Chapter 4
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Chapter 4: Do You Wish to Become Divine?
\"It was such an offense for me to have failed in welcoming you properly for your arrival at Linglong City, Senior!\"
A hearty laugh sounded as the City Lord of Linglong, dressed in a white robe with refined and scholarly features, appeared before Heaven\’s Secret Pavilion. He bowed respectfully to the Old Man in Red.
\"We pay our respects to the City Lord.\"
Numerous cultivators saluted the City Lord of Linglong.
This scholarly man was the strongest cultivator in Linglong City. He had achieved perfection in all nine stars of the Dao Palace, only one step away from entering the Divine Catastrophe stage and becoming a pseudo-divine being.
\"Scram!\"
The scholarly man\’s skill meant nothing in the eyes of the Old Man in Red, who offered no face to the City Lord of Linglong. Glancing sideways at him, the old man seemed to issue a warning.
The City Lord\’s expression stiffened, thick with embarrassment.
\"Senior, this is the territory of Linglong City. If you trust me, allow me to handle the matter,\" the City Lord forced a strained smile.
\"What manner of thing are you?\"
The Old Man in Red took a step forward, unleashing an overwhelming aura that almost suffocated the City Lord. Terror flooded the ruler\’s eyes.
\"One more word out of you, and I’ll raze Linglong City to the ground! Your lot shall become funeral offerings for my disciple!\" The killing intent within the Old Man in Red erupted, his aura ferocious to the extreme.
The City Lord of Linglong backed down.
He shot an angry glare toward Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, inwardly cursing: A reckless fool like this deserves being marked by the second elder of Tianxin Sect! Just don’t let it bring ruin upon Linglong City.
The other cultivators standing nearby trembled with fear.
Tianxin Sect reigned as an overlord entity across the Southern Wilderness—crushing a small city like Linglong would take no more than a raised hand.
Everyone understood: Heaven\’s Secret Pavilion was doomed.
The Old Man in Red turned and walked toward Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.
As soon as he crossed its threshold, a sudden wave of vigilance surged within him.
\"Tricks at work, as expected!\"
The old man snorted coldly and strode inside without hesitation.
Ye Xu was sitting in a grand armchair, with Ye Xian\’er—who had just finished her cultivation—kneading his shoulders.
The sight stoked fury in the Old Man in Red.
You killed my disciple, yet dare live free like this?
\"Guests from afar deserve seats. Please sit,\" Ye Xu opened his eyes and offered a gentle smile.
In that instant, all information about the old man unfolded within his perception:
Name: Qin Haishan (the second elder of Tianxin Sect).
Cultivation: Divine Catastrophe stage, perfection.
Affiliation: Tianxin Sect.
Ultimate Lifelong Desire: To rise as divine.
At that moment, Qin Haishan had a feeling of being seen through, but he didn\’t take it seriously, considering it just an illusion of his own.
How could there be so many bizarre things in such a small, out-of-the-way place?
Outside Heaven\’s Secret Pavilion, pairs of eyes were watching the movements inside the pavilion.
\"Alright.\"
\"Master Qin,\" said Ye Xian\’er politely.
Qin Haishan didn\’t even look at Ye Xian\’er; he walked straight to sit opposite Ye Xu, his gaze falling on Ye Xu, and said, \"Are you the master of Heaven\’s Secret Pavilion?\"
Ye Xu nodded.
\"Is it you who killed my disciple?\" Qin Haishan said again.
\"It was me.\"
\"Guilts have causes, and debts have owners. Since you\’ve admitted it, I can take action,\" Qin Haishan said, staring fiercely at Ye Xu, with killing intent billowing.
He activated his mystic art, trying to mobilize his spiritual power.
The next moment, Qin Haishan\’s expression froze.
His entire spiritual power had actually been sealed, unable to mobilize a single shred.
Moreover, he hadn\’t felt at all when his spiritual power had been restricted.
Ye Xian\’er noticed Qin Haishan\’s unusual state, and she pursed her lips into a small smile.
Her master and she, when they first entered Heaven\’s Secret Pavilion, had also been like this.
Realizing this, Qin Haishan trembled slightly; all his killing intent vanished, leaving only fear.
He suddenly realized that for the young man before him, he couldn\’t see through his cultivation level at all.
There were only two possibilities.
Either it was a formation shielding his aura, or Ye Xu\’s cultivation was far above his own.
Qin Haishan believed the second one.
Because, inside Heaven\’s Secret Pavilion, he hadn\’t found a trace of any formation.
\"Aren\’t you going to take action?\" Ye Xu took a sip of tea and sat up.
Cold sweat beaded on Qin Haishan\’s forehead.
\"It\’s a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding.\"
This time, he seemed to have hit a hard wall.
Qin Haishan gave a forced laugh and said, \"My disciple has been used to domineering within the sect, not knowing restraint. In my… in my humble opinion, it must be that he offended you, senior, causing disaster to befall him.\"
Where would he dare to talk about revenge now?
He only hoped that Ye Xu wouldn\’t bother with him and would let him off easy.
\"Senior, this is a small token of my esteem, on behalf of my disciple to apologize to you; kindly accept it.\"
At a thought, Qin Haishan took out a battle halberd.
