Swallowing the Stars: 100x Return for Teaching Apprentices

Chapter 203 Admonition and Gifts

"teacher."

"teacher."

In the secluded courtyard of Qiyuan Mansion, Longji and several other disciples respectfully bowed to Qiyuan as he appeared.

"Ah."

Qi Yuan nodded, but asked with a faint smile, "I heard you guys mention Tongtian Mountain. What, do you guys also want to try going to that original Tongtian Mountain?"

"Uh, this."

Upon hearing his question, the disciples all gave awkward smiles.

"Teacher, we certainly wouldn't dare to neglect our cultivation, but..."

Long Ji smiled wryly, "But that Prince Luo Feng is a peerless genius who appears only once every tens of millions of epochs, and he is also the personal disciple of the Chaos City Lord. It took him tens of thousands of years of cultivation to achieve this. We have only cultivated for a few thousand years, how can we compare with him?"

"Why can't they be compared?"

Qi Yuan glanced at the disciples in front of him and spoke calmly.

"You say that Luo Feng is a peerless genius who appears only once every tens of millions of epochs, but do you know that he was just an ordinary genius from a native planet at the beginning? The resources he enjoyed in the initial stage of cultivation were not better than yours, and his ranking was not very high at the beginning of their generation's genius battle."

"As for becoming the master of the Chaos City Lord, that came later. Besides, the resources that the Chaos City Lord provided to Luo Feng were not necessarily much more than what I provided to you."

Qi Yuan then turned to the disciples standing there and asked, "If that's the case, what is it about you that makes you incomparable to him? He was able to fight your way to where you are today, so why can't you?"

What he said was indeed true.

In his early stages, Luo Feng was merely a senior student on Earth, having not even come into contact with any cosmic civilization, making him even less privileged than Long Ji, who had the lowest social standing among them.

Luo Feng's greatest reliance in the early stages was the inheritance of the Meteorite Star lineage and the opportunity to possess the Golden Horned Beast.

The former gave him a broad enough perspective, provided him with initial cultivation resources and the secret techniques he needed to learn, while the latter enabled him to create clones, which indirectly enhanced his ability to comprehend the laws and his growth ceiling.

In comparison, the resources these disciples received in the early stages were absolutely no less than those of the other party. Even Long Ji, who came from the lowest background among the disciples, had resources invested in him by Qi Yuan worth no less than hundreds of thousands of Hunyuan units during the Red Leaf Star period.

Later, after Qi Yuan broke through to the Immortal Realm, he spared no effort in cultivating his disciples.

The secret techniques, resources, weapons, and treasures are all top-tier at the current stage, and the resources consumed are measured in 'hundreds of millions of Hunyuan units'.

This is even better than the treatment Luo Feng received in the early stages. After all, Luo Feng had to work hard to obtain his main resources in the early stages, unlike these disciples who received them so easily.

As for the advantages of the Golden Horned Beast clone and the Demon Slayer Clan clone, thanks to the 'teaching' ability of Qi Yuan's Taiqing clone, Qi Yuan's efficiency in imparting cultivation experience to his disciples is far beyond ordinary, which can basically offset the comprehension speed bonus brought by the other party's clone.

At least in terms of initial resource investment, these disciples were in no way inferior to Luo Feng in his early days.

In the last thousand years or so, since Qi Yuan broke through to the level of the Lord of the Universe, his dedication to these disciples has been even more unrestrained.

In terms of life genes, each of them was pushed to the limit of 100 times by Qi Yuan with a large amount of resources, and even the basic return rate was forcibly increased to more than 60 times!
In terms of cultivation techniques, Qi Yuan provided them with a series of super secret manuals produced by the system, such as "The Secret Manual of Time and Space" (obtained by giving disciples "Notes on Time and Space" worth hundreds of billions of points during their cultivation in Chaos City), "Twenty-Three Chapters of Heavenly Craftsmanship", "The Array of Time", and "The Array of Space".

These are all powerful inheritances that surpass those so-called 'ultimate secret manuals' in the treasure trove of the Virtual Universe Company!

In terms of amplitude techniques, there are also two super amplitude techniques, "Star Soul Battle Intent" and "Nine Transformations of Divine Silkworm," with a maximum limit approaching 100 times the limit.

As for weapons, armor, and life support, it goes without saying that the cost of each disciple is at least tens of billions of points.

It can be said that, apart from not being given any treasures like 'great treasures' or 'supreme treasures' for the time being, the training they received far surpassed that of Luo Feng at the same time!
If outsiders knew about this level of investment, even a cosmic venerable would probably be driven mad with jealousy!

If, after such a dedicated effort, they don't even have the courage to 'compare' with Luo Feng, then he would be greatly disappointed.

Upon hearing Qi Yuan's seemingly calm words, Long Ji and the other disciples all showed expressions of shame.

"Teacher, we disciples will diligently cultivate ourselves and dare not slacken in the slightest, striving to cross that primordial Tongtian Mountain as soon as possible!"

Under Longji's leadership, the disciples present all made solemn promises.

"Oh?"

Only then did Qi Yuan's lips curl slightly, revealing a faint smile.

"You said it yourselves. So, I'll make a request of you: when you break through the Primordial Heavenly Mountain at the Realm Lord level, that's when you'll break through to become Immortal. How about it? Are you confident you can do it?"

"Ah this."

Upon hearing this, the disciples were all slightly stunned.

