Long Chen was incredibly excited, and he hastily said, “Big Brother Liu, come over here. Let me examine your body.”

“Ah… you… You can just call me Little Liu!” Fang Liude instantly tensed up and walked over quickly.

Previously, they had teased Long Chen, thinking Long Chen was a naive young master. They had even been worried about him holding them back. Just thinking about it made Fang Liude anxious.

“Brother Liu is my big brother, and that won’t change just because I am stronger,” said Long Chen, trying to ease Fang Liude’s nerves.

Long Chen then pressed a hand on Fang Liude’s chest and continued, “Don’t resist. I want to check your potential. If you have the potential, I’d like to teach you a powerful cultivation technique.”

Hearing that, Fang Liude and the others were delighted, feeling like they were dreaming.

Just how strong was Long Chen? Not even rank ten on the Heaven Rankings was a match for him, but he was willing to be their little brother. This cultivation technique was probably unimaginable to the likes of them.

However, Fang Liude was also apprehensive, understanding that the stronger the cultivation technique, the higher its requirements would be. With their limited talent, they knew they were unable to master higher-level cultivation techniques.

Their predicament stemmed from their constant struggle to keep up in the cultivation world. They faced scarcity of resources, especially medicinal pills. The ones they could afford were of low quality, laden with impurities and pill toxins due to faulty refinement processes.

Over a long period of accumulation, those pill toxins would invade their foundations. In truth, they were well aware that their realms were most likely the peak they could achieve in this lifetime. After all, it had been a long time since any of them had managed to increase their cultivation base.

However, Long Chen’s words reignited their hope. They simply sat on the edge of their seats, staring at Long Chen’s face, as if waiting to hear the judgment for their fates.

Long Chen felt like his father had intentionally left them to him, though he couldn’t be certain. He only wanted to pass down the Starry River of the Sky Art to them. This cultivation technique didn’t demand exceptional talent; rather, it required a righteous and pure heart. Even if their innate talent was average, with unwavering determination and consistent effort, they could undoubtedly achieve some level of mastery. Though it wouldn’t instantly elevate them to the ranks of experts, it was undeniably superior to their current cultivation techniques.

The problem was that Fang Liude and the others were already Divine Venerates. It might be too late for them to change courses. Furthermore, their frequent use of low-quality pills had led to a dangerous accumulation of pill toxins. Even Long Chen couldn’t fully extract them. Hence, he decided to assess Fang Liude first.

When Long Chen’s energy sank into Fang Liude’s meridians, he couldn’t help but gasp. Fang Liude’s meridians were riddled with holes, which was the result of the accumulation of pill toxins and internal injuries. Fang Liude’s internal state was even worse than Long Chen had expected.

Such a compromised physique resembled that of an elder nearing the end of their life. Even Long Chen felt powerless to restore it to its former vitality, so his expression turned solemn.

“Long Chen, we know the problem with our bodies. It’s fine,” Yu Ying said softly, noticing his change in demeanor. She was well aware that some things couldn’t be forced in this world.

The others nodded in resignation, fully aware of the state of their bodies. This was their destiny.

Long Chen remained silent. He trusted that his father had definitely had a deeper meaning behind his actions, so he continued to examine Fang Liude. Checking his bloodline, Long Chen sensed an extremely subtle fluctuation that baffled him.

“This bloodline power is incredibly ancient!”

Through this fluctuation, Long Chen sensed the vast power of time, which meant that Fang Liude’s bloodline came from an extremely powerful race. However, it had been depleted to the point of insignificance. Even the bloodline runes had faded away.

Fang Liude’s meridians were riddled with holes, while his bloodline power had reached its end as well. Long Chen’s heart grew cold.

However, Long Chen didn’t give up and moved on to check Fang Liude’s bones. To his dismay, he found no ancestral runes inscribed on them; they were all blank.

Next was the Dantian—Long Chen’s final hope. If Fang Liude’s Dantian was also empty, there would be no chance for him to cultivate the Starry River of the Sky Art, as the astral energy would swiftly overwhelm him.

As a result, what Long Chen feared most happened. Fang Liude’s Dantian was a mess, filled with impure and dispersed energy. Even in a state of rest, his Dantian suffered continuous energy depletion, akin to an inexorable leakage, with no means to staunch it. “Eh?”

Just as Long Chen was about to give up, he noticed the tiniest whirlpool beneath Fang Liude’s Dantian.

This whirlpool was smaller than a green bean. If Long Chen hadn’t been looking extremely closely, he would have not noticed it.

“So it’s not that his power is dissipating; it’s being consumed from within!” Only now did Long Chen realize that this tiny whirlpool was constantly absorbing the energy within Fang Liude’s Dantian.

Looking inside this whirlpool, Long Chen saw an almost imperceptible rune. This rune was almost completely transparent, and its fluctuations were incredibly weak.

An original rune. So that’s the case.

Long Chen realized that Fang Liude’s bloodline inheritance was quite strong. However, by his generation, its energy was exhausted, and the original rune was on the verge of dissipating. In order to survive, the rune was constantly absorbing the energy in Fang Liude’s Dantian, purely a survival instinct.

What will happen if I activate it…?

Long Chen channeled a warm stream of energy from his palm into Fang Liude’s Dantian. A thin white thread extended toward the rune, which eagerly seized upon it. The rune absorbed the energy within the thread with voracity, akin to a drowning person grasping onto a lifeline.

Fang Liude trembled as an unprecedented power surged within him. His bloodline stirred, and ethereal runes manifested within his blood. Remarkably, his meridians started to mend themselves.

“As expected, this was planned by my father,” remarked Long Chen, smiling. When Long Chen’s hand left Fang Liude, the latter was practically glowing. His Blood Qi was at full power, transforming him into an entirely different person.

“This is…”

Fang Liude gazed at his hands in disbelief, overwhelmed by the sensation of newfound power, as though he had experienced a rebirth from the brink of death. The feeling was beyond words, and he was now speechless, filled with overwhelming emotions.

“Senior, the rune in Brother Liu was incredibly ancient. Why do I feel like it’s a bit similar to the runes in my violet blood?” Long Chen asked the Earth Cauldron.

The Earth Cauldron was silent for a moment before saying, “It is a Jiuli rune.”

“What?!” Long Chen exclaimed, startled by the revelation.