*sigh*"I guess I should clean this up." Blue quickly disposed of the body via spatial storage, proceeding to enter the house afterwards.
The first thing one would see when entering the house would be a corridor with a few doors on either side. With walls painted all white and a floor made of varnished wooden planks, the place seemed rather refined for Blue"s tastes. If one would look straight forward, they would find a living room and a dining room ahead, filled with necessities and luxury furniture. There was even a television, which made things even more confusing.
"What"s a TV doing here?" Blue wondered as she entered the living room and noticed the out of place object. Of all things, a television would be one of the most unexpected things to find in a Cultivation world.
Even the guns seemed less unusual than the TV.
"Hey, Grey. Why is there a TV here?" Blue called down the corridor.
She asked and there was no reply. Simon had already shut himself in a room and began cultivating. He did not see himself as someone with a lot of time to waste. He would either train or cultivate, maybe create some techniques if his imagination was running wild. Often he would just sit there and gather energy, blindly producing fleeting ideas in his mind.
One thing was apparent, Simon did not really view this as a fun ride through a novel he had created. As far as he could tell, he was in a blind spot. He did not have too many ideas on what would happen here. Sure he is strong, but he still can"t beat an Immortal. One must be realistic.
After roughly 4 days of cultivating, Simon suddenly felt a surge of energy as his eyes and mouth forcefully opened. Along with his pores and mind, everything opened up. He did not have to share a room with Blue for once, giving him a chance to break through without any interruption or worries whatsoever.
[Achieved Nascent Soul 1st layer]
"Ahh… finally. I am going to be the strongest father in the universe one day. Dahlia is going to be so proud that her papa is so strong." Simon chuckled in excitement, hopping off the bed and walking out of the room.
"Grey? Did you just break through again? What is with that progression? You are way too quick, those cheat codes are unreal." Blue pouted with a hint of envy.
"Unfair, I only managed to get to the Core Formation 8th layer, and you"re already at Nascent Soul. What"s next? You"re going to become an Immortal after another two weeks?"
"Relax… relax… progression slows down for now. Nascent Soul is a huge wall that might take me a month to pa.s.s."
"A month is still way too quick. I might only be halfway through Nascent Soul by the time you become Immortal." Blue sighed. She really just wanted to be equal, it was too embarra.s.sing to be weaker than Simon. He had awakened after her and yet he was blazing past.
"The guard said that the trials will begin after a week. It has already been 4 days, so that leaves us with 3 days to get you to Nascent Soul; trust me, I will help you get there without an issue."
"Really? If you can do that, we will be set to defeat these trials without even a scratch!"
"Yeah yeah… just practice this cultivation technique. It"s called the Azure Refinement Technique, it should be good for you. I"ve already started making a new technique for me, so I should speed up again soon. For now, use this and you will have fast enough pace." Simon immediately handed Blue a blue book.
"The technique helps you refine purer energy or "qi". Also speeds up cultivation exponentially."
"Thanks, Grey. I will make sure to arrive at Nascent Soul soon!" Blue cheered and went straight to her room with a face of resolution.
"Now then…" Simon disappeared from the scene and arrived at a grand building at the centre of the sect.
"I need to test my skills somehow. The only way is to find a Nascent Soul to spar with. And since Blue is still in Core Formation, a medium sized sect patriarch level cultivator should be just fine. I might even learn a thing or two."
Simon walked to the front door of the building confidently, striding like a man on a mission.
Before him were two guards, different from the guards he met a few days ago. These guards wore masks and were armed with staffs. To him, they seemed weak, so he did not really wish to fight them.
"Halt, state your intentions." A guard extended his arm forward and stopped Simon.
"I am here to meet your patriarch." Simon calmly spoke.
"Our patriarch has more important things to deal with rather than a flower boy like you. Leave." The other guard said as he pointed one end of his staff towards Simon.
"I just want a spar, you two really don"t have the qualifications to deny me based on looks. Your patriarch is so hospitable, so I wanted to spar him and gain some insights." Simon explained with a confident grin.
"Our patriarch wouldn"t waste his time with someone that is barely of the age of adulthood. At most, you would be a Foundation Building cultivator, nothing to a Nascent Soul. Please leave before we are forced to make you."
BANG
Simon shot a hole right through the tip of the guard"s staff, with the bullet exiting the other end. Within a mere split second, the staff became hollow and weightless. The guard that had pointed his staff towards Simon, did not even manage to realise this until a moment later.
"!!!" The guard stumbled and dropped his staff.
"Nascent Soul!" They immediately bowed their heads in reverence while their bodies shook rapidly.
"Will you now let me in? I really just want to spar with your patriarch." Simon blew on the smoking barrel, blending in with his grey eyes,
"Of course. The patriarch will be very intrigued to meet such a young and talented Nascent Soul. You are indeed worthy of meeting the Patriarch." The guards both moved to the side of the door and ushered Simon in.
"Hmmm?" Inside was a man seated on the floor, drinking tea from behind an elegant wooden table. He briefly stopped sipping from his cup as he saw Simon enter, finis.h.i.+ng before he addressed the visitor.
"Young man, you are a Nascent Soul? Your talents are surely one of a kind. Might I ask why you are here?" The man calmly spoke from a seated position.
"I am here to request a sparring match with you. I have recently broken through to Nascent Soul and wish to test my new strength against someone of equal cultivation." Simon respectfully declared in the presence of the Patriarch.
"I see. You are too powerful, so I must reject this request. There is nothing to gain from sparring with me. I can already sense that your aura of battlefield experience has far surpa.s.sed mine. Even with slightly weaker cultivation, I sense that you will end up victorious. It is best to test your strength against someone that is at the peak of Nascent Soul." The patriarch explained in a logical manner.
"How would you know that? I have never faced you before and you have never faced me. Can you really be sure that I would win?"
"My gun is also inferior. I can sense that you are in possession of perhaps a Perfect tier gun, so I do not believe that we can spar. However, I must ask, why are you in my sect? Could it be that you wish to partake in the trials?"
"If you wish, I will let you forgo this requirement and recommend for you to directly enter the Divine Tempest Sect as an elder. You are more than qualified. Since I am the 9th Elder of the Divine Tempest Sect, it should not be a problem for me to recommend some new blood."
"Very well, I wasn"t interested in fighting weaklings anyway. This makes things much more convenient for me. Also, I have another request."
"Ask away." The patriarch warmly responded.
"I have a cousin that is only a breakthrough away from Nascent Soul. They are the same age as me, so could you also recommend for them to become an elder?"
"Hmmm… It is already a stretch to recommend one elder. I will see what I can do."
"Thank you… sorry I did not catch your name."
"I am Wu Zhong, you may call me brother Wu in the future. May I also ask your name?"
"I am Hui Ge Dong." Simon again used that alias.
"Sorry, my p.r.o.nunciation is slightly off. Such a strange name. One might accidentally say "Hew-Jeh Dong". Whatever the case, it is nice to meet you, Brother Hui."
"Nice to meet you too, Brother Wu."
"Ugh. Xianxia terminology, so stiff!"