404: Chapter 404 Top Ranking Member, Suoge

"Finally arrived."

Zhou Yan looked at the gate at the foot of the green mountain, knowing this was his destination.

Just now, he didn't even know what name he had written when he suddenly obtained a Cultivation Technique.

Looking at the description, it should be something left behind by Suo Jialuo. It had to be said, Suo Jialuo was truly beyond reproach when it came to generosity.

Long Tianxing watched him from the side with a strange expression.

Is he done writing the name? Why did he dawdle for so long and still look so happy? Can writing a name give extra benefits? Or does he think this is very meaningful? I don't get it, I just don't get it. Can we hurry up? It's really freezing in this damn place!

After packing up, the two of them descended the snow-capped mountain.

Until he reached the bottom, Zhou Yan couldn't figure out why such a small hill with a stone tablet on it was called "Little Kunlun." Was there some special hidden meaning, or did it just sound high-end?

However, these thoughts were quickly tossed aside because he returned to that old problem.

Two paths, a choice between two.

One water route, one land route.

Zhou Yan knew one of them led to the Legacy of that whatever-it-was Initial Flood Dragon, and Suo Jialuo had already gone that way.

But as for what was on the other path, he had no idea.

Long Tianxing's Luck effect had already faded; just finding the path to Little Kunlun earlier had consumed quite a bit of it.

If he let him use it again and there turned out to be nothing good, it would just be a pointless burden on Long Tianxing.

Thus, Zhou Yan made a very wise decision.

He and Long Tianxing would split up—one to the forest, one to the sea.

They agreed to search for opportunities individually and then aggregate and distribute them at the end, splitting based on labor or contribution.

Long Tianxing stated it was fine even if all the opportunities went to Zhou Yan; he had already gained enough on this trip.

During their recent chat, he had only just learned that Zhou Yan's help was the reason he could dispel his Heart Demon earlier.

Although he was quite annoyed that Zhou Yan had installed a monitor in his mind for fear of him turning to the dark side, Long Tianxing was indeed very grateful to Zhou Yan.

For the sake of this favor, he wouldn't mind even if he didn't take a single cent.

However, Zhou Yan wouldn't go that far.

Splitting up was actually to his advantage, counting as another small scheme against Long Tianxing.

If he encountered Suo Jialuo, he would be safe and sound, and might even gain some mysterious information, though the Opportunity might be lost; in that case, whatever Long Tianxing shared would make up for it.

If Long Tianxing encountered Suo Jialuo, there was a high probability he'd be punched out of the game, but Zhou Yan would be able to obtain the Opportunity himself and then compensate Long Tianxing later.

Perhaps Long Tianxing's Luck might even pull through; if he didn't run into Suo Jialuo and Suo Jialuo really left good stuff for him to pick up, the two of them would strike it rich.

Just as Suo Jialuo said, he left some "trash" on Little Kunlun, and it turned out to be an eighth-Rank Cultivation Technique. That so-called "not a single bit left" would likely still have something remaining.

So, in the end, the two of them split up.

At this moment, Zhou Yan stood at the foot of the mountain, and the full appraisal of the Cultivation Technique was complete.

Cangming Dharma Seal(Rank 8)

Introduction: An ancient Dragon Clan water-controlling technique.

Looking at the appraised technique, he couldn't help but marvel, "As expected of a Senior, this 'gold drop' is truly generous."

It wasn't that there were no suitable water-attribute techniques in the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven; there were quite a few even at the sixth Rank.

But he didn't know if it was just the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven or if it was the same elsewhere, but there were very few detailed records of techniques above the sixth Rank.

Qing Xuan's explanation was as follows:

"If you've cultivated all the way to the Body Integration Stage and still need that many reference books, then this cultivation level of yours has been cultivated in vain."

The explanation was reasonable, but Zhou Yan was different; whatever he learned, he just clicked 'Learn' and then slowly added points.