To have conquered the Primordial Tongtian Mountain, a realm lord level being the only one in human history to have achieved this feat would be considered quite remarkable. If distributed evenly, it would be a good number to have one such figure every ten million epochs.

And their teacher actually requires them to reach this level before they can break through to immortality. Isn't that a bit too much of a requirement?
However, when they thought about what the teacher had just said and the enormous amount of money the teacher had invested in them over the years, they couldn't think of any reason to refuse.

Yes, we enjoy abundant resources that ordinary people can't even imagine. If we can't do things that ordinary people can't even imagine, how can we face our teachers?
Thinking of this, Longji, Florides, Luming, and the other disciples gritted their teeth and solemnly said to Qi Yuan, "Yes, teacher, we will certainly live up to your expectations!"

"Haha, okay, then I'll be waiting for your good news!"

Qi Yuan laughed heartily, then looked at Long Ji alone.

"Come as master."

"Yes, teacher!" Longji quickly replied and followed Qi Yuan, who had turned and left.

The master and disciple strolled leisurely and soon entered a quiet room where Qi Yuan usually practiced in seclusion.

Long Jimo stood silently in front of Qi Yuan, awaiting his teacher's admonition.

"Make some arrangements recently and prepare to leave Chaos City secretly."

Qi Yuan got straight to the point right away.

"Ah, teacher," Longji couldn't help but look at Qi Yuan.

"True strength is never achieved by growing up under the protection of others."

Qi Yuan smiled faintly, "The reason I summoned you back to Chaos City this time is because the Realm Lord level is a very important foundational stage for you, and I naturally want to help you solidify your foundation as much as possible. However, over the past thousand years, I have taught and given you everything I could."

"Next, it's time for you to go out and explore, hone your skills, create your own secret techniques, and forge your own paths."

He added, "Whether you go to the battlefields beyond the realms or to the secret realms of the universe, it is entirely up to you. Apart from answering questions about cultivation or calling for help in times of imminent death, I will not interfere in your affairs any further until you break through to immortality. Everything is up to you."

Listening to Qi Yuan's words, Long Ji's expression changed from slight surprise at the beginning to seriousness, and finally returned to calm and composure.

He was originally an ordinary tribal boy on an ordinary planet with low-level life.

At that time, his planet was under the rule of the terrifying 'Black Demon King'. Any person on the planet who showed even a little outstanding performance would be noticed by the Black Demon King and 'recruited'. Once recruited, no one would ever hear from them again.

If they cultivate diligently, they will be noticed and 'summoned'; if they do not cultivate diligently, even at the planetary level, they will only have a lifespan of a thousand years at most. It seems that the fate of their entire planetary race is thus firmly limited.

However, one day, in this gloomy darkness where no way forward could be seen, an incomparably dazzling beam of light tore through all the darkness and descended upon his planet.

The Dark Lord's reign is over! A wise and benevolent lord has taken over the rule of their planet!
Under the command of that wise lord, the ordinary little planet where he was born began to undergo earth-shattering changes—

Planetary terraforming, trade route development, and system establishment are all important. More importantly, all members of the race no longer face the terrifying pressure of being 'conscripted' or disappearing without explanation. Instead, they can enjoy high-level training, and the outstanding ones even have the opportunity to be promoted and given important responsibilities!

And I am one of the lucky ones to enjoy all these changes.

Thanks to his outstanding performance during his training, he was successfully appointed as the 'leader' of a small caravan. He continued to rise through the ranks until he became the 'leader' of a large caravan. Not only did his own status improve, but it also benefited the tribe, making the lives of his parents and many other tribespeople much more comfortable.

Later, during that crisis that nearly led to his demise, he was even more fortunate to receive the personal attention of that lord.

He not only saved him from the brink of destruction, but also took him as his disciple and bestowed upon him an unimaginable great fortune!

It was thanks to this stroke of luck, and the countless extravagant rewards bestowed upon him by this 'Lord Teacher', that he was able to grow from an ordinary tribal boy to someone who could now rival the top geniuses of the most powerful human forces!

The leap was nothing short of a dream.

And the one who wove this beautiful dream for me is none other than the person right in front of me, my mentor!

He stepped forward, knelt respectfully before Qi Yuan, and paid his respects with great ceremony.

"Thank you, Master, for your cultivation over thousands of years. I will always remember your teachings, diligently cultivate myself, and strive to improve, so as not to disappoint you!"

"Hahaha, okay, okay!"

Looking at the disciple kneeling respectfully before him, Qi Yuan smiled with satisfaction.

From an ordinary tribal boy on a low-life planet, to now being able to cross the seventeenth level of the Sky Bridge, it is undeniable that the resources he provided were extraordinary, but his own efforts are also indispensable.

"Get up."

He spoke with a smile.

"Yes, teacher." Longji bowed deeply again before respectfully standing to the side.

"Hehe, things are different now than before. My identity is now under the scrutiny of countless people. Over the years, you have crossed the sixteenth and seventeenth levels of the Heavenly Bridge and have gained considerable fame. There are probably quite a few alien spies who have ill intentions towards you."

Qi Yuan solemnly instructed, "You must remember, if you encounter an insurmountable danger, self-destruct decisively. Never give the enemy the opportunity to enslave your soul."

"Yes, teacher, I understand," Longji replied respectfully.

"Well, you should be careful, and I'm also giving you something to protect yourself while you're out venturing out."

As Qi Yuan spoke, he took out a dark gold battle armor imprinted with incomparably exquisite secret patterns and handed it to Long Ji.
(End of this chapter)