A Plan to Deceive the Heavens and Cross the Sea

"What? Wang Yan's Spiritual Qi aptitude was only 3?"

"So even though he was quite talented in the martial art of driving screws, he had no real potential on the immortal path. His aptitude was the lowest grade."

"Unbelievable. He was recommended by the factory, yet his Spiritual Qi aptitude was only 3-"

"With a Spiritual Qi aptitude of 3, what future could he possibly have? So what if the factory recommended him?"

"Maybe when we enroll ten years from now, we'll get to be classmates with him after he's been held back."

When Wang Yan's test results came out,

doubts and mockery came at him from all sides. Noisy whispers filled the air, impossible to suppress.

They couldn't be blamed for being snobbish, because this was a world of capitalist cultivation, where the weak were prey to the strong.

When you were strong, it was only right to fawn over you. But now that you had suddenly fallen to rock bottom, don't blame them for stepping on you.

It was only human nature.

Besides, among those present who had already taken the test, Spiritual Qi aptitude was generally around 10.

And the factory-recommended students from the other three districts who had taken the test had all scored over 20.

So when an isolated case appeared with the lowest possible score, it was naturally worth talking about at length!

Who didn't enjoy a good show, and the chance to kick one of those once-unreachable "factory darlings" while they were at it?

Besides, never mind them-even Wang Yan himself could hardly accept such a drastic fall.

On top of that, the words around him fell on the eight-year-old's ears like needles and scorching flames, yet he didn't know whether he should be sad or angry.

The only thing he could still be thankful for was that his hard work had previously earned him a factory recommendation.

That had always been the hope the True Lords gave to those at the bottom.

So there was no chance of him being replaced or the decision being changed.

Otherwise, if it caused a bad reaction and those above decided to hold someone responsible, what then?

Some things were fine until they were put on the scales; once weighed, even a thousand catties couldn't stop the balance from tipping.

Look on the bright side. At least I still have a chance to go to elementary school, don't I?

I'm only eight. There's a long road ahead of me. Who can say I won't turn things around?

Wang Yan stepped down from the machine and clenched his fists, walking toward the very back as the crowd watched him with cold sneers and cutting remarks.

When the people around him gradually thinned out, he raised his head again, intending to find an empty spot to sit quietly for a while.

But as luck would have it, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Lü Yuan standing not far away, also at the very back.

Seeing how composed and calm Lü Yuan still looked, Wang Yan suddenly remembered what he had said to him on the bus.

Then he fell into thought.

Why did he say that?

Why did he seem so sure of himself and unruffled from beginning to end, as though he had known all the results in advance?

Both my test result and the outcome of the bet...

He wanted very much to go over and ask, but thinking of his present situation, he gently shook his head.

Then he turned his head away bitterly and was about to walk toward a corner when he heard a voice from not far away.

"Come over if you want to. Who are you putting on that dead biological driftwood look for?"

Lü Yuan hadn't said that for no reason. On the contrary, he had chosen to do so after careful consideration in a short span of time.

Normally, if it had been some stranger, given his temperament, he would have joined everyone else in roasting the guy long ago.

Stand in the middle and roast both sides-whatever made for a good show.

But Wang Yan was a little different. The lesser reason was that Lü Yuan knew him fairly well; the main reason was that he had a problem right now.

And Wang Yan might be able to help him.

For some time, Lü Yuan had been troubled by the question of how he could cultivate using ancient cultivator Lü Yuan's Spirit Root once he enrolled and began cultivating in earnest.

After searching for information online, he had learned that cultivating with a Spirit Root caused a far greater commotion than cultivating with only two open Spirit Apertures.

This was what gave him the greatest headache. If he didn't use it, he would lose out terribly.

But once he officially began cultivating with the Spirit Root, there would be no hiding it.

The big data behind capitalist cultivation would quickly zero in on him.

What, send the Spirit Root back and the problem would be solved because they couldn't find it?

Artificial Spirit Aperture company: "Hilarious. So you don't have a Spirit Root, but your cultivation can still produce the same commotion and efficiency as one?"

"Come on, let me see how you developed, and whether your development was normal."

"Let me see whether your constitution can be mass-produced!"

Normally, this situation was unavoidable.

Even if his Spirit Root aptitude tested close to 50 this time, there was no way he could use two Spirit Apertures to approach the level of cultivation with a Spirit Root.

If others couldn't find a Spirit Root in him, they could only conclude that the issue lay with him personally.

And in this era, when there was no shortage of people cultivating immortality, he would surely be captured and sliced up for study.

Of course, it was also possible that an artificial Spirit Root company would kill him to silence him.

