Chapter 40 He is taking advantage of you

A thought flashed through Fang Che’s mind like lightning.

In his past life, he had encountered three enemies just like the ones Sun Yuan described. Initially, their strength was on par with his own, and their combat prowess was obviously much weaker than his.

However, three to five years later, when those three fought against him, he always ended up at a disadvantage. If he hadn't fought desperately to escape, he would have been killed on the spot!

Clearly, they were of similar age and possessed roughly similar innate talent, which was why they had reached a comparable level of cultivation at that time.

Over the span of three to five years, he had also practiced and fought with utmost diligence and desperation. Why had he been surpassed in one fell swoop? And why had he been surpassed by so much?

This matter had troubled him for many years.

No matter how hard he thought about it, he could not figure it out.

So... the Only My Cult actually possessed such a thing as divine power empowerment!

This was truly something he had never expected, a colossal secret that no one had ever managed to investigate!

"This time, the tier is very low—it's a threshold for King-level experts making a sprint toward the Emperor level. But this opportunity is also exceptionally rare!"

Sun Yuan transmitted his voice, "After I go this time and undergo the divine power empowerment, I will come back and cultivate in peace for a period of time. I should be able to reach the Emperor level, or at the very least, the peak of the King level."

"If, after the divine power empowerment, I fail to break through to the Emperor level within three years, I will forever lose the opportunity for divine power empowerment. But for me, at my age, regardless of whether there will be such an opportunity in the future, I am already very content."

Sun Yuan smiled very happily.

Furthermore, his eyes were filled with yearning.

Clearly, he was by no means as he claimed—"regardless of whether there will be such an opportunity in the future, I am very content." Rather, he was anything but content.

Because of this divine power empowerment, he clearly had far too many new aspirations for the future.

Fang Che repeatedly offered his congratulations, while storms surged violently in his heart, one wave crashing after another.

King-level experts undergoing divine power training to sprint toward the Emperor level—and that was considered a "very low tier."

Then what about the Emperor level? The Monarch level? The Venerable level?

And... even someone at the pinnacle of the clouds like Duan Xiyang could receive divine power empowerment to improve?

Then...

What about even higher levels?

Fang Che suddenly completely understood the real reason why the Only My Cult had developed so rapidly over all these years.

According to legends, many years ago, the Only My Cult was merely a massive sect.

However, it gradually developed to the point where it swept across the entire continent, and nowadays, it even had the number one martial artist in the Weapons Manual sitting in command, holding enough sway to awe the entire universe.

Perhaps this divine power was a part of the reason.

...

Ye Meng had already returned to her room and closed the door.

She quietly peeled back a section of the wallpaper, removed a brick, revealing a small tube concealed by the stone, and then pressed her ear tightly against it.

Since it required voice transmission, it must be a major matter.

However, Fang Che could not use voice transmission yet, so she was bound to overhear some things.

Therefore, she immediately put on an act of avoiding suspicion.

"Divine power empowerment..."

Fang Che looked somewhat fascinated, saying with eager enthusiasm, "Master, how can such a thing exist? What kind of god could be so miraculous?"

"About that, I truly do not know. But divine power empowerment is real."

Sun Yuan said, "I suspect it is the Centipede God, but... the Centipede God is something none of us have ever seen. In short... regarding this matter, everyone is just guessing. Everyone knows it exists, but how it comes to be... no one knows. Everything is known only at the General Altar!"

"So that's how it is."

Fang Che wore a joyful expression. "With Master going this time, it seems you've truly encountered great fortune. When you come back, won't disciples like me become second-generation scions? We can bully whoever we want to bully, hack at whoever we want to hack, and kill whoever we want to kill!"

Sun Yuan laughed heartily. "Indeed! If Master truly succeeds in breaking through, I will be your backing! You want to bully whoever, you bully whoever! You want to hack whoever, you hack whoever! You want to kill whoever, you kill whoever! Master will hold you up! Hahaha..."

