by Feng Yise
In reality, even Ye Yuan was highly astonished by Lu-er's cultivation speed.
She used a single night to reach the First Level Essence Qi Realm, and after five days under the aid of Ye Yuan's Explosive Yuan Pill, she successfully broke through to the Second Level Essence Qi Realm.
And yesterday after consuming transcendent-grade Essence Qi Pills consecutively, Lu-er broke through once more, reaching the Third Level Essence Qi Realm, almost catching up to Ye Yuan.
If this sort of cultivation speed were spread out, it would be an absolutely astounding matter.
Even though there was the aid of medicinal pills, Lu-er's monstrous talent was even more important. In front of Lu-er, all those so-called geniuses in the State of Qin were overshadowed by her.
Obviously, there was also the Heaven Illusionary Ice Soul that Ye Yuan taught her. It was as if it were custom-made for Lu-er, making her cultivate quite successfully with ease.
Lu-er was naturally gifted. These past few days, Ye Yuan taught her several suitable martial techniques. She quickly grasped them, as if she was born just for cultivation.
Lu-er's current strength was absolutely no weaker than the average Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm. There should not be a problem to pass the entrance test.
Both master and servant going to participate in the test together was something worth anticipating.
Chapter 39 - Lin Tiancheng
After Ye Yuan successfully refined the last transcendent-grade Essence Qi Pill, he let out a long sigh of relief.
These few days of refining had squeezed his essence energy dry over and over again, torturing him half dead.
However, the hard work paid off. By constantly draining his essence energy, unknowingly, Ye Yuan's cultivation realm had thoroughly stabilized.
Right now, he was only one step away from the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm. As long as the acc.u.mulation of essence energy was sufficient, Ye Yuan could break through to the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm at any time.
What's left was naturally stuffing himself with pills.
"Huuu. Finally done. Lu-er, help me stand guard, I'm going to break through to the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm," Ye Yuan instructed Lu-er.
The last batch of pills left today weren't many, so Ye Yuan did not expend too much essence energy.
After taking a Qi Returning Pill and meditating for an hour, Ye Yuan recovered to his peak condition.
Casually taking out five transcendent-grade Essence Qi Pills and throwing them into his mouth, Ye Yuan executed the Spirit Bristle Nine Yang Divine Art and started to impact through the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm.
If it were some other Third Level Essence Qi Realm, they would definitely die due to the violent essence energy just from consuming five transcendent-grade Essence Qi Pills at once.
However, Ye Yuan's Spirit Bristle Nine Yang Divine Art was just too powerful. The violent essence energy was currently as obedient as a lamb as it moved along Ye Yuan's meridians; it even appeared to lack the strength to carry on.
Without thinking too much, Ye Yuan swallowed another three transcendent-grade Essence Qi Pills before the essence energy barely managed to reach the requirement.
Ye Yuan revolved around his thick and abundant essence energy, impacting through the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm bottleneck. Unlike other people, he did not encounter a large resistance and surged forth like a current; slowly, yet powerfully.
The Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm!
A bottleneck that would take several months, even a year for an ordinary person to break through, only took Ye Yuan two hours.
However, Ye Yuan did not stop cultivating. He continued to swallow transcendent-grade Essence Qi Pills non-stop, only ceasing when he reached the peak of Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm.
Sensing essence energy that was several times thicker than when he was at the Third Level Essence Qi Realm, Ye Yuan shook his head instead.
"Still too weak! I wonder when I will have the strength to charge back to the Divine Realm. However, if I were to have a deathmatch with Fei Qingping here once more, I can instantly kill him with only First Layer Wave."
After a night of cultivation, the sun was already up, and it was almost time to go look for Huyan Yong.
Ye Yuan had just advanced to the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm, so his fatigue was swept away long ago. Presently, Lu-er was also a cultivator. Meditating one night did not have much effect on her.
Master and servant went to the Illusionary Spirit Tower together. Huyan Yong had already been waiting there for a long time.
"Hello, Teacher Huyan," Ye Yuan brought Lu-er up and greeted him.
Huyan Yong nodded and acknowledged him calmly.
