The Second Elder suddenly felt his mouth dry.

Wasn't this kid a Quintuple Spirit Root? How did he reach the twelfth level of Qi Refining within ten years?! Could it be that Elder Ning made a mistake in his assessment back then?

Shu Han knelt directly before the Second Elder.

"For the past ten years, I have been grateful for Master's teachings! But even a sparrow has ambitions to soar like a swan, and I wish to leave this valley."

Upon hearing these words, the Second Elder seemed to age another decade.

With great difficulty, he asked, "What are your plans once you leave the valley?"

Shu Han answered, "To pass the Heaven-reaching Stone of the Mystical Dragon Sect and continue my cultivation at the Heaven Mystical Sect. Please grant me your permission, Master!"

"No!"

The Second Elder suddenly erupted in anger. His aged chin trembled, and his beard bristled, as if Shu Han's words had just touched a raw nerve.

"You're not going anywhere! Stay obediently in this valley!"

Facing his furious master, Shu Han remained calm and composed, replying, "Disciple doesn't understand Master's meaning. Master once said, if I can break the prohibition you placed, you would let me leave the valley. Without hiding anything from Master, I have reached the twelfth level of Qi Refining today, and can easily break the prohibition."

Hearing this, the Second Elder clutched his chest, stumbled backward a few steps, and fell to the ground in despair.

Shu Han quickly went to help him, but the Second Elder's dry hand tightly gripped Shu Han's arm, gasping, "Boy! It seems that Elder Ning was wrong in his assessment back then, you're definitely not a Quintuple Spirit Root. You can leave the valley, and join a higher sect, and I will let you go, but you absolutely cannot go to the so-called Heaven Mystical Sect! Absolutely not! I only have you as a disciple! All my skills, are all on you!"

The Second Elder's words were strange, but Shu Han remained unfazed.

"Disciple doesn't understand Master's meaning. Isn't the Heaven Mystical Sect a higher celestial sect?"

"There is no such thing as Heaven Mystical Sect! Understand? There isn't!"

The old man suddenly roared, but when he saw Shu Han's calm expression, he was startled, "Boy, you already knew..."

Shu Han took out fragments of medicine and showed them to the Second Elder. His eyes became blurry as he said, "This is the medicine I gave to Erdan, planning for him to take it back to Shu village for my parents. But I found these fragments of the medicine in the forbidden area of the back mountain, Master, I knew then. There is no Heaven Mystical Sect..."

The old man helplessly held his forehead and cried out in pain, "It's a sin! A sin! It's all my sins! I should have died on that chaotic mountain back then, I should not have lived to bring disaster to the world!"

Shu Han helped the Second Elder into a chair. At this moment, the Second Elder seemed like a helpless old man left alone in the world.

"Master, take your time," said Shu Han.

The Second Elder sighed deeply. "It's a long story, lad. You've been with me for ten years, yet you never knew my real name. It's not that I didn't want to tell you, it's just that I'm ashamed of it. It's a disgrace to the Bai family name!

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I am a cultivator from Creat Cloud, and my name is Bai Yunxuan. Unlike this remote area in Northern Yan, Creat Cloud is rich in spiritual energy and home to many cultivation sects. My ancestor was a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator. After failing to reach the Golden Core stage, he devoted himself to the Dao of alchemy and artifact refining. He achieved some success and passed down the 'Bai Family Artifact Refining Manual', which made the Bai family flourish for a time.

Perhaps it was retribution, but the later generations of the Bai family rarely showed outstanding talent, and the family fell into decline. Five generations later, it was rare for the Bai family to even have a Foundation Establishment cultivator. With a shallow foundation, naturally, it couldn't survive in the forest of sects in the Great Cloud. The 'Bai Family Artifact Refining Manual' was coveted and our family was attacked by thieves, causing many of our members to lose their lives."

I was lucky to escape, but I was eventually found by my enemies. More than a dozen cultivators of at least the ninth level of Qi Refining trapped me in a mountain called Hunyuan. That's when I met the old thief Mystical Dragon.

At that time, I was practically the only heir of the Bai family. I begged Mystical Dragon to save me. However, there's no such thing as chivalry in the cultivation world. I promised various benefits, but couldn't attract Mystical Dragon. Out of desperation, I took out a forbidden pill recipe from the Artifact Refining Manual, which finally convinced him to save me."

Shu Han asked doubtfully, "Forbidden pill recipe? What's that?"

"To understand why this pill recipe could move Mystical Dragon, we have to talk about the fatal flaw of the Mystical Dragon Triple Rotation Divine Art."

At these words, Shu Han's heart skipped a beat. This technique has a fatal flaw?

"I don't know where Mystical Dragon got the Mystical Dragon Triple Rotation Divine Art, but it's an absolutely unparalleled technique. However, if a cultivator who practices this art gets stuck at a major bottleneck for a long time, their spiritual power will keep rotating at the bottleneck. Eventually, the extremely compressed spiritual power will explode in the meridians and Dantian, causing them to die.

Mystical Dragon's talent wasn't good, he barely reached Foundation Establishment and then got stuck at the early stage for over thirty years without any progress. He was about to be killed by the technique but was saved by the forbidden pill recipe passed down by the Bai family. This pill is called Restorative Pill. My ancestor once mixed with demon cultivators, and he deduced this pill recipe from their techniques."

Restorative Pill?

The Second Elder continued to explain, "The biggest feature of this pill is that it can provide the user with a temporary increase in talent. The degree of improvement depends on the quality of the main ingredient. And this main ingredient... is a person under twenty years old who cultivates the same technique as the user! Moreover, it requires even more children under ten years old to act as guides for the medicine."

Upon hearing this, Shu Han shuddered and fell to the ground. He suddenly remembered something that Sister Waner had mentioned before, that the seven major sects suddenly started trading children after the establishment of the Mystical Dragon Sect. So that's why!

"Such a heinous pill!"

The Second Elder's face was full of pain as he revealed all this.

"Mystical Dragon came to Northern Yan and has already refined countless Restorative Pills. Many of the children he used to refine the medicine were the ones who grew up eating the Qi Gathering Pills I provided. If it weren't for me, so many children wouldn't have suffered. It's all my sin!"

No wonder Master said that he was very lucky the first time they met and every time he handed over the pills, his mood would be low. So that's where it all stemmed from.

Shu Han took a deep breath to calm his emotions.

"Master, this sin isn't entirely yours. The root of it all lies with the old thief, Mystical Dragon. Thank you for telling me all of this. Please take care in the future. If I can return safely, I will come back to thank you for your teachings."

After saying this, Shu Han turned to leave.

The Second Elder became anxious. He stumbled and fell from his chair, shouting, "Child! Where are you going?"

"Mystical Dragon Sect! Heaven-reaching Stone!"

The Second Elder cried out in agony, "Didn't you hear anything I just told you? You are no match for him! He's at least at the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage, you absolutely can't go!"

"It doesn't matter! I'm still going!"

Shu Han's eyes were bloodshot. He said softly, "Master, you once told me that the Dao of cultivation is ruthless and that I shouldn't let the life and death of others affect me. I understand this, but Erdan and Goudan are my brothers who grew up with me! If I become completely ruthless, how am I any different from Mystical Dragon? I would rather not cultivate such a Dao!"

He firmly said, "Mystical Dragon has killed my brother to refine pills. There is absolutely no way I will let him go! Otherwise, I will have no face to see the people of Shu Village again!"