Section 062: Golden Achievement Unlocked! [Myriad Calamity Flames]! Never Bullying the Middle-Aged Poor! [Eight Thousand Words Demanding Subscriptions!]

For a self-discipline king like Xu Ran, any problem that could be solved through sheer grinding was just an insignificant, trivial matter.

Before a grind emperor, there are no insurmountable chasms!

"Mere slaughter... is nothing more than a bit of travel fatigue."

Sighing inwardly, Xu Ran let out a hearty laugh.

Ye Ping raised an eyebrow: "Judging by how happy you look, it seems your trial is complete? Did you feel a substantive improvement? How big is the boost?"

Xu Ran's handsome features were filled with rich smiles: "How big is the boost? It's hard to describe specifically, but the enhancement is massive anyway."

This was a golden achievement!

A golden achievement triggered alongside [Juvenile Supreme], capable of single-handedly paving a brand-new path of cultivation—on the Blue Star, there were no body cultivators; everyone else was simply a mage.

Therefore, Xu Ran could not estimate the scale of this improvement!

In any case, when the prompt tone for completing the golden achievement rang in his mind, it felt as though all four major joys in life had been experienced at once.

Xu Ran let out another hearty laugh.

Everyone around looked astonished.

Liu Yan scanned all his teammates, his face full of puzzlement: "To make a normally composed kid laugh uncontrollably twice... this kind of improvement is probably a bit absurd."

Lin Feng: "Yesterday, when he shattered that bizarre eyeball, he laughed just as heartily."

Xiao Xue: "No way? Can today's improvement rival the annihilation of a deity?"

Cai Miao: "Hard to say. Which eight-year-old kid wildly slaughters ghost entities with a blood vitality value exceeding 100,000 points, and slaughters ten thousand of them at that..."

Li Wei suddenly let his imagination run wild: "I heard that some grievance beasts, crystal beasts, and ghost entities hold deity-ascension rituals for themselves. Only after completing the ritual can they break out of the cocoon and transform into deities. Little nephew, you wouldn't happen to have your own ascension ritual, would you?"

Xu Ran: "Uh..."

"I wouldn't call it an ascension ritual, and I can't really explain it to you either, but the harvest is quite substantial."

While speaking, Xu Ran, who was still invisible, took out the [Heart of Slaughter].

[Claim successful!]

As the prompt tone faded, right before Xu Ran's eyes, a golden heart materialized out of thin air. The heart was lifelike and exquisitely gorgeous. Although it looked as if it were cast from pure gold, it radiated an immense sense of musculature and power, as if it could beat for a million years without stopping. Even if the River of Time were to cease flowing, it would still beat on until the end of the world.

It was simply too breathtaking, combining a sense of art, realism, and fantasy. It resembled metal, yet also seemed like a raging golden flame. Though only the size of a fist, it was so magnificent and grand that it could rival the blazing sun.

What a pity...

The people present could neither see it at all nor perceive its existence. It felt like a high-dimensional entity; invisible, imperceptible, and even unimaginable to lower-dimensional beings!

Xu Ran gazed in awe, admiring this treasure of the world.

Just a single glance made his mind serene and his thoughts calm.

"It possesses purifying and mind-calming effects? Somewhat similar to the Clean Spiritual Body?"

"No, it's a completely different sensation... The Clean Spiritual Body is much purer, born purely to expel pollution within the body."

"The Heart of Slaughter is different, a bit more complex. It's not just purification, but also slaughter—it feels like the sensation of entering a state of absolute detachment after slaughtering billions of beings."

"That's not quite right either. To be more precise, it is the clear-minded innocence and boundless great compassion of instantly attaining Buddhahood after emptying hell and purifying a kalpa."

Muttering to himself, Xu Ran's features gradually brightened.

He reached out and grasped the Heart of Slaughter.

"Integrate into my true heart."

Feeling the warmth of Xu Ran's palm, the Heart of Slaughter rapidly melted, turning into a cluster of golden liquid that enveloped his palm.

