Chapter 49: Shrouded Dragon Veil
The familiar towering gates of the Su family estate came into view, their engraved motifs reflecting generations of martial heritage and clan pride. For Su Tianhao, this place had once been a true sanctuary. Now it served merely as a temporary waypoint on a far greater path stretching toward the Immortal Realm.
He exhaled softly, breath visible in the cooling air.
'Time to clean up... and prepare for whatever comes next.'
As he approached the gates, the guards stationed there straightened immediately in recognition, pleasant surprise flashing across their faces.
"Young Master!"
"Why are you dressed in such a state?" one couldn't help asking, concern evident in his tone.
"Did you see me return home at any point during these past two weeks?" Su Tianhao replied with a slight, knowing smile.
The guards' eyes lit up with dawning realization. "That's right—we haven't seen you once since you placed that public wager with Young Master Jian."
"Did something happen during your absence?" another asked with genuine concern.
Su Tianhao's heart warmed at their genuine worry. These gate guards were among the very few who still acknowledged him with respect after his fall from grace.
"Nothing serious," he said warmly. "I'm just returning from training in Dragonspire Forest."
"What?!"
The guards exclaimed in unified shock. "You spent two entire weeks alone in those forest depths?"
"Just the outer region. Nothing particularly major," Su Tianhao replied with a casual shrug, making his way through the opened gates and leaving the guards standing behind with utterly dumbfounded expressions.
Several minutes passed before they fully regained their senses. They exchanged meaningful glances.
"The Second Young Master really is something extraordinary."
"To survive two full weeks alone in Dragonspire Forest—even the outer region—it's truly praiseworthy."
"I heard he was only at Peak Stage Martial Apprentice Realm two weeks ago."
"To not only survive but apparently thrive against spirit beasts far stronger than himself... remarkable."
"As the ancient saying goes: heroes rise from the young, and legends are born from daring spirits."
"Yes... too bad he awakened with zero measurable talent for cultivation."
All the guards nodded in solemn agreement, their expressions filled with genuine pity. To them, their Second Young Master was clearly an outstanding person of exceptional character—but cursed with a terrible flaw that bound his potential like chains restraining a dragon's flight.
How could they possibly know that this same young master they pitied possessed cultivation talent that far surpassed anything their limited imaginations could conceive?
---
Su Tianhao made his way through the disciples' residential quarters. The contrast in treatment compared to the gate guards was like the difference between heaven and earth. Where the guards had shown compassion and genuine respect, the clan disciples looked at him with barely concealed disdain.
"It's that Su Tianhao. Why is he dressed in filthy rags like some common beggar?" a disciple muttered.
"How should I know? It suits him perfectly," another mocked with cruel amusement.
"He must be training desperately because of his upcoming match against Young Master Jian," a third added dismissively.
"Hmph! How much strength could he possibly accumulate in such a short time? No matter how frantically he trains, it's impossible to overcome the gap between him and Young Master Jian."
"That's right! I heard Young Master Jian just broke through to the 5th level of Martial Disciple Realm a few days ago," a female disciple interjected, her voice filled with obvious admiration.
Su Tianhao could hear every word with perfect clarity through his enhanced senses. However, he chose to ignore them entirely—these narrow-minded individuals weren't worth wasting breath on. But one comment caught his attention.
'Su Jian broke through to the 5th level?' he noted quietly, expression unreadable. 'It appears the family is already heavily fostering their chosen talents in preparation for the Qingyun Sect entrance examination.'
His poker face broke—replaced by a slow, mysterious smile.
'Interesting...'
---
Leaving the disciples' quarters and their petty gossip behind, Su Tianhao made his way toward the Fei Wu Quarter—the abandoned section he had chosen as his solitary confinement. His eyes remained calm as he walked its eerily silent, overgrown paths that few others ever bothered traversing.
Eventually he arrived at his small courtyard. The modest wooden house, the unkempt but functional garden, and standing prominently at the center—the massive ancient oak tree. The same steadfast companion that had faithfully served as his training partner throughout that entire difficult year.
"I'm back," he said softly, a warm smile crossing his face as he gazed at the familiar space that had witnessed both his lowest depths and his greatest triumphs.
Without wasting another moment, he strode toward his dwelling. A hot bath was calling.
---
About an hour later he emerged refreshed and revitalized—the grime and blood of two weeks in Dragonspire Forest washed away completely.
After drying off, Su Tianhao changed into a fresh set of azure robes decorated with silver embroidery. His long hair tied back in a proper topknot, sharp brows neatly groomed, golden eyes gleaming with inner vitality. The complete transformation gave him a distinctly handsome, noble appearance—less like the returning survivor of a dangerous forest and more like the saint son of some ancient prestigious clan.
He settled onto his bed with a quiet exhale.
"What an eventful day."
'Currently I'm strong enough to defeat Su Jian. But I'm still far from Lu Ruyi's level,' he reflected with clear-eyed honesty. Rapid as his recent progress had been, he knew his current strength still fell short of those true heaven-blessed geniuses nurtured from childhood.
'Now that I'm back, I should enter closed-door seclusion and focus entirely on raising my strength before the match.'
A satisfied smile crossed his features. 'I've already reached Perfection mastery in the Supreme Dragon Body Tempering technique. With my breakthrough to the Martial Disciple Realm, I can finally begin cultivating the second layer of the Supreme Dragon Transformation Technique. I wonder what surprises it holds...'
But first things first.
'I absolutely need to find a proper concealment technique,' he reminded himself firmly. The encounter with Lu Qingran was still fresh in his mind—he had no desire for such revealing moments to repeat themselves. When people eventually discovered that his combat strength vastly exceeded what his cultivation realm suggested, it wouldn't be long before he attracted the greedy attention of some powerful expert wanting to forcibly uncover his secrets.
