The short-haired girl pondered for a moment, then spoke: “There are ways to accelerate cultivation, but the human race doesn’t recommend using external methods to speed up at the Kaiyuan stage. Kaiyuan is the foundation, the process of opening the nine orifices and laying the groundwork. At this stage, stability is key. After all, ‘Kaiyuan’ means opening the origin of cultivation!”

“Ethan Sutton, aren’t you applying for the Civilization Academy? These things won’t be on the exam. You’re not looking for these because you want to speed up your cultivation, are you?”

The girl said with some concern, “You can’t mess around with laying the foundation, or it’s easy to have problems. Even if you successfully open the origin, it will have a big impact on your future.”

Ethan Sutton smiled and said, “I know, I’m not stupid. I just want to see if there are any safer methods. If not, then forget it.”

“Is that so…”

The girl thought for a moment, then pointed to the bottom row of bookshelves in the corner and said, “There are a few books on that over there, but some of the methods are very extreme. Ethan Sutton, you’d better not try them, or it could be really troublesome, even deadly.”

“In the era when the Anping Calendar began, there were indeed strong humans who tried, because time was pressing and they had no choice. But none of those predecessors ended up on the path to invincibility. Instead, because they didn’t lay the foundation properly in their early years, they died young.”

“Thank you, I understand.”

Ethan Sutton nodded with a smile. This girl was called Grace Miller, a student in the first pre-exam class.

Ethan Sutton didn’t know much about her, but she often came to the library to read. He’d heard she knew many languages of the myriad races, but exactly how many, Ethan Sutton wasn’t sure, and he didn’t care to ask.

Barring any surprises, she would probably also apply for the Civilization Academy, so she wasn’t too concerned about advancing her Kaiyuan stage.

Without saying much more to Grace Miller, Ethan Sutton quickly found the books she mentioned in the corner.

“Methods to Accelerate the Kaiyuan Stage,” “My Views on Kaiyuan,” “On the Importance of Laying the Foundation”...

Chapter 4: Kaiyuan Acceleration Methods

Ethan Sutton quickly opened the book “Methods to Accelerate the Kaiyuan Stage,” and the title page was exasperating. Written in blood-red characters was a line: “So-called acceleration methods, regardless of life or death, can indeed speed up, but most who try die in the process!”

Ethan Sutton gave a wry smile. Just reading this made it seem unreliable. No wonder the teachers always said not to rush at the Kaiyuan stage, not to go astray.

“Acceleration Method One: Bathe in the blood of powerful gods or demons. Gods and demons are born with nine orifices open, abundant in vital energy, and their blood contains a large amount of Tianyuan energy…”

“Consequence: Body explosion!”

“Case: In the ninth year of Anping, the son of the Lord of Daming Prefecture bathed in the blood of gods and demons, hoping to quickly open the nine orifices. That very day, he instantly opened all nine, and on the same day, his body exploded and he died. He was nine years old at death, having reached the Qianjun stage!”

Ethan Sutton grimaced. There was even a case study, so this book wasn’t just making things up.

The son of the Lord of Daming Prefecture, ninth year of Anping—that would be the legitimate son of the Daming King who founded Daming Prefecture. And he died? That’s way too dangerous!

Besides, where would you even get the blood of gods or demons?

On the battlefield of the myriad races, gods and demons are among the most powerful races. It’s said that even the weakest among them on the battlefield are at the Ten-Thousand-Stone stage.

For the Daming King’s son to get this stuff, the Daming King must have killed a god or demon and kept it.

This method isn’t just unworkable—even if it was, it has nothing to do with Ethan Sutton.

“My dad isn’t the Daming King…”

Ethan Sutton muttered to himself. If his dad were the Daming King, he wouldn’t even need to cultivate. Who is the Daming King? The invincible founder of Daming Prefecture, one of the pillars of the human race. Just how strong is he? Ethan Sutton couldn’t say, but he was so strong that Ethan Sutton didn’t even need to think about it.

Abandoning the first method, Ethan Sutton kept reading, frowning more and more as he went.

“Method Two: Eat the flesh of the demon race. Some demon race flesh and blood can help open the orifices.”

“Consequence: Body explosion!”

“Case: Early years of Anping, the human race was in decline. Strong humans killed demons and brought their corpses back. Many humans ate demon flesh and blood. Some died from body explosion, a few quickly opened the nine orifices.”

“Note: Very few people opened the orifices. According to statistics, the demon race flesh and blood beneficial for opening orifices includes: Golden Roc Clan, Barbarian Bull Clan, Sky Tiger Clan…”

Forget it!

Ethan Sutton immediately gave up. Don’t kid me—these listed demon races are all among the most powerful of the myriad races. Not as strong as gods and demons, but still way out of his reach.

“Method Three: Tianyuan Fruit, a type of heavenly treasure.”

“Tianyuan Fruit gathers Tianyuan energy, the primordial energy of the myriad worlds, and is extremely beneficial for opening the nine orifices.”

“Location: Produced in the God Realm, Demon Realm, and Demon World—major powerful realms. Very rare.”

“Case: In the 25th year of Anping, the son of the Zhou King took the Tianyuan Fruit and opened the nine orifices in three days, with no aftereffects so far.”

Ethan Sutton grimaced again. “The son of the Zhou King… I think the Zhou King only has one son. Could this be the current Lord of the Great Zhou Prefecture, Peter Clark?”

Well, forget it.

He’d never even heard of this thing before. Clearly, it’s a top-tier heavenly treasure. Peter Clark is still alive and has become the Lord of the Great Zhou Prefecture, obviously incredibly powerful.

Even if the human race has Tianyuan Fruit, it would never be Ethan Sutton’s turn. This is probably a top strategic resource.

“Method Four…”

Ethan Sutton kept reading, feeling more and more disheartened.

Sure enough, there really aren’t any external shortcuts for cultivating at the Kaiyuan stage. No wonder the teachers never mention it.