The meeting was much shorter than expected. The complete change of plan was also beyond everyone's comprehension.

Jack remained expressionless as he watched the houses’ representatives leave one by one. Some of them eyed him with contempt, others expressed mixed feelings while the remaining few actually sympathised with him when they considered the impossible mission he had received. In their opinions, his chances of finding the herb were slim at best.

On the other hand, the younger ones found this meeting totally pointless. Was there really the need to summon everyone to discuss a disciple of the 3rd Qi Seeking Realm? It was a complete waste of their time.

As the hall emptied and the grumbling faded, Dai Jun signalled for Jack to depart.

The Grand Elder grinned as he slammed his fists together, showcasing his perfect muscles. “Wait a moment you brat… Where do you think you are going? Just because you were lucky enough to avoid my testing… that doesn’t mean you can leave just like that.”

Dai Jun frowned. “What now?”

“Hey, not exactly my idea but... there is only one year left for the festival, and this brat is only at the 3rd Qi Seeking Realm. If he doesn’t increase his strength, what do you think it will happen then?”

“Ah? Am I hallucinating? Don’t tell me you are considering giving Jack access to that place?”

The Grand Elder smirked, basically confirming Dai Jun’s hypothesis.

Dai Jun paused for a moment. “Ah, if that’s the case... Jack here, take these pills. These will fix your Qi circulation if it gets damaged from over cultivating. Oh, these aren’t cheap between, so you owe me in the future.”

Dai Jun casually threw the bottle of pills before exiting the complex. As Jack grabbed the bottle, he noticed three mysterious-looking tablets. However, he had no time to observe them as he had to follow after the Grand Elder.

After walking for a while, they entered an extraordinary-looking room marked with different runes and floating talismans. The energies here were strong enough to make Jack’s hair and robe change colours and sway in a particular direction.

With a flick of his fingers, the Grand Elder then activated a mechanism that produced rumbling sounds and some quaking for a couple of breaths. When the movements stopped, they exited from the same door they had just entered.

Once outside, Jack realised that they weren’t in the palace anymore but found themselves in an outdoor area. He was unsure if this was a different realm or just another location within the Sky Water Sect’s boundary. There were no visible distinguishing features at first glance.

“Surprised brat? The Azure Realm isn’t the only realm we can brag about, you know. This is a secret realm with high spiritual energies that we use to train important disciples. Even I like to meditate inside this place.”

Jack understood where this conversation was heading. “So.. are you telling me to stay here and cultivate until the start of the festival? Showing me some sympathy after the pain in the ass mission the patriarch gave me?”

The Grand Elder grinned. “If you aren’t happy with this arrangement, you can always spar with me instead.”

Jack caressed the back of his head. “Err, I think I’ll pass on that offer for the time being.”

“Fine, fine brat. If I had to accidentally kill you, the Patriarch will surely not be happy either hehe...”

Jack smiled wryly as he continued assessing the environment. In the meantime, the Grand Elder opened a small dimensional portal, providing a book and a talisman to Jack. The book was in a pretty good state, and the white talisman flickered with strange lights.

“This book will explain the basic stuff about cultivation and how to create a pocket dimension. The latter is very important as it will help you store your items. The size of its space correlates with your cultivation, and the stronger you get, the more objects you can store. As for the talisman, if you ever change your mind and want to spar with me, just crush it.”

The Grand Elder roared with laughter as he prepared to return to the palace.

“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. There is a forbidden zone inside this realm. Enter at your own risk.” The sound of his laughter echoed as he vanished along with the teleportation room.

Jack sighed at the strangeness of these cultivators. He immediately sat down on a small rock and swallowed one of the pills.

His eyes were flashing with expectations. The prospect of him cultivating again brightened his mood.

As he waited for the pills medicinal properties to come into effect, he grabbed the book and immersed himself reading it.

The book was quite straightforward and very easy to understand. Jack quickly assumed that this book was elementary stuff taught to little children, making him feel a bit embarrassed. As he accumulated pages, he began understanding how he had been living like a frog in a well, unknown of the immensity of the outside.

The entire universe was a place called the Spatial Cosmos, housing countless realms. These came in different ranks and sizes, officially classified in three categories: Upper Realms, Middle Realms and Lower Realms.

The Upper Realms were only six and housed the most powerful cultivators. Just below them were the Middle Realms that counted into thousands. Lastly, there were the Lower Realms, also known as the realms of mortals, which numbered into trillions. Their exact count was still unknown to this date.

Apparently, the world he was in right now was known as the Divine Vajra Continent, classified as a top-ranking Middle Realm. However, it was more extraordinary than that. In fact, if one had to rank the entire realms in a list, then this world would be ranked 7th, just after the Upper Realms.

Besides information about the spatial cosmos’ structure, there was also a list of the different cultivation realms.

