Son, Put Your Father To The Test (FF)

"Greetings, I am Qin Chuan. A pleasure to meet you all."

Qin Chuan cupped his hands in greeting, a friendly smile on his face. Most of the time, he was quite amiable.

"Ah, greetings, greetings."

"So, you're Qin Chuan? I've heard you're the strongest cultivator of this era. Now that I see you, the rumors seem true."

"A hero among the youth indeed."

As the saying goes, it's hard to be hostile to someone who comes bearing a smile. Seeing Qin Chuan being so courteous, the others responded politely as well.

Of course, the main reason for this mutual respect was that everyone present was of similar strength—there wasn't much difference in their status.

Qin Chuan smiled and asked, "This ancient monument seems quite extraordinary. May I ask what its purpose is?"

"Hmm, this Creation Monument is said to have been left by the founder of Xuanhuang Heaven. It contains numerous legacies, and if you're fortunate, you might be able to gain a powerful inheritance from it," someone explained.

"And if you're not fortunate?" Qin Chuan inquired.

"If you're unlucky, it's said... you might face great calamity, tied to immense karmic consequences," an elder responded.

Qin Chuan's eyes lit up!

But outwardly, he maintained his calm and asked, "Since there's a risk of calamity, why are you all so eager to approach it? Aren't you worried that poor luck might entangle you in this great karma?"

"Hahaha, you jest."

A middle-aged man chuckled and shook his head.

"The founder of Xuanhuang Heaven wouldn't harm future generations on purpose. The so-called calamity is only a danger for the excessively greedy."

"Over countless years, our predecessors from Xuanhuang Heaven have figured out certain patterns."

"As long as you only seek inheritance from the Creation Monument once, there's generally no risk. But if you delve into it again and again, trying to extract more, then you might get caught in the web of karma."

"According to some great figures' deductions, the Creation Monument likely contains a space similar to Hell, where countless souls are trapped—perhaps even an entire era was buried there!"

"The legacies we receive from the monument are essentially extracted from these damned souls."

"If you only interact with it once, the monument's inherent magic prevents any issues. But if you extract multiple times, a connection forms between your soul and the tormented spirits."

"The end result is that some terrifying souls might follow this connection, like crawling up a chain from Hell, to kill the person and take their place!"

The others nodded in agreement.

A young man, recalling something, sighed and said, "I've actually witnessed this happen before. It was to one of my senior brothers. The first time he tried the Creation Monument, he only learned a basic stick-fighting technique. He wasn't satisfied, so he kept trying—and that's when things went wrong."

"One of those souls took over his body, killed his divine soul, and wreaked havoc within our sect, murdering many fellow disciples."

"It was only when our patriarch discovered the soul and, at great personal cost, managed to destroy it that the situation was resolved."

"Later, a great figure from Xuanhuang Heaven came to investigate and said that it was just an ordinary soul, but its strength was comparable to a Heavenly God. Moreover, their cultivation system seems to differ from ours."

Upon hearing this, everyone grew even more wary.

At this moment, the ancient monument had fully emerged from the gray vortex, floating in the air and radiating a brilliant light.

"Back in the day, whenever the Creation Monument appeared, countless cultivators would gather. People would fight for even the slightest advantage in position. But now, it's just us—far fewer conflicts."

An elder sighed nostalgically.

"Yes, in those times, we might not have even qualified to view the Creation Monument from this close."

"Fate has been kind."

The others echoed in agreement, and soon, everyone spread out, starting to comprehend the monument's secrets.

Indeed, there were no conflicts.

When resources are plentiful, there's no struggle for survival, and without competition for resources, no one seeks conflict.

Qin Chuan also began to focus on the monument.

Buzz!

His spiritual energy entered the Creation Monument, and immediately, he felt himself transported to a gray, misty space.

Nothing was visible.

It was like fishing in the dark.

Soon, something seemed to connect with his spiritual energy, and when he retracted it...

A glowing text appeared, brought out by the thread of his spiritual energy. Concentrating, he saw it was a fragment.

"One Thought Eternal?!"

Qin Chuan's eyes widened, for he had previously obtained a fragment of this technique from Emperor Hou Tu.

The one from Hou Tu had been the upper volume.

And now, this one was the middle volume!

Only the lower volume remained to complete the full "One Thought Eternal." Once complete, he'd essentially gain countless extra lives.

Once he had it all, he could create a technique to spread. As long as people practiced it, he could always come back to life!

"Who would've thought I'd get this lucky."

Qin Chuan took a deep breath, tempted to try again. After all, repeated insights likely come from the same soul, and this one might still have the lower volume!

But he held back.

Taking risks wasn't worth it.

If he were a lone wanderer, taking a gamble might be fine, but... he was a father!!

If something happened to him, who would take care of his son? A boy all alone in the world—that would be far too cruel.

So.

This kind of risky venture... was obviously for his son to handle!

"System, can you lock onto this soul? I want to extract more from it," Qin Chuan asked quietly.

Ding! "Due to the immense power of the Creation Monument's rules, modifying them would require a massive amount of Father Points."

The system replied.

"How much is massive?"

Qin Chuan asked.

Ding! "You can't afford it."

The system replied calmly.

Qin Chuan froze. His mouth twitched as he growled internally, "That's a bit insulting, isn't it?!"

He had thought his five million Father Points were enough to let him do anything, but reality had just dumped cold water on him.

After thinking for a bit, he felt more at ease.

What are Father Points?

Father Points are essentially the value of Lu Chong.

Now that Father Points are based on Lu Chong's worth, a single Father Point equals the value of Lu Chong.

But this Creation Monument was left by the founder of Xuanhuang Heaven! To an exalted figure of that level, what's Lu Chong worth?

No matter how much Lu Chong, it wouldn't be enough!

"This currency is severely devalued. With the changing environment, inflation has occurred. I may seem to have a lot of Father Points, but they've lost their value—they're not as solid as they used to be."

Qin Chuan pondered using his knowledge of finance.

As far as he knew, inflation is essentially a wealth grab by the currency issuer from those who hold the currency.

In other words.

If he continued to rely on Father Points linked to Lu Chong's value, the system would keep taking advantage of him!

So he asked, "System, can I change the base value for Father Points? Make them independent of Lu Chong?"

The system was silent for a moment.

It seemed reluctant to answer.

But ultimately, it seemed bound by internal protocols and responded, Ding! "In theory, it's possible."

I knew it!!

Qin Chuan's face twitched.

How much was this sneaky system hiding from him? Would it never tell him anything unless he explicitly asked?

This system wanted to embezzle!!

"How do I change the base value of Father Points?" Qin Chuan inquired.

Ding! "When your son slaps down a genius, you can reset the base value. However, the system kindly advises that waiting until your son reaches the Divine Realm before making the change will yield better returns."

The system answered.

"Then I'll wait."

Qin Chuan sighed, deciding to put this matter aside for now. The current priority was to let Qin Zi try his luck with the Creation Monument.

Whoosh!

A shadow of his inner world appeared behind him, and with a flash of light, Qin Zi emerged.