Chapter 48 – Antechamber (IV)

Chapter 48

Antechamber (IV)

Long Tao left after about six seconds, give or take, his tiny frame appearing as I exhaled in relief.

He crossed over the bridge, seeming as apathetic as ever–

Son of a bitch, he broke through!

This guy actually broke through!

I made it a habit to use Creator’s Eyes on him at least once a day (as it does not cost a ‘charge’ when I use it on my disciples), and, yup, right there where it used to say ‘Twelfth Stage of Qi Condensation’, it now said ‘First Stage of Foundation Establishment (Perfect)’.

Just as I read that, the other side of my view got absolutely blasted by a whole heap of notifications, startling me for a moment. However, now’s not the time! I still got one kid to send in there, and, at the very least, it was clear that Elder Qin didn’t realize Long Tao broke through.

“How was it, kid?” Elder Qin asked Long Tao, who seemed to be in thought for a moment before replying.

“Quite beneficial.”

“Ho ho, of course,” Elder Qin nodded, mindfully stroking his beard… yet again. “Alright, your sins are your own. Girl, it’s your turn.”

Dai Xiu nodded and nervously walked past Long Tao, pausing for a moment as though expecting a word of advice; the latter, though, just shrugged, like it had nothing to do with him, disappointing the girl and peeving me.

Come on, man! Give her something!

I eyed him as he approached me and stopped by my side, and he merely smiled before his attention was dragged elsewhere. Where? Only the God knows.

–hmm. Wait. Didn’t Elder Qin promise he’d provide all the breakthrough pills necessary when we made the bet? Yeah… but how the hell can I take him up on that offer?! By the time these two should logically be breaking through to the Foundation Realm, who the hell knows what their actual realm will be?!

Won’t I get stiffed?! It’s one of the major parts of the bet! Maybe I should just let him in on the secret–nah, nope. I don’t trust him. I don’t trust him at all. Look, he seems like a nice, old, grandfatherly sort of a man, but his personality is so… ugh, normal? And he’s nothing like the rumors or even the memories original Lu Qi has of him.

Maybe he’s possessed too by some demons? But he can hide them even from the system?

Haah.

“What are you thinking about so deeply, Elder Lu?” he asked, drawing me out.

“… just the future,” I replied semi-honestly.

“Hm. You have a lot of work ahead of you.”

“Any advice?”

“… when I was young,” he said, looking over at me. “I was… well, ‘ambitious’ is a nice word for it. Any time a hidden realm was found, or we skirmished with the Fire Sun Sect, or even if some strong demonic beast was spotted, I was the first in line to leave this place. I’d died, actually, four times in my life, brought back at the last second. All my early days, I felt… anger, and it pushed me onward to greater and greater risks. It’s fine to foster ambition in your disciples,” he sighed. “But my Master at the time… she never equaled it from the other end.

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“As you should push it, you should also anchor it. Your disciples are talented, and they are strong, but… they did not do a smart thing, winning so effortlessly.” tsk. Tell me about it. “Their actions, whatever spirit was in them, will be construed in one way only: a hunger. Older kids will pay attention to them and probably come to challenge them often under the guise of ‘guiding the younger generation’. Really, though, it’s pettiness bordering jealousy. Under no circumstances, however, no matter what happens, are you to interfere.”

“I wouldn’t,” or, rather… why the hell would I? If there’s something that stumps Long Tao, then there’s pretty much nothing I can do about it, can I?