The night passed uneventfully.

However, the next morning, Night Demon’s expression was a bit strange, though Night Demon’s silliness quickly manifested itself again.

Night Demon’s silliness once again manifested itself. She didn’t notice anything and talked with everyone just like before.

After eating breakfast, they embarked on their trip. As they walked, Su Chen could sense Kong Cheng’s poisonous gaze boring into his back as they walked.

He just smiled slightly and paid it no mind.

The Lonely Swan Ramparts were tall and far, while the surroundings were totally desolate. They had to walk a number of days before finally appearing in Island Abyss.

After entering Island Abyss, the vegetation became much more plentiful, and the number of travelers also noticeably increased.

Today, as the caravan advanced, a group of Sand Race individuals suddenly appeared, charging and yelling in their direction.

As this group of Sand Race individuals charged at Su Chen and the others, everyone thought quietly in their hearts, ‘they’re here.’

These past few days, they hadn’t encountered any large groups of the Sand Race. The few they did see were all on their own or in small groups. This time, however, nearly a hundred Sand Race individuals had appeared, including a few mid-tier Sand Race members.

The method of determining the Sand Race’s members’ strength was very easy. On the backs of their heads were some whiskers; the thicker those were, the stronger.

At this moment, the large group of Sand Race members surged forth. The one in the leader pointed at Su Chen and his group and yelled, “Attack!”

They didn’t waste their time talking as they charged forwards.

Even though Su Chen knew that the Sand Race had extremely violent personalities and that not buying the camel beasts they sold was equivalent to provoking them, he was still shocked by the speed at which they chose to attack and how they didn’t differentiate between perpetrators and associates. He frowned and said, “Sand Race? More like the Killer Race1)

Shi Mingfeng laughed, “The sand people are all like this — vicious, bloodthirsty, and savage to the extreme. How about it, do you believe me now?”

“Yes. Since that’s the case, I’d like to see the Master of Rain’s strength firsthand before entering West Laina Castle, if possible,” Su Chen replied.

Shi Mingfeng chuckled. “I’m the one that’ll need to clean up the trouble you stir up.”

Su Chen replied indifferently, “To the Master of Rain, that shouldn’t be any trouble. At most it’s an intermission.”

As they spoke, Shi Mingfeng waved his arms. A dense fog began to spread through the air, the individual droplets of water vapor falling onto the Sand Race. The seemingly soft water vapor was packed with dense water-type Origin Energy, pressing on them like a river pouring from the heavens. When it landed on the Sand Race individuals, their bodies began to disintegrate like sand. The frightening water-type Origin Energy continued to surge forward, enveloping every last one of the Sand Race individuals. Not a single one was able to escape, and they were all downed in one fell swoop by Shi Mingfeng before they even had a chance to counterattack.

Whoosh!!!

Under the torrential downpour, all the Sand Race members dissolved into nothingness and disappeared.

The water vapor that Shi Mingfeng had summoned from the heavens also disappeared, as if it had never existed.

“You truly are befitting of the title ‘Master of Rain,’” Su Chen said sincerely.

Shi Mingfeng smiled slightly. “It’s just a little trick of mine, not worth mentioning.”

“From your trick it seems that you have at least three Lotus Platforms, right?” Su Chen asked.

Shi Mingfeng said with a bit of pride, “I reached four about two years ago by hanging onto your coattails.”

He wasn’t saying that to be polite.

Per their transaction, Su Chen had secretly passed thirty million Origin Stones to Shi Mingfeng under the table. With this profit, he had successfully broken through the bottleneck and formed four Lotus Platforms. Shi Mingfeng’s gratitude towards Su Chen was heartfelt.

“But now that you mention it, with the amount of resources you currently control, you should have reached the peak of Yang Opening a long time ago. How come you are still mid-realm?” Shi Mingfeng asked.

Su Chen replied, “So what if I reach the peak of Yang Opening? Won’t the next step be to reach the Light Shaking Realm anyways? Taking that next step will be too difficult.”

