Chapter 14: Daughter of the Qingyun Sect Leader

After leaving the exhibition, Jiang Fan was not in a hurry to return to the Xu Manor.

He arrived at the City Lord's Mansion gate nearby and took out the token he had confiscated from a member of the Blood Bat Palace. Upon seeing the token, the guard captain immediately showed respect, exclaiming, "To kill someone from the Blood Bat Palace at such a young age—a true hero in the making!"

The Blood Bat Palace was an evil organization entrenched within the territory of the Qingyun Sect. They committed arson, murder, and robbery, perpetrating all manner of evil. They had numerous branches, and despite repeated purges, the Qingyun Sect had never been able to completely eradicate them. Out of desperation, the Qingyun Sect ordered City Lord's Mansions across the region to issue bounty missions for their extermination. However, ordinary cultivators rarely dared to provoke members of the Blood Bat Palace, and consequently, few were able to complete these missions.

"You are now qualified to cultivate in the Misty Spirit Pool once. Follow me!"

Under his guidance, Jiang Fan arrived at a secluded corner of the City Lord's Mansion. There, two secret chambers stood side by side. Beneath these chambers lay the Misty Spirit Pool, from which dense spiritual energy continuously emanated.

As he approached, a woman in purple was already standing before the secret chambers. She was exceptionally tall, nearly matching Jiang Fan's height, with shapely, straight legs. Her waist was incredibly slender, and her back was delicate and thin. She was as exquisite as an ink wash painting. Hearing someone approach from behind, she turned her head. Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, so flawless it seemed time itself was astonished by her. With slender, dark eyebrows, clear, cold eyes, vibrant red lips, and delicate features, she possessed an icy, distant demeanor. She truly resembled a celestial being descended from a painting.

She simply cast a glance at Jiang Fan, immediately discerning his cultivation level, and calmly stated, "Fourth-level Qi Refinement, peak stage. You've come too late." With that, she selected one of the chambers and entered to cultivate.

Jiang Fan was momentarily stunned. "Too late?" he wondered. "What does that mean?"

The guard captain sighed, explaining, "Since you're already at the peak of the fourth level of Qi Refinement, you have indeed come too late." He continued, "The Misty Spirit Pool has been open for over three years, and many cultivators have already used it. The spiritual energy within the pool is now significantly depleted compared to before. Only cultivators at the first or second level of Qi Refinement still have a chance to achieve a breakthrough here. This is because cultivators at these lower levels require far less spiritual energy for advancement than those at higher levels."

"Currently, for anyone at the fourth level of Qi Refinement or higher to achieve a breakthrough, they would need an exceptionally superior spiritual root or high-grade cultivation techniques," the guard captain added. Yet, observing Jiang Fan's attire, he didn't appear to be from a prominent family capable of possessing such advanced techniques. The guard captain sighed inwardly, then said, "Well, since you're already here, go in and give it a try. You only have one hour to cultivate, so make the most of your time."

An excellent spiritual root and high-grade cultivation techniques? Jiang Fan nodded slightly and entered the other secret chamber.

The guard captain waited there.

Shortly after, a middle-aged man, who commanded respect without needing to exert anger, hurried to the scene. It was Ye Jifeng, the City Lord and the most powerful individual in Guizhou City, who had also been present at the testing tower.

"Has Fairy Liu entered?" The guard captain replied respectfully, "She is already cultivating."

Ye Jifeng let out a small sigh of relief. "She is the daughter of the Qingyun Sect Master; we must not neglect her," he said. "Wait here for Fairy Liu to emerge from cultivation. Notify me immediately when she does!"

Suddenly, Ye Jifeng noticed someone in the other secret chamber and frowned. "Who is in there?" he asked. The guard captain replied, "It's an unknown young man who killed a member of the Blood Bat Palace." Upon hearing this, Ye Jifeng couldn't help but reprimand him. "Couldn't you have waited for Fairy Liu to finish her cultivation before letting him in?" he asked. The guard captain hesitated. "Should I ask him to come out, then?" Glancing at the two adjacent chambers, Ye Jifeng mused, "Never mind. A nameless youth with a low cultivation level won't affect Fairy Liu's cultivation. You stay here and guard." With that, he turned to arrange a welcoming ceremony.

Meanwhile, Jiang Fan had already entered a state of intense, self-absorbed cultivation. His transparent spiritual root, like the roots of a colossal tree, greedily absorbed the surrounding spiritual energy. Simultaneously, the high-grade Yellow-tier cultivation technique, the "True Scripture of Clear Wind," activated, further accelerating the spiritual root's absorption. With both working in tandem, the spiritual energy in the area seemed to be drawn by an unseen force, rapidly converging on Jiang Fan.

