"Have you heard? Green Mountain City produced a twenty-year-old prodigy at the pinnacle of the Channel-Opening Realm. He's coming to the prodigy banquet hosted by Qinghe Gang in our Shuiyang Prefecture to challenge heroes from all around."
"Not just that. This twenty-year-old prodigy has a brother too, who reached the pinnacle of the Channel-Opening Realm at only twenty-seven. He's just as extraordinary. This time, the two brothers are coming together to test their skills against the prodigies of the entire prefecture."
Evening, in a roadside tavern in Shuiyang Prefecture.
A table of guests had gathered in the first-floor hall, drinking wine and eating meat. As they talked, the subject inevitably drifted to the recent hot topic.
The pinnacle of the Channel-Opening Realm. Young prodigies. Those words alone drew attention.
And now there was Qinghe Gang's prodigy banquet, where they would be competing against one another. With all those factors combined, it had become the subject of heated discussion throughout Shuiyang Prefecture, among martial artists and ordinary people alike, before tea and after meals.
How had they cultivated to reach the pinnacle of the Channel-Opening Realm at such a young age?
What methods had they used? Which methods might be possible?
What kind of medicinal baths did such cultivation require from childhood? At what stages did certain tasks have to be completed? Was there anything their own children could learn from, so they could be raised toward the same goal?
If I did this and that, could I perhaps take another step forward too?
Everyone offered their own opinions. Their views differed, and as they discussed the possibilities, there was naturally no end to the conversation.
The brothers gathered around the table grew more excited and heated as they talked, their voices rising along with their enthusiasm.
Beside them, however, two