Chapter 103: Strength Earned Through the Future

The matter needed to be addressed, but no one had said it was acceptable for Zhou Yi and the others to behave so arrogantly—and yet, no one managed to intervene!

Zhou Yi furrowed his brow, roughly understanding the situation, then turned to his junior brother.

“There are some things I don’t quite know how to explain!” Wen Renying pondered for a moment, trying to organize his thoughts. After much deliberation, he still couldn’t find the right words. “Generally speaking, the Twelve Heavenly Stems, the Twelve Earthly Branches, the Thirty-Six Heavenly Talisman, and the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends of the sect are all selected from the retired elders and the sect leader.”

“So?” Zhou Yi looked at Wen Renying, hesitating to speak. If that was the case, and these selections were already candidates for the False Core stage—nearly confirmed False Core practitioners—how was it that none of them even knew about the False Core before?

Seeing Zhou Yi’s hesitance, Wen Renying smiled, a trace of helplessness crossing his face. “It’s said that the ancestor’s method for transmitting power has a particular caveat: if someone has the potential to reach the False Core, they must not know of its existence before achieving it. The moment they become aware, the power transmission must be immediately initiated; otherwise, this method becomes unusable.”

“So!” Hearing this, Zhou Yi was momentarily stunned, then quickly grasped the implication. Though he didn’t understand why the power transmission had such an odd requirement, according to his junior brother’s explanation, that meant…

At that thought, Zhou Yi seriously studied Wen Renying for the first time. His aura was remarkably concentrated, utterly concealed, and he exuded an ordinary, unassuming presence.

“Senior brother, you’re already at the False Core stage?” Zhou Yi’s eyes flashed with surprise as he looked at Wen Renying.

“That’s right. Thanks to you, I learned of the False Core’s existence and was summoned by the ancestor. Since then, I’ve reached a realm I previously only dared to dream of!” Wen Renying smiled, a complicated expression on his face, his heart filled with indescribable emotions.

“Senior brother!” Zhou Yi noticed the complexity in Wen Renying’s expression and hesitated. It seemed that achieving the False Core wasn’t an entirely joyous occasion.

“It’s nothing,” Wen Renying shook his head, noticing the guilt slowly appearing on the two younger men’s faces as if they had wronged him. He softly said, “It’s not your fault; it’s my own.”

“Ah…”

With a deep sigh, Wen Renying turned his gaze to the boundless sky, his eyes distant. “It’s just that when a dream suddenly turns into reality, I can’t help but feel as if it’s still just a dream.”

“And before, I dreamed of this for so many years, thinking it would never change, that it would always be a dream—a goal I could strive for endlessly. But…”

Wen Renying’s voice carried a profound confusion. “Now, I’m at the False Core stage, my dream has become reality, but I seem to have no idea what to do next.”

“Before, I could endlessly struggle for this intangible goal, even when the path was unclear. I accepted it willingly, perhaps because I had become accustomed to it.”

“Accustomed?” Zhou Yi murmured, observing Wen Renying’s confused figure. After a moment’s silence, he suddenly understood—it was not mere habit; he was lost.

“A matter of mindset?” Zhou Yi wondered. Such a massive increase in power without a corresponding mental adjustment was like a child wielding a powerful weapon—bewildered, hesitant, and weighed down.

“But it shouldn’t be like this!” Zhou Yi thought, puzzled. His junior brother’s strength had already reached the pinnacle of the Celestial Realm; the next step was the False Core. Although the power gap was huge, mentally, he shouldn’t be unable to handle it.

Zhou Yi looked back at Wen Renying’s confused silhouette, his expression increasingly puzzled. “But judging from senior brother’s state, it’s clearly a mental collapse.”

“If it were just the scattering caused by a sudden power boost, it shouldn’t be this severe—unless the increase was extraordinarily great.”

“No, if it were just power growth, it wouldn’t be to this extent. There must be other reasons!” Suddenly alert, Zhou Yi fixed his gaze and asked earnestly, “Senior brother, what is it that troubles you so deeply?”

“Ah…” Wen Renying sighed softly again, standing silent for a moment before slowly turning to face Zhou Yi. “Even when it was just a dream, I never felt as desperate as I do now.”

“Desperate?”

“Yes, desperate.” Wen Renying gave a bitter smile. “When the path ahead was unknown, I still had some confidence. But now, the path lies before me, and I’ve lost all faith. Isn’t that laughable?”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean, senior brother?” Zhou Yi frowned, a theory forming in his mind, though it remained unproven.

“What else could it be?”

“The False Core.”

“The False Core!” Hearing this, Zhou Yi remained unmoved inside. As he suspected, the only thing that could shake his senior brother so deeply was the False Core stage.

Recalling his own feelings when first hearing from the old monk about the vast power gap between False Core cultivators, he imagined his senior brother’s emotions must be the same.

The imagined goal pales in comparison to the real one.

In fact, the real goal is far more despairing than the imagined one.

What an overwhelming blow!

But unlike Wen Renying, Zhou Yi had confidence—he had a secret advantage, so he adjusted his mindset quickly.

Similarly, Song Hai did not linger in confusion for long before regaining himself, relying on his unparalleled talent.

Zhou Yi had his secret advantage; Song Hai had talent. Both had the confidence to face the colossal gap at the False Core stage—but what about Wen Renying?

He had nothing. Though his current strength surpassed Zhou Yi and the others, what did it matter?

“I wonder, senior brother, what is your current strength?” Zhou Yi inquired, looking at Wen Renying.

“The Thirty-Six Heavenly Talisman.”

“The second level of False Core!” Zhou Yi said gravely. He hadn’t expected his junior brother’s strength to have leapt directly to the second False Core level. According to earlier explanations, those who receive the power transmission use the acupoint infusion method.

“No wonder senior brother’s mindset collapsed. The power increase was too great! It’s no exaggeration to say he soared to the heavens in a single bound!” Zhou Yi suddenly understood and sympathized with his senior brother’s predicament.

On one hand, the strength increase was enormous; on the other, because he used the acupoint infusion method, although he bypassed the first False Core level to reach the second at once, the trade-off was the closure of his acupoints.

In other words, despite Wen Renying’s tremendous power boost, his future was fixed—he could no longer grow beyond this level.

Once the acupoints close, growth ceases, and naturally, so does the path to higher realms.

The road ahead exists, but he can only watch it from afar.

What kind of feeling is that? Zhou Yi didn’t know but could imagine—and perhaps his imagination paled in comparison to reality.

“Senior brother!” Zhou Yi couldn’t help but express his concern.

“It’s alright. I can bear it; it just means I can no longer advance. That’s all.” After some time to reflect, Wen Renying seemed to have come to terms with it. “In fact, this is a blessing for me.”

“Given my talent, if not for this method, I might never even touch the gate to the False Core, right?” Wen Renying looked at Zhou Yi’s worried expression and then at Song Hai, who, though puzzled, also looked concerned. He reassured them both.

“But senior brother!”

Zhou Yi was about to say more but was cut off by Wen Renying’s laughter.

“Ha ha!” Wen Renying laughed heartily, taking a jade slip from his bosom and handing it to both of them. “Don’t overthink it. This is something the ancestor entrusted me to deliver to you. Take it.”