Tale of an Ordinary Cultivator

The spiritual meridian root formed the very foundation of all cultivation, which was why the successful formation of the spiritual meridian root would indicate that one had effectively entered the Foundation Building realm.

From the spiritual meridian root, cultivators would then be able to form spiritual meridians that extend throughout their bodies.

These spiritual meridians allowed cultivators to tap on world origin energy, giving them the ability to execute techniques far beyond the means of ordinary mortals.

As for the different stages of the Foundation Building realm, they indicated the progress of forming these spiritual meridians.

The greater the completion rate, the greater the amount of world origin energy they could tap on. This naturally increased the amount of energy that they could output through their techniques.

25% completion marked the start of the Intermediate Foundation Building realm.

50% completion marked the start of the Advanced Foundation Building realm.

At 75% completion, one would be considered to have entered the Peak Foundation Building realm.

As the name suggested, these individuals were considered to be extremely close to the peak of the Foundation Building realm, and would be able to attempt a breakthrough to the next realm once the spiritual meridians were fully formed.

As for how much time it would take to reach that stage, it was something that depended on numerous different factors.

Some took a mere year, while others took decades.

There were even some who never lived to witness its completion.

Cultivation talent and resources were the main determinants of success and speed, though there were other external factors that could definitely have an impact as well.

Boom-!

A gentle gust of energy spread out in all directions like a nova, though it was not nearly strong enough to cover the entire Monolith Square.

It did not let out a loud sound, and was weak enough to be mistaken for nothing but a strong breeze.

But since a deathly silence had fallen upon the Monolith Square due to the solemn conversation between Mo Tianfeng and Hua Sheng, even something as muted as this managed to draw everyone’s attention all at once.

Everyone immediately turned towards the origin of this energy – Lu Zhiying.

The wave of energy coming from her was short-lived. Her robes and long hair had fluttered for a moment, but were already starting to settle when everyone looked over.

At the same time, she let out a long breath before slowly opening her eyes.

Those clear brown eyes, coupled with her impeccably sculpted face, formed a painting of perfection, allowing everyone to momentarily forget about the grim conversation that had just transpired.

“Did you just...?” Zhao Yunxiao was at a loss for words as he observed Lu Zhiying from right beside her.

“Mm,” Lu Zhiying nodded while letting out an excited smile. “I have just broken through to the Intermediate Foundation Building realm!”

Her radiant smile, along with her words, struck everyone present like a bolt of lightning.

“Did she just say that she broke through?”

“Seriously?”

“No way...”

Audible gasps could be heard coming from all over the Monolith Square, with some disciples even doubting what they had just heard.

In actual fact, it was not uncommon for disciples to break through during a cultivation lecture.

After all, the circumstances created the perfect opportunity for many of them to gain that final bit of enlightenment and insight that they might have desperately needed, allowing them to mow down that darned bottleneck that they had been stuck at.

However, Lu Zhiying’s case here was rather different.

By now, Lu Zhiying was already famous in the outer sect. Every outer disciple, be it male or female, was aware that she had only just joined the Black Tortoise for a month.

Just one month, and she had already broken through to the Intermediate Foundation Building realm?

If they considered the fact that Lu Zhiying had only formed her spiritual meridian root a week after joining the sect, this would mean that she had only taken three weeks to advance to the Intermediate Foundation Building realm.

This had to be one of the fastest progress in the history of the Black Tortoise Sect!

Tu Shi and the rest of the Black Rose members wore solemn looks on their faces.

They already had high hopes for Lu Zhiying, but this still far exceeded their expectations.

Now, they became even more determined to recruit Lu Zhiying into their ranks.

Even if it were not to improve the prestige of the Black Rose, it would be a huge waste for someone like Lu Zhiying to not receive the best treatment and resources that she could get!

“Tch!” Bei Pinzi clicked his tongue unhappily from another corner of the Monolith Square.

As one of the three new joiners who had formed a true spiritual meridian root, Bei Pinzi had always looked at Lu Zhiying and Ou Fengtian as his competitors.

In fact, since Lu Zhiying was a couple years older than the other two, Bei Pinzi actually saw her as less of a rival, thinking that she had already lost a few years as compared to them.

But looking at how things were right now...

Perhaps Lu Zhiying was actually more of a threat to his position as the most promising new joiner!

“It is consoling to see that there are still some among you who have chosen to spend time wisely instead of only thinking about what more the sect could do for you,” Mo Tianfeng nodded in approval. “This is how every disciple should strive to be. Well done, girl.”

Mo Tianfeng was unaware of Lu Zhiying’s shocking rate of progress like the rest of the outer disciples did, but he still wanted to use her advancement as an example to lecture the outer disciples a little, especially after what happened earlier.

To the outer disciples, his words of praise came as yet another level of astonishment.

As if her shocking rate of progress was not enough, this made two lectures in a row that Lu Zhiying had been directly complimented by Mo Tianfeng!

“Thank you for the kind words, Elder Mo,” Lu Zhiying was initially surprised to hear Mo Tianfeng’s comment coming out of nowhere, but she still managed to react quickly enough.

Zhao Yunxiao let out a breath of relief.

At least her manner of speech was respectful this time.

“Mm,” Mo Tianfeng nodded. “Well then, I will see you again next month.”

This time, he no longer gave the outer disciples any time to react.

