"Hold on!"

"Is there something else, Junior Brother Mo?"

Mo Qi pointed at the Elite Disciples. "You all can leave, but they have to stay."

The group of Elite Disciples froze for a moment before one of them stepped forward and said, "Ma... Master Mo, we just paid for the meal."

Mo Qi waved his hand. "This isn’t about the money. It’s about you coming here to cause trouble. A man must be true to his word. I said I’d throw you all down the mountain, so I must throw you all down the mountain."

The moment he finished speaking, Liu Hui transformed again. He grabbed Chen Liang, who was closest to him, and with a powerful heave, hurled him from the restaurant’s main hall all the way to the foot of the mountain.

BOOM!

By the time Chen Liang knew what was happening, his ass had already made intimate contact with the ground. He’d nearly shattered his tailbone.

Before he could even recover, Huang Hao followed close behind, falling from the sky and crashing right on top of him.

"Ah, what the fuck! Huang Hao, did you do that on purpose? Believe it or not, I’ll kill you!" Crushed, Chen Liang’s eyes rolled back in his head, his body feeling like it was about to fall apart.

"Don’t be in such a hurry to fight! There are more!" Huang Hao said quickly.

As if to prove his point, Elite Disciples rained down from the sky one after another, like dumplings being dropped into a pot, knocking the curses right back down Chen Liang’s throat.

Soon, a small hill of human bodies began to take shape.

Back up on the mountain peak, inside the restaurant, the various Elders didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

They could tell that Liu Hui’s actions wouldn’t cause any fundamental harm to the disciples. At most, they would suffer a bit and sustain some superficial injuries, so the Elders didn’t intervene.

After the last Elite Disciple was tossed down the mountain, Mo Qi smiled. "Senior Brothers, if you wish to eat, I’m afraid you’ll have to come back tomorrow. The restaurant is closed for the day."

The Elders were incredibly disappointed. Their disciples had described the Purple Bamboo Golden Fragrant Rice in great detail, and they were extremely curious about both its flavor and its medicinal effects.

They had wanted to taste it for themselves to see if this so-called Medicinal Cuisine was truly that miraculous.

But who would have thought that Mo Qi would say he was closed.

"In that case, we shall return tomorrow. Junior Brother Mo, farewell."

"Farewell."

The Elders had arrived quickly, and they left just as fast. Soon, only Mo Qi’s group of four remained in the hall.

"Junior Brother, that was a nice move. Tell me, how many contribution points did you earn today?" Yang Ming said teasingly.

Mo Qi glanced at his Identity Token and smiled. "Xu He alone contributed one hundred thousand. The thirteen Elders added one thousand each. As for the one hundred twenty-six disciples, they paid one hundred each, except for that guy Huang Hao, who paid double—two hundred. In total, that comes to one hundred twenty-five thousand, seven hundred contribution points."

"That old bastard Xu He took a huge loss this time! Hahaha! Just thinking about the look on his face is so satisfying." Yang Ming laughed heartily. Before his Cultivation had broken through, he had suffered more than a few cold stares from Wang Xinglong and Xu He.

"However..." Yang Ming’s tone shifted, becoming serious and heartfelt. "Junior Brother, I won’t stop you from earning contribution points, but you must not neglect your Cultivation. You have to always remember that strength is everything. I can protect you for a time, but not for a lifetime. So, you need to form your Dantian as soon as possible and break through the shackles of Refining Essence."

A warmth spread through Mo Qi’s heart. The matter concerned the Chaos Scripture, so he couldn’t possibly tell them about the Creation Golden Body Technique. Nor could he explain the Nine Transformations into Spirit. He could only say, "Don’t worry, Senior Brother. I’ll be able to condense my True Essence very soon."

Yu Liang also laughed. "This kid’s a monster. He knows what he’s doing. We two old geezers shouldn’t worry about him needlessly. But Liu Hui, on the other hand... you, his master, need to pay more attention. Don’t let such a promising talent go to waste."

