“Yes, Senior,” Zhuo Yifeng replied, without any dissatisfaction regarding the punishment on his part. “Senior, the meat will be ready soon.”

Zhuo Yifeng continued rotating the skewered wild pheasant, then sprinkled a handful of spices over it. Instantly, an unusual fragrance began spreading from the fire, and the black-clad man couldn’t help gulping down his saliva.

“Your technique’s quite good.”

“It’s a skill that’s been passed down my family,” Zhuo Yifeng replied, smiling. “My father was much better at it than I am.”

About half a month ago, Zhuo Yifeng had been roasting a wild animal right here when the black-clad man suddenly showed up. When he asked Zhuo Yifeng for some meat, Zhuo Yifeng acceded.

Unexpectedly, the black-clad man was so fond of Zhuo Yifeng’s cooking that he requested him to prepare it for him once every three days. As compensation, he would teach Zhuo Yifeng some wood-attuned external spiritual techniques. The wild vine arts that the man had brought up was the first such technique that he had learned.

“Master, here!” Zhuo Yifeng handed a well-roasted hunk of meat to the black-clad man. “Master, you told me that you would start teaching me a second technique soon. Are we starting today?”

“Don’t call me Master.” The black-clad man took the proffered skewer, his voice clear and cold. “We’re only mere acquaintances, and the only reason I’m teaching you these techniques is for your roast meat. We’re not master and disciple.”

“Yes, Senior, I understand…” Zhuo Yifeng sounded somewhat dejected.

Over the last half-month, Zhuo Yifeng had been trying to deepen his connection with the black-clad man, but he refused to get any closer to Zhuo Yifeng. For some reason, however, the first time Zhuo Yifeng met him, he felt a startling sense of familiarity toward him—despite the fact that he had always been masked, and Zhuo Yifeng hadn’t even seen his face at all.

However, the sense of familiarity he felt was so extreme that Zhuo Yifeng was barely able to stop himself from getting close to and tightly latching onto the man.

The first time the man taught Zhuo Yifeng a technique, Zhuo Yifeng had sought to become his disciple, but the black-clad man had rejected him completely. Given how strongly he had rejected him again, it was quite likely that the man would stop showing up once he had had his fill of Zhuo Yifeng’s food.

Zhuo Yifeng sighed.

“In the end, the only one you can truly count on is yourself. Don’t try to latch onto others thinking that they’ll support you for good.” The black-clad man seemed to have detected Zhuo Yifeng’s thoughts. As he ate, he slowly continued, “Everyone’s goal in life is different, and yours is to get stronger on your own.”

“Senior.” Zhuo Yifeng sat in front of the man and asked, “Senior, can you tell me what your goal is?”

“No!” The black-clad man stopped eating, looked up, and scrutinized Zhuo Yifeng carefully. Unlike Zhuo Yifeng, the black-clad man’s eyes were as dark as deep wells, and even his sclera seemed to be covered by shadow.

Zhuo Yifeng also stood up.

“Today, I’ll teach you a second external technique.” The black-clad man grabbed at the air, revealing a deep-green spiritual energy. “The wild vine arts require that wild vines be present nearby, but this scattered leaves technique does not.”

The man held his palm flat, and a green leaf appeared on it. “Use your own wood-attuned spiritual energy to control the leaf, manifesting it in whatever form you desire.”

As he brought his other palm close to the leaf, it quickly began to transform rapidly in shape and quantity. One moment, it was a plain, simple leaf; another moment, it had become two dozen leaves with sharp, serrated edges, the potency of which Zhuo Yifeng could almost feel.

“Did you see what I did?”

“Yes, Senior.”

The black-clad man gestured with his palm, and the leaves between his hands all shot out at a boulder right opposite him. With a great rumbling sound, cracks began spreading through the surface of the boulder, reducing it to a pile of small rocks.

Zhuo Yifeng gaped at the extraordinary sight. “Amazing!”

“This is a mid-rank wood-attuned external spiritual technique. If you want to use it, you must combine it with the internal cultivation technique that I taught you. Otherwise, you won’t be able to expand your spiritual vortex sufficiently at your current cultivation, and you won’t have the reserves to support this technique.”

“Thank you for the instruction, Senior.” Zhuo Yifeng cupped his fists and bowed.

“Alright, that’s it for today.” The black-clad man turned to leave. “Remember to practice the wild vine arts a hundred times over before you start trying to play with this scattered leaves technique on your own.”