In the blink of an eye, the golden light spread across Xu Ran's entire body—he had turned into a little golden figure cast from gold.

Brilliant golden light circulated over his body, and mysterious power from a high dimension seeped from his skin into his body...

Surging and majestic, it rushed into the location of his heart, forming a completely distinct phantom within it, resembling the soul of his true heart.

When the virtual heart successfully condensed, Xu Ran's physical heart beat with a thud, sounding like a war drum!

Everyone was startled.

They turned their gazes toward the spot where Xu Ran was invisible.

"This is..."

Xiao Xue: "The heart pacing speed has accelerated; most likely, his upper limit of life force has undergone an upgrade."

Liu Yan: "So there really are people who raise their life force upper limit through slaughter?"

Lin Feng's brows furrowed deeply: "Comprehension and bone structure, substitute paper dolls, invisibility, slaughter... Even though I consider my deductive reasoning to be extremely strong, I still cannot understand what is happening with him. This kid is hiding far too many things."

Ye Ping gave a faint smile.

"How is it? Little Ran, can you hold on? Won't anything go wrong?"

Xu Ran: "I'm fine, it feels extremely comfortable!"

At this very moment.

His body was burning hot. Wisps of baleful qi and negative emotions lurking deep within his body were forcefully extracted, converging into his heart, where they were devoured and squeezed dry by the virtual heart!

Ten drops of Ten-Kalpa Flame had been successfully refined!

Yes!

Ten black flames containing pure energy floated quietly within the Heart of Slaughter.

They occasionally separated into ten pitch-black fire dots, and occasionally collided to form an incomplete pitch-black lotus.

Xu Ran observed with his mind: "So this is the Ten-Kalpa Flame? A treasure that can allow the physical body to undergo nirvana, yet it gave me ten drops all at once..."

"Should I experience what the effect is like right away? Anyway, I'm being protected by two deity-slaying squads, so it's extremely safe."

Murmuring a few words inwardly, Xu Ran couldn't resist the temptation and immediately used his mind to pluck a black lotus petal, dragging it out of the Heart of Slaughter.

When the black lotus petal merged into Xu Ran's true heart, his heartbeat suddenly stopped.

The pitch-black flame instantly swept through his cardiac chamber, rushing along his meridians and blood vessels to the hundred skeletons of his limbs.

It took only one-twentieth of a second for the black lotus flame to blaze fiercely across Xu Ran's sixty trillion cells.

Time ticked by second by second.

Xu Ran could only feel his physical strength climbing step by step!

Thirty seconds later.

The energy of one drop of Ten-Kalpa Flame was completely exhausted.

Yet Xu Ran was left wanting more, feeling it wasn't thoroughly satisfying.

"It must be due to undergoing three congenital baptisms; burning just one drop of Ten-Kalpa Flame causes zero pain, bringing only the sheer pleasure of enhanced physical strength."

If the three congenital baptisms were meant to wash over his blood vessels, meridians, and internal organs to raise his life force upper limit, then the Ten-Kalpa Flame was truly and solidly strengthening his physical body.

When the energy of an entire drop of Ten-Kalpa Flame was spent, Xu Ran distinctly felt his physical strength scale upward!

"I can probably catch the attacks of ghosts, crystal beasts, and grievance beasts with 10,000 points of blood vitality bare-handed..."

"So, a single drop of Ten-Kalpa Flame can increase physical strength by 10,000 points of blood vitality? The boost is quite obvious!"

"It's just a pity that with my current realm strength, I can only endure the nirvana effect of 10 drops of Ten-Kalpa Flame. Still, this is immensely powerful; once all 10 drops of Ten-Kalpa Flame are used up, I'll be able to bare-handed catch attacks from powerhouses with 100,000 points of blood vitality."

Thinking this, Xu Ran smiled faintly and consumed the remaining 9 drops of the Ten-Kalpa Flame cleanly.

