Supreme Technique

Learning that he could leave filled Lin Fan with joy. At last, he could get far away from this freak and head out into the dazzling world beyond.

But then he wondered how he was supposed to leave. Dangers lurked everywhere outside. Wouldn't a little rookie with nothing but brute strength be serving himself up on a platter?

Lin Fan looked at Ye Qingxian with heartfelt sincerity and flashed a radiant smile. "Boss, don't worry. I'll cultivate diligently out there and never disgrace you. It's just... how am I supposed to get out of here?"

"Nothing could be simpler!" The corners of Ye Qingxian's lips rose slightly in an uncanny smile. Her peerlessly beautiful face, lovely enough to make one swoon, now sent chills down his spine.

Lin Fan couldn't help shivering. Whenever he saw that expression on Ye Qingxian's face, he knew something bad was about to happen.

That stunning face, which could leave him spellbound, now looked like a devil's. Sure enough, an abyss lurked behind beauty.

"Um... haha... there's no need to trouble you, Boss. Your little underling will just find his own way out." As Lin Fan spoke, he cautiously backed away, as though what stood before him was not a fairy but a ferocious beast.

"It's no trouble. This is the Uninhabited Zone, you know. It's very dangerous. Let this immortal give you a ride!" Ye Qingxian looked at Lin Fan with a faint, ambiguous smile. A glint of cunning flashed through her eyes, and something seemed distinctly wrong.

Crack!

Suddenly, she raised her delicate hand and lightly slashed through thin air. Crystalline light radiated from it, and mysterious runes bloomed as she sliced open a rift in the void, exposing an aura of nothingness within.

The next instant, Ye Qingxian swiftly grabbed Lin Fan by the collar and lifted him like a little chick.

Then, as though tossing out garbage, she mercilessly threw Lin Fan into the rift.

"Ah... Ye Qingxian, fuck your ancestors..." A young child's screams and curses echoed incessantly through the spatial passage, utterly harrowing.

Inside the rift's tunnel, it was as though a river of time flowed past. Densely packed spatial forces whipped up a storm, slashing Lin Fan like sheets of blades and scattering great sprays of blood.

"Oh dear, I forgot he hasn't cultivated runes yet. He can't withstand spatial tremors. Will something go wrong?" Ye Qingxian's cherry lips formed an "o." She patted her forehead, seemingly reproaching herself for forgetting.

But she immediately smiled nonchalantly again and muttered, "Oh well. He's an unkillable little cockroach with a stubborn grip on life. He should be fine. Besides, who told him to keep scaring me when I was little?"

Looking back, Ye Qingxian had certainly had an unforgettable childhood. Even now, the thought of it made her shudder.

The Nine Heavens and Ten Earths were vast-boundless, one could say-with billions upon billions... upon billions of living beings. For many, an entire lifetime was not enough to cross even one heaven or earth, or even a single nation, domain, or province. The distances were simply too great.

Even light-years were insufficient to measure the distances involved. Only great cultivators could traverse them, and even those at the Cultivator Leader level could hardly travel throughout every land.

This was where Spatial Teleportation became especially important. It could drastically shorten the journey between two places, surpassing any divine ability of extreme speed.

Traveling through space was not entirely safe, however. The void was unstable, especially for beings with low cultivation.

"Ahhh... Ye Qingxian, one day I'll make you pay..." Lin Fan kept cursing inside the spatial passage, his voice hoarse and his breath barely a thread. Under the spatial forces, he had become a figure drenched in blood, his clothes dyed red.

He had known it. Whenever the corners of her lips curled up and her face filled with smiles, nothing good could follow.

Was this anything a human being would do? He was only four, still a child. How could he possibly cross the void safely?

Besides, that damned woman had never taught him to cultivate. He really had nothing but brute strength and a little fumbling exploration based on his memories. He was utterly screwed.

"I've only just left the mountains. Am I going to die again already..." Lin Fan's consciousness began to blur, yet the end of the passage was still nowhere in sight.

