Wolf One’s voice was cold; not receiving replies from Whale Eight gave him a bad feeling.

　　At this moment, Whale Eight was unable to move or speak due to Venerable White’s technique…

　　“Whale Eight, reply to me! Stop fooling around, we don’t have much time left! Kill the girl if you can’t catch her. We can’t let her escape!” Wolf One said in a grave tone—he knew that Whale Eight had the strange fetish of hugging cute girls to death. Therefore, he was afraid that he would mess up things while enjoying himself.

　　But just as before, Whale Eight didn’t reply…

　　“Dammit! Whale Eight, if you mess this mission up, I’ll find you and give you a beating you won’t forget for the rest of your life!” Wolf One howled as he hung up.

　　Next, he tried to contact Shark Nine. “Shark Nine, reply to me. Are you with Whale Eight right now? What is he doing?”

　　Shark Nine’s state was even worse than Whale Eight’s, and even breathing was a challenge for him. Let alone speaking, he didn’t even have the strength to groan in pain.

　　After seeing that Shark Nine wasn’t replying either, Wolf One called out in exasperation, “Dammit! What are you two doing?! Wait for me, I’m heading toward your position!”

　　Wolf One could determine their approximate position through the communication device in their ears.

　　Don’t come! You’re walking into a trap! Whale Eight roared inside his heart, but unfortunately for him, he couldn’t say it out loud… and Wolf One had already hung up in anger.

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　After hanging up, Wolf One became very calm, and all his anger vanished.

　　He lightly tapped on the communication device beside his ear and contacted the other members of the organization. “Bull Two, Ape Four, call for Hawk Six and our other brothers… Whale Eight and Shark Nine had an accident. Something unexpected happened while they were carrying out the mission. For the time being, we should head toward the position of Whale Eight’s communication device and see if there is a chance to save them. Let’s hope that they’re still alive.”

　　“And you, Fox Ten! For how long are you planning to stay at the bottom of the sea?! Get the hell out of there!” Wolf One bellowed.

　　“Gurgle~ I’m… gurgle~ coming…” the handsome Fox Ten said with great difficulty. From the looks of it, he seemed to still be at the bottom of the sea, but how could he talk while under the water…?

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　Whale Eight’s face became pale. Given Wolf One’s disposition, he would call for the other members of the organization and come here together to look for him and Shark Nine.

　　In normal circumstances, he would be happy if Wolf One and the others were to come here to save him… but it was different this time. The strength of that cultivator in white clothes was too great. Even a respected cultivator of the Second Stage like him was nothing more than an ant compared to that man.

　　Although he was much stronger than him, Wolf One was still a cultivator of the Second Stage. Whale Eight believed that even a hundred Wolf Ones wouldn’t be able to defeat that cultivator in white clothes.

　　If they were to come here, the other members would only walk toward their deaths…

　　Right at this time, a calm voice echoed in Whale Eight’s ears, “Hehe, so your name is Whale Eight. What an interesting name, it’s pronunciation is the same as pekingese.” ¹

　　After turning his head around with great difficulty, Whale Eight saw the person he was the most unwilling to see—that cultivator decked in white clothes was calmly squatting beside him, his face wearing a mysterious smile capable of bewitching every living thing.

　　Whale Eight’s expression turned bitter… did this man hear the conversation between him and Wolf One?

　　Immediately after, he saw the cultivator in white clothes stretch his finger and tap on his shoulder. In the next instant, he felt a burst of spiritual energy enter inside him and spread to all the corners of his body…

　　Venerable White took his finger back and asked with a smile, “As expected… Whale Eight and Shark Nine, eh? If I’m not mistaken, the other members of your organization should also have code names such as: Wolf, Bull, Dog, Ape, Deer, Hawk, Snake, and so on… for a total of thirty-three different animal-based code names, right?”

　　Although Whale Eight couldn’t speak due to the technique immobilizing his body, the terrified look in his eyes was enough to answer Venerable White’s question.

　　“It seems I guessed correctly. These thirty-three animals should stand for the thirty-three animals of the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Technique❯.” Venerable White adjusted his squatting pose and flicked his finger toward Whale Eight.

　　The technique binding his body was half-undone, allowing him to speak again.

　　“When I saw you, I felt that the technique you were practicing was rather interesting,” Venerable White continued. “Amongst the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Technique❯, what you’re practicing should be the ‘Huge Whale’s Technique’, right?”

