Chapter 2193: Sharpness
All cultivation systems could be traced back to their origin. For example, both battle force and domains had been developed by the ancient Dao Monarch of the Third Mainland, but the Origin Progenitor had been above even the Dao Monarchs.
Lu Yin had trained in various cultivation methods. While it looked confusing and messy, as Mister Mu had said, Lu Yin just needed to cultivate each to the extreme.
When Lu Yin had first heard that comment from Mister Mu, he had a.s.sumed that he truly had to reach the peak with each cultivation method. But at this moment, he realized what Mister Mu had truly meant: everything returns to the origin. Once any power was cultivated to the extreme, they would be connected to each other in a chain.
The Ce Secret Art, Inverse Step, and the void G.o.d level of mastery of a domain all looked like they involved the power of s.p.a.ce, but they were also related to the power of time. This meant that a person could learn to control the void, see through it, and even touch upon the ability to control time.
Lu Yin’s eyes snapped open. All of humanity’s various cultivation methods had been derived from a single origin, and in the end, they all returned to that source.
After emerging from the void G.o.d level domain, Lu Yin offered Mr. Tang a bow. "Thank you, sir."
Mr. Tang responded a bit emotionally. "Prof. Hao Yu is a genius who’s as talented as any I’ve ever heard of. You are right at the cusp of grasping the void G.o.d level."
Lu Yin again offered his thanks.
It was only a short time later that Qing Feng recovered. His eyes were briefly filled with confusion, but they quickly cleared up, and he grew excited as he turned to speak to Mr. Tang. However, the man raised a hand to stop the student from speaking. "Go back. Try to understand what you’ve comprehended on your own. Don’t say anything or ask any questions for now."
Qing Feng suppressed his excitement as he nodded. He gave Lu Yin one more grateful look before leaving.
Mr. Tang then turned back to Lu Yin. "Prof. Hao Yu, as instructors, there are times when we need to hold back and keep our strength hidden, guiding the students by example. However, there are also moments when it is important to reveal our true strength. I look forward to when that day comes for you."
Lu Yin answered in a self-deprecating manner, "Given your own abilities, you might end up disappointed, Mr. Tang."
Mr. Tang just smiled and went back inside his house.
Lu Yin exhaled. s.p.a.ce, time, stellular energy, death energy, Destiny… Various energies and concepts circled his mind, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.
The next day, a girl approached Lu Yin’s pillar with a sourcebox that she wanted to ask Lu Yin to unlock in exchange for credits. However, the sourcebox was only a three-star Discerning Elementary sourcebox.
The girl had expected "Hao Yu" to take a great deal of time to open the sourcebox, but Lu Yin had needed less than an hour to succeed. Unfortunately, the sourcebox contained nothing at all.
"Most sourceboxes are empty, which is one of the reasons why there are strong disagreements about how to best use sourceboxes. One opinion claims that all sourceboxes should be opened, and that even if ninety nine out of a hundred sourceboxes hold nothing, the one percent that does justifies the cost, as anything that has been sealed within a sourcebox is incredibly valuable. Otherwise, there would have been no reason to have been sealed it in the first place.
"The opposing opinion is that the sourceboxes’ danger zones should be used to set up sourcebox arrays that can be used on the battlefield," Lu Yin explained.
The girl stared at "Hao Yu" with her big, bright, curious eyes. "Which opinion do you support, Professor?"
Lu Yin rubbed his chin. "I like the second option as an Array Master, but I also feel that there’s some justification for opening sourceboxes. Honestly, I’m a bit torn on the matter."
The girl laughed. "So our professor doesn’t have an opinion? In that case, I’ll hold onto the first opinion, as I hope that I can work with someone as handsome as Prof. Hao Yu every day."
Lu Yin laughed. "Train hard. You’re very talented yourself, and you can also become a Lockbreaker."
He was not simply complimenting the girl. She had attended both of the lectures that Lu Yin had given, and during the second lecture, he had been able to evaluate the students who attended his cla.s.s. This particular girl was clearly able to become a Lockbreaker, and she was also quite talented at cultivating. She was a peak Hunter, which showed that her abilities were comparable to the Ten Arbiters’.
