Lu Yuan leisurely finished his bowl of noodles, then paid and left like a regular customer.

A hundred meters ahead of the noodle shop was their family's grain and oil supermarket.

His mom, Zheng Qiuling, and his older sister, Lu Jing, were sitting at the entrance of the store, eating and sunbathing, while the ground around them was covered in a thick layer of melon seed and peanut shells.

"Mom."

Lu Yuan greeted his mother.

Zheng Qiuling looked at him with a mix of pride and affection, responding with a warm smile.

This time, Lu Yuan had returned home and, once and for all, solved his schooling problem.

It was said that due to his exceptional academic performance and multiple awards from the National Mathematical Olympiad, he had already secured a direct admission offer from a key university.

Because of this, Lu Yuan gained a little bit of fame.

In the several streets near his home, everyone knew that Old Lu, who ran the grain and oil supermarket, had a son who was both handsome and academically gifted—undoubtedly a future pillar of the country.

Lu Yuan wasn't embarrassed about this because the awards and the admission offer he claimed were all genuinely earned. As a Double Winged Flying Bear, there was hardly anything he couldn't accomplish in the Old City Circle.

"Why aren't you at work today? Are you slacking off again?"

After admiring her precious son, Zheng Qiuling turned and, with a look of "disdain," began to berate her "useless" daughter.

"Mom, it's the weekend!" Lu Jing protested.

"Then why don't you go out on a date? You're almost thirty and you don't even have a boyfriend. All you do is eat, eat, eat. How many pounds have you gained since you came back?" Qiuling pressed.

"..."

Lu Jing was rendered speechless by Zheng Qiuling's tirade, wanting to retort but always finding herself countered.

Lu Yuan grabbed a handful of melon seeds from a plastic bag on the counter and munched on them while watching the scene unfold.

It was hard to imagine that the sharp-tongued woman before him was the same person. Just a few months ago, she had constantly worried about Lu Jing in Xixu: whether she was eating or sleeping well, if she might get sick, or how much weight she'd lost.

Truly, moms were one of the most magical species in the world, he had to admit.

Lu Yuan finished his handful of melon seeds. Seeing Lu Jing huffing and exclaiming, "I'd rather not stay in this house anyway!" he finally felt satisfied and prepared to go upstairs.

However, just as he reached the staircase, Lu Jing called out to him.

"Yuan, I want to ask you something!"

"Hmm?"

Lu Yuan stopped and waited for Lu Jing to speak.

Lu Jing then leaned in and asked him in a mysterious whisper, "That archaeology friend you mentioned, the one you asked about the curse I encountered in Xixu last time… are you still in touch? If so, could you share their contact with me?"

Lu Yuan was taken aback and immediately asked, "What's wrong? Did you encounter something strange again?"

Subconsciously, Lu Yuan touched the Elephant God's curse on his right chest.

He worried that perhaps, because of him, those around him were starting to attract unnecessary trouble.

Fortunately, Lu Jing shook her head.

"It's not me, it's a friend of mine."

Lu Yuan visibly relaxed and casually asked, "What's the situation?"

Lu Jing's expression was complicated as she said, "I don't really know how to describe it. It's just very bizarre. My friend recently…"

She quickly corrected herself, "Oh no, actually, it's been happening for a long time. Ever since she was little, she's been having this strange dream. Initially, the dream was just a field of mist. Later, she could gradually see a person in the mist. Then, it became clear it was a woman... Recently, she's found that the woman in the dream is getting closer and closer, her appearance becoming clearer. She can almost make out what the woman looks like…"

"She drew a picture of what she saw in the dream. I'll send it to you..."

As Lu Jing spoke, she took her phone out of her pajama pocket and sent a message to Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan also took out his phone and casually opened it to take a look.

It was a simple sketch.

In the drawing, a grey, hazy mist enveloped everything.

In the center of the sketch was the vague figure of a woman. Her specific features weren't clear, but her slender, graceful figure and the general style of her clothing were discernible.

