Hugh No‑Return had no idea what the others were discussing; all he could feel was his cultivation surging higher and higher. With every breath, a vast, overwhelming power seemed to swell inside him.
In just this short time, his cultivation and strength had transformed beyond recognition. Now, if he wanted to send his Primordial Spirit soaring into the Heaven Palace, it would be almost effortless!
Who could have imagined he would become the first person in history to ascend to the Heaven Palace from a single fused treasury?
He quickly ran into his first problem after this breakthrough and hurriedly asked, "Celestial Teacher, how does one cultivate the Divine Bridge Realm?"
Old Farmer’s face flushed red, unable to say a word.
He didn’t have a Divine Bridge Treasury either, had never reached that realm, so naturally he didn’t know how to cultivate it. But his pride wouldn’t let him admit his ignorance in front of a junior.
After a moment, Old Farmer mumbled, "You should go ask Quinn and Victor Bloom about that..."
Hugh glanced over at Quinn and Victor, only to see the two young men huddled together, muttering and scribbling away.
He walked over, but couldn’t make heads or tails of their conversation.
Quinn and Victor were busy writing out the revised Innate World‑Bridge Tree Manual, each copying a version for themselves. As they wrote, new ideas kept popping up—they realized that the Five Luminaries, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Heaven‑Man, Life‑and‑Death, Divine Bridge and other realms could all be cultivated using the Innate World‑Bridge Tree Art.
However, the World‑Bridge Tree sapling needed to come in various sizes, so the technique required even more refinement.
Basically, each realm’s version of the Innate World‑Bridge Tree Art differed from the others.
And the higher the realm, the more dangerous the cultivation became.
By the time you reached the Life‑and‑Death Realm, only someone with Hugh’s level of physical body and Primordial Spirit could withstand it.
At the Divine Bridge Realm, trying to cultivate the Innate World‑Bridge Tree Art was almost impossible!
"I might have a way to solve this problem!"
Quinn’s eyes lit up as he thought of a possibility. "Raina Bear, Palace Mistress of True Heaven Palace in the Western Lands, has mastered the All‑Gods Natural Art—she can awaken the spirits of all things and control qi at a level where Dao becomes reality. If she could merge her true‑qi control methods into the World‑Bridge Tree, regulating the internal pressure, then the survival odds for Divine Bridge‑realm cultivators would increase dramatically."
Victor’s eyes also brightened and he laughed, "High Heaven Academy and True Heaven Palace are neighbors—I can go consult her anytime!"
The two of them threw themselves into research, completely ignoring the outside world. By the time they finished compiling the Innate World‑Bridge Tree Art for every realm, more than ten days had passed.
High Heaven Academy was now complete, its palaces stacked and clustered, corridors stretching across the sky. The Western girls, with their unique sense of beauty, had decorated the academy with a poetic, picturesque flair.
The papers Quinn and Victor had copied piled up like mountains—each realm’s technique was thick and substantial, and there were still plenty of unresolved details.
"Weren’t you planning to build High Heaven Academy, Victor? Let the students there work on patching up these realm‑specific techniques. It’ll be a good challenge for them."
Quinn stretched and laughed, "I promised Aurora Yates I’d go with her to visit Lady Umbral. It’s about time I left."
Victor looked a little reluctant. "If you could stay a few more days, we could come up with even more ideas. That way, High Heaven Academy would have even more unique things to attract Western students."
Quinn grinned, "You’ve still got Hugh here to teach martial arts, and Young Master Cyrus Qi is hiding out in High Heaven. If you drag him out, he’s got real skills too."
Victor shook his head. "Cyrus Qi is from the Outer Heavens—why would he help me build an academy?"
"He’s sworn brothers with Bruno the Dragon‑Qilin and with Tanner Shue. Take Bruno along and Cyrus won’t be able to refuse."
Victor was delighted and quickly looked at Bruno. "Then I’ll borrow you for a few days!"
Bruno’s heart leapt with joy, but he kept a straight face. "You can borrow me—but I expect three full meals a day. The Cult Master’s been starving me for days. I want my pay up front."
Victor grinned, "I know a thing or two about medicine and alchemy—you’ll be well taken care of."
Only then did Bruno the Dragon-Qilin relax. "If I ever go hungry again, I could just ask Victor Bloom for some rations. Victor’s easy to talk to—maybe I should try to become sworn brothers with him? If he agrees, I’ll have food for life…"
His eyes flickered, secretly plotting.
Old Farmer walked over, coughed, and said, "I’ll be staying here a few more days as well. Young Victor has done War-Ox Palace a huge favor, so I should show my gratitude. Victor has made great strides in divine arts and spells, but I see your physical cultivation still has some shortcomings. I’ll use these days to give you some guidance on body refinement."
Victor Bloom bowed in thanks and asked, "I do have some questions for you, senior. Cult Master Quinn has passed on the Ancestral Dragon Supreme-Mystic Art, Threefold Undying Mind, Seamless Creation Mystic Canon, and Indra King Buddha Scripture. I’ve studied and cultivated them, but for some reason my physical attainment is still inferior to Cult Master Quinn’s. Could you help me understand why?"
Quinn’s eyes flickered. He stopped, saying, "I just remembered—I can’t be without Bruno. Maybe I should stay a few more days too."
He was clearly angling to eavesdrop.
After all, Old Farmer was the Martial Celestial Teacher of the Pioneer Era, the number one martial force among the Celestial Teachers, and one of the few Emperor’s Throne-level beings of his time.
Even the Woodcutter Sage said that the Martial Celestial Teacher’s mastery of martial arts was unmatched—no one like him had appeared in millions of years.
If he could listen to Old Farmer’s teachings, he would surely benefit greatly.
Old Farmer shot him a glance and said, "You’ve already entered the Dao through martial arts. My path isn’t suitable for you—if you force yourself to learn it, you’ll only go astray. Off you go."