From the very first glance he laid eyes on Chu Xiaolian, he had already locked onto this leek.

A fallen genius.

Just dumped from an engagement.

Humiliated by everyone.

And on top of that, he even had a damn old grandpa with him!

This was a textbook protagonist setup, a full-on chūnibyō novel main character!

Especially since this guy also happened to possess the fire-attribute spiritual root Li Hanguang needed.

His faith was something Li Hanguang was determined to obtain.

…Of course, Chu Xiaolian’s faith wasn’t easy to harvest.

For this kind of arrogant, flashy chūnibyō youth, treating him sincerely might only provoke rebellious feelings.

If you wanted him to worship and believe in you, the best way was to show off and spout flashy lines.

Li Hanguang had observed that throughout his entire conversation with Chu Xiaolian, the moments when faith increased the fastest were precisely when he was saying flashy lines.

And when it came to flashy lines, Li Hanguang had never conceded to anyone in this world!

What if I were the Heavenly Emperor? I would suppress and kill all enemies in the world!

At the end of the immortal path, who stands as the peak? One glimpse of Hanguang, and all Dao comes to nothing!

Who dares call themselves invincible? Who dares claim they never lose? In the era of Hanguang, all are unseen!

Even if I must shoulder the Abyss and support the Proud Sword Immortal Sect with my hands, I, Hanguang, would still be invincible in this world!

A king cannot be humiliated! Those who praise the true name of Hanguang shall glimpse eternal life within reincarnation!

If the situation had allowed, Li Hanguang would definitely have let Chu Xiaolian experience what it meant to be dominated by ultimate flashy lines.

In addition, Li Hanguang discovered something else.

That was that the old grandpa inside Chu Xiaolian also seemed to quite like flashy lines.

That was a Sword Saint!

What was a Sword Saint?

Someone who stood above even his own father, Vast Sea Sword Venerable!

The stronger a person was, the harder it usually was to obtain their Faith Value.

Because Faith Value wasn’t just goodwill, but also included a certain level of admiration, respect and a sense of inferiority.

Yet on their first meeting, Li Hanguang had already obtained 25 points of Faith Value from the Hao Ran Sword Saint.

Clearly, the only thing that could make the old grandpa admire him was flashy lines.

So far, the results of farming Faith Value looked pretty good!

‘Maybe I can use this as a breakthrough point and see if I can harvest this old leek!’

After all, he used to be the Taicang Holy Son, so he definitely had plenty of good stuff on him.

As long as he could get even one item, it would be an absolute blood profit!

* * *

Chu Xiaolian had no idea that in Li Hanguang’s eyes, he had already completely taken on the shape of a leek.

All he felt was fighting intent surging to the heavens in his heart!

Every word the senior brother spoke made his blood boil!

“Swallow a golden core into the belly, point the sword at Yaochi and cut down Yuehua! Mu Yuehua, wash clean at Yaochi and wait for me!”

Sitting cross-legged on the bed in the disciple dormitory, Chu Xiaolian’s eyes were filled with fighting spirit.

“I will definitely defeat you and prove that I’m qualified to follow Senior Brother! No! Not just follow Senior Brother, but stand shoulder to shoulder with him, even surpass him! This—this is my Dao!”

Suddenly!

A teasing voice sounded in Chu Xiaolian’s mind.

“You want to surpass him?” [TL: Will use all italics to show ghost speech.]

Chu Xiaolian was startled, only to see the ancient ring on his index finger emit a faint red immortal glow.

Within the hazy glow, a black-robed old man with white hair and beard appeared.

Chu Xiaolian stared at the old man warily.

“Who are you? How are you inside the ancient ring?”

The old man wore a faint smile.

“You may call me Old Yan. My identity isn’t important. What’s important is that I can give you power and make you an unparalleled sword immortal!”

“An unparalleled sword immortal? Like Zhu Yan Sword Venerable?”

