Volume 1, Chapter 23: Nannan: These cultivation techniques are inadequate; I shall create my own!

"Shut your mouth!"

Li Yuanhua was so furious his mustache bristled, and he nearly tore Yang Juzi’s mouth open on the spot.

"What I meant was that the Young Master is not alone! Behind him stand the Prince of Wei’s Mansion, the Northern Underworld Sacred Ground, and the Langya Chamber of Commerce!"

"If you want to repay his kindness, you can start from these channels! You idiots!"

Chu Youchang looked thoughtful. "Do you mean we should go to the Langya Chamber of Commerce to buy goods?"

Li Yuanhua looked at him with satisfaction. "At least one of you is smart! Exactly! As the Young Master of the Langya Chamber of Commerce, he is immensely wealthy. If you try to give him money, it’s like trying to flatter an immortal but hitting the wrong spot! However, if you go to the Langya Chamber of Commerce to purchase the supplies you need, you don’t have to spend money for nothing, and it won’t make the Young Master feel like he owes you anything... At the same time, it lets him know your intentions! That is enough!"

"Hiss! That makes sense!" The eyes of the crowd lit up, as if the clouds had parted to reveal the clear sky.

"The senior is truly a senior. With just a little guidance, we have been enlightened!"

"Indeed! The ancestor is brilliant!"

Li Yuanhua proudly tilted his head. Don’t kid yourself. I have been studying the path to the heavens for hundreds of years; this is nothing. You still have plenty to learn!

"Remember, when you go to buy things, you must let the shopkeeper know that you are shopping there specifically because of the Young Master... Otherwise, the money spent will be for nothing, understand?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"Understood, understood!"

"Perfect, we recently recruited a large number of disciples and indeed need to procure many supplies! Let's go, let us go together!"

...

Meanwhile, deep within the royal palace, in the Scripture Pavilion, a petite figure was lying on a mountain of ancient books, flipping through them carefully.

"How is it, Nannan?" Wang Mu walked in and smiled. "Haven't you found a cultivation method that suits you yet?"

Nannan jumped down from the mountain of books, walked up to Wang Mu barefoot, and shook her head. "Although the cultivation methods you gave me are numerous and profound, none of them are suitable for me..."

Wang Mu asked curiously, "Why aren't they suitable? Haven't you already comprehended almost all of them?"

In just half a month, Nannan had not only read through the entire collection of the Liang Palace but had also finished the hundreds of profound secret manuals Wang Mu had specially sent for her. The effect of the Immortal Heart of Enlightenment was truly powerful. For ordinary cultivation methods, little Nannan only needed a glance to surpass the original creator. For certain techniques that only reached the ninth level, she could casually devise a tenth. As for the more profound ones, she only needed a little time to master them completely. A brief mental rehearsal allowed her to understand exactly what state she would reach upon perfecting them.

However, passing through her mind was not the same as actually practicing. To this day, little Nannan did not even qualify as a first-level Qi Refiner.

"It is precisely because I have comprehended them so thoroughly that I know if I were to practice these methods, my progress would be very slow, and my achievements would be limited!" Nannan said very earnestly, sighing, "Because my aptitude is too poor!"

Wang Mu suddenly realized. The importance of aptitude to cultivation goes without saying. Profound cultivation methods require not only enlightenment to understand but also aptitude as a major factor in determining one's upper limit. Little Nannan’s aptitude was only of the lowest grade. Even if she could see through an Imperial Scripture at a glance, it would be useless if she could not cultivate it to perfection.

"Then what should we do?"

"I think I need a cultivation method that is both extremely powerful and unrestricted by aptitude!" Nannan said seriously.

"Does such a method exist in this world?" Wang Mu found it difficult to believe.

"Perhaps not!" Nannan took a deep breath, seemingly having made a major decision. "So, I have decided to create one myself!"

"Create... one yourself..."

Wang Mu felt that even though he had been an unparalleled genius for a short while, he still could not understand the thought process of such people. A little girl who had not even reached the Qi Refining stage was claiming she would create an invincible cultivation method. If he told anyone, only a fool would believe it!

"I believe in you!" Wang Mu looked at her with sincerity and patted her shoulder. "Keep going! Tell me if you need anything. I will use my own hands to help you achieve your dream!"

Nannan’s eyes sparkled. "Wang Mu, you are a good person!"

Wang Mu: "...I am so much older than you, can’t you call me 'Brother'? How rude!"

"No way!" Nannan pouted, running back to the desk barefoot with a *tap-tap-tap* sound, muttering, "Calling you 'Brother' reminds me of my sister!"

Wang Mu: "..."

...

Meanwhile, as the Ascension Assemblies across Tianjue Island gradually came to an end, news of the events began to spread to more distant islands.

On a remote island, a few cultivators were discussing over drinks.

"Who would have thought at the beginning that the Young Master of the Wang family was actually serious?"

"He has been testing the aptitude of millions of mortals for over a month, right?"

"The cost of one low-grade spirit stone per mortal is astronomical. He is truly wealthy and generous!"

"More than that! As long as one’s aptitude is detected, the Young Master of the Wang family even gives away spirit stones! Low-grade spirit roots get low-grade spirit stones, and high-grade spirit roots get high-grade spirit stones directly..."

"The most important thing is that even after the Young Master checks your aptitude, he doesn't force you to work for the Wang family. You can choose whichever sect you want to join. This is practically charity..."

"Why do you think the Young Master of the Wang family is doing all this?"

"No matter what his motives are, those who have had their spirit roots detected will be grateful to him for the rest of their lives. This is practically an opportunity to change one's fate against the heavens!"

"If I had encountered such a good thing back then, my family wouldn't have had to sell all our cattle and sheep, and even our old house, just to send me to get my aptitude checked... Later, I got sick and had no money for a doctor. By the time I got the news, it was already too late!"

"..."

In the corner, a black-clad youth wearing a hood remained silent.

"Teacher, could the great catastrophe that Wang Mu spoke of be real? He seems... truly to be working hard to prepare for it!"

"Spending so much wealth on a group of mortals without asking for anything in return! This matter does seem somewhat credible!"

Lin Yan looked down at the liquid in his wine cup, his gaze flickering, wondering what he was thinking.

"However, even if it is real, it has no meaning for you right now! What you must do now is become strong, become even stronger, and pursue the Great Dao without distraction! Only then will you be able to handle yourself with ease when the great catastrophe arrives!"

"Yes, Teacher!"

...

On the other side, on Tianjue Island, at the Liang Royal City branch of the Langya Chamber of Commerce, a large number of cultivators suddenly poured in.

"Is this... the Langya Chamber of Commerce?"

"Y-yes, it is!" The shopkeeper of the branch was dumbfounded by the scene.

"I want to ask, if we buy things here, will the Young Master of the Wang family get a share of the money?" a cultivator who looked very honest and simple stood up and asked.

Shopkeeper: "???"