Preordained?

Chu Yuan felt a little reluctant to ruin the cheerful atmosphere;

Only he knew that the guardian Xiang Ning had mentioned... was probably already dead.

When he had flown over the Sky Pit and probed with his Spiritual Sense, he had seen the Warrior atop the giant beast playing with a medal;

Beneath the giant beast lay half a set of torn military uniform.

The guardian had come from the military, and he hadn't been weak. He had noticed the Blood Abyss's unusual changes right away and gone to investigate;

Unfortunately, he hadn't been strong enough, and had died without making a sound;

The trial-takers outside hadn't even felt the slightest shockwave from a battle?

Tian Tian looked over in confusion. She didn't know whether Chu Yuan knew about this;

If things really were as Xiang Ning had said, then they wouldn't have needed to worry in the first place, much less set up any kind of formation... Someone would have their backs regardless.

But Chu Yuan gave her an almost imperceptible shake of his head;

A faint voice reached Tian Tian's ears: "The guardian he mentioned is already dead."

Tian Tian's expression stiffened. She glanced around, only to find that no one else seemed to have heard;

"Don't look around. It's just a little trick for manipulating energy;

Hurry up and gather the materials."

The crowd's fear had just been soothed, and Tian Tian quickly came up with an explanation;

She could tell them that the powerful guardian might only kill powerful mutated beasts, while the ones already within the trial grounds were still for them to face themselves; she knew a formation...

"You're pretty slick, buddy. The world's going to hell, and you're still making eyes at a pretty girl." Xiang Ning had appeared at some point;

By now, more people had gradually returned;

Great Qin had thirty-six prefectures, and Yunan Prefecture certainly wasn't the only place with Martial Aristocrat Families like the Li Family.

As a result, more and more Internal Breath Realm Warriors gathered on the Stone Platform, and people stopped keeping their eyes only on the first few to return.

Chu Yuan glanced at him. He hadn't planned to entertain him, but then he thought of something and asked, "Are you cultivating the Essence Tempering Technique?"

"Of course." Xiang Ning hadn't expected Chu Yuan to change the subject so abruptly, and couldn't help but pause;

"Do you know any other techniques?"

"...What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you have any technique that's higher level than the Essence Tempering Technique?" Chu Yuan's gaze fell on Xiang Ning's hand, and his pupils immediately contracted;

On the middle finger of his left hand was a dark, antique-looking ring that didn't suit his temperament at all!

A Storage Ring!?

So he really was loaded...

"I do... or maybe I don't?" Xiang Ning drawled, his expression odd. "What are you trying to do?"

"I'll trade you Martial Arts Pills for it." Chu Yuan took out a Blood Pill and a Spirit Nourishing Pill;

He had originally planned to take them from Li Ji, but since Xiang Ning had come over first...

"Please. What kind of pill haven't I seen...

I really haven't seen these before!" Xiang Ning's eyebrows jumped. He took the Blood Pill and held it in his palm, sensing it carefully. He couldn't help but be startled by the immense vitality it contained.

He came from a prestigious family, was well-informed, and had a keen eye;

The essay he'd once written, "My Father, the Commander," had even won first place in Divine Capital's elementary school essay contest.

He realized that the pill contained more than just blood and energy, the acquired substances of the material world;

There was something deeper within it...

Xiang Ning sensed that using this kind of Martial Arts Pill for cultivation would be an incredible waste!

Its true purpose was probably healing injuries, especially damage to one's essence;

Perhaps even... extending one's lifespan!

"What kind of pill is this?" Xiang Ning asked tentatively, then joked, "Why does it feel like I'm holding a Fifth Realm Warrior in my hand?"

Chu Yuan almost laughed aloud, but hurriedly coughed twice. "A Blood Pill. The other one's called a Spirit Nourishing Pill;

The Spirit Nourishing Pill can strengthen your mental energy!

How about trading me one technique for both pills?"

Xiang Ning quickly picked up the Spirit Nourishing Pill and examined it, feeling even more perplexed;

Strengthen mental energy? What a waste...

"Look, buddy, your pills are great, but they're still consumables;

You want to trade just two pills for my family's technique..."

With his Spiritual Sense, Chu Yuan could see every subtle expression on Xiang Ning's face. He suddenly pulled the pills back, wearing a faintly amused smile. "Then forget it."

"Hey!" Xiang Ning's hand was suddenly empty, and he cried out on reflex;

He hurriedly added, "Come on, buddy! I haven't said no yet... How about you throw in a little more?

Just one! Either the Blood Pill or the Spirit Nourishing Pill!

Just one, please, buddy..."

Chu Yuan hadn't gotten his Blood Pill and Spirit Nourishing Pill for nothing. He'd worked hard and gone through a lot to reap the rewards...

So in the end, he refused Xiang Ning's request for a higher price and traded the pills for a copy of the Gold Essence Technique!

According to Xiang Ning, it was a technique he'd planned to cultivate only after the college entrance examination, and its grade was definitely high!

Techniques might seem worthless, since one copy could be reproduced countless times;

But that was only true for low-level techniques like the Essence Tempering Technique...

The Great Qin government tightly controlled even slightly more advanced techniques and forbade people from spreading them freely.

For example, if you exchanged points for a technique, you could learn it yourself or exchange it for someone else;

But you couldn't learn it yourself and then pass it on to someone else.

If you were caught, both of you would be punished.

As for even more advanced techniques, the rules were actually less strict, because top-tier techniques could generally only be cultivated from the original copy...

"Buddy, buddy, if you can get your hands on a treasure of this caliber, why would you be short on techniques?" Xiang Ning asked curiously;

"Do you need anything else?" Chu Yuan struck a pose as if he were about to start cultivating.

"Wait, you're going to cultivate a new technique here?" Xiang Ning asked in surprise;

Then he seemed to remember something. "Buddy, don't tell me you're after the first-place prize, the Martial God Record?"

"Why not?"

"Ah..." Xiang Ning slapped his thigh and moved closer, speaking in a secretive tone. "Listen, buddy, and don't tell anyone;

First place this time was decided long ago!

You could cultivate your new technique until it bloomed into a flower, and you still wouldn't get the Martial God Record!"

"Decided in advance?"

"Yeah. I heard some big shot wanted to pave the way for a younger relative;

They persuaded the Martial Suppression Bureau to offer the Martial God Record as the prize!

They couldn't just hand it over directly, for fear of stirring up criticism... so they came up with this Secret Realm trial!

They went to all this trouble just to have an excuse to serve the dumplings!

You really think a treasure like that could end up in your hands?"

The more Chu Yuan listened, the stranger his expression became. How was this completely different from what he'd heard in the principal's office?

Rumors... changed this fast?

"If that's the case, why did you come here?"

"Ah... to find out who that bastard is and figure out how to deal with him!" Xiang Ning said bitterly. "Unfortunately... we hadn't found him yet when the Secret Realm ran into this mess..."