Chapter 7: The Old Ancestor Was Also a Man of Dignity

The Ancestor may have been mischievous, but he wasn't truly unreliable.

After his form dissipated, the remaining spiritual energy transformed into specks of starlight and merged with Su Han's consciousness.

Once he had completely absorbed the starlight, Su Han found that detailed information about the Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Method had appeared in his mind.

Without the support of the Ancestor's residual spirit, the Spiritual Space quickly collapsed.

His vision went black, and Su Han's consciousness returned to reality.

The moment he opened his eyes, he saw the Princess Consort standing before him. She had already noticed something was amiss and, with a puzzled expression, was pinching and pulling at his cheeks.

As she poked and prodded, she muttered under her breath.

'Is this... the legendary spiritual imprint that only an expert of the Immortal Platform Realm can cast?'

'That can't be right. No one has discovered any secrets in this book for so many years. How did my Little Han trigger a spiritual imprint the moment he opened it?'

"Oh... you're awake already."

Su Han: "..."

Watching his mother calmly withdraw her hand, acting so natural you'd think she wasn't the one who had just been pinching and pulling his face, Su Han was left utterly speechless.

'Awake already? Did I wake up too soon? I guess you haven't had your fill of pinching yet?'

"Ahem."

The Princess Consort gave a slight cough to hide her nonexistent embarrassment, looking up at her son, who was now half a head taller than her.

"Little Han, was that a spiritual imprint from your royal family's Ancestor just now?"

Su Han was surprised. "Mother, how did you know?"

"Tsk," the Princess Consort rolled her eyes. "In the thirteen hundred-plus years of the Jing Country's history, only one expert has ever reached the Immortal Platform Realm, and that was the Ancestor of your Su Family."

Su Han nodded.

"What did the Ancestor tell you? It's not some top secret that can't be shared, is it? If it is a secret, you must protect it well. Even if I ask, you absolutely must not say a word."

Su Han: "..."

'But... that look on your face, so eager to know your son's little secret, has already betrayed what you're really thinking.'

However, while there were some things he couldn't mention, not everything had to be kept secret.

'At the very least... if he wanted to cultivate the Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Method, Su Han felt he would definitely need to rely on his family's background for help.'

'After all... on his own, forget gathering things like the Earth of the Four Extremes and the Five Elements Essence—he wouldn't even know where to begin looking for them.'

After some thought, Su Han decided that while his dear mother was pretty reliable, he couldn't mention the Ancestor's dark history with the Infernal Dao.

'The Ancestor himself hadn't left that autobiography behind, which made his intentions perfectly clear.'

'Furthermore, he definitely couldn't mention his biggest secret: the Heaven and Earth Melting Furnace Technique he'd obtained by lighting up his Skill Tree.'

'He understood the principle: innocence is no protection when you're carrying a treasure.'

'It was just as his mother had said: some secrets must be kept even from the people closest to you.'

'It wasn't a matter of trust. There were simply methods in this world that could be used to probe a person's mind; once you knew a secret, it could be found out, even if you never spoke a word.'

"Mother, the Ancestor left behind a Foundation Establishment method."

"A Foundation Establishment method?"

The Princess Consort's brow furrowed. "What kind of method is it?"

"Hmm..."

Su Han thought for a moment before describing it. "It's a Foundation Establishment method where the entire technique is on par with the Blood Exchange Method of the royal family's Nameless Foundation Establishment Method."

The Princess Consort's expression changed. Her figure vanished from before Su Han in an instant. When she reappeared, the faint scent of blood clung to her.

Before Su Han could say anything, the Princess Consort spoke.

"Listen. From now on, no matter who asks—even if it's your father or me—you are not to mention a single word of this.

You never triggered any spiritual imprint, and you certainly don't know anything about a complete Foundation Establishment method."

Seeing the grave expression on his mother's face, Su Han nodded instinctively. The words he wanted to say—that this Foundation Establishment method was one only he could cultivate—died in his throat.

"Phew."

The Princess Consort let out a breath of relief. "Is there anything you need my help with?"

Su Han nodded. "Mother, do you know how to find the Earth of the Four Extremes and the Five Elements Essence?

And the Yin-Yang Dual Flames, where can I get those?"

The Princess Consort's expression began to change the moment Su Han mentioned the Earth of the Four Extremes. By the time he spoke the words "Yin-Yang Dual Flames," the look on her face had become rather peculiar.

"The Earth of the Four Extremes, the Five Elements Essence, and the Yin-Yang Dual Flames, is that right?"

Su Han nodded. "Have you heard of them?"

The Princess Consort's answer took Su Han completely by surprise. "Don't worry. Wait a few days, and I'll have them sent to you."

Su Han was dumbfounded. "Sent to me?"

The Princess Consort nodded, her expression a mask of profound conflict as she looked at her son.

"I'm starting to believe that your excuse about burning the tree wasn't just a fabrication."

Su Han: "???"

"The Earth of the Four Extremes, the Five Elements Essence, and the Yin-Yang Dual Flames... all of these were specially collected by the royal family's Ancestor before he passed away."

"No one knows where the Ancestor got them, and no one knows what they do. Because of that, they've been sitting in the palace's forbidden grounds, untouched for over a thousand years."

Su Han: "..."

'The Ancestor... specially collected them?'

'He kept them in the palace's forbidden grounds, waiting for me to claim them?'

'This Ancestor... was he actually this reliable?'

'It seemed the Ancestor wasn't just mischievous; he was the type to say one thing and do the complete opposite.'

'He claimed he didn't want his descendants to cultivate the Heaven and Earth Melting Furnace, going so far as to not pass down its Fragmented Technique and even splitting up the Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Method.'

'And yet, before his death, he still made preparations. He left a spiritual imprint in the manual for the Nameless Foundation Establishment Method, one that could only be triggered by a bloodline descendant who cultivated the Heaven and Earth Melting Furnace.'

'He even gathered the Earth of the Four Extremes, the Five Elements Essence, and the Yin-Yang Dual Flames needed for the Celestial Dao Foundation Establishment Method.'

'Even knowing he hadn't passed down the Heaven and Earth Melting Furnace technique, and that the chances of these materials ever being used were slim, he gathered them anyway. And they'd been sitting in the palace for over thirteen hundred years.'

'It was a good thing the Ancestor had been dead for over a thousand years, his grave probably overgrown with weeds by now.'

'Otherwise, Su Han would have given the man a big thumbs-up. The Ancestor was a reliable guy; you could tell he'd been a class act in life.'

"Do you need anything else? Some Body Tempering Herbs or Foundation Establishment Elixirs? I can have your Uncle send them over along with the rest."

Su Han shook his head. "No, just those three will be fine."

"Alright."

The Princess Consort nodded, walked over to her desk, and began to write. Not long after, she handed a letter to Su Han.

"Give this to the butler. Have him dispatch someone to the Imperial City. The round trip will take about five days, and then the things you requested will arrive."

Su Han took the letter, then hesitated. He looked at his mother with a conflicted expression, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to.

"What is it?"

"Mother, if I request these things directly, won't it arouse unnecessary suspicion?"

"Only thinking about that now?"

The Princess Consort rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. I wrote in the letter that I wanted to study the items the Ancestor left behind.

They've been sitting in the palace's forbidden grounds for over a thousand years, and no one knows what they're for anyway. Since I'm the one asking, that Iron Head Child wouldn't dare—...your Uncle wouldn't deny me this."

Su Han: "..."

'Yep, that's my mother all right!'