Silvery-white light continued to sweep down, sharp as metal, hacking into him stroke after stroke as though intent on slicing him apart in a death by a thousand cuts. Fissures covered his body, exposing tendons and bones.

"It hurts so much... I'll probably die from the pain before I'm hacked to death!" Lin Fan could scarcely bear the agony. Had his soul been only four years old, he would have given out long ago.

Hum!

At that moment, his chest lit up, erupting with green divine light that flowed into every limb and bone. A tremendous aura of life surged forth, stabilizing his wounded body and even slowly restoring it.

"What warm power... this is my Supreme Bone. The pressure actually activated it, and now it's working on its own." Lin Fan felt as though he were soaking in a hot spring, wonderfully warm.

The power was extraordinary. He seemed to feel the long-lost embrace of a mother, and his body, which had been on the verge of falling apart, was stabilized and slowly repaired.

He had long known that an extra bone had grown in his chest. In his previous life, this was commonly called a bone spur-a medical condition best cut out and treated early.

In this world, however, things were different. He knew this made him a First Generation, one in ten thousand, a bona fide Supreme Seedling with the potential to reach the supreme realm. When he first discovered it, he had been overjoyed. He had never expected to possess such talent.

It meant he had been born ahead at the starting line, a step in front of everyone else. His talent was destined to be anything but poor.

Since he had never had a cultivation method or mastered bone text, he had been unable to use it. He could not look within himself and had no idea what his Innate Divine Ability was.

Only today had he learned that it was a healing-related Divine Art. Though far removed from what he had imagined-not a devastating offensive Precious Art-it was better than nothing. It was still a Supreme Technique.

Besides, without this Precious Art now, he truly would have been done for, off to reincarnate all over again.

"When is this going to end? Pain and comfort at the same time-this is torture!" Lin Fan wailed as he gazed down the endless passage. Spatial wind blades ravaged him while his inborn Precious Art healed him.

And so he remained in the void for an unknown length of time, until at last the spatial passage exploded with a boom. An opening finally appeared, and Lin Fan tumbled out, catching sight of the great world outside.

Whoosh!

Like a brilliant meteor, he streaked across the night sky with a comet's tail, shimmering green and lighting up the starry heavens as he fell toward a stretch of primeval mountains.

Lin Fan fell so fast that sparks flew from his clothes. From this height, even with a healing Precious Art, he would probably be smashed to pieces.

"Seriously? I just escaped with my life, and now I'm going to fall to my death? Why am I so unlucky?" Lin Fan felt his whole life turn bleak. How had he ended up meeting a walking disaster like Ye Qingxian? She was tormenting him to death, leaving him no way to survive.

As the ground drew ever closer, he had only one thought: to curse Ye Qingxian ten million times. He also paid his respects to all eighteen generations of her ancestors, especially that Ye Fengchu who had falsified academic credentials.

Then Lin Fan closed his eyes and quietly awaited death, sighing inwardly. My poor life, which should have been so glorious, is ending before it even begins!

The next instant, a pair of deep eyes opened within the mountains. They belonged to an old man, who looked up into the sky in astonishment. "A First Generation who has never cultivated?! Falling into my sect like this-is this heaven's gift to my Supreme Dao Arena?"

The old man wore golden Daoist robes, his hair white as snow. Seated cross-legged atop the mountain, he had the bearing of an immortal and an air of transcendence, untouched by worldly dust.

Then he flicked his embroidered sleeve, which immediately transformed into a great golden hand and caught the child just before he could be smashed into pulp.

"Remarkable. To cross the void in a mortal body and survive-you are meant to join my lineage." The old man's expression was kindly, his smile warm. He drew the child over and examined him carefully.

Lin Fan opened his bleary eyes and realized he was still alive. Before he could rejoice, however, he noticed a strange old man studying him.

With crane-white hair, a youthful face, and a faint smile, the old man gave him the feeling that his entire being had been seen through. Goosebumps rose at once, and unpleasant possibilities came to mind.