Cui Jian wrenched his hand free and couldn't help retreating. He seemed a little afraid of Luo Zhou.
But he absolutely had to drink the Spirit Grain Porridge!
He'd drink it even if he had to sell his looks!
With the Broken Spirit in hand, he called someone over to buy porridge.
For some reason, Zuo Sanguang hadn't shown up today, but Zhang Quan was there.
After Zhang Quan and Luo Zhou resolved their conflict last time, Zhang Quan seemed to have become a completely different person. He no longer bullied his classmates.
Unexpectedly, the reformed rogue only became more popular.
He had already established his authority among the students. Many who used to avoid him now liked to hang around him. There was even a sense that he might take over from Senior Brother Cui Jian.
Luo Zhou glanced around. When he spotted Zhang Quan, he paused in surprise.
Zhang Quan, Body Tempering sixth level, talent: Bull Demon Transformation (sealed), talent: Raging Bull Strength.
He had a sealed talent, too!
What was going on?
Luo Zhou checked again. Among the many students, there was another, Yuan Feifei, whose talent was sealed.
He had gained the Insect Control trait from her.
Three people in the class—this couldn't be an ordinary occurrence. There had to be a reason.
Curiosity gnawed at Luo Zhou. He couldn't hold back, and after finishing his Spirit Grain Porridge, he went to ask the teacher about it.
He didn't notice that, in the past, he never would have gone to ask. He would only have waited for an opportunity to investigate carefully.
But now, he simply couldn't bear the curiosity in his heart.
In this world, every gain came with a loss!
He had acquired the Primal Golden Chapter's power of omniscience, and he was bound to be affected by it.
He didn't know the answer, but omniscience wanted to know, and it compelled him to go ask.
It was just like when he had acquired Li Haitian's memories and been influenced by them, going to the city's back garden to fish for Blood Parrots!
In heaven and earth, every gain came with a loss!
When he reached the headmaster's office, he bowed, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then asked his question.
Headmaster Zhao glanced at Luo Zhou and sighed.
"How should I put it? Have you noticed what those people have in common?"
In common?
Luo Zhou thought it over. At once, omniscience supplied the answer.
"Their family backgrounds?"
Whether it was Cui Jian, Zhang Quan, or Yuan Feifei, none of their families were ordinary in Green Ridge City.
Either their households had some influence, or their parents held official positions. None came from an ordinary family.
Cui Jian might have been greedy for Spirit Grain Porridge, but his father was a government clerk with considerable power. Otherwise, how could he have become the class's senior brother, with not one student daring to speak up?
Headmaster Zhao nodded. "If your parents were alive, you'd probably know the reason.
"Actually, this is a taboo subject for everyone!
"The Ascension Ceremony is coming up soon. Sixty-one disciples from Class Three of our Dao Academy will take part, and most of them will return having failed.
"Only four or five will complete the ceremony and climb the Initiation Heavenly Ladder.
"Those who take part in the ceremony and fail the trial have to pay a price. That price is their own spiritual essence.
"If someone has only one thread of spiritual essence, losing it makes them an ordinary person. Even if they return with immortal-citizen status, it'll be hard for them to find a decent job.
"Families like theirs have already given up hope of joining a sect. They seal away a divine ability talent and keep a more ordinary spiritual essence.
"When their children return from failure and lose that spiritual essence, they can then unseal their divine ability talent. It won't affect their future cultivation or work."
Luo Zhou understood at once. It was a way of slacking off in preparation for the Ascension Ceremony.
Headmaster Zhao hesitated, then finally said, "There's no right or wrong in it. This has been going on for years. The ceremony takes place every five years, and I've sent twelve generations of students off to ascend!
"Almost all of them returned in failure, but at least they came back alive. Whenever they saw me, they respectfully called me Headmaster.
"I watched them marry and have children, fill their homes with descendants, and live surrounded by family. Some got sick and died of old age...
"I was still happy for them.
"On the other hand, almost all the children who succeeded in ascending died on the Initiation Heavenly Ladder. Only three managed to enter the outer sect of the Heaven and Earth Dao Sect.
"But what did that matter...
"One of them was Old Fang's daughter. She went home with a serious illness and spent several years recovering. A few days ago, she passed away.
"Ah, it's hard to say how things go in this world!"
Luo Zhou broke out in a cold sweat listening to this!
Twelve ceremonies, sixty years. Every time, four or five people succeeded in ascending.
Yet they all died on the Initiation Heavenly Ladder. In sixty years, only three had managed to enter the Dao Sect's outer sect—and one of them was Fang Ningshuang...
Was this cultivation? Was this a path of initiation?
Why did it feel like they were stepping into hell, lining up to die?
Was the Heaven and Earth Dao Sect really not the Heaven and Earth Demon Sect? Why did it sound so terrifying?
After returning home, Luo Zhou kept wondering whether he should take part in the Ascension Ceremony.
In the end, he sighed. Worrying wouldn't help. When it came to cultivation, only his own strength was real.
Luo Zhou could already advance to Body Tempering perfection, but he still preferred to cultivate step by step.
He wanted a solid foundation!
In his sleep, Luo Zhou felt as if another version of himself was carefully examining his life.
Everything he had ever heard or seen, everything from his past and present, was being reviewed over and over.
The memories of the demonic cultivators he had killed were also being examined, studied, and analyzed again and again!
