Little Cai lay dejectedly on the water's surface beside Su Yuan, her eyes filled with obvious reluctance. Su Yuan patted her head gently.

"Don't be sad. You should be happy for them. They've become genuine true dragons now, instantly reaching the peak of third-stage cultivation. It seems they'll easily advance to the fourth-stage Golden Core level after spending some time with the dragon clan. Given how long dragons live, you'll have plenty of chances to meet again!" Su Yuan comforted her.

Little Cai nodded, her previously naive eyes now showing a strong determination to grow stronger for the first time. The remaining forty-two spiritual fish gathered around Little Cai, swimming in circles until her mood gradually improved.

Those fish that had begun showing signs of draconic transformation soon reverted to their original Nine-Colored Celestial Fish bloodline. Little Cai's bloodline influence was no weaker than the Dragon Gate's. Only that peculiar fish Little Nine remained completely silver, apparently unable to revert.

The forty-plus spiritual fish began playing happily in the lake.

Meanwhile, Su Yuan examined his recent enlightenment gains. In just four minutes, he hadn't comprehended much.

First were the Powers of Heaven and Earth for fire and wood, both experiencing minor advancements. These insights came from the natural principles contained within the Silver Spirit Waterfall. Since this wasn't his main focus, they only improved slightly, progressing from the initial stage to the intermediate stage of comprehension.

The real harvest came from observing the seven fish's draconic transformations! That metamorphosis represented a fundamental change in life essence, containing principles so profound Su Yuan couldn't fully grasp them in such short time. Still, he gleaned some superficial understanding and developed a special technique - the Transformation Technique!

This technique didn't involve changes to life essence, only external modifications. Though limited to outward appearance, it was more than sufficient for daily use!

With a thought, an incredibly complex mystical talisman formed in Su Yuan's dantian - the newly comprehended Transformation Technique. Composed of seven sub-talismans, it incorporated insights from Su Yuan's Seven Stars-related cultivation methods and borrowed some power from the Big Dipper constellation during its formation.

If asked to recreate it now, Su Yuan couldn't. While he remembered the process, that mysterious state of enlightenment clearly exceeded his normal capabilities.

"Seven Stars Fish-Dragon Transformation!"

Su Yuan's body shimmered through seven colors as a mysterious ripple of natural power flashed by. Within moments, he transformed into a silver fox.

"Ah!"

Little Li appeared beside Su Yuan out of nowhere, reaching out to pinch his tail. Feeling its realness, her eyes widened comically, mouth gaping in utter shock.

"Stop that!"

Uncomfortable, Su Yuan flicked his tail while examining his bodily changes. From flesh and blood perspective, he had indeed transformed into a spirit body with aura fluctuations similar to Little Li's. However, his gender remained unchanged, revealing the technique's imperfection. His internal energy remained Mysterious Truth True Essence - any spellcasting would easily expose his true nature.

"How did you do this? How did you become one of us?" Little Li exclaimed excitedly.

"Watching Little Thirty-Six and others transform gave me some insights," Su Yuan explained. "This Transformation Technique doesn't involve fundamental changes - I'm still human. It just lets me maintain a spirit form under the technique's effect, though my imitation ability isn't even one percent of yours!"

"That's already incredible!" Little Li marveled. "You're truly amazing! While I just watched the show, you actually comprehended a new technique? That's downright outrageous! If our founder saw this, he'd probably kneel and beg to become your disciple!"

"Nowhere near that level," Su Yuan modestly deflected.

"What grade is this technique? Can I learn it?" Little Li asked eagerly.

"At least Heaven-grade. Wanting to learn is one thing, but it'll be extremely difficult for you. Not that I won't teach you, but you'll likely struggle to comprehend it," Su Yuan cautioned.

"I want to try!" Little Li insisted.

"Alright." Su Yuan pointed a finger, transmitting all his understanding of the technique directly into Little Li's consciousness through spiritual sense.

Little Li stood motionless for three full hours before snapping back to awareness, staring at Su Yuan with dazed, frightened eyes.

"This... this... how could any normal being learn this? How is this different from a divine ability?" she shrieked.

"Of course there's a difference. This isn't a true divine ability - theoretically any ordinary Golden Core cultivator could learn it," Su Yuan defended.

Little Li sighed deeply. "I'm going to play with Little Cai!" She turned and left abruptly, clearly feeling pressured by Su Yuan's presence.

Su Yuan felt speechless. Wasn't this what she wanted to learn? This Transformation Technique represented the culmination of all his studies. To master it required learning everything he had learned as foundation, then possessing exceptional comprehension to grasp the profound principles of draconic transformation. Yes, it was admittedly quite difficult.

