Longevity by Grinding Skills

Chapter 476: Chapter 476: Sometimes, You Have to Pretend

After a brief hesitation, he brought up several critical points he had encountered while comprehending the *Grotto Heaven Grafting Technique*. He specifically asked about how to precisely anchor a "Root Lock" to the core of a Small Thousand World, a method for buffering the clash between one’s Dao Foundation and the World Heaven’s Root Qi during the grafting process, and, most crucially, how to stabilize the Grotto Heaven Embryo after a successful graft to avoid backlash.

He posed each question respectfully, with the cautious and eager attitude of a dedicated student. Every point he raised touched upon a critical and perilous aspect of the Grafting Skill, yet he framed them as the natural doubts of a novice.

This was enough to paint a picture of someone who was diligently studying the Cultivation True Method, but whose comprehension was a bit slow, forcing him to rely on hard work.

Thanks to his Attribute Panel, he already had a perfect understanding of how to begin cultivating the *Grotto Heaven Grafting Technique* and was clear on many of its intricacies.

’But sometimes, you have to put on an act to get ahead.’

Daoist Master Hundred Peaks nodded frequently as he listened, understanding that Xu Yunfan had been studying the technique seriously. It just seemed his aptitude was somewhat lacking.

A thought crossed his mind as he began to patiently answer each question.

He eloquently explained the core tenets of the Grafting Skill and the methods for mitigating its risks, his words filled with the warmth of harmony between fellow Sect members.

If this scene were to take place in any other sect, a passing cultivator would surely praise the Immortal Dao Sect for its loving and harmonious atmosphere, a sign of its virtuous character.

But within the Primordial Sect, it looked bizarre from any angle.

Such a relationship would be understandable between a master and a disciple, but between fellow Sect members? That was a different story entirely.

After finishing his explanation, he looked at Xu Yunfan’s seemingly enlightened expression, stroked his beard, and smiled. "Junior Brother, your ability to raise these questions proves you have been applying yourself."

"Although your aptitude... compared to those of astonishing talent, can only be considered average, your value lies in your diligence, steadfastness, and resilient temperament. That is a particularly rare quality."

"At your current pace, with more time dedicated to arduous cultivation and contemplation, you should have no problem achieving a preliminary mastery of this technique. If you encounter anything else you don’t understand, feel free to send me a message at any time."

This evaluation of "average aptitude but hardworking" secretly reassured Xu Yunfan. He put on a somewhat speechless expression and could only cup his hands in a salute again. "Thank you, Senior Brother, for dispelling my confusion! I... will certainly redouble my efforts and live up to the True Monarch’s high expectations!"

Daoist Master Hundred Peaks offered him a few more words of encouragement, inquired about the recent situation at Cold Crow Pass, and then gracefully departed.

The immense, mountain-like Spiritual Pressure vanished, and things in Cold Crow Pass returned to normal.

Some of the Loose Cultivators in the marketplace visibly relaxed, assuming it had just been a patrolling Foundation Establishment Daoist Master from the Primordial Sect. After all, Foundation Establishment Daoist Masters had come before during tribute collections.

"Great Daoist Master, Chu Chengnan of Hundred Peaks Mount..."

In a marketplace on the very outskirts of Cold Crow Pass, at an inconspicuous street corner, a middle-aged man in coarse linen robes sat cross-legged on a bluestone slab.

A yellowed oilcloth was spread out before him, on which were scattered a few rust-spotted ancient coins, several pieces of dull-colored jade, and a couple of old books with curled corners.

These items looked exceptionally shabby in the bustling marketplace, and passersby didn’t deign to give them so much as a sideways glance.

The few glances that did come his way were filled with disdain.

’This guy is definitely here to rip someone off.’

’The Primordial Sect disciples have already run that old trick into the ground.’

As the figure of Daoist Master Hundred Peaks vanished on the horizon, the man slowly lifted his lowered gaze.

His weather-beaten face showed no trace of anything unusual; even the subtlest muscles held the characteristic numbness and weariness of a common street vendor.

Only his eyes, hidden deep within the wrinkles of his face, betrayed an unusual flash of clarity the moment he looked up.

