Dragon Breaks The Void

The retired patriarch continued to inspect Van with meticulous interest. After a few moments, the old patriarch ceased nodding and muttering and grabbed Van.

Van squealed in surprise and was hoisted away by the patriarch to somewhere rather far away. The Outer Sect Elder couldn"t believe his eyes. He had just met the elusive retired patriarch of the Flowing River Sect.

The current patriarch was the 5th Patriarch of the Flowing River Sect. He had a cultivation base of Emperor and had only recently broken through. He had never met the current patriarch. Yet while recruiting a bunch of new disciples, he had a met a Saint ranked expert.

He felt as if his luck was on fire today and decided to go hit the casinos tonight. He also remembered to keep an eye on the rather ordinary looking youth. After all, a disciple that the old patriarch took an interest in would have a lot of influence.

Wait, wasn"t the old patriarch the eccentric one that liked to dissect living beings? The Elder"s expression turned to one of relief. Good thing the patriarch was after Van and not him. He gave Van a respectful salute before heading off to report his findings.

Van was currently wretching in the sky being dragged by the old Patriarch. Van had opened his mouth to ask the Old Patriarch what was happening when a variety of bugs flew into his mouth. The Old Patriarch was ignoring him and continued to fly at high speeds. Van stopped protesting after the first minute. He just stayed suspended limply, waiting for them to reach their destination.

The Old Patriarch realized that his appearance wasn"t exactly presentable and used an Appearance Changing Technique to turn into a Dashing Middle-Aged Man with well-kept robes. A few minutes later, the flying sword started to descend and they entered a large chamber filled with many luxuries, but rather unkempt.

Van found a nearby stream and washed out his mouth. The taste of bugs would be one he would never want to repeat. After washing out his mouth, he turned to the Old Patriarch, now looking like a middle-aged man and waited for him to say something.

While he was waiting, Van looked around him to find a strange wooden door with a golden lock on it. When he reached out to touch the doork.n.o.b, he was stopped by the Old Patriarch. He said one word.

"Don"t."

A cold feeling crept down his spine and Van decided to listen to the Old Patriarch"s advice. The Old Patriarch guided Van to a nearby couch and had him sit down. Van carefully inspected the chamber while the Old Patriarch got some tea. There were a lot of items related to science strewn around the chamber floor.

It wasn"t too strange for an eccentric cultivator to indulge in acts besides cultivation, but he had never heard of a science maniac. The Old Patriarch came back with some Spirit Jade Leaf Tea and served some to Van, watching his every move. Van awkwardly picked up the teacup and took a sip. He didn"t exactly feel comfortable doing anything, being watched by a strange old man.

"So, why did you bring me here?"

Van placed the teacup down and waited for the Old Man to answer.

"You have a large amount of talent. I"ve never had someone break my River Talent Stone before. I would like to have you try something else out. Stay right here."

The old man walked away and entered the wooden door. Van could hear the rustling of items being shuffled around and a few clanks from items being thrown. About 10 minutes later, the old patriarch came out with gemstone. Van couldn"t tell what it was. But from what Van could tell, this gemstone was a rare spirit stone.

Why would he give me a spirit stone? Van thought to himself. Spirit Stones were valuable items that cultivators use to cultivate faster. The Qi inside the spirit stone could be absorbed at a faster rate than absorbing from one"s surroundings.

"This isn"t a spirit stone. It is a stone that measures one"s talent. You could call it the improved version of the River Talent Stone. The ratings are a lot higher also. It has the same color scheme, but one who gets a Gold rating on the River Talent Stone might not even get a Red rating from this one."

Van gasped. Wasn"t the standard for this talent stone a bit too high? But then again, his talent was strong enough to destroy the other talent stone.

"If you happen to trigger the hidden event in this stone, I"ll make you a Core Disciple. If you somehow break it, you"ll become my personal disciple and I"ll give you cultivation materials. Gold means you"ll become an Inner Sect Disciple and I"ll tell you what you will get if you get any lower."

Van was ecstatic. He really needed those cultivation resources. He had recently reached a bottleneck and needed some resources to make the attempt to break through to the Inner Discovery Realm.

The old man looked at Van expectantly, holding out the new Talent Stone. Van took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself for all situations before placing his hand on the stone. Van inserted his Qi into the stone and eagerly awaited a result.

A few moments later, the rock started to glow Red. The Old Patriarch was about to give his condolences to Van when the rock started to glow and Orange color. Then, it turned into a Purple Glow. Then, a Golden glow appeared on the rock.

The Old Patriarch was flabberghasted. Even a heavenly const.i.tution that allowed one"s talent to be untouched wouldn"t cause this effect on the rock. He had specifically made it so that it would measure talent at an extremely high standard.

The hidden event started to appear. A flowing river that seemed to contain the entire age of existence appeared before the rock started to crack. Van looked at the rock, startled and was about to drop the rock when it exploded. Luckily, the Old Patriarch placed a shield around both of them, allowing the shrapnel to b.u.mp into Van without any damage.