489: The chosen one?

Zhang Youcai was already full of pent-up anger, but since he had no way to vent it, he could only bottle it up.

Seeing Gui Fu Shen Gong, a fellow sufferer, come to ask him, he didn't hold back and told him everything:

"That Hei Daluan—oh, the new Disciple who joined the Kitchen earlier.

"I had set up a duel with him to decide on a slot, determining which of us would stay or leave the Kitchen.

"He had been avoiding me all along, acting so timid and cowardly; he clearly didn't look like any kind of Genius.

"I thought taking care of him was a sure thing, with no possibility of failure. The only problem was that the kid was protected by everyone in the Kitchen and wouldn't go out to give me an Opportunity, so I couldn't duel him at all.

"So I sought out some Senior Brothers I'm on good terms with and brought them to the Kitchen to force Hei Daluan into a duel. Who would have thought... who would have thought..."

At this point, Zhang Youcai actually burst into tears, looking as if he had suffered a massive grievance.

"Hei Daluan is truly too black-hearted!

"He was pretending to be at the Spirit Nurturing stage before, running away whenever he saw me and hiding in the Kitchen, not daring to come out.

"But when we actually dueled, he suddenly revealed his strength—he was actually at the Qi Refining Third Level!

"It turns out he was just playing with me on purpose, just to make me lose face in front of everyone!

"I was beaten so badly I couldn't even fight back. If it weren't for the Senior Brothers protecting me, I probably would have died at the Kitchen's entrance!

"What a humiliating disgrace!"

Hearing this, Gui Fu Shen Gong couldn't help but frown.

Hei Daluan was supposedly a Disciple brought back from the outside by some Elder. He only started cultivating from scratch after arriving at the Nine Swords Dao Sect's mountain, so he should indeed be at the Spirit Nurturing stage.

He had seen the boy before; there was no spiritual pressure on him, unlike a Qi Refiner.

But why did Zhang Youcai say he had hidden his strength and was actually at the Qi Refining Third Level?

Gui Fu Shen Gong pondered for a moment and asked:

"Is it possible that he wasn't intentionally hiding his strength to make a fool of you, but rather broke through from Spirit Nurturing all the way to the Qi Refining Third Level during his time in the Kitchen?"

Zhang Youcai shook his head and said:

"How is that possible? How long has Hei Daluan been in the Kitchen? Only a little over a month.

"If he really started as a Mortal, let alone the Qi Refining Third Level, it would have been impossible for him to even break through from Spirit Nurturing to Qi Refining."

Gui Fu Shen Gong asked, "Doesn't the Kitchen have a lot of Spirit Food? Maybe he could break through so quickly by eating some of it?"

"Absolutely impossible!"

Zhang Youcai said decisively, "It might be possible with some other sect's quick-success Cultivation Techniques, but our Nine Swords Dao Sect's Cultivation Techniques are quite difficult and emphasize the Foundation. The time required for Spirit Nurturing and Qi Refining is quite long. Even with the help of Spirit Food, unless he's a once-in-a-lifetime monstrous talent, it's impossible to break through so quickly!"

Hearing this, Gui Fu Shen Gong felt it made sense, but he mentally noted the name Hei Daluan, feeling that this person might not have been feigning weakness to play with Zhang Youcai.

After all, he had chosen a talent after restarting, and he knew that if he cultivated with all his might, he should also be able to reach the Qi Refining Third Level in a little over a month.

And the transaction points he spent weren't that many; there were plenty of players with better talents than him.

Thus, Gui Fu Shen Gong believed that a minor character like Zhang Youcai knew nothing about talents, which was why he exaggerated their rarity and fearsomeness, failing to see the gap between different talents. Therefore, he wrongly assumed Hei Daluan couldn't be a Genius.

He chatted with Zhang Youcai for a while longer, and they vented their frustrations to each other.

Zhang Youcai mentioned he needed to go out on business, which was a good excuse to avoid Hei Daluan, so he took his leave.

Gui Fu Shen Gong thought for a bit, reviewing his actions over the past few days, and finally realized something:

"I'm brainless, short-sighted, and easily driven by my emotions.

"Instead of racking my brains to make decisions myself, I should tell others about what's happening here and let them help me decide."

Gui Fu Shen Gong then logged onto the Forum, preparing to contact other players.

He didn't post directly but instead looked for the contact information of the Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion.

The Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion was an organization formed by research, exploration, and study-oriented players like This Time Bu Ge.

Members of the Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion would share and study intelligence together to uncover various secrets of the Xuanhuan World, subsequently turning those secrets into opportunities.

The Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion had once wanted to study Ye Hei's Saint Physique and tried to nurture him, but they had to give up due to a massive resource gap, leaving Ye Hei to develop on his own.

It was said that some members were secretly contacting Ye Hei, but that could only be considered individual behavior.

As for the Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion, they clearly recognized their organization's strengths and weaknesses.

Their strength was being based in the player community, with a vast number of player members in different regions and with various identities, providing extremely abundant intelligence.

Their weakness was that they were ultimately an online organization, and their leader was a golden body statue trapped on Burial Emperor Star, so they couldn't organize large-scale player actions like True Man Changfeng or Immortal Master Xinghai.

Therefore, after operating for a while, the Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion gradually abandoned the idea of organizing actions directly with spiritual resources and fully transitioned into an online service-oriented organization that collected and provided intelligence.

Currently, the Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion even provided tailored strategic solutions, profiting through a Q&A service.

Gui Fu Shen Gong contacted the Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion, shared his recent experiences, and asked what he should do next.

The Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion asked some detailed questions, particularly about Hei Daluan.

Although Gui Fu Shen Gong wondered why they cared about Hei Daluan as well, he told them everything.

The Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion had a good reputation and wouldn't leak secrets.

After two days, the Hundred Mechanisms Pavilion's strategy arrived, but it left Gui Fu Shen Gong somewhat bewildered:

"[According to our deduction, Hei Daluan is very likely a child of destiny.

"[The so-called child of destiny is a 'specialty' of the Xuanhuan World. According to records, every once in a while, certain Prodigy figures favored by the Heavenly Dao always appear.

"[They often have backgrounds different from ordinary people, unusual starts to their cultivation, and most importantly, they all possess incredible cultivation speeds and opportunities, and periodically face cultivation pressure.

"[Hei Daluan is a Mortal Disciple brought back by an Elder, and he is the descendant of an old acquaintance, which is already special. We specifically investigated and confirmed his background:

"[Hei Daluan was an ordinary person from a small village. He was lively by nature and often caused trouble in the village by stealing chickens and dogs. He possessed an Immortal-Seeking Incense passed down from his ancestors, which, when lit, could attract Immortals (Nine Swords Dao Sect Cultivators).

"[He lit the incense for over a decade without ever receiving a response, but not long ago, he actually found a Nine Swords Dao Sect Elder and was brought into the Kitchen.

"[According to our investigation, that Elder would not have passed through the village or found Hei Daluan, but he was drawn by the Lightning Tribulation of the Kongming Grotto-Heaven, so he happened to encounter Hei Daluan lighting the incense by chance.

"[From this, it can be seen that Hei Daluan's background and cultivation starting point are different from ordinary people, making it possible for him to be a child of destiny.

"[And upon entering the Kitchen, he immediately had Zhang Youcai as an opponent to urge his cultivation, causing him to break through to Qi Refining in a short time; this is even more characteristic of a child of destiny.

"[Therefore, we deduce that Hei Daluan is a child of destiny.

"[To this end, we suggest you take one of the following measures...]"