When Xue Yi saw Su Zimo stopping in his tracks with a weird expression, he asked softly, “What’s wrong, junior brother? Why do you look so pale?”

Su Zimo did not reply.

As though he had recalled something, Xue Yi gasped and pointed at Su Zimo with a stutter. “Y-Y-You’re not that… u-unlucky soul, right?!”

Right then, Su Zimo felt a cold wind and goosebumps rising all over his body – it was as though he was being targeted by an incomparably strong being!

Su Zimo’s body froze and his hands and feet turned cold as he turned around and raised his head slowly.

Unknowingly, the gigantic crane behind the both of them had its eyes opened, glaring at them with an icy gaze.

Before the crane, Su Zimo felt that he was incomparably small and that comparison wasn’t merely for their size – it was in terms of power.

If the crane wanted him dead, it did not even have to make a move! A single thought was more than enough!

The air around them seemed to have gone stale as a killing intent spread slowly, making it seem as though the heavens could collapse at any moment.

All of a sudden!

The crane spread its wings and soared through the skies, passing by the both of them and headed towards Ethereal Palace. Its gigantic wings covered almost half of the skies as the wind howled with billowing sand.

In the blink of an eye, the crane entered Ethereal Palace and disappeared from sight.

Within that short moment of a few breaths, Xue Yi’s face had turned pale as a sheet and he was covered in sweat.

He could not help but turn to look at Su Zimo.

Standing where he was, Su Zimo’s expression was unchanged. Other than a slightly pale look on his face, his eyes held no fear.

“Junior brother, aren’t you afraid?” Xue Yi could not help but ask.

Su Zimo shook his head. “If senior crane wanted me dead, he would have struck long ago. Why wait till now and even wait for me before Ethereal Palace?”

“That’s true,” Xue Yi breathed out heavily and nodded.

Suddenly, Su Zimo asked, “What’s the cultivation realm of senior crane?”

“No idea. However, its child has an extraordinary bloodline and is a spirit demon that’s equivalent to an early-stage Foundation Establishment. Imagine, it’s just in its infancy stage and hasn’t cultivated at all. How strong would it be when it grows up in the future?” Xue Yi was clearly reminding Su Zimo to be careful in the future as well.

…

Not long later, the haughty man, white bloused woman, little fatty and everyone else arrived at Ethereal Palace too.

When little fatty caught sight of Su Zimo, his eyes shone brightly as he greeted and stumbled over.

“Bro, amazing! You’re already at Level 1 Qi Condensation!” Little fatty snickered.

The haughty man and white bloused woman swept their gazes past Su Zimo indifferently. To them, there was nothing special about reaching Level 1 Qi Condensation in 10 days.

Su Zimo checked out the rest using the Spirit Peering Art.

Within 10 days, both the haughty man and white bloused woman had already broken through to Level 6 Qi Condensation while little fatty was still at Level 5. The other three trial disciples had not managed to attain Qi Condensation yet.

“Say, I don’t know your name yet?” Since the welcome ceremony had not started yet, Su Zimo began to chat with the little fatty idly.

That caused the little fatty to give off a rare look of embarrassment as he chuckled dryly. “My surname’s Pang and my name’s Zi.”

Frozen for a long time, Su Zimo repressed his amusement and praised, “What a great name. How befitting1.”

“Heh!”

Pointing at the haughty man, little fatty whispered, “That cocky fella’s name is Feng Haoyu and that ice cold beauty is Leng Rou. Bro, have you realized something?”

“What?”

“That guy’s surname is Feng and so he has a Wind spirit root! The ice cold beauty’s surname is Leng and so she has an Ice spirit root. I’ve decided. I’ll definitely not have my son’s surname be Pang. He’ll be called Lei, Guang, An1 or whatnot. That way, he’ll definitely have a variant spirit root! Man, the thought of it is awesome!”

Su Zimo: “… ”

As they conversed, many cultivators gathered before Ethereal Palace. Most of them were Foundation Establishment Cultivators – Ethereal Peak’s inner sect disciples.

