Chapter 51 – Everything Ready
Translator: Mr Voltaire
Editor: Master Shadow
“Not bad. You’ve indeed stepped into the True Essence realm.” The Xiao family’s old patriarch glanced at his son, detecting the changes in his aura. Xiao Hai’s air was much mightier, and gave off the sensation of an expert.
“Of course. Now that Yun’Er has learned pill refining, our Xiao family will definitely go through a revival.” Xiao Hai sounded incredibly excited, his eyes dancing with light. “Big brother and Xiao Hu have also taken Pure Essence Pills, but I don’t know if they’ve succeeded in breaking through yet.”
“Oh.” Hearing this, the Xiao family’s old patriarch’s heart leapt. “That means our Yun’Er definitely isn’t just an ordinary Pill Refiner.”
Who could refine so many Pure Essence Pills? Even Master Yuan would not be able to do such a thing.
“Naturally,” Xiao Hai replied. “Yun’Er, didn’t you help your grandpa refine a Mysterious Congealing Pill? Quickly take it out so your grandpa can also share in this joy. Haha, he’s wanted a Mysterious Congealing Pill for such a long time. It’s a pity that such a pill is difficult to find, even throughout the entire Moonwind Kingdom!”
“Mysterious Congealing Pill?” The Xiao family’s old patriarch felt as if his head was spinning. “Did I hear incorrectly?”
“Grandpa, your grandson indeed refined a Mysterious Congealing Pill, and it might be able to help you step into the Essence Core realm.” Xiao Yun smiled as he scratched his head. This youth was cold and ruthless to his enemies, but still acted innocently and warmly to his grandpa.
“Oh? Hurry and let grandpa take a look.” The Xiao family’s old patriarch was incredibly excited, and looked at the youth in anticipation. If his grandson could really refine Mysterious Congealing Pills, just what sort of accomplishments would he have in future? The Fang family’s boy wouldn’t even be worthy to put on his shoes for him.
Thinking to there, his eyes became misty, and tears almost rolled out.
“Mm,” Xiao Yun replied as he took out the jade bottle containing the Mysterious Congealing Pill.
“What dense Essence Qi. There’s also a sense of vital essence of life, as well as the sensation of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.” The old patriarch’s expression changed as soon as he opened the jade bottle. His eyes narrowed as he deeply breathed in the medicinal aroma.
Xiao Hai was also quite surprised. “This medicinal pill feels like it’s connected to nature. Are Mysterious Congealing Pills usually like this?”
“This… This medicinal pill was modified by your grandson, so I’m not entirely sure if it can help you break through to the Essence Core realm,” Xiao Yun said. “Although, your grandson can promise that it is completely fine to consume. It’s just that I don’t know what the effects will be.”
“That’s fine. This old man dares to eat any medicinal pill refined by his grandson. Haha, isn’t it just a medicinal pill?” the Xiao family’s old patriarch laughed. “Plus, I can tell that this pill is not ordinary, especially with the vital essence of life and the feeling of nature that it gives off. It’s quite extraordinary, and will definitely be able to help me step into the Essence Core realm by assisting in my comprehension of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.”
“Really?” Hearing his grandpa say this, Xiao Yun felt reassured. Although he was confident in his medicinal pill, the one who would be consuming it was his grandpa, so he felt a bit worried.
“That’s right. Grandpa wouldn’t lie to you,” the old patriarch said. “Stepping into the Essence Core realm requires comprehension of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, and over all these years, your grandpa has always been just a little bit off. Your medicinal pill contains an extremely dense sensation of nature, and grandpa feels that he has the opportunity to break through.
“Alright, that’s enough talking. Your grandpa’s going back into closed-door training,” the Xiao family’s old patriarch said as he laughed. “Haha, when your grandpa has broken through to the Essence Core realm, we’ll go destroy that Fang family together. Goddamnit, they dare to bully our family, and want my grandson’s life?” After saying this, he turned and went back into closed-door training.
