“Do you still remember when you were ten, I made you cut open the throat of a ram with a knife, watching the ram’s gentle yet pained eyes, listening to the sound of blood spurting out. For those who pursue high positions, mercy is a fatal luxury.” A seed the size of a green nut—Gregory Clark opened his palm, and in the center lay a green seed. “Yesterday, passing by the front hall, the flower of the Kunlun bramble bore this seed. The flower has bloomed for fourteen years, and this is the first seed it has produced. I think it’s time for you to leave the academy.”

Eric received the flower seed with both hands, cupping it in his palms, feeling the faint pulse of life within. Eric had lived in the academy for fourteen years and was very familiar with this aura.

“Since you’ve decided, don’t hesitate. Don’t let the past of the academy bind you.”

Eric bowed deeply. “Eric has escaped a humble birth—may I take your surname, sir?”

“Su Ming Yan?” Gregory Clark sighed softly and said nothing.

When Eric rose, he saw only the back of Gregory Clark in the covered corridor.

……

Gregory Clark turned the corner and saw Brian Sutton standing with hands behind his back in front of the Guanlan Hall, looking up at the canopy of the Kunlun bramble.

Gregory Clark bowed respectfully. Brian Sutton turned around, his face always wearing that faint, inoffensive smile.

“Mr. Su Ming, even if I regain my former power one day, I cannot casually take a commoner as my disciple. Once Eric leaves this place, he must leave everything here behind.”

“Eric is not sociable. The servants in the academy are rotated every three years. In a while, no one will remember him. The only thing Eric can’t let go of is probably me.”

The more you give today, the more you will be asked for in the future. Brian Sutton took Eric as his disciple, but Gregory Clark felt no particular comfort.

Brian Sutton’s eyes, which could see through people’s hearts, clearly reflected the faint sorrow in Gregory Clark’s heart. He said, “There is a Miluo Star Temple in Xiutu City. If Mr. Su Ming does not mind, you may go there to cultivate.” Gregory Clark could not find an answer in Brian Sutton’s brown eyes; the best choice before him was to accept his suggestion.

……

Gregory Clark’s resolute departure greatly surprised the academy.

Everyone thought Eric would leave the academy with Gregory Clark and become a wandering warrior. Although they didn’t think much of Eric’s martial skills, at least as a wandering warrior, he would have enough freedom.

Eric did not leave together, but ten days after Gregory Clark left the academy, he departed without a word.

The short blooming period of the Yingyan flower had passed. Cold, fierce winds swept through the canyon—winds that spun out from the heart of the land of blasphemy, sweeping across the Black Gravel Plain and battering the Yan Yun Mountains. Those who crossed the canyon and passed through the vast belly of the Yan Yun Mountains to reach the Black Gravel Plain saw with their own eyes the storm splitting even the hardest granite boulders. In the storm-ravaged winter, even the Xi people, famed for their robust bodies, rarely ventured onto the Black Gravel Plain.

The early winter storms were blocked to the west of the Yan Yun Mountains, but some would funnel into the canyons that cut across the range, blowing to the eastern foothills with undiminished force.

In a single night, all the flowers and leaves fell, scattered in disarray, making the academy appear even more desolate.

Throughout the winter, the canyon passages between the Yan Yun Mountains were sealed by the storms.

Elder Reed searched every branch of the countless Yingyan flower trees, the wrinkles on his forehead deepening—this year, the Yingyan flowers still bore no fruit.

Brian Sutton stood atop a high rock, the desolate academy lying in the canyon below. William Harper stood behind Brian Sutton, watching coldly through the sparse branches of the Yingyan flower tree as the ant-sized Elder Sims crawled on the steps of the Guanlan Hall, searching for something.

“The fruit of the Adonai Divine Flower—who would have thought that in such a remote place, someone still remembers this legend.” Brian Sutton spoke almost in a sigh, turning his hand to reveal a green fruit identical to the one Gregory Clark had given Eric. “By my secret order, the Wu clan’s caravan explored the roads of the Yan Yun wilderness, discovered this canyon leading to the Black Gravel Plain, and found an academy hidden within, where a flourishing Adonai Divine Flower grows. I only happened upon a record of the Adonai Divine Flower in an old, tattered book. It blooms once a century, bearing both male and female fruits. Since I am leaving the imperial capital anyway, I thought I might as well come and see what the legendary Adonai Divine Flower looks like.”

William Harper fixed her gaze on the seemingly unremarkable green fruit and asked, “My lord, you found only one?”

“The Adonai Divine Flower bears both male and female fruits. The female fruit contains the breath of life, the male fruit contains the holy power of the stars. Planted together underground, they will naturally gestate and, after sixty years, break through the earth and sprout. If there is a female fruit, with the unique acceleration secret art of the Fanjing Sect, and by transferring the required star holy power, the female fruit can complete its life cycle within days. The extraordinary fruit born of the world’s creation contains the divine power of the god Adonai. Eating it can awaken a person’s soul power. Although the effect is not as great as the innate awakening of the god’s bloodline, in this world, aside from those races that can grow wings or have serpent tails, how many true innate awakeners are there? The star holy power contained in this single green fruit alone can raise little Wu’s Frostflame Sword Qi to a new level.”

“Relying on external power—even if one ascends the Heavenly Ranking, what honor is there in that! But who got the other female fruit?”