"Moreover, the Bone Tempering Liquid is currently a specialized item. The manufacturing process isn’t stable yet, so the quantity is extremely limited.

Although thirty Vitality Elixirs and one standard unit of Bone Tempering Liquid are about the same price, the Bone Tempering Liquid is something money can’t buy. I had to call in a huge favor to get it.

You really lucked out, kid!"

Yu Fei was stunned. Just as Yan Sea said, if the effects of the Bone Tempering Liquid were so heaven-defying, it was practically a product that would be written into the history books. If the manufacturing process stabilized, the Yu Kingdom would undoubtedly promote it on a massive scale.

But no one knew when it would become widely available. At this moment, millions of students couldn’t just stop their martial arts training in hopes of getting a dose of Bone Tempering Liquid.

Yu Fei had truly hit the jackpot. He understood the difficulty involved. Even though thirty Vitality Elixirs were roughly the same price as the Bone Tempering Liquid, it was impossible to obtain without the right connections. In terms of actual value, the Bone Tempering Liquid was worth far more than thirty Vitality Elixirs.

"Mr. Yan, words can’t express my gratitude. From now on, if you say go east, I’ll never go west. You’re like a real father to me! I’ll take care of you in your old age—better than a real son ever could!"

"Hmph. I don’t need you to take care of me."

Yan Sea slowly rose to his feet, as if he had made some kind of decision.

From a black leather case, he took out a silver-white safe and entered a long password.

"CLICK!"

The safe opened.

Yan Sea gazed at the items inside, his expression forlorn as he seemed to drift into a distant memory.

After a long moment, he waved his hand. Taking the cue, Yu Fei stepped forward to look.

Inside the box were two items.

One was a longsword of a deep cyan color. The blade was about three feet long, adorned with mysterious, natural golden patterns. Its shape was ancient yet seemed born of nature itself, and it emanated an aura of intense Sharpness.

The other was a blackish-gray seed. Though it lay motionless in the box, a glance was enough to give one a sense of illusion.

’These are two treasures!’

Yu Fei concluded internally.

’This sword and this seed both look extraordinary.’

Yan Sea reached out, gently stroking the deep cyan longsword, his eyes filled with memories.

"This was left to me by my master. I want to give it to you."

"Mr. Yan, this is too valuable! I can’t accept it!"

Yan Sea waved his hand, stopping Yu Fei’s refusal.

"Hear me out first."

"This sword and this seed are the foundational items for a Cultivation Technique left by my master.

This Cultivation Technique is very special. You must begin learning it at the peak of the Blood Exchange stage, or you will never have another chance.

I want to give it to you, but that also depends on whether you have the ability.

Yu Fei, are you willing to inherit this Cultivation Technique?"

Yu Fei felt a warmth radiating from Yan Sea, as if the man had turned into a hand warmer. This was the goodwill-perceiving ability granted by [Insight]; it felt warm when someone had good intentions toward him, and like a bone-chilling wind if they had malicious intent.

Of course, this analogy wasn’t entirely accurate. In reality, goodwill and malice didn’t cause any change in temperature.

Yu Fei was simply describing the sensation from another dimension. It was like how the human eye cannot see ultraviolet light; if someone could see the color spectrum beyond ultraviolet, they would find it extremely difficult to describe those colors to others.

Without a doubt, Yan Sea held immense goodwill toward him.

But when it came to a Cultivation Technique, Yu Fei wasn’t so casual. He didn’t agree immediately.

The Martial Arts Education Bureau had its reasons for restricting all high schools to teaching only the Ox Subduing Pile Skill and the Six Harmonies Killing Fist for the first stage of martial arts enlightenment. After so many years of repeated revisions, no other Cultivation Techniques could surpass them for laying a foundation.

"Mr. Yan, can I learn about their origin and characteristics?"

Yan Sea saw his concern, but he didn’t say anything, instead offering a gentle smile.

