"Alright, now you can begin completing your Nirvana cycles and achieve the tenfold Nirvana. I believe you'll have a brighter future ahead," Lin Qian said, waving his hand at the still bewildered boy before turning to leave, holding Ye Xin's hand.
The boy, who had been sitting dazed on the ground, watched the backs of the young couple disappear, his heart stirring like the turbulent waves behind him.
"Senior!"
Lin Qian stopped upon hearing the shout from behind and turned around, curious. He saw the frail boy rush toward him, falling to his knees on the white sandy beach. The boy bowed deeply, pressing his forehead into the hot sand, and shouted, "Senior, I beg of you, please take me as your disciple!"
The sun's scorching heat bore down on the boy, causing sweat to drip from his body. He clenched his teeth, eyes shut tightly, as if awaiting judgment.
Lin Qian looked at the boy kneeling before him with a playful smile. "Oh? And why should I?"
"Because I want to become as strong as you, Senior! I don't want to be bullied anymore! I want to help the weak when they are oppressed, just as you saved me from despair!" The boy shouted with all his strength, his voice full of gratitude and admiration for Lin Qian.
Ye Xin, observing the scene with curiosity, glanced at her man, wondering what choice he would make.
"You probably don't understand. Becoming my disciple would mean bearing immense pressure, and it's not something I can offer so easily," Lin Qian finally said after a long pause.
The boy's face fell as he heard Lin Qian's words. Disappointment was written all over his features.
"But..."
Suddenly, Lin Qian's voice sounded again, reigniting a spark of hope in the boy's eyes.
"I'll give you a chance. The next time I come to see you, if you manage to impress me, I'll take you as my disciple. If you fail, then our relationship will end with this opportunity."
As Lin Qian finished speaking, the boy realized there was no further sound. After a long pause, he hesitantly raised his head, only to find the beach in front of him empty except for a single scroll lying in the sand. Lin Qian and Ye Xin were already gone.
"Senior?" The boy called out several times, looking around, but found no trace of them. Reluctantly, he picked up the scroll left behind.
Opening it, the boy saw that it contained a cultivation technique far superior to anything he had learned before.
"What level must I reach to impress Senior?" the boy muttered, furrowing his brow as he contemplated Lin Qian's vague words.
Should he aim to grow stronger and reach a certain level of cultivation? Based on the technique Lin Qian left behind, the boy guessed as much. But then he thought of his grandfather's teachings and shook his head resolutely. "Instead of overthinking, I should follow Grandpa's advice—live my own life. When the time comes, whether I impress Senior or not will be up to fate."
"The more you obsess over something, the more likely you are to lose it."
This was one of his grandfather's most important lessons.
With newfound determination, the boy turned his gaze toward the fallen corpses of the bandits. Though he found their actions despicable, the glint in his eyes betrayed a sense of practicality as he spotted the storage bags on their bodies.
After looting the storage bags and organizing their contents, the boy's resolve hardened. "First, I need to grow stronger. If I want to help others, I must ensure I'm powerful enough to do so."
With that thought in mind, the boy dragged the bandits' bodies to a patch of land on the island, dug a shallow pit, and buried them. "If it weren't for your greed, you wouldn't have met such a fate," he said softly, standing over the makeshift graves.
Taking one last look at the small mounds of earth, the boy shook his head. "I took your things, so consider this burial as payment for it."
Once the task was complete, the boy found a secluded spot on the island to shield himself from the elements and began cultivating the technique Lin Qian had left behind. His first goal: to complete the Nirvana cycles.
Little did the boy know that not far from where he trained, Lin Qian and Ye Xin were silently observing him. They were concealed by a formation crafted from soul energy, making them undetectable.
"This Soul Gathering Formation is really convenient," Lin Qian remarked enviously as he watched the stars in the formation's node patterns shimmer around them, creating the illusion. "It seems you've really mastered the skills of Master Zhang Juncheng, Xin'er."
"Jealous, Xiao Qian? Want to learn too?" Ye Xin teased, wiggling her finger at him. "Too bad, when you tried learning from Master Zhang, the energy just exploded."
Lin Qian's face flushed with embarrassment at her teasing.
It was true—when he had attempted to learn sword formations from Zhang Juncheng, the energy he had gathered exploded every time, causing one disaster after another. After more than a hundred consecutive failures, even the ever-patient Master Zhang had been forced to send him away, sighing, "With such talent, even I cannot help you, Your Majesty."
Resigned, Lin Qian had eventually given up on the idea.
"Nightcat, Divine Shadow!" Lin Qian called out softly, and with a rush of wind and shadow, two figures materialized behind him—his Transcendent Realm ninth-stage bodyguards, Gale and Nightshade.
"You two will secretly observe the boy. Report everything he does back to the Heavenly Craft Division. Make sure to provide updates to me every month."
"Understood!"
"Remember, do not let him discover you. Only intervene if his life is in imminent danger, and even then, try to stay hidden. If stepping in would jeopardize your safety, then don't interfere. Understood?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
After giving his orders, Lin Qian and Ye Xin rose into the air, returning to their customized cloudship, continuing their journey toward the Western Continent.
As the boy trained in earnest, he had no idea that his actions, like burying the bandits he had looted, had changed the course of his fate. His compassion and sense of responsibility had left a deep impression on Lin Qian.
If it had been Lin Qian in the boy's shoes, he would have simply vaporized the bandits' bodies with his golden lightning soul energy, leaving nothing behind.