Artificial Spirit Root company: "This is ridiculous. If someone with a little more talent can use Spirit Apertures to catch up to a Spirit Root, then aren't Spirit Roots being sold for such high prices for nothing?"

"If your constitution can be mass-produced and artificial Spirit Apertures come to dominate the market, how am I supposed to stay in business?"

"This is no ordinary hostile force. We have to strike hard!"

Currently, artificial Spirit Aperture technology could open two at most. The third generation of the technology had yet to be developed, though perhaps it would be possible to open more in the future.

At fifteen thousand apiece, the two together cost only thirty thousand in Spirit Stone Vouchers.

But how much did an artificial Spirit Root sell for?

Even one of the lowest grade cost over a million. After all, it was one of the thresholds for reaching the Purple Mansion.

And now he was saying his talent could rival the immortal-path potential that over a million could buy?

Naturally, the company couldn't let him live.

His single-track approach had left him blocked at both ends, so Lü Yuan could only look elsewhere for a solution.

The first thing he turned to was the Immortal Book. Unfortunately, it ignored him as usual.

This time, even ancient cultivator Lü Yuan couldn't get an answer.

The Immortal Book itself probably wasn't without a solution.

After all, it could produce a seventh-grade Embryonic Breathing Cultivation Method and even open an account across worlds for a reincarnated Purple Mansion cultivator.

That could only mean there was no method suitable for him, or that punk Lü Yuan couldn't use its method on his side.

They were two different worlds, after all. It was perfectly normal for some things to work only on one side.

For example, if punk Lü Yuan sent a phone over, it wouldn't work there either, because there was no Immortal Network signal.

Under the present circumstances, among the people around him, perhaps only Lin Qi, a reincarnated Purple Mansion cultivator, had a solution.

And there was a good chance she did. After all, she had been a Celestial Dragon in her previous life, a Purple Mansion True Person who had cultivated two Divine Abilities.

Surely she had a method suited to this world that could conceal the commotion of cultivation.

But how could he get a method from her?

After winning the bet, should he forgo the fifteen thousand in Spirit Stone Vouchers and ask whether she had a method instead?

After all, that was half his starting capital. Its importance at this humble stage went without saying-

But punk Lü Yuan knew the prevailing habits on their side, which he had always loathed.

If he really dared say that, having her demand a lion's share from him in return would be the lesser problem.

The real problem would be her guessing why he wanted to hide the fact that he had a Spirit Root.

Lü Yuan didn't dare underestimate a reincarnated Purple Mansion cultivator and presume she wouldn't notice anything amiss.

So for the past few days, he had been thinking about how exactly to obtain a method from Lin Qi without a hitch.

Use force to interrogate her, then kill her to silence her?

No. Although she was currently just a little girl without the strength to truss a chicken,

what era was this? It wasn't like the ancient cultivation world, where people could kill and burn without anyone caring.

These days, even a higher cultivator had to pay compensation for killing a lower cultivator without a permit, let alone lowly beasts like them daring to kill one another.

It simply wasn't worth the cost.

Then should he act mysterious, pretend to be a reincarnated Purple Mansion cultivator himself, and use the offer of opening an account for her to bluff her and get her under his thumb?

Or should he use the only sixth-grade sword instruction among the Technique Methods he currently possessed to exchange for Technique Methods and Law Techniques of equal value?

And take the opportunity to sound her out about whether she had a method?

Though the risk was great, this had been the safest approach Lü Yuan could think of before today.

The risks of the other methods were practically a dead end.

But now, the unexpected situation with Wang Yan had given him a new idea.

Punk Lü Yuan thought to himself, If I can establish my persona as "Mingyang City's Timely Rain" this time...

Then maybe I can use Wang Yan as a shield and achieve my goal.

After all, it's perfectly reasonable for me, someone who's always cold on the outside but warm on the inside, to care about the future of one of my few friends, right?

And with her starting capital and all her other oddities, it's perfectly normal for me to suspect she's had some fortuitous encounter, right?

Of course, there was one final reason he had chosen Wang Yan, and it was the most important one.

Though Wang Yan had been corrupted by his surroundings just like Lü Yuan, he was different from the others.

He was someone who repaid kindness, and he was foolish enough to be trustworthy.

Foolish enough that after learning of—or rather, witnessing with his own eyes-something Lü Yuan had once done that could have doomed him beyond redemption,

he hadn't chosen to expose him and send him plummeting into a bottomless abyss.

Instead, he had helped him out and faithfully kept his secret ever since-

That was why Lü Yuan had chosen him as a shield rather than use his previous plan.

There really was something wrong with that previous plan...

Really.