In the beginning, Shu Han only felt himself being tugged back and forth by two massive forces. Then, all of a sudden, his vision became an assortment of strange and colorful scenes, and he found himself in this dazzling cavern. Here, low-grade spirit stones paved the floor, and mid-grade spirit stones made up the walls. The radiant lights of the five elements were dazzling, and the variety of spirit stones was innumerable. The majestic spiritual energy made him feel as though he had arrived in a fairyland.

Looking around, in the center of the cavern, there was a gem glowing with a brilliant, multi-colored light. Shu Han immediately recognized it - it was the legendary top-grade spirit stone! He walked over and saw this round and smooth top-grade spirit stone lying on a five-colored stone altar. The altar itself was filled with an impressive amount of spiritual energy. After some observation, Shu Han believed the altar was made from high-grade spirit stones!

Shu Han carefully admired the top-grade spirit stone but noticed a golden orb that seemed to be encapsulated within. As he was about to touch the dazzling top-grade spirit stone, an ancient voice emagic powered from within.

"Boy, it's one thing to look, but you're thinking of touching me?"

Damn!

Shu Han jumped three feet high and quickly retreated. The top-grade spirit stone was talking! He recalled Kang Guangwen once mentioned that top-grade spirit stones possess spirituality. Could the old man who arranged this entire situation actually be this top-grade spirit stone?

Shu Han bowed respectfully, "This junior has offended, please forgive me, senior!"

Then, the top-grade spirit stone flew up, and the abundant spiritual energy transformed into the figure of an old man. The old man looked Shu Han up and down, then nodded approvingly, "Not bad, not bad. You not only stood out from more than two hundred cultivators but also made a Golden Core cultivator sacrifice himself for you. Boy, you're impressive!"

Shu Han modestly replied, "It was merely luck. Senior once said that the victor would be rewarded with a top-grade spirit stone. Is that true?"

"Of course not!"

Despite being a spiritual body, the old man sat on the high-grade stone platform with crossed legs, completely nonchalant as he said these words. He pointed to himself, "As you can see, I am a top-grade spirit stone, and the top-grade spirit stone is me. I can't just give myself to you. That would be morally wrong! And you're a man!"

Shu Han: ...

What an unconventional old man.

"Then what business does the senior have with me?"

The old man laughed, "Naturally, it's a good thing. While I can't give you the top-grade spirit stone, I can offer something else! For example, I can give you a master-disciple relationship! And teach you an ultimate technique that is unparalleled in ancient times!"

Again?!

Shu Han was helpless. Why does everyone want to take him as a disciple?

"This... This junior is undeserving..."

The old man frowned and said, "I haven't even mentioned it yet, and you're already rushing to refuse! My technique, once mastered, triples the magic power reserves of a cultivator at the same level!"

Shu Han: "... The technique I'm practicing does the same!"

Old man: "... And that's not all, once you master my technique, you can split into three without losing any combat power, directly tripling the strength of a cultivator at the same level!"

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"I can do that too!"

At this point, both of them looked puzzled.

The old man said, "My technique is called Mystical Dragon Triple Rotation Divine Art!"

Shu Han widened his eyes, "That's what I'm cultivating too!"

The old man stood up in surprise, "No wonder your fighting style looked so familiar to me! Turns out you are practicing the same technique I created! Who is your master, and what is his cultivation level? Has he reached the Golden Core stage?"

Shu Han had no choice but to answer, "The one who passed this technique to me is the previous head of my sect, at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, his name is Master Mystical Dragon."

"Bullshit! When did I become your sect leader!"

Shu Han was stunned, "Senior... Are you Master Mystical Dragon?"

"Obviously, who else would it be if not me? The Mystical Dragon you're talking about must have been a disciple I took on over a hundred years ago. Tsk, what a waste, it's been so many years and he's still only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, and he even dares to use my name."

Having just sent off one Master Mystical Dragon, here comes another Master Mystical Dragon. Shu Han sighed in his heart, hoping that this old man wouldn't want to refine pills or something!

The old man said, "Since you're practicing my technique, consider yourself my disciple. Come, let me see to what extent your inner magic power circulation has reached."

With that, Shu Han was pulled by an invisible force, and the old man held his hand, immediately exclaiming, "Holy shit, five spiritual roots! You've certainly refreshed my knowledge! How could a five-spiritual-roots cultivator develop enough magic power to cultivate my technique to the twelfth level? Interesting, very interesting!"

Shu Han replied, "That's because my master heavily nurtured me and gave me many elixirs..."

The old man nodded, "Your internal magic power feels floaty, it indeed seems like you've consumed quite a lot... No, not quite a lot, but piles of elixirs, to achieve your current level. I'm really curious, why did your master have such a unique idea, to use so many elixirs to cultivate a five-spiritual-roots waste?"

Shu Han was embarrassed, "My aptitude has disappointed you, senior."

"No!" The old man let go of Shu Han's hand, smiling appreciatively, "You're mistaken, boy. Your appearance has delighted me immensely!"

"Five spiritual roots and you're delighted?"

The old man said leisurely, "Boy, to be a Nascent Soul cultivator, do you think it's more important with unparalleled talent or to persevere and work hard?"

Shu Han replied, "I believe both are important and neither can be neglected."

"No, that's totally wrong! Neither of those matters!"

Shu Han was confused, "Then what's important?"

The old man gave a mysterious smile, "Opportunity is the most important."

Then he stood with his hands behind his back and spoke with ease, "I have roamed the cultivation world for three thousand years, and I have met countless cultivators who possess both talent and perseverance. Why is it that after countless years, Nascent Soul cultivators are still rare in this world? That's because these favored children of the heavens lack the most critical element, and that is the opportunity!

Many talented and diligent cultivators struggle their whole lives to form their Golden Core, but there are some people who just lie there and successfully form their Golden Core, isn't that infuriating?! That's the power of opportunity!

Opportunity is an elusive thing, it's hard to quantify and evaluate. However, looking at you, with your five-spiritual-roots talent, you've managed to cultivate to such a state and stand out among a crowd of cultivators. I can sense that you're a person of great opportunity! Perhaps, you might be the key to my escape from this predicament!"

Finally, the conversation turned to the crux of the matter.

Shu Han asked, "Why are you trapped, senior, and what can I possibly do to help you get out?"

The old man pointed to the top-grade spirit stone inside him and said, "This top-grade spirit stone is what trapped me."

The old man continued to explain, "I am a person with unparalleled talent and opportunities, and I reached the peak of the Core Formation stage at a very young age. I was just one step away from the Nascent Soul stage! Unfortunately, that one step is as difficult to cross as a chasm, and it is unreachable. Boy, you are also practicing this technique, so you must know the drawbacks of it."

Shu Han nodded, "The bottleneck is unreachable!"

"That's right! The Mystical Dragon Triple Rotation Divine Art that I created is immensely powerful, but the bottleneck is too difficult to break through. With my talent, if it were any other technique, I would have definitely reached the Nascent Soul stage. But to break through to the Nascent Soul stage with this technique requires a massive amount of spiritual energy, so much so that another Nascent Soul stage cultivator would need to transfer all their magic power to me in order for me to possibly succeed."

A chill ran down Shu Han's spine, the Nascent Soul bottleneck was terrifying indeed!

The old man said, "But no Nascent Soul cultivator would do that, so I traveled around and finally found traces of top-grade spirit stones here."