Student, Teacher!

In less than half an hour, Mu Guanchen had finished revising all the cultivation techniques and martial skills. He handed them to Song Shi. "After you give these to the Martial Pavilion, don't say I was the one who revised them. Once you get the money, buy a few things for me: one Great Tribulation Pill, a hundred jin of demon beast meat from beasts of king rank or above, and five immortal-rank demon beast inner cores. If there's an emperor-rank one, buy one of those too..."

"Impossible!"

Song Shi hurriedly said, "That money won't come close to buying an emperor-rank one. Even for immortal-rank ones, I'll have to swallow my pride and haggle."

Mu Guanchen nodded. "Then buy immortal-rank ones. Besides those, see if you can buy a bottle of Divine Marrow Spirit Liquid..."

Song Shi's face immediately darkened. "Brother, Divine Marrow Spirit Liquid costs at least six hundred thousand spirit crystals on the market right now, and that's the lowest price..."

Mu Guanchen said solemnly, "His body is too weak right now. He needs Divine Marrow Spirit Liquid to nourish it, or his physical body won't be able to advance any further. And if he doesn't lay a solid foundation now, the further he goes, the more problems his body will have. You know all that."

Song Shi said, "Of course I know, but the money-where is the money supposed to come from?"

Mu Guanchen said, "Don't you know how to rob tombs?"

"Fuck."

Song Shi glared at him. "What are you talking about? What I do is called archaeology."

Mu Guanchen nodded. "You're the academy head. You should contribute something too."

Song Shi thought for a moment, then said, "When the time comes, I'll take him with me to rob... to do archaeology. He can go out and gain some experience. He's very lacking in actual combat, so he needs to temper himself somewhere dangerous."

Mu Guanchen said, "That works. First, buy the Divine Marrow Spirit Liquid and those pills. He urgently needs them."

Song Shi: "..."

After Song Shi left, Mu Guanchen returned to his hall. He sat down behind his desk and looked at the bamboo slips before him. He pondered for a long time before finally picking up his brush, but stopped again after writing only a few words. Then he shook his head. "That's not right..."

He remained silent for a long, long time. Finally, he rose and walked to the entrance of the hall. Looking up toward the edge of the sky, he said softly, "Equality..."

The back mountain.

Ye Tianming was now like an old monk deep in meditation, his heart completely at peace. A moment later, he began to sense the earth. Gradually, excitement appeared on his face, for he sensed the power of the earth veins deep beneath the ground.

That vast power lay buried deep within the earth, boundless and inexhaustible.

He began circulating his cultivation technique. Soon, some power of the earth surged up from underground and flowed into his body through his arms.

Ye Tianming's body trembled. It felt incredibly good.

Sensing the boundless power of the earth veins deep underground, Ye Tianming said excitedly, "Tower Ancestor, I feel like I'm going to be invincible."

Little Pagoda: "..."

Ye Tianming could barely contain his excitement. "Tower Ancestor, once I master this power of the earth, who in heaven and earth will be a match for me?"

Little Pagoda said gravely, "Calm down. Based on my past experience, whenever you start thinking like that, a brutal beating comes next."

Ye Tianming: "..."

Ye Tianming began trying to devour the power of the earth. After devouring some of it, he felt a surge of relief, for he discovered that it contained a great many impurities. If he hadn't already revised his cultivation technique, the consequences of devouring that impure power into his body would have been unthinkable.

Now, however, his cultivation technique could filter it, so the power of the earth he absorbed was relatively pure. Soon, a faint, earthy-gold light appeared around him. It was power of the earth spilling out.

Ye Tianming slowly clenched his right hand. At that moment, he felt his body brim with mighty power. Suddenly, he slammed a fist into the ground.

Boom!

The entire ground shattered with a thunderous crash, leaving a huge, deep pit.

Inside the pit, Ye Tianming looked excited. "Tower Ancestor, is this the power of the earth? It's so strong."

Little Pagoda said, "Mm, very strong."

Ye Tianming felt that Tower Ancestor's tone was somewhat perfunctory, but he didn't ask further. He looked at his fist, which glowed with a faint golden light, unable to hide his excitement. If he combined the power of the earth with the Heaven-Slaying Sword-Drawing Technique, it would be absolutely terrifying.

But there was a problem: his body couldn't withstand it. Although he now had a Glazed Body, even that was nowhere near enough to withstand the power of the earth combined with the stacked Heaven-Slaying Sword-Drawing Technique. Besides that, there was the sword. An ordinary sword couldn't withstand it at all either.