Sun Yuan assumed his disciple was joking.

Naturally, he went along with it and played the part.

Yet he certainly never imagined that Fang Che was not joking at all.

He genuinely planned to go to the Single-Minded Cult in the future and slaughter anyone whose face he didn't like!

A King-level expert was already tough enough, let alone an Emperor-level one.

At the elementary stage, there was completely nothing to worry about!

By the time Master, Qian Sanjiang, the Palace of God-Sealing, and the others could no longer cover for him, he estimated he would have already latched onto a new, thicker thigh.

His train of thought was completely flawless!

These words had not been transmitted via voice.

...

Ye Meng, inside her room, had captured several keywords: Divine power empowerment? What kind of god? Master encountered good fortune? Second-generation scion? Breakthrough successful? Master acts as your backing?

After a long while, she heard the sounds outside as Fang Che urged his master to stay for dinner.

Ye Meng quietly stood up, put the brick back in place, smoothed the wallpaper back over, and sealed it seamlessly.

It was completely impossible to tell.

Even if someone happened by sheer coincidence to violently shake that section of the wallpaper down, it would only reveal a single brick.

Ye Meng had set up as many as six such eavesdropping devices.

Originally there were more, but she had canceled the ones in locations that were too easily exposed.

She still needed to continue playing her role as an ignorant and innocent maid, leaving just one would suffice.

She couldn't take risks.

...

Fang Che appeared very happy and insisted on keeping his master for dinner to celebrate.

Sun Yuan was already in high spirits, so naturally, he went with the flow and stayed.

Thus, for the first time ever, he stayed for a meal and even drank two jars of wine.

As for Fang Che’s cultivation, he didn't check it at all.

Forms and techniques? Checked even less!

He took a completely hands-off approach to this disciple.

Because... before drinking, he had demonstrated a move, and Fang Che had pointed out seven non-standard areas in it.

Sun Yuan wore a tragic expression; his farewell banquet almost turned into a gloomy drinking session, so he simply gave up on caring about anything else.

Sun Yuan left.

Regarding Fang Che’s cultivation, he left behind only a single useless remark:

"Those spirit crystals I gave you can be used once you break through to the Martial Ancestor realm."

This was equivalent to saying nothing.

Because Fang Che knew very well that the instructors at the martial academy would not allow students to use spirit crystals for cultivation right now.

Strictly speaking, before breaking through to the Grandmaster realm and achieving innate meridians, no one was allowed to use spirit crystals.

Sun Yuan departed, but Fang Che did not feel particularly happy. To him, whether Sun Yuan was around or not made no difference; he would do what he needed to do regardless.

However, for Ye Meng, it felt almost as if a layer of shackles had been lifted!

Her whole person became cheerful, her small face glowing, and her mood was extremely bright.

After all, Sun Yuan’s cultivation level was far higher than hers. If he had truly paid attention to her and observed her closely, he could easily have discovered that something was amiss with her.

Now, he had finally left.

Ye Meng even began to walk with a light step.

She even softly hummed a little tune.

Naturally, after humming two lines, she was met with a scolding: "You've cultivated for so long and you're still only at the eighth rank of Martial Disciple. Why aren't you rolling away to work hard instead of singing here? Are you really so happy just being this weak?"

"!!!"

If—and this was just a hypothetical!

If it were possible, Ye Meng felt she could directly shove Fang Che’s hateful mouth into a toilet bowl!

So annoying!

Ye Meng pouted, turned her head, and went off to practice martial arts.

Fang Che sat alone in the study, deep in thought about this matter.

The news of the divine power empowerment had to be sent out. He wondered how much that girl had eavesdropped on?

As for the part transmitted via voice, she definitely missed out on that.

Yet this matter had to be transmitted outward, but it could not be sent out immediately.

If a massive secret that was previously unknown to the outside world suddenly became known to the Guardian Alliance right after Sun Yuan told him about it,

then whether it was him or Ye Meng, both would face a huge risk of exposure.

