Chapter 5

In an instant, the surroundings fell silent, and countless gazes were cast in his direction.

"Things are getting more and more interesting," Fang Yuan smiled inwardly. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he waded through the river and stepped onto the opposite bank.

Immediately, he felt a layer of pressure.

This pressure came from the spirit spring deep within the sea of flowers. The spirit spring generated primordial energy, and due to the excessive concentration of this energy, it caused the pressure.

But soon, a cluster of light points rose from the flowers at Fang Yuan's feet.

The light points swayed, enveloping Fang Yuan's entire body, and finally, all of them were absorbed into his body.

"This is the Hope Charm," Fang Yuan murmured to himself. Although the person in charge did not explain, he knew very well.

Each of these light points was a charm.

The charm was named Hope.

There was an ancient legend about the Hope Charm.

The legend goes that when the world was just formed, it was a wilderness, with beasts rampant. The first human, named Renzu, lived a very difficult life, eating raw meat and drinking blood.

Especially, there was a group of beasts called Difficulties, which particularly liked the taste of Renzu and wanted to eat him.

Renzu did not have a body as strong as a rock, nor did he have the sharp teeth and claws of beasts. How could he fight against these beasts called Difficulties? His food sources were very unstable, and he was always on the run, at the bottom of the food chain, almost unable to survive.

At this time, three charms came to him and said, "As long as you use your life to nourish us, we will help you overcome the difficulties."

Renzu, with no other choice, had to agree to the three charms.

He first used his youth to nourish the largest of the three charms, which gave him strength.

With strength, Renzu's life began to improve. He started to have a stable food source and the power to protect himself. He was brave and fierce, defeating many Difficulties. But soon he suffered setbacks. In the end, he realized that strength was not everything; it also needed recovery and rest, and could not be recklessly expended.

Moreover, for the entire group of Difficulty beasts, his strength was too small.

Renzu, after much thought, decided to use his prime years to nourish the most beautiful of the three charms.

Thus, the second charm gave him wisdom.

With wisdom, Renzu learned to think and reflect, and began to accumulate experience. He found that using wisdom was often more effective than using strength. With wisdom and strength, he once conquered many previously unconquerable goals, killed more Difficulties, and ate their flesh and drank their blood, surviving tenaciously.

But good times did not last long, and Renzu grew old, increasingly old.

This was because he had used his youth and prime years to nourish the Strength Charm and the Wisdom Charm.

As a person grows old, their muscles atrophy, and their mind slows down.

"Human, what else can you offer us? You have nothing left to nourish us," the Strength Charm and the Wisdom Charm, upon discovering this, coldly left.

Renzu, having lost his strength and wisdom, was discovered by the Difficulties and surrounded by the beasts. He was old and could no longer run, his teeth had fallen out, and he could not even chew wild fruits and vegetables.

He collapsed weakly on the ground, surrounded by a dense crowd of Difficulties, his heart filled with despair.

At this moment, the third charm said to him, "Human, nourish me, and I will help you escape the difficulties."

Renzu, tears streaming down his face, said, "Charm, what else do I have? You see, the Strength Charm and the Wisdom Charm have abandoned me. I only have my old age left. Compared to my youth and prime years, my old age is insignificant. If I use my old age to nourish you, my life will end immediately. Although I am surrounded by Difficulties, I won't die immediately. I want to live longer, even for just one more second. So go away, I can no longer nourish you."

But the charm said, "Among the three charms, my requirements are the smallest. Human, you just need to give me your heart."

"Then I will give you my heart," Renzu said, "But Charm, what can you offer me? Even if the Strength Charm and the Wisdom Charm returned to me, they could not change this dire situation."

Compared to the Strength Charm, this charm was the weakest, just a small light point. Compared to the Wisdom Charm, this charm was the dimmest, emitting only a faint white light, not at all splendid.

But when Renzu gave his heart to this charm, the charm suddenly burst into infinite light. In this light, the Difficulties screamed in terror, "This is the Hope Charm, retreat quickly, we Difficulties fear hope the most."

The group of Difficulty beasts immediately fled in panic.

Renzu was stunned. From that moment on, he knew—facing difficulties, give your heart to hope.

At this moment, the Hope Charms converged into a beam of light and entered Fang Yuan's body.

Due to the external pressure, they quickly gathered in Fang Yuan's abdomen, forming a cluster about three inches below his navel.

Fang Yuan immediately felt the pressure lessen.

He took a step forward and continued walking.

With each step, more Hope Charms rose from the sea of flowers, entering his body and joining the light cluster.

The light cluster grew larger and brighter.

But the person in charge on the opposite bank frowned.

"The number of Hope Charms seems to be a bit low," many of the elders who had been secretly observing Fang Yuan felt a heavy heart upon seeing this.

The clan leader also frowned; this was not the phenomenon that should be associated with top-tier potential!

Fang Yuan, under the pressure, continued to walk forward.

"Less than ten steps means no cultivation potential. Ten to twenty steps is D-grade potential. Twenty to thirty steps is C-grade potential. Thirty to forty steps is B-grade potential. Forty to fifty steps is A-grade potential. So far, I have taken twenty-three steps."

"Twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six... twenty-seven." Fang Yuan silently counted in his heart. When he reached twenty-seven steps, it was as if he heard a loud boom. The light cluster between his kidneys, which had accumulated to its limit, suddenly exploded.

This explosion occurred only within Fang Yuan's body, and outsiders could not detect it. Only Fang Yuan felt a profound and earth-shattering sensation in that instant.

Instantly, his body hair stood on end, his pores tightened, and his mind felt like a bowstring suddenly pulled taut.

Then, his mind suddenly became empty, and his entire body felt soft, as if he had fallen into a cloud. His mind relaxed, his body hair smoothed out, and all his pores opened.

In an instant, a layer of fine sweat covered his body.

This process, though described as long, was actually very brief. It came and went suddenly.

Fang Yuan was dazed for only a moment before he regained his senses.

He focused inward and discovered that a new point had appeared in his abdomen, about three inches below his navel, between his two kidneys.

The opening of the point was successful!

This was the hope of immortality!