Cleansing

Boom!

The raging waves of foreign qi ravaged Bai Hu's body. His pain threshold had long been elevated and this bit of pain caused only a slight discomfort. After a few hours, no more qi flowed into Bai Hu's body. The qi that was in his body started disappearing, much to Bai Hu's surprise.

He tried to sense where it went but to no avail. It was like he didn't take in copious amounts of qi in the first place. The only sign that suggested that was the cracks along his meridian channels that were rapidly healing at a visible pace.

A cooling sensation flowed through his body and a layer of impurities covered his body. Instead of the usual black impurities, the impurities he'd just expelled were grayish in color. Bai Hu's body had been cleansed many times already and so the effect was limited.

He tried absorbing qi and found that it flowed much quicker and smoother than before. While no drastic changes could be seen in his spirit root, the benefits of cultivating this technique was plain to see.

Bai Hu then tried to circulate his own qi according to the Basic Qi Nourishment Method but cried out in pain after a few seconds. He checked his Dantian and found minute cracks in a few places.

"Good thing I pulled back just in time. If not, then I would be crippled for life"

The damages to his Dantian were miniscule and easy to fix so he took a few recovery pills and called it a day. Continuing to cultivate might make his injury fester so he would wait a day before cultivating.

…

4 figures sat around a table in a dark room. The gloominess and slight killing intent mixed in made for quite the intimidating appearance.

A rather large man with bandages across his chest broke the silence, "So, how are we going to deal with him? The kid made his stance clear and would most definitely become a problem in the future"

The one who spoke just now was Dong Wang, and the other 3 are naturally the other kings.

Yang Feng spoke next "How? Just send someone to dispose of him when he steps out of the sect!"

Mo Yuan Kai cut in, "I'll use my connections to get a Foundation senior to do the job. Of course, that is only if he ever steps out of the sect"

"Then what will we do if he never does?"

"..."

"Bloody Ascension Trial"

""What!?""

"Are you telling us to wait 2 years to break through?! We're all at the peak and would take less than a year-"

"I'm not saying that we have to do it ourselves"

There was silence as they waited for Mo Yuan Kai to continue.

"The trial is quite dangerous, and even we would have a hard time surviving. Are you all saying that he will really survive there? Lets say he does manage to reach the 10th level in 2 years of time, we can simply tip off a few people to target him in the trial"

Enlightened expressions appeared on the other's faces. They nodded and agreed with Mo Yuan Kai's plan. Even if Bai Hu was stronger than the norm, having multiple enemies target him in such a perilous place is bound to take his life.

"Alright, we'll do just that"

They then dispersed, going in separate directions to do their own thing.

…

The next morning, Bai Hu woke up and checked out his Dantian. The cracks have mostly healed and would probably take a few more hours to fully heal. Instead of cultivating the Basic Qi Nourishment Method again, he decided to cultivate the Thousand Soulspirit Art.

This should allow him to maximize the effects of his cultivation. The Basic Qi Nourishment Method takes a far greater toll than initially thought and would be harmful if Bai Hu decided to push his body to its limits.

Circulating his qi according to the technique, he felt a tingling sensation in his head. It was a far different feeling compared to the Basic Qi Nourishment Method which causes great pain and discomfort.

This cycle continues, one day he would cultivate the Basic Qi Nourishment Method, damaging his meridians and Dantian slightly. The next day he would cultivate the Thousand Soulspirit Art as his Dantian and meridians healed. This gradual strengthening would show even greater results in the long run, and Bai Hu looked forward to the results after 2 years of time. After another 2 days, he went to the reward ceremony and received his prize, before swiftly leaving the scene.

One month later...

6 elderly and 6 youths stood together on a mountain peak, overlooking a vast range of mountains. There were perhaps hundreds if not a thousand mountains in this area. The 12 people standing together emitted a fierce aura of authority and power. They were the 12 Nascent Soul cultivators of the Spirit Sect, with authority only second to the Sect Master's.

A white haired woman who looked to be in her early 20s opened her mouth, "The development of the sect has become much better than before. I still remember how everything was in chaos when master left"

An older looking man spoke in response, "He left to find a way to break through into the Nascent Avatar realm. It's been 50 years already, has he succeeded?"

A red haired young cut in, "He'll be lucky if he manages to do that in a hundred years. Not to degrade our master but that last hurdle is simply too large for our desolate lands"

A different elderly man spoke this time, his appearance being the same one as the head elder Elder Shui had seen, "Our master still has around a hundred years of life left in him. If he can break through, our sect will be elevated to a whole new level. Moving the central continent might not be a pipe dream anymore"

The others murmured in agreement. The lands where they reside is too desolate for anyone higher than Nascent Soul to appear. Countless geniuses reached a bottleneck at the Nascent Soul Realm, unable to break through, and either chose to stay or brave the journey to the central continents, where qi is abundant and secret techniques are more available.

A white haired young man cleared his throat for attention, making the other Grand Elders turn to him.

The white haired woman had an annoyed expression on her face when she looked at the face of that man, "What is it, brother?"

He smiled, "Oh it's nothing much. I just wanted to ask the Head Elder a question, that is all"

The Head Elder shot him a curious look, "Oh? From the sound of that, it has nothing to do with our master. What could it be, Junior Bother?"

"I simply noticed that you kept tabs on a certain young lad who recently joined our sect. I merely want to know your intentions"

"Oh, that. It's nothing much. I simply felt that the kid was interesting and he sure didn't betray my expectations"

"I'm sure he did. I chanced upon his performance and was quite shocked you see. I just don't know what about him is so special"

"What are you two talking about?"

The Head Elder took out a jade slip out of his spatial pouch and the others sent their Divine senses into it. This jade slip contained everything he knew about Outer Court Disciple, Bai Hu.

After a few seconds, they all retracted their Divine senses and wore different expressions.

The white haired man spoke after a few moments, "Well I'll be damned, a Chaotic Spiritual Root had appeared in such a desolate place. It's like the Heavens are playing a joke on us"

He turned to the Head Elder, "Senior Brother, I'll have to remind you that we can't interfere with the personal matters of the sect. Simply gathering information is fine but direct interference is forbidden"

"Naturally"

The Grand Elders dispersed shortly after, and the oppressive aura in the area disappeared along with them.

…

Zhong Xian looked up at the sky. Several streaks of light passed by him with such speed that he almost didn't see or feel it in the first place.

"Hm"

He then went back to what he was doing.

…

..

.

2 years later...

"Whew!"

A young man with delicate facial features and long black hair could be seen inside a dusty room. He let out a breath of foul air and stood up.

"Third level of the Basic Qi Nourishment Method and the eighth level of the Thousand Soulspirit Art"

The youth was Bai Hu, who had grown tremendously after 2 years of rigorous cultivation in seclusion. He had reached the peak of qi refinement but reached a bottleneck in the Basic Qi Nourishment Method.

No matter what he tried, it seemed like the qi in the air was not enough to support the cultivation method, baffling him.

Either way, it was time to leave. The appointed time of 2 years has arrived and soon the Bloody Ascension Trial will be opened and Bai Hu lad long memorized what he needed to obtain.

Zhong Xian wanted some miscellaneous herbs and a few main herbs though he could not figure out what use they have together. He even went to the Alchemy Hall and asked about this, only to get the reply that his master had always been a bit peculiar.

Shui Bing on the other hand, wanted a few sets of herbs that would most likely be used to concoct a few pills suitable for the Foundation Realm and even a pill that can aid in Core Formation breakthroughs.

He called for his master and waited. After a few minutes, the familiar figure of the old man appeared and stopped just outside the formations.

"Lets go"