Lu Ming started at the scene with a flabbergasted expression. Although the sect leader's words were quite convincing, the view was still shocking. An emperor class practitioner died just like that.
"I seem to have underestimated your master before boy. Now that the artifact was able to mend a lot of damage, I finally managed to do a proper scan of his cultivation and internal situation of his body. His injuries have recovered a lot by now. He should be able to reach his previous peak after some time."
"The remaining fire energy in the vein should be able to help him break through to a level higher than his previous achievements. The earth fire is a top grade one too. The fire alone is more precious than ten of these fire veins combined.". Lu Ming was shocked once again.
The first elder collected the resource and came back to the two people. He presented Lu Ming with a ring. "Give this to your martial brother. It is a reward for his work in helping me gain such a precious resource."
"We will be leaving for the sect now. I will enter closed-door cultivation as soon as we reach there. You have three more months to prepare for the upcoming pill brew competition. You will leave for a journey to the Pill valley after the three months. I should take you another month or two to reach there, just in time for the Pill brew competition."
"Would either of the masters be not accompanying me to the valley?"
"This is a journey you need to go through alone. Only by experiencing the outer world alone could you properly temper yourself. The Pill Brew competition is around four months from now. At your strength, it would take you 3 months at most to reach there. The extra 1 month is for the case where you encounter any unexpected event."
"You are not to take help from any carriages or masters at a higher level of cultivation than you for the travel. Complete on your own feet. If you want to cover more distance, become stronger than you are currently.���
The first elder gave out a smile. "The main question you would be having now is, how will you increase your strength while preparing for the Pill Brew competition. I leave the matter for you to decide. You need to forge the path for yourself.". The first elder gave out a manual to Lu Ming and the sect master did the same.
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"These two manuals contain the cultivation records and experiences of mine. One of them is for pill cultivation at the 3rd stage, while the other is the fire manipulation techniques and records. You are to master the fire manipulation technique completely by the time you reach the main city."
"As per the pill cultivation, it would depend on your talent and efforts. As your master, I hope for you to rise to the top in every activity you do. But winning the top 3 positions is no small matter. You need to advance a level at the very least to be able to achieve that. I hope you can by the time the competition occurs."
"What if I manage to win the first rank, master?" Lu Ming said in a casual tone.
"Although your talent is the highest among all my disciples, the amount of cultivation time is too less. The ones who are going to fight for the top positions will belong to superpowers. They have been cultivated for these competitions since their birth."
"Alchemy is an art where experience matters the most, even more than raw talent. Those people would have a ton of experience. Hence, I advise you to not get your hopes too high. Only when you enter the pill valley would you understand what sort of monsters lie in there."
Lu Ming's expression turned serious and he bowed down, before starting his exit. Just as he was about to reach the door, the first elder's voice was heard once again. "If you do manage to win the first place, I will tell you a secret of the land of fire, which you would subsequently get to enter."
Lu Ming's expression took an instant 360-degree turn. He bowed once more out of joy and left.
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"Would that boy be able to win the competition?"
"I don't like to put my hopes on something that has a high chance of failure, but it's different in his case. I honestly expected him to fail in the bet which both of us made, but not only did he managed to keep his words, he even surpassed the limit, in every single area."
"If it's him, I would like to bet on that possibility."
"What about the secret that you mentioned? How come I never heard about it?"
"The secret which I uncovered allowed me to pass the information to a single person in my life. I was thinking of passing it to you when we return, but I found someone on a superior standing than you."
"You shouldn't divulge your thoughts in that direction. You have a much more important matter to concentrate on. How is your cultivation as of now?"
The sect leader released her aura. Sixth level of Qi King (She was just 1st level Qi king when the artifact first inspected her). "Did your accumulation finally end?"
"My Blood accumulation ended just recently. It is now starting to release the energy back to me. I rose by four levels in the first outbreak." Although the first elder was prepared, he was still astonished. "It seems that your father's plan will finally come to fruition. His research seems to be obtaining the correct results."
"The accumulation would be going through another outburst within a month's time."