The battle halberd was covered in bronze rust, radiating formidable killing aura.
At a glance, it was as if he was on a battlefield, with the sound of weapons and hooves in his ears, and blades clashing everywhere.
\"A second-tier divine weapon?\"
Ye Xian\’er exclaimed in astonishment.
A second-tier divine weapon was forged by pseudo-divine beings of the Divine Catastrophe stage, surpassing top-quality spiritual treasures but inferior to divine weapons.
That Qin Haishan could produce a second-tier divine weapon showed he was indeed frightened.
\"System, how many heavenly secrets points could it be exchanged for?\"
\"One hundred.\"
Ye Xu was pleased in his heart.
Without doing anything, he could gain one hundred heavenly secrets points; it was truly a sensible deal.
\"You do have some sincerity; I won\’t take offense to what happened earlier,\" Ye Xu said lightly.
\"Then this junior bids farewell!\"
Qin Haishan bowed with folded hands and turned to depart Heaven\’s Secret Pavilion.
\"Wait.\"
Ye Xu spoke out.
Qin Haishan instantly halted his steps and stiffly turned back.
\"Senior, what instructions do you have?\"
\"Heaven\’s Secret Pavilion is a place for conducting business. You entered and gave me a second-tier divine weapon for nothing, while I did nothing in return. If word spreads, people might accuse Heaven\’s Secret Pavilion of bullying others with its power,\" Ye Xu said lightly.
\"Then what should this junior do?\"
Qin Haishan asked anxiously.
Now, how could he dare make any demands of Ye Xu? To escape Heaven\’s Secret Pavilion unharmed was merely a fortunate reprieve.
\"This is a place to trade information. If you offer something that intrigues me, you can gain the message you seek,\" Ye Xu explained.
\"Senior, anything you wish this junior to purchase, this junior will buy it all,\" Qin Haishan said hurriedly, kneeling on the ground.
Ye Xian\’er burst out laughing.
The dignified second elder of the Tianxin Sect seemed terrified into foolishness.
Ye Xu frowned.
\"Isn\’t this forced coercion in trade? Heaven\’s Secret Pavilion has no such custom.\"
Qin Haishan despaired, feeling helpless.
What should he do? How could he satisfy the senior?
\"Fine then, I shall offer you some guidance.\"
Ye Xu sighed, helped Qin Haishan to his feet, and instructed Ye Xian\’er to serve him a cup of hot tea.
Qin Haishan stood stiff all over, bewildered.
\"You\’ve remained stagnant at the Divine Catastrophe stage for a hundred and twenty years, haven\’t you?\" Ye Xu said.
Boom!
Qin Haishan\’s mind was jolted with a thunderous shock as he stared at Ye Xu in disbelief. \"Senior… you… how did you know?\"
\"Have you forgotten what this place is?\"
Qin Haishan was utterly shaken.
He suddenly recalled the couplet at Heaven\’s Secret Pavilion.
\"Perceive the future through the ages, divine yin and yang and sever the five elements—celestial secrets are predictable!\"
Could this senior truly see through the operation of the heavenly dao and predict the heavens?
\"Do you want to become a god?\" Ye Xu laughed.
\"Huh?\"
Qin Haishan was first stunned, then overjoyed.
Ye Xian\’er also stared blankly at Ye Xu.
A Heavenly God was an absolute strong one on the land of the Southern Wilderness.
Among a thousand pseudo-divine beings at the peak Divine Catastrophe stage, not necessarily one could achieve Heavenly God status.
This was also the reason for Qin Haishan\’s madness.
\"This junior dreams of becoming a god! Please instruct me!\"
Qin Haishan pushed the chair away and knelt on the ground with a thud once again; last time it was out of fear, this time it was genuinely sincere and earnest.
\"There are many ways, but you have something special about you,\" Ye Xu said with a profound gaze.
Qin Haishan looked up at him, puzzled. \"Why?\"
\"You are now nine hundred ninety-six years old, your vital energy withered. You\’ve long missed the best time to become a god; trying to cultivate independently to godhood is completely impossible.\"
\"I beg you to instruct me!\"
Qin Haishan knocked his head heavily on the ground.
What Ye Xu said was entirely correct; he was far too elderly, his vital energy declining, and completely unable to train to become a god on his own.
He also desired to rely on external aids, but divine medicines—where could he find them?
This time, he had sent Du Jue to follow Qi Hongchou to seize the Nine-Grade Golden Lotus, intending to prevent Qi Qingsi from recovering and to use it to enhance his own cultivation.
But the Nine-Grade Golden Lotus obviously couldn\’t make him become a god.
\"To become a god, you must rely on external aids alone.\"
\"This junior knows that too.\"
Qin Haishan sighed deeply, his expression despondent. \"But divine medicines are hard to come by, and those that can help me become a god are extremely scarce. For over a hundred years, I\’ve been searching for leads, but gained nothing.\"
\"Now, your chance has arrived.\"
Ye Xu revealed a sunny smile.
Qin Haishan abruptly raised his head, his gaze blazing.
\"If you can guide me to a clear path, I am willing to give everything I have at any cost.\"