Now with the main city in hand, he had a massive amount of skill points in his account; they just couldn't be used for the time being to maintain the city's operation.

So, for a free Rank 8 technique, he would naturally learn it if he could.

It could be said that besides that incomplete God Summoning Art, this was now his highest-ranked Cultivation Technique.

Not to mention it was a Dragon Clan special. He was just worrying that his water-controlling Divine Ability wasn't quite enough; with this technique, the water-attribute skill tree could be fully maxed out.

As for whether it would affect his future path? He was only at the Nascent Soul stage right now; what impact could it possibly have?

At worst, after Soul Transformation, he could just integrate everything he knew and hand-craft a Cultivation Technique that suited him.

In any case, his two main Cultivation Techniques served this purpose. Besides, these things were obtained through adding points; he hadn't spent much time on them anyway.

Since the appraisal was successful, Zhou Yan casually clicked 'Learn.' Otherwise, if he encountered something after going in, it might come in handy.

The moment he clicked 'Learn,' notification sounds rang out one after another.

【Water Element Proficiency +38%】

【Water Element Proficiency +67%】

【Water Element Proficiency +28%】

...

【Water Element LV1 → Water Element LV5, Five Elements LV1, Wood Element LV1 → LV2, Earth Element LV1 → LV2, Fire Element LV1, Metal Element LV1】

Fifteen minutes later.

Zhou Yan looked at the bunch of skills that suddenly appeared on his panel and clicked his tongue in wonder.

"Holy cow! Brother Suo is so generous!"

It turned out this technique didn't just contain cultivation methods and skills, but also Suo Jialuo's own insights. No wonder the appraisal took so long; the amount of text was enormous.

Because 'learning' meant mastering all the content in the technique, Zhou Yan had learned the other's insights along with it. He just didn't know if this counted as a bug.

After all, under normal circumstances, one should comprehend the earlier parts before the later ones, but he mastered a bit of every section, and combined, they propelled each other forward like stepping on one's own feet to fly.

But regardless, Zhou Yan had hit the jackpot this time.

Previously, because he had to develop the main city, many gains couldn't be quickly converted, resulting in his skill set and Rank stagnating.

Even though his Physique and cultivation path had long met the criteria for activating skills, not a single one of the Five Elements-related Ranks had been activated.

Now, with one insight learned, everything was suddenly connected. All the Five Elements and other skills were cleared, and his Water Element even reached Level 5.

This meant that as soon as he broke through to Soul Transformation, he could find an Opportunity to comprehend the Law of Water.

His cultivation also surged to Nascent Soul Perfection because of this boost. Combined with the two Laws he already possessed, he could even start the Breakthrough to Soul Transformation directly.

If it weren't for the fact that the preparation time for the Soul Transformation Breakthrough was too long, Zhou Yan really would have wanted to skip entering the gate and just start the Breakthrough on the spot.

This sudden harvest made Zhou Yan's smile widen so much his face practically warped; he couldn't suppress his joy at all. After calming down for a while, he decided to go in and explore first, saving the big Breakthrough for after he came out.

Finally, he pushed open the gate.

The sea route.

Ao Ye held a bead in one hand, continuously absorbing the surrounding treasures.

"Father, if I may be blunt, I didn't understand a single one of your actions just now. Could you enlighten me?"

Ao Ye felt his father was acting a bit abnormally.

He remembered the original plan was:

After he entered, he would lead the Yao Race to sweep through everything, first dispersing the Human Race, and then casually pick up rewards. Finally, he would defeat the remaining Prodigies, solve the Yao Race's internal issues along the way, and take the final reward himself.

Now the goal had been achieved, but the process was completely wrong.

First, while suppressing the Human Race's arrogance outside, he suddenly saw a terrifying figure and was deterred by that aura, losing his composure instantly. The initial goal wasn't met.

Once he regained his senses and planned to prioritize dealing with Zhou Yan after entering, Suo Jialuo within him spoke up, saying Zhou Yan might also be a mythological figure.