“Looks like father might really break through this time,” Xiao Hai muttered, seeing how excited the old patriarch looked.
“I hope grandpa really can break through.” A look of anticipation appeared on Xiao Yun’s face.
“There are still a few more days until the Martial Competition. You should go and prepare,” Xiao Hai said. “It’s said that that Fang Hao has long since broken through to the Innate realm and with his Martial Spirit, it’ll be quite a challenge for you to beat him!”
“Mm, got it,” Xiao Yun nodded. He also knew that the Heaven Origin Sect’s people had come – there was definitely a reason for Qiu Yu Chen appearing here. Since he had brough an Antidote Pill, he might have other things up his sleeve, so Xiao Yun needed to become stronger.
This time, he would definitely defeat Fang Hao.
After returning to his room, Xiao Yun prepared to raise his strength.
“Now that I’ve stepped into the Innate realm, I should try to break through again,” Xiao Yun said as he took out a medicinal pill and consumed it.
This was a Congealing Qi Pill, which Innate realm cultivators used to absorb Essence Qi. After all, if a cultivator wanted to become stronger, they needed to continuously absorb Essence Qi and refine themselves.
However, merely relying on absorbing the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi in the Violet Cloud County was not enough for someone to break through within a short period of time.
This was the reason why many people were stuck at the Innate realm for decades without progressing at all.
However, medicinal pills overcame this problem. This was because medicinal pills were refined with many ingredients which had absorbed much Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, and condensed all of that within a pill. The Essence Qi they contained far surpassed the amount a person had to painstakingly gather by themselves.
After consuming the medicinal pill, a dense wave of Essence Qi swept throughout Xiao Yun’s body like a ferocious beast. This wave of energy would be able to shatter a Body Tempering realm cultivator’s organs. Luckily, Xiao Yun had stepped into the Innate realm, and was able to withstand it.
Xiao Yun then activated the Heaven-Devouring Divine Art. Following this, a vortex appeared at his dantian, and a massive suction force erupted out of it.
Whoosh!
The dense Essence Qi was sucked towards his dantian and was continuously refined into his own Essence Qi. Although it was already incredibly pure and did not require much refining, there were still some remnants of the medicinal energy remaining in his meridians.
As Xiao Yun used the Heaven-Devouring Divine Art, his muscles and cells continuously absorbed the medicinal energy.
Buzz!
Suddenly, Xiao Yun’s body trembled as he felt as if his strength was rapidly increasing.
“Middle stage of the Innate realm!” Xiao Yun’s eyes lit up as he deeply breathed out. He had finally stepped into the middle stage of the Innate realm.
Xiao Yun then consumed another medicinal pill, but his cultivation did not increase by much this time.
He soon realised that every time his cultivation increased, he would have to wait for it to settle, and that he couldn’t continuously break through relying on medicinal pills.
Moreover, cultivation was something that had to be gradually increased. Relying on medicinal pills would mean that he would not have a solid foundation, resulting in problems in the future.
After nearly a month of pill refining, Xiao Yun’s spirit energy had also been refined. His senses were many times sharper than before, and after sending out his spirit energy, he felt that he had gained some understanding of the Heaven-Devouring Tower. He even discovered some writing on the side of the Heaven-Devouring Tower.
“This should be some sort of Art,” Xiao Yun said to himself.
The tower had 9 levels, and Xiao Yun sent out his spirit energy, wanting to obtain the Art. As his spirit energy touched the first level, he felt as if a mountain was weighing down on him. This caused his soul great discomfort and he was unable to see the writing clearly enough. As such, Xiao Yun could only give up in frustration, and sent his spirit energy towards the second level.
“The pressure here is even stronger.” When he tried to touch the writing on the second level, an incredibly heavy pressure bore down on him. It was if the sky had fallen down, blasting his spirit energy away and almost disintegrating his soul.
“Looks like the pressure increases each level up. These aren’t things that the current me can touch,” Xiao Yun said with a sigh as he looked up towards the mysterious writing. “I’ll have to wait until I become stronger to investigate this.”