“She counts as an unparalleled sword immortal? If you take me as your master, you’ll defeat her with a snap of your fingers within twenty years!”

‘Defeat Zhu Yan Sword Venerable within twenty years, with a snap of the fingers?’

The old man’s tone was so outrageous that even Chu Xiaolian found it hard to believe.

That was Zhu Yan Sword Venerable, ranked second among the five great elders of the Proud Sword Immortal Sect!

She already possessed top-tier talent in Taicang Prefecture and had cultivated bitterly for hundreds of years under famous masters to reach her current strength.

And this guy was saying he could surpass her in twenty years?

Wasn’t that a bit too much?

…After a moment of silence, Chu Xiaolian asked, “If I want to surpass the Proud Sword Immortal Sect’s senior brother Li Hanguang, how long would it take?”

The old man fell silent.

After a long while, he said calmly, “Perhaps a hundred years, perhaps a thousand years, or perhaps you’ll never surpass him in your lifetime.”

Chu Xiaolian was dumbfounded!

He dared say Zhu Yan Sword Venerable could be surpassed in twenty years.

Yet surpassing Li Hanguang might take thousands of years?

Or even be impossible in an entire lifetime?

Chu Xiaolian took a deep breath.

“Senior Brother’s aptitude is really that terrifying?”

According to rumors, he only had a top-grade water spiritual root.

His talent shouldn’t be much stronger than Chu’s!

Old Yan said calmly, “You have no idea how extraordinary he truly is. I can sense that the metal, wood, water and earth elemental energies around him are extremely abundant. This means he possesses at least four spiritual roots, each no lower than upper-grade, with several top-grade among them. More importantly, even I cannot fully see through his cultivation! Not only is his talent peerless, he also has a great treasure protecting him.”

‘What?!’

Chu Xiaolian was shaken to the core.

Four spiritual roots, each no lower than upper-grade, with several top-grade?

“He… isn’t he a top-grade water spiritual root?”

Old Yan smiled.

“Innate spiritual roots don’t represent everything. The five regions and eight wildernesses are filled with countless rare treasures. If one obtains supreme divine medicines, one can be reborn and gain new spiritual roots.”

Chu Xiaolian asked curiously, “Has he taken such divine medicines?”

Old Yan nodded, then shook his head.

“Don’t think such medicines are easy to obtain. Even a force on the level of the Proud Sword Immortal Sect can only rely on luck to find them. And consuming such divine medicines is incomparably painful and dangerous, like flaying skin, pulling tendons, smashing bones and draining marrow—it makes one wish for death. Even if one endures the pain with supreme willpower, success is not guaranteed, and the probability of exploding and dying is extremely high.”

Chu Xiaolian murmured in a daze, “Flaying skin, pulling tendons, smashing bones and draining marrow?”

No further description was needed.

Those words alone were enough to chill one’s spine.

At this moment, Chu Xiaolian would rather believe that Li Hanguang was born with four spiritual roots.

Otherwise, enduring such pain once might still be called youthful fearlessness.

Enduring it three times in a row was simply terrifying.

Old Yan sighed.

“Now do you understand how extraordinary he is? Without peerless willpower, how could one endure ultimate pain again and again? Without peerless fearlessness, how could one face the terror of death time and time again? Without peerless fortune, how could one successfully transform spiritual roots again and again? All three are indispensable!”

Chu Xiaolian muttered to himself, “Senior Brother… he’s actually such a heroic figure? How ridiculous that I almost suspected he was just bragging!”

Old Yan nodded seriously.

“Everyone has underestimated him. Even within supreme holy lands, someone like this would be nurtured as a core prodigy. This kid may have the bearing of a Great Sage!”

‘The bearing of a Great Sage?’

Hearing Yan Chixiao’s evaluation of Li Hanguang, Chu Xiaolian remained dazed for a long time.

If Li Hanguang were present at this moment, he would clearly see that this guy’s Faith Value was skyrocketing at a visible rate.

In just a short span of time, it directly broke past one hundred!