The Secret

Yang Chen stared at the White Tiger, saying nothing.

They stood there, staring at each other for who knows how long, until the White Tiger finally shifted its massive body and spoke, "Kid, I reckon you know nothing of the ancient era, do you?"

Yang Chen pondered for a moment and realized he truly knew nothing of the past.

His knowledge of history was limited to what he had learned in textbooks, and those books never mentioned an ancient era where spiritual energy had surged or superhumans had existed.

The White Tiger seemed to read his thoughts and mocked, "It's normal that you don't know. During a great war in the ancient era, the spiritual energy on Earth was drained dry. It has only just begun to recover after all this time. I suspect that aside from a few ancient families that have passed down their legacies, no one else alive knows anything about those times!"

Yang Chen nodded slightly.

It was true; he knew absolutely nothing about the ancient era. The only thing he was aware of was that such a group of people had existed in history.

As for anything deeper, Yang Chen was truly in the dark.

After all, he was a guy who hadn't even finished his nine-year compulsory education; knowing even that much was already quite an achievement.

"The Spirit-Gathering Realm refers to drawing the spiritual energy between heaven and earth into one's dantian to strengthen one's spiritual root. What you call 'superpowers' today are what we refer to as spiritual roots."

The White Tiger sighed before speaking to Yang Chen.

"Take what you said earlier—that a large portion of people on Earth lack superpowers. That's actually wrong. They are capable of cultivation, too, though their combat power is far less than those with innate abilities. However, we are now in the Age of Dharma Decline, and many legacies must have been severed. Otherwise, if the entire nation could cultivate, how could Huaxia not have unified the entire planet?"

The White Tiger's massive pupils were filled with melancholy, as if it were lamenting the current decline of Huaxia or perhaps reminiscing about the prosperous era of old, when all nations came to pay tribute.

"Ordinary people can cultivate, too?"

Yang Chen's pupils constricted. He felt as if he had just stumbled upon something extraordinary!

If this news were to leak, it would surely cause a massive uproar across the globe, and countless powerhouses would flock to this very spot!

After all, if ordinary people could cultivate, any nation that acquired such a method would inevitably become the supreme power!

Just imagine: if an entire country were composed of cultivators, every single person a practitioner—regardless of whether they had superpowers or spiritual roots—that would be a terrifying force. Who on Earth could stand against them?

Shock flickered in Yang Chen's eyes. He could already imagine that if Huaxia obtained such a technique, unifying the Earth would no longer be just a pipe dream.

The White Tiger glanced at Yang Chen and said helplessly, "Don't bother thinking about it. I forgot those low-level techniques long ago. I only have high-level ones, and those ordinary people wouldn't be able to cultivate them anyway!"

Yang Chen's spirits instantly deflated, and he shot a disgruntled look at the White Tiger.

Damn it, why talk so much if you don't have it? You're just wasting my energy!

Yang Chen was speechless. This White Tiger in front of him didn't seem like such a good thing after all—it was useless!

"However, while I don't have anything useful for ordinary people, I do have something useful for you!"

The White Tiger chuckled, looking at Yang Chen with a playful glint, seemingly eager to see his reaction.

Sure enough, the moment the White Tiger said this, Yang Chen's attitude did a complete three-hundred-sixty-degree turn.

"Hehe, Senior, if you have good things, why not bring them out? Who knows, maybe one day when I master these divine arts, I'll be able to lead Huaxia to unify the globe, hehe!"

The White Tiger rolled its eyes at Yang Chen, as if to say, How can you be so thick-skinned?

Still, Yang Chen's words were quite pleasing to the White Tiger. Even though this kid was only in the Spirit-Gathering Realm, his physique had already crossed into the Body-Tempering Realm—the level of a Grandmaster. In this era where spiritual energy had only just begun to recover, that was quite impressive.

Even in its own era, some of the most gifted geniuses might not have been able to achieve that.

Therefore, in the White Tiger's eyes, Yang Chen's talent was quite decent.

He was a good seed!

The White Tiger pondered for a moment before saying, "Your spiritual root is the same as mine—a Lightning Attribute root—so you are capable of accepting my inheritance. However, my inheritance is extremely difficult. Without the strength of the Shackle Realm, even if you tried to accept it, there would be only one outcome: Bang! You'd explode!"

Yang Chen's expression froze; he was speechless, yet also deeply solemn.

Just how high was this White Tiger's cultivation that one needed to be in the Shackle Realm just to accept its inheritance? One had to realize that in this current era, the powerhouses of the Heaven Gate were the absolute peak. Unless the Heaven Gate intervened, those in the Shackle Realm were the top-tier existences.

And yet, to accept the White Tiger's inheritance, one needed the cultivation of the Shackle Realm!

Terrifying!

That was Yang Chen's only thought regarding the White Tiger's power.

"However, your physique is already at the Body-Tempering Realm. If you can cultivate your physical body to the Shackle Realm, you might be able to withstand it, hehe!"

The White Tiger looked at Yang Chen and laughed.

"Body-Tempering?"

"That is what you currently call the Grandmaster realm!"

"Oh, I see!"

Yang Chen understood and nodded. It was true; he had his system. Even if spiritual energy had only just begun to recover, as long as he had enough time, reaching the Heaven Gate realm would be simple.

After all, it hadn't even been half a month, and Yang Chen had gone from an ordinary person with no cultivation to an S-rank powerhouse, with a physique already at the Grandmaster level!

The Shackle Realm was just a matter of time!

Since he couldn't get the inheritance now, it wouldn't be too late to come back for it once he reached the Shackle Realm.

Thinking this, Yang Chen felt a bit better.

Seeing the confident expression on Yang Chen's face, the White Tiger nodded. This was how a true genius should be—full of confidence!

However, the White Tiger seemed to remember something and said to Yang Chen, "Although the inheritance requires the Shackle Realm, I have some collections that might provide you with significant convenience. I'll give this Space Ring to you!"

Under the White Tiger's control, the blue ring slowly floated up and then landed in Yang Chen's hand.

Yang Chen cradled the ring, then carefully slid it onto his finger, a look of joy emerging in his heart as he gazed at it.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining a Spirit Grade Space Ring!"

Yang Chen stirred his mind, and an even more delighted expression appeared on his face.

He remembered clearly that the system had stated that on Earth, the top-tier level of equipment and weapons was the Spirit Grade!

To be continued!