The Incident

In the exact center of the palace hall, a figure sat cross-legged on a protruding rock.

Fang Yan looked closely and saw that the rock was actually the skull of a giant beast.

The skull was dark brown, its surface covered in the cracks of time, but its ferocity in life was still visible.

There were three curved bone horns on its forehead, its eye sockets were deeply sunken, and its lower jaw was slightly parted, revealing two rows of sharp bone teeth.

The skull of an Immortal Level fierce beast!

And the ancestor of the Fang Family sat right at the top of that skull, eyes half-closed, not a single breath leaking from his body.

Fang Yan took only one look, and his heart skipped a beat.

The strongest Immortal God in the Southern Border Star Domain truly lived up to his reputation.

"You're here?"

An aged voice rang out in the palace hall, neither light nor heavy, like a casual question.

Fang Yan knelt on one knee, performing the etiquette of a junior of the Fang Family paying respects to an elder.

"Junior Fang Yan pays respects to the Ancestor."

"Get up." The Ancestor opened his eyes.

They were very ordinary eyes, with no golden light, no runic symbols, and they even appeared somewhat turbid.

"Wind Law Imprint, hmm, not bad."

The Ancestor nodded slightly, his tone plain.

"To be able to gain the recognition of the laws at the World Lord stage in a mere two hundred years. Lie'er has indeed raised a good son."

"You flatter me, Ancestor." Fang Yan answered respectfully, trying as hard as possible to make his voice sound steady.

"No need to be restrained."

The Ancestor waved a hand, a trace of a smile appearing on his wrinkled old face.

"I don't like those empty formalities. Sit."

His finger casually pointed to a straw mat on the floor of the palace hall.

Fang Yan sat as told, but his heart dared not relax in the slightest.

"Do you know why I called you over?" The Ancestor asked.

Fang Yan honestly shook his head.

The Ancestor fell silent for a moment, then suddenly sighed.

That sigh echoed in the empty palace hall, carrying an inexpressible and obscure meaning.

"The Fang Family has taken root in the Southern Border Star Domain for seventy thousand kalpas, experiencing three generations of Immortals from the initial Stellar Level founder to the present. I am the third generation."

The Ancestor said slowly.

"Seventy thousand kalpas is neither long nor short. But the territory of the Fang Family has not expanded for eight million years."

Fang Yan's heart stirred.

The Ancestor continued, "The Primordial Universe is getting livelier and livelier. The Human Race is expanding, other peak races are expanding, and those small factions that previously occupied a corner of peace are either being annexed or crushed. Although the Southern Border Star Domain is remote, the wind will blow over sooner or later."

He paused, his gaze landing on Fang Yan.

"And you are the only clansman of the Fang Family in seventy thousand kalpas who has the hope of stepping into the Immortal level within ten thousand years."

Fang Yan was stunned.

Ten thousand years?

From World Lord Ninth Order to Immortal, although he wouldn't dare say it was set in stone, he had the assistance of the Spring Autumn Cicada clone, his speed of comprehension toward the Time Law was extremely fast, and coupled with the piling of resources like the Wind Origin Crystal, wasn't ten thousand years a bit too conservative?

But upon second thought, he felt relieved.

In the early days of the Primordial Universe, a World Lord breaking through to Immortal was an extremely difficult matter to begin with.

Without means to accelerate law comprehension or the inheritance of a Chaos Stele, ordinary World Lords could not even cross that threshold after spending dozens of kalpas.

For the Ancestor to say ten thousand was already an extremely high evaluation of him.

"Therefore, I plan to give you two choices."

The Ancestor stood up, slowly floating down from the top of the skull and landing before Fang Yan.

Fang Yan held his breath.

The Ancestor reached out a hand and waved, and two balls of light appeared out of thin air in the palace hall.

The ball of light on the left was cyan, shaped like a giant bird spreading its wings, its wings stretching to the length of a zhang when fully opened, and dense Wind Secret Patterns floating across the wing surfaces with the faint sound of wind emerging from within.

The ball of light on the right was a fist-sized crystal, entirely azure, sealing within it a wisp of breath so light it didn't seem real.

