"You two are joking!"
Lin Changâsheng didnât get upset; if he couldnât even take a little joke like this, he would just be too petty.
"My name is Liu Yaoyue. Junior Sister, if you donât understand anything after joining the Sect, just come find me anytime!"
Liu Yaoyue smiled and spoke to Zhao ShuangâEr.
"Thank you, Senior Sister Liu!"
Zhao ShuangâEr replied with a blushing face.
Lin Changâsheng was also quite familiar with Liu Yaoyueâjust earlier, he had fought her and defeated her in two moves.
That left Liu Yaoyue feeling a bit embarrassed, so she didnât talk to Lin Changâsheng.
"Well then, weâll be troubling you, Senior Sister Liu!"
Lin Changâsheng spoke up first.
"Just call me Yaoyue; I donât deserve to be called Senior Sister!"
Liu Yaoyue said shyly, thinking her strength didnât match up to Lin Changâsheng, so she wasnât worthy of the title.
"Youâre too modest, Senior Sister!"
Lin Changâsheng chuckled. Then, the group returned to the Refining God Sectâs lodgings, planning to stay one more night and head back in the morning.
That night was just the perfect time for Lin Changâsheng to study the Celestial Vault Refining God Art.
Once he mastered it to perfection, he could use the Celestial Vault Star Constellation to temper his Divine Soul.
By then, the speed of his Divine Sense improvement would skyrocket.
Back in his room, Lin Changâsheng immediately began focusing on the Celestial Vault Refining God Art in his hands.
This Immortal Technique actually shared many similarities with the Grand Array he specialized in back at the Refining God Sect.
So for Lin Changâsheng, delving into it felt incredibly easy.
[Celestial Vault Refining God Art: Entry Level!]
In just one hour, Lin Changâsheng had already reached the entry level in studying the Celestial Vault Refining God Art.
[Detected: Celestial Vault Refining God Art at Entry Level. Spend 5000 Immortal Crystals to Simplify?]
The next instant, a prompt popped up on his panel.
"Simplify!"
Lin Changâsheng chose to simplify without hesitation. After simplifying, his cultivation speed would increase dramatically.
[Great Dao is Simple: Celestial Vault Refining God Art Simplification Starting... Simplifying... Simplification Complete. Celestial Vault Refining God Art == Stargazing!]
"Stargazing? Well, thatâs too easy!"
Lin Changâsheng pushed open his door, walked right outside, sat cross-legged on a boulder, and started watching the stars.
Celestial Vault Refining God Art Experience Points +1!
Celestial Vault Refining God Art Experience Points +1!
...
As Lin Changâsheng kept stargazing, the experience points for the Celestial Vault Refining God Art just skyrocketed crazily.
By now it was nighttime, so there were no signs of anyone moving about.
This let Lin Changâsheng watch the stars without a care in the world.
Otherwise, if someone saw him, theyâd probably think he lost his mind.
Creaaakâ
Just then, a door to a nearby room opened, and a delicate, beautiful woman stepped out, lost in thought.
When she spotted a figure sitting cross-legged on a stone pedestal outside, she was startled, looking all frail and timid.
But this woman wasnât as simple as she appeared.
Lin Changâsheng had seen her during the tournament.
Her name was Liu Yun, one of the Celestial Prides of the Heaven-Suppressing Sect.
Unfortunately, this round, the Heaven-Suppressing Sectâs luck on the Celestial Pride List was poorânone of them made it to the top ranks.
Even Wei Bufan lost in regret, running into Yang Huaizhen too early.
"Itâs you?"
Once Liu Yun realized it was Lin Changâsheng, she let out a sigh of relief.
She had never left the Heaven-Suppressing Sect before, so she was deeply fascinated by the world outside.
When she heard theyâd be heading back to the Sect tomorrow, she couldnât help but feel disappointed and wanted to come out for some air.
"Miss Liu! Something on your mind?"
Lin Changâsheng asked as he saw her.
The girl looked innocent enoughâif someone tricked her, there could be a real problem.
"Yeah! Thinking about going back to the Sect tomorrow, I justâ"
Liu Yun stammered, then sat on a stone pedestal not far from Lin Changâsheng, imitating him by gazing up at the stars.
"Do you think if I wasnât a cultivator, my days would be carefree? Cultivation is just so tedious!"
Liu Yun couldnât help but complain.
These were words she didnât dare share with her Senior Brothers or Master; only Lin Changâsheng could hear them.
If her Master or Senior Brothers found out, sheâd get chewed out for sure.
