser breath concealment techniques."

"Once you successfully cultivate all these breath concealment techniques and integrate them completely, you will have mastered the Unseen Breath Concealment Technique!"

"In the future, even if a Saint Realm expert stands before you, they will be unable to see your true cultivation realm!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Bufan's eyes lit up, as though he had discovered a whole new world.

Master... is he teaching me to be a sneaky old hand?

Does this mean I shouldn't display all my cultivation on the surface, but keep some of it hidden inside and only use it when necessary?

Ye Bufan possessed exceptional comprehension and quickly understood Hua Yunfei's meaning.

At the same time, a question arose in his mind. Could it be that every disciple of Kaoshan Sect cultivated the Unseen Breath Concealment Technique?

"Keep this on you as well!"

Hua Yunfei took out another jade pendant and hung it from Ye Bufan's waist.

Ye Bufan asked, "Master, what is this?"

Hua Yunfei explained, "A Breath Concealment Jade Pendant, created by the Kaoshan Old Ancestor. It looks like an ordinary jade pendant."

"But its material is special. It can interfere with others' attempts to pry into you and better help you conceal your cultivation realm."

"This is a second layer of insurance. Every Kaoshan Sect disciple has one. On the surface, it is a token of Kaoshan Sect and a symbol of discipleship."

Ye Bufan turned over the jade pendant and, sure enough, found his name and identity information engraved on its back.

He could not help but feel deep admiration for the Old Ancestor of Kaoshan, whom he had never met. The man's attention to detail was as fine as a strand of hair!

"The world is perilous. Always keeping something up your sleeve is the key."

As Hua Yunfei instructed him, he successfully instilled Kaoshan Sect's philosophy of cautious survival into the still-worldly-inexperienced Ye Bufan.

Ye Bufan listened with great seriousness, nodding as he secretly pondered how much he ought to hide in the future.

"Junior Brother, this is a required lesson for every Kaoshan Sect disciple."

Mu Qiuxue raised her Identity Jade Pendant and spoke.

Ye Bufan suddenly looked at her seriously and said, "Senior Sister, have you hidden your cultivation realm as well?"

"When we fought just now, I kept feeling that your realm was sometimes high and sometimes low. So it wasn't just my imagination."

"Not at all. You're overthinking it. Girls are all innocent—how could we have such deep schemes?"

Mu Qiuxue met Ye Bufan's gaze, shook her head with a smile, and refused to admit it.

This was one of the sect's principles as well!

As long as you were not caught red-handed, deny it to the death!

You had no evidence, right?

Ye Bufan gave a soft chuckle and did not press the matter. It was enough for him to understand it in his heart.

"You have yet to reach the Purple Mansion Realm, so you have nowhere to store certain things. Thus, as your master, I'll give you a Storage Ring for temporary use."

Hua Yunfei took out a golden ring with a piece of jade set in its center, engraved with the character "Fan."

This was not merely a Storage Ring—it also contained a powerful breath concealment spell.

As long as Ye Bufan wore the ring, it would better assist him in concealing himself.

It counted as the third layer of insurance a master gave his disciple.

Hua Yunfei felt that the sect's two layers of protection were still not secure enough. Three layers were a little safer.

Moreover, the Storage Ring could block the deductions of certain powerful experts, making it even safer.

Besides that, should Ye Bufan face mortal danger, the Storage Ring would manifest Hua Yunfei's projection to save him!

Of course, there was no need for Ye Bufan to know any of that.

It was better kept hidden.

Hua Yunfei's mind was filled with the ten-year Check-in-tier reward for the Disciple Recruitment Mission.

Although he possessed more good treasures than even the Supreme Dao Holy Land.

Who would ever complain about having too many good things?

Thus, three days later.

After Hua Yunfei carefully explained the precautions Ye Bufan needed to observe while living on Dao Origin Peak, he quietly left Kaoshan Sect.

He had no idea how long this trip would take, but Hua Yunfei simply treated it as a journey.

He had transmigrated a hundred years ago and had never properly seen this world. This time, he would travel and explore it to his heart's content.

Naturally, that was on the condition that he did not expose himself.

As an aspiring young man devoted to the art of lying low, the greatest taboo when going out was letting others discover his trail.

Who knew whether he might suffer an ambush like True Lord Tianji?

Better safe than sorry.

Hua Yunfei took a Flying Boat from the Purple Mansion Grotto-Heaven. It was a Sage Tier artifact.

Its greatest features were its speed and ability to conceal itself!

Perfect for travel.

The last time he left the sect, he had relied entirely on flying himself. It had truly been a little tiring. This time, he had learned to enjoy himself.

The Flying Boat contained a space of its own, stocked with all kinds of delicacies. There were even entertainment facilities inside for passing the time.