Petal after petal of the black lotus drifted into Xu Ran's true heart, and the pitch-black flames burned fiercely within his body.

Amidst the burning, his physical strength soared step by step!

Before long, Xu Ran let out a breath of hot air, his features filled with utter gratification.

"I can now fend off attacks from monsters with 100,000 points of blood vitality with my bare hands! Even if I sustain some injuries, the third-sequence [Severed Limb Reconnection]... can quickly heal them. This is the physical strength of a peak Qiu Realm cultivator! As long as I'm not foolish enough to catch someone else's bestowed divine ability bare-handed, I will remain in an undefeatable position in battles against Qiu Realm practitioners."

"As expected of a golden achievement..."

"From this perspective, the golden achievement [Juvenile Supreme] triggered at the same time should produce supreme golden blood with similarly terrifying effects!"

Thinking of today's magnitude of growth, and the potential strength of [Juvenile Supreme]...

The smile at the corner of Xu Ran's mouth was harder to suppress than an AK-47.

I must say, this trial was genuinely surprising. Not only did he obtain three drops of divine origin, but while fusing the [Heart of Slaughter] after completing the [Killing Heart Turned to Flame] mission, he additionally acquired 10 drops of the Ten-Kalpa Flame... directly raising his physical strength to his current upper limit.

This saved Xu Ran half a month of grueling grinding time.

With these thoughts, Xu Ran was fully satisfied: "Alright, the first task is complete!"

"Next up, the second task: kill 50 crystal beasts with blood vitality exceeding 150,000 points."

The members of the Fire Prison Squad and Soul Purification Squad looked uniformly at Xu Ran's avatar.

"Ascension complete?"

Xu Ran: "Completed swimmingly, we just need to move on to the second task."

Liu Yan narrowed his eyes: "For the second task, do we need to hunt crystal beasts? The area near the Sixth Safe Zone is entirely occupied by ghost entities; crystal beasts are extremely rare. To hunt crystal beasts, we need to head to the Seventh Safe Zone."

Xu Ran: "Do you guys have time? If you're free, I'd like to take a trip to the Seventh Safe Zone. Of course, it doesn't matter if you're busy, I can have Uncle Ye accompany me."

Lin Feng smiled: "Thanks to you, we are temporarily at leisure."

"Actually, regarding the outbreak of war across the nine safe zones this time, the flying head ghosts in our Sixth Zone were much more bizarre. Neither the [Blood Gourd] in the First Safe Zone nor the [Corrupt Blood Wall] in the Third Safe Zone were gimmick monsters. We expected it to take half a month to repel them."

"We originally thought we would have to engage in a bitter half-month battle while waiting for reinforcements, but we didn't expect you to run over and break the flying head ghost's bestowed divine ability, helping us find its flaw and trap its main body."

Before Lin Feng finished speaking, both deity-slaying squads let out laughter.

"If other safe zones required reinforcements, we would have rushed over too, but it just so happens they could handle it themselves. No reinforcements needed."

The imperial elder sister Xiao Xue: "Yeah, so we slept in late last night."

Xu Ran: "In that case, tomorrow I'd like to go to the Seventh Safe Zone to hunt crystal beasts."

"No problem. There just happens to be a beast tide over there."

Fu Lin, Li Wei, and Cai Miao: "Little nephew, we have to guard the Sixth Safe Zone, so we won't be tagging along. With two deity-slaying squads protecting you, it's safer than us looking after you."

Xu Ran: "Alright, anyway, thank you Aunt Miao, Uncle Wei, and Uncle Handsome!"

The three waved their hands: "Hey, we didn't help much. When you win the championship, we'll take time to visit you in Jing Province."

Xu Ran smiled brightly: "Okay."

Chatting along the way, everyone returned to the safe zone once more.

...

The exclusive food supply hotel for the Logistics Division's deity-slaying squad—Tang Pavilion.

Everyone sat around the table.

There was still some time before the dishes were served.