As if something had occurred to him, Ye Tianming took out the Sword of Upholding the Dao. He knew this sword would certainly be able to withstand the power of the earth and the stacked Heaven-Slaying Sword-Drawing Technique.

Even so, he put the Sword of Upholding the Dao away.

He wasn't being rigid. To him, this sword could only be used at a critical moment. If he used it normally, it would lift him to a height that wasn't his own, and that wouldn't be a good thing for him.

Moreover, anyone could see that this sword was no ordinary object. Exposing it often might also invite trouble.

"Did you succeed?"

Just then, a voice suddenly came from the side.

Ye Tianming turned and saw that it was Mu Guanchen.

Ye Tianming hurriedly cupped his hands and bowed. "Teacher," he said respectfully.

Mu Guanchen smiled. "Let's eat."

Ye Tianming nodded. "All right."

Master and disciple returned to the front of the hall. As before, they had wild vegetable hot pot, but Ye Tianming ate with great relish.

Mu Guanchen asked, "How does the power of the earth feel?"

Ye Tianming said excitedly, "Strong. Very, very strong."

Mu Guanchen smiled and said nothing.

Ye Tianming said, "Teacher, if I use this power of the earth in my sword technique, it will become very, very strong. Unfortunately, my physical body can't withstand it at all right now, and I'm still lacking a sword."

Mu Guanchen said, "Don't you have a sword?"

Ye Tianming said, "There's something you don't know, Teacher. That sword is somewhat special. I don't dare use it lightly."

Mu Guanchen smiled. "Indeed... May I take a look at your sword?"

Ye Tianming nodded. "Of course."

With that, he handed the Sword of Upholding the Dao to Mu Guanchen.

Mu Guanchen took the sword and examined it, then looked at Ye Tianming. "How did you obtain this sword?"

Ye Tianming said, "This sword and my Tower Ancestor have been with me since I was little."

Mu Guanchen looked at Ye Tianming. "May I speak with your Tower Ancestor alone?"

Though puzzled, Ye Tianming nodded. "All right."

He took out Little Pagoda, then picked out some vegetables and put them in his bowl. He rose and headed outside.

Mu Guanchen looked at Little Pagoda. "Your Excellency, what do you intend by staying with this child?"

Little Pagoda said, "Are you afraid I'll hurt him?"

Mu Guanchen nodded. "Some so-called big shots always like to lay plans and use ordinary living beings as chess pieces... But you probably aren't one of them."

Little Pagoda said, "Why?"

Mu Guanchen smiled faintly. "You look very simple!"

Little Pagoda: "???"

Mu Guanchen looked at the Sword of Upholding the Dao before him, lost in thought.

Little Pagoda laughed. "Can you understand this sword?"

Mu Guanchen glanced at Little Pagoda, then said, "If I'm not mistaken, this sword itself is actually just an ordinary sword, but it contains a kind of Dao. It's a Dao whose upper limit I cannot see, and it can disregard every realm, divine ability, law, and Great Dao in the world... Am I right?"

Little Pagoda was shocked. "How can you tell? I can sense that you have no cultivation whatsoever."

Mu Guanchen looked at Little Pagoda. "You really bear him no ill will?"

Little Pagoda laughed. "Even if I did bear him ill will, what could you do to us?"

Mu Guanchen glanced at the Sword of Upholding the Dao in his hand. "Though I have no cultivation whatsoever, I should be able to do something to you."

Little Pagoda: "..."

Mu Guanchen suddenly laughed. "I worried too much."

With that, he placed the Sword of Upholding the Dao in front of Little Pagoda, then rose and left.

Little Pagoda suddenly said, "You know what makes this sword special, and you're not tempted by it?"

Mu Guanchen turned and gave Little Pagoda a strange look.

Little Pagoda said gravely, "What's with that look?"

Mu Guanchen smiled. "There's an old saying: 'Only one who has done nothing to weigh on his conscience in life dares face the heavens after death.' I, Mu Guanchen, came into this world with a clear conscience, and I intend to leave it with one too. Let alone one sword-even ten thousand or a million swords like this wouldn't make me lose my conscience."

With that, he walked away.

Little Pagoda asked again, "Aren't you curious about his identity, then?"

In the distance, Mu Guanchen didn't even turn his head. "Whether he's a person of destiny or an ordinary commoner, it makes no difference to me. In my heart, he is the student and I am the teacher. That's all."

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