35 Breaking Through

After the Wyvern left, the real Xuan snapped his fingers, and the image he'd conjured beforehand with the Mimic Projection Zodiac Technique vanished.

Indeed—the Xuan that the Wyvern had been talking to was nothing but another controllable clone, created by Xuan's Qi. The reason he did this was simple: he wasn't 100% sure that the Wyvern would recognize him and not attack. In case his plan went south, he was ready to bolt—and take the real Dragon egg with him (yes, the egg had been a clone image as well. The technique was not limited to just humans).

As for how the Golden Wyvern didn't see through his trick… that was simple. He made sure to remain extremely close to his clones, so the auras between real and fake were practically indistinguishable. That combined with the Wyvern's shock at seeing his face was more than enough to form a working illusion.

Still, if he had been forced to run away, things may have gotten a bit troublesome. Xuan was glad he didn't need to use plan B. He wasn't, however, glad about the fact that there was now a massive hole in the ceiling of his cultivation spot, especially when he was trying to break through.

'Golden Wyvern… I forgot to ask for his name. Oh well… they aren't that common anyway. I'll remember you when I pay Dragon Island Temple a visit in the future…'

Since he was holding the Divine Dragon Egg, he was bound to have to go to Dragon Island Temple sooner or later. After all, if they didn't receive an heir, their entire race might actually die out. Xuan didn't particularly like them, but he also could not deny they were a necessary power across the three realms. Their main headquarters was in Lower Asphodel—Dragon Island Temple—but there was the Nether Dragon Temple in Tartarus and Heaven Dragon Temple in Elysium as well.

That, however, would come a lot later. He needed to get stronger first, and breaking through to the Core Formation stage was the first step to do that.

Storing the Divine Dragon Egg in his inventory and opening his jaws, Xuan popped the Core Condensation pill Zhi Ruo had refined for him into his mouth, and swallowed it without so much as a second thought.

Then, he went to work.

Absorbing the rich World Qi gathered around the golden flames of the chandelier, Xuan closed his eyes and began the breakthrough process. To succeed, he needed to absorb enough Qi to fuel his body for the breakthrough. The Beast Cores necessary were naturally consumed from his inventory, and the trace amounts of overflowing Qi he managed to retain from before would make the process easier for him than others. Even so, however, it would take quite a bit of time—an hour, at the very least—and this was just the lower cultivation stages.

Once he got stronger, breaking through won't be as easy as sitting down and meditating anymore. Heavenly tribulations and bottlenecks would gatekeep him at every step of the way, and to overcome them, he would need to be sufficiently prepared.

For now, though, about an hour of calm silence was all he needed.

'… Hm? Wait. That's the sound of fire… don't tell me…'

He sniffed the air, and the stench of ash filled his nostrils.

'… That idiot Wyvern. I told him to not destroy their Souls, but destroying their physical bodies like this is about the same…'

Originally, Xuan had wanted to use Devouring Qi to absorb Zhou He and the two masters' Souls to obtain their items and experiences, but now that their physical bodies had been reduced to ashes, the Souls were no longer restrained by anything and were already long gone, having floated away.

Well, perhaps it was a good thing he didn't get to absorb their Souls. After all, with what happened last time, it wasn't a bad idea to keep his use of Devouring Qi to a minimum.

*****

- Meanwhile, Outside the Broken Cave -

"Did that Golden Wyvern just… fly away?"

The crowd of cultivators gasped at the sight of the silhouette of an enormous creature fleeing into the sky, as if running away from something. It was something they'd never seen before—what possibly could've been scary enough to make a Ninth-Order Magic Beast like a Golden Wyvern run away with its tail tucked between its hind legs?

"Just now, it suddenly rushed back into its cave, and now, it's flying away in a panic?" Elder Kun from Sky Cloud Sect analyzed, narrowing his wrinkled eyes. "Just what kind of terror occurred in that cave…?"

"City lord, I believe this calls for investigation," the elder from Stealing Heart Sect muttered. "Something that could drive away a threat like this could only be an even bigger threat."

