Under her guidance, the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth slowly gathered and circulated along her meridians. The entire process was as smooth as flowing water, without the slightest hindrance.

As she circulated it, she explained, her voice clear and earnest: “The first step of Drawing Qi into the Body is to calm the mind. If the mind is not calm, the Qi will not gather. The second step is perception. One must use the Spiritual Root as a medium to sense the Spiritual Qi between heaven and earth that matches the attribute of one’s own Spiritual Root. This disciple’s Spiritual Root is water-attributed, so my perception of Water Element Spiritual Qi is the most acute. The third step is guidance. Using a specific breathing rhythm, you slowly guide the perceived Spiritual Qi into your body…”

She explained in great detail, recounting every key point her mother had taught her in the past. There were some parts she hadn’t quite understood back then, but looking back after reaching Foundation Establishment, everything suddenly became clear.

Lai Li’an listened very carefully. Outwardly, he maintained his calm and breezy demeanor, occasionally giving a slight nod, occasionally closing his eyes in thought, the spitting image of an unfathomable Senior scrutinizing his disciple’s fundamentals.

In reality, however, he was frantically absorbing every single word Su Wan’er said, silently committing them to memory.

When Su Wan’er finished, she opened her eyes and looked at Lai Li’an with some apprehension. Lai Li’an gave a faint nod. “Your foundation is acceptable.”

With those four words, Su Wan’er’s anxious heart finally settled. If her Honored Master said it was acceptable, then she had passed.

“However,” Lai Li’an suddenly changed the subject, “you just said that after Drawing Qi into the Body, you circulate it in a heavenly cycle according to your Cultivation Technique. What grade is the Cultivation Technique you practice?”

Su Wan’er hesitated for a moment. “To answer Honored Master, what this disciple practiced later was the Heavenly Veil Sect’s True Art of Clear Water, Earth-Grade Low-Rank.”

“Earth-Grade Low-Rank,” Lai Li’an repeated, no emotion discernible in his voice.

Su Wan’er hurriedly said, “This disciple knows that an Earth-Grade Cultivation Technique is a top-tier Cultivation Technique in the Heavenly Veil Sect, only available to core disciples. But now that this disciple has a Heaven-Grade Water Spiritual Root, the True Art of Clear Water is indeed somewhat… somewhat insufficient.”

She was telling the truth. Pairing a Heaven-Grade Spiritual Root with an Earth-Grade Cultivation Technique was like equipping a winged steed with an ordinary saddle. It wasn’t that it couldn’t run, but it would ultimately limit the horse’s potential.

Lai Li’an did not reply. His attention had already shifted to his System Inventory, where a Cultivation Technique quietly lay: the Dao Scripture of the Primordial Five Elements.

A Heaven-Grade Cultivation Technique.

Now, he had a Spiritual Root and could cultivate. Even though it was only a Low-Grade Wood Spiritual Root, it was still a Spiritual Root!

Lai Li’an’s consciousness lightly touched the Cultivation Technique, and instantly, a massive amount of information flooded into his mind.

Dao Scripture of the Primordial Five Elements: “The primordial state is when chaos was undivided and the five elements were unseparated. This Cultivation Technique cultivates the five elements in reverse,first cultivating one element, then deriving the five elements, until finally the five elements return to their origin, reverting to the primordial state. Upon reaching major completion, one can wield the five elements and derive all things.”

Lai Li’an’s heartbeat accelerated violently. Wielding the five elements, deriving all things, was this the true worth of a Heaven-Grade Cultivation Technique?

He continued reading down to the specific cultivation methods, and then his smile faded bit by bit.

The introductory chapter of the Dao Scripture of the Primordial Five Elements opened with the sentence: “To cultivate this technique, first comprehend the five elements. The five elements are metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Wood is characterized by bending and straightening, fire blazes upward, earth involves sowing and reaping, metal yields and changes, water moistens downward…”

He recognized every single word, but strung together, he couldn’t understand a single sentence. What the fuck kind of human being was supposed to read this?

