As the Dao Platform rose, Su Chen's consciousness entered the Profound Origin Ancient Stele. In a pitch-black void stretched endless runes. Each rune carried profound, inscrutable mysteries.

  Su Chen and the others had to comprehend these runes. The more they grasped, the stronger the inheritance they could claim.

  Su Chen immersed himself fully in the process. When he finally opened his eyes again,

  "Seventy-three runes… is that truly my limit in this life?"

  He murmured to himself. His expression gradually calmed. Without some extraordinary stroke of fortune in this life, his ceiling remained the Profound Connection Realm at best.

  Seventy-three runes had granted him a fragment of inheritance from a Profound Connection powerhouse known as the Winter King.

  "I knew the Profound Origin Sacred Land wouldn't be so generous!"

  Su Chen's face darkened. What he received was only a portion. Fortunately, it was the martial technique called Heaven-Sealing Earth-Extinguishing from the Winter King's arsenal. A half-step king-grade technique—extremely rare and perfectly aligned with his own Spirit Vein.

  Su Chen glanced at his points. They had surged by five hundred. Around the ancient stele, three-quarters of the Dao Platform still remained occupied. A quarter of the participants had achieved the same as him.

  Lin Wu was clearly among the three-quarters who had failed to comprehend anything significant.

  "Looks like I didn't lose out on that favor after all."

  Su Chen smiled, feeling no jealousy whatsoever. One life after another. Eventually, he would trample all these so-called geniuses beneath his feet.

  Lin Wu was a man of principles. In a future life, posing as the inheritor of this life's legacy could turn that debt into something invaluable.

  Su Chen left. He still had other opportunities to pursue. Half a month later, he crossed paths with the geniuses from the Azure Wave Kingdom. The moment they saw him, their faces turned ashen. They turned to flee at once. How could Su Chen possibly let them escape?

  Every genius from the Azure Wave Kingdom fell by his hand. From one of them, however, he extracted a crucial piece of information. Word of an inheritance belonging to a powerhouse beyond the Profound Connection Realm.

  Su Chen decided to take a look. A deep, cavernous entrance concealed an underground palace—magnificent and resplendent—yet shielded by an impenetrable array. He could not enter. A pity. For now, the opportunity inside would have to wait. He would claim it in the next life.

  Su Chen concealed the palace's location so thoroughly that no one else would find it. Soon, the Hundred Kingdoms Trial reached its conclusion. Many had perished. A king-grade treasure had even emerged, sparking fierce battles among the prodigies.

  Su Chen had chosen not to participate.

  "This way… it should be impossible for me to enter the Profound Origin Sacred Land now."

  Su Chen naturally yearned for the Profound Origin Sacred Land. Yet he understood clearly: with his current aptitude, entering the sacred land would make him nothing more than an ordinary disciple. He might cultivate for a few centuries, rise to become an outer elder, and eventually die forgotten in some forgotten corner—or worse, be casually slain by a prodigy from a rival sacred land as mere cannon fodder.

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  People like him were countless in the Profound Origin Sacred Land. No one would remember his name. The Reverse Fate Points he could gain there would be pitifully few. But in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, things were different. If he reached the Profound Connection Realm and became a king, he would stand as a true ancestor of the land. Moreover, all the hidden opportunities within the Li Clan still awaited his careful planning.

  The final results were announced. The top fifty could enter the Profound Origin Sacred Land. Su Chen ranked fifty-seventh. He had not been accepted.

  "Did I misjudge him?"

  A deep flicker of disappointment passed through Ao Jin's eyes. He had believed Su Chen's strength made entry into the sacred land a certainty and had hoped to form a connection.

  Now it seemed he had been wrong. This man would ultimately fade into obscurity among mortals. Without entry into the sacred land—no matter how narrow the margin of seven places—they no longer belonged to the same world.

  Su Chen remained unaware of Ao Jin's thoughts. His gaze fell on Lin Wu's name.

  Lin Wu had successfully entered the Profound Origin Sacred Land. So had that monstrous ninth-layer Spirit Sea genius, whose name Su Chen now knew: Lang Chaotian. A rather chuunibyou-sounding name.

  Su Chen paid it no further mind.

  Li Hongwen felt some disappointment upon learning that Su Chen had missed entry by only seven places. What he did not know was that Su Chen had orchestrated the outcome deliberately.

  Lin Wu sought Su Chen out. Believing Su Chen more deserving of the spot, he offered to relinquish his own place.

  Su Chen waved his hands repeatedly. "This is your rightful opportunity, Brother Lin. You should go to the sacred land and cultivate properly."

  He had gone to great lengths to forgo entry.

  Lin Wu immediately grabbed Su Chen's arm.

  "Brother Li, from now on, you are my big brother! As long as it is within my power, I, Lin Wu, will do anything you ask!"

  A trace of guilt flashed in Lin Wu's eyes. He still believed their earlier duel had exposed too much of Su Chen's strength, drawing targeted suppression from other prodigies and costing him a place in the sacred land.

  Su Chen clasped Lin Wu's hand. The two swore a blood oath on the spot and became sworn brothers.

  Lin Wu departed, following the elders of the Profound Origin Sacred Land toward their distant domain.

  Su Chen and the surviving members of his group began the journey back to the Heavenly Wind Kingdom. They had arrived as ten. Only five returned. The other five had perished inside the Mysterious Spirit Secret Realm.

  Such losses were neither light nor heavy. Compared to the Azure Wave and Barbarian Desert Kingdoms, they had fared far better. Every genius from Azure Wave had died by Su Chen's hand. Not a single one from Mo Barbarian had walked out alive.

  Half a year later, Su Chen's group finally returned to the Heavenly Wind Kingdom.

  …

  Heavenly Wind Kingdom, Great Plain Li Clan.

  Ever since Su Chen's departure, Li Yuanfa had pulled himself together. He threw himself into clan affairs, accomplishing many tasks and earning approving glances from several elders. But all of that shattered in an instant.

  "What? My younger brother has returned?"

  Li Yuanfa listened to his confidant elder's report. His expression flickered between shadow and light. After a long silence, he forced out a strained smile.

  "Is this some kind of joke?"

  He had pinned all his hopes on Su Chen entering the Profound Origin Sacred Land—securing his own path to becoming the future clan head. Yet now, with news of Su Chen's return spreading through the kingdom, everything had changed. The elders who had recently begun favoring him fell silent once more.

  Jealousy gnawed at Li Yuanfa until he nearly went mad.

  At the same time, a sliver of hope lingered. That hope vanished the moment Su Chen stood before him.

  Li Yuanfa glared at Su Chen with raw resentment.

  Su Chen merely gave a faint smile. He paid no attention to Li Yuanfa's hatred. The position of Li Clan head belonged to him alone.

  When the elders learned that Su Chen had missed entry into the Profound Origin Sacred Land by only seven places, a wave of mild disappointment swept through them.

  Had he entered, the Li Clan could have planted roots inside the sacred land itself. The Hundred Kingdoms Trial had been crowded with countless geniuses. Fifty-seventh place was already an outstanding achievement.

  Once they realized this, the elders' regret softened. Though they lamented Su Chen's failure to enter the sacred land, their regard for him deepened even further.

  Li Yuanfa was once again cast into the cold. Some time later, the president of the Myriad Treasures Merchant Guild personally paid a visit. He proposed a marriage alliance: Wan Miao'er would wed Su Chen, uniting the two great powers.

  Marriage alliances were nothing new to Su Chen. He felt no resistance. After all, the Myriad Treasures Merchant Guild was the wealthiest force in the realm. With their full support, he could firmly grasp the vital lifelines of the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom.