Chapter Ten: Opportunity Waits for No One

The wind roared past their ears, yet even its fierce gusts couldn’t dispel the awkwardness lingering in the air.

Zhu Qianqing pressed tightly against Shen Wan, her head buried in his back, her face flushed scarlet. She had wanted to say something, but her throat was dry; in the end, she chose silence. In such a state, it was best not to speak.

Of course, Lin Bufan was the most bewildered of all. Perhaps he had lost too much blood, leaving his brain starved for oxygen and his consciousness in utter confusion.

But Shen Wan was different; in his heart, another tiny red blossom bloomed...

“Uh... let’s get through this first before we talk,” he stammered awkwardly.

After a long pause, Zhu Qianqing murmured a barely audible assent.

Lin Bufan, meanwhile, remained lost in a state of “Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?”, mindless and dazed.

Pulling the other two with all his strength, the trio presented an even more bizarre scene as they shuffled forward—pressed together, step by slow step.

Nearby disciples cursed under their breath.

“Are they... huddling together for warmth? Is that even allowed?”

“Third brother, go fetch second brother—let’s try it ourselves!”

“Screw off!”

“Those two are direct disciples of the elders, aren’t they? Who’s the one in the middle? So lucky!”

“Is this the glorious act of abandoning all worldly judgment and embracing a love triangle?”

“This is so damn melodramatic! I swear I'll copy the phrase ‘dripping with drama’ a hundred times when I get home—no, five hundred times!”

“How can the woman in the middle act like this?! Can we swap her out for me? I’ll pay!”

“……”

The disciples’ chatter was drowned by the howling wind.

Zhu Qianqing and Lin Bufan couldn’t hear, but Shen Wan could.

“Love triangle? Your whole family’s a love triangle!” he grumbled internally, yet he kept his grip on Lin Bufan’s robe, fearing that if he let go, both would be plunged into danger.

At last, the stone gate drew near.

Shen Wan’s arms were down to their last remnants of muscle memory; if not for his rigid fingers, he would have let go long ago.

With a crash, all three tumbled together through the stone gate.

Shen Wan sprawled on the ground like a corpse; not only his arms, but even his legs—having dragged the others all the way—were now half-useless.

Zhu Qianqing pressed his shoulder hard, shoving Lin Bufan off her back, then quickly darted more than ten feet away before she steadied herself.

Her face was red, her silver teeth clacked with suppressed anger. Though she’d been the safest along the way, she still wanted to stab Shen Wan twice—or better yet, stab the guy behind her.

They’d been walking fine, but he just had to join in. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, stomping her foot and twisting away, refusing to look at the two sprawled on the ground.

But what could she do? The one lying there was also a direct disciple...

As for Lin Bufan, he was now lying flat on his back, a burning pain shooting across his spine. He quickly rolled over, and his mind cleared a bit.

He had stood on the outer edge, and Shen Wan’s arms weren’t long enough to protect his back. Now, his back was a mess.

Feeling blood seeping from his wounds, he hurriedly swallowed some pills, then took a few more, and began channeling his inner energy to accelerate the healing process.

Soon, the bleeding stopped—it was only a surface wound, after all, and healed quickly.

Meanwhile, sensation returned to Shen Wan’s limbs; as the two exhaled and inhaled, they both managed to stand up.

Lin Bufan looked at Shen Wan, his gaze hesitant, but finally spoke:

“Um… Brother Shen…”

Seeing Lin Bufan about to speak, Shen Wan hurriedly interrupted.

“Let’s not rush this. We’ll talk about it later.”

He thought Lin Bufan was about to question him about sneaking out; honestly, Shen Wan had no real excuse ready.

But as it turned out, Lin Bufan wanted to ask something else entirely.

---

“No, that’s not it—I wanted to ask…” He gestured vaguely with his hands, fumbling for words, before finally voicing his question.

“How did you do it?”

“What do you mean, how did I do it?”

Shen Wan immediately realized what he was being asked, but played dumb.

Lin Bufan was speechless, but pointed out at the raging tornado beyond the gate, articulating carefully:

“How did you… bring us through?”

“Hmm…” Shen Wan pretended to ponder, then stood up, put his hands behind his back, and said solemnly,

“Well, since childhood I’ve practiced a powerful technique. My master told me it’s called the Ultimate Invincible Shield—The Strongest Support Skill. As long as I have mana, I can resist any external harm.”

A question mark hovered above Lin Bufan’s head; Zhu Qianqing had two.

“Mana… what’s that?”

Shen Wan replied calmly,

“Oh, it’s just a private term between me and my master. Mana is actually what you call spiritual energy.”

“I see.”

Lin Bufan seemed to contemplate this.

Looking at Lin Bufan’s blood-stained robe, Shen Wan went on with his fabrication:

“See, you’ve lost a lot of blood; in our terms, your ‘red’ is about depleted.”

“Red?”

Lin Bufan was confused, muttering, “Red… mana…”

Meanwhile, Zhu Qianqing furrowed her brow; Shen Wan’s explanation made some sense but still felt off.

Suddenly, Lin Bufan slapped his thigh and exclaimed,

“I get it! You’re a restriction master, aren’t you?”

He pointed at Shen Wan, startling him.

“What? Now I’m a restriction master? What’s that? So all my explanations were pointless?”

His fingers trembled, and Lin Bufan’s heart was stirred.

The Ten Prisons Tower was left by the founder of the sect, and each trial within was composed of countless restrictions. These weren’t illusions born of willpower; the attacks were real.