"Also, even though you’ve attended both of my cla.s.ses, I still don"t know your name," Lu Yin said. The fact that this girl was someone as gifted as the Ten Arbiters meant that she should be famous, as such talent was rare even in the Perennial World.
The girl was pleasantly surprised at Lu Yin’s curiosity. "Professor, are you asking for my name so that you can remember me? That"s wonderful! I’m Nong Siniang."
Lu Yin was taken aback. "Nong? Nong Siniang?"
"That"s right."
Lu Yin grew curious. "Any relation to Nong Sanniang?"
Nong Siniang laughed. "She’s my older sister."
"So Nong Lie’s your brother?" Lu Yin continued.
Nong Siniang nodded. "Do you know my siblings, Instructor?"
Lu Yin shook his head. "I"ve heard of them, but I don’t personally know them."
Nong Siniang grew curious. "I believe that you should be around the same age as my sister and the others from her generation, which means that you are also from their time. Given Instructor’s level of cultivation, you should have been quite famous back then. I’ll have to ask my sister if she knows you when I go back."
Lu Yin smiled. "That’s up to you, I don’t mind. We’ve finished the lockbreaking session, so you should return now."
A cunning glint flickered across Nong Siniang"s eyes. "I still have more."
She quickly pulled out a four-star Discerning Elementary sourcebox. "Please help with this as well, Instructor."
Lu Yin was left speechless. "You actually brought two sourceboxes?"
"Hehe, I’ll have to thank you, Professor, I will definitely give you enough credits for this," Nong Siniang happily replied.
Lu Yin just shook his head and started to unlock the sourcebox.
Nong Siniang let out a sigh of relief before resting her chin in one hand as she quietly watched "Hao Yu" work on the sourcebox and explain the process to her. The truth was that she did not have any interest in lockbreaking; if she did, her status in the Nong family meant that she would have learned how to be a Lockbreaker long ago. She had only approached "Hao Yu" because she enjoyed looking at him. She thought he was absolutely beautiful.
Once again, Lu Yin took a bit less than an hour to successfully open the sourcebox, though this one was also empty.
Lu Yin"s expression did not flicker at all. These sourceboxes’ danger fields did not pose any danger at all.
"Professor, I have more." Nong Siniang pulled out another sourcebox. This time, she brought out a Perceptive Intermediate sourcebox. It had eight sides, looked like a starfish, and was very large. Lu Yin stared at it for a long time, speechless.
"How many sourceboxes did you bring?"
Nong Siniang blinked. "This is the last one."
"I"m a bit tired today, so I"ll only open this last one. I won’t work on any more for you today."
"That’s fine. Thank you, Instructor." Nong Siniang was still very happy, so she generously offered "Hao Yu" a great number of credits. She had already attended Virtue Archives for two years, and she had earned a great number of credits, but she did not have much use for them. She was not the only person in this situation, as people like Xia Shenguang and w.a.n.g Xiaofan were the same. Virtue Archives did not actually have much to offer the heirs of the top powers, so they typically h.o.a.rded their credits, waiting to see if they could acc.u.mulate enough to trade for Virtue Archives’ secret techniques before graduation.
Qing Feng had spent his credits on Mr. Tang.
This time, Lu Yin needed more than an hour to unlock the sourcebox. It had a very odd danger field, and it gave off a sweet scent. It was quite cloying, and Lu Yin hated it as soon as he smelled it. On top of that, the sourcebox was quite large and difficult to unravel.
Still, in the end, the eight-sided sourcebox was unlocked, and it ended up containing seeds.
Nong Siniang"s eyes lit up. "Wonderful! That’s the seed of an ancient sunflower."
Lu Yin felt rather curious, so as he gave the seeds to Nong Siniang, he asked, "What’s an ancient sunflower?"
Nong Siniang took the seeds as she explained, "Ancient sunflowers are flowers that grow on meteorites. They bloom when they receive light, and they give off a very sweet smell. They’re an indispensable ingredient in making a certain kind of spice."
"Do they taste like that sourcebox’s cloying smell?" Lu Yin was surprised.
