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Translator: Silavin & Tia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
While Yue He was speaking, Guo Zi Yan suddenly closed his eyes and collapsed to the ground.
“Father!” The young girl called Miao’er shouted, her beautiful face turning pale at the sight.
Yue He said, “Don’t worry. He just fainted.”
Guo Zi Yan had been besieged and could have lost his life at any moment. Now that he was rescued by Yang Kai and Yue He, his tense nerves finally relaxed. Combined with his excessive consumption during his battle earlier, he could no longer remain conscious.
Even though Miao’er knew that Yue He would not deceive her, she still examined her father’s wounds herself. She finally let out a breath of relief when she confirmed that he was simply passed out. Rubbing away the tears at the corner of her eyes, she respectfully bowed, “Many thanks for your saving grace, Sir and Madame.”
Yang Kai simply replied, “Commander Guo is a member of Void Land and has served by my side for many years. I will definitely help him if he is in trouble. There is no need for you to thank me; after all, this was caused by my negligence.”
Guo Zi Yan had only gone to visit his daughter, so how could Yang Kai have known that his life would be in danger? If Yang Kai had known that this would happen, he would have followed along no matter what. Something like this would not have happened if Yue He was around.
“What is your name?” Yang Kai turned to ask the young girl.
The young girl sniffed and answered softly, “This one is called Guo Miao.”
Yang Kai nodded, then summoned Lang Qing Shan, the shaved-headed man, and the others to carry the unconscious Guo Zi Yan back to the Falling Lotus where he could receive proper treatment. Meanwhile, Yue He held Guo Miao’s small hand and comforted the young girl.
A short while later, Yue He stood inside the Falling Lotus and asked in a gentle voice, “What happened? Who were the people attacking you? Didn’t Commander Guo head to Blood Swan Continent to pick you up?”
Guo Miao knew about the existence of Yang Kai and Yue He. It was most likely that Guo Zi Yan had told her about them; therefore, her emotions slowly calmed down with Yue He’s comforting words. Upon hearing those questions, she replied, “Those people were Deacons and Elders of Blood Swan Continent. The Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was Gu Zhi Xin.”
Yang Kai was incredibly surprised, “Gu Zhi Xin?”
After pondering for a moment, he asked, “Isn’t that your Honoured Master?”
A few days ago, Guo Zi Yan had mentioned this person. He claimed that he and Gu Zhi Xin were old friends and that was why he entrusted his daughter to Gu Zhi Xin’s care.
Guo Miao gnashed her teeth at those words, her eyes gleaming with a vengeful light as she snarled, “I don’t have such an insidious and despicable Honoured Master! That man nearly killed my Father!”
Yang Kai frowned, “What happened?”
Gu Miao exhaled softly and began narrating the entire story. After listening to her explanation, Yang Kai finally understood the cause of this incident.
Guo Miao was only sent to Blood Swan Continent to become a disciple of Gu Zhi Xin a few years ago. The first reason was that Guo Zi Yan was in a difficult situation at the time with the three great forces all fighting one another both openly and secretly in the Star City. They were constantly trying to overthrow each other, so the future in that place was uncertain. Guo Zi Yan sent his daughter away in order to protect her. The second reason was that he himself was only in the Second-Order Open Heaven Realm and could not be considered powerful. Blood Swan Continent might not be anything special, being only a Third-Class great force, but Gu Zhi Xin was a Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Gu Zhi Xin was stronger than him, so Guo Miao would receive a better education if he sent her there.
Furthermore, Guo Miao’s aptitude was not bad. She had been cultivating diligently over the years at Blood Swan Continent. With the assistance of her Sect and the cultivation resources that Guo Zi Yan constantly sent to her, Guo Miao gradually reached the Emperor Realm.
Before the Star City was devoured by the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, she was preparing to condense her own Dao Seal. Once she successfully condensed her Dao Seal, the next step would be to refine her Yin, Yang, and Five Elements, split Heaven and Earth apart in her body, and break through to the Open Heaven Realm.