This reaction from Yu Fei was exactly what he had wanted to see. The Cyan Lotus Sword and the Primordial Qi Sword Lotus Seed looked extraordinary. If Yu Fei had accepted them without a second thought, Yan Sea would have thought less of him.

On the path of martial arts, willpower is especially important. A Martial Artist’s life is full of choices involving temptation, life and death, their chosen path, and more. One must always remain cautious of their external environment to go far.

After a moment of thought, Yan Sea said softly:

"My master was a Grandmaster. He..."

"A Grandmaster?"

Yu Fei’s voice shot up an octave, interrupting Yan Sea’s reminiscence.

Yu Fei was dumbfounded. A freaking Grandmaster!

In politics, that’s a provincial-level official!

In the military, that’s either a corps-level officer in the regular forces or a division commander in an A-grade unit!

In the entertainment industry... it seems none have ever joined.

In any case, there was no way a figure of that caliber had any connection to a high school martial arts teacher from a remote area!

"Quiet down and let me finish..."

Yan Sea was getting annoyed. After silencing Yu Fei, he gathered his thoughts and continued:

"My master was a Grandmaster, an Eighth-Realm..."

"An Eighth-Realm Grandmaster?!! Oh my god!!!"

In his shock, Yu Fei couldn’t help but grab Yan Sea’s arm tightly.

This was too incredible. A Grandmaster was already a figure who had transcended the secular world, someone like an immortal, to say nothing of an Eighth-Realm Grandmaster!

Those were basically among the handful of most powerful experts in the world.

The crucial thing was that what Yan Sea said was most likely true. Aided by his Super Speed Reaction, he had accurately caught every micro-expression on Mr. Yan’s face as he spoke. And with his [Insight] ability, although he couldn’t sense truth from falsehood, he could still grasp some peripheral information.

Therefore, based on his comprehensive judgment, Yu Fei concluded there was at least a seventy percent chance that Yan Sea was telling the truth—he had an Eighth-Realm master!

’But... how is that possible?’

It was like your wrinkled, dark-skinned gym teacher telling you his father was a general, and a lieutenant general at that.

What would your expression be?

The ’old man on the subway’ face...

Yan Sea shoved Yu Fei away in disgust, saying with extreme irritation:

"Forget it! I’m not saying any more. Take it or leave it!"

With that, he started to close the safe.

"I’m willing! I’m willing! I can do it! Mr. Yan, you have to give me a chance."

Yu Fei slammed his hand down on the safe, preventing Yan Sea from closing the lid. He looked at Yan Sea with extreme seriousness!

’Seriously, this was a special Cultivation Technique once practiced by a Grandmaster—an Eighth-Realm Grandmaster, no less. This was an incredibly rare opportunity.’

"Fine. You said it yourself. Don’t regret it!"

Yan Sea stared at Yu Fei expressionlessly, then said:

"I never inherited my master’s lineage of Cultivation Techniques. My master was the founder of the Calamity Sword lineage, but as for successors... there are currently none!"

When Yan Sea spoke of successors, his expression was exceptionally complex. Even with Yu Fei’s considerable life experience, he could only vaguely sense a hint of regret in that look; the rest was completely unreadable.

Yan Sea continued:

"The foundational technique of the Calamity Sword lineage must be completed during the Blood Pass. There are no other chances after that. I just mentioned this. When I became his disciple, I had already passed the Blood Pass, so it was not my fate to learn it.

What I am about to teach you is the introductory mnemonic of the Calamity Sword lineage. Although I personally hope very much that you can successfully begin and establish your foundation...

But... let’s leave it to fate. The Cultivation Techniques of the Calamity Sword lineage are extremely difficult. I’m not holding out any hope.

So if you choose to invest your energy in this introductory technique, you might end up with nothing to show for it. Moreover, there are risks when building your foundation! At that time..."

"Will I die?"

Yu Fei cut off Yan Sea’s description, asking calmly.

"It won’t come to that, but..."

"I’ll learn it!"