Stealing Techniques

"You little brat, blaming your elder when you were the one in a hurry to eat!"

With a thunk, Qi Daolin brought his finger down on Lin Fan's head. Lin Fan cried out in pain, clutched his head, and glared at him while grinding his teeth.

That old man ambushed me again. Damn him!

Then he looked at the Taotie meat in the pot and could only swallow helplessly.

This sacred nourishing delicacy grew more extraordinary the higher one's cultivation realm became. It could bolster blood and qi and strengthen muscles and bones, rivaling miraculous elixirs.

Unfortunately, it was not something a little cultivator like him could stomach yet. If he could not digest it, it would become a death warrant.

That single piece just now had put him through agony. He had nearly failed to refine it and become an exploding furnace.

Moreover, the Taotie race was immensely powerful. Their innate divine ability was renowned for devouring all things; cultivated to its utmost limit, it could even swallow laws.

Usually, they ate other living beings. When did anyone else ever get to eat them?

They were hailed as one of the Upper Realm's strongest races, with peerless combat prowess.

Many undying lineages feared them and were unwilling to provoke or offend them, especially since one of their ancestors still lived. From ancient times to the present, he had shaken the Three Thousand Provinces with his might!

"Here, eat!" Qi Daolin still refined some Taotie meat for him.

"Hehe, thank you, Dao Master!" Lin Fan immediately beamed with delight. His expression changed remarkably quickly, no different from any ordinary child.

Then he began wolfing it down. The pot of Taotie meat was soon emptied, but most of it went into Lin Fan's stomach. Qi Daolin merely tasted a little himself. At his cultivation level, it served only to please his palate; eating more would do him little good.

"I'm stuffed. That felt wonderful! Truly a heavenly delicacy!" Lin Fan lay leisurely on the ground, gazing at the beautiful starry sky. A smile filled his face as he basked in satisfaction, his exhaustion forgotten.

Cultivation called for alternating tension with release. Resting appropriately and gathering strength was the proper way.

"Brat, take this!" With a casual toss, Qi Daolin threw a crystalline, snow-white Heavenly Bone onto him.

Lin Fan picked it up and examined it. Densely packed runes covered its surface. "A Taotie's Primordial True Bone!" he exclaimed.

It must have come from the Taotie they had just eaten, for it still felt fresh to the touch. It was an incredibly rare find. A rune bone could only be obtained by killing its owner instantly; otherwise, the owner would destroy it.

Soon, however, his interest faded. Learning the Precious Art would do him no good. It would only be assimilated into his life Precious Art.

"Don't refuse to learn it just because it's useless now. Once you resolve your shortcomings, you'll need it eventually. Don't wait until the moment you need it to lament how little you know. By then, it'll be too late!" Qi Daolin reminded him.

"Oh!" Lin Fan took the advice to heart. Listening to good advice was his specialty.

"Take a look at this too!" Qi Daolin tossed him another object. It was another bone, but not a Primordial Rune Bone. The inscriptions had clearly been carved onto it afterward.

Nor did it record any Precious Arts. It contained only the most ancient and simple Dao, beginning at the most primordial point to expound on the mysteries of heaven and earth. Its scope was vast, encompassing all things.

"What is this?" Lin Fan asked. He felt it was extraordinary, even more so than the Primordial Rune Bone containing the Taotie Precious Art. It did not concern Precious Arts, only the workings of runes, offering inspiration. It deserved to be called a priceless heavenly scripture.

"The Primordial True Explanation, the Upper Realm's most mysterious cultivation method. Many have studied it, and each person has gained a different understanding!" Qi Daolin explained.

Just as I thought! Lin Fan said inwardly.

This was the opening chapter of the most mysterious Immortal Emperor method currently in this world, and it was immensely valuable as a reference.

"Cultivating and making breakthroughs according to it is just right for you now. Perhaps... you might even comprehend a way to resolve your own flaws from it. However, with your current cultivation realm, understanding it completely is impossible. Grasping even its surface would be good enough."

Qi Daolin spoke. Of everything he could think of, this was currently the most suitable for Lin Fan to study.

"In fact, the Primordial True Explanation consists of three chapters: upper, middle, and lower. What you hold is only the Divine Guidance Chapter that I inscribed, not the original. As for the Middle Chapter: Transcendence, legend says it records a method of becoming an immortal. Our lineage once possessed part of it, but it was later lost. No one knows anything about the Lower Chapter."