Guo Zi Yan’s own starting point was not high, only the Second-Order Open Heaven Realm; however, he went to great lengths for his daughter. Risking his life working for Scarlet Star, he more or less exchanged all the gains he received for various cultivation resources. These cultivation resources were then sent to Blood Swan Continent for Guo Miao to use.
She was about to condense her Dao Seal, so it was only natural that Guo Zi Yan made preparations in advance for that eventuality. He spent his entire life’s savings to buy two Fourth-Order materials a long time ago and handed them over to her. Once she condensed her Dao Seal, she could refine those two resources.
If the Star City where Scarlet Star was located had not been devoured by the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, what happened next would never have occurred at all.
More than ten years ago, the Star City in which Scarlet Star was located vanished all of a sudden. Even the three great forces, Scarlet Star, Thunder Light, and Sword Pavilion, that had been established in that Star City for thousands of years disappeared without a trace. Overnight, over a million people from the Star City went missing.
This incident caused a huge uproar among several of the other nearby Great Territories. Many people went to investigate the situation only to return empty-handed. Guo Miao had also gone to take a look at the situation under Gu Zhi Xin’s leadership, but she could not find the slightest clue either.
Several years went by without news from Guo Zi Yan, so everybody assumed that he was dead.
At the beginning, Gu Zhi Xin continued to respect the wishes of his old friend. It could not be said that he was partial towards Guo Miao, but he at least dealt with her justly; however, on one particular day several years later, Gu Zhi Xin called Guo Miao over to talk. He constantly brought up the two Fourth-Order materials that Guo Zi Yan had sent to Guo Miao in the past and his meaning was clear; he wanted her to give them to him.
At this point, Yang Kai was puzzled, “Gu Zhi Xin is in the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm. What would he need Fourth-Order materials for? Aren’t they useless to him?”
Yue He explained, “He likely wanted to use them to exchange for Third-Order materials. He would then be able to refine and absorb them to strengthen his Small Universe and increase his strength.”
Yang Kai then asked curiously, “Can an Open Heaven Realm Master continue to refine materials?”
She explained further, “Young Master, you have yet to advance to the Open Heaven Realm, so you are unaware. It is not that a cultivator no longer needs Open Heaven materials after they advance to the Open Heaven Realm. On the contrary, the demand for resources only increases. As you know, Young Master, an Open Heaven Realm Master can increase their strength by increasing the heritage of their Small Universe. Once their heritage accumulates to a certain extent, they can advance to the next Order.”
He nodded, “Yes, I know this.”
Lu Xue had explained this to him previously. The most common and safest way for an Open Heaven Realm Master to do this was to consume Open Heaven Pills, but there were other methods as well.
For example, Old Ancestor Mo Yu had targeted the Demon Realm because he wanted to devour and refine its Principles and World Force. It was just that this method had some advantages and disadvantages compared to consuming Open Heaven Pills.
The advantage was that this method worked very fast. Consuming Open Heaven Pills was a long process of accumulating many grains of sand to eventually build a tower. Every breakthrough to the next Order would take years and years of accumulation. If one could devour and refine the Principles and World Force of a Universe World that matched their Small Universe, that person would be able to obtain huge gains in a very short time.
The disadvantage was that there would still be some incompatibility no matter how well-matched the Universe World was to one’s own Small Universe. Hence, there were hidden dangers to this method of cultivation. One would need to spend a lot of energy and effort to slowly remove what were essentially impurities from their Small Universe after performing such an act.
Nevertheless, the effectiveness of devouring the Principles and World Force of a Universe World was many times higher than merely consuming Open Heaven Pills.