Just like when he had first appeared, the floor beneath his feet let out an intense golden light that blinded everyone for a moment. And as the light vanished, so had Mo Tianfeng.

The Monolith Square broke out into a huge commotion immediately after his departure.

What happened at last month’s cultivation lecture might have been newsworthy, but this month’s events definitely trumped it!

How could the excited outer disciples possibly not want to discuss about it?

Unfortunately, all such discussions were abruptly put to a stop as the outer disciples saw Hua Sheng step forward to address them.

“Those who have posed questions without thinking them through earlier, come look for me at the Outer Disciples Hall this evening,” Hua Sheng said authoritatively. “You heard Elder Mo earlier. If I have to hunt you down one by one, I can assure you that the result will not be pretty.”

His stern words invoked a sense of dread not only in those who had posed questions earlier, but also in those who had thought of doing so but had not managed to act in time.

They were that close to being subjected to punishment by Hua Sheng.

Even though Mo Tianfeng had told Hua Sheng to do it in moderation, who knew what doing it in moderation really meant?

Judging from how things went, there was no way that it would be a light punishment by any measure.

If they had been tasked with meting out punishment on behalf of an elder, they would not dare to do so in a trivial manner, either!

As for those who were merely watching from the sidelines, they held mixed feelings regarding the matter.

Some felt schadenfraude, while others felt bad for their peers.

However, all of that was considered trivial in comparison to their current thoughts regarding Lu Zhiying.

Once again, Lu Zhiying’s name had risen to become the number one topic in everyone’s mind, be it for male or female disciples!

“Congratulations, Junior Martial Sister Lu,” Zhao Yunxiao said with a smile.

He had no idea how Lu Zhiying did it, but Zhao Yunxiao congratulated her nevertheless. After all, people like him would probably never understand the world of geniuses.

“Congratulations, Junior Marital Sister Lu,” Nie Hanchang added. “Your talent puts me to shame.”

“You are amazing, Junior Martial Sister Lu!” Gu Qiansi gave her a gentle hug. “I am so proud of you!”

“Hehe, am I really that amazing?” Lu Zhiying asked with a grin.

“Definitely,” Tu Shi’s voice suddenly came from behind, prompting Gu Qiansi to quickly release the hug.

While everyone had been lost in their thoughts and discussion, Tu Shi and the rest of the Black Rose had come over to look for Lu Zhiying immediately after Mo Tianfeng’s departure.

And with their presence, the other outer disciples who had wanted to come over to congratulate Lu Zhiying could not help but stop in their tracks.

Everyone knew that the Black Rose had been trying to recruit Lu Zhiying, so nobody wanted to interrupt for fear of offending the Black Rose.

“Greetings, Senior Martial Sister Tu,” Zhao Yunxiao, Gu Qiansi, and Lu Zhiying said in unison.

“Junior Martial Sister Tu,” Nie Hanchang nodded in acknowledgement.

“Greetings,” Tu Shi nodded towards them before turning towards Lu Zhiying. “Are you free to come with us for a chat, Junior Martial Sister Lu?”

“Where are we going next, Senior Martial Brother Zhao? I don’t have time, do I?” Lu Zhiying turned towards Zhao Yunxiao instead.

“...Yes, you do have time,” Zhao Yunxiao felt the corner of his lips twitch. “The rest of us will just head over to the Medicine Pavilion first. You can come find us there when you are done.”

“Fine,” Lu Zhiying pouted in disappointment before turning back to Tu Shi. “Let’s go have our talk then.”

Tu Shi let out a helpless sigh upon seeing Lu Zhiying’s attitude, “Well then, please follow us.”

With that, Lu Zhiying left the Monolith Square under the lead of the Black Rose members.

“Shall we go as well?” Zhao Yunxiao asked.

“Let’s do that,” Gu Qiansi agreed. “I’ve already told Junior Martial Sister Huang that we will be going to the Medicine Pavilion instead, and she said that she will meet us there as well. So, the discussion will probably not be happening this time.”

The Flying Shell Performance Group usually came together to discuss their takeaways after each monthly cultivation lecture, but that had to be called off this time since their injuries needed tending to.

After leaving the Monolith Square, Zhao Yunxiao and Gu Qiansi parted ways with Nie Hanchang.

While the two went to get their injuries looked at, Nie Hanchang decided to go off for some training of his own.

Even though he wanted to be part of the group, he was someone who was clear on his goals and how to achieve them.

Since they were merely going to get their wounds tended to, there was no reason for Nie Hanchang to neglect his training just to join them at the Medicine Pavilion.

Just like the group, the rest of the outer disciples promptly left the Monolith Square.

This was bound to be a day full of discussions for the outer disciples. After all, there were far too many things to be talked about.

The contents of the cultivation lecture.

The events that transpired during the cultivation lecture.

The upcoming recruitment for helpers during the opening of the Four Symbols Mystic Realm.

Each one of these was something that could be talked about at length, though the last topic was probably what had the greatest immediate impact on everyone.

Every year’s recruitment test was different, so everyone hoped to find out or predict what this year’s recruitment test would be like.

If they could accurately predict what the test would be like, they would be able to make sufficient preparations that would give them at least a small advantage over the others.

And if this small advantage translated into them being selected as a helper, then the benefits would definitely be more than worth the effort!