“I heard that Master is going to take quite a few new disciples this time round,” Zhi Kong said. He looked at Ling Han, and broke into a smile. “There is a strange pattern, or it may be a coincidence; every ninth disciple that Master takes would be extraordinarily strong.

“My ninth junior brother was the first to advance to the Eighteenth Lotus Ancestral King out of all the disciples.

“My 19th junior brother, despite joining later, has surpassed him. Not only has he become an Eighteenth Lotus Ancestral King, his battle prowess is also world-shaking, one of the very best among Ancestral Kings.

“Though my 29th junior brother has only just advanced into the ranks of Ancestral Kings, so far, the prodigies that joined in the same period as he has are but at the Ninth Lotus.

“And now, there is definitely one among you that can become the 39th disciple. I am slightly curious myself.”

There was a coincidence like that?

Ling Han was internally unconcerned. Though there was indeed the saying of fortune in the world, he was not a person that belonged to this heaven and earth, so how could fortune possibly boost him?

Making no mistakes was already a success.

However, since Zhi Kong had said thus, Ling Han also responded with a smile, and said, “I will keep Senior Brother Zhi Kong’s words in mind, and try to get the 39th place.”

Zhi Kong nodded, and then continued, “Master is in seclusion here, and forbids anyone from approaching. However, it is not because that would cause him any disturbance, but rather because his strength is really too great. A slight thought would be capable of destroying the heavens and eliminating the earth.

“The safety zone that Master has created ends after this line. Hence, I stand guard here, firstly to borrow Master’s fortune, and secondly to prevent new junior sisters and junior brothers from accidentally barging into this area in a moment of carelessness.”

Ling Han nodded, and clasped his hands, saying, “Thank you for the advice, Senior Brother.”

Yet he was internally curious. Since a Heavenly Venerable Tier had omnipotent power, what need was there to create a safety zone? Even if he was in seclusion, so what? If he desired this place to be safe, this place would become impenetrable. If he wanted this place to be dangerous, then this would be a danger zone that even an Eighteenth Lotus Ancestral King would get a headache about.

Something was wrong!

Ling Han had a powerful feeling of crisis. He had to stop the Heavenly Venerate Desolate Eternity from coming up with a method to adapt to the power of heaven and earth of the Celestial Realm, and the real self of this Heavenly Venerate was constantly in seclusion, studying this kind of method precisely.

Ling Han had to cause some damage.

There were two options. One was to take all the humans into the Black Tower; without any “materials,” how was the other party to continue his studies? Or the second one, which was to launch a sneak attack on this old geezer. The greatest taboo during seclusion was to be disturbed by others.

But would merely Ninth Lotus Tier’s strength be capable of disturbing a Heavenly Venerate?

No matter how he thought about it, it was delusional.

He had best take the first option.

Ling Han bid Zhi Kong farewell, and did not roam any further. Instead, he returned to his own place, waiting patiently.

A few days later, a sliver of the Heavenly Venerate Desolate Eternity’s divine sense descended!

Weng, a feeling of unease and anxiety instantly rose up in everyone’s heart. It was as if even their soul was trembling.

Ling Han understood internally. This was because Heavenly Venerable Tier was an existence that surpassed Regulations, yet what everyone was cultivating was precisely Regulations. Thus, when they encountered a Heavenly Venerate, they would be just like mice that had come upon a cat. Both sides were not even on the same level at all.

Ling Han was unafraid, because he, too, had once been an overlord of a realm, though it was not all that authentic, but at least he had still been a Pseudo-Heavenly Venerable Tier, and was no weaker in level. In fact, from a certain aspect, he had been the strongest of a small realm, while Heavenly Venerates were only several of the stronger existences in a large realm. In that aspect, he was more impressive.

A thought suddenly rose up in his mind. Why was it that a Heavenly Venerate could not produce another Heavenly Venerate from their teachings?

That was right. Being at the side of this Heavenly Venerable Tier, learning, and studying the aura of the Heavenly Venerate would indeed help one to become a Heavenly Venerate, but if it took too long, the majesty of this Heavenly Venerate would be subconsciously carved into their bones, and they would continue living in the former’s shadow.

Since that was the case, how were they then supposed to become Heavenly Venerates?

Hence, one could be close with a Heavenly Venerate, but the time period definitely could not be too long.

