Chapter 96: Ninth Level of Qi Refining

"Could it be!"

Upon hearing that dragon’s roar, Lu Jian’s eyes flashed with shock. He instinctively looked up at the sky.

Seeing this, Li Lin also followed Senior Brother Lu’s gaze to the heavens.

In the next instant, the skies above Water Moon Peak changed dramatically. What had been clear moments ago suddenly turned oppressively dark.

Thick clouds gathered together, and under the tearing force of heaven and earth’s gale winds, the outline of a pair of dragon horns took shape.

As time passed, the clouds churned, twisted, and stretched, forming the winding spine of a flood dragon.

Then, thunder rolled from deep within the clouds, dyeing the sky with a layer of flickering lightning, like glimmering dragon scales.

"A flood dragon being born?" Li Lin exclaimed in astonishment.

That shouldn't be possible! The Mirror Moon Sea was sect territory—how could an unknown flood dragon emerge here?

"The rumors were true after all!" Lu Jian muttered.

"What rumors? Could Senior Brother Lu enlighten me?" Li Lin frowned slightly.

Lu Jian took a deep breath. "Junior Sister Li, are you aware of Jiang Yuyan, the direct disciple Jiang?"

"Of course. She’s ranked ninth on the Mirror Moon Rankings as a Golden Core seed," Li Lin replied, puzzled.

Although Jiang had dropped out of the top five due to two failed attempts at breaking through to the Golden Core stage, she was still someone most outer disciples could only dream of.

"I once heard a story from an elder of my clan."

Recollections appeared in Lu Jian’s eyes. "It’s said that two hundred years ago, Jiang was exceptionally talented.

Not only did she pass the sect’s Moon-Choosing Ceremony and enter the Nine Apertures Sun-Moon Pool for secluded cultivation, but she also triggered the Sun Resonance Phenomenon and was granted a technique by a Golden Core True Person. Within a month, she leapt from the Seventh Level of Qi Refining to become a rogue Foundation Establishment cultivator."

"That’s impossible!" Li Lin’s pupils shrank.

Crossing three minor realms and breaking through the stage barrier to Foundation Establishment in a single month—that kind of speed was inconceivable.

Even a reincarnated Golden Core True Person starting over might not accomplish such a feat.

"I also thought it was just hearsay," Lu Jian said with a wry smile, his eyes never leaving the flood dragon-shaped cloud in the sky. "But now, the phenomenon from the rumors has reappeared!"

Li Lin pursed her lips. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say.

After all, the inner sect was full of prodigies. Even cultivators with Gibbous Moon aptitude could only be considered above average. Those truly at the peak of the pyramid were always the True Disciples with Full Moon aptitude.

Even those with Full Moon aptitude couldn’t trigger a phenomenon in the Nine Apertures Sun-Moon Pool—just how had Senior Brother Chen Zi’ang done it?

"Could it be another fellow disciple cultivating in the Sun-Moon Pool?" Li Lin said softly.

"Maybe." Lu Jian shook his head. The pride in his heart had long since vanished.

Even if he successfully broke through to Foundation Establishment using a Foundation Establishment Pill, before such a genius, he was nothing more than a slightly larger ant.

At the same time, on Mirror Moon’s main peak, in the Elder Hall—

The Moon-in-Water Mirror hung high in the air, reflecting the scene within the Sun-Moon Pool.

"This little one is actually a Beast Tamer." The second elder of the Transmission Hall, Elder Yu, shook his head, his tone tinged with disappointment.

"Relying on external things is no match for cultivating oneself. If one can't even understand their own Dao, how can they possibly tame beasts?"

"Besides, compared to true cultivation of spell arts, the innate bloodlines that beast creatures rely on are far too weak."

"All three thousand Daoist paths lead to the same destination. What’s wrong with being a Beast Tamer?" said the fifth elder of the Artifact Refining Hall.

In the Southern Wastes, relying on external tools wasn't shameful. Lacking power—that was shameful.

If not for the numerous artifacts on Senior Brother Zhu, allowing him to almost suppress even Golden Core True Persons within the sect, he wouldn’t have gained the reputation as the strongest Golden Core beneath True Monarchs.