Huyan Yong instinctively swept his divine sense over Ye Yuan's body, and his initially cold face revealed a slight astonishment.
"I didn't see you for one night, and you are already at the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm?" Huyan Yong asked in amazement.
"Haha. Lucky, lucky," Ye Yuan laughed and said.
Huyan Yong shook his head and said, "At first, other people said that your cultivation realm was forcefully raised by your father. But I knew that it wasn't the case after watching your deathmatch. However, I never expected that you would advance a small stage, rising to the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm."
"In any case, I'm an Alchemy Grandmaster's son who mainly grew up eating medicinal pills. If I still can't reach Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm at this age, I will be throwing my father's face," Ye Yuan said, his words being half genuine, half false.
Huyan Yong nodded and did not say much, as if in silent agreement with what Ye Yuan said.
"The test hasn't started yet. You two wait awhile," Huyan Yong said.
Clearly, it was not only Ye Yuan and Lu-er who were participating in the test. There were already over a dozen people waiting there.
"Alright, Teacher Huyan." Ye Yuan didn't waste his breath and brought Lu-er to stand with that group of people.
However, Ye Yuan's appearance caused a stir.
Presently, he was too famous. Not only did he kill Fei Qingping who was higher than him by two minor cultivation realms in a deathmatch, but he also scammed thousands of Essence Qi Pills from several hundred students.
Even if they did not want to recognize him, they could not.
"You guys, isn't that Ye Yuan over there? He also came to participate in the advancement test?"
"What's so strange about it? That Fei Qingping already barely had strength close to the Black rank. Since Ye Yuan could finish him off, isn't it very normal to join the advancement test?"
"That makes sense. But for a Third Level Essence Qi Realm to join the Black rank test, he can be considered exceptional."
"Don't be silly. Back then, wasn't Senior Apprentice Brother Long also at the Third Level Essence Qi Realm when he participated in the Black rank test? No matter how powerful Ye Yuan is, can he be stronger than Senior Apprentice Brother Long?"
"But his Stacking Waves Layered Palm was trained until the Second Layer Wave. Surely he's at least stronger than Senior Apprentice Brother Long in that aspect? Senior Apprentice Brother Long trained for a month before barely mastering the First Layer Wave."
"Tsk. He was just lucky that the martial technique suited him. How can he possibly compare with Senior Apprentice Brother Long?"
"Then how do you explain his great circle stage Instant Flash?"
" . . . . . ."
"Yii? Look."
"Look at what? Making such a fuss."
"Ye Yuan seems to have . . . broken through . . ."
"Broken through what? H-he . . . he is already at Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm! Heavens! Is this fellow still human? How many days has it only been since he advanced to the Third Level Essence Qi Realm."
" . . . . . ."
When these two people discovered that Ye Yuan broke through, their expressions were like they have seen a ghost.
At this moment, others also clearly noticed that Ye Yuan broke throu
gh to the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm, and their eyes when looking at Ye Yuan became peculiar.
"Haha. What's everyone looking at me for? I know I'm very handsome, but I don't swing that way. So don't look at me with that sort of expression, alright? Isn't it just breaking through to the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm? It's not like it's something major. All of you Senior Apprentice Brothers have a higher cultivation realm than me, so can everybody stop being so amazed?" Ye Yuan was not uncomfortable with the attention and just brushed it off casually.
Everybody was collectively made speechless. Was this fellow here to posture?
Breaking through to the Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm was the first threshold on the Martial Path. Who among them would not exercise extreme caution, spending large amounts of time to acc.u.mulate before breaking through?
But Ye Yuan only used a few days before crossing it. Now, he assumed a manner like it was too easy. He was really asking for a beating!
"Isn't it just breaking through to Fourth Level Essence Qi Realm? What's there to be surprised about? No matter how he jumps around, isn't it just Black Rank? Even if he reached the Black Rank, he is still just trash."
The discussion was broken by an arrogant voice filled with condescension.
