The Sixteenth Ancestor gestured for Fang Ren to sit, and began explaining the technique he was about to bestow.
"The power of this technique is as formidable as its difficulty. This is not taught to any disciples, not even to elders or family members, since it takes so much time to refine properly. No one would learn a technique that has very little chance of evolving into something greater. Hence, to avoid them squandering their entire lives reaching the threshold, I've never taught this to anyone. But since you're going to venture outside the world in the next month and I'm going to enter seclusion in a few days, I will bestow this upon you."
Fang Ren bowed.
"Thank you, ancestor. I shall do my very best to learn this technique and master it."
The ancestor began describing the technique in detail.
The Celestial Light Bending Technique was a rare body-focused celestial art that bent heavenly light inward rather than releasing it outward. It used illumination itself to strengthen the cultivator's actions and defensive capabilities.
The first form reinforced the body with condensed celestial radiance, drastically increasing physical strength and allowing every single strike to carry crushing force that could devastate enemies effortlessly.
The second form manifested as heavenly protection, wrapping the cultivator in a mantle of light that functioned like dao-level armor. It instinctively defended against techniques, weapons, and even hostile laws themselves.
The third form bent light along the user's movement, reducing resistance from space and greatly increasing speed and reaction time. This allowed motion that bordered on instantaneous, making it nearly impossible for normal enemies to land a hit.
The fourth and most dangerous form caused attacks to stack continuously. Each strike left behind residual light that compounded onto the next strike, and as long as the assault remained unbroken, the damage escalated relentlessly.
This was capable of overwhelming even immortal defenses. Mastery of the technique turned prolonged combat into a one-sided descent, where the longer the battle lasted, the more the heavens themselves seemed to bend in the cultivator's favor.
"Learn all these forms and even let alone Qilins, even Azure Dragons won't be a problem for you," the ancestor continued.
"However, I hope you at least learn the first form before you leave for the sect. You need to learn to solve your problems by your own strength. Not every time will I or Juntian be there to save you."
"I understand, sir."
The next day, the clan tournament began with a huge audience watching young cultivators from various families compete against each other. The atmosphere was electric as matches started one after another.
Li Fang Ren arrived just as Li Suyan's match was beginning. He found a spot to watch as his cousin faced her opponent, and the fight was over almost immediately. Suyan moved with swift motions that showcased her improved cultivation.
The referee raised his hand to signal the end.
"The winner has been decided. Both sides, stop fighting. The winner of the tenth match is young miss Suyan."
An elder—Suyan's father—smirked with pride and began boasting loudly.
"Hahaha, good! Yan'er has shown great improvement in just these few months. You've surpassed most of your seniors. Our Li family is getting stronger with each passing day."
His words were carefully crafted to sound like he was praising the entire Li clan, but everyone understood he was really just talking about his own branch family, using flowery language to cover his ambition.
Suyan bowed gracefully to acknowledge the compliment.
"Thank you for the kind words. However, I still have much to learn and many more techniques to master."
The referee announced the next match.
"The next match will begin shortly. Participants please enter the podium. We have Han Xue from the Han family versus Zhuang Jian from the Zhuang family."
The referee addressed Zhuang Jian directly.
"Young master Jian, would you like to request a weapon for this match?"
"No need. I don't need weapons for fighting these lowlifes," Zhuang Jian replied arrogantly.
The match began, and to everyone's shock, Zhuang Jian was completely dominating the fight. He was literally playing with his opponent, toying with the Han family member like a cat with a mouse. Mid-fight, Zhuang Jian suddenly pulled the opponent's sword away and examined the qi layered on it.
"These are not the standard techniques of the Han clan. Who did you learn this from?"
The elders of the Han clan immediately understood what was happening. Their disciples had been infiltrated by enemy forces.
"This man is with the cultists! Apprehend him immediately!"
But Zhuang Jian raised his hand to stop them.
"Wait, the match isn't over yet. You can't interfere in an active competition."
Both of them exchanged a few more moves, and Zhuang Jian easily kicked his opponent out of the ring, ending the match officially.
Suyan suddenly came running over to Zhuang Jian, face filled with concern.
"Sir, are you okay? Brother Fang Ren was also attacked by these cultists during the banquet yesterday and before too. I was worried you might have been hurt."
"Don't worry, he was just a weak one who tried to infiltrate our matches. There must be more cultists hidden among the lower-ranked participants though."
