Chapter 236: Dean's Favor

"You are called Ye Liuyun? How old are you?"

The Dean asked kindly, showing no sign of being a martial arts master at all.

"Yes, disciple Ye Liuyun, I am sixteen this year," Ye Liuyun answered respectfully.

Facing such a down‑to‑earth master, he dared not show any hint of neglect.

"Show me your strongest punch to the sky," the Dean said with a smile.

"Yes." Immediately, Ye Liuyun employed the third move of Overbearing Heaven Fist, Thunder‑Fire Opening Heaven, using twenty percent of his Bloodline Power.

After taking the Bone‑Cleansing Pill and breaking through his realm, his Physical Body strength and True Essence surged exponentially. The power of this punch nearly doubled, and where the fist passed, it almost erased the space itself!

And the True Essence he consumed dropped to only ten percent.

The Dean watched him deliver the punch, nodded with satisfaction, and then asked, "When did your Bloodline Power awaken? What realm were you in at that time?"

"Sir Dean, about a year and a half ago," Ye Liuyun said somewhat embarrassed. "My realm was Body Refining Third Level at the time." Reaching Body Refining Third Level at fourteen was indeed nothing to brag about.

The Dean, instead of mocking him, praised him. "In just a year and a half you cultivated to Sixth Sea Transformation; your Bloodline Power is remarkable! Do you know what bloodline it is?"

Ye Liuyun could only shake his head and say, "Disciple does not know what bloodline it is. No one in my family possesses such a bloodline. I checked the Library but found no match! Dean, do you know?" He could not reveal his War‑God bloodline, so he pretended to be clueless.

The Dean looked at the Grand Elder, who also shook his head.

Then he bowed his head in thought for a moment before saying, "I have not seen many top‑tier bloodlines. I don't know what yours is. But it is certainly not an ordinary bloodline; at least it is a Saint Rank bloodline inheritance."

"Saint Rank?" Ye Liuyun asked, a little confused.

The Dean smiled and explained, "Bloodline Power is roughly divided into three grades: the lowest is Mortal Rank, then Saint Rank, Spirit Grade, followed by Venerable Rank; it is said that above Venerable Rank lies Divine Rank, but that is beyond our reach.

In our academy, most disciples have Mortal Rank bloodlines. Saint Rank bloodlines number only one or two, and they are all lower‑grade Saint Rank. As for your bloodline, even if it is Saint Rank, it should be upper‑grade or even supreme."

It was Ye Liuyun's first time hearing about bloodline grades, so he could only listen attentively.

Afterward, the Dean said directly, "Since I summoned you, I won't let you come empty‑handed. I have something to give you. Come with me."

Immediately, the Dean rose and led Ye Liuyun toward the house's back courtyard, while the Grand Elder remained seated, drinking tea, and did not follow.

The Dean's residence back courtyard opened onto a lake, with a pavilion in the middle. Inside the pavilion was empty except for a meditation cushion on the floor.

"The cushion in that pavilion is a prized treasure of our Holy Martial Academy. Go to the pavilion and sit on the cushion to meditate. I will give you seven days to cultivate; when the time is up, you will automatically return here. Whether you can reach the pavilion and how much you comprehend after cultivation depends on you."

As he spoke, the Dean gave him a demonstration.

He didn't see the Dean use any True Essence; the Dean simply lifted a foot and stepped directly into the pavilion's center, then took a single step back.

But the Dean's aura of seeming integration with Heaven and Earth stirred Ye Liuyun's heart.

Then the Dean smiled at him and suddenly vanished before his eyes.

"Uh... it sounds pretty hard to reach that pavilion! This Dean is so stingy, giving something but adding a test."

Ye Liuyun thought of this and tried the Lingkong Art to enter the pavilion directly. Unexpectedly, he instantly passed to the opposite shore, bypassing the pavilion.

He tried again, using even less force, yet he still returned to the original spot.

"Huh? This is really strange!" Ye Liuyun sighed inwardly.

Then he walked on water, stepping toward the pavilion step by step. Though he walked far, the distance to the pavilion seemed unchanged.

Looking back, he realized he had only moved a single step away.

Immediately, he retreated, and a single step took him back to the shore.

"This pavilion cannot be reached by brute force," he thought to himself.

He activated his Golden Pupil, surveyed the pavilion and lake, and found both shrouded by a Formation. A surge of Heaven and Earth Power enveloped the area.

"To enter the pavilion, one must first break through this Heaven and Earth Power's restraint!" he thought.

Next, he ceased reckless attempts and sat down to feel the Dean's single step.

"How does an ordinary single step break the Heaven and Earth Power's restraint?"

In his Sea of Consciousness, Ye Liuyun dissected each of the Dean's movements, studied them carefully, and used his Soul's power to simulate.

Suddenly, the Ten Thousand Gods Command also released that Heaven and Earth Power, allowing him to contemplate.

In his Sea of Consciousness, he fully simulated an identical lake and pavilion, and his Soul performed various trials.

"Unity of Heaven and Man!"

After the simulation, Ye Liuyun suddenly reached a conclusion.

This Heaven and Earth Power cannot be broken by force; only by merging with it can one be free of its constraints.

He suddenly recalled that during the martial contest in Fengyang City, Mo Tianheng's technique gave a sense of Unity of Heaven and Man, as if merging with nature.

"Yes, that's the feeling."

Ye Liuyun immediately struck with his palm, grasping that Unity of Heaven and Man, merging his own power into Heaven and Earth, driving its force.

At first he had to release a large amount of True Essence to drive the surrounding Heaven and Earth Power, then the amount gradually diminished.

In the end, his entire aura almost contracted completely; every movement seemed to merge with this Heaven and Earth.

He now stood at the lake's edge, but without close inspection, no one could see a person there, as if he had already blended into the scenery.

"Not bad! The Dean also possesses this feeling." Feeling the shift in the space around him, Ye Liuyun rose and tried again

But he kept his eyes closed, fully using his Soul's power to sense his integration with Heaven and Earth.

Since he had already merged with this realm, he should be able to appear wherever he thought, without needing to step.

Ye Liuyun made no stepping motion; his figure already appeared at the pavilion's center.

Immediately, he did not stop, but expanded himself to fill the entire space, then vanished within this Heaven and Earth.

Ye Liuyun's Soul also sensed a vague, ethereal feeling. He now was the lake itself, no longer having a Physical Body concept.

That startled him, and instantly his form reappeared at the pavilion's center.

Feeling his body return, he felt a little more at ease.

"What technique is this?" Ye Liuyun wondered.

Yet this feeling lets him command Heaven and Earth's power, strengthening his attacks, and granting deeper insight into space.

Studying never does any harm.

Thinking of that, he sat down directly on the cushion and began to cultivate.