A sixth-grade Cultivation Method, stepping into Embryonic Breathing

"Elder Hun... Master, that nameless Cultivation Method you taught me last night, I want... I want to share it with Lü Yuan."

A short while earlier, Wang Yan had been the first to finish having his Spirit Aperture opened.

Standing in a corner outside the aperture-opening facility, Wang Yan waited for Lü Yuan and Lin Qi and spoke to himself, addressing the necklace on his chest.

"Why?"

"Just because you were moved by what he did to help you, you're giving him a copy of that incomparably precious Cultivation Method, one that can take you all the way to the Purple Mansion?"

"Don't you think that's far too much to give up?"

"You should know how exceedingly strange this Cultivation Method is. Its high grade, the sixth grade, is secondary."

"What matters most is that even in the present environment, it can ensure you cultivate safely without anyone seeing through you."

A weathered voice came from the necklace, but no one except Wang Yan could hear a single word.

"Think carefully. With his talent, once he has this Cultivation Method, he's destined to surpass you in the future."

"You'll live in his shadow for the rest of your life..."

"Wang Yan, can you really accept such a future?"

There was no wavering in Wang Yan's eyes. He simply asked the old man in the necklace softly in return:

"Master, why did you take me as your disciple?"

"I was a mediocrity who hadn't even entered Embryonic Breathing. All I did was give up all my cultivation talent over the years to awaken you."

"As a Purple Mansion True Person who achieved perfection in the five methods and has slumbered as a remnant soul since the ancient era of immortal cultivation-"

"If you were only considering profit and what you owed me, there was no need to take me as your disciple."

"Leaving me that Secret Method to make up for it, along with a few Technique Methods that would benefit me endlessly, would have been more than enough to repay what I gave, wouldn't it?"

"Repay the kindness of a drop of water with a gushing spring. Wasn't that what you taught me last night?"

The old man in the necklace laughed despite himself. "What a foolish boy. I don't know how a wretched world like this managed to raise someone with an innocent heart like yours."

"Forget it. Do as you please."

"Either way, it's just a sixth-grade Cultivation Method with a strange property. That Lü Yuan is an interesting boy too..."

"He has something of the style of the ancients. There's no harm in passing it on to him."

"But then again, whether Fire Virtue actually suits Lü Yuan, and whether he'll choose that lineage after having his Spirit Aperture opened, is another matter."

"Don't let all your good intentions come to nothing."

Wang Yan paid Elder Hun's words no mind.

After all, knowing Lü Yuan's exceedingly cautious nature, he was well aware that Lü Yuan would never reach a decision so quickly.

He'll definitely think it over carefully for a few days after he gets back before making his choice.

I just need to give him the Cultivation Method before then.

With a Cultivation Method that leads straight to the Purple Mansion and lets him cultivate sixth-grade Embryonic Breathing right from the start, he'll definitely choose Fire Virtue-

"What? You chose your lineage right after your Spirit Aperture was opened?"

A short while later, in the rented apartment, before giving Lü Yuan the Cultivation Method-

Wang Yan recalled his conversation with his master.

To be safe, he asked Lü Yuan one extra question: had he already chosen his lineage?

And then he received an affirmative answer that was completely beyond his expectations.

Stunned, Wang Yan bitterly regretted not telling Lü Yuan about it sooner.

He had needlessly held back Lü Yuan's future.

His astonishment, however, made Lü Yuan understand something. Lü Yuan had only just recovered from thinking, Lin Qi and I were just talking big. How did you actually come across a lucky opportunity?

"So... this nameless Cultivation Method you got from your lucky opportunity is restricted to a particular lineage?"

Lü Yuan asked softly, his expression a little strange. Wang Yan's hand, which had been holding out the Cultivation Method, stopped in midair.

He lowered his head and nodded guiltily to Lü Yuan.

"That's right. This nameless Cultivation Method belongs to Fire Virtue, and the Embryonic Breathing it cultivates, as well as the Law Power afterward, are the same."

"It's sixth grade, but because it can devour Cultivation Methods of the same origin and imitate them, even we can cultivate it safely without anyone seeing through us."

"We wouldn't need to worry about anyone discovering that we're cultivating a sixth-grade Cultivation Method that leads straight to the Purple Mansion-"

"I'm sorry. I didn't tell you sooner, and that made you choose your lineage without knowing."

"If I'd given you the Cultivation Method earlier, with your talent, as long as you chose Fire Virtue, you wouldn't have had to worry about your Embryonic Breathing or Cultivation Method being too low-grade when you took the junior college entrance exam..."

Wang Yan told him everything, unconcerned that Lü Yuan might covet his lucky opportunity or take it by force.

Perhaps many people would do just that.

But as far as Wang Yan knew him, he was absolutely not that kind of person!

Otherwise, he wouldn't have given Wang Yan a share of a thousand Spirit Stone Vouchers back then, and still less would he have paid a price to make a deal with Lin Qi for Wang Yan's sake last night.

Lü Yuan was as clever as they came. He surely knew how to gain the greatest benefit-

Most importantly, Wang Yan had Elder Hun by his side. Even if that one-in-ten-thousand possibility did come to pass, he had nothing to fear.