After retreating from there, Xiao Yun started to cultivate the Spirit-Destroying Art. Time quickly passed, and Xiao Yun barely ate or slept as he cultivated.
He was incredibly curious about the mysterious writing on the Heaven-Devouring Tower, and wanted to obtain it as quickly as possible.
FIve days later, he felt that his spirit energy had become more powerful, and once again went to the wall of the Heaven-Devouring Tower.
Buzz!
Just as his spirit energy was about to touch the writing, it was once again blasted away by a powerful shockwave.
“It’s still not enough?” Xiao Yun frowned. He never thought that the Heaven-Devouring Tower would be so difficult to deal with. He could only sigh and temporarily give up.
After being in closed-door training for such a long time, it was time for him to go out. Otherwise, big sister Shi Fei would be unhappy!
When he walked to the adjacent courtyard, he found that Yan Shi Fei was sitting with Yan Shi Yan.
“Big brother Xiao Yun.” Yan Shi Yan ran over with an unhappy look on her face.
“What happened?” Seeing how angry the girl looked, Xiao Yun wondered if he had somehow offended her.
“Hmph, you stinking Xiao Yun. You went to the Violet Cloud Mountain and gave big sister a Violet Vine, so why didn’t you bring me back a present?” Yan Shi Yan pouted, her watery eyes looking at Xiao Yun as they continuously blinked.
“You want a gift? “I actually did bring one back for you!” Xiao Yun said with a smile.
“What is it?” Yan Shi Yan’s eyes lit up, a look of expectation on her face.
“It’s a Violet Fox; it’s incredibly pretty,” Xiao Yun replied.
“Cheh, that’s it?” Yan Shi Yan looked quite disappointed. “You gave big sister a Spirit, and yet you expect me to be happy with a Violet Fox? I don’t want it; I want a Spirit as well. Otherwise, I won’t stop pestering you.”
“A Spirit?” Xiao Yun rolled his eyes.
“I want one,” Yan Shi Yan said as she grabbed Xiao Yun’s arm.
“I’ll think about it,” Xiao Yun replied in frustration.
“Remember, you owe me a Spirit.”
“When did I start owing this girl?”
“Yun’Er.” At this moment, a familiar voice sounded out.
“Second Uncle.” Xiao Yun’s eyes lit up and he looked over in the direction that the voice had come from.
Xiao Hai strode over, a look of delight on his face. There were also a few other people with him – Xiao Yun’s Eldest Uncle, Xiao Hong and Martial Trainer Xiao Hu, as well as Xiao Qian and a few other youths.
They were all grinning and looking ecstatic.
“You all broke through?” After looking at his grinning Eldest Uncle and Martial Trainer Xiao Hu, he suddenly realised something.
Xiao Hong nodded and confirmed, “It’s all thanks to you!”
“Little brother Xiao Yun.” Xiao Qian walked over, a look of gratitude on his face.
The other youths also had big smiles on their faces.
These people had all stepped into the Innate realm while they were only 16 years old because of the medicinal pills.
“Big brother Xiao Qian,” Xiao Yun replied.
These youths were all family members with decent talent, and did not mock Xiao Yun like Xiao Cheng had.
“Tomorrow is the Martial Competition of the Violet Cloud County’s large families. Are you ready?” Xiao Hai asked as he smiled.
“Tomorrow’s the Martial Competition?” Xiao Yun’s eyes narrowed, understanding why everyone had come to find him.
“Mm,” Xiao Hai replied. “Tomorrow, we’ll be relying on you to bring honour to our Xiao family.”
“Don’t worry Second Uncle. I won’t let you all down.” A serious look appeared in Xiao Yun’s eyes as he gripped his hands into fists.
“Fang Hao, it’s time to settle our grudges.” Thinking back to how then the Fang family had tried to force him to his death, Xiao Yun couldn’t help but clench his fists. A look of anticipation appeared in his eyes – it was time for him to wash away his shame!
Everything was ready. Now, he just had to wait for the competition!