“Uncle, are you alright?”

In the small pavilion, Jun Changxiao asked weakly.

He felt very guilty inside, because the quest had resulted in the Hidden Qi Pill formula being stolen, implicating Uncle Gu in domestic violence.

“I’m fine.”

Although Gu Tianxing was currently covered in bumps, his eyes narrowed to slits, that aura of a transcendent expert still remained as he said, “Used to it.”

How desolate, how sorrowful.

Jun Changxiao thought darkly, “I’ll find a chance to secretly return the formula.”

The Hidden Qi Pill had already been automatically matched to the Pill Pavilion, but of course the formula had to be returned to Uncle Gu, otherwise how could he hold his head up at home in the future?

“Sigh.”

Gu Tianxing shook his head and said, “Recently, whenever something goes missing, it’s blamed on me. Why am I so unlucky?”

“What’s missing?” Jun Changxiao asked.

“Things like the Heaven-Crossing Palm Seal, the Radiant Heart Sutra, the Thousand Illusion Shadow Art—all these martial arts secret manuals are gone.”

As Gu Tianxing spoke, tears actually flowed down.

That’s right.

He did like trading martial arts for alcohol, but those were all unimportant ones, or ones obtained from others. He treated high-level martial arts as family heirlooms—how could he be foolish enough to trade them away?

“Uncle’s martial techniques sound very powerful.”

Jun Changxiao took a sip of tea, appearing stable on the surface but exclaiming inwardly, “The Heaven-Crossing Palm Seal and Thousand Illusion Shadow Art were stolen from Uncle?!”

“Isn’t this too much of a coincidence?” the System said.

It was precisely this much of a coincidence.

Several of the main martial techniques currently practiced by the Eternal Sect were all stolen from Gu Tianguo’s pot. This was truly fleecing one specific sheep. Look what they’d done to the poor man.

“Crack!”

Gu Tianxing clenched his fist and said furiously, “If I catch that thieving bastard, I’ll tear him limb from limb, flay his skin and draw his tendons!”

“Gulp.”

Jun Changxiao swallowed, cold sweat running down his spine.

“Sect Leader Jun?”

Gu Tianxing said, “What’s wrong?”

“Uh…” Jun Changxiao set down his teacup and said, “My stomach suddenly feels uncomfortable. This junior will take his leave first.”

With that, he stood to leave.

“Stop!”

Just then, Gu Tianxing suddenly called out.

Jun Changxiao’s scalp instantly exploded, his heartbeat accelerated, but he forcibly maintained his composure and said, “Uncle, what is it?”

“Clap!”

Gu Tianxing walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, “I heard from Gou Wa about what happened yesterday. If Sect Leader Jun hadn’t arrived in time, something might have gone wrong. So Gu is very grateful.”

Jun Changxiao nearly cried.

Uncle!

If you’re going to thank me, just thank me—why be so serious? Don’t you know you nearly made my heart jump out of my throat?

“Go ahead.”

Gu Tianxing waved his hand.

Jun Changxiao hastily fled. Only after reaching the warship did he let out a long breath and think darkly, “That scared me to death!”

“The items weren’t even stolen by the host. Why act so guilty?”

“You still have the nerve to say anything!”

…

Case solved.

The Heaven-Crossing Palm Seal, Radiant Heart Sutra, and Thousand Illusion Shadow Art—three commonly practiced martial techniques, all stolen from Gu Tianxing.

This behavior of repeatedly fleecing the same sheep—even Jun Changxiao himself couldn’t stand it. He spent several full hours cursing the System until his mouth was dry.

“Sigh.”

Li Qingyang and the others shook their heads.

The sect leader’s behavior of cursing at empty air was really quite baffling.

“Fine, fine!”

The System said, “I’m wrong, I’m wrong!”

“It was your fault to begin with!” Jun Changxiao roared, “It has nothing to do with me!”

Completing the Upper Realm Epic Quest One rewarded the Radiant Heart Sutra and Heaven-Crossing Palm Seal.

Completing the side quest rewarded the Thousand Illusion Shadow Art.

