Chapter 7: Massive Mission

"Here, take these. These are ten high-grade spirit crystals that I've saved up over the course of many years. You won't be able to use them for now, but you can keep them in your room and absorb the spirit qi emanating from them as you cultivate. Coming into contact with essential spirit qi early will benefit your cultivation.

“These pills are for stabilizing the soul, you can take them right away under my supervision. For warriors, bolstering the soul at an early stage will yield immense benefits further down the line." Sun Yuan was excited to the extreme.

He was certain that he had already become a hero of the church!

It was already a major contribution just to have prevented such a generational talent from being taken by the Protectionists, and it was an even more significant contribution to have recruited him into the church.

He had no qualms about forking out all of the wealth that he had accumulated over his entire lifetime as he was bestowing it upon his prized disciple.

Fang Che also had no qualms whatsoever about accepting the offerings. In fact, he felt like Sun Yuan wasn't giving him enough.

From there, Sun Yuan carried a series of additional examinations on his new disciple, and the more he saw, the more ecstatic he became.

Fang Che's coordination, reflexes, and bodily control were all elite.

"Why have you still not gone to warrior academy even though you're already a fourth-rank Warrior?" Sun Yuan asked in a perplexed manner.

Generally speaking, one would be able to attend warrior academy upon reaching the Warrior Tier. Perhaps they wouldn't be able to go to a top-tier warrior academy, but the average warrior academy was still a great place to nurture the talents of budding warriors.

Given his aptitude, he would've surely already had a master if he had enrolled in a warrior academy.

"I only made a breakthrough to the Warrior Tier less than five days ago."

"Less than five days?"

Sun Yuan was shocked to hear this.

"That's right."

After asking some more questions, he discovered that not only had Fang Che only made a breakthrough to the Warrior Tier just a few days ago, he had been completely ordinary prior to reaching the Warrior Tier. Sun Yuan felt as if he had hit the jackpot!

There had to have been some type of latent potential that had remained dormant within Fang Che, only to have been abruptly awakened upon his breakthrough.

Sun Yuan's eyes were glowing with excitement as he asked, "What is your greatest dream, Che'er?"

Seeing as he was going to recruit Fang Che into the church, he had to examine his character.

Fang Che was silent for a moment, then replied, "A man's only aspiration should be to attain unmatched power and the right to look down on all others in the world. I seek ultimate freedom with no one capable of posing any impediment to me. I want all of the heroes under the heavens to bow to me and make this world kneel at my feet!"

"Fantastic!" Sun Yuan praised in an ecstatic manner.

Only such grandiose ambitions would fit the extraordinary aptitude that he had been blessed with.

He had feared that Fang Che would aspire to become some beacon of justice and morality striving to save the world, but his answer had been exactly what Sun Yuan wanted to hear.

This was no coincidence, considering Fang Che had intentionally provided an answer that he knew would've been most satisfactory to Sun Yuan.

At this point, Sun Yuan could hardly wait to begin instructing his disciple.

"Show me your cultivation arts and combat training."

Fang Che duly obliged, displaying only the most traditional, fundamental cultivation arts, as well as a very rudimentary level of hand to hand combat and weapon handling.

Sun Yuan wasn't surprised by the rudimentary nature of his training. This was only to be expected for someone from such a small clan.

"Not to worry, my disciple. From now on, I will personally instruct you and guide you onto the path of the unmatched power that you seek!" Sun Yuan declared.

"Master, I want to train movement techniques first," Fang Che said.

"Movement techniques? Why?" Sun Yuan asked in a perplexed manner.

"Good movement techniques will allow me to evade enemy attacks and grant me the speed and agility required to escape battlefields and other perilous situations. I want to prioritize my own safety before mastering anything else," Fang Che replied.

He had stepped onto an extremely perilous path, one that could easily get him killed, so he truly did desire to learn movement techniques for self-preservation.

When it came to life-saving movement techniques, there were none more effective than the Church of the Self-Righteous's Blood Incineration Technique.

The Blood Incineration Technique had the extraordinary effect of enhancing the user's speed by tenfold at only the cost of a mouthful of blood and a period of feebleness thereafter.

Not only would it not harm one's cultivation foundation, there weren't even any negative after-effects, and it was one of the Church of the Self-Righteous's most closely guarded secrets.

The high-ranking members of the Church of the Self-Righteous had used the Blood Incineration Technique to escape from their rightful retribution on countless occasions, allowing them to outrun even assailants an entire tier above them!

This was the thing that Fang Che currently needed the most.

The problem was whether Sun Yuan had mastered the Blood Incineration Technique.

Sure enough, a hesitant look appeared on his face as he said, "There's a cultivation art that's perfect for your needs, namely our church's Blood Incineration Technique. However, only those above the Great Grandmaster Tier and have made significant contributions to the church have a chance of being rewarded with the cultivation art."

"So can you teach me or not?" Fang Che asked with a roll of his eyes.

"I... haven't been granted the cultivation art yet," Sun Yuan conceded in a sheepish manner, and a visible look of disappointment appeared on Fang Che's face upon hearing this.

For a seventeen-year-old boy, it was normal for him to wear his heart on his sleeve.

