Su Yu was speechless. What was...this? But was his mother really a top expert? Su Long coughed and said, "Cut the nonsense. Your mother was a normal person. A weak commoner. She didn't even cultivate. She had a weak body. That was why she died during childbirth. If she had really been a top expert, she wouldn't have picked me as her husband. Back then, I wasn't even a Great Strength cultivator. I was merely a Source Opening cultivator. What manner of top expert would marry a Source Opening cultivator?" Su Yu nodded, "True. That would only be possible if you were a top expert as well. Otherwise, she could probably kill you at night just by breathing." Noticing that none of his guesses were true, he started losing interest. He said, "What are you telling me, then? Are you going to find me a stepmother?" "Cut the nonsense!" Su Long grimaced and asked, "I only have one question. Have you felt anything weird?" Su Long asked, "Does your head hurt or something like that? Didn't you use to have nightmares every night? Are you still having those nightmares?" "That's good to hear." Su Long exhaled in relief and said, "You used to have nightmares every night. I was so worried. Eventually, I heard that a big shot was hidden in Nanyuan. People were saying that the big shot was Ye Batian's eldest disciple. I was desperate, so I asked around before finding out that Liu Wenyan was the big shot. I only managed to make him accept you after bribing him with a few bottles of good liquor. "Sure enough, you recovered after spending some time learning from him. See, I have always known that you're a cultured person. I knew you would do well as a cultured man. How fortunate that I didn't let you walk the path of warriors." Su Yu blanked out. What? He was aware that his father had given Old Liu gifts in the past. But was his father saying that he had heard of Ye Batian as well? His father was even aware of Liu Wenyan’s real identity. Noticing Su Yu's expression, Su Long laughed and said, "What's with that expression? Kid, do you really take your old man for a fool? Do you think I'll have you learn from any random person? These days, first teachers are very important. "As a veteran soldier, how could I not know Ye Batian? Sure, he died long ago. But that wouldn't stop me from hearing about him. As a veteran soldier, how could I not know about the strength of cultural researchers?" Su Long snorted disdainfully and said, "I have simply been too lazy to tell you much. You would grow too cocky after learning too much at such an age. I knew that these bookworms loved talking about a pure and innocent heart in cultivation. Thus, I didn't want to lead you astray by telling you all that." "Wait...Father, just what are you trying to say?" Su Yu was starting to grow confused. So his apprenticeship under Liu Wenyan was no coincidence. Rather, it was something his old man had deliberately arranged. While cooking, Su Long said, "What else? Well, it's nothing special. I'm telling you now so that you won't remain clueless." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝘯𝘦𝘵 "Clueless about what?" Su Long lowered his voice and said, "The golden book in your head!" Su Yu was completely stunned. He was completely dumbfounded. Was his old man aware of that? Noticing Su Yu's shocked expression, Su Long had a look of disdain as he said, "Why are you pretending to be a big shot when you're so easily shocked? Just look at how calm I am right now. What's the matter? I have been aware of this matter for more than ten years. Isn't it still a secret until now?" Su Yu asked stiffly, "Father, you know that?" "Of course." Su Long said, "How can I not know that? That was all me—cough. Uhm, well, I was too worried back then, so I never dared to talk about it. As a veteran in the army, I wasn't completely clueless. That book was clearly a great treasure. Some might be tempted to split your head for it..." Su Long had a look of recollection as he said, "Back then, I was so worried after you started having nightmares. Blood was rushing into your head, and you were so terrified you didn't even dare to sleep anymore. I was worried that you would either die from the nightmares or die to others. "But since that treasure looked like a book, I guessed that it was related to cultural researchers. Thus, I started making you read and find a cultured person to suppress the book in your head with culture. "Sure enough, you recovered significantly after you started reading. Since you kept getting killed by monsters in the nightmares, I showed you the Myriad Race Compendium. By seeing enough of these monsters, you wouldn't fear them anymore." Su Yu blanked out for a long while before saying, "No wonder there were so many such books at home back then. I thought those were your collection from the army." Su Long rolled his eyes and said, "Why would a brute like me collect those books? Back when, I kept telling you stories about heads rolling and showing you live executions. See? That managed to boost your courage significantly. You weren't even that scared of your nightmares anymore." Once again, Su Yu was rendered speechless. So all that was deliberate? "Wait, just what happened back then?" Su Yu was growing more and more confused. What was this? How was his old man aware of the golden book? His old man didn't seem like a secret expert. Su Long grinned and said, "What else? A supreme treasure dropped from the heavens. Destiny brought the treasure to my son. I have heard enough of such stories to know that the book was a fortuitous encounter for you from the heavens." "Wait, tell me more. I need more details. What happened back then?" Su Long laughed and said, "It was no big deal. Back when