Everyone glanced at Xu Ran, observing which aspect of his strength had improved.

However, Xu Ran possessed [Ordinary Deception]'s third sequence [Hiding as Yin]... his entire person was as indistinguishable as the sun and moon veiled by dark clouds.

How could they possibly see clearly?

Liu Yan felt greatly perplexed: "I've observed for a long time, but your substitute paper dolls haven't actually gained much strength since yesterday afternoon, right? It only takes them one strike to slash down ghost entities with 100,000 points of blood vitality, but it takes five strikes to slash those with 120,000 points. As for monsters above 150,000 points, they can barely cut them at all."

Xu Ran nodded calmly: "Yes, the substitute paper dolls have temporarily reached their upper limit. Another method is needed to enhance them."

Lin Feng instantly guessed something: "So you're going to kill crystal beasts?"

Xu Ran: "Right."

After detaining a new batch of souls, the paper doll legion would be able to slaughter ghost entities with 200,000 points of blood vitality.

Mhm...

Everyone fell into deep thought.

"By slaughtering different monsters and devouring their power to enhance the strength of the paper doll legion—what a miraculous bestowed divine ability!

Won't there be negative effects?

For instance, slaughtering too much might pollute the paper dolls, or perhaps the paper dolls get tainted by the power of god-grade monsters and turn into pollutants, eventually turning against their master."

Xu Ran shook his head decisively: "My paper doll legion naturally counters ghost entities. Even god-grade ghost entities will be suppressed before my paper dolls.

There are no negative effects whatsoever, and the situation of turning against the master will never happen."

The deity-slaying squads simultaneously leaned back in a tactical posture.

"Is that so!"

Liu Yan looked on with eyes full of admiration and amazement: "I must say, your bestowed divine ability is truly formidable! Only eight years old, and you can already suppress god-grade ghosts.

Unlike my fire prison; I have to cultivate to the peak of the Yue Realm just to rely on my abundant blood vitality to forcibly trap a god-grade wicked beast."

Xiao Xue: "This is high-dimensional power right from birth. Truly enviable!!"

Lin Feng: "Indeed, the rest of us have to cultivate until we're strong enough to match the power of god-grade creatures... while he directly uses a bestowed divine ability to suppress god-grade ghosts. It's like we're all fighting with wooden sticks while he pulls out an assault rifle."

Only the deity-slaying squads who had tangled, engaged in bitter warfare, and even been defeated by deities could truly experience Xu Ran's terror and monstrous nature.

In a word: peerless!

If not for Xu Ran's young age and low cultivation realm, they would have wanted to break precedent and invite Xu Ran to join their team, forming an eight-person squad!

What a pity...

What a pity...

It went to benefit other kids...

Lin Feng stared at Xu Ran: "Wait! I suddenly thought... that gimmick monster [Nightmare Grief Mother], it wouldn't happen to have fallen at your hands, would it?"

"I looked through a lot of the combat data from that day. Ye Ping needed to use [Jade Flute Immortal Sound] to resist the nightmare encroaching upon the entire city of children, while Huang Liang, Gao Yuan, and Zhao Ying made five attempts within the urban area, but because the [Nightmare Grief Mother] used 300,000 children as hostages, they didn't dare strike too hard..."

"Logically speaking, this battle shouldn't be kept confidential from us for a full ten years. Why is it classified for ten years? It implies there is someone inside who needs protecting."

While studying Xu Ran with a bizarre expression, Lin Feng stroked his chin and analyzed: "Who on earth needed protecting? I had no clue at first—but after spending two days with you, who else could it be besides you?"

"The only super genius who naturally counters ghost entities and can destroy bizarre eyeballs!"

He wore the proud, triumphant smile of a master detective who had successfully cracked a case.

Ye Ping: "..."

Xu Ran: "..."

Fine, he had actually been deduced.

Seeing the two of them fall into simultaneous silence.

Lin Feng leaned forward: "It really was you?"