At this point, Qi Daolin grew somewhat sorrowful. Back then, he had only just joined the lineage. Before he could learn its strongest divine abilities, several great sects had besieged them and severed their inheritance.

Lin Fan fell silent. Naturally, he knew what had happened. He also knew where the Supreme Hall's inheritance lay: in the lower realm's Desolate Region.

Now that he had joined this lineage, he would naturally find an opportunity to descend to the lower realm and retrieve it. The Precious Arts of the Ten Fiends and an ancient heavenly art ranked among the top three were truly enticing.

"As the successor of my Supreme Dao Arena, your first goal in the future will be to defeat the Immortal Palace Successor. If you cannot do it, I'll expel you!" Qi Daolin suddenly said sternly.

He bore a deep grudge against the Immortal Palace and hated it intensely.

Back then, it had invited the other factions to join the siege, leading to the previous sect leader's death.

"Pfft, a mere Immortal Palace Successor. I could destroy him with one hand!" Lin Fan was thoroughly pleased with himself and hardly took the matter seriously.

That brat Di Chong could not even compare to Little Six. At most, he was on par with the ancient freaks. What was there to speak of?

"Stop boasting, brat. Enough big talk. Though the current Immortal Palace Successor is still young, he has already swept through the Blood Shifting and Heavenly Passage realms without a match," Qi Daolin warned earnestly.

"That's because he hasn't met me. Give me a few years, and I'll beat him until he howls!" Lin Fan declared, brimming with swagger.

"Fine, I'll remember what you said. If you lose in the future, just watch how I deal with you!" Qi Daolin laughed and teased him.

"Who do you think I am? Heaven blessed me with divine martial prowess. How could I lose? I'm destined to be invincible beneath the heavens and defeat every foe, ancient and modern!" Lin Fan was confident and spirited.

"Confidence is good, but you mustn't be careless. Caution comes first in everything. Staying alive is what matters most."

In the end, Qi Daolin said this, his words filled with concern.

In terms of talent, Lin Fan was the finest he had ever seen. Apart from that slight flaw in his Supreme Bone, he truly could become invincible for an entire era.

His potential in particular was formidable, beyond reproach in every respect. Perhaps precisely because he was so outstanding, Qi Daolin hoped he would build a solid foundation rather than act rashly and try to prove himself.

That was why he had kept knocking him down a peg all along.

"Oh, there's something else I need you to do," Qi Daolin said, remembering something.

"What is it?" Lin Fan asked in puzzlement, seeing how solemn the old man looked.

"The Heaven Mending Sect has been getting close to the Immortal Palace lately. I want you to go study there and learn everything they have. Know yourself and your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat." Qi Daolin was thick-skinned enough to say this quite naturally.

Lin Fan was speechless. The old man was already notorious for stealing techniques, and now he wanted Lin Fan to do it too. What a character.

He countered, "Dao Master, are you sure you want me to study there, rather than steal their techniques?"

"Ahem, that's not important. Since they're close to the Immortal Palace, they're bound to incur our sect's hatred. Don't let it weigh on you. Besides, the Heaven Mending Sect's golden body liquid is good stuff. It would be immensely useful for tempering your body.

"And their Heaven Mending Art is exceptional too. It can reverse time and space, giving you one chance to undo a mistake. That would also be useful to you. Rumor has it they once obtained the Precious Arts of the Ten Fiends as well. If you join them, you'll surely be able to learn them all."

Qi Daolin wore the expression of someone taking great pains for Lin Fan's sake, considering only his interests.

"Is that so?" Lin Fan kept feeling that something was not quite right.

Was this old man really so considerate of him? Was he not simply hoodwinking him, hoping to have another sect train his disciple while he sat back and reaped the rewards?

"Exactly. If you can also ruin the relationship between the Heaven Mending Sect and the Immortal Palace and get the two sects at each other's throats, all the better," Qi Daolin said with perfect seriousness.

"Looks like I have no choice but to go!" Lin Fan was tempted. The Heaven Mending Sect's resources really would be immensely useful to him, whether the golden body liquid or the Heaven Mending Art.

The former could raise his physical body to another level, bringing him to the Extreme Realm of body tempering and allowing him to tear enemies apart with his bare hands. The latter could let him turn a battle around once, effectively allowing him to use his Supreme Bone twice in succession.

Besides, not every divine ability would be assimilated until only its healing effect remained. Nonoffensive abilities were unaffected and retained the profound mysteries they originally possessed.