“Hahaha, I like this boy. He takes what he wants. Don’t you fight with me on this one, I’ll take him as my disciple.”
“No way. He’s the best fit for my techniques. All of you will have to wait, but it won’t be a long wait! The sect is getting quite a few extraordinary talents these days.”
“The boy hasn’t even refined his marrows yet, but he killed twelve king fighters. He’s probably more talented than Fung Lie, right?”
“He got a full set of upper rank earth instruments after all, including Fung Lie’s Wind Spirit. Fung Lie didn’t have any of that when he entered the sect! It’s still quite impressive to activate all those instruments at the same time though.”
“Maybe he’s the reincarnation of one of the fighting earth. Earth is the most Qi condensed element which would allow more Qi to be stored in his body or perhaps the kid has a special physique.”
“Indeed. He’s most likely the reincarnation of a powerful spirit. His physique is unusually strong. His skin, muscles, bones are all extremely dense and powerful while his veins are tightly woven through his body. His bone marrow will be extremely strong once they’re refined and his organs will be extremely resilient. Looking at his body, it might even be the legendary Fighter Body!”
“I’m puzzled by one thing. Did any of you notice the strength-replenishing pills he took? They were made by a special fighting fire owned exclusively by the Yin Family of the Eastern Dynasty. Where did he acquire those pills?”
“It’s unusual, but if he was sent as a spy from Yin clan, he wouldn’t bring their pills with him. That would be asking for trouble. We should ask Fung Lie about it.”
“He doesn’t seem like a spy anyway. I like him a lot. I’ll take him as my disciple.”
“Don’t even think about it. We’ll play by the normal rules; he will have to choose his master by requesting a place as their disciple. He cannot know our true identities beforehand. The normal punishment is in place for whoever breaks the rule.”
“Sure.”
“No problem.”
Xuanyuan and Zhao Manfeng headed to the inner sect, unaware of the secret gazes that were watching them from the shadows. Even true disciples would be jealous if they could hear the discussion between the Xians when talking about Xuanyuan.
***********************************************************
They soon arrived at the inner sect.
The rooms were delicately decorated. There were heavenly dragons engraved on every pillar within the sect and at the top of each pillar was a Xian from the Fighting Dragons Sect stepping on the heavenly dragon’s face.
When they reached Xuanyuan’s room, Zhao Manfeng finally bid him farewell and left. The room was conveniently situated in front of a small garden in which the flowers were already in bloom. Inner disciples were enjoyed extreme luxuries inside the sect.
Before Zhao Manfeng left, he gave Xuanyuan a book that would help with his training as a wild fighter. It was an earth class technique, it wasn’t very powerful, but Xuanyuan still gratefully accepted the gift.
Along with the book, he also received the monthly wages of Biyue and Huotao. Biyue was given sixty perseverance pills, and Huotao was given three times that of Biyue. Perseverance pills were similar to strength-replenishing pills, but they were more suitable for king realm fighters and above, as they contained much more Qi to quickly replenish a higher realm fighter’s strength.
These pills could be used to improve a person’s cultivation or for healing and replenishing one’s strength when fighting. Each of the pills were sold for a hundred king coins outside of the sect. The sect’s wages for all of the inner disciples must be astronomical.
***********************************************************
The room was simple and empty apart from a bed, a table and four stools made of sandalwood.
Greed spoke as he stepped into the room, “You have to be careful. There are currently a great number of Xian’s that are watching you at this very moment. I know you want to study the Book of Acquisition in order to benefit during the mine test, but you mustn’t. They would give you a great deal of benefits if they discovered the book, but the book will no longer be your possession once they notice it. The book is worth so much more than everything those Xian’s could give you combined. You have to keep it a secret from them.”
Xuanyuan couldn’t believe it, “They are observing me! They must have been attracted by the seven-coloured light and want to take me as their disciple. It’s a double-edged sword. I can’t make any wrong moves since I’m under surveillance.”
“Don’t you worry about that. I can teach you the basics of the Book of Acquisition. At the same time, I’ll find a few suitable Xian’s. You won’t be under such heavy surveillance once you accept one of them as a master.”
Greed and Xuanyuan communicated inside their consciousness. The conversation seemed like it would take a while, but it happened in a fraction of a second. No one watching would notice anything unusual by watching Xuanyuan.
Xuanyuan took a perseverance pill and sat cross-legged on his bed. An enormous amount of Qi started to rush through his body to continuously refine the impurities within. His skins, muscles and bones, devoured the Qi until there wasn’t even a trace left. Through his veins, the Qi began to enter his marrows and began refining the impurities.
The devouring technique was something that occurred passively once it was practiced, it would be active at all times, no matter the situation. Xuanyuan didn’t need to pay much attention to it. He was instead focused on the basic introduction to the Book of Acquisition instead.
***********************************************************
“He is absorbing such a large amount of Qi into his body! Does he have a heavenly pearl? Those pearls have the potential to advance into heaven rank instruments! No wonder!”
“Those pearls are very rare. Those kids on the List of Fighting Dragons don’t even have their own. Did Fung Lie gave that to him?”
“Not possible. Fung Lie wouldn’t give it away if he had one as it would greatly benefit his training.”
“Who cares about such nonsense. I like this boy more and more.”
“Don’t you dare try to steal my future disciple.”
***********************************************************
While the Xian were bantering about Xuanyuan, he was studying the first part of the Book of Acquisition.
The first chapter was titled “The Understanding of Landscapes”. It carefully recorded the Feng Shui of different landscapes, it also contained the methods of determining how to find precious land, lands of great wealth, lands suitable for Xian, and badlands; lands that were filled with evil and despair.
Xuanyuan also learnt how to find various kinds of fighting jades and crystals. Fighting stones were filled with natural Qi from the universe. Depending on how long the stones had been immersed and the quality of the Qi used, would greatly affect the quality. When natural Qi filled an area for a long period of time, fighting stones were formed from the materials that were only able to absorb a small amount of Qi, while jades and crystals formed when a material absorbed vast amounts of Qi.
Xuanyuan began to study all of the different details from the book. He seemed to have a deeper realization when studying these new techniques and understanding the connections between Qi and the land. His body seemed like it was starting to change.
The three days passed in the blink of an eye and the mine test was imminent.