The other members of the deity-slaying squads also straightened up at that exact moment, their sharp gazes locking straight onto Xu Ran.

Xu Ran spread his hands: "Well, I just made a tiny contribution."

Liu Yan was taken aback: "It actually is you? Good kid, can you tell us the process? Of course, if it needs to be kept secret, you don't have to say it."

Xu Ran smiled mysteriously: "Save me as a trump card... I'll tell you when I reach the Yue Realm."

To be honest, the routine used to kill the [Nightmare Grief Mother] might just make other freaks stumble twice.

So whatever could be hidden should be kept hidden.

Hearing this, the fourteen members of the Fire Prison Squad and Soul Purification Squad glanced at one another.

"Alright, don't worry, we'll strictly keep the fact that you can destroy bizarre eyeballs a secret too."

Just as they were speaking.

A waiter softly knocked on the door: "Everyone, the dishes have been cooked. Shall I bring them in?"

"Come in."

Granted permission, the waiter paused for ten seconds before opening the door, pushing the serving cart to the table, placing plate after plate of fragrant, mouth-watering delicacies onto the rotatable glass round table.

The plates were enormous, heaped with top-tier fish and seafood.

Soon, the dishes were all served.

The waiter: "This is the first table of dishes. Since you have large appetites, there are a second and third table coming up later. Please ring the bell to call us when you're done."

Lin Feng nodded: "Alright, thank you."

"Dig in!"

Practitioners possessed large appetites, especially members of the deity-slaying squads. When they encountered high-intensity combat, they often had to endure bitter struggles for ten days or half a month; even general battles required grueling fights lasting two or three days, so their dining habits were extremely extravagant.

Even three tables of dishes were swiftly swept completely clean.

Well-fed and content.

Xiao Xue, the imperial elder sister of the Fire Prison Squad, let out a burp: "By the way, Xiao Ran, last night I wanted you to teach us the invisibility technique, but we fell asleep because we were too exhausted. How about teaching us tonight?"

A pretty aunt from the Soul Purification Squad: "Hehe, Ye Ping couldn't learn it, but our talent is much better than his."

Ye Ping looked confident, glancing sideways at them: "...I'll just smile and say nothing. If you guys can learn it, I, Ye Ping, will change my surname to yours."

As the saying went: even among golden bone structures, there were gaps.

Although the two deity-slaying squads present ranked eleventh and thirteenth in China respectively, their talents were at most slightly higher than Bie Jingqiu and Bian Yue's, falling short of a generational gap.

With such talent, expecting to learn the invisibility technique was simply impossible!

Ye Ping had analyzed this thoroughly and crystal-clear long ago.

Xu Ran's comprehension and bone structure had most likely reached another tier. The bone structures of [King of Accusers] Jiang Liuli and [Time Bone Structure] Zhu Yuheng might have reached it too, which was why they could learn it.

As for the Fire Prison Squad and Soul Purification Squad?

Ye Ping had only six characters of truth: "Hehe! Hehe! Hehe! Hehe!"

Lin Feng stood up: "Alright, alright, alright, Ye Ping, how dare you look down on us."

Liu Yan also stood up with an expression of 'enduring forbearance': "Don't bully a young man in his poverty; we'll ruthlessly slap your face later."

Xiao Xue: "We aren't fighting for steamed buns, we're fighting for pride. Tonight, we'll let you experience what a gap in talent truly means!"

Ye Ping was calm: "You're welcome. If you guys manage to learn it, I'll kowtow to you."

Xiao Xue raised an eyebrow: "Raising the stakes that high?"

Ye Ping chuckled: "No, no, no. You guys stand zero chance. I don't even need you to place a wager; I'll kowtow unilaterally."

Lin Feng: "..."

Liu Yan: "It's over. When even Ye Ping is this confident, it's a nailed-on certainty..."

Ye Ping gave an enigmatic smile: "Hah, you guys know nothing about the terror of comprehension and bone structures. Do you think the most genius part of comprehension and bone structures is just the substitute paper dolls?"

