The goal: Eight Gates Release

"By the way, sis, there's something I need to confess."

Luo Yu gathered his thoughts, then spoke calmly.

At the word "confess," Luo Qingyu's face immediately paled as some unpleasant possibilities crossed her mind.

"Have you found a girlfriend?"

After all, she and Luo Yu had relied on each other since childhood, and they had grown somewhat dependent on one another.

Naturally, she was hostile toward any hussy who wanted to steal Luo Yu away.

"Huh? Sis, what are you imagining? What I wanted to tell you is that I became this strong because I accidentally awakened some mysterious purple legacy."

Luo Yu was rather speechless at his sister's overactive imagination.

Hearing that, Luo Qingyu sighed in relief. "And here I thought it was something serious. You just awakened a ninja legacy on your own."

"You don't need to tell me that. I could figure it out myself."

Indeed, besides obtaining ninja legacies in Secret Realms, people could also inherit them through their bloodlines, sometimes skipping generations.

For instance, if someone obtained a ninja legacy but their descendants lacked aptitude, those descendants would, at most, inherit only some of its abilities.

That meant a kekkei genkai, or a related legacy.

The most famous example was the Kage-level Expert known as the Undying Empress of the Land of the Dragon and her orange legacy-Tsunade.

She had awakened it on her own during her training.

That was inseparably tied to her being a descendant of Emperor Shinra.

Yet the Undying Empress's mother, who also carried Emperor Shinra's bloodline, was merely an ordinary person with a slight aptitude for ninja arts.

Since Luo Yu had awakened a purple legacy on his own, he probably had some powerful ancestor as well.

The legacy embedded in that ancestor's bloodline had thus been passed down through several generations to the present day.

Luo Yu nodded slightly, then continued, "This mysterious legacy also brought me a companion."

"Xiaofei, come out and say hello to my sister."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiaofei poked half his head out of the nearby wall. "Hello, honored big sister."

The stranger's sudden appearance clearly startled Luo Qingyu. "What the hell!"

Thanks to the uncanny valley effect, Xiaofei's entrance made him look exactly like a character from a horror movie.

Luo Yu did his best to explain. "He's the companion I got as a freebie with the package."

"Or rather, he's probably a summoning beast that came with the legacy."

"Usually, I'll have him hide in the shadows and keep you safe."

The concept of summoning beasts existed on Blue Star as well.

Besides acquiring a summoning beast by signing a contract, there were other ways.

Some mutant beasts even dropped summoning beast fragments when killed.

Once enough fragments were collected, the corresponding summoning beast could be summoned to serve as the summoner's companion.

"You should have him stay with you instead. I'm a girl. It would be inconvenient a lot of the time."

Luo Qingyu's pretty face flushed as she tried to decline.

"Please rest assured. I'm a proper gentleman. Even when you take a bath, I'll obediently stand guard outside."

Xiaofei spoke with complete seriousness.

His assurance made Luo Yu nervous too. "How about Xiaofei stays with me for now?"

Hearing that, Xiaofei grew frantic. "Lord Luo, why are even you saying that?"

"I'm not that kind of person!"

After some discussion, Xiaofei finally earned their trust and took on the mission of protecting Luo Qingyu.

The next day.

Luo Yu went to Tengyang No. 3 Middle School for the last time as a student.

For once, Principal Wu did not drag things out, so the graduation ceremony ended quickly.

And so, with a faint sadness in his heart, Luo Yu walked out through the school gates.

In that instant, he felt as though he had grown up considerably.

The moment he stepped outside, Luo Yu saw Curator Jiang's luxury car parked in front of him.

Luo Qingyu sat in the back.

"Get in. The young lady I found to teach you taijutsu is already waiting at the specially allocated villa."

Curator Jiang smiled.

Hearing that there was a young lady involved, Luo Yu swiftly took the front passenger seat to avoid having Luo Qingyu pinch his thigh.

"Didn't you say you would teach me yourself, Curator Jiang?"

"Why did you find a woman? I hate women more than anything!"

"My sister excepted, of course!"

From the passenger seat, Luo Yu spoke with righteous conviction.

Afterward, he stole a glance at Luo Qingyu in the back seat.

He was afraid she might misunderstand and think he had gone out of his way to arrange a meeting with a young woman.

Curator Jiang smiled. "She's far more capable than I am."

"Not only did she become a genuine Jonin at a young age, but she's also mastered the Eight Gates Release."

"Your Sharingan can copy techniques, right?"

"I want to see whether you can copy the Eight Gates Release too."

With that, Curator Jiang took five white fragments from a Storage Scroll and handed them to Luo Yu.

"Don't worry about being unable to learn it. Absorb all five of these Rock Lee legacy fragments later."

"They'll definitely help you get twice the results with half the effort when you train in taijutsu."

"Combined with the Sharingan's perceptiveness, you should at least be able to open the first of the eight gates, the Gate of Opening."

Although Rock Lee's legacy was white-grade, it had tremendous growth potential.

As long as its holder trained the Eight Gates Release to the fifth gate, the Gate of Limit, Rock Lee's legacy could even advance to green-grade.

Still, although absorbing Rock Lee's legacy would greatly improve one's aptitude for taijutsu, that alone was not enough.

Reaching the Gate of Limit remained extremely difficult.

Without the perseverance to maintain intense daily training, many inheritors of Rock Lee's legacy spent their entire lives only reaching the third gate, the Gate of Life.

Only the few who were truly passionate about taijutsu could open the Gate of Limit and raise Rock Lee's legacy to green-grade.

A Rock Lee legacy with the Gate of Limit unlocked could be considered T0 among green legacies.

With the Gate of Limit's enhancement, the user's stamina multiplied several times over, making it possible to kill opponents above their own rank.

Of course, Rock Lee's legacy fragments were not nearly that powerful.

After absorption, besides temporarily improving stamina and the speed of taijutsu training, they could also grant insight into a corresponding taijutsu technique if the user was lucky.

They were fairly common training resources among taijutsu ninjas.

Still, as white-grade fragments, they were quite a luxury for ninjas below Chunin rank.

Curator Jiang had given Luo Yu five without so much as blinking, which showed his sincerity toward talented people in Jiang Li.

Before long, Curator Jiang drove up to a villa.

They got out of the car and opened the gate, revealing a picturesque courtyard as the fragrance of expensive flowers and plants greeted them.

Luo Yu could not help marveling. Normally, a villa of this size would cost at least five million Ninja Coins.

Yet he could buy it for three hundred thousand. It really was a bargain.

At that thought, Luo Yu immediately took out his bank card. "Curator Jiang, let me pay you the three hundred thousand first."

That money had all come from those three unlucky rogue ninjas.

After swiping his card, the three of them headed upstairs to the sparring area.

On the way, Curator Jiang explained, "This villa's sparring area was built with high-grade materials. It can withstand a battle between Jonin."

Hearing that, Luo Yu immediately realized he had been thinking too small.

If this sparring area was Jonin-grade, then the whole villa had to be worth at least ten million Ninja Coins.

This was not just a bargain. It was practically a giveaway!

"Rest assured, Curator Jiang! Protecting Jiang Li is our bounden duty!"

Deeply moved, Luo Yu thumped his chest and gave his promise.