[In the small courtyard of Shen Qingshan's house, you are currently matching wits with thin air.]

[Black Wind has already been sent to Yuelai Inn. You gave the Proprietress some money and asked her to look after him.]

[Others need to devote their entire body and mind to training, and even then, they might not see improvement.]

[You just need to go through the motions; the rest is left to the 'Proficiency' trait.]

[Techniques are quite easy to level up before reaching Perfection, even Earth-Grade ones. But once they reach Perfection, the required practice repetitions increase exponentially.]

[Repeating a set of movements is monotonous.]

[But the rewards are also plentiful.]

[Take a Mid-Grade martial art like *Rocket Step* as an example. When mastered to the Transcendent Mastery realm, its practical combat power rivals that of a High-Grade martial art with a low level of proficiency!]

[If it reaches the Pinnacle realm, it directly compares to a High-Grade martial art at the Perfection realm!]

[There is another level above Pinnacle, but you haven't managed to train any technique that far yet, so you don't know its name for now.]

[It's not that you don't want to focus on training one to that level.]

[Just taking a Mid-Grade martial art like *Rocket Step* from Pinnacle to the next level requires more practice repetitions than all your other technique upgrades combined!]

[If it were a High-Grade or Earth-Grade technique, the required number would only be greater.]

[The time investment cost is a bit too high. It's better to be balanced and have all your techniques reach relatively high realms.]

[Moreover, once you obtain higher-quality techniques, lower-quality ones will eventually be phased out. Training them too high doesn't hold much meaning.]

[You hear the commotion outside and know the Shen Family elders have arrived.]

[You quickly sit cross-legged, frantically circulating the *Righteous Sun Formula*, afraid they won't be able to sense you.]

[A moment later, you notice the noisy sounds from the street outside instantly vanish. A pale blue hemispherical light screen appears above the courtyard.]

[Subsequently, two elderly men dressed in plain clothes push the door open and enter the courtyard.]

["Esteemed elders, who might you be?"]

[You ask a question to which you already know the answer.]

[Their attitude is fairly amiable. They introduce themselves first.]

[One is called Shen Linfeng, the other Shen Lincong.]

[They are from the Shen Family of the Starry Domains.]

["The Shen Family of the Starry Domains?"]

[You continue playing dumb.]

[Shen Linfeng takes out a compass. The needle on it is pointing directly at you.]

["Perhaps you yourself are unaware, but the truth is, the blood flowing in your veins belongs to our Shen Family of the Starry Domains. We have descended from the Starry Domains this time precisely to bring you home and bestow upon you a great opportunity."]

[Shen Lincong, standing beside him, takes the opportunity to explain to you what the Starry Domains are.]

[Above the sky as far as the eye can see, there is another region: the Starry Domains.]

[There, the sun, moon, and stars float. The Shen Family resides on some of the habitable stars among them.]

["My name is Shen Yi, and I do have the surname Shen. But I am actually a descendant of the Shen Family living in the Starry Domains in the sky? You two aren't pulling my leg, are you?"]

[Having lived several lifetimes, your acting skills are superb.]

[After some intense back-and-forth, you reluctantly accept your supposed fate.]

[You also manage to fish out the information that they have only found one "Shen Family descendant" in all of Qingzhou.]

[They don't know that Shen Qingshan is the true Shen Family descendant.]

[You speculate that after Shen Qingshan got his promotion, he must have obtained higher-quality techniques from official sources.]

[For example, a High-Grade external technique.]

[He replaced the originally practiced external technique, the *Righteous Sun Formula*, which is why the compass the Shen Family uses to find descendants can no longer detect him.]

["If this truly is an opportunity, then I shall accompany you two to the Starry Domains to have a look. After all, I am all alone in this world with no attachments."]

[Hearing that you have "no attachments," they seem even more satisfied.]

["However, speaking of which, according to the records of the Dust Lineage's family register, there should be three lines of inheritance in Qingzhou of the Central Plains. How is it that after our investigation, only you remain?"]

[You speak without hesitation, recounting what Shen Qingshan told you about the Shen Family ancestors who once served as generals and later fell into decline.]

["So that's how it is. It seems your origins are not favorable, and you reached the Golden Body Realm through your own cultivation. Brother Lincong, what do you think?"]

["Since he is the only one in Qingzhou, even if he doesn't meet the criteria, we have to give this spot to him. Moreover, he actually fits quite well. It's just that his innate talent is somewhat low. I'm afraid after returning, he'll just be making up the numbers with little hope."]

["Our job is only to bring back those who meet the conditions. Whether they can stand out is not our concern."]

["True."]

[They can at least see your cultivation realm and innate talent, meaning they are at least at the Spirit Condensation realm.]

[You ask curiously.]

["What do you two elders mean by 'making up the numbers' and 'little hope'?"]

[Shen Linfeng laughs.]

["You'll know when you get there. Knowing too much now is useless.

Speaking of which, while traveling through the Five Regions, we discovered many Low-Grade Spirit Artifacts have gained intelligence and developed Artifact Spirits.

Some have even turned the natural order upside down, wanting to become the masters of martial artists. Do you know what's going on with this?"]

[Of course you know.]

[You know better than anyone.]

[But right now, you can only state what everyone knows.]

["The Spirit Artifacts in the Five Regions suddenly all gained Artifact Spirits on a certain day over a decade ago. Each one is quite individualistic. I heard they are even agitating for independence, though I'm not clear on the specific reasons."]

[Shen Linfeng strokes his beard and frowns.]

["That sounds like something the Earth Spirit might do."]

[Shen Lincong, standing nearby, also says.]

["The Earth Spirit is indeed capable of that. And now, with the absence of the Great Dao Immortal Artifact overseeing Him, that mischievous fellow might really be causing trouble."]

[You feel quite surprised inwardly.]

[The knowledge of the Shen Family members is truly impressive!]

[Based on just a few words from you, they have basically gotten close to the truth.]

[And they clearly know even more information regarding the Earth Spirit and the Great Dao Immortal Artifact.]

[What kind of family is this?]

[However, you also can't help but notice one fact.]

[The Spirit Artifacts in the Starry Domains were not affected by that wave of chaos caused by the Ten Thousand Souls Banner!]

[The Ten Thousand Souls Banner also realized this belatedly.]

["*Hiss*—I forgot about the Starry Domains! The Earth Spirit's influence doesn't reach the Starry Domains. Damn it, my Spirit Artifact kingdom is missing a huge batch of subjects!"]

[The three of you end your casual conversation.]

[Shen Linfeng takes out a yellow talisman from his Storage Ring and sticks it on you.]

["What is this?"]

["Ascent Talisman. It will make your body lighter so we can take you up to the sky.

What, did you think the two of us are at the Martial King Realm and can perform Flight through the Air?

Even within the Shen Family, Martial King Realm experts are extremely esteemed. They wouldn't come down to the surface to handle these trivial matters."]

[Of course you know this is a talisman, but you've only seen them in novels from your previous life! They don't exist in the Five Regions!]

[Shen Linfeng notices the astonishment in your eyes and says.]

["It's not strange you haven't seen one. The art of talismans has been lost even in the Great Wastes of the Five Regions. Now, only the Shen Family retains a single line of inheritance."]