　　Whale Eight smiled bitterly. This cultivator knew even the secret technique of his organization, he couldn’t hide anything from him.

　　“I didn’t expect that the illustrious ‘Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Sect’ would decline until becoming a third-rate organization. It’s still fine though… I’ve always been interested in the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Technique❯ of your sect, but I’ve never had the opportunity to come in contact with you guys in the past. But this time, you actually came to my door on your own. My luck isn’t bad, hehe…” Venerable White laughed lightly.

　　Indeed, his luck was pretty good~

　　Song Shuhang also came over. He had just finished meditating when he decided to take a look at the two prisoners. But just when he got there, he saw Venerable White squatting down beside the prisoners and chatting with them.

　　Song Shuhang arrived beside Venerable White and squatted down as well, asking, “Senior White, what is this ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Technique❯? Is this technique very powerful?”

　　He heard Venerable White mention this technique while coming over.

　　“Rather than powerful, it is very interesting, especially the first two volumes regarding the First and Second Stage Realm. This technique can allow a cultivator to develop a ‘pseudo’ innate true qi while still in the First and Second Stage. I’m not sure how this technique was developed, but it allowed the disciples of their sect to get an incredible advantage while still in the First and Second Stage Realm,” Venerable White explained.

　　Somewhat confused, Song Shuhang asked, “Pseudo innate true qi? Does it have some relationship with the Fourth Stage ‘Innate’ Realm?”

　　“Yes, there is a close relationship between the two.” Venerable White nodded. Then, his eyes suddenly lit up and he looked at Song Shuhang, asking, “Shuhang, if I’m not mistaken, you started cultivating just recently, right?”

　　Song Shuhang silently nodded.

　　“Then, I’ll use your case as an analogy. You already missed the best time to cultivate and build your foundation which happens to be between four and eight years old. The wisp of innate true qi you inherited from your mother’s body had already disappeared when you completed your foundation, and from now, you’ll advance with more difficulty compared to those disciples from sects,” Venerable White said.

　　“Eh? The innate true qi inherited from my mother’s body? And without it, cultivating will be more difficult? There is really such a thing?” Song Shuhang scratched his head in puzzlement.

　　…None of the seniors in the Nine Provinces Number One Group told him about it.

　　“No one in the group told you about it?” Venerable White pondered for a moment and smiled, saying, “Perhaps they felt that it would negatively influence your will to cultivate if they were to tell you. But given your willpower, I feel that there would be no problem.”

　　Song Shuhang nodded. Since he decided to become a cultivator, he had been prepared to die. How could mere hardships stop him?

　　Venerable White kept explaining, “Nowadays, cultivators believe that the optimal age to establish your foundation is between four and five years old. During this period of time, the child would still have that wisp of innate true qi acquired in the mother’s womb. If the child reaches the Foundation Establishment Realm within this period, they will be able to store that wisp of innate true qi inside their Heart Aperture, building a solid foundation for their future path of cultivation. If you have this wisp of innate true qi and the necessary techniques and resources, you won’t meet any bottlenecks before the Third Stage Realm.

　　After the age of five, and every year after that, the wisp of innate true qi inherited from the mother’s body would keep getting thinner and thinner… until completely disappearing when the child reaches the age of eight.

　　If you miss this opportunity, you won’t get it anymore. The thinner the wisp of innate true qi, the bigger the number of hardships you would encounter from the First Stage Foundation Establishment Realm to the Third Stage. The time and the resources you would need to advance in realm would become higher and higher, to the point where they would increase by 50% compared to someone that had completed their foundation establishment below the age of eight.”

　　If you didn’t have this wisp of innate true qi, you were like a game character starting with a handicap; you would grow at a slower pace than others.

　　Song Shuhang scratched his head. “There was unexpectedly such a thing! In other words, I lost that wisp of innate true qi more than ten years ago.”

　　It was precisely for this reason that he didn’t feel the presence of innate true qi when completing his foundation establishment.

　　“However… the speed I’m advancing at shouldn’t be too bad, right?” Song Shuhang asked. He officially started cultivating around two months ago, and now, he had already reached the last step of the First Stage from opening his Heart Aperture. It happened in a rather short amount of time.

　　“That’s only because your luck isn’t bad,” Venerable White said with a smile.

　　“It was all thanks to you, Senior,” Song Shuhang replied subconsciously. In this time he had stayed together with Senior White, he had freeloaded a lot of his luck.