As soon as he heard the opponent might be like his father, he immediately behaved. All the plans for arrogance vanished, and he completely gave up trying.

While he was content with doing nothing, Suo Jialuo suddenly wanted to take the initiative, saying he wanted to deal with the trouble that was Bai Ling.

Since there was already a plan to deal with Bai Ling separately, and he indeed couldn't defeat the opponent—whose record was too illustrious—he simply let his father fight in his stead.

Then the ridiculous part came.

That fellow Bai Ling could actually withstand such a high-intensity beating from Suo Jialuo.

Ao Ye even suspected that without Suo Jialuo, even if he reached the Early Stage of Soul Transformation, he might not necessarily be able to take him down.

Just when they were about to win for sure, someone completed the trial and ran away, which also resulted in Bai Ling being released.

With no other choice, he could only come here early to prevent the final goal from failing as well.

After experiencing this series of events, Ao Ye had completely given up on trying.

He had prepared for the plan for so long, yet not a single part was completed, and most of it was done by his father fighting in his place. Since he hadn't helped at all, he naturally lost his motivation.

But what puzzled him most was this:

It was clearly his father who said not to make an enemy of Zhou Yan, yet when they finally met in the Treasure Pavilion, his father fought the other without a word and almost got kicked out of the game.

But instead of being angry, his father laughed heartily after escaping back, only saying "go find your opportunities" before falling silent.

When he was halfway through getting his opportunities, the other started laughing heartily again, leaving him completely bewildered.

It was fine if the plan failed—after all, he was used to consecutive failures—but they couldn't let his father go crazy for the sake of a plan; that would be the end of it.

So he had to ask indirectly to confirm if his father's mental state was still normal.

Suo Jialuo didn't know what Ao Ye was thinking; assuming he was truly curious, he began to explain.

"Meng Zhang and I are old acquaintances; you naturally cannot understand the tacit understanding between us."

"You just need to know that even though this plan seems like a failure, both the result and the harvest far exceed expectations."

Ao Ye nodded repeatedly and asked another question.

"Father, if there is a basin full of water and I want to empty it, is it better to use a spoon to scoop it out, or a bowl?"

The happy Suo Jialuo was taken aback but still answered subconsciously.

"Use a bowl, of course. How could a spoon be faster than a bowl?"

Hearing this, a tear silently slid down Ao Ye's eye.

Suo Jialuo was a bit puzzled.

"What are you crying for?"

Ao Ye only shook his head.

"My dao body suffered a slight injury when I came in earlier, and my eyes are a bit uncomfortable."

Seeing that it was nothing serious, Suo Jialuo didn't ask further.

"You should be more careful; how can you still get injured even after reaching this point? Could you even survive without me? Hurry up and collect everything; once you're done, go out to comprehend the Dao, and then we'll return to the Eastern Sea. Be quick!"

Ao Ye only nodded and gave a soft "mm."

At this moment, he was filled with sorrowful emotions.

That question just now was recorded in a Human Race medical book his younger sister gave him; it could determine if the other party was a fool.

If they directly answered using a spoon or a bowl, then they were a fool, just with different degrees of stupidity.

The correct answer was to simply pick up the basin and pour the water out.

He had tested this question on Great Dragon and the others; out of over a dozen people, only a few could answer correctly.

He had even laughed at the fact that everyone around him was a fool; now his own father had also become a fool. The boomerang had struck right back; how could he not be sad?

What Ao Ye didn't know was that the book his sister gave him was a collection of brain teasers from the Eastern Territory, not a medical book at all.

The moment he firmly believed it was a medical book, he was actually the one being played for a fool by his younger sister.

Of course, if Suo Jialuo had also told him the context just now—

Letting him know that his own father had not only taken him along to be beaten by Zhou Yan but also gifted the other a top-tier Water Technique from the Dragon Clan's treasury, plus a massive amount of insights, treating him more like a son than his actual son—

Then even if he knew that book was fake, he would probably still think his father was truly a fool.