The fourteen members of the deity-slaying squads hesitated slightly: "What do you mean?"

Ye Ping incarnated as a riddle-maker, a mysterious smile playing on his lips: "I refuse to tell."

Liu Yan: "Fine, you've completely ignited my fighting spirit! Once I learn the invisibility technique, I'll slap your face hard!"

With that said.

The fourteen members of the two deity-slaying squads hoisted Xu Ran up and carried him out of Tang Pavilion.

Logistics Division.

Top floor of the indoor training hall.

The fourteen of them put Xu Ran down, and a dozen scorching gazes illuminated Xu Ran's features.

"Teach us the invisibility technique, won't you?"

Their eyes burned with passion, as if they had already envisioned the shonen-manga plot of mastering the invisibility technique, slapping Uncle Ye's face; then walking invisibly through the pollution zones, assassinating deities, and turning the tide of human warfare.

Xu Ran was speechless; he spread his hands calmly: "I'll break down the principles, and you guys watch carefully. If your heads start hurting, chances are you won't be able to learn it. Let me state this first: don't feel psychological pressure if you can't learn it; the invisibility technique is simply of extremely high difficulty."

Actually.

Xu Ran had always wanted to popularize the [Invisibility Technique].

If an [Invisibility Technique] equivalent to a bestowed divine ability could be mastered by Yue Realm powerhouses, it would genuinely reverse a portion of the war stalemate between humans and alien races.

If the deity-slaying squads could learn the [Invisibility Technique], it would become much more convenient for them to locate gimmick monster bodies and assassinate deities in the future.

Therefore.

Faced with the Fire Prison Squad and Soul Purification Squad, Xu Ran held nothing back. He broke down the principles of the [Invisibility Technique] into over 2,700 basic details, demonstrating and explaining them right before their eyes...

Yet after explaining just 700 details over more than two hours... all fourteen of them were completely wiped out!!

Lin Feng felt his heart palpitate and half his body went numb: "No, no, my head feels like it's about to explode."

Liu Yan looked even more horrified: "Holy crap, this isn't a technique a human can learn! And this isn't even a third of the details yet?"

The members of the two deity-slaying squads lost control of their facial expressions one by one, feeling their minds buzz and tremble as if they had heard whispers from a demon.

They distanced themselves from Xu Ran.

Away from that scalp-tingling, heart-palpitating, and terrifying atmosphere.

Seeing the deity-slaying squads defeated, Uncle Ye blew a sorrowful whistle nearby with schadenfreude: "How is it, still thinking of not bullying a young man in his poverty? Want to try not bullying an old man in his poverty instead?"

Mhm...

The members of the two deity-slaying squads looked around nonchalantly, using this method to evade their "defeat"...

Uncle Ye emerged victorious in a grand fashion, acting arrogant and cocky.

Xu Ran spread his hands: "Nothing I can do, the invisibility technique is too overpowered, so naturally its difficulty is absurdly high. Don't feel psychological pressure if you can't learn it."

"Once I get stronger in the future, maybe I'll be able to teach you."

Hearing this, Liu Yan hurriedly found a tree to climb down to save face: "Right!"

"The invisibility technique is just too overpowered! Mastering the invisibility technique not only raises survival rates in pollution zones by over 60%, but the assassination success rate also skyrockets... Such an overpowered self-created technique could only be created by a comprehension and bone structure; of course we'd find it difficult to learn."

"I dare say! Those capable of learning this in the world won't even number a handful!"

"Hmph! Ye Ping must have failed many times before running over to toy with us... This kid is full of bad intentions!"

Ye Ping glanced sideways at Liu Yan: "Now do you know where the most genius part of a comprehension and bone structure lies?"

Liu Yan: "...Let me think..."

Lin Feng's gaze settled: "Is that even a question? Of course it's the terrifyingly terrifying creativity! Being able to create a super-powerful spell like the invisibility technique means he can create even more spells of the same intensity, such as movement techniques, defensive techniques, blade techniques..."

