274: This is insane! The old man is going to gamble his entire fortune just to train me?

The wind blew across the peak, swirling up a few fallen leaves.

Three powerhouses of the Spirit King Realm stood there, their figures appearing somewhat thin, yet as imposing as towering mountains.

This was a tragic yet heroic romance.

Lu Sheng looked at them, and the string in his heart named "hot-bloodedness" was lightly plucked.

Although he was an egoist, he didn't dislike these madmen who would bet everything on a certain belief.

On the contrary, he admired them.

"So..."

Lu Sheng took a step forward, breaking the heavy atmosphere. He stuck his hands in his pockets, a wild and arrogant curve hooking at the corner of his mouth.

"You want me to take the faces of those two Great Holy Lands and rub them into the ground, telling them... who's their daddy?"

Li Xiaoyao was stunned for a moment, his eyes turning slightly red, but he glared fiercely at Lu Sheng: "Vulgar! That is a declaration of the King's return!"

"It's all the same." Lu Sheng waved his hand with an indifferent look. "Anyway, it's just crashing the party. I'm familiar with this business."

He walked up to Li Xiaoyao, reached out his hand, and his gaze became more serious than ever before.

"Old man, I'll take this job."

"But I have one condition."

Li Xiaoyao took a deep breath, his gaze becoming fierce, as if venting all the frustration of these past years: "Speak! As long as it's on the island, even if you want to tear down the main hall, this old man will bring it to you!"

"I want to enter that place."

Lu Sheng pointed at the ground beneath his feet.

Not at Daozi Peak, but at the deepest part of the island, the Forbidden Ground that even the System warned had an extremely high energy reaction.

"Since you dare to have me challenge monsters above level 30, you must have a way for me to catch up to them within two months."

"Don't hold anything back."

"Bring out your... whatever it is... your bottom-of-the-barrel life savings."

Li Xiaoyao, Xing Tian, and Ling Yao looked at each other.

Finally, Li Xiaoyao gritted his teeth and pulled out an ancient Bronze Key from his robes, which radiated the aura of ages.

"Good lad, you've got a sharp nose."

"The Council of Elders has decided—to open the 'Heaven-Grade Treasury' that has been sealed for a thousand years!"

"That is the final legacy left by the Ancient Emperor back then, and it is also the final foundation of our Dengxian Island."

Li Xiaoyao slapped the key heavily into Lu Sheng's hand, his tone grim, carrying the determination of a gambler going all-in.

"Lu Sheng, this is a huge gamble."

"We will spare no cost, using massive amounts of resources to forcibly stack them, and within two months, ripen you—this monster—into a Spirit Ancestor!"

"If we lose... we old geezers will go with you to the two Great Holy Lands to clean toilets!"

"Clean toilets?"

Lu Sheng gripped the Bronze Key that still held some body heat, feeling the vast flow of information contained within, the smile at the corner of his mouth growing wider.

"Old man, then you might be disappointed."

"I have a problem; I'm a germaphobe."

"So..." Lu Sheng suddenly looked up, two golden lights shooting out from his vertical pupils, domineering and peerless, "I'm definitely winning this bet!"

...An hour later.

Behind Daozi Peak, at the entrance of the Forbidden Ground.

The massive Dragon-Severing Stone slowly rose amidst a rumble, and Spiritual Qi so dense it was almost tangible, mixed with treasure light, instantly gushed out, causing the surrounding vegetation to grow wildly at a visible speed.

This was the "Heaven-Grade Treasury."

It was also Lu Sheng's "Purgatory" for the next two months.

"Before you go in, I need to give you a lesson first."

Elder Ling Yao stood at the entrance, stopping Lu Sheng and Luo Tianfei, who were eager to go in and "stock up."

At this moment, she was no longer the gentle big sister next door, but a rigorous mentor.

"Spirit Apprentices cultivate the body, Spirit Masters cultivate the law."

Ling Yao extended a slender finger, and a brilliant ice lotus condensed out of thin air at her fingertip.

"Before level 20, you relied on brute force, Bloodlines, and the total amount of your spirit source."

"But at level 21, which is the Spirit Master realm, the rules change."

"What you need to do is no longer simple 'release' of elements, but... 'control'."

Buzz!

As her voice fell, the ice lotus suddenly disintegrated, turning into countless tiny ice crystals that constructed a miniature space of only one square meter in the air.

In this space, water no longer flowed to lower ground but suspended; the temperature was no longer balanced but extremely cold.

"This is the—Domain Prototype."

Ling Yao looked at the two of them, her eyes shining: "The core of the Spirit Master level is to transform the elemental power within your body from 'releasing due to instinct' into 'constructing local rules'."

"Lu Sheng, if your dual Metal and Fire attributes can only be used to blast people, then you're just a brute."

"A true Metal Spirit Master can change the density of metal and make the air as sharp as a blade's edge; a true Fire Spirit Master can control the flow of temperature and even ignite the opponent's spirit source!"

As Lu Sheng listened, it felt as if a new door was being pushed open in his mind.

On the system panel, the promotion requirements for the Spirit Master level also became clear at this moment.

[Current Goal: Advance to Level 21 (Spirit Master)]

[Core Task: Upgrade from "Elemental Manipulation" to "Local Rule Control"]

[Required Resources: Massive!]

"Understood."

Lu Sheng snapped his fingers, "It's basically going from 'the guy who throws bombs' to 'the guy who changes the settings'."

"Common, but accurate." Ling Yao nodded approvingly and then stepped aside to clear the path.

"Go."

"Eat as much as you can of the things inside, and take as much as you can."

"Remember, when the door opens two months from now, I want to see two brand new... Spirit Ancestors!"

Lu Sheng didn't waste any more words.

He glanced at Luo Tianfei beside him.

"Hey, Big Stupid Bird."

"Don't lose too badly this time, or you won't even be able to catch the scraps when you follow behind me later."

After saying that, Lu Sheng took a step forward, his figure instantly vanishing into that bizarre and dazzling treasure light.

"Bastard! It's not certain who will be picking up the scraps!"

Luo Tianfei gritted her teeth and, not to be outdone, turned into a purple rainbow and rushed in right after him.

Rumble—

The Dragon-Severing Stone fell heavily, completely cutting off all light and aura.

Li Xiaoyao stood on the cliff, looking at the tightly closed stone door, clutching a few plucked beard hairs in his hand, his face full of pain yet his eyes full of expectation.

"Eat, eat..."

"It's better if you eat the whole family fortune dry..."

"As long as a True Dragon can be raised, even if this old man has to go sell his blood, I'll accept it!"

And in the depths of that pitch-black treasury.

A pair of dark-gold vertical pupils suddenly lit up, illuminating the mountains of Spirit Stones and Heaven And Earth Treasures.

Lu Sheng looked at the mountains of gold and silver before him, grinned, and revealed his two rows of pearly white teeth.

"Holy mother of... let's do this!!"