Those people in the Only My Cult were not guardians; they didn't require any evidence.

They genuinely only needed suspicion to kill people.

They wouldn't tolerate even the slightest doubt!

What should he do?

In the end, Fang Che decided to suppress this news for the time being.

...

That very night.

Fang Che gathered his saber, spear, sword, and halberd into his room.

He sat cross-legged, his eyes fixed intently on these four weapons.

Then, his focus shifted to the spear.

From the spear butt, the shaft, all the way to the red tassel, the ferrule, the spine, the blade, and the tip...

He looked over every single part.

Closing his eyes, the general principles of spear cultivation emerged in his mind.

Tiny figures appeared, holding spears and performing various movements. The movements were standard, rigorous, and consisted entirely of foundational techniques.

The night quietly passed.

At dawn, Fang Che opened his eyes and sighed with mixed emotions.

"A month for the staff, a year for the saber, and a lifetime for the spear—this saying is truly not deceiving me."

The structure of a spear seemed even simpler than that of a saber or sword; a spearhead in front, a spear shaft in the back, with the spearhead resembling a short sword.

It was a very simple structure.

Even a person who knew no martial arts could inflict damage just by thrusting forward blindly without any techniques.

Yet wanting to master it was harder than mastering sabers, swords, or staves!

However, no matter how hard it was, could it be harder than life and death?

Fang Che gently stroked the spear shaft, feeling the cold steel body transmit a surge of emotion to him.

That was the desire for slaughter inherent in any weapon.

"From this moment on, the saber shall forever be my public weapon; when encountering formidable enemies that the saber cannot defeat, the sword shall prevail; if the sword still falls short, then it shall be the Halberd of Heavenly Painting, giving people the impression that I have played all my trump cards."

"If the sword can win, then let it win, but once the halberd is used, it means life and death are on the line."

"As for the spear—my true destiny—it shall not be unsheathed unless necessary. While the spear lives, I live; when the spear dies, I die!"

...

For the period that followed, all was peaceful.

Every day, Fang Che attended classes, cultivated, hung out with his classmates, and beat up Mo Gangyun; then he went home to cultivate, sleep, and routinely scold Ye Meng.

Meanwhile, Mo Gangyun continued to treat Fang Che to meals every day, as if it had become a habit.

Whenever mealtime arrived, Mo Gangyun would stand up and say, "Let's go! I'm treating you to dinner!"

"You got it!"

The two of them walked side by side.

Both of them belonged to the relatively wealthy category, but when eating, Fang Che never spent a single cent; Mo Gangyun paid for everything every time.

Apart from the meals Fang Che ate at home by himself, there was not a single exception.

Gradually, Mo Gangyun earned the nickname "pushover" among his classmates.

Some even found it exceptionally grating to watch.

"This Fang Che clearly has so many academic credits, yet he keeps his fists clenched tight and eats Mo Gangyun's food every single day. As for Mo Gangyun, that simpleton treats him every time... Just how foolish and idiotic can someone be?"

As the third-ranked genius of the class, Fu Chengyun found this even more irritating and unbalanced.

Of course, what irritated and unbalanced him the most was: Why on earth doesn't Mo Gangyun ever treat me?

I've been ranked third in the whole class every single time, alright?

Does your pair of eyes only see the number one spot?

He's ripping you off and taking advantage of you, can't you even tell?

...

[Four things: First, without me paying attention, this book has reached 220,000 characters. It's only around sixty chapters, which exceeds the standard. This is my fault for making each chapter too wordy. Generally, 200,000 is enough to meet the platform's publication and monetization standards, but we haven't even finished the process yet.]

[Second thing: My old illness is acting up, so there will be three chapters today. Two chapters will be released at 5:30 PM.]

[Third: You guys seem to have forgotten to give me your monthly tickets and recommendation votes.]

[Fourth: Can more readers come over to Qidian to follow the updates?]