Aside from these two methods, there was another rather common method of cultivation, and that was to refine Open Heaven materials of various Orders. The reason a cultivator could split Heaven and Earth apart in their bodies was that they had accumulated enough Yin, Yang, and Five Element Powers. After advancing into the Open Heaven Realm, they could continue to refine and endlessly enhance their own heritage; hence, it was not that a cultivator would no longer have need for various cultivation materials after advancing into the Open Heaven Realm. On the contrary, their needs only increased.
After listening to Yue He’s explanation, Yang Kai finally understood. It wasn’t that he was ignorant and uninformed, it was just that his strength was still lacking, so he had yet to come across such matters.
When Guo Zi Yan was still around, Gu Zhi Xin did not dare to covet the two Fourth-Order materials in Guo Miao’s possession. Guo Zi Yan had the support of Scarlet Star after all, and while he was not afraid of Guo Zi Yan, Scarlet Star was not an entity he could afford to provoke.
However, Guo Zi Yan’s whereabouts were now unknown and it was most likely that he was dead. Therefore, Gu Zhi Xin had nothing to worry about anymore. In addition, Guo Miao had two Fourth-Order materials in her possession even though she was only in the Emperor Realm. It was like a child holding onto an expensive treasure, so it was not surprising that Gu Zhi Xin began to covet them.
“That old dog sure is hateful, disrespecting Commander Guo so thoroughly.” Yang Kai coldly snorted.
Guo Miao echoed his words, “That old dog wanted the two Fourth-Order materials, but it wasn’t for his own use. Sect Master was in retreat at the time to advance to the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm and urgently needed a large number of resources. The reason that old dog tried to rob me was to display his loyalty in hopes that Sect Master would value him more in the future.”
Hearing what she said, Yang Kai suddenly recalled the information he overheard at the inn a day ago. It was rumoured that the Leader of Blood Swan Continent, Yun Xing Hua, had successfully come out of retreat after advancing to the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Judging by the situation, it was probably thanks to Guo Maio’s two Fourth-Order materials.
“What happened afterwards?” Yue He asked gently.
Guo Miao sadly replied, “That old dog asked for those resources, but my Father risked his life to obtain these resources for me, so how could I agree to his demands!? At first, I wanted to quickly condense my Dao Seal and refine those two cultivation materials so that he would have nothing to covet anymore, but who could have known that he would force me to refine a Second-Order Wood Element material as soon as I finished condensing my Dao Seal!?”
While speaking, she bit her lip so hard that it began to bleed, her eyes filled with tears.
Any building must start with a foundation. For a cultivator, their foundation was the most important building block. The lowest Order material they condensed would define the Order of the Open Heaven Realm they could break through to in the future.
Guo Miao was forced to refine a Second-Order material; therefore, she could only become a Second-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in the future.
Cutting off a person’s Martial Dao was an offence no different from murdering one’s parents. Nevertheless, the milk had already been spilt. Moreover, Guo Miao was placed under somebody else’s care, so how could a weak young girl like herself protect the two Fourth-Order materials in her possession? In the end, those Fourth-Order materials were forcefully taken away by Gu Zhi Xin and handed over to Yun Xing Hua. That was why Yun Xing Hua recently managed to advance to the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
In the beginning, Guo Miao had resigned herself to her fate. She was an orphan with no support now, so what could she do even if she was unwilling? To her surprise though, Guo Zi Yan, who had been missing for the past decade, suddenly appeared in Blood Swan Continent several days ago.
The father-daughter reunion should have been a joyous occasion; however, when Guo Zi Yan noticed that his daughter had condensed a Second-Order Element he couldn’t help feeling shocked and furious! He had prepared two Fourth-Order materials for her before he had been sucked into the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. Furthermore, she had enough aptitude to refine them. So, how did things turn out this way? Despite his questioning, Guo Miao remained tight-lipped and did not dare to tell him the truth.
Guo Zi Yan could tell that something was wrong, so he did not question her any further. On the contrary, he pretended not to notice anything and chatted with Gu Zhi Xin like normal.
Ok, that’s an objectively adorable name.
thanxx 👑
Yo