Chapter 11: Cloud Tiger

"By the way, brother Lance, is that cub on your shoulder your spirit beast?", Gong Yu asked while curiously looking at the sleeping cub on his shoulder.

"Yes, my teacher gave him to me after I reached the early skin stage.", Lance replied while glancing at the cub with a provoking gaze. But the cub only gave a snort in reply.

"What bloodline does it have?"

'Tell him that I have the Cloud Tiger bloodline'

"He has the Cloud Tiger bloodline."

Gong Yu's eyes immediately widened as he looked at the sleeping beast.

"Cl-Cloud tiger bloodline you say? Are you sure?", Gong Yu asked as he looked at the cub with a trace of terror and greed in his eyes.

But Lance didn't notice his roiling emotions and continued, "Yes, brother Gong, my teacher told me that."

"It seems your teacher favours you a lot, brother Lance. You are lucky indeed!", Gong Yu said while smiling.

'The Cloud tiger bloodline must be very strong based on his reaction.'

"Yes", he nodded along while thinking back to the time he had spent on the island. 'I wouldn't be here if not for her saving my life and teaching me cultivation.'

"We still have a few more days of travel left to reach the domain, if brother has more questions, then you can me on the way. We will leave this town tomorrow morning, rest for the night. Wu San will take you to your room.", he then gestured to a servant who was standing at the side.

Lance was soon seated on the bed in his room as he thought about his day. He then turned his attention to the cub who had jumped off and settled on a pillow as soon as he entered the room.

"Is the Cloud Tiger bloodline strong?", he asked.

'As long as a tiger the Cloud tiger blood line, it can reach the peak of the bone stage. The bloodline can be upgraded by supplementing it with natural treasures if the tiger does not have sufficient bloodline density and purity. But as long as even a sliver of the bloodline is present, it is possible to reach the peak of the bone stage.'

"Can't it reach the divine realms then?"

'To reach the Divine realm, the bloodline has to be evolved, but evolution takes place very rarely. The conditions for evolution are very hard to fulfill. It requires blood from a tiger which has already evolved or it can evolve on its own with the help of natural treasures. But these treasures are so rare that even in the spirit realms only the top powerhouses can use them.'

Lance fell asleep soon after.

He woke up and went to find Gong Yu after he freshened up. The cultivators were all discussing something as they saw him come in.

"Did you sleep well, brother Lance?", Gong Yu asked with a smile on his face.

Lance nodded and listened to the discussions around him. The cultivators were talking about the sects which were stronger than them.

He then asked Gong Yu, "Brother Gong, do the sects have ranks too?"

"Yes, sects also have ranks. Like talent level sects are also have stars based on the cultivation of the strongest member in the sect. Sects with a skin stage cultivator are 1-star sects while sects with a transcendent stage cultivator are 9-star sects. My Destroying Spear sect is a 2-star sect since we have a muscle stage cultivator.", he said the last sentence with pride suffused in his voice.

Lance just nodded along.

"Brother Lance, what stage is your teacher at?", Gong Yu asked suddenly.

"I don't know, my teacher never told me." Then the old man Gong San came in and told everyone to pack up and move out.

They were soon travelling again, Lance just looked at the terrain around them while listening to the conversations. He then turned towards Gong Yu and asked,

"Brother Gong, will any 3-star or 4-star sects send their disciples to the domain?"

Gong Yu's eyes lit up as he nodded, "Three 4-star sects which are located around our kingdom will send in their younger disciples for experience. But even though the disciples are only around 12-14 years old, they easily defeat us every time. We aren't able to compete with them at all. The three sects are Plum Blossom sect, Blazing Sun sect and the Verdant Sea sect. The Plum Blossom sect only takes in female disciples and their cultivation art makes them look young and beautiful but it is considered a pit of vipers. The sect members are always busy scheming against each other, else they would be strong enough to dominate the two other sects by themselves. The Blazing Sun sect focuses on absorbing the fire energy of the sun, but this makes them rash and aggressive. Verdant Sea sect's cultivation art is based on the essence of water, they are usually peaceful and avoid fights, but do not take that as weakness. They are considered the most troublesome to fight against due to their restrictive skills."

"They each have a 4-star genius but the main reason due to which lower star sects fear the 4-star sects and above is due to their grasp over weapon mastery. Even a 3-star sect can become 4-star as long as someone reaches the rookie realm in weapon mastery. Each 4-star sect has a few core disciples, a disciple can only become a core member if they reach the rookie realm in weapon mastery at the skin stage."

"The sects only send one core disciple each as sending more would not be worth it. The core disciple sent is always at the peak skin stage along with rookie realm in weapon mastery." Gong Yu eyes revealed pure admiration as he talked about the 4-star sects.

Lance was surprised as he hadn't expected weapon mastery to be so crucial for a sect to advance.

He thought about his twin sword mastery, but then an image of his teacher demonstrating her spear mastery came into his mind. That day he had just reached the rookie realm and was bragging to his teacher when she showed her mastery. She took him to the beach that day and asked him to watch as she thrusted her spear towards the ocean.

Instantly, the sand in front of her along with the water was annihilated. Only a long crater 10 feet long and 5 feet wide was left. A whoosh sounded in his ears as the surrounding water rushed in to fill the crater. She then turned towards Lance with a beautiful smile on her face as she imagined the dumbfounded look in his eyes.

As expected, Lance could only stare agape at the scene. She smiled even more brightly after seeing his face.