Wang Yan was still standing there with his head lowered in guilt.

But he hadn't noticed that Lü Yuan had already closed his eyes, at a loss for words.

Lü Yuan had been worried that if he first cultivated the fourth-grade Embryonic Breathing Cultivation Method normally issued across the board by the megacorporations' education system,

it might slow his initial cultivation progress.

Yet he had only just had his Spirit Aperture opened, and by following the Immortal Book's instructions, the problem of a Cultivation Method had been solved.

Oh my heavens, Lord Immortal Book!

So that's why you told me to choose Fire Virtue?!

I was wrong. I shouldn't have questioned your advice from last night onward.

So this was what you had waiting for me?

Thank goodness, thank goodness I trusted Lord Immortal Book completely. Once my Spirit Aperture was opened, I firmly cast aside Wood Virtue and chose Fire Virtue, which suited me second best!

But... once Lü Yuan came back to his senses, he also realized just how precious the ancient cultivator's inheritance Wang Yan had obtained was.

Even so, with a clear head, he didn't greedily try to seize it for himself.

Because, just as with Lin Qi-

Since he had a more clever way to squeeze out benefits, why use the dumbest and most irrational one?

He was already willing to share something like a sixth-grade Cultivation Method, which was bound to be a core inheritance.

As their relationship grew closer in the future, would Lü Yuan need to fear not getting the other things from his lucky opportunity?

Cast a long line to catch a big fish.

At that thought, Lü Yuan finally spoke.

"Wang Yan... your Uncle Lü Yuan has one piece of good news and one piece of bad news for you. Which do you want to hear first?"

Hearing Lü Yuan's drawling words, Wang Yan thought of a possibility and raised his head in disbelief.

No way. I've been feeling guilty all this time. It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?

Even Elder Hun in the necklace was wondering to himself at that moment.

Luck?

Or was it sheer coincidence, and Lü Yuan chose Fire Virtue simply because it suited him best?

"Can I hear the good news first?" Wang Yan asked hopefully.

"The good news is, what a coincidence: Fire Virtue suited me best out of all the lineages, so that's what I chose on the spot," Lü Yuan replied softly.

Hearing the answer he wanted, Wang Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had nearly ended up feeling guilty about it for the rest of his life. But who would have thought fate could be so coincidental?

"Then what's the bad news?"

His spirits restored, Wang Yan was a little puzzled. He didn't understand why there was bad news when Lü Yuan had made the right choice.

Lü Yuan narrowed his eyes and said mildly, "The bad news is, I've suddenly become very lost."

Lost?

Wang Yan hurriedly asked, "Why?"

Lü Yuan said with a straight face, "Because I've realized everything seems to have gone a little too smoothly for me from beginning to end. You could even say it's gone incredibly smoothly. For the moment, I'm having a little trouble finding a reason to strive."

"Take the junior college entrance exam. It used to feel impossibly out of reach, but now it doesn't seem all that hard..."

Wang Yan had thought it was a real problem, only to have Lü Yuan show off in his face. Black lines appeared on his forehead, and he sighed helplessly.

Inside the necklace, Elder Hun, who came from the old era, also found this new-era cultivator's humblebrag hard to stomach.

"Hey, what an arrogant brat. Little Yanzi, doesn't that boy Lü Yuan love making bets?"

"Do what that little girl did before and make a bet with him today. For no other reason than to take the wind out of his sails!"

"Of course, show him what you can do too, and make him understand that talent without hard work is still useless!"

Wang Yan was grateful for everything Lü Yuan had done for him.

But as a former rival who had always regarded Lü Yuan as his archrival, how could Wang Yan have completely lost the desire to compete with him?

His master's words were therefore exactly what he wanted to hear.

So Wang Yan looked straight at Lü Yuan, who seemed utterly bored, as if life had lost its meaning, and abruptly made a bold declaration:

"Lü Yuan, if you can't find a goal to strive for, then come compete with me, now that I've had a lucky opportunity!"

At that, Wang Yan smiled confidently. "Just so you know, that Cultivation Method isn't the only thing in the ancient cultivator's inheritance I obtained."

"Add in the Secret Method you helped me obtain, and when it comes to cultivation alone, I might just be able to catch up to you-"

Lü Yuan tilted his head, as though he hadn't quite heard him. "Say that again. Are you sure you want to compete with me?"

Wang Yan nodded without a moment's hesitation. "That's right. How about a bet? We'll see who enters Embryonic Breathing first. Whoever loses picks something from their lucky opportunity to share with the other."

"How about it?"

Lü Yuan raised his eyebrows. "See who enters Embryonic Breathing first?"

Wang Yan met his gaze. "Yes-"

Then the smile froze on Wang Yan's face.

For in the very next instant, just as his answer fell, a faint fluctuation stirred up a wave of air that swept across his face.

A hand then reached out in front of him.

As Elder Hun cried out, "Holy shit!" from inside the necklace, Lü Yuan curled his lips and beckoned to Wang Yan:

"All right, I win."

"What other good things did you get from that ancient cultivator's inheritance? Take them out and let me have a look."