Due to the cultist infiltration being exposed, all remaining matches were cancelled for the time being while the clan investigated the situation.
Lucky for me, I was never interested in this bullshit tournament anyway. Now I can focus on training in peace.
He decided it was time to enter seclusion again and dedicate himself fully to learning the Celestial Light Bending Technique.
The next two days were spent entirely on training, with occasional breaks where he would just lazily rest and absorb the system rewards that came naturally.
[DAILY REWARD UNLOCKED]
Good, I was getting tired from all the training anyway. Let me check what the reward is.
[DISSIPATION TECHNIQUE ACQUIRED]
The Dissipation Technique was a concealment art that could hide one's aura completely and allow them to blend seamlessly into their surroundings. The effect depended entirely on how much mastery you had over the technique. If fully mastered, even an Ascendant cultivator could be fooled for some time.
Whoa... even an Ascendant tier cultivator couldn't detect it if I'm fully skilled? This seems like some elite-grade stuff.
After practicing the new technique for a while, he eventually got bored and went to sleep.
Early the next morning, Li Suyan arrived at the seclusion grounds. She'd been stuck at home due to her father's restrictions and couldn't meet Fang Ren normally, so she took every chance to visit him during his seclusion.
She knocked on the door to his chambers.
Fang Ren woke up suddenly, drool still on his face from sleeping.
Ahh... why is she here so early in the morning?
He opened the door while rubbing his eyes, trying to shake off the drowsiness.
"Good morning," he greeted her with a yawn.
"Good morning, brother."
"Why are you here so early? It's barely dawn," he asked, yawning again.
"I'm here to say goodbye to you."
Li Fang Ren was instantly alert, all sleep vanishing from his face.
"What? Goodbye? Why?"
After talking with her, he found out that Suyan had also reached Peak Divine Realm Tier 5 and was being sent down the mountain to learn the ways of the world.
Since she'd heard that Fang Ren was joining the Eternal Nights Sect, she'd decided to go there as well.
"Oh, I see. So you've reached Peak of Divine Realm. According to the family books, you're ready to venture outside and grow. That's good progress."
She smiled at his acknowledgment.
"This is all thanks to the medicinal pills you gave me, brother. Also, Sir Zhuang Jian mentioned that he'll be giving you a visit soon. He wanted to thank you for something."
"Why him? What does he want with me now?" Fang Ren asked, confused.
But Suyan had already turned to leave, her expression soft but determined.
After she left, Fang Ren sighed heavily.
So she's leaving today. Well, I'll be leaving soon too, but...
The real problem was Ling Feng. Although she could eventually accompany him after years of collecting treasures, she would have to stay here alone for who knows how long. It was just a temporary goodbye, but it felt heavy nonetheless.
Three more days passed in the seclusion chambers. Fang Ren continued his training and received more system rewards.
Today's reward is... Basic Thunder Gathering Technique. Hmm, so you gather thunder energy at your fingertips and attack with it. The technique's rank increases as your realm increases.
He thought about his current cultivation progress as he practiced the new technique.
I'm currently in Divine Realm Tier 2. I need 3 more tiers to reach Peak Divine Realm, and then I can break into Spirit Sea Realm. After that, all the higher realms have 9 tiers each instead of 5. It's definitely going to be more difficult and time-consuming.
He reflected on what he'd learned about the higher cultivation paths.
Becoming an Ascendant wouldn't make you immortal. People like his ancestor were at Ascendant Tier 4 or 5, but some people claimed to have reached Tier 40 or 50 in their Ascendant realm. Everyone apparently had a different maximum tier they could reach in the Ascendant realm—some had 100, some had 500, and some rare individuals could only reach 4 or 5 tiers before hitting their limit and becoming immortal. It was all determined by fate and individual potential.
The world already had so many Ascendants. Some were just wandering around casually, some fought in wars on a daily basis, some even tried to kill themselves but failed to do so, some chose seclusion, some trained their descendants, and some persevered to enter each and every realm they could find in pursuit of immortality.
Sigh, she said all that and made me feel lonely. I can't even sleep properly now. I should just practice and learn this Celestial Light Bending Technique throughout the entire night.
The process of learning the technique was straightforward in concept but difficult in execution. He had to collect qi at specific nodes in his body, condense it into electricity, and then gather thunder in his meridians. Each step required perfect control and immense concentration.
What he didn't realize was that some uninvited invaders had quietly entered the seclusion grounds while he was too focused on his training to notice.