In the adjacent chamber, the woman in purple was deep in meditation when she was suddenly jolted awake. Sensing the unusual flow of spiritual energy, a flicker of confusion crossed her cold face. "What's going on?" she murmured. "I cultivate my sect's highest-grade technique, and my spiritual root is seventh-grade," she thought. "If we're cultivating at the same time, the spiritual energy should be flowing towards me." She reactivated her cultivation technique, attempting to reclaim the spiritual energy. However, the spiritual energy in her chamber not only failed to remain but instead dissipated at an even faster rate.

A trace of astonishment appeared on her face. "Could it be that the other person's spiritual root is far superior to mine?" She simply ceased her cultivation. After all, the remaining spiritual energy in this place offered little benefit to her current cultivation realm. She went to the door of her chamber and, through the narrow crack, attempted to sense the situation inside Jiang Fan's chamber. In her perception, astounding torrents of spiritual energy were being devoured, as if a black hole had opened inside, siphoning away every last trace of energy.

"Such an incredible speed of spiritual energy absorption?" She was deeply moved. A thought then struck her, and she whispered in slight astonishment, "Could he be the Ninth-grade spiritual root detected in Guizhou City?" She stared intently at the stone door of the chamber, a hint of competitive spirit glinting in her eyes. This time, she had secretly slipped away from her father. Her sole purpose was to see with her own eyes what made this Ninth-grade spiritual root, which had astonished the world, truly exceptional. As a favored prodigy, she felt compelled to witness it.

Just then, a muffled thud came from within the chamber, followed by a faint ripple of energy indicating a breakthrough to the fifth level of Qi Refinement. The guard captain's pupils constricted, and he gasped, "He... he broke through!" The spiritual energy here was quite sparse, clearly only sufficient for lower-level cultivators to achieve a breakthrough. Yet, Jiang Fan had succeeded!

A hint of astonishment also appeared on the purple-clad woman's cold face, and she involuntarily clenched her fists. "As expected of a Ninth-grade spiritual root," she muttered, "truly extraordinary!" An ordinary cultivator at the peak of the fourth level of Qi Refinement would certainly not be able to break through successfully with such sparse spiritual energy. "However, with my spiritual root and cultivation technique, I could perhaps barely manage it," she mused. "A Ninth-grade spiritual root doesn't seem significantly stronger than mine."

However, about fifteen minutes later, a faint pop was heard from within the chamber once more. A powerful wave of energy, signaling a breakthrough to the sixth level of Qi Refinement, swept out, even stirring up dust from the ground. The purple-clad woman's beautiful face finally registered true shock. "From the fifth level to the sixth level of Qi Refinement in just fifteen minutes?" she exclaimed. She inwardly conceded that even with all her might, she couldn't achieve such a feat. A hint of bitterness touched her lips. "Is this the true difference between a Ninth-grade and a Seventh-grade spiritual root?" she wondered.

The guard captain gasped, "He's broken through two realms consecutively!" He inhaled sharply. "Hiss! The might of a Ninth-grade spiritual root is beyond the imagination of us ordinary mortals!"

The purple-clad woman, still clinging to a trace of stubbornness, asserted, "But he'll stop there. The transition from the sixth to the seventh level is a massive chasm. It took me a full ten days to break through that barrier myself. While a Ninth-grade spiritual root is indeed stronger than my Seventh-grade, the difference is very limited." She let out a sigh of relief, her mood instantly lightening. The guard captain, however, looked somewhat embarrassed by her statement. Ten days for her was only possible because the purple-clad woman had access to the Qingyun Sect's most elite resources. Ordinary people would require several years, or even a lifetime, to cross that formidable chasm!

As time continued to tick by, there was no further movement from within the chamber, seemingly confirming the purple-clad woman's prediction. Seeing that the hour was almost up, the guard captain stepped forward to knock on the door, preparing to remind Jiang Fan.

But then, suddenly, an even more powerful surge of energy swept out from the chamber. The guard captain nearly lost his footing, gasping in shock, "Seventh-level Qi Refinement?" He stammered, "In just one hour, he broke through from the peak of the fourth level to the seventh level of Qi Refinement?"

The purple-clad woman's calm demeanor shattered. Her clear, cold eyes widened, filled with utter shock as she whispered in disbelief, "Impossible! Ninth-grade and Seventh-grade are only two ranks apart. How could the difference be this vast?"