"Carefreeâthatâs something everybody yearns for, but achieving those words is anything but simple."
Lin Changâsheng replied, "Maybe because you were born from a higher starting point, you find ordinary life precious. But in truth, being ordinary is miserableâespecially in a world like this, where the weak have no control over life or death. So what is there to be carefree about?"
"Only if you become powerful enough to control your own fate, can you live freely, unrestrained!"
Lin Changâsheng slowly laid out his thoughts.
In his past life, he was just an ordinary personâhe knew firsthand how terrible that could be.
But now, in this life, he had the chance to change his destiny, so he was determined to grow stronger and seize his own fate in his own hands.
Liu Yun listened to Lin Changâsheng, instantly lost in thought.
"Brother Lin, I still donât get it! Is cultivating really just about fighting and killing? Isnât it supposed to be about saving othersâand finding oneself?"
Liu Yun voiced her doubts again.
If cultivators and mortals were truly equals, then everyoneâcultivator or notâcould live how they wanted.
If they faced injustice, someone would step up to say no.
Hearing such naĂŻve words, the corner of Lin Changâshengâs mouth curled up in a smile. This girl, she really was pure-hearted!
Thereâs no such thing as absolute fairness in any world.
Especially not this dangerous, might-makes-right one.
The powerful only think about how to get even stronger, even if it means sacrificing someoneâs lifeâit doesnât matter to them.
While the weak donât even have the right to choose anything for themselves.
Their very existence may just be to set off the strength of the strong!
"If everyone thought that way, then maybe this Immortal Realm would really become the Immortal World everyone yearns forânot just cultivators, but everybody."
"People are selfish. You just arenât standing in their shoes. For example, if sacrificing an ant could raise your cultivation, would you do it?"
Lin Changâsheng looked at Liu Yun and asked softly.
"Maybe I would."
Liu Yun answered seriously.
"Exactly. In the eyes of some cultivators, human lives are no different from those of ants. As long as something helps them advance, theyâll do itâeven if it means taking othersâ lives."
"Thatâs why only by becoming strong can we have the right to choose! Without enough strength, we donât get to decide anythingâso much for being carefree."
Lin Changâsheng spoke sincerely.
Liu Yun seemed to realize a lot after listening.
"Thank you, Brother Lin! I get it now!"
There was a hint of a smile on Liu Yunâs lips, as if a weight had suddenly lifted!
Whooshâ
From the distance, a figure zoomed over and landed in front of Lin Changâsheng and Liu Yun.
It was none other than Wei Bufan.
"Junior Sister Liu, why are you still outside so late?"
Wei Bufan stood tall, with sharp brows and starry eyesâa truly handsome guy. When he saw Lin Changâsheng and Liu Yun together, he couldnât help looking a little unhappy.
He didnât want Lin Changâsheng getting too close to Liu Yun.
His junior sister was too naĂŻve and could easily be tricked.
Since he didnât know much about Lin Changâsheng, he didnât want Liu Yun hanging around him.
"Senior Brother Wei, I was just upset about something, but Brother Lin talked me through it! Iâm so much better now!"
Liu Yun stood up and spoke with a smile.
Still, Wei Bufan kept his guard up around Lin Changâsheng.
"If youâre better, just go back to your room! Weâre returning to our Sect tomorrow. After this trip, you see now how many Celestial Prides there are outside? With those weak skills of yours, if your senior brothers hadnât gone easy on you, you couldnât even take down a white-eyed saber-toothed tiger!"
Wei Bufan doted on Liu Yun as he spoke.
"Got it, Senior Brother!"
Liu Yun replied, then quickly left.
Wei Bufan glanced at Lin Changâsheng, but didnât say more and turned to go.
[Celestial Vault Refining God Art: Perfection!]
Three Hours later, it was now deep into the night, and Lin Changâsheng had finally maxed out his proficiency in the Celestial Vault Refining God Art.
Waves of insight flooded his mind.
The next instant, Lin Changâsheng had a clear understanding of how to operate the Celestial Vault Refining God Art.
[Detected: Celestial Vault Refining God Art (Perfection), Refining God Skill (Perfection). Fuse them into a new technique?]
The panel once again popped up a prompt.
The Refining God Skill was something Lin Changâsheng obtained in the Immortal Relic Landâit was his very first Refining God method.
Back then, it helped Lin Changâsheng greatly, but by now, it was basically obsolete.
He never would have thought it could actually be fused with the Celestial Vault Refining God Art!