“Junior Brother Su, I’m Xue Yi. Are you around?”

Suddenly, a voice rang out from outside the cave abode. It was Senior Brother Xue Yi – the person who had brought Su Zimo around initially.

Su Zimo opened the door hurriedly.

Now that they were meeting again, Su Zimo subconsciously activated his Spirit Peering Art and discovered that Xue Yi was a Qi Refinement Warrior with Level 9 Qi Condensation.

“Eh?”

Xue Yi looked at Su Zimo with shock and incredulity, asking, “Junior Brother Su, you’re already at Level 1 Qi Condensation?”

Su Zimo could not figure out what Xue Yi meant by that and merely nodded his head, afraid that he might make a mistake by speaking.

“Wow, that’s incredible!” Xue Yi could not help but gasp.

Su Zimo froze for a moment.

It was incredible for someone to reach Level 1 Qi Condensation in 10 days?

If he had not used the spirit qi to refine his body, he would already be at Level 5 Qi Condensation!

Coughing gently, Su Zimo asked, “Su Zimo, how long does it normally take for someone to reach Level 1 Qi Condensation?”

“That would have to depend on their spirit root. For example, I have an earth spirit root and it took me close to an entire month to reach Level 1 Qi Condensation! You have to understand that out of the three steps, sensing and absorbing spirit qi is the most difficult for beginners to grasp. They either fail to sense the existence of spirit qi or they’re unable to absorb it. All of that will require time to cultivate, test, grasp and discover,” Xue Yi explained.

Even though Su Zimo’s expression was indifferent, he was even more curious in his heart now.

Sensing and absorbing spirit qi posed no challenge to him at all unlike what Xue Yi had explained.

Could that be the benefit of having a heaven spirit root?

The moment he thought of that, Su Zimo smiled. “It might be because I’ve got a heaven spirit root and that’s why I cultivated faster.”

“That must be it.”

Suddenly enlightened, Xue Yi nodded his head. “It’s indeed much easier for those with a heaven spirit root to attain Qi Condensation. I heard that some geniuses take a single day to reach Level 1 Qi Condensation! But don’t feel bad, junior brother. It’s already extremely fast for you to reach Level 1 within 10 days.”

Su Zimo smiled and nodded.

In reality, he had only taken less than two hours to reach Level 1 Qi Condensation!

But according to Xue Yi, even the fastest geniuses require a single day.

How could this be?

He then thought about the explosion of the spirit testing gate, the ashing of the spirit testing stone, his frightening cultivation speed and all the other weird phenomenons…

The only explanation was that the heaven spirit root given to him by Die Yue was much stronger than real heaven spirit roots!

“I can’t teach you anymore. Hence, I have planted a spirit root in you. The quality won’t be any lesser than the heaven spirit root. Next, join a clan and cultivate for immortality.”

That was what Die Yue said to him. It sounded casual and in fact even nonchalant.

But it was only now that Su Zimo realized how horrifying the spirit root she had planted for him was.

Suddenly, Xue Yi frowned and asked oddly, “Wait, that’s weird. Junior brother, you’ve got a heaven spirit root. How come you’re in our Weapon Peak instead of Spirit Peak?”

“What’s the difference?” Su Zimo asked.

“A huge one.”

Laughing, Xue Yi replied, “It’s almost time for the welcome ceremony. I’ll take you there and explain along the way.”

Summoning a flying sword, Xue Yi beckoned for Su Zimo to join him before they sped off to Ethereal Peak.

Along the way, Su Zimo found out from Xue Yi that even though each of the five peaks had their own specialties, Spirit Peak was the strongest with the most disciples followed by Talisman Peak and Array Peak. The weakest ones were Elixir Peak and Weapon Peak.

Spirit Peak’s forte was in killing and battle skills. That was why by logic, all those with heaven spirit roots would be sent to Spirit Peak.

A strong mastery of fire is required for both refinement of elixirs and weapons. Yet, Ethereal Peak was not well-versed in fire techniques. Out of the five sects, True Fire Sect was the most knowledgeable towards fire.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, there would be a competition between the sects once every 10 years where all major and minor sects would participate. There would then be four ranking lists of Spirit, Weapon, Elixir and Talisman for the top 10 of each.

That was a mere 40 people out of hundreds of sects and thousands of their most talented cultivators!

Anyone who could have their names listed on the rankings would not only receive immense prestige, there would be tremendous rewards as well and it was proof that they were the true talents of the Great Zhou Dynasty!

Out of every sect competition, Ethereal Sect would gain the most spots on the Spirit Ranking followed by the Talisman Ranking. However, they’ve never managed to get any spots on both the Weapon and Elixir Rankings.

That was the reason why Xue Yi could not understand how someone like Su Zimo who possessed a heaven spirit root was sent to Weapon Peak instead of Spirit Peak.

Su Zimo could guess at the reasons why it was so. Firstly, he had destroyed the sect’s spirit testing gate. Secondly, he struck out at Array Peak’s master, Xuan Yi.

This arrangement might have been a punishment for him. However, Su Zimo was not bothered by it at all.

From what Xue Yi had said, all the Qi Refinement Warriors in Ethereal Sect were all trial disciples and none of them could enter Ethereal Peak, which was surrounded by all five peaks, freely.

Only Foundation Establishment Cultivators were considered as inner sect disciples and would have a chance of obtaining middle-grade spirit weapons and better cultivation techniques.

With Su Zimo’s cultivation speed, it would take a mere couple of years for him to become an inner sect disciple.

Before long, the both of them arrived at Ethereal Peak where a majestic palace stood erected not too far away, barely visible through the clouds.

There was a sign on top of the palace with the words Ethereal Palace etched in it.

Xue Yi brought Su Zimo towards Ethereal Palace. Along the way, a statue of a crane stood erect. It was gigantic at 100 feet tall with its eyes shut and exuding an authoritative aura with golden and shimmering, life-like feathers.

Compared to the gigantic statue, Su Zimo and Xue Yi were like tiny ants.

Even though Su Zimo felt that the statue looked familiar, he did not think too much about it and merely commented in praise, “I wonder who created this statue. It’s so life-like that it’s almost like a real crane!”

“Shh!”

Suddenly, Xue Yi’s expression changed as he shushed at Su Zimo right away.

“What’s wrong?” Su Zimo whispered uneasily.

Wiping away his sweat, Xue Yi replied, “That’s not a statue. That’s Ethereal Sect’s Mystical Guardian Beast! It’s alive!”

“Alive?”

Su Zimo coughed gently and raised his head to look at it again awkwardly.

Because the crane stood there motionlessly, Su Zimo’s first thought was that it was a statue.

“What’s it perched here for then?” Su Zimo asked again.

Shaking his head, Xue Yi replied, “I’ve got no idea either. Senior crane usually stays within the Ethereal Palace and it’s rare for normal disciples to catch a glimpse of it. I guess we’re really lucky today.”

Pausing for a moment, Xue Yi looked around with a mysterious expression, whispered gently, “Though, I heard that senior crane’s child was bullied to tears by a new disciple recently. Perhaps it’s here to settle things with that disciple! I wonder who’s the unlucky one, hehe!”

Su Zimo suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around. Blinking his eyes slowly, he asked, “Say, is the child of this senior crane a crane too?”

“Isn’t that just nonsense? Obviously it is!” Xue Yi laughed.

“…” Su Zimo did not find it funny in the slightest bit.