Even the pill formula he’d just obtained was from a side quest.

Looking at all four, not a single one was something Jun Changxiao had actively purchased with contribution or prestige points, so technically speaking, he was indeed innocent.

What?

Should he not do quests when they came?

Theft was definitely theft—there was no denying that.

But it wasn’t Jun Changxiao who deliberately stole them. It was all the System’s fault.

“Absolutely cannot let Uncle Gu know that our Eternal Sect practices these martial techniques, or something big will happen!”

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

Suddenly, sounds of combat came.

Jun Changxiao looked back and saw Ye Xingchen and He Wudi flying and fighting fiercely in the sky above the wilderness.

“Fighting again?”

“Junior Brother Ye really enjoys this.”

The disciples discussed.

Because He Wudi had previously displayed great dominance, Ye Xingchen was deeply affected and frequently initiated challenges.

Of course.

Not to determine superiority, but for sparring and mutual verification.

Martial dao grew through constant exchange with the strong.

“Sect Leader Jun.”

Gu Tianxing flew over from the distance, looked at the two fighting in mid-air, and nodded in praise, “Your disciples are all excellent prospects.”

This wasn’t deliberate flattery but honest assessment.

Actually, both Ye Xingchen and He Wudi had very good aptitude and talent. Even looking across the entire Upper Layer Universe, they were outstanding.

“They’re far inferior to your son.” Jun Changxiao said modestly.

“Not so, not so.”

Gu Tianxing said, “Gou Wa has been nurtured by various heavenly treasures since childhood, which gave him his current aptitude. Your disciples didn’t have such good foundations yet achieved their current accomplishments—truly rare and commendable.”

“Uncle is too kind.”

“Sect Leader Jun.”

Gu Tianxing asked, “Have you heard of the Universal Holy War?”

“Universal Holy War?”

Jun Changxiao shook his head and said, “Never heard of it.”

“This is the Upper Layer Universe’s most prestigious martial dao competition, held once every thousand years. At that time, top geniuses from all major planes will gather together to compete for the title of Universe’s Number One Genius.” Gu Tianxing said.

“…”

Jun Changxiao muttered, “Isn’t that just the universe version of Dragon-Tiger Supremacy?”

Gou Sheng didn’t value this kind of competition between geniuses much, because his identity was sect leader, not a rising superstar who needed to prove himself through strength.

If it were a sect-related competition, that would be worth serious consideration.

“Your disciples have good cultivation and aptitude.” Gu Tianxing said, “They could completely participate in the upcoming Universal Holy War. Perhaps they’ll achieve good results and bring glory to our Azure Sea System.”

“Listening to Uncle’s meaning.”

Jun Changxiao said, “Each star system will send geniuses to compete?”

“Correct.”

Gu Tianxing recalled briefly and said, “Take the previous Universal Holy War—all star systems in the Upper Layer Universe sent geniuses to compete, with numbers reaching a million.”

“A million?”

Jun Changxiao’s eyes widened.

That number was terrifying!

“Every star system has countless planes. Just sending a few people each can form a massive scale.” Gu Tianxing said, “I heard that in the first Universal Holy War, participating geniuses nearly broke ten million.”

“…”

Jun Changxiao felt a bit dizzy.

The number of geniuses was simply more numerous than the sands of the Ganges River!

“Look here.”

Gu Tianxing said, “I plan to have my son participate in the Universal Holy War. I don’t expect great results, but at least he can gain experience. If by chance he makes it into the top one hundred, he can receive Universe Source enhancement, which will help with breaking through to the Heavenly Secret Realm later.”

“Universe Source?”

Jun Changxiao was shocked again.

Plane Source was the energy source of an entire plane. Wouldn’t Universe Source be the energy source of the entire universe?

“Heaven-Crossing Palm Seal!”

Just at that moment, Ye Xingchen and He Wudi reached an exciting point in their fight. Both deployed their martial techniques, and countless palm prints gathered in the sky, forming an extremely spectacular scene.

Jun Changxiao, who had been considering Universe Source, heard this and his hair stood on end from his scalp, howling inwardly, “It’s over!”

—