"When the master is weak and the servant strong, it becomes the road to ruin," said the fourth elder of the Talisman Hall, shaking her head.

Right now, Chen Zi’ang could suppress that Golden Scale Fish only because his cultivation was superior.

But if he invested all his resources into the beast companion and delayed his own cultivation, he could very well suffer at its hands in the future.

"Encountering a Golden Scale Fish with this level of aptitude, it’s natural for a Qi Refining cultivator to be tempted," the Grand Elder of the Alchemy Hall said calmly.

No wonder this little fellow had always been so cautious—he had been carrying a Golden Scale Fish of excellent potential.

While it was rare for this fish to trigger the Sun-Moon Pool phenomenon, it wasn't enough to stir the hearts of the Golden Core Elders of the Personnel Hall.

After all, spirit beasts like this grew slowly and required excessive resources to raise.

Even if the Golden Scale Fish contracted by Chen Zi’ang had aptitude on par with a Full Moon True Disciple and its bloodline harmonized with the Sun-Moon Pool, it would still take centuries—if not millennia—to have a chance at evolving into a Third-Tier Treasure Beast. And even then, failure remained a strong possibility.

With such time and resources, the sect would be better off cultivating more Golden Core cultivators.

Noticing that most of the Golden Core Elders had lost interest and departed, the Grand Elder turned his gaze to the Fourth Elder.

"Still want to argue, Junior Sister?"

The Fourth Elder hesitated for a moment, then let her divine sense avatar dissipate. "I’ll keep my promise."

The Grand Elder then looked to the Second Elder.

"Same here," Elder Yu shook his head and left.

In an instant, only the Grand Elder and Fifth Elder remained in the Personnel Hall, silently watching the mirror’s image. After a long while, their divine sense avatars gradually faded away.

…

The phenomenon atop Water Moon Peak came quickly and left just as fast.

After only the time of a single incense stick, the flood dragon cloud deep in the sky vanished without a trace. Some direct disciples in seclusion within Water Moon Peak’s caves didn’t even notice the phenomenon.

Only a few core-lineage disciples noticed something was off and discussed it in surprise.

Soon, another half month passed.

Inside the Nine Apertures Sun-Moon Pool, Chen Beiwu was struck by sudden inspiration and opened his tightly shut eyes.

Within his dantian, the Clearwood Spiritual Power that had been flowing gently now began to surge wildly.

The endless yin and yang energies surged into the two spirit seeds within him along the cultivation method’s circulation path, further enhancing their quality.

“Gulu.”

At the same time, golden light began to radiate from Golden Egg’s scales. In an extremely domineering manner, he absorbed all the spiritual essence within the Nine Apertures Sun-Moon Pool, then frantically nourished the spirit seed inside his body.

Under the nurturing of both man and beast, the stage barrier that ordinary cultivators found insurmountable couldn’t even stop Chen Beiwu for a moment.

“Boom!”

With a sudden eruption of powerful aura, the total spiritual power within Chen Beiwu’s body surged by seventy percent, and his divine sense expanded from ten to thirty zhang.

"So this is the power of a Ninth Level Qi Refining cultivator!"

Chen Beiwu didn’t even activate his spiritual power. He simply clenched his right fist—and a terrifying sonic boom immediately rang out.

Having cleansed his marrow and broken through to a new realm, his spirit, energy, and mind underwent a qualitative transformation.

If the current him were to set up a formation in secret, he could likely obliterate his past Eighth Level self in an instant.

“Gulu.” Golden Egg blew a ring of bubbles, successfully catching Chen Beiwu’s attention.

In appearance, Golden Egg wasn’t too different from before his transformation, except for the golden protrusion on his head that looked a bit like a newly grown horn.

Chen Beiwu reached out and gently touched it. A streak of blood instantly appeared on his fingertip.

"What a sharp horn!" Chen Beiwu exclaimed in surprise.

Even though he wasn’t wearing the Tidespring Silk Armor and was only using protective spiritual power, he was confident he could remain unharmed against attacks from a First-Tier mid-grade exotic art.

Yet he’d been effortlessly wounded by the unmoving Golden Egg.

This newly grown horn was definitely not ordinary!

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