Chapter 40: He's Taking Advantage of You

In his past life, Fang Che had encountered three opponents that matched Sun Yuan's description. They were originally evenly matched with him or even inferior in combat prowess, but after just a few years, he found himself completely outmatched by the same foes, forced to flee for his life without being able to put up a fight at all!

They had all been similar in age and aptitude, and that was why they had reached similar cultivation bases at around the same age. Furthermore, it wasn't like he had slacked off in his cultivation, so how had they managed to surpass him by so much in such a short time?

This was a mystery that had confounded him for many years, and he was finally uncovering the secret!

"This is a very low-level injection of divine power that assists Kings in making breakthroughs to the Emperor tier, but it's still an opportunity to be cherished. After this injection of divine power, I should be able to reach the Emperor tier in the near future. Even in the worst-case scenario, I'l be able to reach the pinnacle of the King tier.

“If I'm unable to reach the Emperor tier within three years of this injection of divine power, then I will never be granted this honor again. However, at my age, I'm honestly very satisfied regardless of whether I can receive another opportunity like this in the future."

It was clear from the look on his face that his words were genuine, and it seemed that this opportunity had reignited some hope in his heart.

Fang Che hurriedly congratulated Sun Yuan, but internally, he was still reeling from what he had just heard.

An injection of divine power that could allow a King to reach the Emperor tier was only considered to be a "very low-level" instance. In that case, where was the limit?

If even a warrior of Duan Xiyang's caliber could still benefit from injections of divine power, then the implications were downright terrifying to think about!

It dawned on him that this was the reason why the Church of the Self-Righteous had been able to develop so rapidly over the years.

It was said that many years ago, the Church of the Self-Righteous had been nothing more than a massive religious group, yet it had since threatened to become the dominant force on the continent and also had the top-ranked warrior on the Cloud Weapon Archive among its ranks.

***

Ye Meng had already returned to her room and closed the door.

She peeled back a section of wallpaper, then pulled out a brick to reveal a small and well-concealed tube, which she pressed her ear tightly against.

Sun Yuan's use of voice transmission indicated that he was disclosing something very important, but Fang Che was still incapable of voice transmission, so she should be able to hear some things and piece together some clues.

"How does this injection of divine power work?" Fang Che asked with a heavy tinge of longing in his voice. "It sounds amazing!"

I don't know, but I can assure you that it truly exists. I feel like the Heavenly Centipede Deity is responsible, but I've never seen Them, either. Everyone has their own theories, but only the top brass of the Church of the Self-Righteous know the truth."

"Looks like you're really in luck this time, Master!" Fang Che said in an ecstatic manner. "Once you become an Emperor, no one would dare to mess with me! I'll be able to kill or pick on whoever I want!"

"That's right!" Sun Yuan guffawed. "I will always be your strongest backer! Go ahead and do whatever you want, I'll clean up any mess that you can't handle!"

Sun Yuan was of the opinion that Fang Che was only joking around, but unbeknownst to him, Fang Che was dead serious.

He was truly planning to kill whoever he didn't like the look of once he entered the One Heart Church.

With an Emperor backing him up, he could really push his luck.

Once the time came when even the likes of Sun Yuan and Yin Shengong couldn't protect him anymore, he would already have jumped ship to ride on the coattails of more powerful backers!

Meanwhile, Ye Meng was busy committing the key terms that she had just heard to memory, the most important one of which was naturally this "injection of divine power."

Some time later, Fang Che extended an invitation to Sun Yuan to stay for dinner, and Ye Meng gently replaced the brick in the wall before plastering the section of wallpaper back to its rightful spot.

It was a completely seamless fit, and even if the section of wallpaper were somehow knocked loose, only a brick would be revealed.

Ye Meng had set up six of these tapping stations throughout the manor.

There were originally more, but she had removed some of the ones that were more prone to discovery.

She was already receiving a steady stream of valuable intelligence from Fang Che, so it would be unwise to take undue risks.

***

Fang Che appeared to have been ecstatic, and he insisted on keeping his master for dinner to celebrate.

Sun Yuan was naturally very receptive to the idea, and he stayed for a meal, during which two jars of wine were drunk.

He hadn't checked on Fang Che's cultivation at all, content in the knowledge that his disciple was lacking in neither aptitude nor work ethic.