Omniscience was growing and evolving bit by bit!
When he woke, it was the fourth day of the seventh month!
The sound of firecrackers jolted Luo Zhou awake!
Because yesterday, on the third day of the seventh month, nobody had died!
No one had been wiped out!
That meant something had happened to the 13th of the Month Devil!
At least, he hadn't killed anyone yesterday. Maybe he would show up next month, but many people instinctively sensed that the 13th of the Month Devil would never appear again.
He wasn't the only one. The Devil of Geomagnetism, the Eye-Eating Devil, and the Yellow Earth Devil hadn't appeared in a long time.
Only the Head-Exploding Devil was still active.
Luo Zhou let out a long breath and lay in bed, reluctant to get up.
But in a daze, he heard a voice in his mind!
"Luo Zhou, please pay attention!"
"Omniscience?"
"Yes. I am the Primal Golden Chapter's projection into your mind. I am a part of you: your mind, your self, your consciousness, your claws and fangs. We are one, now and forever.
"But please understand that my help is only supplementary. My judgment may not be entirely correct.
"Also, if you are killed by another Golden Chapter bearer, I will be devoured and disappear completely, and you will die for good!
"When facing other Golden Chapters, Golden Scripts, and Golden Classics, if they have not discovered your identity as the master of the Primal Golden Chapter, then even if you die, you can be reborn!
"Likewise, if you have not discovered their identities, you can kill them, but they can also revive or reincarnate!
"So you and I must win every battle and endure forever. If defeat is unavoidable, we must prepare a way out and start over!
"Remember this, remember it well!"
"I'll remember!"
"You are about to face a great calamity!"
Luo Zhou froze and asked in his mind, "What great calamity? What's going on? Could it be True Person of Green Ridge?"
"No. It has nothing to do with her. Based on your memories, I have analyzed True Person of Green Ridge's situation.
"She is currently in seclusion, cultivating. She won't pose a threat to you for decades.
"Also, after splitting off a divine sense and seeing the deaths of many old friends and family members because of her, she feels guilty. She won't contact Green Ridge City for a long time.
"As for True Person Nanchun, she didn't care when Fang Ningshuang was alive.
"Now that Fang Ningshuang is dead, she'll care even less. She might even have forgotten her altogether.
"Selfish people easily forget the bad things they've done!"
"Your greatest danger comes from the Jellyfish Saint of the Jellyfish Celestial Palace!"
Luo Zhou hesitated, then asked in his mind, "Did he find out that I was involved in Liu Changlong's death, so he's secretly taking revenge on me?"
"No. It has nothing to do with him personally!
"Liu Changlong's identity as a member of the Jellyfish Celestial Palace has been exposed. That will inevitably lead to investigations by multiple parties.
"The Green Ridge City authorities are useless, but the remnants of the Jellyfish Celestial Palace will attract the attention of the Liang Kingdom authorities, and even the Heaven and Earth Dao Sect.
"They will undoubtedly investigate Green Ridge City thoroughly. They may even find traces of the Jellyfish Saint's presence."
Luo Zhou asked in his mind, "What does that have to do with me?"
"The Jellyfish Saint of the Jellyfish Celestial Palace is exceptionally well hidden. They definitely won't find him.
"But they will find a suspected youth who once possessed Heavenly Water Qi, Heavy Water Qi, Weak Water Qi, and Tidal Qi, and who is now covered in ninety-nine years' worth of Tidal Qi.
"He controls the divine abilities Overturning Rivers and Seas and Three Thousand Weak Waters, and also has the secret manual The Azure Waters Flow East to This Return!"
Luo Zhou couldn't help shouting in his mind, "I've been framed! It wasn't me!"
"After investigating thoroughly, they will discover that you may really have been framed and aren't the Jellyfish Saint of the Jellyfish Celestial Palace."
Luo Zhou said, "Heaven has eyes! I really wasn't him!"
"Then they will discover that you are the Devilish Son, the Daoists' sworn enemy!
"The entire Heaven and Earth Dao Sect will celebrate for three days when they discover the Devilish Son!"
Luo Zhou was numb with shock. He asked helplessly, "Then what should I do?"
"My advice: memorize the secret manual The Azure Waters Flow East to This Return, destroy it completely, and disperse the ninety-nine years' worth of Tidal Qi, so you can shed the identity of the Jellyfish Saint of the Jellyfish Celestial Palace.
"Although you only have Tidal Qi now, possessing Tidal Qi isn't a big deal in itself.
"But you have far too much of it, much more than a Body Tempering youth should have.
"Why do you have so much? Why would you have so much?
"Put it on the scales and weigh it carefully, and the more you investigate, the more problems you'll find!
"At the same time, destroy the Dragon-Slaying Thrust and stop hunting dragons. Be careful.
"It's even possible that an investigator has already arrived in Green Ridge City in secret!"
Luo Zhou felt reluctant when he heard that.
"Luo Zhou, you can refine more spiritual energy, but you only have one life!
"No, you have two!
"But no matter how many lives you have, if your identity as the Devilish Son is exposed, there's only one outcome: death!
"Luo Zhou, your greatest task now is to keep up your disguise and live in peace. Take part in the Ascension Ceremony, advance to the Qi Refining stage, and begin cultivating for real!"
Before you continue