Hence, in addition to his disappointment, he made sure to display even a bit of derision as well.

"You can't even teach me that, and yet you..."

Fang Che's voice trailed off there as he made a display of catching himself, but his displeasure was very plain to see.

Sun Yuan's cheeks became flushed with embarrassment under Fang Che's derisive gaze.

After fighting down his indignation and embarrassment, Sun Yuan reassured, "Don't worry, I will report your situation to my higher-ups and request that they bestow the Blood Incineration Technique upon you under exceptional circumstances.

“Even if the request is denied, I assure you that you'll be able to easily obtain the cultivation art by making some future contributions to the church. In any case, at your current cultivation base, the Blood Incineration Technique won't be very effective for you, and it could easily harm your foundation, thereby hampering your future cultivation, so just be patient for now."

"I see. In that case, I'll be counting on you, Master," Fang Che said in a display of understanding.

From there, Sun Yuan designed a strict and comprehensive training regimen for Fang Che, from cultivation, hand-to-hand combat, and movement techniques, to training of bodily functions, willpower, and coordination, all of which were foundational subjects.

As a reward for his efforts, Fang Che displayed incredible learning ability, often providing his own unique insights, which were, admittedly, rather naive, but were also always very close to striking the nail right on the head.

Sun Yuan couldn't help but wonder how much good karma he had to have accumulated in his past lives to have been granted such a flawless disciple in this lifetime.

Fang Che began training under Sun Yuan during the day while cultivating the Boundless Sutra at night, and his rate of progression was nothing short of astounding.

In just three days, he was already a fifth-rank Warrior, and there were still twenty days left until the warrior academy entrance examinations.

At the moment, Sun Yuan was diligently massaging Fang Che every single day, vowing to have his disciple claim the coveted title of the top prodigy among the warrior academy's new cohort!

Sun Yuan had already reported this matter to his higher-ups, and his plan was to have the Protectionists use their resources to nurture this generational talent for their One Heart Church, a plan that even the church's top brass had been very impressed by.

They were in full support of the idea, and they had informed Sun Yuan that they would notify their moles in the warrior academy to cooperate with him.

Of course, the pope's approval was necessary for all of this to come into fruition, but that should only really have been a formality, only requiring a meeting between Sun Yuan and the pope to arrange.

Sun Yuan was ecstatic, as was Fang Che.

Not only was he going to be infiltrating enemy ranks, he was also going to be able to enjoy enemy resources, thereby killing two birds with one stone.

As for Sun Yuan, he had also thought that he was killing two birds with one stone, nurturing a generational talent for the Church of the Self-Righteous while simultaneously undermining the Protectionists, much like a cuckoo chick taking over a nest through brood parasitism.

Fang Che had a rough idea of Sun Yuan's plans, so he brought up the matter of the Blood Incineration Technique again.

"Master, how do I make the contributions required to earn me the Blood Incineration Technique that you mentioned last time?"

"There are missions released in the church, and completing them will earn you merit points, which can be redeemed to..."

Fang Che immediately feigned a look of excitement upon hearing this, and he interjected, "If I make it into the warrior academy and become the number one ranked student, wouldn't that spell the completion of a massive mission?"

"???"

Sun Yuan was dumbstruck to hear this.

Isn't that something that's only to be expected of you? How is this a massive mission all of sudden?

Fang Che adopted a serious expression as he said, "Look at it this way, Master: our One Heart Church and the Protectionists' warrior academy are sworn enemies, so I'm taking a huge risk by venturing deep into enemy lines!"

Sun Yuan began stroking his own beard in a contemplative manner upon hearing this.

He's right! We're planting an undercover agent into the warrior academy, and given his age background, he'll be the perfect undercover agent with no points of suspicion!

This was indeed a massive risk.

Fang Che immediately pressed his advantage as he continued, "Not only is this going to be a very perilous undertaking, it'll also be an extremely difficult one as I'll have to compete with all of the prodigies in the entire southeast for the top spot, so how can this not count as a mission? I think it should be a mission with a massive reward attached."

Sun Yuan couldn't help but nod in response. He knew that Fang Che was trying to earn merit points to redeem for the Blood Incineration Technique, but he also couldn't deny that he had a point!

On top of that, Fang Che was his only disciple, and as his master, he felt obligated to secure benefits for him.

"I'll report this matter to the higher-ups."

"Thank you, Master," Fang Che replied. "Once I obtain the Blood Incineration Technique, I'll be able to take much better care of myself, and once I reach my full potential, I'll be able to reciprocate you for your teachings."

Sun Yuan was very pleased to hear this.

If a grown man had said this, Sun Yuan would've suspected them of ulterior motives, but this was coming from his new disciple and a seventeen-year-old child, and a sense of warmth and obligation instantly welled up in his heart.

"You can count on me," he said in a determined manner.

Fang Che put on a very natural and convincing facade of excitement as he declared, "I'll definitely make a name for myself, Master!"

Sun Yuan faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which a meaningful smile appeared on his face.

It had been a very long time since he had made a name for himself in the church, and he was determined to make this the catalyst for a change in fortunes!

***

On the surface, all appeared calm in Green Wave City, but turmoil was brewing under the surface.

News of the Su Clan's crisis had begun to spread.