「Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.」
Shuidong Liu was finally hungry—so hungry he could eat a whole cow.
The doors to the Underground Palace opened for the first time.
“Sir!”
The first person he saw was Xiao Yue’Er.
The anxiety in her eyes instantly gave way to a brilliant light.
She rushed forward, nearly throwing herself into Shuidong Liu’s arms.
“Yue’Er!” Shuidong Liu caught her.
“Sir, it’s been ten days!
You haven’t come out at all.
The young miss has been worried sick!”
Otherwise, why would Xiao Yue’Er have come to the island?
‘Ten days?’
Shuidong Liu thought it had been two days at most.
He looked at Xiao Yue’Er guiltily.
“I’m sorry I made you worry.
I just got completely absorbed and lost track of time.
I’m fine!”
“Mm,” Xiao Yue’Er breathed a sigh of relief.
She could sense that the aura around Shuidong Liu had grown even more profound and inscrutable.
“Sir, you’ve gotten stronger!”
“Yes, I’ve absorbed all the Luminous Jades your second brother gave me!”
“What!?”
Xiao Yue’Er and Xiaoyu were both stunned.
“All twelve of them?
You absorbed them all?”
“A Martial Artist in the Ten Realms of the Body would absorb them slowly, needing about three months for a single piece.
And…
Sir, you didn’t even have a breakthrough!”
“Not yet.
I’m close, though!”
“Come with me!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Xiao Yue’Er pulled Shuidong Liu over to Xiao Xiang’Er.
“Sister, I need some Luminous Jade!”
“There’s some in my room.
Get it yourself.”
Xiao Yue’Er didn’t stand on ceremony.
She went into the bamboo house and saw several Luminous Jades arranged neatly on a table.
She grabbed a handful and pressed them into Shuidong Liu’s hands.
“Sir, absorb them right here!”
“Miss, Sir hasn’t eaten in ten days!” Xiaoyu’s reminder made Xiao Yue’Er snap back to reality.
「After the meal.」
Shuidong Liu gripped a Luminous Jade tightly in each hand.
Jade-colored light streamed through his fists as the Spiritual Qi transformed into visible currents of air that flowed into his nostrils.
Xiao Yue’Er’s eyes widened at the sight, while Xiaoyu covered her mouth, utterly speechless.
Xiao Xiang’Er, having just returned from watering her plants, stared in a daze.
Even Xiao Yue’Er, who had seen all sorts of prodigies at Yunlong Academy, had never witnessed anyone absorb Luminous Jade in such a manner, causing it to turn into a smoke-like Spiritual Qi that flowed directly into their nose.
Shuidong Liu, however, only felt a piercing pain all over his body.
Every pore seemed to open, breathing in and out, and every strand of his hair swayed joyfully.
His veins coursed with Spiritual Qi, which then rushed rapidly into his bones.
Shuidong Liu felt something breaking within him.
Looking inward, he saw every one of his bones begin to glow with a jade-like luster, its radiant light piercing through his flesh.
To Xiao Yue’Er and the others, Shuidong Liu’s entire body was now radiating a jade-colored light, making him appear so divine he hardly seemed human.
Even Xiao Yue’Er failed to notice the colossal phantom that had materialized behind Shuidong Liu, a figure of impossible height standing in the void!
“What Cultivation Technique is this?” Xiao Xiang’Er asked, taking the initiative.
Xiao Yue’Er smiled.
“You’re interested too, Sister?”
Xiao Xiang’Er shook her head.
“Merely curious.”
With that, she turned and walked back to the window.
She picked up a book titled *Desolate Ancient*, ignoring their presence as she reclined on her chaise lounge and began to read.
Xiaoyu glanced at her, then looked outside.
A lovely young woman stood at the door.
It was Xiao Xiang’Er’s only Maid, though she didn’t serve on the island every day.
Shuidong Liu opened his eyes, and his gaze seemed sharp enough to pierce through space itself.
“Ah…” Xiao Yue’Er jumped in surprise.
But Xiao Xiang’Er, engrossed in her book, heard nothing.
“Great Success!” Shuidong Liu was stunned.
Huang Wenlong and the others had said that a single piece of Luminous Jade could help someone break through to the Super Body Realm, or even the Extraordinary Realm.
And yet, after absorbing fifteen pieces, all he had managed to do was advance the first level of his *Profound Yellow Undying Body*—Jade Bone—from Minor Achievement to Great Success.
‘How many more Luminous Jades will I need to reach Perfection?’
He even began to wonder: was the issue with the Cultivation Technique, or was it his own mysterious constitution?
“Sir, you…
you seem different!”
“How am I different?”
“Your skin!
Look…” Xiao Yue’Er held out her hand, comparing it to his.
