"One eighty times faster...then doesn’t it mean," Yi Chen’s eyes widened at the realisation, making his chest heave heavily as a smile mixed with disbelief, relief, and excitement crept onto his face.

’Four days...’ he thought, his eyes glimmering with hope and excitement.

In the two years that he had spent trapped inside this realm...not more than four days had passed in the outside world.

"The tournament...I don’t need to wait for 25 years anymore!" he exclaimed while tightly clenching his fists.

’Wait...’ He frowned all of a sudden and opened his status panel the very next instant.

=== Godly Cultivator System ===

Name: Yi Chen

Age: 18 years

Strength: 370 (+30!)

Spiritual Sea: 98.67 (+50!) [Recovery: 8 hrs of Sleep]

Qi Pool: 448 / 730 (+318!) [Recovery: 39 days]

Cultivation: Ninth Level of [Meridian Refinement Stage]

Qi Nature: Fire, Dark

Innate Ability: Eye of Truth Lv2 (Active) [Progress: 0 / 1,000,000,000 EXP]

EXP: 1,530,000 -> 165,000

============================

This time, instead of skimming directly toward the important sections, his gaze locked onto the second row, and there it was.

Something he had failed to notice in all these years.

[Age: 18 years]

"Hahaha...."

The moment he noticed it, he started laughing out loud. His loud laughter resonated through the air, mingling with the clashing of the waves.

Not caring about anything else, he kept laughing. Longer than he had ever done in his life.

At first, a feeling of regret welled up inside him for not noticing the truth all this time. It had always been right under his nose, but still, he failed to notice it.

The laughter was his way of mocking himself for worrying about everything so much in all these years, when if he had paid enough attention, there wouldn’t have been any need for him to worry at all.

However, this laughter grew quieter over time, soon turning into short chuckles, not from laughter but from gratitude.

’Does it even matter now...I’m just glad to hear this news now,’ he thought to himself as he considered all the possibilities this completely new situation presented to him.

In just four days’ time, he had jumped all the way from the Fifth Meridian Refinement Stage to the Ninth Meridian Refinement Stage. Not only that, but he had also mastered a Spirit Guiding Technique, gained enlightenment in his swordsmanship, created an original technique, and a lot more!

So, from another perspective, just being able to enter this realm was in itself one of the greatest rewards he could have ever asked for.

"Even if I were to leave now with no other reward...I would be satisfied," he muttered with a smile as his breathing calmed down.

Suddenly remembering something, he immediately exclaimed while turning around, "Yes! I can’t wait to see Madam Gao’s reaction when I share this news with her!"

The very next instant, without wasting another second, he circulated his Qi and, utilising the Bursting Fire Steps, rushed straight towards the campsite.

Meanwhile, at the campsite.

Gao Zhen was currently sitting cross-legged in front of the black tablet with tightly knitted brows.

The intense creases on her forehead made it clear that she was trying hard to focus.

However, she was unable to do so.

Whenever she tried to realign her focus on Qi Absorption Art, her mind would find a way to meander back to Yi Chen.

’Just where did he go...’

She thought, tightly knitting her brows. Fed up after thinking over the same question again and again.

He had never done something like this before. It was all the more reason for her to worry.

Whenever he went out for any reason, he would make it a practice to inform her before leaving, whether for a few hours or a few days.

Therefore, this sudden disappearance caught her off guard, filling her mind with uncertainties.

She slowly opened her eyes, worry apparent in her gaze as she thought to herself, ’He isn’t in any trouble, right?’

The moment that thought entered her mind, she shook it away and muttered to herself, "I’m just overthinking at this point...with his strength, just how could he be in trouble?"

A confident smile formed on her face as she finally gave her thoughts a rest and got back to her usual session.

Three hours later.

With no signs of his return, Gao Zhen finally couldn’t keep practising by herself anymore and forced her eyes open.

The confident glint was no longer there in her eyes as she stood up the next moment, a worried expression plastered on her face.

"I think I should start looking for him..."

She muttered, worry growing within her.

Stopping her training session midway, she began venturing in the direction in which his footsteps had left earlier the next instant.

However, not even three breaths had passed when she saw a familiar figure rushing towards the campsite from afar.

"He’s finally here..."

Gao Zhen muttered softly as a wave of relief swept over her. However, what followed soon after was a whirlwind of anger when she was able to make out an excited grin on his face from afar.

His expression made it clear that the reason he had suddenly left wasn’t something urgent or dangerous.

That was the cause of her anger as she thought while tightly clenching her fists, ’H-he could have at least informed me before leaving...’

A desire to give him an earful started welling up within her and reached its brim by the time Yi Chen slowed down and was just a few meters away from her.

Seeing the irritating grin still plastered on his face finally flipped the switch in her as she unleashed the fury that had been brewing inside her all this time.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORR-"

"Madam Gao!"

However, before Gao Zhen could even let out a fraction of her pent-up frustration, Yi Chen’s figure rushed past the point she had thought he was going to stop and tightly grabbed onto her shoulders.

This unexpected action made her immediately swallow all the words she was about to lash out as a befuddled expression formed on her face.

"Madam Gao!" Yi Chen once again exclaimed while tightening his grip on her shoulders, seeing that she seemed to be lost in her thoughts.

"Y-Yes...What is it?" she responded mechanically, her thoughts unable to make sense of anything.

"The tournament...No! I mean the Heir Selection! There’s still hope for you!" he exclaimed with a bright expression.