"What is the expected rise in the level?"
"The second outburst should provide at least double the energy.". The first elder was taken back. Double the energy. Wouldn't it mean that she would be able to break through the peak of Qi king? Although it's not enough to break the emperor boundary, the results are still incredible.
���You might be able to take part in that competition. We still have hope." The first elder closed his eyes in a short moment of satisfaction.
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The Thundergod hall-
Bu Puti was cultivating in his mansion. There has been no sign of his disciple coming out of the thunder pool. "Even if that brat is hell-bent on winning our bet, shouldn't he take thing slowly? Although his body is a grade 5 elemental body, it is not easy to complete even the 4th cycle of 9 thunder arts while being in early Qi general level."
A sudden jolt at the gates broke his line of thought. A servant came rushed in haphazardly. "What is it?". Bu Puti asked in an irritated tone.
"I apologize for the intrusion vice-headmaster. It is about the thunder pool."
"What happed to Li Meng?". Bu Puti instantly got on his feet.
"A strange phenomenon is occurring at the thunder pool. All the elders are requesting your presence."
When Bu Puti finally reached on the site, a great number of people were gathered all around it. "The vice-master is here. We request Vice-master to judge the situation."
"It all started this morning. We would continue to put in herbs according to the first elder's specification, but when he finally arrived to inspect the situation, the water was completely drained out of spiritual energy. We continued to but another batch of herbs, but they too were consumed within an hour."
"When we inspected Li Meng's condition, we experienced a very surprising scene. We request the first elder to inspect it personally."
Bu Puti entered the pool area. When he finally entered the core region, a shadow could be seen sitting in the middle of the pool. Huge sparks of thunder could be seen floating around him, while five small balls of thunder were embedded in his chest."
When Bu Puti saw this scene, a loud gulp could be heard. His expression changed from astonishment to satisfaction, and finally to elation.
"Fifth level of 9 thunder body. Boy, you reached the fifth level in the thunder pool itself." Saliva could be seen to be flowing out of Bu Puti's mouth.
Li Meng opened his eyes, to see his master with a dazed expression. He stood up and bowed to his master. Although the difference in their cultivation was not high anymore, the man in front was still his master.
"I greet the master. I have successfully entered the fifth level in 9 thunder body. My cultivation has also reached the second level of Qi general."
Bu Puti simply got hold of Li Meng's hand and flew away.
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Bu Puti's dwelling-
"How did you do it, boy?"
"I simply cultivated in the pool and absorbed the energy as per the manual. It helped me break through to the current level."
'Don't lie to me. Even if you use all the energy and the pill given by me, you would at most reach the fourth level. How could you cultivate it at the fifth level? Unless…"
"Did you ever go through a body cleansing process?"
"Although I didn't go through an artificial one, it happened naturally about three times by now.". Bu Puti's expression changed once more.
"When did it occur. What were the requirements for it to occur?"
"It happened every time I opened d a complete set of meridians."
"Three times would mean that…" Bu Puti's eyes almost bulged out. "You managed to open all the meridians in your body."
"I did." Li Meng confirmed. Bu Puti rose up, came close, and hugged Li Meng. Tears could be seen flowing from his eyes. "The heavens have not given up on our sect." Li Meng didn't resist the process. Both of the figures stayed like that for a moment.
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"Since you managed to enter the fifth level, its time I give you the rewards, and tell you some details regarding your tasks in the future."
"The pills and your pathway to the peak of the mountain will be given to you later. The matter of importance is the upcoming event in our parent force."
"The Thundergod hall is just a subsidiary of the thunder god academy. Our task is to find, train, and send regional talents to the parent force for further cultivation. You are the one chosen this time to appear the test for the parent force."
"You managed to pass the minimum requirement, which was the third level of 9 thunder body art. Its time you began preparing for the tournament which will occur about 6 months from now at the parent institute itself."
"The tournament is called, DESCENT OF THUNDER. It would be the location of your second task. You need to win the tournament. With your current strength, I think you can if you train properly."