Refusing to give up, Lai Li’an flipped ahead a few more pages, but the subsequent content was even more absurd: “Using the Wood Spiritual Root as the foundation, draw the Azure Wood Qi of the East into the body, follow the Liver Meridian of Foot Jueyin upward, pass the Zhangmen Point1, enter the Qimen Point2, and converge at the Dantian…”

Lai Li’an felt his “World’s Greatest Dream” shattering before it even began. It wasn’t crushed at the hands of an enemy, but crushed by a book.

The atmosphere in the cave suddenly grew somewhat stifling. Su Wan’er keenly perceived the shift in her Honored Master’s mood. Honored Master seemed… not very happy.

Had she said something wrong?

Su Wan’er’s heart leaped into her throat again. She asked cautiously, “Honored Master… did this disciple say something wrong just now?”

Lai Li’an snapped back to his senses and glanced at her. The young girl was looking at him with timid eyes, her entire body wound tight.

Lai Li’an sighed in his heart. Forget it, if he couldn’t read it himself, didn’t he have a ready-made translator right here?

“Wan’er.”

“This disciple is here!”

“This Venerable will ask you a question.”

Su Wan’er straightened her back.

“Suppose this Venerable asks you to learn a new Cultivation Technique and start from scratch. Can you do it?”

Su Wan’er was stunned. Was Honored Master going to… make her abolish the True Art of Clear Water and cultivate another Cultivation Technique from the ground up?

She remained silent for a few breaths. Abolishing her current Cultivation Technique to start over meant that her past ten years of hard work would be reduced to zero.

Her Late Foundation Establishment Cultivation Base would not disappear, but the foundation of her Cultivation Technique would have to be completely torn down and rebuilt. Her meridians would need to be tempered anew, her Spiritual Power would need to be re-guided, and she would even have to re-adapt to her already formed combat instincts. This was no small matter.

But Su Wan’er did not hesitate for long. Her life was saved by Honored Master, her Spiritual Root was repaired by Honored Master, and Honored Master had given her a place to belong within the “Sect”.

It was just starting over with a new Cultivation Technique, wasn’t it? “I can do it!”

There was no hesitation or retreat in Su Wan’er’s eyes.

Looking at her serious expression, Lai Li’an suddenly felt an indescribable emotion well up in his heart; this girl had truly entrusted her life to him.

He suppressed the complex emotions in his heart and nodded calmly, not letting anything show on his face.

“Good. Next, this Venerable will impart a new Cultivation Technique to you. After you learn it, you will explain your comprehension of it to this Venerable.”

Su Wan’er blinked. Honored Master imparted a Cultivation Technique to her, told her to learn it, and then… explain it to Honored Master? What kind of teaching method was this?

Perhaps, this was Honored Master’s unique way of instructing disciples.

“This disciple understands!” Su Wan’er nodded vigorously. “Honored Master imparts the Cultivation Technique, this disciple comprehends it first, and then reports the insights back to Honored Master. Honored Master wants this disciple to gain a deeper understanding of the Cultivation Technique’s profound mysteries through the process of ‘learning’ and ‘teaching’!”

Lai Li’an was silent for a moment.

“…Mhm.”

He reached into his robes, pretending to take something out, but in reality, he retrieved the Jade Slip recording the Dao Scripture of the Primordial Five Elements from the System Inventory. He handed the Jade Slip to Su Wan’er.

Su Wan’er received it with both hands and carefully probed it with her Spiritual Sense. A moment later, her pupils suddenly dilated.

A Heaven-Grade Cultivation Technique! What Honored Master had imparted to her was a Heaven-Grade Cultivation Technique!

Her fingers began to tremble. A Heaven-Grade Cultivation Technique, there wasn’t a single one in the entire Heavenly Veil Sect, and perhaps not even in the entire Cangwu Realm. The Sect Leader cultivated merely an Earth-Grade High-Rank technique, which was already at the level of a Sect’s sacred treasure. Yet her Honored Master had casually handed her a Heaven-Grade Cultivation Technique.