Yun Liao gave a nod in agreement, and together, the masters—along with the crowd of lower-level cultivators behind them—made their way closer to the broken cave, which now had an interior that could easily be seen from the outside. The moonlight shone into the chamber within the cave's deepest parts, and that plus the golden candle-lights all around the cavern was more than enough to illuminate the figure of Xuan.

"Is that… a cultivator?" Elder Kun widened his eyes. "Impossible. Judging from the energy he is giving off, he appears to be breaking through to the Core Formation stage?"

"What?" Stealing Heart Sect's elder frowned. "You mean to say a mere Body Tempering stage cultivator scared away a Golden Wyvern? You must be joking, Elder Kun. He is obviously hiding is true cultivation."

"I initially thought that as well, but one cannot hide their true cultivation during a breakthrough," Yun Liao replied. "The breakthrough process is not something that can be faked, after all. This young man is really breaking through to the Core Formation stage here, making use of the rich World Qi being emitted by that chandelier carrying the golden fire. He is smart."

Being seniors, the various masters were all able to perceive Qi flow in the air to some extent. They could easily tell that the golden flame was giving off rich amounts of World Qi, and recognize that Xuan was breaking through with just a glance.

"But if his cultivation is truly this low, and he was still able to scare away a Golden Wyvern… then there is only one other explanation," another elder said. "He must be from some great force that even Dragon Island Temple is afraid of."

"If that is the case, then we should capture him immediately!" Stealing Heart Sect's elder yelled. "He is merely Body Tempering stage still, and a cultivator's most vulnerable time is when they are breaking through. Imagine the benefits we can reap if we hold him as a hostag-"

"… Elder Pao, have you no shame?"

The Stealing Heart Sect's elder was interrupted mid-sentence by these words from the city lord Yun Liao, who now glared at the older man with angry eyes and clenched fists.

"I have tolerated you for a long while now, but… this is unacceptable. That boy just saved my city—and all of us—by driving the Wyvern away, and now you want to hold him hostage to obtain ransom from the great force he is from? Not to mention the consequences we will face after they get him back…"

"City lord, are you blind?" Elder Pao snarled. "We will simply ask for a promise that they will not attack us after we return the boy unharmed. As a great force, they have their face and reputation to care about. Although we are not big, we are still a considerably-sized region in Xianxia Continent, and to go back on their word and attack us would be quite detrimental for them."

'Hmph… idiot,' Elder Pao thought in his head. 'Of course I cannot let that brat get away… Zhou He told me his son was going after him, yet he is unscathed while the other three are nowhere to be seen. Zhou Hai was going to be a next-generation talent of Stealing Heart Sect! Anyone who kills someone under my protection must die!'

"The path of cultivation is a harsh one, city lord," he continued, stepping forward on his own while still keeping up his excuse. "If you do not take advantage of free opportunities like this, you will not make it very far. Since you do not wish to join me, then don't mind if I do…"

"I'd like to see who tries to harm that boy!"

In that moment, both Yun Liao and the elder of Glacial Heights Pavilion stepped forward with the same exact words, blocking the way between Elder Pao and Xuan.

At this, Elder Pao narrowed his eyes. "… The city lord, I understand, but… you wish to stand in my way as well, Lady Shuang?"

"I am taking the city lord's side on this one," the elder from Glacial Heights Pavilion, Lady Shuang, said firmly as she channeled her Qi and prepared to fight. "You are going too far, Elder Pao."

Despite her calm demeanor, however, she was actually screaming inside her head as she said those words.

'Of course I can't let you capture that guy! Long, flowy white hair, red eyes, and a flawless complexion—there's no doubt about it, this is the person who Ancestral Founder wanted us to look for! If I let you capture him, my head will be as good as gone…'

"… Tch."

Realizing he could not fight two of them at once, with one of them being the same cultivation as him and the other being close, Elder Pao backed off and gave up on the idea.

"Fine. You win. But don't come crying to me if you end up regretting the decision later."

"… I won't, Elder Pao. I am a man of virtues."

As Elder Pao stepped back into the crowd, both Yun Liao and Lady Shuang let out sighs of relief before turning back to Xuan, who was still busy breaking through.

There, they simply stood like guards, silent but firm, preventing anyone from getting similar ideas to what Elder Pao had in mind.

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