Chapter 64: Calm before the storm

Two days flew by in a blur, during which Jun made remarkable strides in compressing his energy.

Where once his energy glowed in a vibrant scarlet hue, it now shimmered with a fiery orange intensity, streaked with golden flecks. Not content with merely reaching the orange level, Jun pushed himself further, managing to go above and beyond and start compression it to the next color.

Though uncertain, Jun couldn't shake the feeling that he now possessed the prowess to rival even a peak purple palace realms expert, all just in the 1st layer of the Qi realm. 

If other cultivators heard Jun say that as a Qi cultivator he thought he could take on a purple palace realm expert, they would laugh In your face for your sheer arrogance and stupidity. And if we are being honest, who could blame them?

Turning off his epiphany phase and opening his eyes, Jun turned his gaze towards Yinling who had just finished breaking through to the 100th level of the body-tempering realm. 

Feeling a little playful, Jun teased "Took you long enough Yinling... I was getting worried you wouldn't make it in time"

Yinling's response was swift, her eyes narrowing in mock annoyance. "Oh, please. Unlike some people, I prefer to take my time and ensure I do things properly," she retorted, though a hint of amusement danced in her eyes.

Jun chuckled, a glint of admiration in his gaze. "Fair enough. Quality over speed, right?"

With a nod, Yinling smirked. "Exactly. And besides, I wouldn't want to show you up too badly," she teased back.

"hehe fair enough... but in all seriousness, 2 days have passed so you know what that means," Jun said.

Yinling's eyes widened in surprise as she rose to her feet abruptly.

"What-"

Before Yinling could finish her sentence, both of her feet broke right through the ground, shattering the wooden floor and foundation beneath her.

Gazing down at her feet submerged in the earth, Yinling was struck by the magnitude of her newfound strength. Had her physical prowess truly surged to such an extraordinary level? The possibility seemed almost surreal, bordering on the realms of the impossible.

Closing her eyes and focusing on her body, Yinling immediately sensed a hidden beast within her body coursing through her veins that was ready to be unleashed. Even right now, she has to consciously suppress her desire to go all out with this new strength

And to add to the astonishment, had she truly been cultivating for a full two days without pause? While to seasoned cultivators, such a timeframe might not even warrant a moment's rest, for Yinling, who had barely touched the surface of the foundation establishment previously, the passage of time felt utterly surreal.

The longest she had ever dedicated to cultivation was merely a few hours, not an uninterrupted span of 48 hours.

"We should probably report to Elder Lili now, even though I'm not exactly thrilled about it," Jun remarked as he rose from the floor.

Yinling nodded in agreement, following suit and taking a moment to freshen up.

"Perhaps we should wear our masks again. I'd rather avoid any unwanted attention," Jun suggested, offering Yinling the mask she had previously worn during their escape from the 5-star city.

Yinling hesitated briefly, glancing at Jun's outstretched hand holding the mask.ddd Yinling hesitated a bit but still took it regardless. Hearing Jun's words reminded her of the possible troubles both she and Jun face just on their appearances alone. 

Putting it on, Jun turned his eyes through the mask to stare at Yinling who was also sporting the same mask.

"As much as I don't want to... we have to go to her office" Jun spoke

Hearing Jun's words reminded Yinling of their last conversation with Elder Lili. It hadn't gone too well, actually, it had gone down the worst possible path it could have gone. 

"Let's hope it goes better this time," Yinling replied softly, falling into step beside Jun as they made their way out of the room and onto the fourth floor.

---

In her office, Elder Lili had been extremely busy these two days, she had been busy teaching her disciples and doing the finances of the sect which had to be reported to Heaven's eternal alliance each year.

This was done in order to make sure cultivators were fairly distributing the resources given to them for the sect. It hadn't always been this way until a few hundred thousands of years ago.

Back when HEA didn't require sects to report their financial situation, many sects were unequally distributing their resources, most of it going to the higher echelon which led to a severe drop in the strength of the younger generation of the time. 

Once HEA found out about this, they immediately sent out 1 single person and wiped out a holy land, proving just how little a holy land, which is capable of managing multiple 10-star cities at once without a problem truly is.

Since then, HEA has required every single sect to report their financials to HEA, and no one has dared to oppose them.

As she prepared to continue further, a sharp knock echoed through the room.

"Enter," Elder Lili commanded.

Seeing it was Jun and Yinling walking in, Elder Lili instantly remembered their last conversation and mentally prepared herself for two things. One is the anger she felt when Jun insulted HEA and the Silent Battlefield games which had slipped her mind.

"Cough... it seems you made it just in time," Elder Lili remarked, her gaze scanning their expressions. "The event will commence in just over two hours."

Jun's curiosity was piqued. "Wait... where exactly is this event?"

Elder Lili explained, "The event will unfold in a barren wasteland located over 1000 miles south of here. It's an ideal location for cultivators to unleash their abilities without much interference from mortals."

Jun's anxiety seemed to surface as he posed a crucial question for someone of his caliber, "Will there be people watching?"

Shaking her head "Yes and no, this game is only available for people that will be participating in this event but they are allowed to bring someone from their sect to spectate"

"I see... so when are we leaving now" Jun asked.

"Actually..." Elder Lili paused to consider, "We should leave right away; otherwise, we'll risk being late." With that, she abruptly rose from her seat and hurried outside, leaving Yinling and Jun exchanging amused glances.

"At least she didn't seem to want to devour us" Jun joked.