There were also some cultivators that had flown over; they were clearly Perfected Golden Cores.

The five peak masters were present as well, standing before Ethereal Palace with an emptied space in the middle for them.

Before long, a bell rang out from within Ethereal Palace and reverberated through the five peaks and into the valleys.

Accompanying the ring, an elderly figure in his fifties clad in golden robes came forth slowly from Ethereal Palace. Standing before the entrance, he swept his gaze across Su Zimo and the other disciples.

For some reason, Su Zimo sensed that the golden robed elder’s gaze seemed to have lingered slightly longer on him.

“I’m Ethereal Peak’s master, Ling Yun.”

“Ethereal Peak is one of the five major sects within the Great Zhou Dynasty. However, all of you have to understand that the land we’re on is part of Tianhuang Mainland which consists of four regions, three oceans and one continent. Even the Great Zhou Dynasty is merely one of the dynasties in the Northern region of Tianhuang Mainland and there are three other dynasties with similar strength to it.”

Su Zimo’s mouth gaped apart slightly in shock.

The Great Zhou Dynasty was enough for him to look up to back in Ping Yang Town.

It was at this moment that Su Zimo realized how insignificant the Great Zhou Dynasty and even Ethereal Sect was compared to Tianhuang Mainland.

If he had continued staying within Ping Yang Town, he would be like a frog in a well, merely only able to see a pitiable portion of the skies.

But of course, given Su Zimo’s current strength, notwithstanding the four regions, three oceans and one continent, it wasn’t even enough for him to move about unhindered within the Great Zhou Dynasty.

After taking note of the shock within the eyes of Su Zimo and the rest, Sect Master Ling Yun nodded his head and continued, “Of the seven of you, some have already managed to reach Level 6 Qi Condensation while some have yet to break through to Level 1. Those who are slower need not feel discouraged. The path of cultivation is long and arduous. All of you are just at the beginning of things. Being slow at the start does not mean that you’ll always be slow.”

“Foundation Establishment comes after Qi Condensation. From there on, you will start on a major milestone of cultivation – core formation!”

“Once you’ve formed a core, your lifespan would extend to 500 years as you cast away your mortal self and be known as a Perfected being. After that, you will reach the Nascent Soul realm and your lifespan will further expand to a thousand years as you become known as a Perfected lord. There, your sea of wisdom is unlocked as you cultivate your spirit consciousness. Even if you are blinded, you will be able to sense everything around you as your spirit consciousness permeates through the world unobstructed!”

“Post Nascent Soul comes Void Reversion realm where you commit your heart to the Dao and refine your spirit to the void, casting away all impurities from the Nascent Soul. It will then evolve to an Essence Spirit, transparent and fearless of the world. That is when you have truly broken free of the shackles of a physical body. Other than being able to travel with merely your consciousness, it is also equivalent to having another life as it can assimilate and cultivate a body other than your physical self! Your lifespan will be 5,000 years at that stage and at Void Reversion realm, you will be known as a Dao being.”

Su Zimo was shocked to hear this.

There were nine sections to The Mystic Classic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness. The seventh section was about core formation, the eight was about turning into an Yin Spirit and the ninth, Yang Spirit.

The Yin Spirit section mentioned that one would be able to perceive their own spirit after breaking through the void. Was the sea of wisdom that Ling Yun mentioned referring to that void?

Did that mean that the so-called Yin Spirit was the immortal equivalent of Nascent Soul?

The Yang Spirit section mentioned that one would be able to obtain a pure Yang Spirit uncontaminated from Yin after refining the impurities of the Yin Spirit. At later stages, one would be able to assimilate with the Heaven and Earth powers and gather their energy!

Did that mean that the so-called Yang Spirit was the immortality equivalent of Essence Spirit?

Lowering his head, Su Zimo tried his best to contain the shock in his eyes.

If he were to cultivate both as a demon and immortal, there was a high chance he would be able to obtain two Golden Cores in the future… two Essence Spirits!