"I get angry just thinking about it." Yang Ming shot Liu Hui a harsh glare. "His Cultivation isn’t all that, but his temper is huge. I told him to challenge the Void Road, see if he could get the attention of those old masters and get some benefits. At the very least, he could earn the status of a Core Disciple. But he refuses, no matter what."

Liu Hui stood to the side, eyes downcast, not saying a word.

"What’s the Void Road?" Mo Qi asked.

"The Mountain and Sea Empire has Four Great Sects: the Void Sect, the Wolf Fang Sect, the Celestial Sword Pavilion, and the Wuji Sect. The world is filled with countless experts, and people who establish their own sects are a dime a dozen. But do you know why only our Four Great Sects have been able to endure for over ten thousand years, standing strong and unyielding?"

Mo Qi shook his head. How could he possibly know such a secret?

Yang Ming continued, "Because each of our Four Great Sects possesses its own Secret Realm."

"For a Cultivator’s Cultivation, Spiritual Energy is fundamental and resources are the lifeblood. As one’s Cultivation rises, it reaches a point where the Spiritual Energy in the world is no longer sufficient to support further progress. At that time, if you want to continue breaking through to the next Realm, you must either find a blessed land rich with Spiritual Energy or have a chance encounter and obtain Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures."

"A Secret Realm is a special space that contains both abundant Spiritual Energy and Treasures. In other words, possessing a Secret Realm is equivalent to possessing the means to create powerful experts."

"Why is the Mountain and Sea Empire able to dominate, suppressing even our Four Great Sects? It’s because they possess three Secret Realms, and all of them are of exceptionally high quality."

"Take me, for example." Yang Ming pointed to himself. "If I hadn’t entered a Secret Realm to cultivate, and if I hadn’t had my own lucky breaks, I would have been stuck at my current Realm for the rest of my life, unable to advance even half a step."

Mo Qi’s expression changed. This was the first time he had ever heard such a secret.

’No wonder countless people fight tooth and nail to join the major sects. So there are environmental limits to Cultivation.’

"Then, Senior Brother, what Realm are you at now?"

Yang Ming smiled. "At the beginning of the Martial Dao, there are the Three Refinements: Refining Essence, Refining Qi, and Refining Divine Being. You should know all this. After the Three Refinements, one’s essence, qi, and spirit merge into one, causing the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top. By borrowing the Power of Heaven and Earth to cleanse the mortal body until not a speck of dust can cling to it and one’s senses can move at will, you can achieve the Purity Realm."

"As for what comes after the Purity Realm, I won’t go into too much detail. You just need to know that there is the Vajra, Void, and Emptiness Realms. I am currently in the Early Stage of the Void Realm."

"So you’re saying that once one’s Cultivation reaches the Void Realm, they must enter a Secret Realm to continue improving?" Mo Qi asked.

"Yes." Yang Ming nodded. "But let’s get back to the Void Road. The Void Road is a core area within our Void Sect’s Secret Realm, and it’s guarded by several old masters."

"Challenging the Void Road is a thorough test of a person’s talent and potential. More than half of the Core Disciples were promoted to that status only after achieving outstanding results on the Void Road."

"My intention was to have Liu Hui go challenge it. If he could pique the interest of those old masters and win their favor, he would gain immeasurable benefits. But this kid just refuses to go. It’s infuriating!"

Yang Ming was extremely frustrated. He felt like he had taken on a fake disciple.

"Benefits?" Mo Qi rubbed his chin, his mind racing. "You just said that not only is the Secret Realm rich in Spiritual Energy, but it also has a lot of treasures?"

"That’s right," Yang Ming nodded.

Mo Qi immediately made his decision. "Liu Hui, you will go challenge the Void Road tomorrow."

’Only a fool passes up a great deal!’

"Yes, Master."

Liu Hui agreed at once, which only made Yang Ming even more frustrated. He snapped, "Tomorrow, my ass! The Secret Realm only opens once every seven days. The next opening is in three days!"

"Then, Liu Hui, you’ll go in three days. Do your best. You know what I mean."

"Rest assured, Master. If I don’t squeeze something out of those old geezers, I’ll bring you my head!"

Yang Ming: "..."