Nong Siniang rolled her eyes. "The actual taste is naturally much more diluted than that. The sweet smell gives a person the same feeling as love, so it’s a scent that many young people chase after. Unfortunately, the flowers have been extinct for many years, and I only know about them from reading some ancient books. This works out very well, as with these seeds, we can grow the ancient sunflowers in my family’s Seed Garden. Thank you, Prof. Hao Yu."
Lu Yin felt rather surprised. "There should be Lockbreakers in your Nong family, so why haven’t any of them opened this sourcebox?"
Nong Siniang replied, "We have too many sourceboxes, so while we do have Lockbreakers, we don’t have enough, and all of them are on the rear battlefield. How can we have them unlock sourceboxes for us?"
Lu Yin nodded. "I understand. Alright, let’s stop here for today."
Nong Siniang offered her thanks yet again before leaving, and she also asked if she could return to "Hao Yu" for more lockbreaking sessions. Naturally, Lu Yin agreed, as this simply meant more lockbreaking experience for him. He had Possessed Master Hao Yue before, giving him access to the man’s extensive lockbreaking experience, and that had greatly improved Lu Yin’s own lockbreaking expertise. Lu Yin already had the necessary abilities, and as long as he opened the necessary number of sourceboxes, he would officially become a Realm Array Master.
He still had high hopes of eventually becoming an Array Grandmaster one day.
After Nong Siniang left, someone else arrived and wanted to climb Lu Yin’s stone pillar. Unfortunately, this person failed their attempt.
The restrictions that Wen Zhao had placed on the pillar were very difficult for most Cruisers to overcome, and most of the academy’s students were only Explorers. There were very few who were as powerful as Nong Siniang and Qing feng.
"Prof. Hao Yu," Wen Zhao called out from the neighboring pillar.
Lu Yin turned around, surprised at being addressed. "Prof. Xiao Wen?"
Wen Zhao looked at Lu Yin, and quietly said, "You should have already heard the rumors that have spread throughout the academy."
Lu Yin quickly apologized. "I"m truly sorry, Prof. Xiao Wen. I didn"t expect that, when the headmaster was kind enough to place me close to Mr. Tang, his attempt to help me improve my domain would create such a misunderstanding for you and affect your reputation. I"m truly sorry."
Wen Zhao replied, "That doesn’t bother me. I simply wanted to apologize, as you’ve been rather embarra.s.sed by the situation with Xia Shenguang."
Lu Yin waved a hand dismissively. "That’s really not a big deal. Students are young and excitable, so such things are understandable."
Wen Zhao felt like she needed to say a bit more. "There are certain matters that are beyond my control, and while I will do my best to make things clear to Xia Shenguang, he’s simply too impulsive."
Lu Yin responded quickly, "Don"t do that. These sort of things get messier and more complicated the more we try to clear them up. Just don’t bother saying anything and let things be."
"You want to let things take their own course?" Wen Zhao frowned and looked at Lu Yin in a questioning manner.
Lu Yin found this reaction odd. Had he said something wrong?
Wen Zhao looked away. "In that case, you’ll have to take care of yourself, Prof. Hao Yu. As long as you continue to ignore Xia Shenguang, he won’t be able to do anything to you while you stay in Virtue Archives."
Lu Yin nodded. "I see."
Wen Zhao returned to her new residence.
Xia Shenguang represented both Shenwu"s Sky and the Xia family, which meant that anything that he did was watched by many people. There was a valid reason for Wen Zhao’s concern, and soon, another instructor approached Lu Yin.
"Prof. Hao Yu? Are you here? I"m Wu Taibai. I came to see you," a voice called out to Lu Yin.
Lu Yin was surprised. Who? Wu Taibai?
He walked out of the house atop the pillar and looked down. Sure enough, he saw a familiar face: Wu Taibai. He had once been one of the Sixth Mainland’s Daosource Three Skies.
However, why was Wu Taibai in Virtue Archives? Wait, Lu Yin had heard that an instructor known as Prof. Wu had broken through the Eighteenth Lines Formation as an Enlighter; was that person Wu Taibai?
"Are you home, Prof. Hao Yu?" Wu Taibai called out again.
Lu Yin answered, "Prof. Wu? Come on up."