Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy

  "… Junior Brother, did you sleep last night?"

  "Senior Brother, did you?"

  "Heh, who could possibly fall asleep?"

  Inside the Pink House at the Spirit Pool Peak on the Spirit Sword Mountain, all the Ten Thousand Arts Sect disciples were sleepless the whole night. Facing the dawn, one by one, they continued to sigh.

  With the Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s physical fitness, even being sleepless for three nights in a row was nothing at all. However, last night, their minds were tangled on the things that happened the day before all night long, which made them very tired.

  The defeat at the dinner banquet was not just a light blow to the Ten Thousand Arts Sect, yet what made their minds couldn’t stop thinking about was their post-fight summary.

  According to the custom of the Ten Thousand Arts Sect, after a fight or competition, regardless of victory or defeat, they must summarize, analyzing the success and failure. This time, they participated in the competition filled with confidence and ambition, yet their lost was a mess, so naturally, they have to carefully analyze the whole thing.

  Under the leadership of Yuan Chaonian and the other two Elders, Zhan Ziye and the other four carried out their analysis, however, the conclusion was very disappointing… Several people were at a loss, not knowing what to say.

  The Spirit Sword Sect clearly didn’t use any cheat to win the competition; everything was placed on the table, and no shady-and-dirty operation occurred. Moreover, overall, the rules were beneficial to the Ten Thousand Arts Sect. Although Wang Lu played a lot of tricks on the table, however… for the Ten Thousand Arts Sect who prided themselves in their intellectual prowess, being intelligently toyed by someone else was disgraceful. There was indeed a bit shamelessness on the opposite party on the last spurting incident, however, compared to Wang Lu being shameless, people would laugh more at the ‘eruption’ of someone, which was absolutely a lifetime stain. After the competition, Zhao Jiangyuan was angry out of shame enough that he even had an impulse to suicide!

  Actually, the only questionable thing in that competition was Wang Lu’s amazing gain on his eleven in a row lottery draw. However, after Yuan Chaonian explained it to the disciples, the few of them had no choice but to accept.

  "For a brilliant cultivator, luck is by no means elusive. When a cultivator had been augmented with providence, with a special method, he or she, in a short time, could internalize the providence in the form of luck. Our Sect also has a method similar to this… however, it is not recommended for you to study it, because, on one hand, our Sect has never had a destiny with the providence. On the other hand, the actual effect in converting providence into luck is very poor. Even if your body is augmented with the providence of ten thousand people, it’s only important use is in this kind of insignificant competition, where you could achieve miracle in drawing lottery, that’s all."

  Knowing that Wang Lu had been bestowed with providence by the heaven and understanding that there was a method to change it into luck, the disciples naturally have nothing to say.

  What about Liu Li? Yes, without Wang Lu’s mischief, Zhao Jiangyuan’s nutrition points should be above her. But then again, that result was because of Zhao Jiangyuan’s all out effort, but Liu Li, from the start, never showed any struggle; let alone all-out effort, she didn’t even show her real skill! Her Brilliant Sword Heart was the real deal here!

  Thinking how her sword had slain the twelve Xudan Stage demons two years ago, one by one, the disciples of the Ten Thousand Arts Sect felt as if they were in a haze. Their Eldest Brother Zhan Ziye was indeed very powerful, with first class aptitude, astonishing perception, and understanding of method far above that of his other martial brothers on the same level as him and those barbarians of Spirit Sword Sect. However, no matter how arrogant they were, they had to admit that in the Nine Regions, the case of relying-on-force barbarians defeating scholars abounded—Liu Li defeating Zhao Jiangyuan in eating competition was an example of such a case. Although the latter obviously had the better method of food digestion and could get more nutrition points per bowl of dish compared to Liu Li, in the end, he lost to her terrifying ability to digest food. That being the case, would their Eldest Brother Zhan Ziye lose to Liu Li’s unreasonably persistent Brilliant Sword Heart?