"As long as Xu Ran keeps growing, the [Bestowed Divine Abilities] he can create will only increase and increase..."

Hearing this, everyone fell into contemplation.

They had already caught a glimpse of what Xu Ran's invincible future would look like.

Lin Feng: "Right, when creating spells, do you need other bestowed divine abilities as reference? The bestowed divine abilities of us fourteen are all quite extraordinary. Would you like to take a look at the process of us unleashing our bestowed divine abilities?"

"[Mirror Supreme] has actually copied bestowed divine abilities from our side before, you know."

Regarding [Mirror Supreme], who had been hyped to the heavens, Xu Ran was also somewhat curious: "Whose bestowed divine ability did [Mirror Supreme] copy, and what did it look like after the copy was complete?"

Liu Yan spilled the beans: "I don't know about the others, but in our two squads, she came and copied my [Isolated Fire Prison], Brother Feng's [Ability Deprivation], and Ah Hao's [Light Chain]."

"My [Isolated Fire Prison] can use flames to isolate a space—a fire prison space—where even if deities want to shatter it, they have to spend a certain amount of time."

"Brother Feng's [Ability Deprivation] can trade one's own blood vitality to strip away the opponent's blood vitality. But to pull that off, Ah Hao's [Light Chain] is needed to restrain the target first."

Ye Ping raised an eyebrow: "So she mirrored two control skills and one super-debuffing skill? How strong did the countered result turn out to be?"

Lin Feng: "Under the same cultivation realm, it probably has about 80% effectiveness. But keep in mind, when she copied them, that was two years ago; by now she's probably refined them much further, right? After all, her bone structure has reportedly stepped into a higher tier. She can repair and improve things even after copying them."

Ye Ping couldn't help but look at her with newfound respect; this bone structure sounded rather badass: "Then how many bestowed divine abilities has she copied in total? Is there a limit?"

Xiao Xue: "As far as we know, she has copied twenty-five types of bestowed divine abilities."

Ye Ping: "Twenty-five types of bestowed divine abilities—that's not just ordinarily厉害; she's practically all-around!"

"But Xiao Ran's self-created techniques shouldn't be fewer than hers, right?"

Xu Ran glanced sideways: "Uncle Ye, don't try to trick me with your words! I only have a few spells; really not that many."

Ye Ping took a deep breath: "Good kid, I knew it, you definitely aren't fewer than her! You could even detect the trap in my words, which shows you intentionally mean to hide it."

Xu Ran spread his hands: "I didn't, I aren't, stop talking nonsense, don't over-speculate about me, I'm just an eight-year-old kid!"

Yet Xu Ran's attitude left the two deity-slaying squads dumbfounded: "No way... Ye Ping, are you serious?"

Ye Ping coughed twice: "Ahem... Just joking..."

Lin Feng grew suspicious, looking between Ye Ping and Xu Ran before launching into another piece of deduction: "I actually said it just now—a comprehension and bone structure can continuously create super-powerful spells like the invisibility technique. With such high comprehension, how could he possibly only create one technique?"

"That sword slash from yesterday that shattered the bizarre eyeball was actually a self-created technique too, right?"

"I thought about it carefully when I got back: based on the confidence you had when delivering that slash, that sword technique should be able to sever enemies from a distance. It's an extremely bizarre and terrifying sword technique."

Lin Feng paused for a moment, staring intently at Xu Ran's research: "If he has sword techniques, then movement techniques and speed techniques will exist too, and defensive techniques probably exist as well..."

"So to a certain extent, you share a high degree of similarity with [Mirror Supreme]. You create, she copies."

"Her bestowed divine abilities might temporarily outnumber yours, but your paper doll legion has fighting strength that is simply too savage. I estimate that even if [Mirror Supreme] uses all her trump cards, she might not necessarily beat your paper doll legion."