Xiao Yue’Er pouted.
“Your skin is even better than mine!”
‘So it’s the same no matter where you go.’
‘Women always care about their looks and their skin.’
Shuidong Liu said, “It’s a Body Refining Technique.
I can teach it to you.”
‘I’m a good guy, after all,’ Shuidong Liu thought.
‘What’s the point of having something like this if I don’t share it with my future wife?’
‘I don’t want to be standing alone at the pinnacle of existence a thousand years from now, do I?’
But the brilliant Xiao Yue’Er just couldn’t get the hang of it.
“Why can’t I do it?” Xiao Yue’Er began to seriously doubt herself.
‘Am I even a genius?’
Shuidong Liu didn’t understand either.
Just then, Xiao Xiang’Er lowered her book and said coolly, “Yue’Er, do you know where life resides?
Or where to find the Laws of the world?”
“Huh?” Xiao Yue’Er was taken aback.
This was the second time her sister had spoken to her of her own accord today.
It was truly unprecedented.
“What do you mean, Sister?”
“The world,” Xiao Xiang’Er said.
“All things are born of the world.
Countless Cultivation Techniques come from humanity’s comprehension of the world, and all Laws originate from the world.”
“I know that!”
“You do not.”
Xiao Yue’Er was dumbfounded.
Xiaoyu and the others were, too.
Shuidong Liu, however, nodded.
“The Eldest Miss is trying to say that Yue’Er is too focused on the technique itself, like trying to build a cart without ever seeing the road.
You aren’t observing the world, experiencing life, or contemplating the origin of all things.”
“Because all Cultivation Techniques originate from these very things.”
Xiao Xiang’Er glanced at Shuidong Liu but said nothing, simply returning to her book.
Xiao Yue’Er felt her sister was impossibly profound.
That single insight had completely overshadowed her own supposed genius.
Shuidong Liu nodded.
“I’ve heard many stories where the greatest masters loved to gaze at the heavens.”
“Gaze at the heavens?”
“The movements of the stars, the changing of the seasons, the origin of all things—these are the traces of the Law!” Shuidong Liu said.
“Don’t rush.
Take your time.”
Shuidong Liu was worried that Xiao Yue’Er would grow discouraged.
After all, failing to learn a single technique would be a huge blow to the confidence of a genius like her.
But Xiao Yue’Er just giggled.
“If I can’t learn it, that just proves how amazing you are, Sir!”
‘Her future husband was this incredible; what was there to be disappointed about?’
‘So what if I can’t learn it!’
Shuidong Liu smiled.
“By the way, has anything happened these past ten days?
Did anyone come looking for me?
Or cause any trouble?”
Xiaoyu couldn’t help but chime in.
“It’s strange, actually.
The past ten days have been very quiet and peaceful.
Even the gossip in the city has died down quite a bit.”
“Sir, why don’t you just stay here and cultivate?
If you don’t go out, you won’t run into any trouble!”
Xiaoyu’s way of thinking was, of course, a bit naive.
Shuidong Liu then asked, “How is Wen Long’s training coming along?”
“He still hasn’t gotten the hang of it.
He says he’s not in a rush, but you can tell he’s getting anxious and his form is getting sloppier.
His attacks look powerful, but they consume far too much energy.
At this rate, he’d be lucky to manage two strikes with his Sword!”
Shuidong Liu understood perfectly.
‘The essence of any Cultivation Technique is to unleash the greatest power with the least amount of energy.’
‘Otherwise, in a fight, if your opponent can deliver ten strikes with the same power you use for one, wouldn’t you be killed in an instant?’
Shuidong Liu was pondering this when he noticed Xiao Yue’Er hesitating as if she wanted to say something.
“What is it?” he asked.
“The letter I sent to the capital… my father and the academy’s headmaster intercepted it.
It never reached His Majesty.
So… the charges against you, Sir… they can’t be cleared!”
“So that’s what happened.” Shuidong Liu actually smiled.
“I committed no crime.
Why would I need *him* to clear my name?”
The jaws of Xiao Yue’Er, Xiaoyu, and the others dropped.
Even Xiao Xiang’Er couldn’t help but glance over.
“Sir!”
“What crime did my late father commit?
Treason?
Usurping the throne?
Back then, he was deep in the Guanghan Dynasty’s territory, on the verge of conquering Guanghan City itself.
But his supply lines were cut!”
“Even so, his three hundred thousand soldiers braved the elements.
They did not fear death.
And the result?”
“Thirteen Gold Medals, each a death knell!
He returned to Yunlong City only to face the executioner’s blade!
His crime, the world asks?
‘Treason with a mighty army.’ And who writes the histories?
They all say the charge was a fabrication!”