"What's the practical use of this technique anyway?"

After some thought, Su Yuan realized its only real application was teasing Little Li and Little Cai in daily life.

Dispelling the technique, Su Yuan returned to his original form. After glancing at the valley's spirit beasts, he left the secret realm. With the Immortal Sprout Valley's reopening approaching, it was time to return to work.

Gu Qingzhu had searched the entire Immortal Sprout Valley repeatedly without finding any trace of Su Yuan.

Arriving at the valley's depths, he approached Elder Nangong with visible anxiety. "Elder, where's that Su Yuan kid? I've looked everywhere these past days but can't find him!"

"He's in the secret realm, probably contemplating the Silver Spirit Waterfall," Elder Nangong replied.

"What? He can enter the Trial Secret Realm again?" Gu Qingzhu exclaimed in shock.

"Yes, I saw it myself. He even brought dozens of fish inside," Elder Nangong said nonchalantly.

"Fish..." Sect Leader Gu's mouth twitched, apparently recalling some unpleasant memory.

Elder Nangong suddenly turned toward a specific direction in the valley. "He's coming out now!"

Sect Leader Gu sighed in relief. "This kid waits until there's just one day left before coming out? Fine, fine, I'll have to lecture him properly to correct this lazy attitude!"

"He could indeed use some guidance! That indolent nature needs fixing," Elder Nangong agreed.

Then Sect Leader Gu hurried off.

Elder Nangong watched as Sect Leader Gu enthusiastically greeted Su Yuan, warmly introducing various buildings in Immortal Sprout Valley and discussing incoming disciples. That enthusiastic manner showed no signs of lecturing or disciplining whatsoever.

His eyelid twitched slightly as he suddenly felt this sect leader might be hopeless.

"Entrusting the sect to people like you will lead to ruin sooner or later!" Elder Nangong lamented again, then recalled what his descendant Nangong Huoyu had said during her recent visit.

"That kid can actually cast spells across such distances? What kind of supreme technique is this? Achieving this at Golden Core level is downright absurd! Suddenly I feel like learning it too... but asking directly would be shameless. However, he seems willing to teach disciples his techniques, so..."

Elder Nangong's lips curved slightly as he activated a divine ability. His body underwent obvious changes, seemingly reversing age - from elderly frailty to middle-aged robustness, then youthful prime, finally settling as a vigorous teenager. Even the weight of years in his eyes transformed into lively brightness.

His clothes instantly changed into those of a poor commoner, his skin darkened slightly, and calluses formed on his hands. After spinning once and trimming excess hair, he'd completely transformed into a new Immortal Sprout Valley disciple!

He even remotely modified the valley's records using spiritual sense. Only the formation spirit witnessed the entire process.

This time, however, the formation spirit didn't loudly announce its observations like it had with the sect leader, wisely keeping silent. If asked, it saw nothing - unlike that dense sect leader who couldn't recognize its intelligence, it wasn't foolish enough to expose an elder's disguise.

Sect Leader Gu suddenly felt something and looked up suspiciously.

"What's wrong?" Su Yuan asked curiously.

"Feels like someone's cursing me behind my back! I get this feeling periodically - probably demonic sect members thinking of me!" Sect Leader Gu shook his head.

Su Yuan nodded understandingly. "The sect leader must be quite famous among demonic sects then!"

Sect Leader Gu smiled faintly. "Naturally! Back in the day, I fought through demonic sects seven times! Killed three Golden Core demonic cultivators! Even seized a treasure! Made huge profits too, hahaha!"

His laughter continued for some time.

Su Yuan nodded appreciatively. "Truly impressive!"

Sect Leader Gu smiled modestly. "Anyway, that covers most things about Immortal Sprout Valley! You can start looking for candidates to inherit your techniques. Feel free to test the new disciples - this batch has several promising ones!"

"No problem. I'll teach them part of my techniques to see how much they can learn," Su Yuan said without much expectation.

"Don't be so sure. The sect's higher-ups all know about you now. They've sent some real geniuses this time - it'll be different!" Sect Leader Gu patted Su Yuan's shoulder. "Any concerns?"

"None. Anyone can try, but learning will require some talent," Su Yuan replied.

"That's their problem then!" Sect Leader Gu shook his head. "If they can't learn, they're just stupid - can't blame others!"

Suddenly, Sect Leader Gu tensed and looked up nervously. "Su Yuan, I must go. I sense a Nascent Soul demon cursing me. Need to take shelter in the main hall. Damn it, still holding a grudge over three demonic beasts?"

Grumbling, Gu Qingzhu departed.