100. Silly Misunderstandings II

Clay turned on the shower to wash himself. He had just broken through to Low Mid Qi Condensation and became an official cultivator per this planet’s standards.

Two days ago before stepping out of the library, the A.I. advised him he could exchange the three vials of Qi Enhancement Solutions to Body Forging Fluids. Just like the pill concoction, the potions did come in quality and the luckily, the three vials gifted to him for his silence were all excellent class and he exchanged them for low quality Body Forging Fluids.

As an alchemist in his past life and having experienced the potency and effects of High Tier Pills he concocted, he was certain that even the lowest quality of alchemy solutions produced by million years old science is ten times better than the High Tier Pills he produced in the past.

Clay gulped the three vials in one go and spent the rest of the evening consolidating his strength. He is confident he could break through to Late Qi Condensation after his body constitution has improved but due to the amount of Spiritual Qi in his surroundings deemed not concentrated enough, he stopped at the early stage of Mid Qi Condensation.

One thing he searched for in the library as well is about the black goo and filth-like substance that was excreted from the body when breaking through Mid Qi Condensation. He originally thought it was a side effect of his beast transformation and it turned out to be a normal occurrence so this led him to break through in the shower. To avoid being suspected of having defecated in his own room he decided to break through in the shower room naked.

The Alliance Selection requires participants to have had perfected two techniques so yesterday before the vials arrived, he spent almost a day adjusting and mastering two techniques he got from 2nd floor of the library. They are called the Lightning Buddha One Finger technique and the Azure Dragon Roaring Strike.

He could not control his laughter when he was browsing the repository. Whoever named the techniques must really have been desperate to come up with a cool name. To him, all the techniques are the same as everything relies on the manipulation of Major and Sub-Qi Nodes in the body. It’s like taking a poop and somebody named the sitting positions into Myriad Excremental Pushing Technique or Peerless Butthole Concentration technique.

He did ask the A.I. if there is any proper nomenclature of Spiritual Qi Techniques but the result he got was a general elemental classification.

After breakfast, he finally got out of the house earlier than he usually did.

“This young master looks like he’s having a great morning.”

Clay was bewildered his driver was waiting for him at the gate and held the door of the car waiting for him to get inside.

“Thank you kindly.”

Clay smiled and entered the car. He finds it odd that he did not wait a minute or two like the past four days as if the driver predicted he will be out early today.

Clay did not want any distractions so he decided to ignore it however after two minutes, he noticed the car took a different route. He recalled the map of the school he memorized back at the library. He is certain they are going the opposite direction and started to have doubts.

“I hope this driver understands how important the selection is to me.”

“I am most certainly aware” The driver casually said without signs of stopping.

“Then why are we still not driving back to the school?"

“I was ordered to drop you off the train station today.”

Clay expected what everyone is thinking and there is no need to fixate and emphasize his meager talents however he is confident he could prove everyone wrong. Though he did not like showing off, he decided to reveal his skills to achieve his objective of migrating to another planet. Clay manifested a Qi Projection into the shape of a knife pointed it to the driver’s neck pressing it a centimeter deep.

“I know you think I am a waste but if you don’t turn back now, I may show off my skills without any audience.”

The driver was unfazed but the car did slow down and parked at the road side.

“Your skills are without question and commendable but this is not about you being eligible to participate or not. I am just following orders to drop you off the train station.”

The driver pressed a switch to his side opening the four doors of car. He was still calm and stepped out of the car and said, “I apologize but I am truly not allowed to drive you back to the school and I may force you to stay in the car, however I will give you a chance. I will count to ten and you can run as fast as you can and if I cannot outrun and stop you, then it means you are free to attend the Alliance Selection.”

“1, 2, 3…”

Clay stepped out of the car and started walking back to the school. He estimated that even if he did not run, he could still make it on time.

“4, 5…”

He had long learned that there is no use in arguing when power is involved. The driver is a Peak Mid Qi Condensation but he believes his perfect Qi control can subdue him easily. He continued walking however when the count reached ten, he suddenly felt a burst of power coming from behind.

Swish!

Clay would like to look back however he instinctively activated his wings to dodge. In a blink of an eye, he jumped to the air evading the attack.

He wanted to propel himself and flew off however a formidable aura quickly surrounded his body forcing him to drop to the ground.

Arghhh!

The pressure started to get stronger suffocating him slowly. While he was thinking of performing a surprise attack, he felt a needle pierced his deltoid and at the same time, the pressure of the aura restraining him loosened.

The moment the aura suppressing his movements were gone, Clay gathered his strength to perform a counter attack however just when he thought he could gain the upper hand, the Qi Projection failed to materialize. The Spiritual Qi within his body became chaotic making him groggy. Whatever was injected to him made unable to properly utilize his Qi.

Clay turned around to look at his enemy.

He was surprised and stepped back then stumbled on his buttocks. His enemy is clad in a dark and shiny metallic suit he looked like Iron Man.

He tried to circulate his Qi again but to no avail.

