After being reborn, the villain comes with a spoiler tag.

Huo Yu nodded slightly, his gaze lingering briefly on the heads of the outer disciples behind Long Yucheng.

Seeing this, Long Yucheng quickly explained:

"This is a friend I met in the outer sect, Junior Sister Guan Fengyue."

Guan Fengyue also quickly bowed:

"Greetings, Senior Brother Yu."

Huo Yu recognized the mortal woman who had helped Long Yucheng during the entrance examination at a glance. Several days had passed, and although there were traces of cultivation in her body, she had not yet condensed any spiritual power and remained a mortal.

However, he noticed that the Heavenly Dao value above her head had increased by a few points compared to the last time they met, although the small words next to it still read, "[Passerby A, slim chance]".

Huo Yu glanced at it briefly before looking away and giving a cold nod.

Then, just as he had come, he picked up Long Yucheng and flew back to the entrance of the cave.

Having learned from his previous experience, Long Yucheng appeared much more composed after landing this time. After thanking Huo Yu again, he took out the spirit stones he had obtained in the Contribution Hall by exchanging the fur and claws of the Azure Wolf.

Huo Yu naturally didn't care about those spirit stones and told him to keep them for himself. Long Yucheng didn't refuse, and his gaze towards Huo Yu was even more moved.

Just as Huo Yu was about to turn around and return to his cave, he heard Long Yucheng suddenly ask:

"Senior Brother Yu, are you aware that the Nine Star Secret Realm is about to open?"

"Have heard a little bit."

Huo Yu stopped and waited for Long Yucheng to continue.

Long Yucheng's eyes lit up, and he quickly said:

"I just heard from Junior Sister Guan that Foundation Establishment stage disciples can designate a Qi Refining stage disciple to enter the secret realm together. I wonder if Senior Brother Yu has already chosen one?"

No. Do you want to go?

Huo Yu was somewhat surprised. Although only Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining stage disciples could enter the Nine Star Secret Realm and it was not very dangerous, he was still curious about where Long Yucheng, a Qi Refining stage disciple, got the confidence to volunteer to follow.

Putting aside the dangers within the secret realm, just the fact that the disciples of the three sects were fighting amongst themselves meant he would only be cannon fodder.

Moreover, Long Yucheng was clearly unaware that the reason why Foundation Establishment disciples could bring along a Qi Refining disciple was often to use them as a scout when encountering restrictions or traps.

"I want to go! I definitely won't hold my senior brother back!"

Long Yucheng patted his chest and assured Huo Yu that he had no idea where his confidence came from.

Huo Yu thought it over carefully. He hadn't originally planned to enter the Nine Star Secret Realm, but judging from Long Yucheng's expression, entering the secret realm was obviously very important to him.

Huo Yu also wanted to see what he had to rely on, so he nodded in agreement.

Long Yucheng had come up with a bunch of reasons in his mind, but he didn't expect Huo Yu to agree without asking anything. For a moment, he thought he had misheard, and looked at Huo Yu as if he were seeing a second parent:

"Thank you, Senior Brother Yu! I'll go cultivate now! I'll strive to improve my cultivation level and try my best to help you in the secret realm!"

Watching Long Yucheng's departing figure, Huo Yu was pleasantly surprised to find that his Heavenly Dao Value seemed to have increased slightly, and the black color had become a little lighter. Although the change was minuscule, Huo Yu had always been bothered by his pitch-black Heavenly Dao Value, and he noticed any slight change immediately.

What puzzled him was that he had saved Long Yucheng's life in the forest before, but his Heavenly Dao Values ​​hadn't changed at all. Why would they suddenly increase now?

Could it be that the opportunity doesn't lie with Long Yucheng himself?

To verify his guess, Huo Yu called out to Long Yucheng, who was about to return to his cave, and tossed him something. Long Yucheng caught it instinctively and saw that it was a jade slip.

"You don't have an earth elemental root, so the earth and wood techniques you're currently cultivating aren't suitable for you. Change to this one."

In the Qiongshan Sect, only inner disciples are qualified to choose their own cultivation techniques. Outer disciples like Long Yucheng all cultivate the Earth and Wood Technique.

If the attributes of one's spiritual root are incompatible with those of one's cultivation technique, it will not only significantly reduce the efficiency of absorbing spiritual energy, but also cause one to face greater bottlenecks than others when breaking through to a higher realm.

What Huo Yu tossed to Long Yucheng was a jade slip containing the Fire Control Technique. His storage ring didn't contain any cultivation methods for the Qi Refining stage; he had memorized this Fire Control Technique on the spot.

Huo Yu initially began his cultivation journey with this most common fire control technique in the cultivation world.

The Fire Control Technique only has a Qi Refining chapter. After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, Huo Yu, as a rogue cultivator, didn't have many Foundation Establishment stage cultivation techniques. In addition, his spiritual root attribute was singular, so none of the cultivation techniques he had were suitable for him.

Left with no other choice, he pondered the Fire Control Technique day and night, creating a rudimentary foundation-building cultivation method, perfecting it as he practiced. As his cultivation level increased, Huo Yu expanded this self-created technique all the way to the Mahayana stage, naming it the Heaven-Burning Technique.

However, what Huo Yu did not know was that because his mastery of flames in his previous life had approached the rules, the Fire Control Manual he wrote down for Long Yucheng based on his memory was quite different from the Fire Control Manual widely circulated in the cultivation world.

Long Yucheng was completely unaware of this. After receiving the jade slip, he was overjoyed and looked at Huo Yu with even brighter eyes. He thanked him repeatedly, as if he wanted to become sworn brothers with Huo Yu on the spot.

The Heavenly Dao value above Huo Yu's head increased by an almost imperceptible amount.

As expected. Huo Yu had a sudden realization.

It seems that the way to change the Heavenly Dao Value was not directly related to Long Yucheng himself, but rather that he formed a connection with Long Yucheng on the path of cultivation.

Saving Long Yucheng's life or helping him out of his predicament will not affect his Heavenly Dao Value. Only having a tangible impact on Long Yucheng's cultivation path will change his Heavenly Dao Value.

Guan Fengyue lent a helping hand to Long Yucheng during the entrance examination, indirectly helping him enter the Qiongshan Sect and embark on the path of cultivation, thus increasing his Heavenly Dao Value. However, Deacon Huang aided and abetted evil, helping others steal Long Yucheng's elixirs and spirit stones, hindering Long Yucheng's path to cultivation, thus decreasing his Heavenly Dao Value.

Huo Yu increased his Heavenly Dao Value twice. The first time was when he agreed to let Long Yucheng take him into the Nine Star Secret Realm. There was obviously something of Long Yucheng's good fortune in that secret realm, so Huo Yu's Heavenly Dao Value also increased slightly.

The second time was when Huo Yu gave Long Yucheng a cultivation technique that matched his spiritual root attributes, which indirectly increased his cultivation speed and also helped him avoid the consequences of cultivating an unsuitable technique, thus increasing his Heavenly Dao value again.

Having understood all this, Huo Yu's joy was no less than that of Long Yucheng, who had obtained the spirit stone cultivation technique for free. Now that the key to changing the Heavenly Dao value had been figured out, turning "hopeless ascension" into "promising ascension" was only a matter of time.

That night, Huo Yu was meditating in a rare good mood since his rebirth, only to discover that Long Yucheng had quietly left the cave.