When the founder passed away, he was not only highly cultivated but had mastered restriction techniques to the level of Grandmaster.

Only disciples below the Foundation stage could enter the Ten Prisons Tower.

If Shen Wan wasn’t a restriction master, even if he knew celestial techniques, he couldn’t act so freely within the tower.

So, Shen Wan must be a restriction master—definitely!

Lin Bufan was convinced, though puzzled—could Shen Wan, at his age, really be a restriction grandmaster?

Restriction masters were rare in the entire Sealed Heaven Realm.

Grandmaster Lun Ye, the valley’s foremost restriction master, was among the most respected figures on the continent, head of the Night family, one of the four great clans—status, prestige, and cultivation all unmatched.

Elder Bai Sheng, though less famed, matched Lun Ye in cultivation; if the two ever faced off, no one could predict the outcome.

Lian Shiping, at the peak of master level, would soon become a grandmaster. She was a prodigy of the Lian family, aunt to Lian Daihe, the sect’s genius.

Though not as attractive as Lian Daihe.

Lian Daihe was truly beautiful—I really liked her, uh…

Watching Lin Bufan sink into contemplation, Shen Wan swallowed nervously.

It seemed his bluff hadn’t fooled this guy after all. Was he really going to admit he was a spiritless cultivator?

Just then, Zhu Qianqing pointed at both men and asked softly,

“Aren’t you both disciples under the Grand Elder? Don’t you know each other?”

Golden-patterned blue robes, insignias of the spell pavilion—only direct disciples could wear them. Were they just putting on a double act?

Shen Wan scratched his head sheepishly,

“Um… the clothes are his.”

He pointed at Lin Bufan, avoiding both their gazes.

Inside the stone gate, the three pointed at each other—like a scene from an undercover drama, only with one extra character.

Shen Wan almost wanted to declare,

“Sorry, I’m the mole…”

---

Perhaps he’d inherited the talent of his high school principal, for in the ensuing time, Shen Wan sketched a grand—if rough—blueprint in his mind, then launched into the most shameless spiel in history.

He claimed, for example, that cameras were magical devices for transmitting images; that surveillance lenses were divine tools for observation; that microphones could amplify sound without inner energy; that electric rods carried innate elemental attacks; that phones could access any information or spell for study.

He explained big data, calculus, gasoline, why dogs eat excrement…

In short, Shen Wan came from a world utterly beyond their comprehension.

There, artifact crafting had reached its zenith, spell inheritance was awe-inspiring, and he could break the tower’s restrictions only because he possessed an ancient divine item—

The Universal Key.

After more than half an hour of relentless persuasion, the two alternated between confusion and nodding. Though their minds remained foggy, Shen Wan’s eloquence was so convincing it was impossible not to believe.

At last, Shen Wan finished his tale, wiped his brow, and his heart raced. He felt he’d gone a bit overboard.

But the two stood there, stunned, unmoving for a long moment, until Lin Bufan drew a deep breath, finally returning from the world Shen Wan had described.

Looking at the enigmatic man before him, Lin Bufan clasped his hands solemnly,

“Though I do not know if Brother Shen is truly from beyond this realm, hearing your words has opened my mind. Until now, I was narrow-hearted, a frog at the bottom of a well. For this, Brother Shen, I offer you my respects.”

Zhu Qianqing, hearing this, quickly bowed to Shen Wan as well.

Seeing their reverent expressions, Shen Wan covered his eyes.

“They really bought it…”

Having finally convinced them, he couldn’t let them come back to their senses. Seizing the moment, Shen Wan cleared his throat and said,

“In that case, let’s continue.”

“Continue? Continue what?” Lin Bufan was puzzled.

“Climb the tower, of course. Aren’t you going up?”

Lin Bufan shook his head, self-deprecating.

“With my cultivation, reaching this point is already my limit. Going further, I’d only glimpse the next prison at most.”

“You have me—what are you afraid of?”

Shen Wan stepped beside him, patting his shoulder.

“Come, I’ll show you how cold it is at the heights.”

Lin Bufan paused, then sighed,

“Better not. If I obtain fortune by relying on others, isn’t that cheating? It’s not mine to claim, and even if I do, I’ll be uneasy.”

“What’s wrong with relying on others? We haven’t known each other long, but this bond is also a form of strength. Why don't I help anyone else? Besides, fortune doesn’t depend on cultivation. If you don’t dare to face it even once, how do you know it’s not yours?”

Shen Wan’s words left Lin Bufan momentarily stunned; he bowed his head in silence.

The founder had left treasures and pills at the summit of the Ten Prisons Tower; among them, it was rumored, was a Grade Three Earth Pill—the Fusion Pill—which could fuse bone veins if taken before tribulation, vastly enhancing the chances of advancement.

Yet, no one had ever reached the tower’s peak all these years; Lin Bufan wasn’t sure if the legend was true.

But if given a chance to uncover the truth, would he dare to take it?

Shen Wan watched Lin Bufan’s silence, his gaze shifting; then he placed a hand on his shoulder and declared,

“Opportunity never waits for anyone. Seize it, and it’s yours!”

A flash of light crossed his eyes; Lin Bufan’s pupils contracted. He turned to look at Shen Wan.

Clear eyes, within which hope seemed to shine.

In the quiet chamber, the sound of a single drop could be heard; heartbeats steadied.

Lin Bufan seemed to understand. Suddenly, he swept his sleeve and looked to the top of the stone steps.

“Let’s go! To the summit!”