Clank!

The armor of his enemy made a few clicking sounds and retracted slowly revealing the calm and expressionless face of his driver.

“Obediently get back to the car or I will make you get back to the car.”

The driver turned around and started walking. Clay was still trying to catch his breath. The fight was brief and he reckoned that even with his full power will not give him the slightest chance to escape. He clenched his teeth and got to his feet then sluggishly walked back towards the car.

He is aware of the existence of superior magic tools crafted by technology but he was not expecting that it would create a massive gap in their fighting power. The driver’s boosted power should be similar to that of an Early Core Formation from his experience. He was glad this was not his last life or else the slightest of grievance would have had sent him to his grave.

After entering the car again, the driver said, “Give it up kid. The selection concluded yesterday. If you were not too lazy and attended the class, you would have had the chance to display your abilities.”

“What?”

Clay was flabbergasted and turned his head to look at the driver. He refused to believe what he just heard.

“Your brother will be nurtured by the Alliance however your sister has been acknowledged and accepted by a more powerful sect.”

Clay was not able to control himself and laughed softly in disbelief and once again wants to curse and shout at his own stupidity. He whispered to himself, “How could I have had missed that?”

While he was thinking about how he has wasted a once in a lifetime opportunity, he heard his driver laugh as if mocking him.

“Ha ha ha ha. Are we really are going to keep pretending?”

Clay is still trying to digest the information he just heard but the driver’s superficial laughter made him confused even more. He composed himself but before he could divert his mind from the mockery, he noticed the driver took out his mobile phone and pressed a file to play.

“Are we on Upper World?”

(Yes, we are.)

“Then why is the Spiritual Qi of this planet seem scarce.”

(It is by design as it is the only way for the planet to preserve its neutrality. Would you like to access the conference that led to the decision?)

“No. Are you able to tell me the source of Spiritual Veins of the planet?”

(There are terraformed planets within a subspace and the location of the entrance is near 13TH and 12TH School. They call it the Abyss.)

“How does one become Ascendant on a Neutral Planet?”

The file stopped playing and Clay’s countenance became serious and set aside the thought of being unable to join the alliance selection. He had never felt his privacy violated to this level.

“I already know you intentionally stayed at the residence to avoid participating in the Alliance Selection to avoid being find out and be assured you did not to keep pretending and embarrass yourself by showing up at the school gates.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about and what you want or why you’re doing this but I am not pretending nor avoiding anything and I do want to participate in the Alliance Selection.” Clay is confused but still responded and emphasized his intent of joining the trials.

“I already know you are a Spectral Cultivator and I am interested on the technique you used to possess that body. As you can see, I am partially possessing mine and it is only a matter of time before I find another host. Tell me your price and I promise I will make a Dao Oath to never reveal the technique to anyone.”

Clay could not make sense what is going on as to why all of a sudden he is being suspected as a Spectral Cultivator. He has little knowledge about possession and the only information he has about these types of cultivators is the biography of Ya’ur (from chapter 92) back at Gar Wahger Planet. He scanned his body and thought, “I don’t have a baleful aura, do I?”

“This senior must be misunderstanding. I am not a Spectral Cultivator nor do I know any Possession Tech…”

“Do you really have to keep pretending? Even the most talented kid cannot exhibit the level of Qi control you displayed. Even the way to talk, the killing intent you released when you tried to catch the Lilac Cats and the things you asked at the library, do you want me to keep going? I do not know how to beg this senior but there is something I need to accomplish and I need a Possession Technique that does not emit a baleful aura.”

Clay could not determine if he is being played or not but he somehow feel the sincerity of the driver.

“If I tell you I remember my past life, would you believe me?”

The driver did not respond and while Clay was waiting him to talk, the car stopped. Clay did not notice they have already arrived at the train station. The driver was silent and took Clay’s hand and used his Qi to override and remove his identity wrist badge.

“As of today, you are no longer a student of 35TH Cultivation School. Please refrain from approaching the school’s premises or the guards will be forced to throw you in prison.”

“I thank this senior for reminding me.”

Clay got off the car and saluted with his fist and watched the car leave. He did activate his Godly Eyes and saw two overlapping souls in one body.

Sigh.

He just realized how careless and arrogant he had become. While he was sulking in bitter smile, he felt a familiar hug from the back. It was her current mother, Renda who started kissing him on the ear.

“Look at you. Only a few days and you are already very strong.”

“That tickles mom.”

Renda took Clay’s hand and headed near a bench where a tanned man with a ducktail beard is standing and looking at their direction. His eyes had the same sparkle as his mother and was wearing a slightly tattered denim jacket. He radiated an aura Clay is very familiar with. He did not need to observe every detail of this man to tell he was your common laborer.

“He is so skinny. You sure he is your son?”

Clay held on to Renda’s hand and pretended to hide behind her.

“Come now, he doesn’t bite and he’s your uncle Nuir. Come and say hi to him.”

Clay felt a hard and brawny hand that patted his head.