Moreover, the name of this Cultivation Technique was the Dao Scripture of the Primordial Five Elements. Five Elements, not the Water Element. Her Honored Master clearly knew she had a Heaven-Grade Water Spiritual Root, yet passed down to her a technique encompassing all Five Elements. What did this mean?

It meant that in her Honored Master’s eyes, her future was not limited to the Water Element. Her Honored Master believed she could master the Five Elements, transcend the shackles of her Spiritual Root, and reach heights she didn’t even dare to imagine.

At this thought, Su Wan’er’s tears were about to fall again. She desperately held them back, but her voice still carried a hint of a sob, “Honored Master… this Cultivation Technique… is too precious…”

“Just learn it when I tell you to,” Lai Li’an’s tone was somewhat impatient. “The things this Venerable brings out haven’t reached the point of needing to feel heartache over.”

Su Wan’er nodded vigorously, wiped her eyes haphazardly with her sleeve, and began to read earnestly. Lai Li’an looked at her focused profile and secretly gave himself a thumbs-up in his heart.

Just as planned.

He would let Su Wan’er learn it first, and once she mastered it, she could teach him. She possessed a Heaven-Grade Water Spiritual Root, so her comprehension was definitely much higher than his Low-Grade Wood Spiritual Root.

Once she understood it, she could explain it to him in her own words, and wouldn’t he then understand it too? Plus, he could conveniently farm a wave of Fantasy Points along the way, killing two birds with one stone.

Su Wan’er suddenly raised her head and looked around with some confusion. The Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the cave was still a chaotic mess, churning violently like a stirred pool of water.

Cultivating in this kind of environment would not only be extremely inefficient, but it was also very easy to make a fatal mistake.

“Honored Master,” she spoke cautiously, “are we… not leaving here? The Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in this place has been thrown into chaos by the heavenly lightning, making it unsuitable for cultivation. Moreover, the Lightning Tribulation was so massive that it will likely attract people with ill intentions…”

Lai Li’an’s expression stiffened for a moment.

Furthermore, with such a huge commotion, people will definitely come to investigate. Every extra moment they stay here increases the risk of being discovered. But he was so caught up in his excitement earlier that he completely failed to consider any of this.

What should he do now? Admit that he hadn’t thought of it?

Lai Li’an remained silent for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.

“Wan’er, do you know the concept of ‘it is darkest beneath the lamp’?”

Su Wan’er was taken aback.

“When the heavenly thunder fell here, cultivators within a hundred miles would have sensed it. What would a normal person think?” Lai Li’an’s voice was calm and unhurried. “They would think that it is impossible for anyone to survive under the heavenly thunder. Even if people come to investigate, they would just search the ruins for traces and leave once they finish. No one would ever imagine that right in the dead center of the Heavenly Punishment, two living people would still be sitting.”

He paused, his tone becoming profound. “The safest place in this world is often the place everyone believes to be the most impossible.”

Su Wan’er came to a sudden realization.

So Honored Master’s choice to stay here was not an oversight, but the result of deep consideration! Indeed, who would expect anyone to still be inside a cave at the very center of the Heavenly Punishment? Even if someone came to check, they would only see scorched earth before leaving.

Meanwhile, Honored Master sat right here, peacefully cultivating and comfortably eating roast meat.

Such meticulous calculation and effortless grace, this was the true demeanor of a grandmaster.

The reverence in Su Wan’er’s eyes deepened.

“This disciple is foolish and failed to comprehend Honored Master’s profound meaning,” she said, lowering her head to sincerely admit her mistake.

Lai Li’an waved his hand, signaling that it was fine.

Su Wan’er sank her mind back into the Jade Slip and began to earnestly comprehend the Dao Scripture of the Primordial Five Elements. Watching the young girl’s focused profile, Lai Li’an silently prayed in his heart.