Ning walked out of the Mission hall, his space pouch filled with another thousand low-grade spirit stones and a few spiritual crop seeds. They were the rewards he got from the recent mission.

However, Ning's mind was occupied by another matter altogether.

Ever since completing his hunt, Ning couldn't help but find some things increasingly strange.

The rewards were too abundant. Even though one had to face a foundation-building soul for the reward, the harvest was too substantial.

The mission process was so smooth that even Ning couldn't help but wonder if he was also a 'protagonist.' But that can't possibly be true, right?

But after seeing Xiao Fan, who seemed to have taken the mission, Ning was equal parts relieved and terrified.

"I totally hijacked the protagonist plotline, didn't I?" Ning never considered himself to be dumb, not like anyone does, he hopes. So, from the brief encounter, it was not hard to see that this chance was obviously meant for the protagonist.

If they go by the normal route, Xiao Fan would defeat the rat, kill the soul, and receive a bountiful harvest. He might even subdue the soul or make the rat his contracted beast.

But it just so happened that Ning was a step faster than Xiao Fan, and he was able to take the chance meant for the protagonist.

That was a surprising thing.

Normally, such chances will always end up with the protagonist, no matter the convoluted process involved. Even if someone stumbles on an opportunity first, it will always somehow find itself in the hands of the protagonist.

But now, Ning found himself with the power to directly intervene in such matters.

"Is it because I am someone who doesn't belong to this plane, a transmigrator?" On top of his head, this was the only thing that Ning could think of.

This was both a blessing and a curse for Ning.

While it was nice to get some goodies by c*ckblocking the protagonist, if he ever needed to do so, it also meant that at any moment he may find himself in huge trouble.

While this mission seemed smooth sailing, the power required to complete it was well above the standard of a normal cultivator. Not only did they need to fight someone of higher cultivation, hunt it, and then even have a rare soul-dispersing technique in their hand. Otherwise, they could only become food for the other party.

Ning was not kidding. From the fragmented memories, he knew that Li Tianhe had originally planned to steal the body of whoever killed the beast. The only reason he did not immediately do such an act toward him was that he seemed to have somehow scared Li Tianhe off.

"Rude." Remembering those memories painting him as some kind of maniac, Ning's lips couldn't help but twitch slightly.

But the overall gist was from now on, Ning had to be extra careful. Since he didn't seem to be bound by the 'plot,' he could very well walk into an extremely dangerous situation.

A normal mission may turn into a world-ending prevention mission that only the protagonist could solve, while somehow he could find himself in the middle of it solely because he seemed to be 'free.'

"I think I have become too overconfident. I should have realized the very moment I was offered a rat extermination quest. Those are the fundamental beginner protagonist RPG quests. I was too blinded by the scroll." Ning sighed as he pondered upon his own shortcomings.

"Speaking of the scroll, it's weird Xiao Fan needed it since he had already reached the fourth stage." Ning's thoughts turned quickly before he shook his head, "Then again, protagonists are always weird."

Ning then pondered about Xiao Fan and the Luo Family.

"Since I am not there now, I would not put it behind Xiao Fan to find the mystery of the spiritual lake of the Luo family. After all, its appearance did hint some treasure being born there if we go by normal tropes." Ning shrugged, "Well, not that it matters to me right now. Xiao Fan can take care of it, and will probably handle the matter regarding Patriarch Luo as well."

Ning was not blind enough to not notice that Patriarch Luo was cooking something up. So, not wanting to get involved in it more than he already had, he made a tactical retreat. After all, as a certain Jojo once spoke to the whole world, Nigurendayo~

Ning's thoughts turned towards something weird as he suddenly thought of something.

"Speaking of which, Thunder Dog really is quite an embarrassing Daoist name. I hope I get something cool when I get one."

...

"Master, I have returned." After sorting out his gains and storing them inside his house, Ning quickly visited his master.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

As usual, his master was busy with alchemy, and a medicinal smell wafted through the air.

Ling Huang looked at the fourth with those golden eyes of his and then nodded, "It seems this trip, you really gained a lot."

Facing those golden eyes, Ning always had a feeling of being seen through.

"Yes, master. I was able to advance to the third floor of the sutra before breaking through the next stage." Even though he knew that his master could probably see that, Ning nonetheless informed him.

"Good! Very good! It was not in vain to give you my token." Ling Huang nodded in appreciation.

"It's thanks to master's teaching. Also, speaking of tokens, Master, I did not need to use the token." Ning took out the token with 'Ling' written on it.

"Oh? Did something happen?" Ling Huang became serious.

"Yes, master." Ning quickly recounted his experience of the trip.

Of course, matters that should be hidden were carefully not spoken. He can't just say that he 'devoured' the soul of the foundation-building cultivator, right?

Ling Huang nodded from time to time and then finally informed, "Then you can keep the token yourself. When visiting some city or facing someone related to our sect, they would give you some face."