As the timeless saying warned: a man's fortune breeds greed in the eyes of others.
Su Tianhao understood this well.
He shifted into a perfect lotus position, eyes closing with total concentration as he turned his consciousness inward—delving deep into the vast collection of inherited memories, searching carefully for a technique that would shield him from such future calamity.
His consciousness drifted deeper—and immediately he noticed something different.
The inherited memories, which had once felt like a grand library filled with cultivation wisdom, martial arts, and professional knowledge, had expanded dramatically. If before he'd possessed a large archive, now it felt like an entire island of knowledge—every technique, concept, and insight clearer and far more accessible than before.
His eyes snapped open. A brilliant gleam flashed across his golden pupils.
'The second layer of my inherited memories has been unlocked!'
Up until now, Su Tianhao had carried quiet unease about this moment. Awakening the first layer had been excruciating—an overwhelming flood of knowledge that felt like his skull was being hammered from inside. He had mentally braced himself to endure that again.
But this time... nothing.
No pain. No mental assault. No sensation whatsoever. He hadn't even realized the second layer had unlocked until this very moment.
'It happened so naturally I didn't even notice,' he thought in quiet shock. 'It must have unlocked after my breakthrough to the Martial Disciple Realm... but only revealed itself now.'
He paused—then his eyes lit up as he recalled his father Chenyuan's words from that fateful day of awakening:
*"As long as you increase your cultivation steadily, your soul will strengthen as well. Unlocking later layers of your inherited memories won't cause harmful side effects... unless you try forcing them open before your soul is ready."*
"No wonder I felt nothing this time," Su Tianhao murmured with relief.
His excitement grew as the full implications settled over him. As long as he continued breaking through major realms, each new layer would naturally awaken on its own. And once all nine layers were unlocked... he would gain access to the location of his inheritance in the mortal realm. A hidden site containing all the treasures and wealth his immortal father had accumulated during a hundred years of tyrannical rule—a fortune beyond imagination.
But Su Tianhao forced himself to calm down, grounding his thoughts with cold logic.
'I've only just awakened the second layer. To unlock all nine, I'd need to reach at least the Martial King Realm.' The realization struck like cold water. 'That stage is still very far off. Right now—step by step.'
With renewed purpose, he steadied his breath and sank back into meditation.
Almost immediately, he noticed a profound change. His connection to the inherited memories had become remarkably smooth—what once required effort and concentration now flowed with natural ease. Concepts, techniques, and knowledge came to him like water following its course. If he thought of something, he found it.
'The inherited memories are responding to my will...' He thought inwardly and quickly returned to his original goal without distraction.
The moment the desire for a concealment technique crystallized in his mind, a particular technique surfaced—unbidden, yet perfectly aligned with his need. As he examined it, a strange feeling took hold. It was as if this technique had been waiting specifically for him, resonating on a deep, instinctive level.
Its name appeared in his consciousness like an ancient whisper.
**The Shrouded Dragon Veil.**
A powerful concealment technique from the forgotten era of primordial cultivation.
Unlike ordinary concealment arts that merely suppressed aura or masked presence, the Shrouded Dragon Veil was fundamentally different—it shaped perception itself. It didn't simply hide strength. It manipulated how others perceived the user. At higher mastery, one could appear weak, harmless, or even completely mortal to any observer. At its peak, the technique allowed blending into the world itself—becoming imperceptible to spiritual senses, domain perception, beast instincts, and even artifact detection.
The technique consisted of five distinct mastery layers: Initial, Small Success, Great Success, Perfection, and a final mysterious realm called Assimilation.
Su Tianhao sensed it instinctively—this was no ordinary technique. Yet despite its depths and complexity, it responded to him as though forged specifically for his bloodline.
'It's almost like it's alive,' he murmured with quiet awe.
He delved into its secrets. Minutes passed as he studied carefully. Then the first layer's details finally unveiled themselves:
**First Layer — Silent Pulse**
*Suppresses the rhythm and flow of internal Qi, rendering the user's cultivation unreadable to anyone not one major realm above the Great Divide.*
The description was simple—but the implications were massive.
'The Great Divide?' Su Tianhao thought, anticipation surging. 'Doesn't that mean even Martial Grandmasters wouldn't be able to see through me?'
The Great Divide. In the cultivation world, this term carried tremendous weight—a threshold so significant that it split the entire mortal realm into two distinct halves. Below it sat the first six realms, from Martial Apprentice to Martial Master—realms where cultivators strengthened their bodies, awakened spiritual energy, and laid the foundations of their martial path. Extraordinary as the finest among them were, they remained fundamentally bound to the earth beneath their feet, their power still operating within mortal limits.
Above it was something else entirely.
Martial Grandmasters were the first to cross that boundary—they were the Great Divide itself. Awakening true flight, manifesting and manipulating the elements with precise mastery, their very existence operating on principles that left ordinary cultivators far behind. They weren't merely strong. They were a different category of being. Throughout the mortal realm, a Martial Grandmaster's presence alone could silence a city.
Yet even such figures sat precisely at the Great Divide—not one major realm above it. Silent Pulse rendered him invisible to anyone short of a Martial Lord.
Su Tianhao's breathing grew unsteady with excitement. 'My cultivation base is essentially invisible to anyone below the Martial Lord Realm. Unless it's one of those old monsters or the sect leaders of the three great sects—I'm untouchable.'
Fueled by this revelation, Su Tianhao focused entirely on cultivating the first layer. The technique welcomed him smoothly—no resistance, no obstacles. It flowed into his consciousness like recovering a long-forgotten memory.
Time seemed to fade away.
In that deep meditative state, there existed only him... and the Shrouded Dragon Veil.