After having some wine, he decided to show off one of his saber techniques, only for Fang Che to point out as many as seven flaws that he had displayed.

After that, he had drunk in silent dejection the entire meal, with his good mood completely soured.

Sun Yuan departed after the meal.

In terms of Fang Che's cultivation, he only said one thing that wasn't of much use: "You can begin using those spirit crystals that I gave you once you reach the Grandmaster tier."

It was a completely redundant reminder as the instructors of the academy had already forbidden students from using spirit crystals in their cultivation at this stage.

In fact, the use of spirit crystals was strictly prohibited before reaching the Great Grandmaster tier.

Sun Yuan's departure didn't have much of a bearing on Fang Che. In any case, he was still going to do whatever he pleased regardless of whether Sun Yuan was around or not.

However, this was a massive relief for Ye Meng, and she had become far more vibrant and energetic.

Sun Yuan's cultivation base was far above hers, so if he were to decide to scrutinize her closely for whatever reason, then there was a very good chance that her cover would be blown.

With Sun Yuan gone, there was a spring in Ye Meng's step, and she was even humming a joyful tune to herself.

Of course, her joyful humming was immediately met with a spate of verbal abuse. "You're only an eighth-rank Warrior, what do you have to be so happy about? Hurry up and go cultivate!"

Ye Meng had lost count of the number of times she had fantasized stuffing that accursed mouth of Fang Che's straight into the toilet.

She departed to cultivate with a displeased pout, while Fang Che sat alone in his study in deep thought.

He had to leak what he had just heard about divine power injection, but he didn't know how much Ye Meng had been able to overhear.

The problem was that this information couldn't be leaked right away.

This was a massive secret, and if the Guardians were to find out right after Sun Yuan revealed it to him, then that would place both himself and Ye Meng at immense risk.

Unlike the Guardians, the Church of the Self-Righteous didn't require evidence to persecute someone. If they had any suspicion that Fang Che was a mole, then he would be killed in a heartbeat.

Ultimately, Fang Che decided to keep this information secret for now.

If Ye Meng wanted to report this information, then she would just have to report whatever she had overheard.

***

That night, Fang Che brought his saber, his spear, his sword, and his halberd into his room, and he sat with his legs crossed as he intently scrutinized the four weapons.

Finally, he turned his gaze to the spear.

His gaze trailed along the spear's entire length from bottom to tip, following which he closed his eyes to visualize a tiny figure in his mind.

The figure was executing a series of standard spear forms with the utmost precision and care.

Fang Che spent the entire night engaging in this form of visualization training, and as his eyes sprang open in the morning, he felt as if he had gleaned a brand new set of insights into the spear.

The spear was very simple in design, consisting of a tip attached to a shaft.

Even for a complete novice, they could simply perform straight thrusts with a spear for impressive damage.

However, the spear was more difficult to master than the saber, the sword, or the staff!

Fang Che gently stroked the shaft of the spear, and he could feel a type of emotion within it, a desire for slaughter that was present in any weapon.

From now on, the saber will be my standard weapon. If I encounter a foe too formidable to defeat with my saber, then I will resort to my sword, then to my halberd, giving the impression that I've revealed all of my trump cards. Only when it's absolutely necessary will I resort to my spear, and just like Instructor Bing said, no enemy can be allowed to live after seeing my spear!

***

A peaceful and uneventful period followed.

Fang Che spent his days attending lessons and beating up Mo Ganyun, then went home to cultivate, scold Ye Meng, sleep, and repeat.

For his part, Mo Ganyun treated Fang Che to meals every day, as had become a habit of his.

Whenever it was time to eat, Mo Ganyun would stand up and declare, "Let's go get some food. I'll shout you!"

Both of them were very wealthy, especially among first-year students, but Mo Ganyun insisted on treating Fang Che to every meal, aside from the ones that he had at home.

Before long, Mo Ganyun had earned a reputation as a gullible idiot.

"That Fang Che has so many merit points, yet he's still freeloading off Mo Ganyun every day! And just how stupid is Mo Ganyun to play along everytime?"

As the third-ranked prodigy in the class, Fu Chengyun was very disgruntled by this.

Of course, what he was most disgruntled by was the fact that Mo Ganyun wasn't affording him the same treatment.

I'm third in our class! Do you only have eyes for Fang Che? He's taking advantage of you, can't you tell?!