She wore an ancient type of attire that Lu Yuan had never seen before.

At the woman's feet, small creatures like mice, snakes, and centipedes seemed to be gathered around her.

As Lu Yuan examined the drawing, Lu Jing quickly added, "Oh, right, my friend has always suffered from insomnia. And it's gotten worse recently. But the strange thing is, the insomnia doesn't seem to have affected her much; she's always quite energetic during the day, so no one ever knew about this issue... Lately, her insomnia has become much more severe; she can hardly sleep at night…"

"She has insomnia but can still dream?" Lu Yuan glanced at Lu Jing.

Lu Jing shot him a look and said irritably, "That's what's so strange about it! She's clearly not sleeping, yet she can still have these dreams. Besides, sometimes dreams can happen even if you just doze off for a bit, right…"

"I was mainly thinking about my own experience back in Xixu when I first encountered the Elephant God Religion's curse. I had similar things happen. So, I wondered if her condition might also be related to some kind of curse…"

Lu Yuan, however, suspected it was likely a misunderstanding. Some people are fast asleep but feel like they're awake. Or perhaps some people have a special constitution and naturally don't need much sleep. Isn't Havel's official Extraordinary organization called Egersis?

Lu Yuan didn't dwell on it much. He nodded and said to Lu Jing, "Alright, I'll ask my friend about it later. I'll let you know when I find out anything."

"You absolutely have to take this seriously!" Lu Jing stressed, reminding him.

Lu Yuan hummed in acknowledgment. He gave one last glance at the drawing Lu Jing had sent him. The brushwork felt vaguely familiar, but he didn't pay it much mind and quickly put the matter aside.

***

In the afternoon, Lu Yuan stood in a vast underground space.

The entire area was brightly lit, expansive, and tall.

Apart from a few silver-white super-alloy weapon racks and a golden Mecha over five meters high, there was nothing else.

Lu Yuan stood before the golden Mecha, which resembled an ancient divine general. He leaped up, sat in the cockpit for a moment, and then climbed down, satisfied.

After Penglai was taken over by Yellow Bear, Lu Yuan had specifically kept Wu Chao's God General Mech.

This thing wasn't just cool; it was personally designed and built by Heaven Lord Wu Chao, holding significant sentimental value. It's perfect as a large collectible figure to display at home.

Lu Yuan even considered studying Mecha and their operation. He wasn't thinking about future combat; just learning to pilot one for a couple of joyrides in the sky would be enough. Unlocking a class like [Mechanic] or [Mech Pilot] would be even better.

Lu Yuan brought up his current profession panel.

[Profession: Martial Arts Master (Supernatural) LV2 (35/200)]

His [Martial Arts Master (Supernatural)] profession had leveled up to LV2.

This was thanks to a few vials of Longevity Materials he had obtained from Penglai.

This substance could directly strengthen the blood sphere in Lu Yuan's chest, and the experience for his [Martial Arts Master (Supernatural)] profession increased accordingly.

Lu Yuan drank all the vials, gaining over a hundred experience points for his Martial Arts Master profession.

He had inquired about the origin of these so-called Longevity Materials and discovered they were actually purified substances derived from the blood, spinal cord, brain matter, and so on, of Ancient Evil God creatures.

The Ancient Evil God creatures living in Evil God Secret Realms were almost legendary life forms, with cellular activity far exceeding that of ordinary humans.

Modern technology, using complex and precise techniques, removes the parts of their cells tainted by the Evil God's influence. The remaining parts, astonishingly, had an incredible life-extending effect on ordinary humans.

Furthermore, there were no side effects, though the effectiveness would diminish with increased consumption.

When Lu Yuan first learned the truth, he was quite shocked. The major official Extraordinary organizations around the world had clearly reached a very advanced level of research into the Evil God Sects. They could even extract such "elixirs of life" from the bodies of Ancient Evil God creatures. No wonder various countries and factions were so enthusiastic about exploring Evil God Secret Realms; this point alone was enough to entice countless people.

