Qiang Qi bounced off each other in a black void.
Suddenly, this qi began moving, as if being absorbed.
The qi particles continued gravitating towards something until blue, pulsing veins within this void sucked them into its system.
This qi would then begin to circulate throughout the astral body, slowly forming into something akin to a star.
This would take a single minute until it reached the Primeval Galaxy.
In this small pocket realm, space was empty and bright, a myriad of stars illuminating this vast yet small space.
The stars would then absorb this qi, growing brighter than before.
In fact, they looked different from when they were in their zero-dimensional shape.
At first, they were nothing more than bright smalls of light, just like in space, but once reaching their first dimensional shape, they had two sharp points opposite each other.
This was the process of cultivation and what Gu Xuanming was currently doing as he sat in his dorm in silence, letting qi flow into his meridians.
At the moment, he had his hair tied with a green string, dressed in a tunic of black colors, with the inner layer being dark green.
The baggy green sleeves were large, and he also had on armguards and martial arts slippers since he intended to practice some martial techniques in order to get stronger and hopefully break through to his next stars.
At his current progress, he was still at his first constellation, only fully opening 56 of his meridians, only needing to open 16 more, so he could then truly start modifying his body at a micro level and learn advanced martial arts.
Just learning martial arts alone would take him 2 months if he took breaks in between, and that isn’t including searching for the inheritance and dealing with Zhao Cheng’an.
His servant still hasn’t returned, and he hasn’t been able to explore any waterfalls since he isn’t strong enough.
This left him guessing that it may take him even longer, depending on how these factors halt his progress.
Standing up, he dusted off his tunic and took the wooden sword with him out of the dorm.
The wind blew against his face once more as every disciple in his class stood before him with wooden weapons in hand.
Some chose to switch out for a staff or a spear; others decided to be more physical with their hands.
“Back again…”
This was a daily routine now.
He had offered to stop taking their primordial stones if they were to beat him in martial combat, all except Zhao Cangsheng, who saw one stone as nothing to worry about.
Of course, those with C and D grade talent needed their stones as they were far more precious since they didn’t get as much, so every single one counted.
‘It’s a good thing I made that bet.
With this, I can easily practice some of the techniques I learned from the books.’
Before he could start the fight, however, Qing Yuru walked up to everyone.
“What’s going on here?”
She wore her martial attire, standing before everyone with a strong stance.
“We’re challenging Gu Xuanming!”
“He steals primordial stones from us!”
Hearing their complaints, she looked at Gu Xuanming.
She would not tolerate theft, but that’s when he chimed in.
“I didn’t steal from them.”
“I made a deal with my brother that if he loses to me, everyone in my class has to give me one primordial stone a day.
And if they wish to be severed from this deal, they have to beat me in a fight.”
After hearing his explanation, her expression softened.
“Is that so?” She looked back at everyone else.
She stretched her wristband, which then transformed into a chain around her wrist, attached to a giant spike ball!
“Then show me your skill, and I will train you.
After all, as a core disciple, I can also take in my own personal disciples.”
Everyone was stunned to hear her declaration.
Even Gu Xuanming found it a little surprising.
He hadn’t expected her to want to take him in as a disciple.
In fact, he never intended to be a personal disciple since he felt it might hurt his chances of progressing.
Nonetheless, he still asked.
“Why?
I haven’t shown remarkable talent for the sword.
Just so you know, I’m bad at using a sword.
What allows me to beat them is my efficiency at controlling my qiang qi.”
Qing Yuru smirked.
“Exactly.
You and I are both B-grade talents, and I would hate to see such talent go to waste.
“Oh, and just so you know, I’m not asking you to become my disciple…” Qing Yuru tugged on the chain, lifting the spiky ball attached to it.
“I’m telling you.
You don’t have a choice.”
Her lips curled as she looked at Gu Xuaming with a soft yet commanding gaze.
Gu Xuanming lifted his sword.
He didn’t want to waste his time with this.
‘I should suppress her.
From what I know, if you beat down someone who desires to be your master, they will leave you alone.’
“I see, you want to suppress me.
Too bad you can’t beat me.
After all, the gap between a first star and a third star is like heaven and earth.”
Hearing her say this, Gu Xuanming realized how outclassed he was.
In a split second, he could not register, she kicked Gu Xuanming with such force that he thought his neck had broken!
Despite being in pain, he swung his sword towards her neck.
Crack!
But it broke!
Being in your third stars meant you had an extremely dense body, with meridians in your bones, your body practically being a weapon itself!
Because of this, Qing Yuru would then pull him closer and strike him straight in the stomach!
“I can sense it, you know.
Your emotions.”
“With my spirit vision, I can sense the emotions and intent of anyone.
Yet your emotions are lacking, your intent is lacking.