"It's Senior Apprentice Brother Lin Tiancheng. He is currently a student in the Earth Rank most likely to advance to the Heaven Rank! I didn't expect him to also participate in this advancement test. Looks like he is almost certain that he can advance to Heaven Rank this time." Very quickly, someone recognized the owner of the voice.
Lin Tiancheng slowly walked with his hands behind his back in front of Ye Yuan, bringing with him an overbearing pressure and asked, "You are Ye Yuan?"
Ye Yuan was not the slightest bit uncomfortable facing Lin Tiancheng's pressure and said calmly, "I don't know if the Ye Yuan you are talking about is me, but I am indeed called Ye Yuan."
"Humph! What a glib tongue! These few days, all I've been hearing are all sorts of clamoring about you. Today, I want to see if you really are as incredible as they say," Lin Tiancheng said with a face full of disdain.
"Is that so? I'm actually so famous now? To think that even Senior Apprentice Brother Lin hear my name all the time. However, I think it's my first time hearing of Senior Apprentice Brother Lin today. I wonder if . . . Senior Apprentice Brother Lin can advance to Heaven Rank today. This Junior Apprentice Brother, I, wish that Senior Apprentice Brother Lin won't stumble and fail."
Ye Yuan still had an exaggerated expression, but the words that came out of his mouth made everyone break into a sweat.
This fellow seemed to be cursing Lin Tiancheng to fail . . .
However, these words really struck Lin Tiancheng's soft spot . . .
Chapter 40 - Entering the Illusionary Spirit Tower
When people said that Lin Tiancheng was one of the strongest people in the Earth Rank, they were not talking about how talented he was.
In reality, this was already Lin Tiancheng's fourth time participating in the advancement test.
Those in the same batch as him, even some students who were in the recent batch, many of them had already advanced to the Heaven Rank. He was the strongest among the remaining few who had yet to advance.
This was Lin Tiancheng's greatest shame. Hence, it was a taboo for others to mention this in front of him. Low ranking students would take special care to avoid it.
Whether it was a coincidence or not, Ye Yuan's words struck Ling Tiancheng's soft spot.
Lin Tiancheng's face visibly changed color. Glaring fiercely at Ye Yuan, he said, "You have guts! To actually talk like this to your senior apprentice brother! I think you are courting death!"
As he said this, Lin Tiancheng gathered his essence energy and smacked a palm towards Ye Yuan.
Smash!
Ye Yuan stood there without moving, but Lin Tiancheng flew backward instead.
Rolling on the ground, Lin Tiancheng barely managed to stabilize his body, looking extremely ragged.
"Which bastard ambushed me?!" Lin Tiancheng bellowed angrily.
The moment he said this, Lin Tiancheng saw that the surrounding people looked at him with odd expressions and was not sure what it meant.
"Lin Tiancheng, you got the nerve to actually attack right in front of me?!" Huyan Yong's icy voice sounded out, making Lin Tiancheng shudder involuntarily.
Facing Huyan Yong, how would Lin Tiancheng have the courage to resist?
He broke into a cold sweat. To actually scold Teacher Huyan a bastard, isn't that courting death? Huyan Yong was the person hosting the test. If he was to secretly play some tricks, wouldn't he have to return in defeat?
If Huyan Yong bore a grudge, then he can forget about advancing ranks for life.
"S-sorry Teacher Huyan. I-I didn't know it was you," Lin Tiancheng hurriedly apologized.
Huyan Yong was expressionless as he said, "The Illusionary Spirit Tower is the place for advancement tests. You actually dared to take action without my permission? If you affect the other students' test, can you handle the responsibility?"
"Teacher Huyan, I . . . He. . . ridiculed me with words on purpose to agitate me into making a move!" Lin Tiancheng did not dare to offend Huyan Yong, so he naturally pushed the blame to Ye Yuan.
"Senior Apprentice Brother Lin, you can't slander good people. I was clearly wishing you success in your test, but I don't know how I provoked you to actually attack me. Could it be that Senior Apprentice Brother Lin came here to participate in the Illusionary Spirit Tower's test, but don't want to advance?" Ye Yuan gave a perplexed face.
