"I hope you can understand. It's not that the sect is heartless. The sect invested so many resources in nurturing you, so naturally it hoped you would repay the sect someday. But you... avoid battle far too much."
"The elders can't see any hope in you."
"They feel that rather than investing in you, it would be better to distribute those resources among others who may not be as talented as you, but are more willing to fight their way upward."
"Mm."
Zhao Yishi shook his head, no sorrow visible in his eyes. "It's fine, as long as they keep me fed."
"Alas."
The Heavenward Sect Master sighed heavily and shook his head helplessly. "Perhaps you truly aren't suited to the path of cultivation. But even so, you will always be my personal disciple. I will do everything in my power to push you to the Golden Core Realm. At the very least, once you enter the Golden Core Realm, if someone attacks the sect, you'll stand out to protect it, right?"
Zhao Yishi had been picked up by him.
There was a secret he had never told anyone. When he first met Zhao Yishi, Zhao Yishi had already been nearly two zhang tall, far exceeding ordinary people. At the time, Zhao Yishi appeared to be a middle-aged man, yet for some reason, his mind seemed exceptionally simple.
Although Zhao Yishi already possessed the Pink Trait "Sky-Piercing Giant" at the time, he claimed that he had never killed any demonic beasts. He had simply been this tall ever since reaching adulthood.
He had completely sealed off this information.
He was the only one who knew.
That was why, all these years, he had endured pressure from the sect elders and poured vast resources into Zhao Yishi. He had always believed