　　Venerable White laughed and continued, “Therefore, the first two volumes of the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Technique❯ are very suitable for you. Even if the ‘pseudo’ innate true qi might not be as good as the wisp of innate true qi inherited from the mother’s body, it should still allow you to increase your cultivation speed by more than 30% before you reach the Third Stage Realm.”

　　Song Shuhang’s eyes immediately lit up, becoming 200W light bulbs. The ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Technique❯ seemed quite good!

　　“Impossible!” Whale Eight said at this time. “The ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Technique❯ we practice can’t produce innate true qi. Those are only baseless rumors spread by outsiders!”

　　Venerable White asked, “You didn’t condense the pseudo innate true qi?”

　　Whale Eight shook his head. Let alone he, none of the members of the organization condensed that pseudo innate true qi or whatever its name was!

　　Venerable White stared at him for a while and said, “I didn’t think that the heritage of the Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Sect would turn out to be this lacking.”

　　After pointing with his finger at Whale Eight and making him faint, he replied, “Since it goes by the name of ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Technique❯, it’s either formed by thirty-three different types of techniques or external objects such as magical treasures!”

　　Too bad that Whale Eight had already fainted and couldn’t hear him…

　　“Also, what happened to the Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Sect? How can their heritage be this lacking…? Even their signature technique was passed down in an incomplete state,” Venerable White muttered.

　　“In that case, we can’t get our hands on the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Technique❯?” Song Shuhang asked.

　　“Don’t worry. We’ll have a better understanding of the situation after I catch their companions. Even if their inheritance is incomplete, as long as the parts regarding the First and Second Stage are intact, it’s not a problem. After all, you only need this technique to develop that ‘pseudo’ innate true qi. As for me, I want to take a look at it and see if I can get some inspiration to perfect my own cultivation technique,” Venerable White said.

　　His own cultivation technique…? Does it mean that Venerable White didn’t receive his technique from his ancestors, but he created it from scratch?

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　Around an hour later.

　　A guest suddenly arrived on the lone island.

　　However, it wasn’t Wolf One or the other members of the Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Sect.

　　Under the scorching sun, a man wearing a cowboy hat, a sleeveless white undershirt, and jean shorts was pulling along a heavy handcart, dashing about madly on the surface of the sea.

　　His muscles were like marble, and sweat was dripping from his bronze colored skin…

　　Although the sea was agitated and ten meters tall waves would appear from time to time, this man wearing a cowboy hat was rushing forward and breaking through the waves like it was nothing, directly heading toward the lone island.

　　After the man got a bit closer, Song Shuhang saw that there were two flag-shaped objects on the heavy handcart he was pulling along.

　　The flag on the left had the following words inscribed on it: “Copper or iron trigrams, in the time it takes to say a word, I’ve already predicted a billion things!”

　　While the ones on the right flag were: “Divination after divination, I’ve become the Great Immortal Master of myriad divinatory trigrams!”

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　“Senior White, someone is coming,” Song Shuhang said.

　　“Don’t worry, it’s a person from our side,” Venerable White said with a smile.

　　Someone from our side?

　　The man wearing a cowboy hat stepped on the island and took off his hat, waving at Song Shuhang. “Hello, little friend Shuhang!”

　　Song Shuhang looked at the man before his eyes in puzzlement. Do I know this guy?

　　“You didn’t recognize me, huh?” The man grinned and pointed toward the flags on the handcart. “Look at those. Can you guess my identity now?”

　　“Copper or iron trigrams… divination after divination… Great Immortal Master… wait! You’re Senior Immortal Master Copper Trigram…?” Song Shuhang had an epiphany. He recalled the second-in-command of the Death Seeker Army (below only Thrice Reckless Mad Saber), Immortal Master Copper Trigram!

　　“Ahaha, it is precisely me.” Immortal Master Copper Trigram laughed heartily.

　　“Senior Copper Trigram, what are you doing here?” Song Shuhang asked in puzzlement—moreover, Immortal Master Copper Trigram’s appearance was completely different from what he had imagined.

　　Although Copper Trigram was known as a shady fortune teller, Song Shuhang thought that he would still look like one.

　　But this man wearing a cowboy hat standing before his eyes resembled a stocky field worker and was nothing like a fortune teller.

　　Immortal Master Copper Trigram laughed and turned around. Afterward, he grabbed a medicinal paste from the handcart and handed it over to Song Shuhang. “Fellow daoist Medicine Master told me to give you this medicinal paste while I was at it. Here, take it.”