That breath circulated slowly within the crystal, and with every complete rotation, Fang Yan felt the Wind Law Imprint at the center of his brows twitch lightly.

"Wind God Wings are a flight-type Immortal secret treasure. When driven with full force, they can instantly escape hundreds of thousands of miles. For a child like you... well, one whose personality is relatively steady, they are just right."

The Ancestor pointed to the left, and the corner of Fang Yan's mouth twitched.

What did "having a relatively prudent personality" mean? Was the ancestor euphemistically saying that he was afraid of death?

It definitely was!

"The Wind Origin Crystal seals a wisp of the Wind Origin. After refining it, your comprehension of the Law of Wind will improve significantly."

After finishing, the ancestor looked calmly at Fang Yan.

"Two choices, pick one."

Fang Yan inwardly complained, could he not choose both? Did he really treat him like a child?

However, on second thought, everyone lived in tight straits during the early days of the Primordial Universe.

The Primal Star had not opened many times, large areas of universe secret realms had not been developed, and even the eight beast gods were still alive and well.

It was indeed not easy for the Fang Family ancestor to lean a large amount of resources toward him under such circumstances.

Immediately, Fang Yan directly reached out and grabbed that azure-blue light.

The Wind Origin Crystal felt warm to the touch, and the Wind Origin inside seemed to sense the law mark between his brows, emitting a slight humming sound as if it couldn't wait to merge with him.

The ancestor watched his choice, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes, which then turned into understanding.

"I thought you would choose that pair of wings."

Fang Yan clenched the Wind Origin Crystal tightly and grinned.

"Ancestor, no matter how good wings are, they are still external objects; cultivation is one's own. Although I am afraid of death, I am even more afraid of being left behind by others."

The ancestor stared at him for two seconds and suddenly smiled.

That smile didn't resemble the majesty of an Immortal God, but rather like an elder who saw through a junior's thoughts, carrying a bit of teasing.

"Afraid of being left behind by others?" The ancestor repeated this sentence and shook his head gently.

"Quite a good excuse."

Fang Yan played dumb: "What does the ancestor mean? I don't understand."

"If you don't understand, forget it."

The ancestor turned around, drifted back to the top of the skull to sit down, and waved his hand.

"Go back after taking the item. Remember, after refining the Wind Origin Crystal, you need to comprehend the Law of Wind to the perfection realm within ten thousand years, and then try to break through to immortality. By then, I will personally guard your breakthrough."

Ten thousand years—Fang Yan's heart tightened.

"Yes."

He bowed in salute and turned to walk out of the hall.

Just as he took two steps, the ancestor's voice came from behind again, his tone suddenly becoming somewhat meaningful.

"Right, Fang Yan."

Fang Yan's footsteps paused.

"That little thing hidden inside your body is hidden quite deeply. Hurry up and break through to immortality; once you reach the Immortal realm, powerful beings won't target that little thing of yours anymore."

Fang Yan froze completely.

In that instant, his mind went blank, and the Spring Autumn Cicada clone violently shook deep within the Origin Core, almost bursting out of his body.

The ancestor's voice remained calm, as if he were speaking of an inconsequential trivial matter.

"Everyone has secrets, and I have them too. As long as your secret doesn't harm the Fang Family, I'll pretend I didn't see it."

With that, the hall returned to silence once again.

Fang Yan stood on the spot, cold sweat from his back already flowing all the way down his spine to his waist.

PS. Recently, many readers have been agonizing over how the Fang Family ancestor discovered the protagonist's clone.

Tingyu is here to explain to all the reader lords, in the original work, the Chaos Lord had to rely on the Initial Universe to discover that Luo Feng possessed the Golden Horned Beast.

However!

However! That was under the condition that Luo Feng did not use any innate divine techniques!

Yinghuo Star in this book is only so big, and the protagonist still used the Spring Autumn Cicada to exploit bugs there. For an Immortal, being able to sense a trace of time power added to his own lair is still quite easy, right? ٩(๑^o^๑)۶

(Many thanks here for the support of all the reader lords, if Tingyu wrote anything wrong, you can point it out. Tingyu is currently a full-time writer and will fix it immediately upon seeing it. Thanks again for the support of all the reader lords!(◦˙▽˙◦)!)