you were six, I was running out of money. I couldn't even find a job, so I decided to take on bounty hunting to make some money. I heard about some bandits at the Starfall Mountain so I decided to make some money there..." According to Su Long, it was raining that day. He went to Starfall Mountain late a night, hoping to encounter a few bandits and make some pocket money. That night, a storm hit Starfall Mountain. In fact, the storm was so heavy that not a single bandit was in sight. After a long wait, Su Long gave up. He decided to go again when the weather improved. Suddenly, a deafening thunder shook the entire Starfall Mountain. Then, a dot of light dropped from the sky. That reminded Su Long of the legends about the Starfall Mountain. According to the legends, the mountain was the product of a fallen star. Thus, he thought that the glowing object was a fragment of a star. Thinking that it might be something good, he rushed toward the spot where the glowing object had fallen. "So...that book was something you picked up somewhere?" Su Yu was stunned. The Book of Time...was something his father picked up randomly? Su Long grinned smugly and said, "Yes. I picked it up. When I saw it, I was like holy shit! A book! I thought it was a top-secret cultivation manual. After all, you could get heavenly rewards from killing in the Allheaven battlefield. Perhaps some experts were fighting nearby and produced a heavenly reward there. After picking the book up, I rushed back home. But no matter what I did, I couldn't open the book." Su Long had a helpless expression as he said that. "I had no idea what that thing was. There wasn't even a label on it. After trying a few days, I still couldn't open it. I had the urge to sell it off, but I was scared that selling it would bring me a trouble too big for me to handle..." Su Long sighed and continued, "Thus, I hid it at home. But you...When I came back home one day, you somehow managed to dig it out of its hiding place. You even got yourself cut all over by the sides of that thing. I nearly fainted from shock when I saw all the blood on you." Su Yu was completely stupefied. He said, "I don't remember any of that!" "What could you even remember?" Su Long rolled his eyes and said, "At the time, you nearly died from blood loss. After that incident, you were down with a fever for several days. And then, you started having nightmares. You have forgotten all that, but I still remember everything clearly. Maybe that thing had somehow accepted you as its new master due to your blood, but it eventually shot into your head. I was anxious, but I didn't dare to tell anyone about it. I didn't even dare to think about it outside our home. Only after observing you for a few years did I stop worrying." Su Long sighed and said, "Eventually, I noted that apart from your frequent nightmares, you were fine. Thus, I sent you to learn from Liu Wenyan. Surprisingly, you improved greatly after that. Seeing that things had been fine for so many years, I slowly dropped the matter." Su Long stared at Su Yu and said, "But you! You! You suddenly grew so powerful! I couldn't help but suspect that it was related to that thing in your head!" Su Yu swallowed and asked, "Father...are you saying that...you picked this thing up somewhere in Starfall Mountain?" "Definitely." Su Long said, "Starfall Mountain...the land of fallen stars. Sure enough, that is a blessed land." Su Yu didn't know what to feel anymore. The Book of Time had actually dropped from the sky and landed on the Starfall Mountain. Was the book in his head really the Book of Time? In that case, did the Time Sage fight a powerful enemy back then before dying? Was that why the Book of Time dropped from the heavens? Or was there a different reason? He remembered that Liu Hong had also stumbled upon his own fortuitous encounter at around the same time. Was that a pure coincidence? Or was that a related incident? After a long contemplation, Su Yu said, "Father, in that case, you're a child of destiny. You must be blessed by luck to be able to pick up such a treasure randomly." Su Long nodded smugly. Su Yu asked, "But why are you so weak when you're so loved by destiny?" Su Long was infuriated. He said, "What do you even know? Would you be where you are today if your father were really so useless? Look at those little brothers of mine. Look at Chen Long and the others. They are all doing well. Back then, there were so many foot soldiers in the Devil Suppressing Army. But look at the former subordinates of your old man. A whole bunch of them had reached the Mountainsea and Cloudbreach Realms. Those were all my little brothers! Do you understand?" The former subordinates of his old man had indeed grown massively. It was very rare for a tiny squad like that to produce a Mountainsea. But his old man's former squad had actually produced multiple Mountainseas. This was absolutely abnormal. Naturally, nobody suspected anything because in the grand scheme of things, Mountainseas were nothing. Su Long sighed and said, "Because of you, I had to retire from the army. Otherwise, I would have climbed higher than Chen Long. I could have reached the Sunmoon Realm long ago!" Su Yu asked, "Father, do you mean that...there is something unusual about the Starfall Mountain?" After all, why did the Book of Time choose to fall there instead of anywhere else? "Definitely." Su Long nodded and said, "That place...is too abnormal. Back when the book first went inside your body, I thought of looking for a solution from the same place. Thus, I went there a few more times to look for anything that could help. And let me tell you. Something is off about that place." "What's so off about that place?"