Seventh Star Student Rank

Deep in his meditation, Hong Zhao didn't notice the time pass by him. As the days went by, the chaotic Qi he had gained by killing Huang Yi absorbed within his own Qi spiral. He wasn't aware of the time as he cultivated, instead, he put everything he had into breaching the Seventh Star Student level.

The familiar cloud of Qi surrounded him like a funnel cloud over his head. It rotated slowly as it worked to gain rhythm with the chaotic Qi. After some time, the raw Qi began spinning faster as Hong Zhao worked out the impurities within the cloud. when the two energies were finally synced, Hong Zhao opened his dantian to the new power, which funneled down into his center to meet the newly tamed Qi. He could feel a cracking sensation and looked inward.

The birds were singing on a beautiful day as Hong Zhao opened his eyes. Though the forest was dense, he could almost sense that there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Smelling the many species of wild flower that surrounded him, he got to his feet and stretched out his muscles.

His stomach growling was the only indication of how long he had been cultivating. It felt like weeks since his last meal. Sitting back down, he took a few strips of dried meat out of his ring, as well as a skin of water and had a meal to relieve the horrible feeling of being starved.

Licking his fingers, Hong Zhao smiled to himself and took one last look around before throwing his consciousness into his ring.

Being back within the large football stadium sized room, Hong Zhao felt almost like whistling a tune as he walked to the Seventh door and opened it. He had finally broken through!

When the door opened, he was not at all surprises to see a large pile of Qi Absorption Pills, Recovery Pills and Qi Stones. sensing his potential windfall, he also noticed a medium cauldron in the corner. He thought of it as a cauldron immediately, yet upon further examination, he didn't know how it would hold anything. there were what looked like hand prints on each side, yet as Hong Zhao examined it, he saw that the prints seemed to be holes within the cauldron.

When Hong Zhao opened the cauldron, he saw a large brown leather bound book inside along with a note on the top of it.

'My Dearest Hong Zhao,' The letter read, 'I will no longer give you any more pills after this supply is gone. I am not an alchemist, therefore, you should devote some of your time to studying the art yourself. My supplies are not infinite, and I seem to have misplaced my own alchemist a millennia ago. Good Luck!'

Hong Zhao let the note slip to the floor as he took the book out of the cauldron. He rolled his eyes as he read the title. 'Alchemy for Dummies.'

"Sometimes even gods get bored, I suppose." Hong Zhao smiled as he looked through the book. Though he flipped through, only the first two pages were full, the rest were blank. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like this book.

The first page was the recipe for the Qi Grasping Pills, and the second page was the recipe for the Recovery Pill. On both of the recipes, Hong Zhao noticed that they were Rank Twenty.

He then realized his mistake in calling the newly acquired pills Qi Absorption Pills. He doubted that Lan would have paid much attention to titles of pills that she could not make, so he decided to forego calling them anything but Qi Grasping Pills. The mound of new Qi Grasping Pills were Rank Eighteen as were the same batch he had received before. He knew his body couldn't withstand the medicinal effects Rank Seventeen would have on his body, at least not until he attained Eighth Star Student Rank.

Hong Zhao shut the book and left the room within the ring, allowing himself to once again stand in the forest. Brushing himself off, he decided to make his way back to Rantori Village. He hadn't been back since he had dealt with Huang Yi and was curious to see if Ren Cai had decided to turn him in or not.

Activating Vortex Thrust, Hong Zhao propelled himself upward to the treetops and made his way back to the front gates of the village. As he dropped back down onto the path of entrance, he noticed that the guard had been doubled.

When he came into view, the four guards stood at the ready, blocking his approach. A fifth guard made his way past the four and approached. "Young Master Hong Zhao?" The man asked respectfully. Hong Zhao could see a lip twitching in irritation on the guard's face. He was sure the man had to be the captain of the guard, reduced to being a greeter for a eight year old boy.

"Yes, Elder?" Hong Zhao bowed respectfully to the guard, allowing the other to regain his composure.

