Son, Put Your Father To The Test (FF)

The greatest secret of Ma Po Cave? Qin Chuan was taken aback.

Could it be the recipe for Ma Po tofu? he thought to himself.

After a moment's contemplation, he gestured with his right hand, and the Curse Seal of Decay and Growth flew out from the monster's body, returning to him. The monster immediately collapsed, exhausted and limp on the ground.

Its once muscular body had shriveled significantly, its skin wrinkled and sagging, almost reduced to nothing but bones.

"Huff... huff... huff…" The monster gasped for breath before weakly speaking, "My lord, I will take you to the greatest secret of Ma Po Cave."

After saying this, the creature began crawling toward the darkness ahead, moving surprisingly fast despite its large size.

Seeing this, some onlookers, suspecting something valuable, tried to secretly follow them.

"Hmph!" Qin Chuan snorted coldly, unleashing his emperor's aura. Instantly, those who dared to follow coughed up blood and were sent flying, crying out in pain.

Ahead, deep within the darkness, a network of massive tunnels branched out in all directions, more complicated than a rabbit's warren.

However, the monster seemed familiar with the path, guiding Qin Chuan through the maze with ease. Along the way, they encountered many adventurers, but with just a glance from Qin Chuan, they all fell unconscious.

This route couldn't be exposed.

After a long while, they reached the end of a tunnel. Most paths in the cave were interconnected, but this one was a dead end.

"This is it," the monster said in its deep, muffled voice. It took a few steps back, then suddenly charged at the wall in front of them.

"Boom!"

The wall shattered, and a holy light poured out, accompanied by a thick surge of spiritual energy.

Qin Chuan quickly rushed in, and with a flick of his hand, he used the Earth Law to repair the wall, sealing the entrance to prevent the spiritual energy from leaking.

He looked ahead.

Inside was a spacious cave with thirteen massive crystal pillars standing tall like stalactites. Each was connected to the ceiling and floor, wide at both ends and narrower in the middle.

Even the narrowest part of each pillar was over two meters thick.

And inside twelve of the pillars, a woman was sealed.

Each woman had a distinct appearance, but upon closer inspection, it seemed as though they were all the same person.

"Could this be Ma Po herself? Is she cultivating some kind of reincarnation technique?" Qin Chuan wondered aloud.

He had seen similar methods before.

In the fantasy world, such techniques—where a person creates multiple incarnations and later fuses them—were quite common, especially among women.

He guessed that these incarnations had been sent here one by one over the centuries. Once enough of them gathered, they would fuse, allowing the original body of Ma Po to reach an even higher cultivation level.

"My lord, I was born in that river, and over the millennia, I've seen many extraordinarily beautiful women come here. I'm certain this is the greatest secret of Ma Po Cave," the monster said, its voice full of conviction.

Qin Chuan turned to look at the creature, stroking his chin thoughtfully. Then he asked, "Can you shrink in size?"

"Uh… I think I can?" The monster tried, and soon its body made a cracking sound as it rapidly shrank, becoming about the size of a gecko.

Qin Chuan conjured the Curse Seal of Decay and Growth, the black-and-white runes twisting like vines, forming a ball around the shrunken monster. "Stay here and don't move. I'm going inside to check."

The monster nodded repeatedly, curling its limbs and tail tightly around itself, terrified of touching the cursed runes.

After confirming that the creature wouldn't cause any trouble, Qin Chuan made his way to the largest crystal pillar in the center of the room.

With over 20 points of Parental Value at his disposal, he had little fear of ordinary dangers.

Time to take a risk. Who knows, a small investment might bring huge rewards!

"According to typical logic, the most important incarnation will return last. When she returns, the cultivation insights and experiences of the other twelve incarnations will merge into her."

"And this pillar must play a crucial role in that process. If I can get inside, I might be able to score a big reward."

Taking a deep breath, Qin Chuan released the power of all nine of his laws, forming a protective shield around himself. He pressed his right hand against the pillar.

"Buzz!"

The crystal pillar suddenly flared with light, and an overwhelming force surged out, slamming into Qin Chuan.

"Boom!!!"

