Chapter 86: I have a suggestion

He didn’t stop her. Ye Ruohuo’s decision would greatly benefit the Ancient Covenant.

The dedicated teaching of a True Core expert would undoubtedly cultivate a group of exceptional talents.

“This generation of young ones is indeed fortunate,” Zhang Shen joked.

“Aren’t you doing the same thing, Leader?” Ye Ruohuo replied with a wink. “From Li Zhi, Zhang Xuenin, to Zhang Huiling. Although not many, you’ve been nurturing the next generation in your own way.”

Zhang Shen nodded. “But I mostly do it in passing and can only cultivate a few with talent.”

His main focus was on his own cultivation, and the rest of his time was dedicated to the affairs of the Ancient Covenant, leaving very little time to train the younger generation.

“I intend to take on three personal disciples. One from the Lin family, one from the other families within the Ancient Covenant, and one from the commoner disciples,” Ye Ruohuo said.

The Zhang, Lin, and Ye families had been allies for generations, intermarrying frequently. Now, both the Zhang and Ye families had their pillars of support, but the Lin family was somewhat weaker. Although the Lin family had grown several times larger than before, they still lacked a True Core cultivator.

By reserving one disciple spot for the Lin family, Ye Ruohuo was reaffirming the bond between the three families and extending a helping hand.

The remaining spots would provide balance.

Currently, the Ancient Covenant consisted mainly of family martial artists and commoner martial artists. Though the number of commoner martial artists was increasing, they were still considerably weaker compared to the family martial artists.

However, Zhang Shen had always intended to elevate commoner martial artists to balance the factions within the Ancient Covenant.

Understanding this, Ye Ruohuo naturally wouldn’t disrupt his plans.

“Additionally, I plan to take on a dozen named disciples for further training.”

Training disciples was a task that required significant effort. But with Ye Ruohuo no longer focusing her energy on martial arts due to her limited future prospects, she had ample time to nurture more talents.

Zhang Shen pondered for a moment, “Master Ye, since you’re keen on nurturing the next generation, I have a suggestion. I wonder if you’d be willing to hear it.”

“Oh?” Seeing Zhang Shen’s serious expression, Ye Ruohuo knew it wasn’t a trivial matter.

“Go ahead, Leader.”

“Master Ye, you should be aware that decades ago, I implemented early childhood education with a strong hand, providing free education for children under the Ancient Covenant. We didn’t teach martial arts but focused on literacy and various knowledge to fill gaps in different fields. The investment was significant, but the results have been remarkable. Over the years, the Ancient Alliance’s prosperity owes much to the talents nurtured through this program.”

Ye Ruohuo nodded, recalling the small stir it had caused at the time.

“The first few batches of these educated children, upon growing up and earning money, sought martial arts manuals as their first priority. They knew their own prospects were limited, but they had children and a next generation to consider. This is also why the number of commoner martial artists has been increasing in recent years. But with their foundation, these commoner martial artists generally don’t achieve much. Even those with potential don’t go very far. If they want to catch up, it would take several generations of relentless effort and accumulation. But I don’t want to wait that long,” Zhang Shen said earnestly, looking at Ye Ruohuo.

“Therefore, could I ask Master Ye to pay extra attention to the talented individuals among the commoner martial artists when recruiting named disciples?”

Implementing widespread martial arts education was still unrealistic. Zhang Shen couldn’t withstand the internal and external backlash. He had to proceed step by step.

This suggestion surprised Ye Ruohuo.

She had planned to take on one commoner martial artist as a personal disciple to align with Zhang Shen’s vision. But recruiting more commoner disciples for training?

She hadn’t considered that.

Given the commoner martial artists’ backgrounds, nurturing them would require significantly more effort, and in some respects, the return on investment wouldn’t compare to training family martial artists.

But seeing Zhang Shen’s seriousness, Ye Ruohuo couldn’t help but ponder deeply.

“Leader, I can’t make a decision on this right away. Could you give me some time to consider it?”

“Of course, Master Ye. There’s no rush. Let me know once you’ve decided.”

Ye Ruohuo felt hesitant. She had originally thought Zhang Shen merely wanted to use commoner martial artists to balance the influence of family martial artists, but now she sensed that he might have higher hopes for the commoners.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have made this suggestion.

If it were just for balance, the current approach was already quite good.

“It looks like I need to find some time to walk among the common people,” Ye Ruohuo mused, curious about what Zhang Shen saw in them.

***

In the unexplored depths of the Abyssal Sea, a dark red flesh ball, resembling a floating stone, drifted silently with the current.

Suddenly, a corpse vulture flew out of the mist—an undead creature similar to a bone demon, mindless and vicious, craving flesh and blood.

With a shrill cry, the corpse vulture swooped down on the flesh ball, its crimson eyes gleaming with cruelty.

However, as the vulture approached, the once-quiet flesh ball sprouted numerous muscle-like tentacles, ensnaring the vulture.

This sudden change terrified the vulture, which struggled and shrieked desperately. But it couldn’t escape the sticky tentacles gripping it. Amid its cries, the flesh ball devoured it.

Half a day later, a large hand, covered in slime, emerged from the flesh ball, followed by Lin Fanyun.