Shi Mingfeng said in a low voice, “If you need it, I can help put you in touch with some people with good bloodlines......”

He laughed when he saw Su Chen shake his head, understanding his intentions. “It seems that you still hope to reach the Light Shaking Realm without a bloodline. But if that’s the case, your instructor will need to make a breakthrough in that aspect first.”

Su Chen replied, “Master of Rain, you don’t need to try and test me. To tell the truth, my Instructor won’t be of much help to me anymore.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

Su Chen then told him about how Shi Kaihuang had been sent to Flowing Gold Fort.

“Instructor is an officer again and is busy taking care of military matters. He can’t spend all his time every day researching, so he handed that responsibility over to me.”

“You?” Shi Mingfeng was stunned. “But you aren’t in the Light Shaking realm. How can you research that?”

Su Chen sighed. “That’s also what I said earlier...... guess how my Instructor responded?”

“How did he respond?”

“He told me to go and create a miracle.”

“......”

Shi Mingfeng was also rendered speechless for a while. In the end, all he could say was, “It seems that you won’t be able to ascend for a long time.”

“Perhaps. This may be the highest point that I reach in my lifetime.”

“Then why not choose to give up? With the current resources you have, you could absolutely obtain a good bloodline and reach the Spirit Burning Realm. Who knows, you might even be able to shatter those chains and go one step higher.”

Yes.

With Su Chen’s intelligence and strength, as long as he obtained a Bloodline Medicine and combined it with his Primordial Blood Incarnation, he really could reach the sixth cultivation realm out of the seven total.

If that was the case, he would at least be able to look down on the whole world even if he wasn’t at the apex.

To most people, this was more than enough. Any sober-minded individual wouldn’t treat themselves as the center of the universe. It wasn’t wrong to pursue reaching the very top, but it was unhealthy to excessively obsess over it.

Su Chen was the same. To him, that kind of accomplishment would be more than enough to satisfy him.

But if he used a bloodline, what would all of his dreams and pursuits up until now have been for?

The Su Chen with a bloodline would not be the same persistent Su Chen as before, and the pledges he had made would be nothing more than trash.

He could give up on reaching the peak, but he couldn’t go back on his word.

Even if it meant that he might never take another step forward.

Yet wasn’t all human life like this anyways?

If there was no free will, what were choices? If there was no surrendering, what were sacrifices? If there were no dangers, what were challenges?

The path Su Chen had chosen was bound to be fraught with danger, and not only because the path was long and arduous and the research was difficult, but also because it meant making a choice to give up on something.

To continue to strive for an uncertain future and pursue your dreams? Or quit while you’re ahead and become a winner?

Most people would choose the latter.

Only a select few people would choose the former.

Su Chen wasn’t an idiot. He had hesitated and contemplated this over and over again.

Thankfully, he had chosen to continue steadfastly on the route he had chosen.

He told himself that a person could be smart, flexible, and intelligent in many different aspects, but in pursuing one’s dreams it was better to be a bit idiotic.

As such, Su Chen replied, “I just don’t want to forget the vow I made earlier.”

“So you chose this path for everyone under the heavens? And not due to a personal desire for power?” Shi Mingfeng asked, a bit surprised.

“What? Is a person like me not allowed to worry about other people?” Su Chen countered.

Shi Mingfeng laughed, “I just find it very difficult that a person like you, who could earn a billion Origin Stones by selling some Three Yangs Medicine and a bloodline-less technique for reaching the Yang Opening Realm, could harbor such a grand ambition.”

Su Chen replied, “What does that count for? People only try to help others when they are already ahead, but I am willing to give myself up for the sake of the whole world. Making a profit and caring for everyone under the heavens don’t necessarily need to conflict.”

“Then what if one day there is a conflict between the two?” Shi Mingfeng pressed.

Su Chen didn’t reply.

1. Su Chen is making a pun. The character for sand (沙) and kill (杀) are pronounced the same in Chinese.