21: The Second Peak Master (VI)

Fifth Dormitory, Sky Peak.

On a Peak covered with a lush green forest full of tall trees, a singular path scaled up before branching into off into directions. Lu Liang ran up this path to rush into his dormitory, it was a simple two-floor black pavilion with a slanted stone roof where disciples and instructors lived.

Some greeted him on the way, but he couldn’t even register them. Almost stumbling over the stairs to the second floor, he caught himself with a huff and turned right, with a bang he entered the fourth room on the left side. The door slammed on the door, scaring the black-haired youth sitting at the table.

“I am so done for… I might die… I might die this time…” Ignoring the sharp glare from the young boy, Lu Liang fell flat on his messy bed, crying tears of bitterness.

“Were you caught two-timing again?” The boy turned back to the table, fixing his grip on the horse hair ink brush.

“No… no… this time it is worse.” Lu Liang buried his face into the silk pillow.

“Did the girl you mess with have a Master? Well, you reap what you sow.” The youth’s tone was dry as a bone, with a hint of amusement.

“Don’t be like this, Yuzhe! I thought she was just a normal frontier town girl with good looks, who would’ve thought that she would attract Immortal Bian’s eye.” Lu Liang flinched as the stool Yuzhe sat on clattered against the wooden floor, but without a word, the youth walked towards the door. “H-hey, where are you going?”

“To the Dormitory head so I can submit a room change application.” Yuzhe said.

“Stop right there, you brat! How can you be so heartless without even hearing anything?” Lu Liang jumped off the bed and clung to the boy’s leg.

“Let go of me you old man, I already have enough troubles to deal with!” Yuzhe tried to walk out of the door, but his strength wasn’t enough and he was dragged back in.

“About the Iron Wood Forest incident, right? Your entire Hall had to take the fall for the head’s mistake, huh? Both you and I have to suffer so wrongfully, is there really any justice in this world?” Lu Liang shed crocodile tears.

“Don’t try to paint yourself as the victim you pervy bastard. I already warned you not to mess with Wu Kexin because of her links with Second Peak Master’s disciple.” Yuzhe tried to pry him off his legs but failed.

“I am not stupid enough to touch her, I was just planning to make her fall for me before doing anything.” Lu Liang met Yuzhe’s narrowing gaze. “I swear on my dantian, if I am lying I won’t make any progress for the next ten years.”

Lu Liang’s body gave out a red glow as he felt shackles wrapping around his body, it felt like the weight of a mountain was on him, but only for a second as the oath he took came into effect. However, Yuzhe’s gaze only narrowed.

“Why were you acting like you were caught forcing yourself on her?” Veins popped up on the young boy’s face.

“I was scared, so kind of overreacted, sowwy~!” Lu Liang avoided the sharp gaze.

“If you don't let me go right now, I’ll make you.” Yuzhe’s fist took on a silvery luster as his Qi flared up.

“Aiyo, so cold.” Lu Liang moved back as quick as he had caught him.

Yuzhe closed the door and walked back to his study table, picking up the brush he continued from the last line on white paper, with small and precise strokes he wrote refined yet easy-to-read words. A short silence fell over the room as Lu Liang rustled into his bed, compared to Yuzhe’s bed and area his side looked like a pigsty.

“Are you writing a letter to your sister again?” Lu Liang asked.

“I wasn’t able to in the past week because of constant remedial tasks.”

“All you talk about is weather and the mundane tasks. Write something interesting for once.”

“I don’t have experience in exaggeration, above all, she enjoys knowing these, a normal day-to-day life is like a fairy tale to her.” Yuzhe said finishing the letter, leaving it on the desk for the ink to dry, he stood up and stashed away the supplies with care.

“What a weird pair of siblings.” Lu Liang rolled over on the bed watching him fold the letter into an envelope. As Yuzhe was getting ready to leave the room, he spoke up. “Have you thought about Elder Ning’s offer?”

Yuzhe halted his steps. “Not yet.”

“You are wasting the best opportunity of your life. If you had chosen already, you wouldn’t have been caught in the strife of two Hall heads with this incident.” Lu Liang sat up on the bed. “You are a model disciple in Fourth Hall, but because you were in the wrong place you had to suffer on account of someone else.”

“…Do cultivators time to do these things with Demonic cultivators roaming free?” Yuzhe couldn’t understand the infighting.

“High-ranking cultivators have all the time in the world, but we do not have that.” Lu Liang said. “So, choose before the situation gets worse. Peak Master Zhou is breathing down everyone’s neck in this case because the Second Peak Master found it.”

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“…I think it would’ve been the same regardless of who found it.” Yuzhe said.

“You are a new kid so you don’t know, they are known as the Dragon and Tiger of Azure Sky Sect. I wouldn’t be surprised if even harsher punishment is meted out after the investigation is completed, just so Second Peak Master can’t intervene or complain about it.” Lu Liang lay on the bed. “After the last Disciple Selection when Senior sister Sun rejected Peak Master Zhou’s offer and joined Second Peak Master, the situation is tenser than ever.”

“…I’ll think about it.” Saying that Yuzhe walked out of the room, closing the room behind him. Descending the stairs, he stood by the main entrance for a moment letting others pass by.