"Thank you, master." Ning happily accepted the token.

This was another layer of security added. When meeting some unbeatable enemy, he could at least bring out the name of his master this way.

Seeing his master, who seemed so generous, Ning also started the next step of his plan. "Master, there seems to be a problem with my senses when I broke through to the fourth stage."

Ning had just finished speaking when his wrist was quickly caught.

"You! If something went wrong, you should have said so quickly." Ling Huang's previous joking mood was completely gone as he carefully scanned through Ning's body.

Hmm? Besides the pure Qi, a stable foundation, Ling Huang couldn't see anything else.

"Master, I have not finished speaking. It's a problem with my spiritual sense." Ning could only helplessly explain.

"I see. No wonder, I could not find the problem. So, what's the problem, fourth?" Ling Huang also released his strong grip.

"Master, after I unlocked my spiritual sense, I tried it, but I could not hold the spiritual sense for a long time. Only after 16 seconds, I was quickly overwhelmed and felt my mind go blank, but during those seconds, my perception just skyrocketed." Ning vaguely described those matters.

Listening to the matter, Ling Huang also frowned. "This seems quite weird. Let's see."

...

For the next hour or so, it was spent testing his spiritual sense. From trying to differentiate various materials to checking the sensitiveness of his senses using some weird materials, Ning swiftly passed all those experiments with flying colors.

Ling Huang looked at the results wide-eyed before he suddenly laughed loudly.

"Hahaha! I have struck gold." Ling Huang couldn't help but feel overjoyed.

"Um, Master?" Ning asked slowly, taking a step back. As usual, his master was weird.

Cough

"I got too excited for a moment." Ling Huang coughed and regained his composure, but the excitement in his eyes didn't diminish at all.

"I can see the 'problem' within your spiritual sense. Your spiritual sense is too sensitive, so it is picking up too much information at once, leading to mental overload." Ling Huang talked about his findings. "Your spiritual sense is very different."

The world of cultivation was infinitely mysterious; there would always be some kind of weird physique being born. They might be born with some spiritual body or weird mental ability. The fourth was obviously the latter type.

"Master, is it bad?" Ning asked 'seemingly' worried about the implications it might have.

Ling Huang looked at his fourth disciple with a look of 'you still don't know your luck,' before sighing and explaining, "Not only is this not bad, but this is very good for you. You must know in alchemy, the spiritual sense not only needs to be precise but also must be sensitive to process various materials in heaven and earth. The reason you cannot hold on to your spiritual sense for a long time is simply because your spiritual sense is too good at its job, so much so that your mental energy could not hold on."

"I see. This is a good thing then." Ning nodded in realization.

"Yes! You don't know how lucky you are."

Ling Huang never expected the disciple he had casually accepted to give him such a special surprise. He had only selected a disciple due to the sect's rules, but now he genuinely felt that this was a good thing.

"If master says so, then it must be true. But master, what should I do about the time limit?" Ning drew the attention of his master to the most important matter.

Ling Huang also nodded; this was indeed tricky. "I have two ways to solve this issue. I plan to use the first method. I will refine you a special Tier Two soul-strengthening pill. That should help strengthen your spiritual consciousness enough for you to hold on for a little bit longer."

"Master..." Ning was grateful and seemed moved.

Of course, inwardly, Ning also rejoiced. "All according to plan."

Ning didn't share his special situation thoughtlessly. Currently, he can only maintain his spiritual sense for less than 16 seconds. This time was not nearly enough for even the simplest of alchemy. So, with his master being the fanatic of alchemy he is, he would gradually notice something amiss. Thus, he took action first.

Ning didn't want to fall into the cliché of hiding so many things that it would cause severe misunderstanding.

If he really acted like a standard protagonist, then he would hide this specialty, which would later cause a misunderstanding that he was inept at alchemy. Like that, he would get provoked by arrogant bastards left and right. Only after he finished strengthening himself would he face-slap those bastards.

All that was too cumbersome, so Ning just came clean.

Some people are just born different.

And I, Ning, just happen to be one of them, okay?

Of course, while coming clean, he just acted ignorant about the reason for his specialness so that he would not have to explain anything about it. People always like to guess the most and always believe what they guessed themselves.

So, Ning just showcased his talent and let his master form his own opinion. In the end, his master only saw a sliver of the true potential of his unique talent. In this way, he could not only undermine his unique talent but also get much-required insight from his master.

Just like this special pill he was going to acquire.

"Master, how much would the pill cost?" Ning knew that alchemy was expensive, and it would be too much for the master to bear the cost for him.

Ling Huang chuckled, and looked at fourth in appreciation, "You don't have to pay me anything. Consider this as my gift for reaching the fourth stage. You should just focus on improving yourself first."

"Master..." Ning cupped his fist and bowed slightly, "Thank you."

"It's what I need to do." Ling Huang laughed elegantly.

At the same time, Ning realized.

I think I found the correct way of opening in the cultivation world...