Chapter 154

After entering the Wang Fu and arriving at the reception hall,

Fang Can sat calmly in his seat, silent, eyes lowered, focusing inward, utterly unmoved by the surroundings.

He hadn't particularly wanted to come to this banquet, unless it was because the Prince of Qing and Jiang Ningan were related.

Now seeing this group of people acting like a gathering of radishes, he had even less interest in engaging them.

Yet though he remained quiet, those around him were all secretly sizing him up.

"That's Fang Can? He doesn't seem remarkable at all," a warrior whispered via Mind-to-Mind Transmission to his friend.

"Yeah, this guy doesn't look as arrogant as the legends say—he seems almost shy."

"Since you don't believe it, why not let Brother Ye test him?" whispered the warriors who had previously been defeated.

But as soon as they spoke, the warrior who had been dismissive waved his hand awkwardly: "Forget it, forget it—this is the Prince of Qing's territory; we shouldn't cause trouble."

With that Mind-to-Mind Transmission, the warriors around him suddenly began ignoring Fang Can entirely, and the atmosphere grew lively again.

The topics they discussed afterward were mostly martial secrets, each recounting interesting anecdotes they knew, gradually turning to the host of today's banquet.

"I heard the Prince of Qing is a Third Transformation powerhouse—do you know what kind of inheritance he inherited? Did he replicate the Great Expansion Divine Lord? Or did he abandon inheritance to strengthen his own martial path?" asked one warrior curiously.

Most Ascend to Heaven Path warriors choose their inheritance based on their master's lineage.

Simply put, if you lack extraordinary talent, you follow your master's established template.

Otherwise, you end up like Wang Peng—creating some bizarre, half-baked inheritance, barely scraping by as a First Transformation, only to be slain by Fang Can across a rank gap.

Even with identical inheritance keywords, the quality varies according to one's natural talent.

For example, the 【Power Multiplier】 inheritance, which enhances strength, comes in different tiers: onefold, threefold, fivefold, tenfold—the less talented can only obtain the ordinary white keyword.

"I heard the Prince of Qing's First Transformation inheritance is called 【Dodge】—an elite evasion technique."

A warrior with inside knowledge said: "As long as you dodge during the gap between your opponent's attacks, you can ignore that entire strike."

"For an ordinary Third Transformation warrior's move, the dodge window is roughly one-hundredth of a breath—just seize that one-hundredth-of-a-breath flaw, and you can evade most attacks."

"But when you ascend to the Ascend to Heaven Path, Brother Li, what kind of First Transformation inheritance will you choose?"

After discussing the Prince of Qing's inheritance, the young man nearby turned to a cold-faced youth.

This youth wore armor even inside the Wang Fu, his posture and bearing unmistakably military—clearly born into a general's family.

Hearing the questions, the youth did not hide his answer, speaking calmly:

"According to General Yang, the Imperial Guard vacancies are now full, so there's no need for inheritance to fill gaps—he told me to delay ascending to the Ascend to Heaven Path until an opening appears."

"Won't that put you at a disadvantage in the Grand Tournament?"

"There's no choice—obeying orders is my duty."

"Brother Li, don't be discouraged—you're just delaying your ascent to the Ascend to Heaven Path," said a youth holding a white wooden whip, frowning: "Unlike me—I've already entered the Ascend to Heaven Path and still don't have any inheritance."

"Brother Jiang, wait—your grandfather didn't still make you use that…?" The surrounding youths looked astonished, clearly aware of his family background.

"Yes," said the whip-wielding youth, frowning as he pulled from his robe a lump of iron. "Grandfather says the family craft must not be lost."

Fang Can, drawn in by their conversation, turned his gaze—and froze.

In the youth's hand was a lump of iron: a cylinder joined to a cone, with a round bead embedded beneath—it was unmistakably a spinning top.

"Since I could remember, Grandfather made me spin this iron top instead of just training—said I had to feel its pulse until I became one with the top. If I didn't spin it, he'd use me as the top and whip me."

"After practicing for over a decade, I still haven't felt any pulse—but my spinning skills have gotten incredibly refined. I can now spin it into a tornado."

The whip-wielding youth sighed bitterly: "Poor me, Jiang Kuangtuo, with such outstanding talent, forced to use my inheritance to upgrade a spinning top into a ritual artifact—imagine fighting enemies with a top. It'll make everyone laugh themselves to death."

"Stop complaining," said a nearby warrior, grimacing as he patted Jiang Kuangtuo's shoulder. "My family's bamboo-juggling lineage hasn't said a word either."

"Hah, spinning tops, bamboo juggling—what about my family? Ten generations of sole heirs in the cuju tradition!" sneered another warrior, holding a cuju ball. "Who's crying harder here?"

Compared to the Flesh Sublimation Realm's physical clashes, everyone fights using base stats and technique.

The Ascend to Heaven Path is like a class change—any cultivation system can form.

After all, all cultivation systems are reflections of the soul—nothing is impossible, only unimagined.

As long as your inner light is strong enough, even a system that grows stronger by eating shit can be born.

So seeing these warriors all wielding swords or blades, some of these abstract systems felt embarrassing to even mention—it's natural to feel frustrated.

Their ancestors ascended through skill, and their devotion to their path never faded, so they demand their descendants carry on the family craft.

Originally bored by this gathering, Fang Can now found their conversation intriguing—he felt this trip had been worth it, truly broadening his horizons.

After all, understanding these warriors' Ascend to Heaven Path systems in such depth could help him too.

He hadn't yet decided on the direction of his inner light, only had a vague idea.

From Fang Can's observation, the paths these warriors discussed after ascending to the Ascend to Heaven Path were wildly diverse: painting, reciting poetry, playing go, cuju, bamboo juggling, sword dancing, wielding staves—all of them.

And the reason they revealed these so openly was because of the Lingual Effect of inheritance.

Simply put, the more your opponent knows about your inheritance, the stronger your inheritance's power becomes—so most warriors don't mind revealing their inheritance details.

Added to that, everyone here was young and brash, with no intention of hiding anything.

And as they talked, amid the lively atmosphere, one warrior suddenly turned to Fang Can and asked:

"Brother Fang, what kind of inheritance will you choose for the Grand Tournament?"

"Me?" Fang Can paused, about to speak—when a distant herald cried: "The Prince of Qing arrives!"

At those words, all eyes turned to the door, where a dignified, regal man in a splendid python robe entered slowly from the steps—his appearance that of a man in his thirties.

(End of Chapter)