Chapter 344 (1/2)

”Hm… I think this one will be fine…”

”I knew the junior disciple has a good eye for quality!”

”Junior disciple Dai… why don't you reconsider, I'm sure I could…”

”Enough with your babbling, the young one has made his decision!”

The three elders that were responsible for the trial disciples were arguing once more. Zhang Dong was now inside a cultivation cave. It was a somewhat spacious cavern drilled into the side of the mountain.

There were several others like this one scattered all over the place where elders and seniors could cultivate in peace. On the ground, there was a guard building that would watch over the cultivators and not let anyone disturb them while they cultivated.

He didn't really care much about which one it was but this elder Yusheng seemed desperate in grooming him into a personal disciple. He felt that he could talk him into lending him this place temporarily.

The other cultivation abodes didn't look much different than this one. The three were quite equal in all regards, this was also probably why they were so serious about nabbing him as a disciple. Not like he would go through the master-disciple ceremony with any of them.

Zhang Dong's plan was to stay here for a few days before the competition started without even mentioning that he would be participating. If he mentioned his plan he feared that the elders would try to block him from entering it.

They would either fear him getting injured during it, thus they would lose the golden ticket out of the outer sect. Then if he achieved greatness he would just be pulled away by one of the higher ranking elders instead.

”Yes Elder Yusheng, I must thank you for letting me stay here, I think I must consolidate my cultivation for at least a week. I also must thank the other elders for keeping up with my selfishness.”

He clasped his hands and bowed before the two. It was best to at least let them have some face even when he was refusing their proposal.

”Tsk…”

Both of them clicked their tongues before turning away and leaving. Yusheng just watched at the backs of these two long-time rivals while cackling.

”Young disciple, take your time, stay in there for a month if you have to, reaching the Martial Master realm is not an easy feat! You must slowly reinforce your crystal mountain so it doesn't show any cracks. After it is fortified you may begin the process of condensation.”

This process of condensation or compression was a part of going further beyond the Martial Master realm. In this empire instead of producing more and more foundation pillars, the cultivators would compress their crystal mountain into a smaller size.

It was a forceful process that required a lot of spiritual energy. The mountain would go through two stages of condensation, then at the third stage it would be shattered and the crystal palace would be created in its place.

This was quite a unique construction, it was similar to a core formation expert's core. If he was cultivating in this empire he would probably fashion a giant golden castle that exuded lightning energies.

Even when the Martial Grandmaster created their crystal palace successfully, they would not be able to enter it. They would need to shatter its gates before being able to fully utilize it. The further they could get into this castle the closer they would get to the Martial Saint's level.

That was all of the knowledge that he was able to gather from the clan libraries. What would be created to enter the Supreme Saint and the Saint Emperor realm was unclear to him. If it was easier to reach those levels instead of core formation and nascent soul was unknown to him.

Saint Emperor's started out at the level above an early stage nascent soul cultivator so it probably wasn't. But the Supreme Saint level late stage might have been easier on the other hand which was interesting.

”I will then consolidate my cultivation Elder.”

”Yes, take your time, when you are done meet me at my private home. I will lend you some of my personal cultivation methods so you can soar above the competition!”

”Thank you Elder, I will Elder.”

Taking personal techniques from anyone, was already a sign of accepting them as a half-master. Then afterward there was also a ceremony of kowtowing before him, this his own disciples had done a long time ago.

'Finally, I'm alone…'

The cultivation cave had a large thick wooden door made from some kind of spirit wood. It was sturdy and would not break even if a Martial Master kicked it with all of their might.

This door slammed behind him while he inserted some spiritual energy into a little crystal above. It started glowing in a somewhat dim light that could be adjusted.