“Greetings, Master!”

“Greetings, Lord Desolate Eternity!”

Everyone bowed down. Though Ling Han was internally displeased, he still had to pretend for now, and thus bowed down with the three women following suit.

The divine sense of the Heavenly Venerate Desolate Eternity took the form of a Demon Race member. Because only Holy Beasts and Insect Race needed to take human form, the image that this sliver of divine sense took should be the original appearance of the Heavenly Venerate Desolate Eternity.

He was of very short build. In fact, his body was slightly stooped, with a single horn as black as ink growing from his head. Meanwhile, his skin was no different from any other Demon Race members, being as bright red as blood.

Merely appearance-wise, he really did not have the slightest outstanding trait. Celestial Kings would be entwined by various coloured clouds, but he was very ordinary, so average that others would forget him quickly after the first look.

But when his eyes swept over, Ling Han felt that his thought processes actually stopped, as if time itself was frozen. When he regained his wits, it was unknown how much time had already passed.

Perhaps it had only been an instant, or it might have been millions and millions of years.

In fact, Ling Han felt that even Small Tower had awoken, exuding a strong feeling of wariness.

The precious Tool of a Heavenly Venerate was actually afraid!

“I made some miscalculations. The Vitality Index of the original self of this living creature should be close to 16,000 points. The Heaven Deceiving Technique that I modified cannot deceive his original self, but thankfully this is just the wave created by a sliver of his divine sense.” Wally’s voice rang out.

‘F*ck!’

Ling Han almost wanted to strangle this guy. The latter’s slight mistake would cause him to lose his life.

The activation of the Black Tower would need time, and he would also need time to complete a thought, and this bit of time was enough for a Heavenly Venerate to kill him hundreds of millions of times over.

Who would have thought? Wally would actually have a moment when he could not be depended on.

Hold on, the Vitality Index of a Heavenly Venerate was 15,000 points, so what the heck did close to 16,000 mean?

Ling Han asked Wally through “encrypted” divine sense about this. “15,000 is Heavenly Venerable Tier, so what is 16,000? Great Heavenly Venerate?”

“Naturally Heavenly Venerate as well, just an even stronger Heavenly Venerate,” Wally replied unhurriedly. “Additionally, you are a pure living being, so the concealment of your spiritual fluctuation cannot compare to mine. Thus, it is best you do not speak to me, or you will increase the chances of being discovered, which will be as high as 32.57%.”

As expected, when his words fell, the eyes of the Heavenly Venerate Desolate Eternity turned over to him, and roamed over Ling Han’s face, seeming to be quite intrigued before then sliding past.

“You all”—the Heavenly Venerate Desolate Eternity’s eyes paused on the faces of Ling Han, Huai Jian, Xue Ge, Jing Zhongyue, and Xu Xing, respectively—”represent the most outstanding younger generation in the latest epoch of our realm. Today, I shall take you as disciples, and hope that you can advance further, reaching a height similar to mine.”

“Thank you for your training, Master!” the five of them answered simultaneously.

The Empress, Hu Niu, and Bewitching Maiden Rou were not qualified to become the disciples of the Heavenly Venerate Desolate Eternity. They were only here as Ling Han’s family.

The Desolate Eternity Heavenly Venerate nodded. “I do not like unnecessarily elaborate mannerisms. You all may just kowtow, and you will all be my disciples in the future.”

“Disciples pay respects to Lord Master!” Ling Han and the others all knelt down, and bowed. Only Ling Han was muttering internally when he did so. ‘Old geezer, I will bow down to you today, but you will have to return the favor in the future.’

The Heavenly Venerate Desolate Eternity smiled, and looked again at their five faces before saying, “Huai Jian is the first that I have set my eyes on, so he is naturally your senior brother, and becomes my 37th disciple.”

“Yes!” Huai Jian nodded respectfully.

“Xue Ge, you are the 38th disciple.”

“Yes.”

“Jing Zhongyue, you are the 39th disciple.”

“Understood!”

“Xu Xing, you are the 40th disciple.”

“Yes.”

“Ba…” Heavenly Venerate Desolate Eternity looked towards Ling Han. “You originally should’ve been 38th, but you have come together with Huai Jian. I did not deliberately manifest myself, so you will be counted as the youngest.”