His protective aura shattered instantly, and he was sent flying, crashing into the wall, coughing up blood.

The cave shook violently.

However, Qin Chuan wasn't discouraged. He slowly peeled himself off the wall, shaking his head with a wry smile.

"I knew it would be like this."

He then asked in his mind, "System, how much Parental Value do I need to enter that pillar?"

"Ding! The pillar is protected by a Martial Emperor's restriction. To enter, it will cost 10 points of Parental Value," the system responded promptly.

Qin Chuan paused for a moment, then cautiously asked, "And I won't need to pay anything to get out, right?"

"Ding! Don't worry, Host. You'll be ejected soon after entering, so you won't be able to stay long even if you want to. The pillar's owner won't kill you either, as it would dirty the pillar," the system assured him.

"That's a relief."

Qin Chuan exhaled in relief.

As long as leaving didn't cost him more points, he didn't mind getting thrown out afterward. That was all part of the plan.

After all, a hacker who breaks into a company's system doesn't take over the whole company—they just steal a few confidential files.

The same logic applied to this pillar.

A Martial Emperor's centuries-long plan wasn't going to be undone so easily. There had to be some sort of recognition system in place.

Qin Chuan's goal was to grab a few benefits before the system reacted and then make a swift exit.

"System, send me in."

"Ding! Done."

The next moment, Qin Chuan felt himself transported into a warm, moist space, enveloped by life-giving energy that made him feel as though he were floating on clouds.

He had entered the crystal pillar.

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!"

The pillar began glowing, and soon the other twelve pillars lit up as well, their lights interweaving.

Qin Chuan suddenly felt an overwhelming flood of information pouring into his mind, like rivers emptying into the ocean.

It was endless.

"Nine Heavens Continent... Temple of the Witch God... Ma Po the Witch Lord... Witch Lord Body Refining Manual... Sun-Swallowing Emperor Manual…"

Terrifying amounts of knowledge flowed into his mind, causing Qin Chuan's breathing to quicken.

In mere moments, he had gained not only two Martial Emperor-level inheritances, but also countless truths about the world.

It turned out that the four regions he lived in were merely fragments of the main continent of Nine Heavens. Long ago, a battle over a divine artifact had shattered the outer territories of Nine Heavens Continent, turning them into scattered fragment worlds.

As for Ma Po, she was a Witch Lord of the Temple of the Witch God, a Martial Emperor-level faction on the main continent. More impressively, she was the daughter of the legendary Sun-Swallowing Emperor, making her status incomparably noble.

Qin Chuan also learned the details of the divine artifact. Its two main functions were:

 To create a spiritual world where the environment was so real that geniuses could freely train and fight without fear of death. Even if they died in the spiritual world, they wouldn't die in reality.

 To release an endless supply of spiritual energy, nourishing the entire Nine Heavens Continent and benefiting all living beings.

Either of these functions alone could allow a civilization to rise to unimaginable heights, so it was no wonder that the Nine Heavens Realm and the Tianheng Realm fought so fiercely over the divine artifact.

And now, after safeguarding the divine artifact for tens of thousands of years, the Nine Heavens Continent had likely grown more prosperous than ever—perhaps even surpassing all previous eras!

As more and more information flooded his mind, Qin Chuan quickly came to his senses.

He swiftly took out two strands of hair that he had prepared beforehand—Qin Zi's hair—and tossed them into the pillar.

Moments later, an enraged female voice thundered in his mind like a bolt of lightning, "How dare you spy on my inheritance! Get out!!"

Bang!

Qin Chuan felt a heavy blow to his waist and was flung out of the pillar, crashing onto the ground in a disheveled heap.

"Rumble!"

The thirteen pillars began to tremble violently, filling the entire cave with light. Countless deadly arrays materialized, their terrifying destructive energy causing Qin Chuan's scalp to tingle.

"Run!"

Without hesitation, he grabbed the shrunken monster, smashed through the sealed exit, and bolted. But to his horror, the cave outside was trembling as well, and glowing array patterns appeared in every tunnel, seemingly endless.

The entire Ma Po Cave was now filled with murderous intent!