I could not see your attacks before they came.
I cannot tell how you feel.”
“That is why I truly want you.”
“I will make you a powerful warrior!
I will make sure you learn advanced techniques.”
With those parting words, she delivered another powerful kick to his head, knocking him out cold!
Gu Xuanming had suffered a true defeat.
She then picked up his body, looking back at the other disciples.
“Well, you can’t challenge him today.
How about tomorrow?” She smiled.
Nangong Xuanhe couldn’t accept this!
“Wait, what!?
But…”
Qing Yuru’s patience had worn thin.
She glared at his brother, tugging the chain hard and swinging it at Nangong Xuanhe, who felt the full force of a spiked ball weighing 17,000 pounds hitting his side.
Immediately, he was thrown into a building, but miraculously, whether he was blessed, he had sustained no injuries from the spike ball itself, something Qing Yuru noticed.
But she had no interest in him.
After all, Nangong Xuanhe was just a C-grade talent, nothing special in her eyes.
Nangong Xuanhe was twitching in the debris.
He instantly panicked, checking on his ring to see it was fine.
“Okay, it’s safe.
Gah!”
Nangong Xuanhe clenched his back in pain, trembling with agony.
It felt like his back was torn open; like his muscles were stretched.
“Damn it.
Thankfully, my technique [Iron Body] is a passive.”
He looked towards his brother, who was being carried away.
A faint smile appeared, enjoying the sight of seeing his brother in such a sorry state.
But that happiness turned sour when he remembered that he was being taken by a core disciple.
A core disciple is someone who will become an elder of the sect and eventually inherit it from the sect leader.
It was already extremely hard to reach the second stars since the talent measure was purely for cultivation talent.
To reach the second stars, you needed martial talent as well as being required to go up the ranks in the sect.
The sect had four stages based on the martial arts.
Outer disciples could only access the Basic Stage or basic techniques.
They were commonly known and easy to execute.
Then there was the Adept Stage, limited only to inner disciples or personal disciples, where you could learn more complicated techniques.
While not the hardest, they required extra work for mastery over them.
Then came the Elite Stage, limited to elders, core disciples, and personal disciples, and these martial techniques were quite hard to master, requiring high martial talent.
If you didn’t have high martial talent, then it would be impossible to master these techniques.
And then Advanced.
Only those with martial talent equal to a B or A Grade could master these techniques.
These techniques allowed a person to swiftly kill and paralyze.
They could harness spirits without using qi, drawing their spirits to their body, and execute powerful killer moves.
Healing could also be done to a small extent.
But the most important martial art was the Three Flowers Dantian technique, a technique which allowed you to create a dantian, something essential to reach the 2nd stars.
The possibilities were endless, but because of the high barrier of entry, this left many unable to go beyond the first stars.
However, Nangong Xuanhe wasn’t intimidated by such a high wall.
He knew he could make that leap.
With this ring and the techniques that he had learned over the past few days, he was certain he could master the advanced martial arts.
As he stood up, dusting off his clothes, he looked over to see Duanmu Yan, a young master with an arrogant face, looking down at him.
He had a large build, short black hair, and a black tunic and armguards.
“Hahaha, look at you.
You actually thought you could lay a hand on her.
With basic techniques like yours?”
Duanmu Yan shook his head arrogantly, as if taking the high ground in this situation.
“Leave me alone.
I don’t have time for your pestering.”
Duanmu Yan kept his smile, grabbing Nangong Xuanhe by his tunic.
“H-hey!”
“I would ask if you’re courting death, but I’m not allowed to kill you.” He said, his smile still persistent.
Bang!
A powerful punch was delivered to Nangong Xuanhe’s stomach!
“Kalf!
Kalf!”
Nangong Xuanhe dropped to his knees, saliva dripping from his mouth after getting struck.
He thought he was about to vomit all the food he had eaten.
“You were so mad at Qing Yuru that you forgot about what I would do to you.
As expected from a C-grade talent.”
He looked up at Duanmu Yan, clenching his fist.
This bastard had been bullying him for some time.
Every day, he was forced to deal with this guy constantly suppressing him.
He was his first obstacle, and today he had no intention of being suppressed any longer.
Immediately, he struck Duanmu Yan on his chest!
“Ack!” Duanmu Yan stumbled back, having not expected his victim to fight back.
“Oh… Oh wow… I’m starting to consider killing you.”
The way he had spoken made it seem as if what he said was normal.
It was a little unnerving to the other disciples, fearing what else he considered normal despite being supposedly righteous.
Nangon Xuanhe got into a battle stance with his wooden sword.
His knees were bent.
His focus absolute.
He may not have been able to fight his brother today, but at least, he could try to bring this guy down and suppress him!