  "But… I always feel that Liu Li seems to have a little problem with her mind," Zhao Jiangyuan said with a frown. Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he hurriedly added, "I’m not trying to disparage her or anything, but I always feel that she seems quite stupid. Did you guys remember that when Wang Lu untied her top button, she has no reaction than to continue eating!"

  Zhan Ziye and the others recalled that scene and found out that it was indeed so.

  "That can’t be true. If she’s really stupid, how could Spirit Sword Sect take her as a Successor Disciple? Even for a barbarian sect, that’s impossible…"

  At this time, as their acting Master, Yuan Chaonian, gave his interpretation, "Because that is the effect of Brilliant Sword Heart. Liu Li is not at all stupid, but her way of thinking is different than ordinary people… Well, intuitively, she is indeed stupid, but anyone who looks down on the Brilliant Sword Heart would usually pay a terrible price—this is not rhetorical, but an objective commentary based on the comprehensive data statistic."

  Seeing that the disciples’ morale was somewhat shaken, Yuan Chaonian added, "However, we definitely don’t need to be discouraged. Do you guys remember our belief?"

  The several disciples looked at each other and then said, "Knowledge is power!"

  "Correct, knowledge is power! Spirit Sword Sect’s cultivators are indeed powerful, but we possess knowledge and wisdom, which is more powerful than any magical power or cultivation, enough to ensure our invincibility. Everyone should take a rest for today. Starting from tomorrow, we will let them experience the real Ten Thousand Arts Sect."

  Facing the puzzled faces of the disciples, Yuan Chaonian chuckled. "This time, I brought the Gate of All Living Things."

  "Gate of All Living Things!? Master, are you going to…"

  "Yes, we have lost two times in a row, at the welcoming ceremony, and at the dinner banquet. If we want to save the situation, we have to come up with something decisive. I know that a lot of people like to criticize us as useless now, as people filled with theory and knowledge but without the ability to solve the real problem. Some people even mock us as useless otaku. Then, we’ll use the real thing to defeat them!"

  ——


  The next day, the Ten Thousand Arts Sect people visited the Small Clear Sky Peak led by Spirit Sword Elders. As the most important experiential learning spot for the Spirit Sword Sect, the Small Clear Sky Peak attracted the utmost interest of the Ten Thousand Arts Sect; the layout and design of this place were indeed unique. However, after the visit, the disciples of the Ten Thousand Arts Sect actually gave that place a near-mocking appraisal.

  "As a playground, it’s indeed good."

  Elder Liu Xian, who led them, however, didn’t angry, instead, he responded with a laugh. "This is indeed just a playground for the disciples. The real place for experiential learning is of course in the world of mortals."

  Hearing this, Yuan Chaonian thought otherwise, "World of mortals? This is an obsolete concept from thousands of years ago; it has no efficiency and no guarantee of success. The world of mortals is boundless; if you just let the disciples loose there, expecting them to gain as much as they could in a short amount of time, it is tantamount to looking for the needle in a haystack. The disciples certainly have to go through something that could greatly influence them in order for them to grow, but not by being mediocre in the world of mortals."

  Elder Liu Xian also recognized this. "Unfortunately, not many major events can happen at any time; it can only be discovered but not sought."

  Yuan Chaonian said, "That’s not necessarily."

  "Does Elder Yuan know something?"

  Yuan Chaonian smiled, thinking, "I’m waiting for you to ask this question."

  ——


  A moment later, on top of the Cloud Wave Boat, the Gate of All Living Things was present.

  "This is the thing where our Ten Thousand Arts Sect disciples take their experiential learning." Yuan Chaonian stood before a magnificent stone door and explained its use for Liu Xian, Fang He, and other Spirit Sword Sect Elders, as well as the several accompanying Spirit Sword Sect disciples.

  "The Gate of All Living Things. The place behind this door looks exactly like the world of the living. Of course, essentially, this is a refined, complex, and enormous-illusion making treasure. All kinds of form of human world in this thing is indistinguishable from the real thing."

