Once the breakthrough had settled, Xiao Dong immediately plopped down to his seat. He had lost consciousness!

“Help him change into new robes before throwing him into his bed,” Li Lang ordered.

Wu San, one of the closer students to Xiao Dong, complied without a word as the other students began conversing about what they had just witnessed.

“I can’t believe Xiao Dong finally did it. That’s crazy, he’s still so young!”

“Hmm, he at least had grade-two aptitude. I wonder if it will really work with people like us who have grade-one aptitude.”

Li Lang didn’t mind the ruckus. He had no spare capability to manage the students right now, so he quickly retreated toward his private area, cordoned off by a few dividers. His two companions followed.

“Give me a moment to process everything.”

Wei Peing shared a quick glance with Long Yi before they both nodded.

Meanwhile, Li Lang had already entered Ruby’s artifact space. He jumped onto his computer right away. He noted down his observations and plotted the latest set of data.

“Congratulations, Master! You’ve succeeded!”

“Not yet. This is just one instance where the subject had grade-two aptitude. It’s still too hasty for any conclusions.”

“But you’ll start practicing the Ascension Technique and Lingering Impact Technique, right? It seems safe so far, and the earlier you practice them, the better!”

“Hmm, you may be right. I can practice them now, and only go through with it once I see how others with the same aptitude react to it,” Li Lang muttered as he placed the latest samples into the auto-analyzer.

“And I can’t wait for Master to reach the next realm! You’ll be able to unlock more of my power by then, I’m sure of it. You’ll also be able to retrieve those three brats from the Crucible, too!”

“We’ll have to see…”

After noting everything down, Li Lang exited the artifact space to consult with his companions about their next step.

Now that one of their students has reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, they had to put other parts of their plans into motion.

“How long do you think we can hide this?” Li Lang asked no one in particular.

“L-likely no more than a few months. If w-what you say about us being under surveillance is true.”

“We’ll also need to get Xiao Dong and anyone else who subsequently breaks through their Earth-grade cultivation techniques, too. You know how important that is, right?” Long Yi chimed in. “They won’t be able to make any progress without one.”

“We were planning to go to the Crucible for that. I may not be able to do anything more than allow people entry into the pocket realm, but our original plan was for me to get closer to breaking through first. Only then can we move the Crucible around with us.”

“But y-you have that agreement w-with Nightmoon Valley. It shouldn’t b-be a problem to make use of the p-pocket realm now.”

“Hmm, let me go talk to them tomorrow. I’ll leave talking to Xiao Dong to you two, then.”

The two nodded, each with a thoughtful expression.

With an additional Foundation Establishment cultivator, things were no longer the same. Not even considering what impact that had on their little organization, the significance of the news getting around was already hard to comprehend.

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A bunch of young cultivators like them had the audacity to accept students so early on, but those students managed to shed their mortality in such a short time! Even back when the three geniuses of the Luminescent Domain broke through, they were at a similar age to Xiao Dong. While he was deficient when it came to both martial and Qi arts, it couldn’t be denied he was now a full-fledged cultivator.

Outsiders wouldn’t even know about these details. All they would see was either they had managed to recruit a genius or they chanced upon some incredible treasures.

According to their plans, they would now move the entire group into the Crucible to keep a lower profile and hide from the world. The pocket realm was an impregnable fortress that had everything they would need to continue their cultivation. The only problem with that was that they wouldn’t be able to enter and leave without being scrutinized.

Thanks to the deal with Nightmoon Valley, it should no longer be an issue, but that didn’t change the fact Li Lang preferred to have the ability to move the Crucible at will first. To do that, it required him to break through. It was the only way he could gain a little more control of his Spirit-grade artifact.

The next day, Li Lang headed out for Nightmoon Valley’s branch office in Emberglow City, first thing in the morning.

The place wasn’t as grand or spacious as one would expect from the premier organization of all demonic cultivators. It was a simple estate, similar to Li Lang’s own. Stationed there were three members of the prestigious organization. Li Lang had come to know all three of them, but today, he saw none of them.

“Greetings. How may Nightmoon Valley be of assistance to you?” a fierce woman valiantly called out.

Li Lang had been looking confused as he searched for his acquaintances, so she quickly approached him.

“Oh, my name is Li Lang. I wonder if Senior Yong or Bing is here?”

“Those geezers got rotated out.”

“Did they do something wrong?”

“Hmm, no. We regularly get rotated to new locations. I am Zhu Leigong, by the way. The one in charge of the Emberglow branch for now. They told me about you before they left.”

Despite how casual the woman was, she was still a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Li Lang quickly clasped his fist toward her in a formal greeting.

“Greetings, Senior Zhu.”

“So, how can we help you?”

“Have you been informed of my agreement with your valley?”

“About trading for Foundation and Ascension Pills?”

“Hmm, not quite. Can you contact your Valley Master or Senior Jian for me? You can tell them it’s about my end of the agreement.”

“No problem. I’ll attach it to the daily report I’ll be making tonight. Anything else?”

“Umm, no. Thank you!”

“Sure, thing. I’ll send you a message should I receive a reply. You’re still living around—the Southern Dark Spot, right?”

“That’s right. Thank you again for your consideration. I hope you have a good day.”

Unsure if this new woman was privy to his secret deal with Nightmoon Valley or not, Li Lang quickly got out of there without revealing any details. After all, Jian Beiyun had left instructions to contact him should the need arise.

With the matter settled, Li Lang could only return and patiently await a reply. He didn’t know exactly what method of communication Nightmoon Valley used. He was aware there were transmission jades that could contact their headquarters instantly, but he didn’t know if it would be used in everyday communications.

That’s why he wasn’t alarmed when no one came to find him, even after two days. If any other method of communication was used, it wouldn’t be surprising for it to take a few days for the message to reach Jian Beiyun.

In the meantime, he could only continue his training and research, while his students did the same. Their motivation had skyrocketed in recent times after witnessing one of their own reaching the fabled Foundation Establishment Realm. It was something those with grade one aptitude could only dream of. Even in their dreams, they would require the use of Ascension Pills.

They all looked up to their new role model, Xiao Dong, as he quickly recovered from the fatigue of his breakthrough. He had proven to them that he had become a true cultivator. He had the ability to exert his power, unlike those who consumed the Ascension Pill. With the help of his three mentors, he even procured an Earth-grade cultivation method from the Bloodwave bazaar.

He was hard at work, trying to address his shortcomings. Even now, in an entirely different realm, it didn’t change the fact he had neglected to practice any martial or Qi arts.

As the training ramped up for everyone in Li Lang’s estate, a visitor showed up five days after he had contacted Nightmoon Valley. A mischievous visitor who didn’t hesitate to ambush Li Lang when he exited his house for his routine visit to The Orchid Covenant.

As he walked past the gates to his estate, his vision suddenly grew dim, as if someone had closed the curtains around him.

“Junior Sister, you can’t do that. No matter how close you are to the person. They may respond with lethal intent to your sudden pranks.”

“Geez, as if Li Lang has the strength to do that yet. Look at him. Still stuck at the peak of Energy Gathering. He really needs to work harder!”

Hearing those familiar voices, Li Lang didn’t even bother to muster up words to retort. He simply sighed.