“Senior!” Zhuo Yifeng called out to the man from behind. “I’ve been selected to join the expedition to another dimension. My training will start tomorrow, so I probably won’t be able to roast any more meat for you within the next year. Please take care!”

The man stopped, but didn’t turn around. “I hope I’ll be able to taste your cooking a year from now.”

“I’ll return safe and sound, Senior. I, Zhuo Yifeng, promise I’ll become strong with my own power!”

The black-clad man raised a hand in farewell, then vanished behind a large boulder.

Zhuo Yifeng sucked in a deep breath and looked resolutely at another boulder nearby, a boulder almost completely covered in vines. He strode over and began practicing the wild vine arts, a hundred times over.

The black-clad man strode to the other side of the cliff, where a black-robed man was waiting for him. He bowed. “Your Highness.”

“Su Nan, no need for the formalities.”

Su Nan straightened up and removed his mask, revealing a resolute face and unusually bright eyes, no longer shrouded by shadow.

“My deepest gratitude for arranging the meeting between me and Feng’er, Your Highness, and for permitting me to train him in external techniques.”

“No matter. Zhuo Yifeng’s a decently skilled cultivator, and he might even eclipse you with sufficient training.”

Su Nan’s features softened as he smiled. “Feng’er told me that he was chosen to head to an alternate dimension.”

Although Su Nan had never entered that dimension, he was well aware of its dangers and risks. “Based on his current capabilities, I’m afraid he won’t be able to return unscathed.”

“If Zhuo Yifeng were still in the southern college, I might have been able to come up with something. Since he’s in the central college, however, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to jump in. Since I’ll be joining the expedition myself, I’ll try to help him.”

Su Nan relaxed. “My thanks, Your Highness. While interacting with him, I discovered that he harbors great antipathy toward you. If he offends you, please accept my apologies as his incompetent father in advance.”

Zhuo Yifeng had always viewed Li Mo as an enemy who had killed his father and slaughtered his clan, and his goal had been to exact revenge by killing him. He had started out in the southern college, and had only transferred to the central college because he discovered that Li Mo was an instructor in the southern college.

“Su Nan, don’t you intend on reuniting with Zhuo Yifeng?”

“Before accomplishing the mission that I pledged the Beast King I would finish, I can’t have any other obligations.” Su Nan’s stalwart face was resolute. “Even if I were to reveal my existence to them, there would be too much that I can’t explain at the moment.”

A war between Li Mo and the silver dragon clan would surely break out while trying to help Empress Xue Tong recover her true body, and Su Nan thought that leaving the Zhuo siblings alone was the best method of protecting them.

Li Mo stared into the sea of clouds. “Su Nan, one day, I promise you’ll be able to speak to your son as his father.”

The next day, the thirty-strong roster for the expedition into another dimension had been decided and plastered at an eye-catching position on the plaza’s noticeboard. The eagle-eyed student who had first spotted it hurriedly told everyone she knew, and word began to spread from there.

Li Mo’s name was first on the list, quickly followed by Yun Ruoyan.

“Boss, your name’s not on the list!” one of Guan Tianyu’s lackeys whispered to him. Guan Tianyu clenched his fist tightly, reviewing the roster once and again, but his name was indeed nowhere to be found.

Yun Ruoyan, Rong Yueshan, Pei Ziao, Zhuo Yifeng—quite a number of new students, but not him, Guan Tianyu!

“The southern college hogged ten spots for themselves!” Guan Tianyu’s thin lackey exclaimed. “Our northern college has two fewer spots than they do, and even the trash of the central college got two spots! What a waste!”

Except for Zhuo Yifeng, there was another student from the central college: a female, Yan Hui. Next year, she would have been able to enter one of the three specialized institutions, and one year after that, she would be able to graduate. If the portal to another dimension hadn’t opened a year earlier, Yan Hui would have avoided the calamity and gone on to become one of the only elites of the central college. Unfortunately for her, a major roadblock now stood in her way.

The sixth elder had pondered for a very long time before choosing Yan Hui as the second participant from the central college.

As for the northern college, which had to fill eight spots, the second elder was naturally unwilling to send his grandson into the other dimension to meet his death. As a result, Rong Yueshan and Yi Qianying’s name were both on the list, but not Guan Tianyu’s.

Many students seemed very upset that they hadn’t been chosen, none more so than Guan Tianyu himself.