Chapter 18: Cultivation Technique Upgrade

Fang Zhi stroked his beard in a contrived manner and said, "At least you're considerate, much more so than your master."

This comment caused Su Youyi to glare at him furiously, while Liang Yi could only force a wry smile; there was no good way to respond to that.

"Alright, the wine has been delivered. If there's nothing else, you'd better hurry along, don't hold up my business." Fang Zhi glanced at Liang Yi and then at Su Youyi - such good disciples, why did they have to be stuck with Chen Hua, that lump of cow dung.

"It gets me so irritated that Chen Hua, without being as handsome or as rich as me, still has such good luck." Fang Zhi felt a pang of pain in his heart.

Liang Yi quickly pulled Fang Zhi to sit down and offered him a cup of tea. Fang Zhi took a sip with satisfaction, feeling the scene strangely familiar.

"Sect Master Fang, actually, we do have a small favor to ask of you." Liang Yi said, sheepishly rubbing his hands together.

"F***, I knew this felt familiar! That bastard Chen Hua acts just like this when he wants a favor! And he's the first to sell me out when things go south!" Fang Zhi burst out in anger. These master and disciple truly followed in the same vein, didn't they? Even with amnesia, this little bastard's thick-skinned nature remained intact!

Su Youyi turned her face away awkwardly. She knew only too well what her master was like - Sect Master Fang's words were probably based on reality.

Liang Yi wiped his face, pretending he hadn't heard any of Fang Zhi's dark past and tried to sway Fang Zhi's decision with his innocent, kind, and sincere big eyes.

"Spit it out, spit it out. Consider it a debt I owe you and your master." Fang Zhi turned his head away, thinking to himself how devilishly handsome this young rascal was!

Su Youyi felt like she was getting shot in the crossfire: I didn't say anything, it was all senior brother's idea!

"I'd like to ask Sect Master Fang to calculate whether there will be any danger on our trip to Qingfeng City," said Liang Yi, his jovial expression turning serious.

He had to consider his junior sister's safety; if the Devouring Spirit Sect learned of the death of the man in the black robe and decided to take action against him, the person they sent would undoubtedly be a master beyond his junior sister's ability to deal with. Therefore, he shamelessly asked Fang Zhi to calculate their fortune, unwilling to allow any danger to befall his junior sister, not even by a single ounce.

Fang Zhi extended his left hand, performing a dizzying series of calculations that stopped almost as soon as they started.

Liang Yi and Su Youyi exchanged glances, not having caught any of it.

"No big deal," Fang Zhi uttered three words. This kind of rough divination was really nothing to him.

"Thank you, Sect Master Fang. I will certainly offer the best wine to you first in the future," said Liang Yi with a smile, bowing to Fang Zhi. In his past life, fine wine was essential to curry favor with Fang Zhi.

"Your sincerity is noted." Fang Zhi nodded in satisfaction. It wasn't the wine he was after, but rather he saw the shadow of a dear old friend in Liang Yi, and wanted to offer him some support.

"We won't trouble Sect Master Fang any further then and will return to rest. We'll visit Qingfeng City early in the morning. Should there be any instructions, you can find us at the Little Bamboo House."

"Mhm, go on. If there's anything, I'll have Lv Cheng let you know," Fang Zhi waved his hand dismissively.

"We bid you farewell," said Liang Yi and Su Youyi together.

Walking along the streets bathed in sunset, the silence of the dying sun's rays draped over the shoulders of each passerby, casting long shadows behind them.

"Senior brother, you didn't have to do that," said Su Youyi softly, for she was innocent but not stupid, and understood exactly why Liang Yi was so insistent on having Sect Master Fang perform that divination.

"This trouble was caused by me, and even though I don't know how I attracted their attention, I don't want you to be implicated," Liang Yi explained gently.

"I'm not afraid of being implicated!" Su Youyi was a bit agitated. She had reached the peak of the Third Realm and was no longer the powerless little girl from her childhood.

Seeing the curious looks from the people around them, Liang Yi didn't say much and directly took Su Youyi by the hand, blending into the crowd.

"I understand how you feel, and I know how much you want to help me," Liang Yi said gently and firmly, feeling his junior sister's emotions more directly than anyone else.

"But put yourself in my shoes for a moment. If you provoked some unknown forces out there, would you come back and tell me, letting me worry about you?" Liang Yi walked side by side with a now calm Su Youyi.

"No... I wouldn't."

Su Youyi fell silent a bit. Faced with such a situation, she wouldn't want to make her senior brother worry, and naturally, he wouldn't want her to worry either.

"Yes, that's right."

But looking at the sullen expression on Su Youyi's face, Liang Yi couldn't help shaking his head.

"However, senior brother is so weak, I definitely can't stop you. So I can only try to determine if there is any danger in advance." Liang Yi spread his hands, conveying that mundane matters were of no concern to him.

"Hehehe, senior brother is not weak at all, and besides, you have me, right?" Hearing this, Su Youyi couldn't help but burst into laughter, with a strong feeling of being touched in her heart.

Senior brother didn't want her to be implicated, but he also didn't want to see her disappointed.

Su Youyi hugged Liang Yi's arm and snuggled up against it: "Senior brother, you're too good to me!"

"Hey, get off, don't be embarrassed in the middle of the street," Liang Yi said with a laugh, pushing his junior sister away.

After their playful banter, the two returned to Little Bamboo House and had a simple dinner before heading back to their rooms. Of course, Su Youyi didn't really want to leave and was decisively taken next door by Liang Yi.

"Phew, how is junior sister going to turn into a demoness in the future? I can't figure it out!" Liang Yi couldn't understand.

Sitting on the bed, he finally had time to open his character panel and look at his Cultivation Techniques and Skill Bar.

Both "Endless Dao" and "Immaculate Sword Technique" were at zero levels. As soon as Liang Yi chose to learn these two techniques, he noticed the difference between the NPC template and the player template.

Under the NPC template, the Cultivation Techniques and Skills had no data descriptions, and leveling up felt like truly practicing cultivation, filling him with knowledge as if he were really practicing the techniques and skills.

"Now this is interesting," Liang Yi murmured, stroking his chin, believing a bit more in his theory that this world genuinely existed rather than being a game.

"Overthinking is useless. Just level up and see," Liang Yi thought, focusing on the Golden Skill "Endless Dao," which revealed a level-up suffix, requiring 10,000 Experience points. The orange skill "Immaculate Sword Technique" needed 8,000 points.

"I'm broke!" Liang Yi lamented. Experience points were truly fleeting. He had gotten such a big break at the beginning, filling in for a level 30 monster. Even so, his Experience points were still insufficient after considering leveling up.

After some hesitation, Liang Yi still chose to level up his Cultivation Technique first, since he could only level up one, of course, he would choose the highest quality one.

"Level up!" Liang Yi silently commanded.

Countless pieces of knowledge suddenly appeared in his Sea of Consciousness, yet Liang Yi did not feel unfamiliar with them. This knowledge was imprinted in his mind as if it were instinct, allowing Liang Yi to comprehend the essence at an extremely frightening pace and reach the first level of the Realm.

After a long while, Liang Yi's tightly closed eyes finally opened, filled with surprise.