"Hmm? How is it useful for people?" Xu Ming asked Elder Wu. Even though he knew that it was useful for him, he didn't understand what Elder Wu was talking about. It shouldn't be helpful for mortals, that's what he knew.

"Hahaha, You should already know why it's useful. Isn't that why you came looking for it?" Elder Wu asked with an amused smile on his face. ​​

"I know how useful it is for me, but I want to know what you are talking about?" Xu Ming inquired.

"If you know how it's useful for you, then that's enough. There's no need to talk about it anymore," Elder Wu chuckled.

"How is your cultivation progressing?" he asked further.

"It's going good," Xu Ming replied.

"That's better. Get stronger while you have the opportunity. You can never know what times may be ahead," Elder Wu said softly.

"I know what exactly times are ahead, and I won't let anything stop me from doing what I want," Xu Ming responded.

"That's the spirit I like," Elder Wu said, smilingly.

Xu Ming talked some more with Elder Wu about his progress. He even asked some of his doubts about the cultivation that he had.

After an hour of conversation, he left.

Xu Ming walked to the lake, where he cultivated for countless nights and observed it.

Even though he cultivated here for so long, he still didn't understand why this place had more Origin Qi compared to the other places in the Outer Sect even though these places were so near.

He swam to the depths of the pond as well, thinking that there might be something unusual there, but there was nothing there either.

So many days had passed, and he was still curious about it, but there were no answers in sight.

Xu Ming walked back to the Inner Sect and went inside his courtyard.

He cultivated for two more days as he waited for Sun Mu to accept his challenge, but two days passed away without any information.

He couldn't wait any longer as he had to complete a mission now because it had already been five months 29 days before he accepted a mission.

Xu Ming walked to the mission hall, and this time he intentionally chose the most straightforward mission that would be fine in a few days. He didn't go after contribution points as he didn't want to miss the chance of fighting.

The Mission he selected was a simple mission that was to escort a girl to her clan outside. It only paid ten contribution points.

He didn't know why a girl would need an escort, but he accepted a mission as her clan was located at a day's distance from their sect.

After a few hours, he met the girl who looked to be 13-14 years old. He was quite amazed that such a young girl was a disciple of the Inner Sect.

"Hello. Thanks for accepting the mission and agreeing to take me home. I never accepted that the person who shocked the whole inner clan would be my escort," the girl said smilingly as she met Xu Ming.

"It's alright. Can you tell me why this mission was issued, though?" Xu Ming asked the girl.

"It is embarrassing to talk about it, but I guess you deserve to know. The thing is that I'm bad with directions. I always get lost when I go home even when I use the map," the girl said with an embarrassed smile on her face.

"That's the reason?" Xu Ming was visibly surprised as this reason was something he never expected. He thought that the girl might have an enemy or something, but he found her reason to be somewhat funny.

"Alright. Let's go," he muttered as he brought his Wild Eagle Beast out of his storage bag. The girl also brought her beast out, which was a pink Enchanting Swan. They both got v on their beasts and started flying away from the mission hall.

They left the sect and flew towards the nearby kingdom.

It was just as Xu Ming had expected; they got to the kingdom in less than a day.

Xu Ming and the girl stood in front of her clan.

"Come inside. I can't let you go like this," the girl told Xu Ming when he started leaking.

"I have more things to do. I'll take my leave," Xu Ming said as he got on his beast and left the place.

Another day passed away as he got back to the sect. He walked to Sun Mu's courtyard to ask about the status of their battle.

"Is Sun Mu inside?" he asked the servant that opened the door.

"Master is still not back," the servant replied.

"Tell me where he is. I can't wait all my life for him. I'll go to him myself!" Xu Ming said to the servant.

"Master should be outside the sect preparing for the Core Sect promotion test. You won't be able to find him," the servant replied.

"When is the test?" Xu Ming asked.

"He can take it when he comes back," The servant said.

"You know when he will come back?" Xu Ming asked.

"I don't know anything," the servant said.

Xu Ming sighed as he walked back.

'No matter what, he must be back and accept a challenge in the next month; otherwise, he would be punished, and I'd become the 1st rank without fighting,' Xu Ming thought as he walked back.

He entered his courtyard and started cultivating.

Just like that, 20 days passed away before he heard another knock on his door.

Xu Ming stopped his cultivation and walked to the door.

As he opened it, he saw the servant of Sun Mu there.

"Is he back?" Xu Ming asked him

"Yes. Master is back. He said that he would go to attempt the Core Sect Test tomorrow. If he succeeds, you will become 1st ranked disciple, and if he fails, you can have a ranking battle. The test will last for two days, so if things go wrong, the battle will be held on the 3rd day," the Servant said

"Alright. Thanks. I'll come to his courtyard at the end of the 2nd day to confirm the details," Xu Ming said as he nodded his head.

The servant walked back, and Xu Ming walked back to his room.

He spent more time cultivating as he had been. He was trying to increase his progress.

Time kept trickling away slowly.

While Xu Ming was cultivating, Sun Mu was going through the Core Sect trial. Everyone knew about it, and they all wondered if he would succeed this time or not.

"He should be able to succeed. I've heard that his progress this time it's really great,"

"That's what I thought all those times as well, but he didn't succeed. I'm not too optimistic about this time after getting disappointed so many times,"

"We'll know the results soon. Don't worry about it. It will be clear if it's the same as all those times or different,"

Another day passed away, and there was no news about how the test was going.

Almost everyone was curious about Sun Mu's performance.

Ultimately Sun Mu got back to the Inner Sect with a tired-looking face. He looked as if he went through a great fight, and he even looked injured.

Sun Mu walked inside his courtyard. Soon, another news was spread that he wasn't able to become the Core Sect disciple.

His result became the talk of the whole sect

"I guess he failed. Sigh, I told you, there's no reason to be too optimistic about it,"

"He still can't pass the test. I wonder how horrifying the test is. They should at least release some information about the test. Why keep it a secret,"

"Who knows, the sect must have a reason, or maybe they don't think we're worthy of knowing. Only the first rank disciple is told about it. Not even the ones on the top 10 know, let alone us who aren't even ranked,"

A group of disciples was talking amongst themselves when Xu Ming walked past them.

He got to the courtyard of Sun Mu and knocked on the door.

The servant was the one that opened the door.

"I heard that he's back, but he's injured. Are we still having a fight tomorrow?" Xu Ming asked the servant.

"Wait, I'll ask Master," the servant said as he went inside.

After 5 minutes, he walked back.

"He said that he needs time to recuperate. The battle will be three days from now, in the ranking arena," the servant conveyed the message.

"3 days, alright," Xu Ming muttered as he walked back.

Xu Ming again got back to his cultivation and cultivated for the next few days.

On the day of the battle, he stopped his cultivation. He took a shower and got ready before he left his courtyard.

He walked to the Ranking Arena.