The elderly man took down the tea leaves and started boiling water.
As Ye An sat properly, neither side spoke, unsure of what to say.
The hot water wasn't boiling yet.
The old man looked at Ye An and smiled, asking, "Do you think your life so far has been bitter?"
Ye An shook his head, saying, "I am very fortunate."
The old man continued, "Despite losing close family members and facing many adversities, how can you call that fortunate?"
Ye An's eyes revealed a trace of reminiscence before he answered, "My talents allow me to see many things clearly."
"I remember once when I went to the pharmacy to buy medicine for my grandfather, there was a woman in front of me doing the same. She kept asking if there were cheaper alternatives that were just as effective."
"I noticed a patch on her bag with a childish cartoon sticker. Her hands were rough, as if soaked in water for a long time, wrinkled. I guessed she was a swimming pool maintenance worker."
"She had a daughter who had a serious illness, but she couldn't afford better medication."
"This was such a difficult moment."
"My life has never experienced such moments, except for my grandfather. None of my other close relatives suffered hardships and died. My father was a respected martyr with many friends."
"None of us have lived a life like that woman."
"With my slow vision, I have seen many people similar to that woman, including Liu Dahuo."
"If I'm not mistaken, the reason he is so committed to refining people is to revive his son, right?"
The old man nodded approvingly at Ye An's words. "People say early maturity isn't a good thing."
"But you seem like an exception."
Ye An shook his head. "Perhaps it's because I spent a long time in dreams."
"Dreams gave me plenty of time to figure things out."
At this point, the water boiled.
As the old man brewed the tea, he asked, "If life isn't bitter, is it tiring?"
"For so many years, you've never been lazy for even a day, yet you always face setbacks."
"If not physically tired, surely your heart must be tired."
Ye An had also thought about this question and replied immediately, "Tired, but it's okay."
"Why okay?" the old man pressed.
Ye An furrowed his brow, organizing his thoughts. "I thought about this question recently, but I can't quite recall the logical connections."
"But I summed it up in a sentence."
"It's precisely because of past setbacks that I am who I am now."
"The challenges now are shaping the me of the future."
"Good, good, good," the old man nodded in agreement, then brewed a pot of tea and asked again, "Do you think you have any shortcomings now?"
Ye An answered without hesitation, "Not strong enough."
Upon hearing this, the old man smiled broadly. "Hit the nail on the head."
"But let me remind you, some shortcomings will only reveal themselves once you are strong enough. Be careful in the future."
"Never forget your original intentions, and you will reach your goal."
"Come, have some tea."
Ye An nodded vigorously and quickly lifted the small teacup to drink the dark tea.
After drinking, he suddenly frowned.
The next moment,
"Bang!"
Ye An fell to the ground.
The old man snapped his fingers lightly, and a figure appeared beside him instantly.
"Throw him into the waterfall and drown him," the old man ordered.
The figure was surprised. "What if he really dies?"
The old man chuckled. "I want him to understand the dangers of society!"
At this moment, the figure suddenly saw the tea leaves on the table, and his pupils contracted. "You made him drink this?"
"Isn't tea meant to be drunk?" the old man replied calmly.
The figure hurriedly said, "Who cares about your tea? I'm afraid he'll explode."
"You!" The old man was furious, finally threw Ye An and the figure into the waterfall to drown.
After seven days and nights,
Ye An woke up groggily, feeling his whole body boiling hot, unbearable, wanting to take off all his clothes, but he couldn't see his clothes.
He lay in a pond, splashing a few times and standing up, but finally lay down again because the pond was cool.
But at this moment, he saw a man in a pure black robe sitting cross-legged in front of him.
Ye An, naked and scared, hurriedly submerged the lower half of his body in the water.
The man with one eye glanced at him, shook his head, and said, "You're not scared of anything scary, why are you nervous?"
Hearing this, Ye An immediately stood up again.
The one-eyed man snorted and said, "Do you refuse?"
While speaking, he pulled his belt.
Ye An quickly said, "Can't use, can't use!"
"Do you admit it?" The one-eyed man straightened up.
"Admit, admit, admit," Ye An quickly pushed his hands back.
Now, the one-eyed man sat down, looked at Ye An calmly, and said, "You slept for seven days and nights. If you stay in this pond for another ten days, your goal will be almost accomplished."
Ye An was stunned and quickly recalled what had happened before, saying, "That adult gave me something to drink that raised my physical limit by two percent?"
"Yes." The figure rubbed the back of his head and said, "I want to drink that stuff too."
"But it's not very useful for me at my level."
"Are you a celestial being?" Ye An quickly asked.
He felt that the man with one eye was very easy to talk to, not hiding anything, and asking whatever he wanted.
The one-eyed man heard this, glanced at Ye An, and said, "Celestial being."
"Do you know what that concept is?"
"Three thousand years ago, the Heavenly Road was already broken."
"Nowadays, there are not many celestial beings left in the mortal world. They are the fellows who didn't have time to return to the heavens when the Heavenly Road broke."
Ye An was shocked and said, "So, in these three thousand years, no one could ascend to heaven?"
"There have been some," the one-eyed man said indifferently. "Although the Heavenly Road is broken, if you are strong enough, you can create your own path."
"Who?" Ye An was shocked.
"The Divine King," the one-eyed man sighed, "that guy named Mutianyi."
"He's got some skills on his hands."
"Mutianyi... Divine King." Ye An's heart skipped a beat. "Are you talking about the contemporary Divine King? Is his real name Mutianyi?"
"Yeah," the one-eyed man seemed to recall something unpleasant, sighed, propped up his chin, and was full of resentment.
"You lost to him back then?" Ye An raised his eyebrows.
"Damn it." The one-eyed man cursed loudly. "Is it shameful to lose to him?"
"I was just a little bit short."
"Moreover, I'm not the strongest in our human race, so I don't care."
The shadow shrugged.
Ye An frowned again and said, "Wait a minute."
"If the Heavenly Road is broken, how can the Celestial Awakener come down?"
The shadow said lightly, "You can think of the Heavenly Road as a suspension bridge."
"The people in the sky loosened the chains of the bridge, and it broke."
"But when they need someone to come down, they can put the bridge back on."
"Of course, the cost is very high."
"Don't boast," the shadow patted his chest and said, "I've also fought with the Celestial Awakener. I made that lady cry."
"I almost knelt down and sang Conquer!"
Ye An was shocked, "Then how did your eyes go blind?"
The shadow sneered, avoided the topic, and said, "The one-eyed man is more handsome."
Ye An looked at the man in front of him.
With a scruffy beard and half of his black hair covering his eyebrows, it happened to be the blind eye.
The face was full of vicissitudes, and there was a melancholy atmosphere all over him, but when he spoke, he felt very out of tune, like a middle-aged uncle who was playful and mischievous.
"By the way, Uncle, what's your name? When I fight with the Celestial Awakener later, I'll use your name to disturb her heart!"
The shadow replied, "You can call me Shadow, or you can call me Ah Ying, but I'd prefer it if you called me Shadow Bro."
Then, Ah Ying stood up, knocked on his buttocks and said, "You're awake, so I won't look at you anymore. I'm going to practice with the knife."