Xu Ran smiled genially: "Over-interpreted... But well, the conclusion should be roughly right. My paper doll legion is enough to help me win the championship."

Xiao Xue looked somewhat unreconciled: "So you don't have any other simple, easy-to-learn self-created techniques to teach us? Or maybe simplify the invisibility technique a bit?"

Xu Ran shook his head: "None left. The complexity of the blade technique is even higher than the invisibility technique; you definitely won't be able to learn it. As for the blood vitality cultivation technique, um... it's similarly extremely complex. As for simplifying the invisibility technique, there's just no way to simplify that..."

Uh... awkward...

The fourteen of them stared at each other.

Being gravely turned down with the most serious tone by an eight-year-old kid felt thoroughly unpleasant, yet they couldn't find any reason to refute it!

Because everything Xu Ran said was the absolute truth.

They really couldn't learn it! Their heads felt like they were going to explode from listening, and they still couldn't learn it!

Even among super geniuses, there are gaps!

Liu Yan sighed: "Sigh... Forget it! Let's go back to sleep. Tomorrow we head to the Seventh Safe Zone to protect you while you hunt crystal beasts."

Xu Ran: "Good. I need to go to sleep early too, after all I still need to grow taller."

He didn't want his height to plateau at 1.6 meters; he'd prefer to grow another 20 centimeters, reaching 1.8 meters.

...

The night passed without incident.

The next day.

At six o'clock in the morning, Xu Ran woke up. After washing up, he underwent his routine daily grind until eight o'clock.

The members of the Fire Prison Squad and Soul Purification Squad only arrived successively then.

"A kid is up by six? And went through intensive cultivation for two hours?"

"Xu Ran, at your age, you're rolling a bit too hard!"

Xu Ran remained completely unfazed: "Is that so? It's fine... Everyone in our kindergarten rolls this hard."

Lin Feng suddenly wore a bizarre expression: "You wouldn't be the one who started that trend, would you?"

Caught in the act, Xu Ran smiled awkwardly: "Before a grind emperor, there are no chasms! Roll a bit harder during peacetime, and your survival rate on the battlefield increases by a fraction."

Uh...

The members of the deity-slaying squad were dumbfounded. Was this really something an eight-year-old kid could say?

When they were eight, they were wildly playful and mischievous; if not for the kindergarten director and mentors cracking the whip, they would have spent the entire day running wild. Cultivation? What was that?

Although they felt a slight tinge of regret now, wishing they had been more diligent back then, they sometimes also felt glad to have had a happy childhood, remaining entirely free from psychological illnesses and war trauma.

Lin Feng patted Xu Ran's shoulder: "Kid, relax when you should; you're a bit too tightly wound. A child ought to have a happy childhood."

Xu Ran spread his hands and stayed silent.

My happiness is beyond your imagination...

Every single day, the self-discipline king made progress; every single day was this fulfilling, this refreshing, periodically completing a golden mission and reaping a hundredfold thrill.

Watching his fortune slowly tick up from 3 points to 223 points.

Watching his blood vitality value reach 33,000 points at the tender age of eight...

Watching the magic skill point progress surge by 100 points day by day, successively entering the third sequence and charging toward the fourth.

Could his state of mind be any happier or more complete?

The only fly in the ointment was—he still lacked 80 fortune points to have a high probability of drawing a scarlet-gold bone structure...

And the scarlet-gold treasure within his body remained shrouded in an unpenetrable layer of mist, completely defying any comprehension of what it could actually do!!!

"Hopefully I'll encounter a few clues to lift the mist in the Seventh Safe Zone later!"

"Or... trigger a golden achievement mission to add 80 fortune points for me, allowing me to pull that [domineering and unique] bone structure."

To be honest, ever since he saw the description regarding bone structures last time, he had been dwelling on it day and night, thinking about it constantly.

What kind of bone structure on earth could be called [domineering and unique]?

PS: Presenting an eight-thousand-word chapter held high above my head ~~ Thank you to every single reader boss for your support ~~