Consider consciousness uploading or consciousness transfer. The underprivileged might think longevity is achieved by changing bodies, but the truly high-ranking individuals believe the original body is best.

However, Ancient Evil God creatures were quite rare, usually found only in high-level Evil God Secret Realms.

Moreover, they had to be living, flesh-and-blood Ancient Evil God creatures.

The Elephant God Walkers Lu Yuan had killed previously, for instance, all turned into stone and sand upon death, so they obviously didn't count.

"Since it directly strengthens qi and blood and enhances cellular activity, it can enlarge my Grandmaster blood sphere, allowing me to gain profession experience. It seems there's another way to upgrade [Martial Arts Grandmaster] in the future... eating! Eating the flesh of those Ancient Evil God creatures!" Lu Yuan mused, casually allocating the two attribute points he had accumulated to Constitution.

His original 27 points in Constitution instantly increased to 28, bringing him one step closer to the 30-point threshold for the second Break the Limit.

The blood sphere in his chest swelled instantly.

When it first formed, the blood sphere was only the size of a fist; now, it had grown to one and a half times that size.

Lu Yuan felt qi and blood surge through him like a tidal wave. His organs glowed, his bones and flesh vibrated, and a sound like rolling thunder echoed continuously.

Lu Yuan exhaled slowly. It took him a good while to adapt to his enhanced physique.

The blood sphere in his chest, like a perpetual motion machine, had been constantly mobilizing his body's qi and blood, repeatedly washing over his martial physique since its formation.

Theoretically, his physical strength was constantly improving, albeit slowly. This was the power of a Real Grandmaster.

Attributes enhanced, Lu Yuan then looked at his two remaining skill points.

They definitely had to be spent on his [Martial Arts Master (Supernatural)] panel; the question was which skill to upgrade.

Lu Yuan pondered over the six skills for a moment, then decisively spent both skill points on [Grandmaster's Dharma].

The originally LV1 [Grandmaster's Dharma] instantly rose to LV3.

BOOM!

The moment the upgrade completed, a large amount of platinum energy erupted from every pore of Lu Yuan's body.

It continuously condensed above his head.

Five meters...

Six meters...

Seven meters...

The two-headed, four-armed, Platinum Body Elephant God Dharma swelled to ten meters, nearly touching the ceiling before it finally stopped growing.

A terrifying pressure enveloped the entire underground space, and it seemed as if a massive, invisible vortex was slowly forming within it.

"With a ten-meter-tall Elephant God Dharma, if I use God Elephant Devours Dragon, could I produce an effect like a nuclear explosion?" Lu Yuan wondered, his eyes blazing. After admiring it for a moment, he waved his hand and dispersed the Dharma.

Over time, Lu Yuan had also discovered that every skill on the [Martial Arts Master (Supernatural)] profession panel was exceptionally difficult to upgrade. Each skill was directly linked to the blood sphere in his body—that is, his four Basic Attributes. This thoroughly solidified its position as his 'primary life-bound profession.' This was also one reason he didn't hesitate to spend skill points on it.

"Next, I just need to continuously use my sub-professions to nurture this main profession. I can start grinding levels for [Weapons Master], [Spear Holder (Extraordinary)], and the still-unmerged [Student] and [Ancient Language Expert] panels to get more attribute and skill points..." Lu Yuan thought, glancing at the racks laden with an array of melee weapons, all prepared for this purpose.

Although his direction and path were clear, a significant unresolved question still weighed on Lu Yuan's mind.

It remained unanswered.

His brow furrowed slightly, and he lightly tapped the air in front of him.

Instantly, a beam of blue light shot from his pupils, projecting a slowly revolving image of the cosmic Starry Sky into the void.

Within the vast, deep Starry Sky, streams of light emerged.

They then formed lines of dense, small characters and some strange, glowing Star Maps before him.

The four characters at the very beginning were what Lu Yuan had been longing for all this time—The Origin Heart Sutra!

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