Perhaps only a Supreme Dao Holy Land would use a Sage Tier Flying Boat like this. Even if ordinary sects possessed one, they would find it difficult to bear the Spirit Stone expenditure required to keep it running!

One mid-grade Spirit Stone was consumed every minute!

Hua Yunfei entered the power cabin and took out ten thousand High-grade Spirit Stones, piling them inside.

Putting in more meant he would not have to keep an eye on the power supply all the time.

In any case, he was not lacking in Spirit Stones.

For this trip to take in disciples, Hua Yunfei had made a plan. He intended to first visit some remote mountain villages and dig for gold.

Too many top-tier Heavenly Prodigies had been buried away in ordinary places simply because they were born poor.

They never shone throughout their entire lives, dying of old age without ever knowing they were immortal-cultivation prodigies.

Thus, Hua Yunfei planned to give these people a chance this time—and give himself one as well!

But...

Half a month later, Hua Yunfei left the thirtieth village in disappointment. Sure enough, geniuses were not so easily found.

After visiting so many villages, even those with Profound Grade aptitude were rare. Nearly all had Yellow Grade aptitude, and even more possessed ordinary spiritual roots!

They fell short of his requirements by a hundred thousand miles. With such aptitude, even entering the Kaoshan Sect would be difficult. Those with Profound Grade aptitude only had a slight chance at most.

After wandering around for another five days without finding his target, Hua Yunfei felt rather helpless.

It seemed he had boarded the system's pirate ship. Sacred Tier Low Grade talents were simply too hard to find in this day and age!

"System, Check-in!"

A new month had arrived. With a helpless sigh, Hua Yunfei called upon the system to check in.

[ Ding, Check-in successful! Total Check-in time: one hundred years and two months ]

[ Ding, congratulations, Host, for obtaining a Great Saint Weapon—the Saint-Expanding Sword ]

Saint-Expanding Sword?

Saint-Expanding?

Why did that sound so familiar?

"Another Great Saint Weapon. I have too many to carry."

With a look of disdain, Hua Yunfei tossed the Saint-Expanding Sword into the Purple Mansion Grotto-Heaven. He possessed weapons of every grade, so he had never paid much attention to rewards like these from checking in.

At that moment.

Hua Yunfei's Flying Boat arrived at a place called Qingyang Town.

What he saw there caught his attention, and his brows slowly furrowed.

The town was being bloodily massacred by bandits!

Everyone was being slaughtered!

Almost all of Qingyang Town had been wiped out!

Blood flowed into rivers, corpses were piled into mountains, and severed limbs lay everywhere.

Some children's heads had even been strung together by the savage bandits and waved around in their hands, their faces twisted into ferocious grins.

The rampant bandits laughed wildly as they slaughtered with abandon. More and more people died beneath their blades!

They were all cultivators, and their leader was even a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator.

The strongest cultivator in all of Qingyang Town was the Lin Family's old Clan Leader, yet he possessed only the ninth level of the Core Formation Realm.

The instant the bandits stormed into Qingyang Town, the old Lin Family Clan Leader had been summoned to suppress them.

But the moment he appeared, he was ambushed and killed by the bandit leader, dying on the spot.

Even his corpse had been devoured clean by the bandit leader's mount.

These bandits had clearly come prepared. They had long since investigated Qingyang Town's strength!

After the old Lin Family Clan Leader died, his family bore the brunt of it. They were purged by the savage bandits, and fewer than one in ten of those who had been there were still alive!

"Pfft!"

A young man in bloodstained white staggered through the crowd, treasured sword in hand, fighting his way through!

He was the last remaining member of the Lin Family...

And Qingyang Town's number one genius!

At yesterday's Qingyang Town Grand Competition, the young geniuses of several families had sparred against one another, and in the end, he had claimed the top spot.

Before he could even celebrate, Qingyang Town had suddenly suffered this great calamity.

His grandfather had been killed, his Parents had died tragically, his younger sister's whereabouts were unknown—everything, everything, had nearly driven him mad.

He charged recklessly into the bandits, swinging the sword in his hand with all his strength, determined to kill one more man if he could, to avenge the Lin Family.

But he was too weak!

Before long, he was gravely injured and collapsed to the ground, unable to rise again.

"Lin Yang!"

A young Woman rushed over. She was the young man's childhood sweetheart, the daughter of the Mu Family head, the other great family of Qingyang Town.

Seeing Lin Yang in danger, she charged over desperately.

But...

Squelch!

Her arm was severed by a bandit. Then he seized her by the hair and slammed her to the ground.

A group of bandits immediately swarmed around her!

Right before Lin Yang's eyes, her clothes were torn away piece by piece!

"Qingqing!"