"Alright. I will wait for you to heal," Xu Ming muttered as he looked at Sun Mu. No matter how much hurry he was in, he had no choice but to wait to see the condition of Sun Mu.

"I can see that you're in a hurry to fight me. Is there something you want after becoming the first ranked disciple? You know, there's not much difference between the 1st and the 2nd rank when it comes to allowance. The only reason I can think of is that you want to enter the core sect as well, just like me, right?" Sun Mu asked as he glanced at Xu Ming. ​​

"Yes," Xu Ming replied without any expression on his face.

"You know, I've been the 1st Ranked Inner Sect disciple for the last four years, and yet I haven't been able to become a core sect disciple. It's not that simple, and you only know how tough it is when you get here. When I was the second rank, I was just as eager as you are right now because my target was the same... a seat in the core sect. I didn't want to wait for even a second on my journey to the first rank, but it has been a steep slope after that,"

"I, who couldn't wait for even a day to get here, had to wait for four years, and I still haven't managed to succeed. You can't even imagine how tough it is as all you see is what is in front of you, which is not even close to what you can't see," Sun Mu said to Xu Ming.

"What is the Core Sect Test?" Xu Ming asked. He had heard that it was dangerous, but no one in the sect knew what it exactly was.

"The test? I am not allowed to talk about that, but it's not easy. The stronger you are, the tougher it will be," he said.

"That doesn't explain anything," Xu Ming said.

"I can't tell you more than that. When you get into my position, you will understand why I can't talk about it. You won't understand now," Sun Mu said.

Xu Ming looked at him briefly before he shook his head and walked away.

"He will understand soon enough. I don't think I would be healed in a week. If he can defeat the 2nd rank Wu Li, he should be able to defeat me when I'm weakened as well. That's fine as well, though. It's not like I'm doing anything productive here. I still need to grow so that one day I can become a core sect disciple," Sun Mu muttered.

Xu Ming left Sun Mu's courtyard with disappointment and went back to his place.

"The faster I want it to be, the slower it is," Xu Ming muttered as he sighed.

He fell down to his bed.

After half an hour, he got off the bed and resumed his cultivation.

****

While Xu Ming was cultivating, the girl that everyone knew as Battle Fairy was also cultivating.

A coffin-shaped necklace was wrapped around her neck.

The girl opened her eyes after some time. She stood up and walked to the shower.

The water droplets fell over her jade-like body. The only thing that was still on her body was the beautiful necklace.

The girl held that necklace and looked at it carefully.

"I don't know why, but since the moment I got this necklace, my cultivation speed has improved, but it's so strange. Even my master looked at it and judged that it's not an artifact. It would be a normal necklace made from the most useless materials as it doesn't have any Qi, but it doesn't feel like this is so simple," the girl muttered.

'Should I go and ask that kid myself? No, if we can't uncover anything special about it, how could that boy know. He must think that it's a normal necklace as well,' she thought as she gave up on her thoughts.

She finished her shower and stepped out of her washroom. She had just finished getting dressed when she heard a knock on the door.

She walked to the door and opened it.

A Blonde haired girl walked inside.

"How did the Core Exam go? Did the participant succeed this time?" Battle Fairy asked the blonde-haired girl.

"Huh, it was a disaster. I don't think that boy would be able to get off the bed for a month," the blonde-haired girl sighed.

"It's useless. I think it would be a long time before we get a new addition to our Core Sect," she added.

"Does it matter? The core sect doesn't need people if they can't even pass a simple test," Battle Fairy said.

"You know that it's not that easy. I myself tried three times before I managed to succeed. It is true though, the current generation of the Inner Sect is much worse than the older generation," The Blonde haired girl said.

"Maybe," the battle fairy muttered.

"Oh, Right. I heard that there is a new guy there. He rose the rankings so fast that he's already ranked two now," the blonde-haired girl told her.

"Is there something special about that? People rise and fall all the time," Battle Fairy replied.

"That's not it. By fast rise, I meant that it hasn't even been four years since the guy joined the Inner Sect, and he's already at rank 2 in the Inner Sect. He will be the new contender for the Core Trials if he wins the battle against the 1st rank,"

"If he succeeds in that and passes the trial in less than a year, he would break your record of being the fastest person to become a core disciple from joining the Inner Sect," The Blonde haired girl said.

"How old is he?" Battle Fairy asked.

"He should be 12 now, but he looks like he's 18. He had a much faster growth because of the breakthrough to Spirit Establishment Realm," The Blonde Haired girl said.

"Interesting, right? You were the youngest person to hold the 1st Rank at the age of 15, but he might break that record as well," She added.

"If he's so talented, why isn't any Elder Selecting him to be a core disciple directly?" The Battle Fairy inquired.

"The same reason they didn't select you. The Sect Master has told the Elders not to select the boy to the core sect. He wants to see the boy's true potential and how far he can go," The blonde-haired girl said as she chuckled.

"It's interesting. That boy is certainly talented. What's his Talent Grade?" Battle Fairy asked.

"No one knows yet. The Elders aren't testing it according to the Sect Master's wishes. He wishes to keep it suspenseful and only see it when he enters the core sect," The blonde-haired girl said.

"I'm quite curious about that boy. If I'm not wrong, that sect master should be thinking about taking him as a personal disciple of his talent is decent. His performance so far is certainly great," she added.

The Battle Fairy didn't say anything.

"If it happens, you might have another contender for the Sect Master's position," The blonde-haired girl started laughing.

"It doesn't matter to me who gets that position. If the Sect Master thinks that someone else will be better for this position, then great," Battle Fairy responded.

****

Seven days passed away, and it was the day Sun Mu had promised him for the fight.

Xu Ming was hopeful that Sun Mu would be healed by now.

Xu Ming stopped his cultivation and stood up as he got ready and left his courtyard. He went to the Ranking Pavilion.

As Xu Ming got to the Ranking Hall, he saw Sun Mu there.

Sun Mu still didn't look like he was perfectly healed, but he definitely looked pumped up for the battle.

"You're here. You sure made me wait for so long. Alright. Let's not waste more time. I'm ready to start the battle," Sun Mu said.

"Are you certain? I don't think you would be able to fight in a condition like that. Please accept defeat," Xu Ming told him in full seriousness.

"Hahaha, a true cultivator will never accept defeat before the fight starts, my friend. Even if my body is injured, my determination and my cultivation is still intact. You should not underestimate me; otherwise, you will never have that first rank that you want so eagerly," Sun Mu said as he smiled.

"You and your brother are so different. I genuinely feel respect for you. That's how a person should be. Alright, I'll give you my all during the battle," Xu Ming said as he stepped towards him.

"That's the spirit," Sun Mu let out as he brought his sword out.

Xu Ming also brought his Gold Grade Sword out as well.

They both stood in front of each other as they waited for the other person to attack first.