"Greetings, Sect Master. I'm a new disciple of the Heaven Mending Pavilion. My name is Shi Xiu!"
Although he knew full well that communicating with the other party would be difficult,
Shi Xiu still showed him considerable respect.
With his Heavenly Dao Treasure Body, he could inherently commune with the ancestors of various factions.
He could also sense the grotto-heavens and blessed lands throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.
For the senior before him to exist in such a form
was itself a tremendous blessing.
Thus, Weird Grandpa, who seemed impossible to communicate with in anyone else's presence, was much calmer before Shi Xiu.
Yet the old man still could not communicate with him through normal human thought.
Simply holding this form together without dissipating was already no easy feat.
Even so, the old fellow could still convey information through his gaze and the remnants of his will.
At that moment, his request was simple.
He hoped someone could help him retrieve his Broken Sword.
"I understand what you want, Senior. I'm willing to help you retrieve the Broken Sword!"
Although the Heaven Mending Pavilion had many spiritual medicines and supreme cultivation methods,
Shi Xiu had no interest in them.
He knew that the Hundred Broken Mountains would soon open.
That was where the greatest opportunities between heaven and earth lay.
Countless high-level beings in the lower realm were waiting for that day.
It could be said that the Hundred Broken Mountains gathered the strongest young experts in the entire Desolate Region.
They also held many treasures that made even the mighty figures of the Upper Realm green with envy.
Those so-called Foreign Races and the Source of Darkness were probably quite interested in these opportunities as well.
However, those fellows seemed to have their own ways of seizing these treasures.
After all, most of the riches in this world would end up in the hands of those Venerables.
And the hidden masterminds who unleashed the Desolate Region Tribulation could easily snatch them from those Venerables.
This seemed to have become an unspoken rule.
It worked every time.
In the end, they would erase the memories of these ordinary people.
Then they would wait for the next round.
To the Upper Realm, the Desolate Region seemed like a field of chives.
Cut down one crop, and another would grow.
And the saddest thing was that most of those chives never learned their lesson.
"Hahaha! Good, good!"
Whether he was truly delighted or simply reacting to the Heavenly Dao Treasure Body was unclear.
This former pride of the Human Race actually regained his lucidity for the first time.
He laughed aloud before the two young men.
His powerful laughter was accompanied by waves of blue energy.
A conspicuous nova of energy formed near the Sacrificial Spirit.
It instantly alerted all the experts of the Heaven Mending Pavilion.
Among them were the current Sect Master and the elders, including Xiong Fei.
When everyone gathered around,
they were immediately stunned by the scene before them.
Thud!
"Your disciple pays his respects, Sect Master."
This was the only time Weird Grandpa had appeared lucid in all these years.
And it had actually been brought about by the two disciples who had only just joined.
Although Shi Xiu and Shi Hao were not permitted to hear the conversation among these senior figures,
they could hear their weeping.
Who would have imagined that the Pavilion Master of the Heaven Mending Pavilion, a supreme expert whose cultivation reached the heavens,
would spend so long crying before his Grand Ancestor?
Even Elder Xiong Fei, who was always smiling, emerged with reddened eyes.
"You little brat, since you already know, we'll leave our ancestor's Broken Sword to you!"
The Heaven Mending Pavilion had actually begun making preparations for this expedition into the Hundred Broken Mountains many years ago.
Some of the core disciples they had selected had deliberately held back their cultivation.
They had also been thoroughly briefed on previously obtained maps and the terrain inside.
The goal was for these core disciples to gather as many treasures as possible once they entered.
Naturally, these two newcomers were not on the list of treasure-hunting disciples.
Even the Princess of the Fire Kingdom was not included.
But now that the Grand Ancestor had chosen this little brat,
what more was there to say?
"If you can bring back both the Broken Sword and the Ageless Spring, you'll be the next Pavilion Master of the Heaven Mending Pavilion!"
What an enormous reward!
Yet none of them mentioned the looming danger surrounding the revered Sacrificial Spirit.
The Heaven Mending Pavilion might look glorious now,
but all of it was supported by this single Divine Vine.
This was also a treasure that the Pavilion Master of that era had brought from the Upper Realm.
But now, as time flowed on,
the revered Sacrificial Spirit seemed able to foresee the downfall of the Heaven Mending Pavilion.
He simply could not bear to say it before so many juniors.
"Let me say a few words. I don't know why, but the Hundred Broken Mountains may open earlier than we expected!"
After the sect's master and elders finished giving their instructions,
the revered Sacrificial Spirit approached them of his own accord.
He told them what he had sensed.
Previously, the opening of the Hundred Broken Mountains had followed a very regular pattern.
But it was like the butterfly effect.
Ever since Shi Xiu's arrival, everything in this world seemed to have strayed from its original course.
First, the Mountain Treasure had emerged early, throwing the world into chaos.
And now, the Hundred Broken Mountains seemed set to open early as well.
What did all of this mean?
The Divine Vine did not know.
Yet he felt that the young man before him was unquestionably different.
There might be an entirely different path within him.
Perhaps the future of the Heaven Mending Pavilion truly rested on his shoulders.
"Revered Sacrificial Spirit, is everything you said true?"
Elder Xiong Fei seemed somewhat disbelieving.
But the Sacrificial Spirit would not joke about such matters.
"There isn't much time. Starting today, this child will cultivate under me. I'll strengthen him as quickly as possible!"
This was undoubtedly the greatest honor in the entire Heaven Mending Pavilion.
The revered Sacrificial Spirit was actually willing to guide him personally.
Even the sect's senior disciples had never received such treatment before!
That boy Shi Xiu was truly lucky!
But at its root,
what had truly prompted the revered Sacrificial Spirit's decision was not Weird Grandpa's earlier appearance.
It was the boy's strange constitution.
Although the revered Sacrificial Spirit could not identify the Heavenly Dao Treasure Body, he could sense its power.
This child's constitution could commune with the primordial energy of heaven and earth.
Although his own strength was not yet particularly great,
his constitution seemed to possess limitless allure.
It had even drawn the revered Sacrificial Spirit deeply in.
He almost wished he could pour all his power into the boy.
As Shi Xiu's strength continued to rise,
the various wonders of the Heavenly Dao Treasure Body gradually revealed themselves.
In the presence of those Saintesses and Fairies,
it could make a certain someone extraordinarily attractive, as though everyone were smitten with him.
And in the presence of pure primordial energy,
this constitution's allure was equally astonishing.
All manner of latent abilities, opportunities, and blessings
would converge on this young man of their own accord.
Even the Heaven Mending Pavilion's Sacrificial Spirit did not know why he had made such a decision.
But for Shi Xiu, it was undoubtedly a tremendous stroke of luck.
Cultivating beneath the Divine Vine, he progressed a thousand miles in a single day.
He could open a grotto-heaven in fewer than ten days.
By the time the Hundred Broken Mountains were about to open,
a certain someone had unknowingly reached eight grotto-heavens.
For the vast majority of Grotto-Heaven Realm cultivators,
Eight grotto-heavens was already the limit.
After that, most cultivators would advance toward a higher realm.
But there was a trap here.
The actual maximum in the Grotto-Heaven Realm was ten grotto-heavens.
Those true geniuses,
including Shi Hao, Shi Yi, and Fairy Yuechan in the original story, had all reached this level.
It was like laying a foundation while training in martial arts.
The more solid your fundamentals, the farther you could go later.
And when comprehending different aspects of power, you would need less time than others and wield greater might!
Thus, Shi Xiu would certainly follow the path of ten grotto-heavens as well!
Before you continue