The lowest realm was the Qi Seeking Realm, followed by the Foundation Realm. After those came the Fusion Realm, Spirit Realm, Divinity Realm and Immortal Realm, in that particular order.

The words ‘Immortal Realm’ excited Jack momentary and was already daydreaming about eternal life. However, he could only laugh in the end. There really was no point in preoccupying himself with the realm of immortals when he was still in the lower rankings of the Qi Seeking Realm.

The book occupied Jack’s attention for an entire day, and it was only during the following day that he started his cultivating session.

His body shivered the moment it absorbed qi again. Jack had clearly missed this familiar sensation. For him, the feeling of cultivating filled him with purpose.

This particular cultivation session was long and without any interruptions. After three weeks, Jack could finally feel his internal qi expanding, and after an additional week, it began rumbling, signalling the impending breakthrough.

It was precisely on the very next day that his core finally expanded, propelling Jack into the 4th Qi Seeking Realm.

Unbeknownst to Jack, two pairs of eyes were spying on him from a faraway mirror.

“Holy crap! He actually broke through again! This speed is insane! I frickin bet that it is on par with the God Childs of the Great Clans! Zheng Xinyi, are you sure he isn’t related to them?”

The Patriarch sighed. “Great Clans are very protective when it concerns their bloodlines. Everyone is monitored, and outbreeding is generally not allowed. Their bloodlines also automatically brand an inherited curse to all newborn babies. If a child is not presented to a Clan Elder within one year to remove the curse, the body will explode.”

The Grand Elder scowled. “Those fags and their barbaric ways. But hey, couldn’t that be easily circumvented? What if someone escapes the clan after the curse is removed? Wouldn’t that person be free from the clan’s binding?”

The Patriarch nodded pensively. “That technically… is a possibility. However, there are no reports of any deserters during the last few centuries, let alone during the last twenty years. That’s why I am reaffirming my earlier position that Jack isn’t related to them.”

The Grand Elder appeared more puzzled the more he tried to understand Jack. He really wished he could invade Jack’s mind for answers. But apparently, the Ancient Divinity was now protecting him.

“You know what I think Zheng Xinyi? We cannot afford to lose this kid. That’s why I feel that your decision to send him to the festival was a bit rushed...”

Zheng Xinyi produced a rare smile. “Don’t worry about it. I have my own plans. If I can’t handle such a simple matter then I don’t deserve the Patriarch’s position. I just had to find an excuse to quell down the houses’ anger.”

It was then that Zheng Xinyi’s eyes narrowed. He frowned as he altered the mirror properties to project a different location inside the same realm. There, spatial ripples began forming.

Upon noticing the spatial disturbance, the Grand Elder was left stunned. “Impossible! An intruder?!”

They both anxiously observed as a portal began materialising. Soon, a shadow dashed forward.

As they zoomed on the intruder, the image of a furry creature revealed itself. Tied around its neck was a long golden cape and on its head stood a small tilted crown. Its eyes were mysterious yet thoroughly majestic, a being of extreme classiness and royalty.

This creature was naturally the Ancient Divinity.

“Hmm, there you are Jack. Did you really think that you could escape my eyes, you little shrimp?”

The Creature suddenly sensed two spiritual auras. “Eh? Why are two perverted old men molesting me with their gazes? Is this body of mine that gorgeous?”

However, after it gave this idea some serious consideration, it felt that maybe it was a little too farfetched to be the case.

“So… you want to spy on me, eh? Sure, sure, observe me very well. Try not to miss any details.”

It grinned as it turned around and slowly undressed the robe, revealing its furry tail.

Both the Patriarch and the Grand Elder were puzzled.

Suddenly, the Creature raised its butt and started shaking it. Being zoomed up in the mirror, the duo could observe its butt in all of its glory.

The Grand Elder’s eyes wanted to fall from his face while the Patriarch felt like slapping his face one hundred times over.

“Meh, don’t mind it. It’s the sect’s future leader anyways. It is its way of telling us to bug off.” Zheng Xinyi kept shaking his head as he strolled away from the mirror.

The Creature appeared satisfied when it perceived the withdrawing gazes. “Now, I can execute my plan without any annoyances. I have to admit that House Yu is really rich with resources. Constructing an obelisk of the divine rank should be doable.”

It then turned its attention towards a distant location. “As for you Jack… I’ll leave you in peace for now. But once you hit the peak of the 5th QI Seeking Realm…” The corner of its lips curled upwards, revealing a picturesque expression worth a thousand words.

At that very moment, Jack’s meditation was interrupted by a sneeze. He rubbed his nose and turned his attention to a particular spot, feeling some strange weirdness glaring back at him. He appeared puzzled for a moment, before closing his eyes and resuming his cultivation.