Standing naked, he stretched and moved his body, feeling a rush of joy.

“Having a body feels great.”

He had had enough of the inconvenience of being just a head.

“Luckily, I haven’t encountered any monsters like the Yin Shadow in the past six months. In my state, even hiding wouldn’t have helped.”

Instead, he had encountered numerous monsters like the corpse vultures, all of which became meals for Lin Fanyun.

Raising his hand, a blood flame ignited on the flesh ball, burning it to ashes.

Now that he had regenerated, it was useless to him. He had drained it of all its nutrients.

“However, all the heavenly materials and earthly treasures I’ve consumed over the past six months have been entirely converted into bodily strength to repair my physical body, resulting in almost no advancement in my body’s level.”

It felt like a wasted six months.

“On the other hand, my main body has reached the fourth level of the True Core stage in martial cultivation. The Divine Concealment is already perfected, and with the added concealment techniques for the body, even if faced with a Law Manifestation expert, as long as they aren’t in the middle or late stages, they wouldn’t be able to see through my disguise. They can only see the third level of True Core cultivation that I reveal. This has increased my safety significantly.”

And that wasn’t the only good news.

During the six months of drifting as a flesh ball, Lin Fanyun had fortuitously discovered an island.

At that moment, he was overjoyed.

In his estimation, as long as the island’s spiritual energy wasn’t abundant, it could become his safest haven in the unexplored zone.

He initially wanted to go directly to the island, but from a distance, he detected signs of life on the island, and there were quite a few of them.

This set off alarms in his mind.

After careful consideration, he decided not to land immediately. Instead, he lingered around the island, waiting for his body to fully recover while scouting to see if there were any other islands nearby. Unfortunately, he didn’t find anything—not even a rock.

“I have no other choice. The unexplored zone is too dangerous. Only the island can give me peace of mind.”

Lin Fanyun didn’t want to continue drifting. Who knew if his luck would hold?

If he encountered another monster he couldn’t handle, it would be the end of him.

In just these six months, he had encountered numerous terrifyingly powerful monsters. If it weren’t for the fact that he had kept his distance and perfected the art of playing dead, he would have been doomed long ago.

He pulled out an old magical artifact, a mulberry robe, from his storage bag and wrapped his naked body in it. With his weathered and mature face, he instantly looked like a seasoned sailor who had braved countless storms at sea.

Thinking back to that time in the giant waves, to protect the ten-odd storage bags filled with various resources, Lin Fanyun had stuffed them all into his mouth.

Even though his physical body was destroyed, he had managed to keep those bags safe.

“With these resources, even if my body is destroyed ten times, I have the means to rebuild it.”

This vast wealth was painstakingly acquired through his efforts and was crucial for his future rapid advancements. Because these resources were so important, he spared no expense to preserve them.

At that time, his life-bound magical treasure was also being cultivated in one of the storage bags.

Thinking about this, Lin Fanyun touched the small vine bracelet coiled around his right hand. Several dark brown beads hung from it, looking like fruits borne by the vine. But upon closer inspection, one could see that these dark brown beads were actually enveloped by tendrils extending from the vine.

Looking even more closely, the dark brown resembled the color of blood and flesh condensed to an extreme degree.

With a slight movement of his hand, the ferocious aura of Voracious Devourer naturally receded. Otherwise, its ferocious and violent aura would be far too conspicuous.

From a distance, Lin Fanyun saw powerful, cautious humanoid beings fishing along the island’s edge.

“They have wings. Are they from the Feathered Clan?”

Lin Fanyun wasn’t surprised. In the vast and boundless Great Wildernes, encountering any kind of race wouldn’t be unexpected.

He avoided this area and flew around the island.

Calling it an island was an understatement. It wasn’t any smaller than a continent on Earth from his previous life.

After flying for a while, Lin Fanyun landed at a cliffside.

“Indeed, the inhabitants here are all Feathered Clan,” he noted as he felt a surge at his back.

Mimicking the structure he had observed in the Feathered Clan members, a wing bone broke through his skin. In no time, a pair of small wings appeared on his back.

“All form, no substance,” Lin Fanyun critiqued his transformation.

With his Body Manipulation divine technique, he could easily take on the appearance of various races, but it was just a facade, lacking the corresponding bloodline powers.

“Maybe when my physical level reaches a higher stage, I might be able to harness the bloodline powers of various races.”

Amused by his own thought, he walked towards the shore, where several Feathered Clan members were fishing. They were all powerful beings, ranging from the Acquired to the True Core stage, though there were no Dharma Phase experts present.

“Understanding this island begins with them,” Lin Fanyun thought.

The absence of Law Manifestation experts meant that these Feathered Clan members, who were at most at the True Core stage, couldn’t detect the hidden Lin Fanyun.

For example, right now, Lin Fanyun, who had bent light and concealed all his aura, was standing directly in front of the Feathered Clan members without being noticed. They continued working energetically.

With a swift move, Lin Fanyun silently broke the restrictions on a Acquired warrior’s storage bag at his waist and retrieved something resembling a book.

After reading it, he put it back and took out another.

He repeated this process, openly engaging in his act of snooping.