Village Elder Huang Ji requests your presence immediately at his estate. He ushered Hong Zhao in front of him and walked to through the entrance to the village. As they entered, Hong Zhao noticed two more guards through the threshold which posted guard while the other four followed behind him.

'They don't want any chance of me slipping away.' His mind immediately went to Ren Cai. She must have went public with the identity of the murderer. His mood went from, yet he didn't allow it to show on his face. Instead, he kept his expression unreadable as he was paraded through the streets.

As they made their way through the streets, Hong Zhao kept his eyes forward. Through his peripheral vision, he saw few stares. It seemed like everyone knew what was happening. He didn't see any scorn in their eyes, yet they also didn't show any admiration, so he didn't know exactly what to make of this.

Hong Zhao's mind was on overdrive by the time they made it to the Village Elder's Estate. Huang Ji was waiting out front for him and ushered him inside.

"Welcome back, Little Zhao." Huang Ji said with a slight nod of his head. Hong Zhao could see a small smile curled on his lips.

"Thank you, Elder." Hong Zhao said respectfully. He didn't sense anything off about Huang Ji, yet he kept himself alert, just in case he was walking into a trap.

"I see you have made it to the Seventh Star Student Rank."

"I've been cultivating and throwing myself at beasts for a while now." he said truthfully as he knew Huang Yi and his friends to be little more than beasts. "When will the tournament continue?" I want to pay back your grandson for his disrespect to Li Wei!" He allowed venom to seep into his words.

"I'm afraid no one will be able to settle any debts with my grandson." Huang Ji said simply. Hong Zhao heard no sympathy in his voice. "It seems someone had snuck into the estate and assassinated not only Huang Yi, but also all of his friends aside from Ren Cai who left without a word the next day."

"Ren Cai left?" Hong Zhao couldn't help asking.

"How did you do it?" Huang Ji spun to meet Hong Zhao's eyes.

"Do what?" Hong Zhao looked at Huang Ji blankly. "If you mean how did I break through, I told you. I threw myself at beasts and cultivated."

"I told you that my grandson and his friends were murdered, yet you didn't bat a lash, yet you were surprised to hear about Ren Cai, why is that?"

"I just wouldn't mind a friendly match with her is all." Hong Zhao smiled slightly at the thought. But since she left, I suppose she is going to the Yuan City Lord to let him know what has befallen his representative. Which means we have something to worry about now."

"I have achieved the Second Star rank of Desciple, so let him come." Huang Ji let his pride show within his features as he thought of the supposed troubles the young child was telling him of.

"I'm sorry to say that it will not be enough." Hong Zhao let out a sigh. "The City Lord is seven ranks ahead of you."

"That is not possible." Huang Ji's face paled.

"He was placed here by Li Xiao to oversee Yuan Continent."

"And you just killed his emissary."

"Who?"

"Bahh!" Huang Ji waved his hand at Hong Zhao as if he were his own annoying grandson. "I didn't want to know then, now I do." He raised an eyebrow. "Explain."

"Elder," Hong Zhao started respectfully. "Whoever killed your grandson must have found a weakness in your estates structure to manipulate in order to get inside. He would have had to be completely invisible to all eyes, and be able to hide his cultivation to slip by without anyone noticing. Could I do that?"

"He was decapitated by claws remarkably similar to the ones I saw you use during your training." He stared at the young boy for an uncomfortable amount of time.

"Ehem." Hong Zhao cleared his throat. "Now that the Emissary is dead, the City Lord will wait possibly a half a year if not a full year before sending someone to investigate. I believe they will be at least Ninth Star Student Ranked cultivators. If you want me to be able to fight, I need to get stronger." He gave Huang Ji a meaningful look. "So, I am taking the Li siblings with me into the forest for a year."

"You think he will act so soon?" Huang Ji's eyes widened slightly.

"Within a year and a half, if we do not have a few new arrivals to the village, I will give you a hundred Qi Stones