It was like a ray of moonlight suddenly piercing through a murky pond.

If a cultivator who practiced a Divine Thought Secret Technique like Telepathy had been present, they would have been stunned by the strangeness of his eyes.

Deep within his seemingly murky pupils lay a bottomless wellspring of compassion.

This was not some superficial pity, but a profound peace, bordering on Dao Rhyme, that had settled within him after enduring countless tribulations.

Even more bizarrely, this transcendent Mental Realm was so perfectly sealed beneath his commoner’s aura that not even the sweep of a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master’s Divine Sense could detect the slightest trace of it.

The man’s rough fingers unconsciously caressed one of the copper coins, the pads tracing the faint inscription: "Taiping Tongbao."

It was a Magic Coin issued a hundred thousand years ago by a Daoist Court that had been completely annihilated overnight.

Now, this Magic Money had become quite the rarity.

He gazed in the direction Daoist Master Hundred Peaks had gone, and a very faint smile touched his lips.

The smile contained no mockery or cunning. Instead, it was like that of an old farmer watching an ant colony relocate before a storm—a look of knowing and quiet lament.

After seeing off Daoist Master Hundred Peaks, Xu Yunfan returned to his Quiet Chamber and sat down cross-legged.

The last trace of his respectful smile vanished completely, replaced by an expression of pure disdain.

’Average aptitude?’

He silently repeated those two words in his mind, the corner of his mouth twisting into a sneer.

Before, he might have accepted the "average aptitude" label. But now, with his incarnation to back him up—an incarnation whose talent was astonishingly brilliant and whose aptitude was superhuman—it was a different matter.

And his incarnation’s gifts were his own.

From the words and explanations of Daoist Master Hundred Peaks, he could clearly feel the will of True Monarch Qing Yuan working in the background.

The man was pressuring him!

Pressuring him to quickly use that deadly, trap-laden Grafting Skill to bind himself to the Divine Martial Realm.

He could practically imagine the outcome: the day his Grotto Heaven Embryo took shape would be the day his Divine Soul and Dao Foundation fell completely into True Monarch Qing Yuan’s hands, turning him into premium fertilizer for nurturing the "Dao Fruit Divine Tree" that was the Divine Martial Realm.

’A Golden Core True Monarch... with a single thought, they can perceive the life and death of all creation... As long as I’m inside the Divine Martial Realm, I’m shielded by the barrier of the Celestial Dao. But the moment I use the Grafting Skill to anchor my Origin, I’ll be voluntarily stripping away all my protection! Time... is running out!’

The thought struck him like a clap of thunder, scattering any lingering hesitation.

Xu Yunfan took a deep breath, suppressed his turbulent emotions, and his eyes became as placid and still as the water in an ancient well.

In the days that followed, the focus of Xu Yunfan’s cultivation shifted.

Aside from circulating his Magical Power with the *True Martial Demon Suppressing Scripture* to solidify his Dao Foundation, he poured the vast majority of his energy into comprehending and practicing the basics of the *Grotto Heaven Grafting Technique*, while also frantically increasing his Skill Level in the *Profound Capital Eight Sceneries Celestial Refining Creation Cloud Scripture*.

Without his Attribute Panel, the *Profound Capital Eight Sceneries Celestial Refining Creation Cloud Scripture* would have been an absolutely massive trap.

He now understood why Li Baichuan, despite possessing a Supreme Technique, had shown no intention of ever cultivating it.

But whoever had released this technique, for all their scheming, could never have predicted that he possessed an Attribute Panel. It allowed him to forcibly control the Cloud Scripture Incarnation, effectively filling in that massive trap.

The details of the *Grotto Heaven Grafting Technique* flowed through his mind.

The core of this grafting Divine Technique lay in constructing a "Spirit-Void Bridge" from a complex web of talismans and Dao Principles. One end of this bridge had to be anchored to the core of the practitioner’s own Dao Foundation, while the other end had to delve deep into the Origin of a Small Thousand World, forcibly siphoning its "Root Origin Qi" like a tree root drawing nutrients from the soil.

The cultivation process was exceptionally perilous. It required one to combine their Divine Thought with specific incantation seals to forge a "chain" capable of deceiving the will of a world.

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