Just now, Ye Yuan indeed told Lin Tiancheng to take care not to stumble and fail. It was impossible to find a problem with those words. Except, looking at that exaggerated expression, nobody would believe that he was wishing Lin Tiancheng well.
The pitiful Lin Tiancheng still did not know that Ye Yuan came today to join the test today because Huyan Yong personally invited him.
Without mentioning the fact that the matter was stirred up by Lin Tiancheng, even if he was in the right, it was impossible for Huyan Yong to stand on his side.
"I already saw what happened just now. From the start until the end, it was you who was doing all the mocking. Do you think that I, this examiner, am so easy to be deceived?" Huyan Yong's voice became increasingly colder.
"N-n-no, I . . ."
"Stay here and don't move! Considering that it was your first infraction, I will overlook it. But, if you violate the rules again, I will revoke your assessment rights!"
Lin Tiancheng did not dare to talk back anymore and quietly went to wait by the side.
After waiting for a while, students came one by one. After around 50 people were gathered, Huyan Yong once again appeared in front of everyone.
"Now that everyone is present, in a while, I will open up the restrictions. The Illusionary Spirit Tower will automatically send you to the test site corresponding to your cultivation! Many of you had undergone the advancement test before, but it's the first time for a few of you, so I will briefly go through."
Huyan Yong briefly summarized the important points about the Illusionary Spirit Tower.
Actually, he was explaining especially for Ye Yuan and Lu-er. In this batch, apart from Ye Yuan and Lu-er, everybody else had participated in the advancement test before.
Forgetting about Lu-er, Ye Yuan by right should have gone through the entrance test in the Illusionary Spirit Tower before. But his predecessor was just too weak, and it was impossible for him to have passed the test in the Illusionary Spirit Tower. Thus, Ye Hang pulled a lot of strings back then before managing to shove Ye Yuan in here. Therefore, he had never even gone to the Illusionary Spirit Tower before.
Feeling the layers of restrictions on the Illusionary Spirit Tower, Ye Yuan praised and commented, "So it's a 32 restrictions Spirit Artifact. Tranquil Cloud Sect does indeed have some means."
A 32 restrictions Spirit Artifact naturally was not much in Ye Yuan's eyes. However, even
though this Spirit Artifact's rank was not high, it had some unique features, making it suitable to being used for the students' advancement testing.
This Illusionary Spirit Tower seemed to have been specially developed by the Tranquil Cloud Sect for assessing student into ranks. There are a total of five regions, namely, Entry Advancement, Yellow Rank Advancement, Black Rank Advancement, Earth Rank Advancement, and Heaven Rank Advancement.
The first four regions corresponded to the four student rankings in the Dan Wu Academy. Passing the Entry Advancement allows one to advance to the Yellow Rank. Passing the Yellow Rank Advancement allowed one to advance to the Black Rank, and so on. 1
Lastly, the Heaven Rank Advancement was what the Tranquil Cloud Sect used to determine if Heaven rank students were qualified to enter the sect. It was a test for becoming outer-sect disciples.
Clearly, the difficulty of the five tests increased progressively. By the time it was the Black Rank Advancement test, the difficulty was already rather over the top.
In reality, Lin Tiancheng's talent was not bad. It was just that the Earth Rank Advancement test was truly too outrageous. That was why he failed repeatedly. There were many students like him among the Earth Rank students.
As for the Heaven Rank Advancement test . . .
"I really hope that one of you will be qualified to participate in that test during your student life here in the Dan Wu Academy," Huyan Yong told the students.
Huyan Yong's words did not stir too much of a reaction from everyone. Clearly, they all knew just how terrifying the test was.
What Huyan Yong said was 'qualified,' and not to 'pass.' That is to say that none of the people here would even get the chance to attempt the test before they graduate from the Dan Wu Academy at twenty.
One could only imagine the difficulty of that test!
Most of the students here today were participating in the Black Rank Advancement test, aka, the test for a Black Rank to advance to the Earth Rank. A minority was participating in the Yellow Rank Advancement test and the Earth Rank Advancement test. Lu-er was the only person participating in the Entry Advancement test.