“The Righteous cultivators aren’t as righteous as you used to talk about Father.” He muttered holding the letter close to his chest, with a sigh he marched towards the Disciplinary Hall at the top of the Peak.

***

“The requested item is in here, Immortal Bian.” Xu Ye personally brought the delivery to my inn room.

“You have my gratitude.” I said.

With a bow, he left me alone. Closing the door, I walked into the bedroom. Sure to close the door and windows shut, a few formations to avoid any interference or eavesdropping were laid down. Under the bright light from the stones stuck to the ceiling, the spiritual root tester was placed on the wide sandalwood bed. The white slab had a dim light running through the numerous inscription lines, it had recently been used to check for any problems.

Before using it, I checked the artifact to see for anything that could bring me trouble. Recording or Data transmission arrays, Tracking arrays, and many more methods that Gu Fei had used to grasp Bian Que’s whereabouts in the past. Although she stopped using them after the first, there wasn’t a loss in checking every time as she would add them when people least expected them.

“Good, I can finally get back to cultivating after this.” Not cultivating for seven days straight left me feeling weird, as it may have been the second biggest break I had taken since becoming a cultivator. Especially since I had such a strong spiritual root now.

Diving head first was the last thing that should be done because of the unknowns, but now I can. Without wasting another second, five spirit stones were inserted into the slots and my hand rested on top of the Spirirual root tester. The inscriptions of the slab shone bright, drawing in a Stream of Qi from the spirit stones, the device guided it towards my Lung Meridian using the pathway from my right palm, and then passing through other meridians it arrived at Mind Realm Gate.

I lowered my defences to let it enter my mind realm where it reached the spiritual root. Being familiar with the Mind realm made it easier for me to see the process myself, the tester used the Qi from spirit stones to see the absorption rate of the Spiritual root, if one spirit stone was used it would be Mortal Grade with 35 % consumption for Low Rank, 70% for Mid, and 100% for High. Two spirit stones for Earth Grade, three for Heaven, four for Divine, and finally all five for Immortal.

I hope there are some clues about this Black lotus in the database. Chen Zhipeng used the most complete database of Spiritual roots shared among the Four major sects on the Western Continent, and each time any sect discovered a new root it would be included without fail. If nothing is found about it with this tester, I would have to look for clues elsewhere.

As expected, things didn’t go smoothly. “This is troublesome…” Sweat gathered on my brow, I knew it was possible but to think that the worst-case scenario happened.

The Black Lotus absorbed the entire stream of Qi from the stones, if the tester hadn’t cut off the trail it would’ve absorbed even the Device’s vital Qi used to transfer the information. Thankfully, the defense system of the device worked as intended, any other device would’ve become useless by now.

However, a new problem stood before me. Going by the rate of absorption alone it should be Immortal Grade High Rank, but that shouldn’t be it. Just like my previous Root, this one had extraordinary abilities, the special ability to absorb Qi.

It would be hard for the device to make an accurate evaluation because of that. To confirm my thoughts words formed on the white slab using the light from the inscription like thousands of ants moving across the land.

Spiritual Root Name: — (Not in database)

Rank: Cannot quantify due to interference from the root.

Dominant Element: Wood

Secondary Elements: Water, Earth.

Root Alignment: Extreme Yin

Cultivation Method Recommendation: No matches…

Although I couldn’t find the thing that mattered, this was more than enough. I already knew that this root was above Divine grade, that itself was more than I could ask for. With this, a suitable cultivation method could finally be chosen.

I’ve been so eager to cultivate that the list of all Wood element Cultivation methods was already prepared, even after excluding the ones below Heaven Grade High Rank the list had over a thousand methods. Testament to Wang Yang’s dedication to always searching for a better cultivation method to give me, with the extra information and my knowledge of what suited me, it didn’t take long to cut down the list to five choices.

Supreme Wood Venerable’s Sutra (Divine Grade Low Rank)

Divine Garden’s Path (Divine Grade High Rank)

Vicissitudes of the Lone Flower (Immortal Grade Low Rank)

World Covering Banyan tree. (Divine Grade Mid Rank)

Azure Sky Cultivation Method, Variation One. (Heaven Grade High Rank)

Among these methods, I have used two before regression and one that I was still using. Azure Sky Cultivation Method, Variation One is a cultivation method made solely for me by my Master based on the original. It took a lot to part with it before, but even among the high-ranking methods that could cause war if known, this one suited me the best.

Somehow, I feel relieved. The method made by Master wasn’t lacking even with its low rank, in truth it was made to be low rank for me specially.

It allowed the user to control the amount of Qi they absorbed, but because of my low rank, I could only increase the value by half. This time, I have a high-ranking spiritual root, not to mention its ability to suck in qi like a wide-mouthed Winged Whale. Even if it has the lowest rank on the list, it is the safest option as I know the most about it, with its help my meridians and pathways won’t be overwhelmed by the drastic increase of Qi either. The ability to reduce Qi Absorption will come in handy for the first time.

Exiting the bedroom, I opened the door right beside it. It was a similarly well-lit vast room, but aside from a cushion in the middle and an inscription-filled room, nothing else could be found. The Divine Grade room of the Xu Inn had a cultivation room per room, all equipped with a lesser version of the five-element array to help provide an optimal atmosphere for the guests.

“It is finally time for me to start cultivation.” With bubbling excitement in my chest, I got ready for what was to come.