  Within the Spirit Sword Sect, the one with the most brilliant illusion technique was Elder Hua Yun. Upon hearing Yuan Chaonian explaining the door’s magical effect, she couldn’t help but become surprised. "Immortal Treasure?"

  "Yes, this is an Immortal Treasure." Yuan Chaonian slightly nodded proudly. Although his Unity Stage Sect Leader Senior Brother was the one in charge of refining this treasure as well as the master refiner in their sect, he, as one of the personnel who created this, could also claim credit for its creation! And this Gate of All Living Things was undoubtedly one of the masterpieces of his life!

  "As long as there’s this Gate of All Living Things, it’s very easy to let the disciples experience a variety of valuable events, whether it’s a natural or man-made disaster, or indulging in the life of luxury. Compared to senselessly sending disciples down the mountain for experiential learning, this door is several times, no, dozens of times more efficient. Currently, it hasn’t yet proliferated in our Ten Thousand Arts Sect, but its wonderful prospect can already be seen."

  Hearing this, Hua Yun just nodded lightly, obviously, her mind was already on this Gate of All Living Things as well as its variety of derivative uses. As for the other Spirit Sword Sect Elders, they apparently didn’t have any interest in this thing.

  This slightly upset Yuan Chaonian, he thought, "No matter what, this is an Immortal Treasure, although your Spirit Sword Sect certainly has… after all, this is an Immortal Treasure. Moreover, it’s different from those Immortal Sword or Seal that can only be used to fight and kill. This treasure can be used to train the disciples. In the whole Nine Regions, the significance of a treasure that can cultivate talented disciple can’t be overstated; can’t you guys give a little bit of reaction to this?"

  As soon as he thought that, the reaction that he sought for finally came.

  "Isn’t that just a toy?"

  Upon hearing this, the dignified Deity Stage Elder Yuan Chaonian nearly passed out, especially since the one who said that was just a Qi Cultivating Stage disciple!

  However, when he looked closely, the person who said that was Wang Lu, who was in the limelight yesterday. If it were any other disciple, he could just dismiss their opinion as ignorant. However, although this Wang Lu was just a disciple, his way of handling things was actually inscrutable, which meant that he was someone that absolutely couldn’t be underestimated.

  However, the anger in his heart was difficult to contain. With a rather annoyed tone of voice, Yuan Chaonian asked, "Why do you say it’s just a toy?"

  Being under the angry glare of a Deity Stage cultivator, Wang Lu decidedly ignored it and instead smiled. "False is false. Illusion could never be compared to reality. Although you can simulate the five senses and everything, you can’t simulate the cause and effect of the world, and even can’t simulate the vastness of the world…Therefore, it’s just a top simulation game."

  Yuan Chaonian’s complexion turned gloomy. Inwardly, he was burning with anger, however, it was not because the opposite party had said something disrespectful, but because the other side had laid bare the only shortcoming of the Gate of All Living Things.

  In terms of how real the illusion was, it was actually indistinguishable with the real thing. The Gate of All Living Things could create everything, but it couldn’t create the world’s cause and effect. The Gate of All Living Things was just an illusion infinitely closer to the real thing, yet it could never achieve the genuine real thing. There would always be a genuine difference between experiential learning in the real world and in the illusion world, but he has always insisted that this difference paled in comparison to the several folds of increased efficiency.

  "Tsk, tsk, you don’t believe it?" Wang Lu laughed. "Then that’s easy, let’s try it. As a professional adventurer, I will show you the real difference between the game and reality. No need for the electric shock to see the result [1]!"

  Before the smiling eager-to-try face of Wang Lu, Yuan Chaonian, who had his full confidence in this Gate of All Living Things, unexpectedly felt a flutter deep within his heart as ominous premonition clouded over it.

  …


  Note:

  [1] One of the treatments for online game addiction in China was electrocution.